Your Sister's Sister

Filmed over just twelve days and largely improvised, Your Sister’s Sister stars Mark Duplass as Jack, a man struggling to function a year on from the untimely death of his much loved brother. Jack’s best friend and brother’s ex-girlfriend Iris (Emily Blunt) offers to let Jack stay at her father’s secluded cabin to help clear his head. When he arrives he finds that the cabin is already occupied by Iris’ sister Hannah (Rosemarie DeWitt), a lesbian who has just ended a seven year relationship. Mark and Hannah get to know each other and a bottle of tequila later end up in bed together. When Iris unexpectedly arrives early the next morning a barrage of secrets, lies and half truths comes her way as the other two try to hide what happened the night before.

For a film with a budget which wouldn’t cover Twilight's glitter funds, Your Sister’s Sister looks great. Occasionally you can tell that it was done on the cheap but it never matters. The improvised script and three superb performances help to give the film a realism which propels the drama and comedy forward towards a crescendo, a turning point from which there is no way back. The film’s great selling point though is its story.

Looper

I was lucky enough to get to a preview screening of Looper a full five days before its UK and USA release and boy was it worth getting in early. Looper is a smart and twisting Science Fiction thriller which plays with the ideas and rules of time travel to create a tense film which leads you down unexpected alleys, confounding your ideas and expectations.

It’s 2042 and in thirty years time travel will be invented. Although immediately outlawed the machines are used by the mob to send people back in time for execution thus destroying all evidence of murder. The people who carry out the killing are called Loopers. One of these Loopers is Joe (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) who conducts his job with the utmost professionalism despite a few personal issues. One day though to his shock, he looks up at the tarpaulin ready for the arrival of his next victim when the man who appears in front of him is the older version of himself (Bruce Willis).

The Five Year Engagement

"You ate the old doughnut"

Tom (Jason Segel) is a sous chef at a top end San Francisco restaurant but is forced to move to the mid west when his fiancée Violet (Emily Blunt) gets a post graduate position at the University of Michigan. This occurs shortly after the couple’s engagement and they decide to put their wedding on hold for a couple of years until they return to the West Coast. Their relationship is strained though when Tom fails to fit in or find a satisfying job while Violet’s career takes off and leaves Tom alone to ponder the career he left in San Francisco.

As soon as the film opens you are able to chart its plot pretty much to a tee but the journey to the finale is both funny and intelligent. The film is helped in no small way by two delightful characters played by two very watchable actors, Blunt and Segel. They appear to have great chemistry and Blunt in particular comes out of her shell and puts her comedic chops to great use.

The Adjustment Bureau

David Norris (Matt Damon) is the youngest Congressman in history but is about to lose the race to become a New York Senator. While practising his concession speech in the bathroom he bumps into Elise (Emily Blunt) and the two have an immediate connection. Despite numerous attempts to be with Elise, Norris finds that he is always thwarted and uncovers the truth that all of our lives are kept on a pre designed plan which is implemented by The Adjustment Bureau. Norris spends the film trying to find a way to outsmart and outmanoeuvre the Bureau in order to be with the woman he loves. 
 

I really like the idea behind this film. It has drawn comparisons to Inception in that it is a smart, sci-fi blockbuster and I can see why but this is a completely different film. The design of the Bureau and its operatives is wonderfully period. The Bureau look as though they’ve just got off a bus from 1963 and this is heightened by the inclusion of John Slattery looking like he’s come straight from the set of Mad Men. The reason for the look is explained and makes sense. The Bureau’s offices are intimidating yet sterile and feel as though they are untouched despite being full of people. New York looks, as always, picturesque and a lot of the city is seen throughout the film.

Matt Damon does a fantastic job portraying David Norris. Despite his age he has the look of a politician and the script helps him to beef out his character’s political credentials. When things start getting a bit strange he shows no fear but rather an understanding of what he must do and a determination to get it done. Emily Blunt is very much a secondary character but is light and quirky. Her and Damon’s relationship feels realistic and this helps to drive the romantic element of the film. The Bureau is filled with stern and intimidating types and all are fine. Anthony Mackie brings a human edge to the Bureau in his portrayal of Harry, the Agent who helps Norris.

The film is not without its problems. The Bureau is investing so much time and resources in Norris because he is destined for great things but with all the hassle he is giving them and with three hundred or so other American’s to choose from I’d have thought they might have cut their losses with him. The themes of religion and free will were interesting but I’d like to have seen the film makers explore them a bit further. It felt as though we only touched the subject rather than delved into it. Unlike Inception, The Adjustment Bureau isn’t the sort of film that will have people thinking or discussing much afterwards. The film is quite neat at tying up any loose ends and there is only really one area which could be open to interpretation. Despite the odd flaw, the film remains very good. It is nice to see a romantic story that doesn’t just appeal to women and a sci-fi film that doesn’t just appeal to men. The film is definitely worth watching.

7/10