Category Archives: Crime

The Order review — Terrifically tense neo-Nazi thriller

February 8, 2025 flawintheiris

Directed by Justin Kurzel | Written by Zach Baylin, based on the book by Kevin Flynn and Gary Gerhardt | 116 min | | ▲▲▲1/2 | Prime This is a based-on-real-events crime drama from Australian hyphenate Kurzel, maybe best known in North America for his version of Macbeth with Michael Fassbender, or the video game…Read More

Juror #2 review — A perfectly cromulent courtroom drama

December 23, 2024 flawintheiris

Directed by Clint Eastwood | Written by Jonathan A. Abrams | 114 min | ▲▲▲△△ | Crave Juror #2 is a comfortingly old-school American courtroom drama, complete with a first act of lawyers, witnesses, and jurors, and a second act of deliberation. The thing that's wowing critics is these stories were told frequently in the…Read More

Anora review — Love and laughter, but fear underneath

November 6, 2024 flawintheiris

Written and Directed by Sean Baker | 139 min | ▲▲▲▲▲ | Amazon Prime An earlier version of this review appeared on FITI in September during #AIFF24 Anora comes freighted in hype and awards having taken home the Palme D’Or at Cannes, that festival’s highest honour. Consider the past few winners of that particular award:…Read More

Emilia Pérez review — Soapy, queer crime musical is a lot

November 4, 2024 flawintheiris

Directed by Jacques Audiard | Written by Audiard, with Thomas Bidegain, Nicolas Livecchi, Léa Mysius, based on the novel by Boris Razon | 132 min | ▲▲▲△△ | Netflix This is one of the most unusual features I've seen in years, and for that reason it deserves your attention. I would argue that it's not…Read More

From The Vault: Peter Ustinov as Agatha Christie’s Hercule Poirot

October 20, 2024 flawintheiris

The first of Peter Ustinov's takes on Christie's mustachioed sleuth, Hercule Poirot, was Death On The Nile, which I revisited when the Kenneth Branagh version came out — it turns out Branagh hasn't improved on the original adaptation. Since then I've sought out the other times Ustinov has done Poirot. I enjoyed both Evil Under…Read More

The Apprentice review — The con artist in his prime

October 10, 2024 flawintheiris

Directed by Ali Abbasi | Written by Gabriel Sherman | 120 min | ▲▲▲▲△ A capsule review of this film appeared on FITI in September during #TIFF24 The Donald Trump biopic has arrived in cinemas, despite efforts to stop it. The Donald Trump campaign sent a cease-and-desist letter to the producers, claiming the entire film…Read More

Joker: Folie à Deux review — The sequel as a corrective

October 7, 2024 flawintheiris

Directed by Todd Phillips | Written by Phillips and Scott Silver | 138 min | ▲▲▲△△ I'll admit, I girded myself to go see this sequel to Joker. I was no fan of the 2019 blockbuster from filmmaker Todd Phillips — it's a nihilistic, sour pill of a movie that serves up its lead as…Read More

The Instigators review — Boston buds have a pretty good time

August 12, 2024 flawintheiris

Directed by Doug Liman | Written by Chuck MacLean and Casey Affleck | 101 min | ▲▲▲△△ | Apple TV + There's a simple pleasure in a genre picture put together by people with such professionalism in the making that even a certain, say, predictability in the beats or routine in its structure doesn't detract…Read More

Hit Man review — Twisty, terrific script kills

July 8, 2024 flawintheiris

A capsule version of this review appeared on FITI in September 2023 during coverage of the Toronto International Film Festival. Directed by Richard Linklater | Written by Linklater and Glen Powell, from an article by Skip Hollandsworth | 115 min | ▲▲▲▲△ | Netflix, Hoopla This is probably the best script Linklater’s worked with since…Read More

Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F review (and series review)

July 7, 2024 flawintheiris

Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F | Directed by Mark Molloy | Written by Will Beall , Tom Gormican, Kevin Etten | 118 min | ▲▲▲△△ | Netflix When a huge star from the past reappears in one of his classic roles, it's tough to get it right. If you're too faithful to the original you…Read More