Review: August: Osage County (2013)

Darn my local cinemas. When August: Osage County came out, I was in full swing of my Benedict Cumberbatch obsession. My closest cinema wasn't even showing it, but another near me was. Unfortunately, I couldn't convince my other half to see it with me, and when I finally egged Jenna on to see it with me "Thursday" she said, "I'm free on Thursday!", I found out that it stopped showing after Tuesday. Now, I've finally seen it!

I don't think I've ever seen such a star studded cast before; so many faces that I love are in this film. Meryl Streep plays Violet Weston, the mother of this huge, but troubled family. A crisis brings her sister and three daughters, along with their partners and children, together to comfort each other. However, when you bring any family together under strained circumstances, supressed issues are brought to light, and arguments ensue.

Despite the fact that not an awful lot actually happens in this film (the biggest part is spent sat at a dinner table), it was amazing how gripped I felt to August: Osage County. No character was left out and I really felt a connection to them all.

It has to be said that even though Meryl Streep was brilliant, Julia Roberts absolutely stole the show. As someone who has never been that bothered by her, she just won my heart, then broke it, and won it all over again. Her ability to portray love but so much anger at the same time was just incredible to watch. It's no wonder that she was nominated for an Oscar for this role, and I'm gutted that she didn't win it.

With such a huge cast, I would talk for hours about each individual character, but I must give an honourable mention now to my two favourite characters, Ivy and Little Charles, played by Julianne Nicholson and Benedict Cumberbatch. Both pretty much forgotten about by the rest of the family, Ivy is the sister who never found love, and Little Charles is the son who constantly disappointed his mother. They were the two characters that I rooted for throughout the whole film. Plus, who can't fall in love with Benedict's little song?



It was a breath of fresh air also to see Benedict Cumberbatch play a character who wasn't super smart and full of himself.

Without spoiling it for anyone, the ending absolutely broke my heart. I just sort of sat still for a few minutes after the credits ended just trying to take everything in. I'm kind of glad I didn't see this at the cinema now or the staff would have had to scoop me out of my seat and carry me out!

I would recommend this film to anyone, even if you aren't a huge fan of dramas. I think anyone could relate to at least one of the characters in this film.

Review: The Grey (2011)

I’ve been meaning to watch The Grey for far too long. So long in fact, that when I finally got round to sitting down to see it, I completely forgot what it was even about. Liam Neeson and some wolves. That was about all I could recall. At least I could convince my other half to watch this with me!

Here's the thing, I loved Liam Neeson. However, the Taken phenomenon and everything in between has pushed me into being extremely bored of him (and his one character) so although I probably should watch this and give it a chance, for now I'm not going to. So there...

Bare with me now as I don’t fully understand the underlying plot here. That’s my bad though, not the film’s. Ottway (Liam Neeson) is an oil worker in Alaska who is desperately unhappy. I can’t work out if his wife is ill or dead, or whether they are actually still together. Regardless, Ottway and his colleagues take a flight (I’m not sure where or why) and the worst case scenario happens, the plane crashes in the middle of nowhere, leaving the few survivors to fend for themselves.

The film introduces Ottway quite nicely I thought. We certainly get an insight into what’s going on in his head. We also get introduced to his colleagues on the plane, and get a feeling of their characteristics. The plane crash scene itself was incredibly dramatic, and I think I was holding my breath throughout part of it!

I wasn’t expecting the film to be quite as jumpy as it was; I’m certainly glad I didn’t see it at the cinema or I would have embarrassed myself! You know those moment where you’re saying to yourself ‘that person is going to get jumped on, I just know it, you’ll see’ and then it happens and you still jump? I was doing that throughout! It added a big element of suspense that I wasn’t anticipating.

I really did enjoy The Grey, but I thought it was a little too long and the pacing wasn’t very consistent at times. Some of the gruesome moments didn’t look very real in terms of visual effects, and the wolves themselves looked a little off when they were close-up on the screen. That said though, I didn’t know how the film could or even would end, and I have to say that I really enjoyed the ending, as unsettling as it was.

It may be a while before I watch The Grey again, but if you’ve heard of it before and you’re sat on the fence as to whether to watch it or not, give it a go, I’d definitely recommend it.