Partial Education Presents
The Films of Danny Boyle - Part 1
Featuring Partially Educated Reviews of
Shallow Grave
Trainspotting
A Life Less Ordinary
The Beach
and 28 Days Later
I begin with an apology. Sort of. After the review of two weeks ago, involving Denzel Washington, his opponent Mills responded and was none too happy in my portrayal of her. So, in the interests of full disclosure, this was her response:
'Right, Boothman, *SPOILERS* I realise I'm blowing my 'anonymity', but I think a mountain is being made out of a molehill here. Yes, I groaned - but not because I hate him or think he's a bad actor - on the contrary, I think he's become a bit lazy, stopped living up to his potential and just seems to be going through the motions. I have no problem with the man, just find his films bloody boring! However, will give Flight a go based on your 4/5 as I've not seen it yet, and concede defeat to Mr Washington graciously in this particular fictional battle.'
What about Unstoppable!? I gave that 4/5 too!
This is the part where I come up with some smart arsed reason why I wanted to watch all of Danny Boyle's films. Truthfully though, I just really wanted to watch Sunshine again.
Boyle once said that at every one of his films' premieres, his Dad came up to him and said "well it was good, but it wasn't as good as Shallow Grave". An opinion that I hold no grudge against, but it does perhaps set the bar a little too high when it comes to expectation. This is not Boyle's best film by any means and it's important not to expect that before you watch it. On the other hand, when you consider it's his debut film, it's still pretty bloody good. Flatmates Kerry Fox, Christopher Eccleston and some Scottish bloke called Ewan find themselves in a tricky situation when they discover their new flatmate dead in his bedroom. The natural reaction to call and report the death is put on hold when they also discover a suitcase filled with considerable amounts of money. Proving themselves to be entirely rational human beings, they decide to dispose of the body and keep the money. Naturally, this doesn't all go as smoothly as they expected. It harkens back to a style of film that Boyle hasn't done in a while now, an incredibly black, but mostly successful comedy. The laughs play in unison with an immorality tale in which we, as an audience, may judge these characters, but then have to question if we would handle the situation any differently ourselves. The three leads are all excellent performances, with this being the first part of the one-two punch that made McGregor a star (the second one's the next review). Importantly though, character actions and motivations do feel natural. Whether you agree with them is irrelevant because their actions do befit the characters. Unfortunately though, a slightly overwrought ending does leave things feeling a little too over the top. The morally questionable actions of earlier are replaced by actions that no one in their right mind would ever think to suggest pros for and so it loses some of that element that makes you question yourself. It is a problem that means I'm not giving this a perfect score, but it by no means ruins the film and definitely doesn't prevent this from being a debut that most filmmakers would kill for.
FOUR out of five
Trainspotting is a hugely influential and important part of British cinema. It gave us phenomenal performances, some breakout stars (not just McGregor) and some classic scenes. This most likely isn't news to you and I have no issues with people referring to it as a masterpiece. For me though, it isn't quite there. That said, if the first two thirds of the film were anything to go by, it would be. Taking a view of drug addiction in a way which manages to avoid both celebration or judgment, the film presents us with so many characters that we would naturally despise if we met in person, yet helps us to understand how they have become the way they are. At times, you may even be drawn to sympathise with them, but the film never quite steps over that unacceptable line into celebration. As Trainspotting progresses, it keeps getting better and that masterpiece status does seem entirely justified, all the way up to and including the exceptional "withdrawal" scene, which gives us both Boyle and McGregor at their absolute best. It is the perfect ending to a phenomenal film. Only it's not the ending. Discussing what follows isn't possible without spoiling it for the few who haven't seen this and I don't want to make this sound like the film ends badly. Far from it. It remains very good, but very good pales slightly in comparison to that fantastic scene that came before it. The intentions of the final act are solid and, in providing a complete narrative, it's entirely understandable why the film does continue. For me though, they don't hit that high benchmark that has been set for the rest of the film. Trainspotting is a film that every film fan should see, but I'd by lying if I credited it with perfection.
FOUR out of five
That was my original review of Trainspotting, but then I watched it again and I can safely say that I now fully get the final act. Still not going to discuss it in depth, but it is a vital part to the film's message. I may not enjoy it as much as the earlier scenes, but I have to acknowledge it's importance and, as such, I'm upgrading that score.
