Film Review: In the Loop

Peter Capaldi as Malcolm and James Gandolfini as General Miller in IN THE LOOP, directed by Armando Iannucci.

Film
In the Loop
Released January 21, 2010

After the film was over I felt dirty. It was as if all those hours of idealizing the policy makers of The West Wing were in vain. Is this what politics is really like?

The characters of In the Loop, a scathing political comedy, are either selfishly manipulative or clueless. In the former category are Brit spin doctor Malcolm Tucker (played with profane relish by Peter Capaldi) and American warmonger Linton Barwick (David Rasche). In the latter is the bumbling British MP Simon Foster (Tom Hollander), who mumbles suggestive platitudes about a possible war in the Middle East. “To walk the road of peace,” he says, “sometimes we need to be ready to climb…the mountain…of conflict.” This understandably ruffles Whitehall’s feathers, and soon he finds himself a pawn in a trans-Atlantic game to justify a war. Iraq is never named, but the allegory is plain.

Anna Chlumsky (My Girl, all grown up) shows admirable comedic chops as an assistant in Washington who is wooed by Foster’s aide Toby (Chris Addison). And a deadpan Gina McKee plays the British Director of Communications, one of the few characters with a modicum of sense, and hence is always hilariously on the receiving end of Tucker’s venom.

Director Armando Iannucci has adapted his BBC series The Thick of It, drawn upon the zaniness of Dr. Strangelove and blended it with the pseudo-documentary style of The Office to craft one of the most entertaining and timely political satires in years.

It’s also utterly hysterical, with dozens of throwaway one-liners that also offer sly observation. Hollander is a lovable fumbling klutz and a good foil for Capaldi. When asked his opinion in a Washington committee meeting all he can muster is that it is “difficult, difficult, lemon, difficult.” You have to at least admire his honesty.

Born from the Bush era of politics, In the Loop is an apt reminder of how easy it is for those in power to misuse it for their own selfish ends. All those hours of The West Wing may not have been in vain, but even the most idealistic need a reality check once in a while.

4.5/5
Joshua Blackman

Sydney Festival: Six Characters in Search of an Author (UK)

Headlong Theatre's production of Six Characters In Search of an Author.

Seymour Centre
Six Characters In Search Of An Author (UK)
Runs until January 31

Play the part of you. Play the part of something true. And what could be more true to life than one’s own reality? Not some sham representation of a life played by actors with created emotions, but the real thing. The real characters destined to live in the same fixed way and be remembered as such. This is the premise of Six Characters in Search of an Author (SCSA) as six dour characters, abandoned by their author mid-story, enter the stage begging a film producer to tell, and consequently finish, their story.

Is it a story they wish to have told, or is it their lives? As the play advances and the history of sexual encounters and ruined relationships that has lead to their current state is re-lived, their reality is questioned. Are they merely fictitious characters or are they in fact more real than we?

Written in 1921 by Italian playwright Luigi Pirandello, this probing piece of absurdist theatre sparked much controversy before finding its place in the theatrical canon. But this isn’t Pirandello’s play as it was delivered then. Headlong Theatre’s 21st-Century, multimedia adaptation is a poignant piece that transcends theatre (and film) conventions, and chills with its unerring tepidity – particularly by the commendable performance of the almost mute children.

SCSA not only updates this play in time, it builds on it in meaning. Extending the themes past Pirandello’s third act, SCSA presents questions about the realm of the real, the role of the author and the validity of the entertainment industry that, though nowhere near as controversial as the original, leaves the audience with plenty to think about.

4/5
Stephanie Yip

Sydney Festival: The Manganiyar Seduction

Seymour Centre
The Manganiyar Seduction
Reviewed January 13

As promised, Roysten Abel’s popular production transforms a concert of traditional Indian music into a sparkling theatrical delight, presenting its 43 Rajisthani musicians in a sort of “advent calendar” of musical delights.

The performers sit behind red curtains in a multi-tiered structure of single compartments. The performance begins with one curtain opening, and a man begins to play his sarangi (similar in appearance to a chinese zither). The basic premise is that the musicians and singers gradually phase in, with curtains opening, instruments joining, and the sounds becoming more rich and diverse – from various sizes and timbres of drum to different bowed and plucked instruments and wood-winds.

To a greater extent than I had expected, the musicians bow in and out of the weave, and the intensity and energy of the piece ebbs and flows. At a certain point the conductor, Daevo Khan, emerges to coordinate the intricate score, with the aid of finger clackers, which he operates with awe-inspiring dexterity.

The Manganiyars are a hereditary caste of Muslim musicians from North India, and the way Abel talks about their sound, it is closer to soul music than classical music. Although the singers are not surtitled, you get the sense that master storytellers are at work, from the expressiveness of their faces, to the way their hands often seem to weave the music before your very eyes.

