On the Couch

You’d be hard pressed to say anythingspecifically bad about Holy Rollers, Kevin Ashe’s film about Hassidic Jews in New York turning their hand to drug smuggling in the mid-’90s.
Based on a true story, it’s well acted – Jesse Eisenberg does that neurotic but clearly intelligent git thing he’s so good at in the lead – well written and well made but still feels lacking somehow.
Interesting throughout, the film never quite takes off, ending abruptly without providing any real sense of satisfaction beyond an afterword explaining what became of the characters.
Real life is partially to blame. If Holy Rollers was a product of the Jerry Bruckheimer school of filmmaking you could be quite sure of an enjoying flick, punctuated with punch-ups, snappy one-liners, easily identifiable “baddies” and “goodies” and a chase scene involving either a car, a speedboat or a car that turned into a speedboat and possibly had some missiles.
The explosions at the end would be a sure sign that whatever story arc was being described had reached its destination. The story of Sam Gold, failed Rabbinical student and drug smuggling son of a fabric merchant, doesn’t have any of those things. He committed some crimes until he didn’t. The end. Nary a car, boat or missile to be seen.
While its adherence to the truth might be responsible for a nagging sense of dissatisfaction at the film’s ending, it’s also the only thing that allows it to be taken in any way seriously.
The idea that a naive, ambitious young Jewish man could be roped into working as a mule for an international ecstasy dealing gang might seem a little implausible but Sam Gold (Eisenberg) did indeed fall into such circles, rising within the organisations ranks thanks to his solid business brain.
Oi vay indeed.
Despite its obvious charms, waiting for the story to shift gear or gather momentum becomes tiring, leaving the climax somewhat anti-climactic. There are other elements of the story that beggar belief – the apparent absence of violence in the global drugs market for example – and further erode the potential enjoyment Holy Rollers provides.
So not bad by any stretch, but frustrating given what is promised but never delivered on.
There’s a good chance you will have decided just by looking at the name whether or not you want to see X-Men: First Class.
Matthew Vaughan’s addition to the comic book franchise may not be everyone’s cup of tea but as wildly satisfying as it will be for X-fans, especially after the disappointment of Brett Ratner’s X-Men 3, it’s distinctly European feel, the strong story and some powerful performances from the leads may leave sceptics surprised by how much they enjoy it.
Set in the groovy ’60s it shows how Professor Charles Xavier (Patrick Stewart’s character in the first three films – the bald guy in the wheelchair) came to meet, befriend and fall out with Eric Lensherr (Magneto)and found the group that would eventually become the X-Men.
The good professor, played by James McAvoy, is a different creature to the Yoda-like figure of the previous flicks. A young fella with a full head of hair, the use of his legs and some shockingly cheesy chat-up lines, he comes across as a well-meaning but naive rich kid when compared with Michael Fassbender’s Lensherr, an angry young man whose “f- the world” attitude is understandable given his treatment as a youngster by the Nazis and the film’s bad guy, Sebastian Shaw (Kevin Bacon).
With the grown-ups dealing with issues like ‘should mutants co-habitate with or dominate the humans’ and ‘what role should they play in the Cold War’, the actual X-kids serve more of a supporting role. Despite all being fine actors – Jennifer Lawrence and Nicholas Hoult particularly – the interplay between McAvoy, Fassbender and Bacon is too good not to be given centre stage.
It’s not likely to change the hearts or minds of any hard-core comic book haters but there is far more substance to it than the typical spandex and showing off that normally make up the genre.
For fans of the previous X-movies or the superhero genre in general, the most difficult part about it will be deciding which bit they like the best and whether or not it’s the best comic book flick ever made.