FIVE out of five
Coming into these reviews, there were two Danny Boyle films I hadn't seen before. One was Trance, the other was A Life Less Ordinary: a film so irritating that a Keith Lemon marathon would have felt like sweet respite. Bringing an unfortunate close to the Boyle/McGregor partnership (for now at least), this represented a transition for both of them as they made their way into the American market. On the basis of this, it's amazing they're still welcome there. The biggest problem with A Life Less Ordinary is that it manages to take two plots that could have worked, but brings them together in a way that jars rather than blends. The first is the story of McGregor and Cameron Diaz, as the latter is unintentionally kidnapped by the former, after her millionaire father (Ian Holm) fires McGregor. The other story has Holly Hunter and Delroy Lindo as two angels who are tasked with leading McGregor and Diaz into love, under threat of banishment from Heaven if they fail. The latter plot shows more potential, not just because it holds more imagination, but because it is sometimes quite funny. Unfortunately, those "sometimes" are offset (and then some) by the other times, where irksome quirkiness takes hold and both characters feel exceptionally annoying, notably so in the case of Hunter (it really pains me to say that). On the other hand, the McGregor and Diaz partnership is nothing short of terrible. The two demonstrate the same sort of chemistry that you get when you mix donner meat with colitis and, on the very rare occasion when they're on their own, their company remains just as unpleasant. A Life Less Ordinary is a comedy filled with repellent creatures, which wouldn't matter if we were expected to laugh at them, but it reaches a point where we need something to root for and the end credits serve that purpose just fine.
ONE out of five
It seemed as though A Life Less Ordinary didn't really hurt Danny Boyle's standing in America and, though that was a good thing in the long run, this led to The Beach. I first watched The Beach years ago, probably around the time it was released on (wait for it) VHS. I despised it. So did my parents. My sister faced much ridicule for recommending it to us. All this means that the last thing I wanted to do was watch it again, not because I'm averse to giving films second chances (I refer back to the Trainspotting review, which was actually me giving the film a third chance), but because I really didn't want my mind to be changed and force me to admit that my sister was right. I have now re-watched The Beach and can say that my sister definitely wasn't right. In fairness, it wasn't quite as bad as I remembered it, with a strong idea and Boyle's directorial flair helping to make things more tolerable. It's also nowhere near as annoying as A Life Less Ordinary, so I'll give it a bonus point there. It is, however, heavily marred by a number of things. The biggest is Leonardo DiCaprio, who delivers a solid performance of an egregiously unlikeable character. Riddled with youthful self-entitlement and petulant arrogance, the last thing you want is for DiCaprio's Richard to find the utopian beach that he seeks because frankly, it's the last thing he deserves. Unlike The Wolf Of Wall Street, this isn't an antagonist masquerading himself as a protagonist, this is supposed to be the film's hero (so to speak) and I hold warmer feelings for George Clooney's Batman. The whole plot is telegraphed from fairly early on (once Richard befriends some stoned surfers, it really does give everything away) and this predictability isn't compensated for enough in enjoyable scenes or through Boyle's directorial flair. In the end though, The Beach just doesn't feel that important and has thankfully become a small footnote in Boyle's career. In the long run, you can't say that anyone's career was hurt by this film and so it passes as little more than a minor inconvenience, but that doesn't really excuse it.
TWO out of five
There will be those who will point to Trainspotting. There will also be those who may point to Slumdog Millionaire. For me though, 28 Days Later is the most important film of Boyle's career by quite some distance. It doesn't just represent him coming back from a disappointing couple of films in style. It's also the regaining of reputation that he has managed to (and hopefully will continue to) maintain ever since. The real key to 28 Days Later is it's Britishness. That's a statement that could stray me into UKIP territory, so I'll clarify. The zombie genre wasn't quite as over-saturated in 2002 as it is today, but it was still far from fresh and having something that would separate you from the pack was vital. 28 Days Later has many of those things (it gave birth to fast zombies for one), but the fact that it's a British film is the biggest of those. It instantly provides it with a different tone and a minimalist feel that really does validate the phrase "less is more". You don't get excessive hordes of thousands of zombies here, with the groups being more like a small mob, bringing with them a much more focussed danger. They may even begin to border on scary, though I have never believed in the potential for zombies to truly scare. Naturally, me being British probably helps in the sense of an impact, as the images mean more to me (the empty motorways feel particularly eerie), though an empty London was always going to help with the global market, due to it's recognizability. Now, when a lot of these images go away in the second half, it does make things a little less impactful and wheels out the good old "who are the real monsters?" argument. This doesn't mean that the film starts to fail too much in quality, as it remains excellent, just in a not-quite-as-excellent way as the fantastically unsettling first half. 28 Days Later is an exceptionally good film. I'm only just scratching the surface of what works in it (essays could be written on the brilliant music and Anthony Dod Mantle's exceptional cinematography), but that's the nature of these shorter reviews. Also, I just need to make sure I've saved something for when I get to the Full Educations.
FIVE out of five
Next Time (13th November)
What usually follows a Part 1?
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