Picturenose's James Drew heads to both ends of the spectrum, from the CGI world of Narnia to Paul Newman in a very real courtroom.

The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian

Thank heavens for a family blockbuster that manages to combine religious symbolism, rip-roaring adventure and genuine directorial verve – the earlier part of the year was tainted by Chris Weitz’s appalling pseudo alternate-universe mess The Golden Compass, based on Philip Pullman’s God-awful novel of the same name.

Thank heavens, again, then, for C.S. Lewis, whose sequel to The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe has been brought to the screen by Andrew Adamson (director of the first Narnia film in 2005, as well as Shrek (2001) and Shrek 2 (2004)) with the magic of Lewis’s imaginative, fantasy world still very much in place.

Replacing some of the first film’s innocence and wonder with a studied (if Disney-esque) analysis of what it really means to be ‘grown up’ sits well in the context of the story, which, to be fair, is the nearest that Lewis came in his original novels and Disney is likely to come to making a war story.

Young Prince Caspian (Ben Barnes) has been driven out of his castle by his megalomaniacal uncle, King Miraz (Sergio Castellito). In desperation he summons the Pevensie siblings back to the magic land they left - the Narnia from the first film is now lost 1,500 years in the past, even though it’s only been a year for the Pevensies. The Lion Aslan’s land has been rendered a much darker territory thanks to human invasion – the world’s magical creatures have been murdered and sent into hiding. Peter (William Moseley), Susan (Anna Popplewell), Edmund (Skandar Keynes) and Lucy (Georgie Henley) arrive to discover everyone they knew to be long since dead, but they strive to help Caspian unite Narnia’s surviving dwarfs, centaurs, talking badgers, and other magical beings into an army to fight off Miraz and his hordes of Tellamarines.

Wardrobe’s CGI gripes seem by and large to have been resolved for the sequel, which brings an extra depth to the battle sequences, which are truly spectacular. Comparisons with Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings trilogy seem inevitable, but, then again, there was more than a little in common between Tolkien and Lewis’s original literary visions. The acting overall is sound – the young cast’s occasional awkwardness in fact adds to the charm and, while The Chronicles of Narnia still seem to lack some of the subtlety of the very best of the fantasy genre, Adamson is still bidding fair to emboss his directorial seal over what seem likely to continue being very enjoyable adaptations.

147 mins.

French re-release - The Verdict (1982)

While Sidney Lumet’s magisterial courtroom drama The Verdict was in fact made in 1982, one can forgive (nay, applaud) the French for this 25th anniversary re-release, as it didn’t reach Gallic soil until early 1983.

Frankly, any excuse is good enough to savour this masterpiece once more – a work from one of America’s most accomplished directors (Twelve Angry Men (1957), Dog Day Afternoon (1975), Network (1976) Equus (1977), just for example) absolutely at the height of his powers, a David Mamet adaptation of Barry Reed’s novel that simply crackles, an ensemble cast led by Paul Newman and James Mason – and a heart-wrenching but ultimately life-affirming and heart-lifting yarn, without a hint of sentimentality. Good lord, you’d be mad to miss it.

Newman (in yet another role which, unbelievably, did not net him the Best Actor Oscar) plays Frank Galvin, a down-on-his-luck lawyer reduced to near-alcoholism and ambulance chasing. But when his former associate Mickey Morrissey (Jack Warden) tries to help him out with a medical malpractice suit, one that normally Galvin would settle early for the fast buck, the lawyer sees a chance to regain his reputation and self-respect by taking the case to trial and attempting to get justice for his clients. Realizing that the stakes are very high and that their doctor is criminally negligent, the health authority in question hires brilliant defence attorney Ed Concannon (James Mason), who knows only too well how to play dirty…

Courtroom dramas have by and large descended into contrived cliché of late, but this is a real chance to rediscover just how electrifying the genre can be. Newman as Galvin is a mask of pain, Mason a devilishly entertaining tormentor, while Charlotte Rampling provides the thorny, duplicitous love interest.
 
And the ending? Perish the thought that my reviews are becoming hyperbolic, but Newman’s summation is the finest slice of courtroom emotion ever put on screen. Do yourself a huge favour, and take the case.

129 mins.

James Drew

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(expatica 2008)