If it’s a seduction, it’s the earthy, enthusiastic kind rather than anything sultry or understated – although no less persuasive! Mesmerized throughout the performance, the audience unanimously rose to their feet for an extended standing ovation at the end..

4/5
Dee Jefferson

Sydney Festival: Smoke & Mirrors (Spiegeltent)

The Famous Spiegeltent
Smoke & Mirrors
Runs til January 31.

Smoke & Mirrors might just be the highlight of this year’s Sydney Festival. So far all the festival talk has been of Hamlet, but on its opening night, this “Aussie La Clique,” specially produced to celebrate the 90th anniversary of the Famous Spiegeltent, left the crowd in an awed frenzy.

Part vaudeville, part fantasy, this twisted circus seduces you into the atmosphere of the Spiegeltent, taking you on a fantastic journey of music, magic and acrobats, with an eclectic troupe of talent that includes some of Australia’s best cabaret, circus and music performers.

The physical side of the theatre is breathtaking, but the show is stolen
by actor/musician iOTA who, pending DNA tests, could conceivably be the love child of David Bowie and Iggy Pop. Supported by the wonderful Smoke & Mirrors band, the über-talented rocker prowls around the stage with wit, showmanship and a voice that penetrates the haze of the tent..

Collaborating once again after the award-winning Hedwig and the Angry Inch, director Craig Ilott and iOTA have created something special, that is the pick of the festival so far, so step right up and let Smoke & Mirrors guide you on a unforgettable journey through the history of the Famous Spiegeltent.

5/5
Michael Storey

Theatre Review: Monster of the Deep 3D (Belvoir)

Belvoir St theatre (downstairs)
Monster of the Deep 3D
Runs until February 12.

Claudia O’Doherty’s aquatic-themed comedy Monster of the Deep 3D begins with a somewhat nervously delivered documentary-style presentation on the underwater “Aquaplex” civilization, and how O’Doherty came to be its only survivor.

O’Doherty comes across as overwhelmingly earnest and enthused as she crafts a stage persona so adorable, innocent and geeky that you almost believe she is in fact, the last remaining survivor of Aquaplex. And you begin to miss it with her.
She continues on a factual journey of Aquaplex, injected with graphs and diagrams, dramatic descriptions, humour, song, and even a highly bizarre dance routine. From her on-stage realization that it was a community of swingers, to her re-enactments of murderous colossal squid, it’s more in the delivery than in the content.

Monster of the Deep 3D won’t, however, have you in stitches. The humour is more delicately woven around stories and memories of Aquaplex, which makes this production beautiful, unexpected and quirky. Technical descriptions can sometimes feel a little too long and verbose; yet the nymph-like O’Doherty, is utterly captivating.

With a unique and precocious talent, it’s easy to see why she was recently awarded for Best Comedy at Melbourne’s 2009 Fringe Festival. Monster of the Deep 3D is a truly unique performance, and should not be missed by those who love the unusual.

4/5
Xanthe Seacret

Theatre Review: Optimism (STC)

Drama Theatre, Sydney Opera House
Optimism
Runs until February 20.

I think if you left a production titled Optimism without feeling even a little bit happy, you’d probably be somewhat disappointed. Thankfully this is not the case with Sydney Theatre Company’s latest production, showing as part of Sydney Festival. And for someone who really, really hates clowns, even this circus-themed visual extravaganza couldn’t dampen my mood.

Director Michael Kantor’s re-imagining of Voltaire’s classic 18th century novel Candide is a hysterical modern day look at if happiness can prevail in an age of economic downturn, global warming and terrorism. Frank Woodley steals the show as the perpetually cheery Candide who sets off on a global quest to find his true love – but the entire cast of Optimism is faultless. It is obvious how much fun they are having onstage, with fabulous ad-libbing often providing an unexpected highlight. Ultimately, it’s infectious.

Kantor’s approach to Voltaire’s work is unbridled and nothing is off limits – even Jesus gets compared to a poo; so if you have any unwavering sensitivities, you need to leave them in the foyer. In saying that, I have to admit the abundance of rape jokes got a little difficult to take.

Composer Iain Grandage, sound designer Russell Goldsmith and lighting designer Paul Jackson are to be commended on their incredible work on this production, with each element meshing perfectly and producing a visual and audio ride that is a sheer delight.

Despite the colourful exterior, Candide’s encounters with infidelity, war, religion, plague and the misfortunes of a series of globetrotters call into question the notion that everything will turn out for the best. And if you’re prepared to suspend disbelief and sit through ‘The Hamster Song’, it’s the most fun way I can think of to contemplate something so serious.

