Bobby Carroll's Movie Diary

Christopher Nolan directs Al Pacino, Robin Williams and Hilary Swank in this neo-noir where a corrupt Los Angeles detective chases a murder suspect in a remote Alaskan town.

This gun-for-hire Hollywood remake of a Norwegian thriller is the ‘forgotten man’ of the Nolan filmography. It is a morally aggressive cat and mouse thriller. Memorable setting, wounding blurts of violence and an aptly subdued Pacino. We get lost in oblique hazes of mist, a timber yard’s freezing deathly waters and timeslip sunshine. Once he finally reveals himself, Williams is amazing as the crime writer who tries out a perfect murder then toys with the detective on his trail. Arrogant and coiled. There is a meta thread not fully explored about the criminal being a pulp mystery writer, trying to orchestrate a complicated plot onto a simple sad case of misogynistic deadly assault. Nolan’s biggest achievement is really placing us deep within Pacino’s exhausted cop’s increasingly frazzled and paranoid mindset. Not quite the stamp of his classics (the only defining auteurist trademark is a whole lotta chilly blue in the visual palette) but a fine Saturday night special.

8

Perfect Double Bill: One Hour Photo (2002)

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Allan Moyle directs Anthony LaPaglia, Liv Tyler and Rory Cochrane in this teen movie exploring twenty-four hours in the lives of the young employees at a struggling record store.

The mosaic structure of Dazed And Confused, the retail setting of Clerks and a whole series worth of Party Of Five’s soapy traumas crammed into one day. It is craven in its soundtrack and on-point outfits but somehow remains an alluringly fun blast. It was a guilty pleasure of mine back in the day (I was exactly the target demographic for this one and wore my VHS out) and it is an easy flowing nostalgic blast now. The Rex Manning storyline actually feels ahead of its time in 2026.

9

Perfect Double Bill: Reality Bites (1994)

Kleber Mendonça Filho directs Wagner Moura, Carlos Francisco and Tânia Maria in this Brazillian thriller where a man on the run in the late 70’s assumes the false identity of a clerk to answer some personal enigmas.

Sexy, dangerous and loose – this is a movie that spins off in a dozen delicious directions while never fully satisfying any. Altman-esque in structure, it goes for what can only be described as the No Country For Old Men conclusion. Well, hey… No Country For Old Men is one of my all timers. I guess the ultimate point that whether haunted by the past or living in the present we will never know the full story. Moura is an avatar for a thousand disrupted lives. Yet he lends grace and emotional truth to all interactions. Soft masculinity. Some gleefully fantastical subplots, others desperate and gritty. In a corrupt regime there can be no law but there still can be society. How we carry ourselves with others makes us a different man with every transaction. A very rich tapestry or mosaic film… I really want a second watch before passing final judgment. But unlike plot twist dependent releases, this is a format of narrative cinema that demands repeated explorations. Watched at the beautiful Vester Vov Vov cinema in Copenhagen.

8

Perfect Double Bill: I’m Still Here (2025)

I write regular features about live comedy for British Comedy Guide here https://www.comedy.co.uk/people/bobby_carroll/features/ and my own Substack https://substack.com/@edinburghlaughterbulletin

Oliver Laxe directs Sergi López, Bruno Núñez Arjona and Stefania Gadda in this existential European thriller where a father, accompanied by his son, goes looking for his missing daughter in the deserts of North Africa.

I don’t have much prejudice in my heart but the idea of spending two hours (or the final days) with a bunch of raving nomadic crusties would lead me to bite down on the gun. Could not stand to live in this world. The first hour is full of Hitchcockian distrust. We cross the desert looking for the next rave and hopefully our missing loved one. An uneasy alliance forms with the caravan of sun ruined hedonists and excitement happens… often to a pulsating EDM beat. Beautiful Moroccan landscapes, overwhelming noise, threat constantly at the peripheries. There is a political backdrop that we are all unconscious refugees as WWIII breaks out beyond the horizon. Then there are two MASSIVE shocks. The movie ends less as a mystery, or an adventure, more as a modern day Buñuel flick. Sirât completely took me for a white knuckle ride and I loved that it did.

