On The Couch

There’s a long and rocky history of America taking British films and TV shows and either adapting or outright copying them.

Fawlty Towers remake, Amanda’s, stands head ansd shoulders above them in the lousiness stakes – Bea Arthur, what were you thinking? – but there have been some notable successes moreso on the small screen than the silver one, however.
Zombieland is not one of these abject failures. In the fine tradition of the American version of The Office – taking something distinctly British and doing something similar but essentially American with it – Zombieland has taken the “what if?” ball that Simon Pegg and Edgar Wright kicked around in Shaun of the Dead and, well, supersized it.
And while the two films are only linked in spirit, the zom-bond is emphisised by other similarities: zombie apocalypse? Check. Grim yet wacky humour? Double check. Awkward hero on a journey motivated by moth survival and the love of a good woman? Check. Kinda.
As is befitting the cliché about everything in the U S of A being “bigger”, Zombieland’s canvass is considerably larger than Shaun’s. To start with, the zombie apocalypse isn’t a one-day thing. The story opens well after the fall of humanity. The battle against undead has been fought and lost and only a scattering of humans remain uninfected.
Also, the journey that nerdy survivalist Columbus (Jesse Eisenberg) and good ‘ol boy Tallahassee (Woody Harrelson) embark upon covers a good bit more ground than someone’s house to the pub. Several states more ground.
The pair team up after an awkward, gun-pointing stand-off and Columbus hitches a ride in an effort to return to his parental home in Ohio’s capital city to see if they, or anyone else he knows, is still alive.
The pair get railroaded, however, when they meet two sisters (Emma Stone and Abigail Breslin) and a new plan sees the foursome heading to California to what may be the last outpost of living.
Soon to challenge Michael Cera for the title of “King Of The Awkward On-screen Teens” Jesse Eisenberg once again proves that he may be the only actor alive that can play a neurotic nerd without stripping the character of any sense of dignity or common sense.
Throughout the film Columbus lists his various rules for staying alive that range from the practical – “check the back seat” and “beware of bathrooms”, his fastidious approach running contrary to Tallahassee’s free-wheeling ass-kicker who prefers to maintain his sanity through occasionally wrecking a shop or getting creative when dispatching members of zombie population.
Surprisingly well acted with a story that becomes more involving as layers of the characters are revealed, Zombieland is funny, scary and clever in equal measure. It falters slightly towards the end, losing its way with the ending, but if you have an itch that watching Shaun of the Dead again won’t scratch, it is an excellent substitute.
Dealing with a, sadly, far more familiar danger than a potential zombiegeddon, Harry Brown is yet another acting masterclass from Michael Caine that, on the surface, looks like a Mike Leigh version of Clint Eastwood’s Gran Torino.
As the eponymous Mr Brown, Caine plays a recently widowed Londoner living in a community terrorised by a gang of crack-smoking, gun-toting hoodies.
Matters come to a head in the community when a young mother is killed in front of her young child and Harry’s friend is similarly despatched by the local hoodlums.
This final straw sees the former soldier set about taking a bit of revenge on the local gang, a course of action that attracts the attention of local copper DI Frampton (Emily Mortimer).
Far from being a “super-grandad” revenge fantasy, Harry Brown is a film that has fear dripping off its every frame. From the precarious nature of Harry’s health to the constant threat of teenage violence the sense of dread that hangs over the council estate setting of the film is almost overwhelming.
Caine paints a picture of a sad, lonely man who takes matters into his own hands and who, despite a few cool one-liners, is terrified every step of the way.
Beautifully acted by the entire cast, Harry Brown is neither a laugh riot nor a soul-lifting experience. But it is emotionally involving and ultimately more satisfying than 100 dumbass action movies.