4/5
Jane Stabler

Film Review: Law Abiding Citizen

Jamie Foxx and Gerard Butler get bitchy in Law Abiding Citizen.

Film
Law Abiding Citizen
Released January 28, 2010.

A lot of platitudes are thrown around in F. Gary Gray‘s new thriller, most of them by the psychopathic serial killer Clyde Shelton played by Gerard Butler. He voices fears about a judicial system more concerned with legal wrangling than with honest justice. You might sympathize with him for a little while, but less so after witnessing his alternative: the dismemberment of an alive but paralysed victim, Saw-style, one limb at a time.

Mercifully this occurs off screen, but it’s not the only bit of nasty in this trashy mix of Silence of the Lambs and Seven, that is nonetheless disturbingly entertaining thanks to a healthy dose of ludicrousness.

In the opening scene, Clyde’s wife and daughter are killed, and prosecutor Nick Rice (Jamie Foxx) makes a deal with the killers to ensure a sentence (“It’s not what you know, but what can be proven in court,” he says). Clyde is furious and directs his vengeance at the killers and system that let them off lightly. The twist is that he is behind bars when the revenge killings begin. How is he committing these crimes? Does he have an accomplice? And if so, who?

The final answer is as absurd as some of the gleefully over-the-top killings, which in the latter stages shift from torture porn malice to cheesy action movie clichés. The big moments are broadcast too early, making the surprise less about when and who, and more about how.

Despite all this, Law Abiding Citizen is suspenseful and decently made. Foxx and Butler make adequate adversaries, with the latter particularly having fun with the lip-smacking sociopathic traits of his character. I wonder what the film would be like if the lead actors switched roles, as was originally intended. Perhaps not so different, if the script was still written by Kurt Wimmer (Equilibrium, Ultraviolet). The script is the source of most of the movie’s problems, but also some of its pleasures. Any movie that has a vicious unprovoked murder with a t-bone has to have something going for it.

2.5/5
Joshua Blackman

Theatre Review: Tot Mom (STC)

Essie Davis and Zoe Carides in Sydney Theatre Company’s Tot Mom
© Lisa Tomasetti. Sydney Theatre Company.

Sydney Theatre Company
Tot Mom
Runs until January 31.

Steven Soderbergh’s Tot Mom (pronounced Taht Mawm, American style) is a searing indictment of America’s “media-as-entertainment” culture, particularly their insatiable apetite for true crime, as manifested in media coverage of the OJ Simpson trial, and the popularity of shows like Judge Judy and the Nancy Grace show.

Soderbergh as attacked this facet of American culture through the prism of one particularly sordid case, as analysed on CNN’s Nancy Grace – the case of 23-year-old single mother Casey Anthony, who has been indicted on suspicion of murdering her 3-year-old infant Caylee in 2008.

The case transfixed America – thanks in no small part to Grace’s show, which followed the case in minute detail, including interviewing those involved in the case, broadcasting the original 911 calls by Casey’s mother to the police, and reporting each piece of evidence as it came to light. And all this before the case has even gone to trial – which is scheduled for June this year.

Tot Mom fits into the “Verbatim” genre, theatre which is created from actual transcripts, recorded interviews, phone calls, emails etc, relating to the event in question. In this case, Soderbergh has collated interviews and conversations from the Grace show, which form the basis of the work. 911 calls, and phone calls that Casey Anthony made to her brother from jail, are played back in their raw form; footage from the Grace show, on the other hand, is acted out by the cast, which includes Wayne Blair, Darren Gilshenan, Zoe Carides and Essie Davis, playing blonde bombshell Nancy Grace.

If Davis’ performance seems overblown at times – perhaps even erring on the side of caricature – it’s worth looking up footage of Grace on YouTube, for evidence of just how closely Davis has studied her part. She even has Grace’s odd inflection of “Caylee”, which sounds slightly mangled, down pat.

Verbatim theatre has allowed Soderbergh to re-arrange “reality” – to edit and re-order it in the same way that Grace does, in fact; it also draws the audience’s attention to the fact that this is entertainment. Grace’s show presents the story as a who-dunnit –and the fact that it relates to real people makes it even more thrilling.

On a deeper level, Soderbergh puts you, the audience, in the uncomfortable position of culpability: here you are being damn-well entertained by the story of a 3-year-old child who has been brutally murdered. No-one, in this scenario, is spotless – and you find yourself interrogating your own reasons for being in the theatre tonight. I also found myself interrogating Soderbergh’s reasons for choosing this particular case – if all he wanted to do (as he claims) was look at how the media relates to crime, then he could have picked any number of less sordid cases. But would they have the same shock appeal?

4/5
Dee Jefferson