DVD OF THE WEEK

UP IN THE AIR ****
Dir: Jason Reitman
Starring: George Clooney, Vera Farmiga, Danny McBride
Up in the Air is that rarest of things – a grown-up drama dealing with the effects of the current recession which includes a delightful, believable love story, well written and beautifully made, with an honest witty script that is economical while at the same time delivering fully rounded characters.
What makes it damn near perfect is the cast: George Clooney has never been better, effortlessly charming while displaying depth, never overplaying or relying on cheap tricks to gain audience sympathy. Vera Farmiga (Oscar nominated) is just as good and solid support comes from Jason Bateman and Anna Kendrick.
The film follows Clooney's non-stop traveller, who criss-crosses the States helping companies fire their employees. His is a life of airports, hotels, and frequent flier miles. But now he's met a fellow traveller who has broken through his solitary shell, while the company he works for are doing a bit of downsizing of their own.
This comes from Jason Reitman who has previously helmed both Juno and Thank You For Smoking, two of the smartest mainstream films to emerge in the past few years. This is at least as good. It's just such a pleasure to watch a film that doesn't condescend to its audience and is not afraid to be adult and serious, despite the lightness of its touch. Excellent.

The Fantastic Mr Fox (****) is a delightful animated film from the very quirky Wes Anderson. Based on a book by Roald Dahl, it is made with old stop-motion techniques in the manner of Wallace and Grommit but with a distinct look of its own and a fantastic vocal cast, including George Clooney, Meryl Streep, Bill Murray, Owen Wilson and the rest of Anderson's usual crew. I really dug its left-field charm though many have objected to the Americanization of quintessentially English characters. This will not particularly be one for kids, but if you like Anderson's other films – Rushmore, The Royal Tenenbaums, The Life Aquatic – it should be right up your alley.

Produced by the guys behind the Matrix movies and directed by James McTeigue (V For Vendetta) one could expect a lot of Ninja Assassin (**). A cool reinvention of the martial arts genre perhaps? But, no. Together they have manages to make an absolutely bog-standard movie about a, er, Ninja Assassin. He goes to the harsh school where he is trained to join one of the '9 clans”, secret government assassins for centuries. It's cruel. But he's conflicted. Why bother describing the 'plot”? Just know that there is much fighting, most of it very impressive. But for anyone hoping for more – look elsewhere.

The Actress (*) is a cheap Australian comedy/drama, though without a lot of laughs. Three young people need a flatmate but the titular new arrival proves to be a manipulative hussy who causes dissent and sexual jealousy in the house. Sadly, the utterly amateurish nature of the direction, cinematography and sound pretty much sink an almost competent script. Perhaps it's the influence of the American 'Mumblecore” movement, but from a technical perspective this would never even reach television. At least it must have provided experience for the young cast, and they surely need it.

And now a brief dip into television. Presumably to get in before the Mel Gibson movie based on it, the BBC's brilliant series Edge of Darkness (*****) has just been released on DVD. Widely regarded as one of the best television thrillers to ever come out of Britain it is still a stunning experience, even two decades on. Bob Peck stars as a policemen whose daughter is killed in the first episode. His investigation leads to an international nuclear conspiracy, and over six episodes the series demonstrates a remarkable depth and complexity, as well as a surprising spiritual heart. The score, from Eric Clapton and Michael Kamen, is also rather brilliant. The new film, by comparison, is a straight-ahead revenge thriller.