Director: Måns Mårlind, Björn Stein
Screenplay: Michael Cooney
Producers: Emilio Diez Barroso, Neal Edelstein, Darlene Caamano Loquet, Mike Macari
Starring: Julianne Moore, Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Jeffrey DeMunn, Frances Conroy
MPAA Rating: R
Running time: 112 min.
(2.5/5)I love Julianne Moore. It’s hard not to when an actress has delivered some performances as outstanding as Cathy Whitaker, Laura Brown and even the unlikable but memorable Barbara Baekeland yet over the last few years, these roles are outnumbered by mediocre performances in under baked films; most of them thrillers that never really manage to thrill. I get the sense that Moore really likes the genre and is trying to find a good one among the bad but it usually ends with her good performance lost among in the mix of mediocrity. In that sense, Shelter is a slightly different beast in that it features a handful of great performances sadly, the film still doesn’t manage to deliver a really effective thriller.
This time around Moore plays Cara, a psychologist who fully believes that multiple personality disorder is an impossibility; a hoax in the psychological field that has gone on for too long and she is, apparently single handily, trying to disprove it. Her father, a shrink played by Jeffrey DeMunn, feels differently and when he comes across the extraordinary case of a young man (Jonathan Rhys Meyers) which appears to have no other logical explanation beyond MPD, he invites his daughter to investigate further. So begins this little tale of drama-turned-horror-movie as Cara’s research uncovers the histories behind Adam’s various “personalities” while trying to explain why a man would find it usefull to, in her mind, pretend to be these various individuals.
This little picture is directed by the Swedish duo of Måns Mårlind and Björn Stein who will deliver the next entry into the Underwold franchise to fans in January of 2012, from a scrip by Identity writer Michael Cooney. I wish I could say this is an interesting combination which delivers something new and unexpected to this type of supernatural drama but fact is, this is fairly standard run of the mill material complete with occult overtones. Even the palette here is bland and the settings, as effective as they could have been with frequent trips to the wilderness, never feel particularly threatening.
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Thankfully, the set-up is quick and for the most part, just as quickly forgotten when Mohammed wakes to find his convoy overturned and an opening for escape. His training kicks in, especially at the beginning of the escape when a military team is following at close range but once lost in the wilderness, the question of who he is is quickly forgotten and the most important aspect of the story is also his single motivation: survival. The question of Mohammed’s history does come up occasionally in ill conceived flashbacks that add little to his motivation; if anything, they only accentuate the fact that the initial set-up is questionable at best.
Either way, TV regular Richard J. Lewis’s film adaptation of the much beloved Mordecai Richler novel tells the story of Barney Panofsky, a politically incorrect man with a string of wives and a colourful life. Adapted by Michael Konyves, the film features quite a few rapid fire exchanges and more than a handful of memorable scenes for Paul Giamatti in the role of Barney whose larger-than-life personal permeates through every scene; even the ones where he doesn’t appear on screen.
“The Far Pavilions” tells the story of Ash, an Indian boy born to British parents. A series of events leaves Ash alone with his Indian nanny, unaware of his British parenthood. Shortly after their escape from servitude at Gulkote, Ash’s nanny dies but not before giving Ash all of the documentation and money his parents had left for him. Alone, Ash’s first encounter with trouble sees him shipped off to England for a “proper British education.”
Adapted from Rosemary Sutcliff’s hard to find novel, 
Adetuyi’s film focuses on three dance crews vying for the top prize of cash and glory at the Beat the World competition in Detroit. We’re introduced to the crews: the guys from across the bridge who are trying to bring the title home, the European crew who’s led by a world champion (though they’re falling apart due to an internal struggle) and a Brazilian crew trying to win and get themselves out of the slums. None of the people stories are particularly interesting and Adetuyi doesn’t even have the underdog “must win to survive” angle going for him. His characters are all aloof and event he Brazilian team which struggles to get to the competition, seems removed from any major hardships in life. It’s hard to feel anything for these one dimensional characters and Adetuyi hangs his entire film, which is sold as a dance movie, on the innocuous drama in these individual’s lives.
Emilia is a young, beautiful lawyer starting a new job at a major law firm where she falls for Jack, a senior partner who happens to be married with a pre-teen son. The two start a relationship which eventually ends Jack’s marriage when Emilia finds herself pregnant. The two have a quickie marriage but soon after the birth and death of their daughter, Emilia starts to fall apart. She has problems connecting with her step son William, is hated by Jack’s ex-wife who is making it increasingly difficult for Emilia to connect with William and she blames herself for the death of her baby which only adds pressure to the already deteriorating relationship.
