DVD OF THE WEEK
CAPITALISM: A LOVE STORY ***
Dir: Michael Moore
I must confess to have gone off Michael Moore in the last couple of years.
I loved Roger and Me, his first film, and Bowling for Columbine was an eye-opener. But more recently, with Fahrenheit 9/11 – despite its win at the Cannes festival – and Sicko!, my level of irritation began to rise. Despite the constantly interesting (and frequently funny) filmmaking, the liberal left-wing arguments put forward – and it's refreshing that someone at least is putting them forward – were simplistic, aimed more at ignorant middle America for whom knowing anything other than the propaganda laid out on Fox News was a step forward. But, being so simplistic and sensationalist at the expense of a deeper more thoughtful thesis almost seemed to be doing his (very valid) arguments a disservice.
So it is with Capitalism: A Love Story. However, there are three reasons I make this film my Pick Of The Week, despite several misgivings about the overall film. The first is that it is really good to have someone take on the Big Assumptions in modern culture, the biggest being that capitalism is almost by definition a Good Thing. That at least someone is questioning the big picture and suggesting alternatives can be nothing but a positive thing. The second is the remarkable stories that Moore collects. Enough of him standing outside corporate offices with placards – he does that here and it just seems tired - but the genuine insights into effects of the recession are fascinating.
Thirdly, and this is as good a reason as any, Michael Moore makes a damned entertaining film. It may be artificial and somewhat shallow but it is never less than interesting to watch.

Whatever Works (***) is Woody Allen's latest and along with last year's Vicky Christina Barcelona represents something of a return to form. How much you enjoy it will probably rest on your opinion of leading man Larry David, who pretty much repeats his misanthropic shtick from Curb Your Enthusiasm. The film is a strange balancing act including, as it does, addresses direct to camera and occasional acting that could best be described as 'theatrical”. But what at first seems an unlikely (and somewhat distasteful) tale of love between the old codger and 20-year-old southern belle Evan Rachel Ward turns a surprising corner about half way through and wraps up in a fashion that is both touching and satisfying. And very Woody Allen.

In Japanese thriller Cure (***), Detective Takabe is having a hard time. His wife is sick and he's investigating a baffling series of murders, committed by seemingly unconnected people but all in identical grisly fashion. There's also a strange unknown man with amnesia wandering around who seems important. Made in a thoughtful arthouse manner, this is a surprisingly elegant murder mystery but seems to spiral towards obscurity in its final third and may frustrate viewers with its obliqueness.

General reaction to The Fourth Kind (***) has been mixed. Many people seem seriously upset at finding out that this supposedly true story of alien abduction is, in fact, totally fabricated. Perhaps it is the uncommon lengths the film goes to to reinforce its status as a dramatisation of real occurrences, constantly cutting or split-screening to 'actual recordings” of events. And it's well done, clever and original, with a creepily effective sound design. Would the film work as well without the gimmick? I suspect so. Does it lay it on a bit thick at the end? Probably. Either way, it makes for an engaging 90 minutes.

Arn: The Knight Templar (**) looks like an adventure yarn set during the crusades. It is, in fact a love story, set during the crusades. Battle scenes take 10 minutes from the two and a quarter hour running time which charts the interminably drawn out relationship between Arn and his faithful love, banished to a convent for 20 years just as Arn has been banished to the Holy Land. It's like a squeaky clean Readers Digest version of history, worthy and dull as ditchwater.