8

Perfect Double Bill: Climax (2019)

Robert Malenfant directs Talia Shire, Jack Coleman and Bruce Weitz in this thriller where a sad sack wife kills her husband and inherits an apartment building in LA, where nearly all the tenants disrupt her new life to the point of further murders.

Drossy garbage, mainly set in one harshly lit hallway. Shire’s The Landlady From Hell is a bit Annie Wilkes and a lot Eleanor Lace from The Haunting. If somebody… anybody… just gave her a cuddle the body count would drop. The closest we get to an exciting set piece is when she gets trapped in a call girl’s closet and has to watch the clock rundown when she has some time sensitive sandwiches to make… I wonder if that was directly from the Roald Dahl Tales Of The Unexpected this was allegedly based on?

3

Perfect Double Bill: Prophecy (1979)

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Jacques Tati directs himself, Nathalie Pascaud, Micheline Rolla, Barbara Dennek, Rita Maiden and France Rumilly in this double bill of French sight gag comedy.

When it comes to “silent” visual comedy I like the violent wallop of a Laurel & Hardy (or a Tom & Jerry). Then, next in the pecking order, are the zany stunts of a Keaton or a Lloyd. But bottom of the rankings is that sentimental arrogant whimsy of Chaplin. I will deep dive and reassess Charlie eventually. I have a blu ray box set that has been left in its cellophane for over a decade. But Tati sails dangerously close to what rubbed me the wrong way about Chaplin. It is too artful, too laboured, too persuasive and too ephemeral. I care less for satire than I do for timber to the head and hammers to shoes. I’m a dolt but watching these “classic artworks” often feels like eating my greens. Waiting to recognise the intelligence of the visionary. Not laughing. The final hour of Playtime hits some good, escalating gags. And is somewhat less racist than Peter Seller’s run at almost exactly the same jokes in The Party.

6/7

Jim Goddard directs Madonna, Sean Penn and Paul Freeman in this period caper romance where a missionary and conman team up to find some lost opium.

Another ultra hated release. Madonna looks beautiful in various interwar outfits. And that is all that truly matters. It bares many of the telltale scars of a runaway production: the jokes don’t land, the director never made movies again, the leads have zero chemistry, the leads attract all the IMDB trivia page gossip and the plot is incomprehensible. Madge doesn’t even sing the theme song!? But it filled an evening in Casa De Carroll.

5

Perfect Double Bill: High Road To China (1983)

I write regular features about live comedy for British Comedy Guide here https://www.comedy.co.uk/people/bobby_carroll/features/ and my own Substack https://substack.com/@edinburghlaughterbulletin

Tom Green directs himself, Rip Torn and Marisa Coughlan in this derided comedy where an adult son leaves home to follow his dream of being an animator.

Obnoxiously awful. Tries to push stupid buttons but with careless aim. Jabby. Green replaces timing with volume and repetitiveness. It is fucking embarrassing that something had this much money thrown at it to produce such sloppy “will this do” results. Rip Torn goes at his angry dad role like a man demonically possessed. That is admirable but everything around him so half arsed even he becomes grating. Maybe his character should have been the protagonist? When you hear about these infamous bête noires they very rarely turn out to be as bad as their reputations. I resist the critical pile-on. There is always redemption. Freddy Got Fingered though shits on that theory.

2

Perfect Double Bill: Movie 43 (2013)

Terence Dixon directs himself,  James Baldwin and Beauford Delaney in this documentary where the esteemed writer obstructs and avoids the documentary maker’s planned interview about what Paris means to his artistic journey.

Is it not possible that the documentary maker is terrible at avoiding conflict AND James Baldwin was a table turning pain in the arse? I like his books.

7

Perfect Double Bill: If Beale Street Could Talk (2018)

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Gary Fleder directs Jason Statham, James Franco and Winona Ryder in this action thriller where a retired DEA agent disrupts his new life by annoying a local hillbilly crime family.

Solid thrills with a good variety of villains. Wanna see Winona play a methhead femme fatale? Of course you do. Absolutely zero shock that this was originally adapted by Stallone as a vehicle for him. In all honesty The Stath suits the light melodrama better. He is aware of his presence, strengths and limitations so he actually come across way more natural in the “protective Dad” stuff. Sly would have rinsed the flannel a little too hard. My flavour of jam.

7

Perfect Double Bill: Wild Card (2015)