Get Hard – Review (2015)

Writing reviews for comedies can be difficult when compared to thrillers or indeed horrors. A comedic film generally deals in a less serious subject matter, or it takes a light-hearted approach to a serious topic meaning that you can switch your brain off while you enjoy the onscreen antics. With comedies there are less themes which emerge meaning that you have very little to sound profound and pompous about. With more serious films it is easier to believe that these are real people and not just actors playing roles. In comedies the performances are normally just an extension of the actors own routine. Take Will Ferrell for example, who plays James King, one of my favourite comedy actors and star of many of the funniest films for the last fifteen years. You know what you’re getting with a Will Ferrell flick, laugh out loud moments sandwiched in between awkward Larry David/Ricky Gervais style comedy that will be full of quotable lines. Kevin Hart, who portrays Darnell Lewis, has become so popular that every comedy script probably gets thrown his way. That means he’ll probably pick a few lemons from time to time, case in point being the god awful The Wedding Ringer.

The premise of Get Hard is a solid one, which sees a member of the 1% club teamed up with a “lowly proletariat” who normally wouldn’t even get the time of the day, which makes this film the perfect odd couple/buddy film. A mega rich hedge fund manager is wrongly convicted of tax fraud. The guy is a douche but not on the same level as some of his real life – and definitely guilty – counter parts á la Bernie Madoff. Instead of getting sent to a plushy minimum security holiday club, James King is sent to San Quentin, one of the America’s notoriously tough penitentiaries. He has thirty days before getting sent to prison and in order to prepare he recruits Darnell Lewis who he mistakes for a tough ex con that knows the system. Ferrell’s character is an out of touch millionaire who assumes because Darnell is black that he his “street”. Seeing the opportunity to make some money, Hart’s character keeps up the façade of being a tough black guy from the “hood”.

The film has a wry charm to it that you just don’t get with other comedies. Despite the racist stereotypes it really does give you an insight into the class structures at play in American society. Those who have the money, the 1%, don’t see themselves as being the problem, they are simply living the American dream, and those who cannot attain it are just stupid and deserve the lifestyle they have. Ferrell’s King brings this across to stunning effect making this film a stand out among its contemporaries. Get Hard is easily one of the funniest films of 2015 so far and I command you to go and watch it.

As Above, So Below – Film Review

As Above, So Below – Horror/Thriller – Rated 18 – Released in Cinemas August 29, 2014.

SPOILERS BELOW!!!

As Above, So Below is a film about an archaeological exploration of the catacombs which run underneath the streets of Paris. Descend into this psychological horror for twists, turns and jump scares. The film begins in Iran with our heroine, Scarlet, an expert in something really smart and difficult to understand, adequately portrayed by the relatively unknown Peridita Weeks.

On a quest to complete her dead father’s work she must track down the philosopher’s stone. Her journey has thus far led her to Iran where, in an underground cave, she finds a statue with clues pointing to the underbelly of Paris as the location of the hidden stone. The dark, cavernous underground of Iran sets the mood for the rest of the film.

A maze made up by walls of bones.

The film continues inside the catacombs of Paris, which are said to be home to millions of lost souls. Scarlet, along with her one time love interest George, recruits local tunnel expert, Papillion and his gang. (I think she found them in the phone book) Our band of ragtag explorers struggle through tunnels full of bones, flooded corridors, and narrow, I mean incredibly claustrophobia inducing, narrow paths. One scene in particularly with Benji, Scarlet’s camera man, stuck between a rock and a mountain of bones as he attempts to crawl through a narrow passage. The scene runs longer than it probably should, however, this only adds to the feeling of hopelessness. With the film being shot in the shaky, POV, camera style that will make some of you feel queasy, the moments of intense anxiety are far more frightening than any pale faced ghoul that the team encounter. Those of you sensitive to enclosed spaces will be squirming in your seat during this scene.

The film proceeds through the corridors and tunnels with each of the team occasionally seeing something disturbing and guilt inducing from their past. Scarlet sees her dead father who hanged himself. George sees images of his drowning, younger brother, whom he failed to save, and Papillion is confronted with the most harrowing image of all. Prepare yourself for the horror of witnessing a red, five door, 1985 Renault Clio enveloped in flames…oh and the burning body of Papillion’s brother. He really loved that car as well.

Trapped in this nightmare with no exit in sight, Scarlet pushes onward into the abysmal darkness in search of the fabled philosopher’s stone. A stone said to be able to turn any metal into gold and have curative qualities. The film ends with Scarlet finding the stone and then realising the truth, which is, what she is seeking has been inside her all along. She is able to find the exit by seeing that the treasure she was looking for lay within her the whole time.

Confused? Yeah me too.

You get the feeling that this film started out as an action adventure film in the style of Indiana Jones or Tomb Raider with the cleverness of the Da Vinci code, and halfway through the scriptwriters realised that it would be hard to sell an audience something they have seen before. I was left confused as to the genre of the film. It certainly was no horror as the focus of the story jumped from treasure hunting, to decoding some ancient puzzle and then back to horror.

I went to see a psychological horror and all I got was this lousy review.

Peace and love fellow human.