FRACTURE

Sky and I decided to watch a movie today. After giving a few recommendations, I typically leave the choice to Sky. During the time that Sky takes to pick a film from one of the three platforms, I manage to watch a film AND write its review.

Sky is a fan of Anthony Hopkins. The first movie that we watched together was The Rite.

After dismissing the movies on Prime and Hotstar, Sky finally decided that he wanted to watch a lawyer movie. So, I suggested Fracture.

Fracture is a 2007 film starring Anthony Hopkins (Hannibal) and Ryan Gosling (Hey Girl, you got to know him!). The Director is Gregory Hoblit, who is also the Director of Primal Fear (one of my favourite legal thrillers).

This film is available on Netflix and listed under the genres of crime movies and crime dramas and listed as dark and suspenseful.

Sky put up with me predicting every move of the characters. Halfway through the movie, I realised that I may have watched this movie earlier. It’s either that or I have great deduction skills.

PLOT: Ted Crawford’s (Anthony Hopkins) wife has been shot dead and he’s been arrested on account of having confessed to the crime. The arresting officer also happens to have a personal grudge against Ted. Willy Beachum (Ryan Gosling) is the District Attorney conducting this trial. Willy has had a 95 percent success rate and has recently been hired by a leading corporate firm. Willy agrees to take on this matter as his last as it’s an open and shut case. But is it?

The police have not been able to retrieve the murder weapon and the case that was already built on a weak foundation begins to crumble. Things aren’t going well on the professional front either as now Willy’s employment with the new firm is at stake.

Will Ted manage to hoodwink the system and escape scot-free?

REVIEW: If you love legal thrillers, courtroom dramas or if you have watched Primal Fear and enjoyed it, you most definitely will enjoy this film too.

The plot is entwined with twists and despite having your detective hat on, you may not be able to predict the next move.

Anthony Hopkins is at his Hannibal best. He has that eery, sinister smile plastered on his face, constantly provoking the District Attorney and even succeeding at it. Gosling is his usual cocky self. He starts off as the smug, “I’ve never lost a case” lawyer until he has his smile wiped off his face by Hopkins (not literally though, remember this isn’t Hannibal!)

Rosamund Pike (Gone Girl) plays the role of Gosling’s boss and love interest and barely has much of a role.  

This film is a classic cat and mouse thriller with excellent performances by Hopkins and Gosling and a well-spun script.

TRIVIA: Chris Evans had auditioned for the role of Willy Beachum.

VERDICT: Some old films that had gained enormous popularity during the period of their release have not withstood the test of time. Here’s one that you can watch and still enjoy.

Do you like legal thrillers as well? Then please do follow me on Facebook and Instagram @lucidlucent. 

Image Source - Wikipedia

OZARK

When S began to tell Sky and me about Ozark, I interrupted and asked him my usual question if it was on Prime. When he said it was on Netflix, I half-heartedly continued to listen to him as he went on about it being a great show. I was happy with Prime and the content it offers and despite having been asked to subscribe to Netflix and Hotstar on numerous occasions, refused to do so. I take ages to order in a restaurant if the menu exceeds 5 pages and there have been times when I’ve left home, having already picked the dish off the online menu to save the embarrassment of being asked if I was byhearting the dishes on the menu. You can imagine my consternation when Shugu and Archie gifted me a yearlong subscription for Netflix.

Now, I have numerous movies and series “watch-listed” on all three OTT platforms (yes! I have a Hotstar subscription too now) based on recommendations given by my like-minded friends and I must admit I am enjoying the wide array of choices I now have. I have worked out a system where I alternate between the three so as to devote equal time to all.

Ozark is a Netflix original series and has currently aired 3 seasons.  The 4^th shall be the final season. It is listed under the genres of Crime TV Dramas, TV Thrillers and TV Dramas. It is described as ‘ominous’ and ‘dark’. It is rated 18+ due to its mature content. The series stars Jason Bateman (Arrested Development, Horrible Bosses) and Laura Linney (Primal Fear). The show is created by Bill Dubuque (The Accountant, The Judge).

PLOT: Marty Byrde (Jason Bateman), besides being a financial planner, is also money laundering for a Mexican drug cartel. When his partner is caught embezzling money from the drug mafia, Marty talks his way out from having his eyes gouged and body disposed off in a vat by offering to launder millions for the cartel in Ozark, Missouri. He is offered 3 months’ time to launder 8 million dollars by Del (Esai Morales), the No.1 lieutenant for the cartel. Marty relocates to the Lake of the Ozarks with his family who reluctantly join him - wife, Wendy (Laura Linney) and children, Charlotte and Jason. Life isn’t perfect for Marty on the personal front either. He learns his wife’s secret but is stuck with her in the Ozarks to keep their family safe. 

