James Coburn's last film is a well-meaning but hardly unforgettable drama about a father's search across America for the owner of the gun that killed his daughter. The narrative structure is contrived, and although it's only 86 minutes long, you feel yourself growing old watching it.
Two strands of British comedy collide with utterly predictable results (all together now: "Oooh, Matron!") as the usual crew is augmented by the sublime Frankie Howerd and a positively quirky supporting cast (Anita Harris, Peter Jones, Julian Orchard). Post-irony, I think we should admit the Carry Ons are dreadful, but Sid James' laugh remains an imported national treasure.
DIRECTED BY Roger Donaldson
STARRING Al Pacino, Colin Farrell, Bridget Moynahan
Opens March 28, Cert 12A, 114 mins
When Colin Farrell signs up as a trainee CIA operative in Roger Donaldson's slick spy caper, he has more to deal with than weapons instruction, role-play exercises and psychological evaluation. He also has to cope with shameless grandstanding from Al Pacino giving another of those shouty, screen-hogging, over-the-top performances that have now become his trademark.
It's not hard to see why the second version of Hollywood's infamous morality tale of the tortured love between a rising starlet (Judy Garland in her best role outside of Oz) and her older, alcoholic has-been suitor (the impeccable James Mason) is generally regarded as the best. George Cukor's Technicolor palette and Ira Gershwin's music are the ideal accoutrements for what is basically camp melodrama at its most sumptuous.
