On the couch

DVD REVIEW

Chronicle ****
Directed by: Josh Trank
Starring: Dane DeHaan, Michael B Jordan, Michael Kelly, Alex Russell

 

Man on a Ledge **
Directed by: Asger Leth
Starring: Sam Worthington, Elizabeth Banks, Jamie Bell, Ed Harris, Génesis Rodríguez

Other than a big tax bill, an unexpected illness or discovering that that blob of “chocolate” isn’t “chocolate”, there are few things more enjoyable than surprises.

So imagine the delight to discover that Chronicle isn’t a bunch of teens being annoying in an entirely derivative “found footage” movie and is, instead, a sort of X-Men by way of Cloverfield with just a hint of Skins thrown in.

Starring a bunch of people you’ve probably never heard of but might recognise from… actually scratch that. You won’t recognise anyone from anywhere. On the plus side the film’s complete lack of star power makes its “found footage” format seem more plausible.

The story starts with high school outcast and general weirdo Andrew (Dane DeHaan) deciding to film his life, probably to document his dad’s drunken rages and occasional bouts of violence.

His cousin, Matt (Alex Russell), who occupies a far higher position on the school’s social totem pole drags him along to a party in the woods and he ends up exploring a cave with his cuz and the most popular guy in school, Steve (Michael B Jordan).

Far from the Famous Five-style adventure it sounds, the cave contains a weird alien looking crystalline thingy that causes, amongst other things, nosebleeds, pain and telekenetic powers.

What follows is Andrew’s footage of the three bonding over their new powers and learning to harness them through the medium of young fellas messing around. It’s thoroughly engaging stuff because instead of having some sort of baldy/aging  mentor warning the boys to be responsible, they use their gifts to do things like scare kids, move cars and generally amuse themselves like normal people would (Pay attention Hancock, this is what you should have done).

Inevitably, however, it all goes pear-shaped and one of the boys turns evil but even then, the denouement smacks of reality rather than adhering to the black and white rules of comic book morality.

Amusing, exciting and thoroughly original, Chronicle is what more found footage flicks and super hero movies should aspire to. Expect to see more from josh Trank and the cast – all of whom show signs of being capable of great things in the future.

From a pleasant surprise to a surprising disappointment. If you have to ask what Man On a Ledge is about then it’s probably not the film for you. Of course, if you like imaginative, exciting movies then its probably not the film for you either.

The film stars Sam Worthington as Nick, an ex-cop, framed for a diamond heist, who escapes prison to prove his innocence. His plan of threatening suicide by jumping off the ledge of a fancy New York hotel is only a ruse though and about six seconds into the film you’ll start to figure out what twists are coming down the pipe for you.

Jamie Bell and Génesis Rodríguez feature as Nick’s brother and his girlfriend who are involved in some sort of a heist and Elizabeth Banks is the cop Nick demands to have try and talk him down. Lining out for bad guy duty is Ed Harris as the billionaire whose diamond was allegedly stolen.

Confused? Don’t be. When it comes down to it, Man On a Ledge is Inside Man without any of the style, intelligence or innovation. Sure the whole hanging around on a ledge thing is cute but it’s been done before and the extent of what you can do with a bit of money and a vertiginous platform isn’t fully explored.

Worthington and Banks are worthy but uninspiring leads and the film’s only real moments of sparkle or entertainment come from Bell and Rodríguez as the quarrelling couple up to no good.

Also, following on from last week’s rant about dodgy makeup – either they forgot to put any on Ed Harris and the poor man looks like hell or, more likely, another artist needs to hang up their fake hair and spirit gum because the man looked weird.

Distracting tripe but nothing that would trouble the edge of your seat.