Wild Target

Wild Target
Category: Movies, TV, Celebrities

Last week during The Losers a trailer came on for Wild Target a British comedy that the reasonably knowledgeable Nerdy Trio of Hilts, Emma-hen and myself, the sandal wearing crippled McQueen had never heard of. It was an enjoyable two minutes and said enjoyment was duly noted by Emma-hen who had the sense to research the release date which was conveniently one week after our introduction to the movie.

In our warped little group it is only natural that a sunny Saturday should be spend in the cinema therefore this afternoon we went to see Wild Target

PLOT: Emily Blunt plays Rose, the most brazen thief to grace the streets of London since The Artful Dodger, who cheats Rupert Everett out of £900,000.00 by selling him a fake stolen painting. Bill Nighy is Victor Maynard the hitman hired to take her out. Victor follows Rose around London shocked at her thieving ways and just as he finds an opportunity to take the killing shot he has a change of heart and saves her from being assassinated by another marksman. As they escape they run into Rupert Grint’s Tony and the three become fugitives on the run from Martin Sheens super assassin. Rose and Victor Maynard spend their time bickering whilst Rupert Grint spends 90mins trying (fails) to grow a trendy beard in a (failed) attempt to differentiate Tony from Ron Weasley.
Victor decides to adopt Tony as his heir to the empire he and his mother have created. Rose steals all that isn’t bolted down and Tony takes an alarming amount of baths. Rose discovers Victor was hired to kill her. Rose and Victor Maynard fall out. Victor saves Rose and they fall in love and they all move to the countryside to live out the remainder of their days. END PLOT

Although the movie is a remake of a French film in this version Wild Target is quintessentially British.

Bill Nighy plays the most British of British assassins and he does so brilliantly.

Emily Blunt is becoming a firm favourite of The Nerdy Trio and here she was having a bit of fun playing a character who would swipe the eye out of your head if you took too long to blink.

Rupert Grint was fun as the hapless Tony but it wasn’t a far cry from the hapless Ron.

The supporting cast was a who’s who of British talent with Rupert Everett and Eileen Atkins to name but a few.

The plot was fine. It moved along quite quickly, almost too quickly as Rose and Victor Maynard (for some reason the character works better be referred to by his full name) go from fightin’ to lovin’ in pretty much one scene.

The comedy was mostly made up of one snappy one liners and misaimed gun shots, most of which were at the hands of Tony. The humour again was very British in the same vein of Shaun of the Dead although unfortunately not in the same league.

There are some very good scenes - the car park scene, the ear scene and a Happy Birthday Victor Maynard scene which is so bizarre it boarders on brilliant.

The movie, although clearly filmed on a very modest budget looks good and was suited to the streets of London and all the familiar sights one would expect to see from London were there in all their glory.

Wild Target isn’t the strongest movie to have ever graced the big screen and I have feeling it will come and go with little notice taken of it which is a shame as it has enough charm to more than see it through.

The film passes 90mins very well with its main strength lying in the group dynamic of the three main characters but you get the sense that it would make a better offbeat tv series rather than a stand alone film. It is very easy to see Rose, Victor Maynard and Tony causing havoc on the streets of London with totally illegal yet totally likeable means.

Wild Target gets a 7/10. The potential is there is just didn’t quite hit the bulls eye.

Read more: http://blogs.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.ListAll&friendId=456513323#ixzz0rKzikS4x

There are times that the only reason I end up going to see a film is because Hilts and Emma-hen are going and I would find myself losing sleep over the fact that they were in attendance at the cinema without me. Admittedly it is a rather childish philosophy even by my immature standards but it does mean that I get to see movies that would otherwise pass me by. I would never have seen The Blind Side if it wasn’t for them and today I found myself sitting in premier seating (where else) to watch Letters to Juliet.

PLOT: Sophie (Amanda Seyfried) and her fiancé Victor (Gael Garcia Bernal) go on a pre-wedding honeymoon to Verona. Sophie is ditched by Victor who would prefer to go and look at truffles rather than spend any quality time with his betrothed. Whilst walking around Verona Sophie stumbles upon the Wall of Juliet, of Romeo and Juliet fame, which is filled with letters to Juliet (duh). Due to her brazened nosiness, or perhaps she just wanted company after being ditched on holiday, Sophie meets the Secretary’s of Verona who are a group of four locals who reply to the letters. After responding to a letter from Claire (Vanessa Redgrave) which was written fifty years ago Claire and her grandson Charlie appear in Verona after a suspiciously short time frame in order to locate her first love - the Italian postal service appears to be much more efficient than the Royal Mail. Sophie, Claire and Charlie travel around Italy looking for Claire’s lost love Lorenzo, which, according to the film is such a popular name in Italy the Irish equivalent would be entering a crowded bar and screaming out “Paddy” naively expecting the exact Paddy to appear. Sophie and Charlie fight. Sophie and Charlie become friends. Claire finally meets Lorenzo. Sophie dumps Victor. There is a miscommunication between Sophie and Charlie which almost ruins any prospect of a meaningful relationship. The miscommunication is clarified. Charlie and Sophie, Lorenzo and Claire all live happily ever after in a Bertolli advertisement. END PLOT

Letters to Juliet is not the sort of movie I would normally go for. As time is ticking on I appear to be getting more sentimental when it comes to enjoying films and I think that crying during The Blind Side (poor Michael never had a bed until he met Sandra Bullock) has worryingly broken the damn and if I am being honest I didn’t mind watching the film at all.

The plot is by no means original but Amanda Seyfried has the charisma and likeability to carry the movie and with Vanessa Redgrave adding some acting class you do find yourself getting lost in the story even though you know exactly how it is going to end. During the great “Sophie/Charlie Declaration of Love” scene Charlie fell off the balcony due to his British clumsiness and wise Hilts commented that if he had died at that particular moment it would have made the movie a bit more shocking. This sarcastic remark was the most entertaining of the entire 90mins.

There are a few light hearted moments mostly in the form of stiff upper class British snobbery but they do fit in well with the cast.

If the plot doesn’t appeal to you then go and see the movie just for the scenery. I know Italy is not made up of dusty single lane roads (there were no cars in the movie other than the Charlie drove) with vineyards on either side but it did look pretty. I will be in Florence this day three weeks time (however will you all cope without my weekend blogging one wonders…) and Letters to Juliet has managed to increase my excitement.

The sound track was filled with Italian versions of well known songs such as I’m a Believer. I will be taking a good look at the soundtrack whenever it appears on I-Tunes although it may only have worked with the film

Letters to Juliet gets a 6/10. I cant imagine I will rent it and I certainly wouldn’t buy it but if I catch Letters to Juliet on television in a couple of years time then I may watch it if there is nothing else on. Letters to Juliet was predictable, cheesy and 100% unoriginal but it killed a Saturday afternoon quite nicely which save it from being returned to sender.