Season 1 revolves around Marty’s attempts to launder 8 million in three months. His family’s life is at stake as he’s running out of time. Things look bleak with the locals not trusting Marty and his “fancy” financial schemes. To make things worse, the FBI comes sniffing around suspecting Marty to have ties with the mafia. The local lowlifes, the Langmore family has their eye on the bundles of cash hoarded by Marty and will go to any lengths to steal it. Marty has also stepped on the toes of the local heroin dealers, the Snell family who only know one way to deal with opposition.

Will Marty be able to launder the 8 million and save his own and his family’s life from the Mexical drug cartel, the Langmores, the Snells and the FBI?

Review: Would I recommend this show? Yes, most definitely. I have completed Season 1 and reviews claim Season 3 to be the best so far. 

S had cautioned that the start may feel a bit slow. While I found it gripping from start to finish, I need to put this out there as G too had a similar response to this show as S. Do keep in mind that the show is also listed as a Drama series.

I was initially a bit apprehensive when I saw Jason Bateman featured in a crime/thriller/dark series as one generally associates him with comic roles. Bateman usually figures as a sassy individual, often indulging in self-deprecating humour. Bateman has played to his strengths and continues to retain a bit of his usual cheeky self, talking his way out of sticky situations. In the words of Wendy, when during one of their fights she says “What? No dry, witty comeback now?”

Linney is at her usual best. Straight faced and calm. You never know what Wendy is thinking, not one to mince words, not apologetic for any of her actions and has no qualms on breaking the law if it means she can keep her family safe.

The children are portrayed by Sofia Hublitz (Charlotte Byrde) and Skylar Gaertner (Jonah Byrde) , the former a typical moody,  “my life is ruined forever but I can get some good shots here for my Insta” teenager and the latter a self-professed oddball who is caught pulling out the insides from dead animals and wields guns larger than him. Julia Garner as Ruth Langmore, with her southern drawl and violent temper has been winning Emmys. Mrs. Snell, oh well, let me not let out any spoilers now.

The setting and the background score add to the dark theme of the show.

Be prepared for a roller coaster ride. Just when things begin to work in favour of Marty, something goes drastically wrong and then it gets sorted out but not in the way you hoped it would and then something goes wrong again. 

Some scenes may at times, seem just too convenient or clichéd but we shall let that pass.

The show has an inclusive set of characters.

Trivia: Around Episode 3, I noticed that the symbols in the letter O that appears in the opening credits change with each episode. These symbols represent scenes from that episode.

Ozark has been compared to Breaking Bad – “Its like Breaking Bad but more money laundering and less drugs” (source: Internet)

Verdict: I loved it and shall be watching the entire series. Do not watch it expecting it to be a quick-paced thriller series. 

Marty and I share similar ringtones. While he has a cricket chirping, I have the cicada buzzing.

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Image Source - Pinterest 

BADLA

Image Source - IMDb

Plans were made to watch Badla and Archie excitedly messaged on the Whatsapp group that the movie Badla was an adaptation of a Spanish film, The Invisible Guest and announced that she would be watching it before Badla. The five of us sat in the movie hall with our thinking caps on whilst Archie just had a smirk on. She knew how the movie ended and was eager to see if we’d discern the plot.

Archie informs that besides the gender reversal of roles and the extra tadka offered by Bollywood filmmakers, Badla is an exact frame to frame adaptation of the original.

I was excited to watch the film more so for the Amitabh- Taapsee collaboration after Pink. Also, I happen to enjoy whodunits.

PLOT: Naina Sethi (Taapsee Pannu) is accused of murdering her lover, Arjun (Tony Luke) and is on house arrest. News of her arrest and murder is making the headlines as Naina has recently won a prestigious business award. Naina’s only hope of getting an acquittal is Badal Gupta (Amitabh Bachchan), a meticulous lawyer engaged by Naina’s lawyer Jimmy (Manav Kaul).

Badal comes to Naina’s apartment to extract information and deconstruct the entire murder scenario in an attempt to find a loophole in her case. The entire movie revolves around Naina presenting her version of the events and Badal questioning and challenging the same in order to be able to recreate and present a distorted set of facts that could set Naina free.

Naina’s story opens up a Pandora’s box that involves another crime.

Did Naina kill Arjun? Is Naina involved in this other crime? Does Badal succeed in getting Naina an acquittal?

The film is directed by Sujoy Ghosh (of Kahaani fame) and produced by Red Chillies Entertainment.

Needless to say, Amitabh and Taapsee are a treat to watch. The film also had Amrita Singh in it, playing a distraught mother and this was a surprise entry as I didn’t recall seeing her in the trailer. She’s the woman behind the camera in the poster. Tony Luke who plays Taapsee’s lover makes his debut in Hindi cinema and it’s refreshing to see an actor with a strong “South Indian” accent who isn’t in the film to merely serve as a comic relief and doesn’t dress in a lungi sipping lassi from a coconut. Sadly, Manav Kaul has only a minor role in the movie. 

