The Wrestler (15)
Ex-wrestler Mickey Rourke delivers an incredible performance has Randy "the Ram" Robinson - an aging wrestler who's life consists of wrestling, working in a supermarket chain, going to a strip club and occasionally playing video games with the neighbours children. But it's mainly about wrestling. His only family is daughter Stephanie (Evan Rachel Wood) who after years of broken promises, wants nothing to do with him. The film is raw and gruesome in parts, it has a unrehearsed chaotic quality to it (about a 1/3 of it was improvised by the actors). It's also honest and incredibly sad as Randy's health deteriorates and he puts his empty life into the frame. Definately worth a visit to the cinema - utterly spellbinding.
Slumdog Millionaire (15)
The Feelgood film of the Century? I have to disagree.
Slumdog is the story of Jamal Malik, an 18 year old from the slums of Mumbai who is one question away from winning 20 million rupees on Who Wants to be a Millionaire. But, during a break he is arrested and is accused of cheating; how could a slumdog know all the answers?
Jamal begins to tell the story of his life, how him and his brother grew up and by a strange twist of fate, each chapter of his story reveals how he knew the answers to the questions. Of course there's a love interest, of course there's good indian-influenced soundtrack and of course, everything is ok in the end. It lasted too long, and for a film that's rumoured to win a number of oscars, i really didn't care enough about it.
