By Rama Gaind
The topics are wide-ranging, but there’s a good crop of films screening in Canberra.
Check them out because there is something to suit everyone’s taste.
The Adjustment Bureau
Here’s a question: do unseen forces manipulate us or do we have it in our power to control our destiny?
This captivating thriller starring Matt Damon and Emily Blunt will leave you wondering about the right answer.
David Norris (Damon) is an ambitious politician on the brink of winning a seat in the US Senate who meets Elise Sellas (Blunt), a beautiful contemporary ballet dancer, and starts falling in love with her.
Is it fate that has other plans?
David realises that mysterious men are conspiring to separate them. He learns that the men of ‘The Adjustment Bureau’ are doing everything in their power to keep them apart. Why?
He faces overwhelming odds with a decision to either let her go or defy fate and be with her. He aims to beat the system.
This is a taut thriller, well assimilated and features wonderful chemistry between the two lead actors. However, watch carefully to pick up the threads of the film.
Directed and written by George Nolfi (writer of Ocean’s Twelve and co-writer of The Bourne Ultimatum), this film is good quality viewing.
Rango
Johnny Depp is the voice of Rango, an ordinary chameleon who accidentally winds up in the town of Dirt, a lawless outpost in the Wild West in desperate need of a new sheriff.
Rango thinks he is the right lizard for the job.
Director Gore Verbinski co-wrote his first animated feature with John Logan and James Byrkit which is a clever tribute to the western genre.
It also features the voices of actors Isla Fisher, Bill Nighy, Abigail Breslin, Alfred Molina, Harry Dean Stanton, Ray Winstone, Ned Beatty and Timothy Olyphant.
Rabbit Hole
Powerfully truthful, this story touches the soul as you watch the grief suffered by the parents of a young boy who dies after being hit by a car.
Nicole Kidman and Aaron Eckhart are the happy couple whose life is turned upside town. Based on a play by David Lindsay-Abaire, the film also stars Dianne Wiest.
Poignant and painful.
Conviction: Based on true events, this is a convincing drama about a strong-willed woman (played by Oscar- winner Hilary Swank) who believes in her brother’s innocence and puts herself through law school and then gets him out of jail.
Total commitment.
Unknown
Watchable thriller as Liam Neeson fights memory loss and gets caught up in espionage.
