Children of the Silk Road
Director: Roger Spottiswoode
Cast: Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Radha Mitchell, Chow Yun Fat, Michelle Yeoh, David Wenham
Rating: (M)
3 stars (out of 5)
Review by Christine Powley
Children of the Silk Road (Rialto) is supposed to be about the epic march to safety by a band of Chinese orphans led by an displaced Englishman. However, the actual journey plays only a small role.
Instead we follow the steps by which George Hogg (Jonathan Rhys Meyers), a nice middle-class boy from a pacifist family, found himself bound to a bunch of orphans.
Hogg went to China as an aspiring foreign correspondent. He scammed his way into Nanjing to cover the brutal conquest of the city and found himself way over his head.
He then was befriended by Jack Chen (Chow Yun Fat), a Westport-educated communist guerrilla fighter, and Lee Pearson (Radha Mitchell), an Australian nurse fleeing a broken marriage. They pack him off to a remote school to learn the language and sort himself out.
The school is a shock to George. All the teachers have disappeared and the children have turned feral. George hits on the idea that the safest course is to escape to the desert, where they can be left alone.
This is a sexed-up version of the real George Hogg's life so we have to waste a lot of time on his love affair with Lee when what we really came to see is the blossoming of the children. Children of the Silk Road never really takes off, remaining a worthy exercise instead of a good movie.
Best thing: I have had a crush on Chow Yun Fat since Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and here as a charismatic freedom fighter with a modern sense of humour, he steals the movie.
Worse thing: The dialogue is flabby and stupid in places.
See it with: A Japanese friend.
In Bruges
Director: Martin McDonagh
Cast: Colin Farrell, Brendon Gleeson, Ralph Fiennes, Clemence Poesy, Jeremie Renier, Thekla Reuten
Rating: (R16)
4 stars (out of 5)
Review by Mark Orton
Belgium, home of great beer, mussels and amazing medieval architecture.
Now it is also the target of some broad Irish humour.
But it isn't just Bruges that takes a hiding in Martin McDonagh's wickedly entertaining tale of two hitmen on the run.
Ken (Brendon Gleeson) is a career criminal fascinated with culture, and paired with novice jack-the-lad Ray (Colin Farrell).
The odd couple are ordered to cool their heels in Bruges by their cockney crime boss Harry (Ralph Fiennes).
Ray's tactless fascination with midgets, his loathing of tourism, and his impressive potty mouth are perfectly executed by Farrell, who demonstrates an exceptional grasp of black humour. Similarly, Fiennes is hilarious as a malevolent gangster with an unusual moral code to uphold.
Plot-wise there are a few not-so-subtle twists and turns, but the sheer joy of In Bruges rests in the guilty pleasure obtained via irreverent and thoroughly non-PC gags.
Best thing: Farrell's use of timing and subtle facial gestures.
Worst thing: Having to watch a lot of lovely Belgium ale being consumed.
See it with: Anyone not easily offended by politically incorrect humour.
