March 30, 2018

Welcome to TFCA Friday, a weekly round-up of film reviews and articles by TFCA critics.

Opening this Week

C’est La Vie (dirs. Olivier Nakache and Éric Toledano)

“Spends a lot of time keeping its plates spinning (and napkins twirling) as the filmmakers parade a series of eccentric characters before their camera, the better to let us appreciate this farce we call modern life” — Norm Wilner, NOW Magazine

“The laughs still bring tears to my eyes. Very funny and very entertaining!” — Gilbert Seah, Toronto-Franco

“Not quite the feel-good laugh-fest that was 2011’s The Intouchables (remade last year in the U.S. as The Upside). But this Altman-esque look at the life of a wedding planner has its own modern charms” — Chris Knight, The National Post

The China Hustle (dir. Jed Rothstein)

“Gets a little repetitive after a while, but Rothstein does an even better job of explaining investment jargon than Adam McKay did in The Big Short” — Peter Howell, The Toronto Star

“As [it] goes on, racking up hard data and some interesting side stories, Rothstein loses faith in the material’s dramatic potential” — Norm Wilner, NOW Magazine

“Practically a seamless sequel to The Big Short. And it should make you just as angry, if not more, at the fox-in-the-henhouse scenario of the U.S. stock market” — Jim Slotek, Original-Cin.ca

“By the midpoint of this newest economic-malfeasance documentary, you may be prepared to put your money into mattresses – literally” — Chris Knight, The National Post

Fourplay (dir. Dean Matthew Ronalds)

“Feels at times too much of a set-up… often turns out more as a contest between male vs. female, rather than one about couples” — Gilbert Seah, Festival Reviews

Journey’s End (dir. Saul Dibb)

“Set in Northern France during the final spring of the First World War, this effective new iteration of R.C. Sherriff’s oft-adapted novel plunges us into British trenches shored up with the cadavers of fallen soldiers” — José Teodoro, NOW Magazine

“A gripping, well-acted production that conveys a powerful sense of war’s absurdity” — Liam Lacey (with an interview featuring Dibb), Original-Cin.ca

“A story that needs repeating to remind the world of the futility of war” — Gilbert Seah, Festival Reviews

“The real tension in the film is the coming attack, which has been rumoured for weeks. From a hundred years away, it’s a relief to know that the war will be over soon, and a terror to think what will need to happen first” — Chris Knight, The National Post

Maker of Monsters: The Extraordinary Life of Beau Dick (dirs. LaTiesha Ti’si’tla Fazakas and Natalie Boll)

“[Features] many stunning shots of British Columbia … [going] on to detail the history of the man and his ancestors before he became famous” — Gilbert Seah, Festival Reviews

Mary Goes Round (dir. Molly McGlynn)

“[A] confident first feature [that takes] a slightly familiar premise and invests it with spiky energy, richly drawn characters and a streak of caustic humour” — Norm Wilner, NOW Magazine

“Dramatic, smart, and funny throughout” — Gilbert Seah, Festival Reviews

Ready Player One (dir. Steven Spielberg)

“The story plays like a cracking good Spielberg yarn all on its own, loaded with 1980s pop-culture shout-outs” — Peter Howell, The Toronto Star

“Should make fans of 80s movies, music and video games geek out, but it – and the convoluted way the story’s unveiled – might alienate others” — Glenn Sumi, NOW Magazine

“Spielberg in popcorn mode, and it’s his best in the genre since 2011’s Tintin, and a fair sight better than the lumbering BFG from 2016” — Chris Knight, The National Post

“Like watching high-speed drone footage, flying over a flea market, filled with outdated game consoles, posters, forgotten DVDs and CDs” — Liam Lacey, Original-Cin.ca

“Astounds as it bores, is soulful as it is soulless, a contradiction in entertainment. Nevertheless, a successful failure” — Gilbert Seah, Festival Reviews