Room (2015)

Director: Lenny Abrahamson
Writer:   Emma Donoghue
Cast:      Brie Larson, Jacob Tremblay, Sean Bridgers

A kidnapped mother and son make a daring escape, and experience a dramatic homecoming provoking a look into the power of imagination and the unstoppable force of a mother's love.

The IMDB synopsis that I listed above is a load of horseshit. I went into the film without knowing anything about it and it completely blew me away. With the title 'Room' and a mother and her son being the protagonists had me expecting a film like 'The Babadook'. The film doesn't really get into the reason for their confinement till about twenty minutes into it. I was thinking it was a 'Village' like situation with the mother showing some vileness. When he turns five, she thinks he is old enough to know that the world is not contained to their room and there are other real people outside. She also reveals to him that she was kidnapped as a teenager and was confined to this room. She plots an escape plan for them and it succeeds in getting themselves freed. This happens without any cheap cinematic twists and all of it happens by around half way into the film. It still manages to be exhilarating and will certainly well you up. Normally you would expect a film to end there but this one is more ambitious as it also dwells into how they adjust back into civilization. 

Brie Larson deservedly won the academy award for her portrayal and I think the kid should also have won it or at least nominated. I also can't fathom why it wasn't a serious contender for 'Best Picture' award in what was really a mediocre year for mainstream films. Maybe because they handled it in an adult manner without being too manipulative. Film is an adaptation of Emma Donoghue's novel with the same name and she also wrote the screenplay for it. The basic plot of people getting kidnapped and living in captivity is quite a common occurrence in USA and you will wonder why no one thought of making a film on it. Lenny Abrahamson was quite an odd choice to be the director for this film as his previous one, 'Frank', was quite a different breed to this film. The color tone in both films are quite similar and while Frank ended in a very melancholic note, Room is much more hopeful.

Rating: 5/5

Frank (2014)

Director: Lenny Abrahamson
Writers:  Jon Ronson, Peter Straughan
Cast:       Michaal Fassbender, Domhnall Gleeson, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Scoot McNairy

Jon, a young wannabe musician, discovers he's bitten off more than he can chew when he joins an eccentric pop band led by the mysterious and enigmatic Frank.

The character Frank is mostly inspired by Frank Sidebottom, the comic persona created by Chris Sievey. It is a fictional story inspired by some other musicians and started off as an adaptation of Jon Ronson's, who was part of Sidebottom's band, writings. Fassbender plays the role of Frank and it is commendable that he chose to play this role where his face is hidden behind a head gear almost whole the way through. He is in good company with both Hugo Weaving (V for Vendetta) and Edward Norton (Kingdom of Heaven) who had played two very memorable faceless characters over the last decade. Film is largely set in Ireland where they go to create their debut album and it is a UK-Irish co-production. 

It would remind one of Spike Jonze's works that converts a very quirky idea into comedic film, with some serious subtext, which loses its steam by the third act. I was also left with the same feeling after his latest film 'Her'. He even made fun of his work in his film 'Adaptation' which has a Charlie Kauffman like character who is struggling for a proper last act for his script. Frank also suffers from a weak and rushed third act. It can be seen as a film on musicians dealing with themes like artistic integrity, popularity of mediocrity, fleeting limelight in the era of social networks etc. It sustains a sense of mystery almost whole the way through and performances are excellent. I don't know whether the soundtrack is a hit but I really liked the quirky music created by Frank's band 'Soronprfbs'. All of it were created live by the actors involved. There is a sequence in the film which is similar to one in 'Big Lebowski' in a good way. It was also good to see tweets getting some screen time though I suspect some of them had more than 140 characters. Overall it is a great watch.

Frank: [singing] Stale beer. Fat fucked, smoked out. Cowpoked. Sequined mountain ladies. I love your wall. Put your arms around me. Fiddly digits, itchy britches. I love you all.

Rating: 3.5/5