TIFF 2010 Reviews: Buried, Fubar II, You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger
Posted September 7, 2010 12:00 am.
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Note: As many of the films screened at the 2010 Toronto International Film Festival haven’t yet opened in theatres, only capsule reviews are permitted for most titles.
Buried *CityNews.ca Pick* – Shot entirely inside a coffin with Ryan Reynolds being the only onscreen actor, some will call Buried a novelty film and never give it the time of day. I, however, found it to be a deeply unnerving and brilliant thriller that is not only one of the best films of the year, but a testament to how good Reynolds is as an actor. Don’t be fooled by the marketing — this is not a horror movie. You should be warned, though, that if you’re not claustrophobic before going in, you could very well could be afterwards. **** out of 5 stars. Schedule at TIFF.
Fubar II – Terry (David Lawrence) and Dean (Paul Spence) are back and this time the two idiot hosers are heading to Fort McMurray to work the pipelines along with their buddy Tron (Andrew Sparacino). Fubar II is ridiculously raunchy and funny, and while it won’t rub everyone the right way, it should be a crowd-pleaser when it kicks off the Midnight Madness programme. *** out of 5 stars. Schedule at TIFF.
You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger – Woody Allen’s latest film left me wondering if the writer-director has run out of steam once and for all. The film follows Alfie (Anthony Hopkins) and Helena (Gemma Jones), an older married couple who are going through a divorce, while their daughter Sally (Naomi Watts) and her husband Roy (Josh Brolin) are becoming interested in other people (Roy is spying on their neighbour Dia, played by Freida Pinto, and Sally is into her boss Greg, played by Antonio Banderas). Unlike Allen’s better work, the dialogue here is stale and forced, and the entire film comes across as pointless. I’d place it somewhere around The Curse of the Jade Scorpion as being one of Allen’s worst. ** out of 5 stars. Schedule at TIFF.
TIFF 2010 runs from September 9 to the 19. Check out all of CityNews.ca’s coverage of the festival here.
brian.mckechnie@citynews.rogers.com
Top image: A scene from Buried. Courtesy Maple Pictures.
