the interpreter
Director: Sydney Pollack Cast: Nicole Kidman, Sean Penn, Catherine Keener, Earl Cameron,George Harris, Yvan Attal
5.5/10
You can expect just about anything from Sydney Pollack. The veteran director’s oeuvre consists of such diverse genres (Tootsie, Out of Africa) that his repertoire is hard to figure out. And unfortunately, so is the plot of his latest movie, The Interpreter. A political intrigue on the face of it, the film’s treatment is typically nonchalant Hollywood. Semblance of exploring in-depth, complex, socio-political realities of Third World underbelly. But really, simplistic surface scratching.
Interpreter (Nicole) working at the UN overhears plot to assassinate African head of state. Her life becomes a nightmare when conspirators recognise her. And Secret Service agent (Sean), assigned to investigate her, uncovers her African past, linking it to a chain of conspiracies unfolding in presentday New York.
Thoroughly engaging at first with slick filmcraft and meticulous art direction (the UN interiors seem genuinely authentic), the story later becomes convoluted with mingled subplots and mangled agendas of too many characters ? ex-rebels, terrorists, suicide bombers. And too many things happen without proper explanation or interpretation!
What should’ve happened instead is more in-your-face romance between Nicole and Sean, both great actors who look great together. Except when disconcertedly groping, hoping perhaps that they didn’t have to spew banal rhetoric like ‘Diplomacy alone, not violence is the answer.’ Phew! A more credible cliche would’ve been to see them walk hand-in-hand into the much-altered-by-9/11 New York skyline.
Mandira Mitra
madagascar
Director: Eric Darnell, Tom McGrath Cast: (Voices) Ben Stiller, Chris Rock, David Schwimmer, Jada Pinkett Smith
5.5/10
When the jungle calls, whether it’s Mowgli the jungle boy or Marty the Zebra, it’s impossible not to respond. When in spite of all the pep talk given by Alex the lion, Melman the giraffe and Gloria the hippo, Marty still decides to break free from their New York zoo, the others follow him in pursuit to persuade him back.
But all land up at the island of Madagascar in Africa, instead. Where there are no people, except the few remains of people who have been. It doesn’t take the four friends long to realise that a Manhattan is any day preferable to the wild jungles of Madagascar.
Kids will definitely have a blast with this long-awaited jungle party by Eric Darnell and Tom McGrath. But none of the four will become for them what a Shrek or Nemo or Mowgli or the family of Incredibles could become.
Deepali Singh
babu moshai
Director: Milan Bhowmik Cast: Ashutosh Rana, Shilajit, Rachana Banerjee, Abhishek Chatterjee, Koneenica Banerjee, Laboni Sarkar, Ramaprasad Banik, Biswajit Chakraborty, Lily Chakraborty, Biplab Chatterjee, Kaushik Banerjee, Mohammed Nasim
3.5/10
Whether it is to make Ashutosh feel comfortable doing a Bengali film or sheer lack of imagination, the film is called Babu Moshai (of course making a dhoti-clad phoolbabu of Ashutosh). The villains are known as Lankeshwar (Biswajit) and Teja (Kaushik) and the corrupt cop (Ramaprasad) sings Dekha hai paheli baar and updates to Chhaiyyan chhaiyyan later.
The film looks dated and there is nothing new for the cast to do, really. Ashutosh carries his dhoti and dramatics well. Rachana is there too, doing nothing but shedding tears throughout, quite understandably as she’s cast opposite Shilajit. Of course, Shilajit has an appeal of his own, so why waste it here? Even Koneenica’s role opposite Abhishek is no great shakes. Actually, the film belongs to Ashutosh and is shaped up like a Mithun starrer. But Ashutosh is no Mithun and Babu Moshai is hardly Bangali Babu.
Madhuparna Das
shudhu Bhalobasha
Director: Raj Mukherjee Cast: Jisshu Sengupta, Rachana Banerjee, Samata Das, Anamika Saha, Manoj Mitra, Jay Badlani, Partha Sarathi Deb, Tapas Paul
4/10
The Jisshu-Samata pairing in Raj Mukherjee’s Shudhu Bhalobasha looks far more fresh than the Jisshu-Rachana pairing. It’s not just because Samata is younger and looks better matching steps with Jisshu, it’s because she emotes far better than Rachana, especially in the dramatic scenes. Rachana has a tendency to look hysterical every time she has to cry, in film after film while Samata, being newer, looks more convincing.
Deepali Singh
