James McAvoy: "Welcome to the Punch" (Cinema Blend)

MOVIE NEWS

Welcome to the Punch opens September 7, 2012 in the U.K. It should hit North American cinemas sometime this year. It stars McAvoy, Strong, Peter Mullan (awesome) and the lovely Andrea Riseborough. 

First Look At James McAvoy In British Thriller Welcome To The Punch

Jesse Carp

Read More:  http://www.cinemablend.com/new/First-Look-James-McAvoy-British-Thriller-Welcome-Punch-29094.html

Welcome to the Punchnot only features a great cast, headed by McAvoy and the sensational Mark Strong, but also a really interesting action premise. The film follows Detective Max Lewinsky (McAvoy) who's still steaming about the one that got away, namely, criminal Jacob Sternwood (Strong) who successfully fled to an Icelandic hideout. But when Jacob's son finds himself in some trouble, Papa Sternwood has to come back to London to sort everything out. Hearing about his return, Lewinsky jumps at his final chance to bring the man to justice, that is, until something forces them to put aside their differences, work together and uncover an even larger conspiracy. Weren't expecting that part were you?

While we may have seen many good and bad guys form unlikely partnerships (3:10 to Yuma and next month's Safe House instantly come to mind) the prospect of McAvoy and Strong as an on-screen pair is incredibly enticing. Screen Daily was able to catch up with the creative team behind the project, detailing the entire journey from putting Shifty together to approaching this second film without worrying so much about budgetary limitations. On the screenplay, Creevy said that “We wanted to be as ambitious as possible. People are held back by a budget and a concept sometimes, but I knew that if I made it good enough it wouldn’t matter.” And good it must be since the script for Punch placed third on the 2010 Brit List (the British version of the Black List).

REVIEW: ‘Tyrannosaur.’ A British Indie With Great Acting but a Bleak Tone.

 By Tim Grierson | The Projector – Tue, Nov 15, 2011 4:00 PM EST

Strand Releasing

"Tyrannosaur" is very much an actors' movie, which turns out to be as much of a mixed blessing as you might expect. Written and directed by Paddy Considine (the star of "In America"), the film brings together a small collection of superb performers (including Peter Mullan and Eddie Marsan) to deliver sensitive, tough material in an honest, affecting way. But while you get pulled in by the drama and the unflinching performances, "Tyrannosaur" is never more than its unlucky characters milling about in their misery. You long for a story as interesting as the cast.

The movie's despairing tone matches the gray British skies hanging over the characters. Joseph (Mullan) is a drinker still reeling from his wife's death about five years ago. He's a violent cuss and it appears that his rundown home hasn't been cleaned up since his spouse passed. Then one day he meets Hannah (Olivia Colman), a religious woman who runs a secondhand clothing store. Joseph doesn't want her prayers, but he does become concerned for the woman's welfare after realizing she's in a physically abusive relationship with her husband James (Marsan).

This is Considine's feature directorial debut, although he made a short film ("Dog Altogether") that starred Mullan and Colman and focused on the Joseph character. While I haven't seen the short, it's not surprising that "Tyrannosaur" builds around Joseph since he's clearly the story's anchor. Recalling the aging, angry men in "Gran Torino" and "Harry Brown," Joseph isn't someone we're supposed to savor as some adorable old crank. No, Joseph is a mean, cruel person -- he takes particular joy in telling Hannah how little he cares about God -- and his sad situation isn't meant to entirely rationalize his gruff behavior.

But while Mullan, who's been in "Trainspotting" and the forthcoming "War Horse," doesn't make you love Joseph, he does give the character a taciturn consistency that at least allows you to understand him. Joseph's attempts to help Hannah are in some ways predictable -- the old meany finds redemption by helping the young, good-hearted woman -- but Considine doesn't make anything easy on anybody in his movie. The three principals in "Tyrannosaur" are all stubborn and frustrating in their own way, and while Hannah is easily the most sympathetic she too has issues that threaten to destroy her. There's no clear-cut happy ending for these people, and "Tyrannosaur" makes you understand that reality in often poignant ways.

Considine has largely starred in dramas over his career -- although he has done cheeky comedy in "Hot Fuzz" and "Submarine" -- and "Tyrannosaur" has its moments of dark humor amidst the despair. What it doesn't have, sadly, is a lot of forward momentum. Considine invests in his characters, and he and his actors work to make them as lived-in as possible. (There are several scenes that feel like they'd be good acting showcases for aspiring thespians to study in order to learn subtlety and nuance.) But the movie's unrelenting misery can start to feel like a crutch, as if Considine and his cast equated bleakness with truth. It's hardly a debilitating problem, but it does keep "Tyrannosaur" from being as absorbing as it could be. Considine has made a movie about people living on the margins, so it's unfortunate that it's only marginally effective.

Grade: B

 (sorry agaiu about the advertisement in the beginning - can't seem to get away from them)

The Projector