AFTER THE SUNSET review by Fletch...

Brett “I’ll direct anything” Ratner delivers a heist movie that is a collection of films that we have all seen before.

A movie for the masses this film sees a washed out diamond thief (Brosnan) and his sexy sidekick and partner (Hayek) retiring to the good life in the Caribbean to relax and chill out – Or is Brosnan there to get a diamond that has eluded him his whole career? Old foe and stuffy cop (Harrelson) thinks so and tracks him down on the island to watch his every move and wait for him to go for the bait. Enter the local gangster (Cheadle) and island cop who complete the ensemble as this formulaic film comes together.

The cast are fine as they revel and kickback in the fantastic locations but unfortunately the film never surpasses more than average. Brosnan is good as he shakes the Bond tag with ease (he just grows some stubble and leaves his shirt open) and Hayek looks fantastic with lots of cleavage shots and her running around in little more than a bikini but surely that is what you all expect from the trailer? Don Cheadle has fun, as does Harrelson who turns up the laughs as the films geeky straight man but as you leave the theatre you will struggle to remember much from the film as I have already said it is a movie by numbers from the Rat!

Brett Ratner is a commercial film director and his CV will boast another film that will put bums on seats, it won’t make you hate anything he has done in the past but will you ever say that Rush Hour or Red Dragon are your favourite films!?
The pace of this film is fine - it tics along nicely with some good wide shots and slick cuts that follow the Haynes manual for multiplex filmmaking.

Entertaining and forgetful, it has some nice sequences and a budget to back them up, the look of the film is expensive with the travel agents busy getting the locations right and there isn’t much wrong with it but I can’t say it will be on your dvd list next Christmas. Go and see it if you have the time but don’t worry if you have to wait for the small screen it isn’t necessarily a big screen must…

Out of Sight meets The Love Boat

2/5

BRUNDLEFLY meets the cast of SPACED...

Just got back from the signing of a 3 disc collectors edition of 'Spaced' in Forbidden Planet London.

I don't know if any of you have seen it but it has some really cool cover art done in the same style as the Star Wars posters. I have to say that all five of the guys there - Simon Pegg, Jessica Stevenson, Nick Frost, Julia Deakin and director Edgar Wright were well on form and really approachable and chatty and seemed to genuinely appreciate their fanbase.

Simon and Jessica were really ripping the p*** out of each other which was fun to stand back and witness (the closest I'll ever get to that 3rd series I guess). I'll just add here that Jessica Stevenson was looking absolutely stunning, and that I considered... well you know that scene at the beginning of 'Unbreakable' where Bruce Willis is on the train talking to the woman and he subtlely takes his wedding ring off before speaking to her.... but hey who am I trying to kid...!

The 'Spaced' soundtrack was playing in the background and about 3 tracks in Julia Deakin recognised one of the songs and said "Oh this is familiar" to which Nick Frost and Edgar Wright were like "It's from 'Spaced'! It's on the DVD..." (holding it up to her - (the dvd)). She said that she couldn't remember as she didn't have a dvd player. That's when Simon and Jessica jokingly asked everyone in the queue to donate some money towards one. When I got my dvd signed by Edgar Wright I congratulated him on 'Shaun of the Dead's' strong US opening (2nd highest screen average and 3.3 million in just 600 screens). He thanked me and said it was awsome. I then asked him if it was true that they were going to do an action film next, and he hesitated and said yes they were -an action comedy - much in the same vein as SOTD!! I for one can't wait!!!!!

BrundleFly