Tag: Drama

50/50 review

Director:
Jonathan Levine
Cast:
Joseph Gordon-Levitt
Seth Rogen
Anna Kendrick
Bryce Dallas Howard
Rated R

50/50 follows the story of Adam (Levitt), a 20-something who has a steady job, a girlfriend, a house and keeps himself in shape. However, his life is completely thrown upside down when he goes to the doctor for back pains and discovers he has a rare form of cancer on his spine. After researching about it he discovers his chances are 50/50.

The rest of the film follows his personal journey through his treatment, meetings with a psychologist (Kendrick), dealing with a relationship with his girlfriend Rachel (Howard) and spending time with his friend Kyle (Rogen).

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One Day review

Director:
Lone Scherfig
Cast:
Anne Hathaway
Jim Sturgess
Rafe Spall
Rated: PG-13

At one point the film felt like it was going to go on all day.

One Day follows two good friends through 20 years of their lives together. The characters are Dexter (Sturgess) and Emma (Hathaway). Every day in the film comprises of one to four scenes before moving onto the next year.

As the film goes on we see the ups and downs of both their lives and their continuing friendship with each other.

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Rise of the Planet of the Apes review

Director:
Rupert Wyatt
Cast:
James Franco
Freida Pinto
John Lithgow
David Oyelowo
Andy Serkis
Rated: PG-13

Move over Burton, somebody got it right.

The latest installment with Planet of the Apes in the title is a prequel about the ape Caesar, and his rise as a leader. The film begins by following Will Rodman (Franco), a scientist who is working on a cure for Alzheimer’s disease at a genetic research facility. His reasons go deeper than just exploring things scientifically, as his father (Lithgow) has the disease as well. The genetic lab tests the experimental cure on apes however after one test goes wrong the lab is shut down and the apes are killed.

However, one ape was pregnant and gave birth to a baby before she died, Rodman is soon forced to take the young ape home. He soon learns, though, that the ape, named Caesar, had the experimental cure passed down genetically from the mother and that the cure actually dramatically increased intelligence. As the ape gets older more complications begin to pop up and he is soon forced to go to an animal control center. It is here that Caesar begins to get fed up with the life he and his fellow apes are leading and decides to revolt for freedom.

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The Conspirator review

Director:
Robert Redford
Cast:
Robin Wright
James McAvoy
Evan Rachel Wood
Alexis Bledel
Rated: PG-13

The Conspirator takes place after the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, at the end of the Civil War. With Lincoln killed the, the government decides to go after the perpetrators. However, they not only go after the ones directly involved, but their loved ones as well, like Mary Suratt (Wright), whose son used her boarding house as a meeting place for rebels looking to do the assassination attempt. Therefore, Suratt is put up to trial in a Military Tribunal.

This is where our protagonist comes in. Frederick Aiken, a decorated war hero who fought for the north turned lawyer is set to defend Suratt. Aiken is at first taken back, believing that she must have been involved someway or another, which creates friction since he has to defend her. But as time goes on, Aiken begins to learn how and why what the government is doing is wrong, and he begins to change over the film.

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