If you liked Kahaani (the first one), you will like this film too. Typical to most thrillers, this film is fast paced and has a gripping storyline. Shot in Glasgow, the movie will have you enjoying the panoramic views only to be jolted out of your seat half way through that. Whilst some critics have labelled the film predictable (this could be true if you are one of those ardent fans of Agatha Christie and you’ve learnt from her books to suspect even the imperceptible commuter at the station with the scarf and big sunglasses who sneaks out of the train only after giving a furtive glance and a half-smile), be rest assured, there are many red herrings thrown in that will have you constantly second guessing Naina and Badal’s next move.

Despite being an adaptation, the writers have succeeding in infusing Hindu mythology into the storyline with Amitabh Bachchan quoting the Mahabharata. The dialogues are catchy, the kind that make you want to repeat them while walking out of the hall. :D

Would it be a spoiler if I were to say that the name of the movie is a spoiler in itself?

Archie and I have decided to mimick movie posters or rather mimick the expressions of the actors on the posters. We started off with the Gully Boy poster. We scoured the length of the floor only to find a teensy poster of Badla. You can find our pictures on our Insta page.  If you like our posts, please follow us on Insta and FB.

RAID- PLOT DOESN'T REMAIN UNIFORM

Image Source - IMDb

In the morning, I stepped into the car and didn’t even bother stifling that yawn. It was one of those harsh, sunny days when you feel like you have cotton balls stuffed in your head and your eyelids feel droopy and heavy and you are too bored to even check WhatsApp. That’s when I got a call from Archie, “are you free today? Check WhatsApp yo!”

I love such days J

And that’s how Shugu, Archie and I ended up going for Raid.

Raid is the story of an IRS (Indian Revenue Service) officer, Amay Patnaik (Ajay Devgn) who conducts a raid at the local MP, Rameshwar Singh a.k.a Tauji’s (Saurabh Shukla) house. This movie is set in 1981 and is inspired from real-life raids that were conducted by the IRS in the 80s.

The movie begins by showcasing Amay to be an upright officer, who is currently posted in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh after a series of transfers, which, as per Hindi Cinema norms, is a clear sign of the Officer’s honesty. Amay receives an anonymous tip about Rameshwar Singh’s disproportionate assets and about black money being hoarded in his palatial ‘White House’. Rameshwar Singh, respectfully known to all as Tauji, is the local MP who is influential and powerful. Upon receiving this tip, Amay prepares for a clandestine raid and despite initial resistance from his team, proceeds to take upon Tauji and his family comprising of Tauji’s mother, his four brothers and their wives.

Tauji and his family are stunned that a “lowly Government Officer” dare enter their house to conduct a raid and taint their family’s name with such an allegation. Tauji challenges him to find even one extra note that is unaccounted for. Amay and his team conduct an exhaustive search but find nothing and almost give up until Amay’s smart thinking (with a little help from Tauji’s loose lipped mother and a map given by the anonymous tipper) reveals all that is hidden in the house.

Amay lets Tauji step out of the house confident that no amount of influence will stop him from continuing with his search. While Tauji is running from pillar to post (he even manages a meeting with the then PM who bears a stark resemblance to Indira Gandhi), unable to get any of his highly placed friends to stop the raid, Amay continues digging information and wealth from the house.

A dejected Tauji returns home only to learn that the anonymous tipper is someone from the house. In the meantime, Tauji garners the support of the localities to rid himself of these IRS officers and the Officers are trapped inside the house. Will Tauji learn the identity of the traitor? Will Amay and his team escape the clutches of Tauji ?

Ajay Devgn seems very comfortable in these roles as he has often portrayed similar roles of the no-nonsense, sincere officer. Saurabh Shukla, as usual is brilliant and always a pleasure to watch. I wish I could say something about Ileana but she has hardly any role in the movie. A few songs are randomly thrown in the movie, I suppose for the benefit of Ileana. The other actors in the movie have also performed their bit, well. The set up in the 80s is created well, with minute attention to detail such as the actors’ clothes as well as recreating the houses in the 80’s set up.

Here is why I didn’t like the movie: The movie started well with some scenes that got the audience to laugh out loud and also cheer in support of the hero and instead of maintaining that pace, things just went downhill and then just like that there was a glimmer of hope with a scene that created a sense of expectancy and then that fizzled out just as quickly.  The movie was a roller coaster ride that sadly left me with a headache (or it could just be the heat).

The whole movie is just one very, very long scene – of Amay and his team rummaging about Tauji’s house in search of black money. The writer seems to have lost interest in the second half of the movie and the dialogues in the second half are lacklustre.

There is a scene where the Indira Gandhi lookalike tries to help out Tauji by asking Amay to back off and then again she’s shown praising Amay saying India is in need of such Officers. Good way to please all political parties.

The movie starts with a bang and ends with a whimper.