Toronto International Film Festival: 2013, by Mike Stradford – The Tall Guy’s Gear Guide | @MDWorld

Day Two: Saw three films today-‘The Love Punch’, a disappointingly old fashioned, safe romantic comedy about two exes (Pierce Brosnan and Emma Thompson) who rekindle their love while amateurishly stealing a jewel from the bad guy who ruined their retirement fund (really). They’re charming, but Ms. Thompson overplays, which is rare for her, and the film feels like it would have been more at home in 1995. Second was Ivan Reitman’s ‘Labor Day’ an interesting drama about a convict on the run who meets and falls in love with a depressed Kate Winslet and her son. Familiar story is brought to life by strong performances by the leads. And finally, ‘Proxy’, a movie so bad that I couldn’t do justice to it by writing about it. Just stay away if it comes to a theater near you.

(Scenes from ‘The Love Punch’ above and ‘Labor Day’)

Day Three started promisingly enough. I screened the Japanese remake of Clint Eastwood’s classic western ‘Unforgiven’, starring Ken Watanabe. Replace cowboy with samurai, gun with sword, the wild west for 19th century Japan and you have a (sometimes too) respectful interpretation of the Oscar winning film.

(‘Unforgiven’- 1992 and 2013 posters)

Next I saw the hilarious ‘Bad Words’, starring Justin Bateman as a Bad Santa type who enters a national spelling bee for kids. It was raunchy and really earned its big laughs. Finally, came the film I was most looking forward to, ‘Mandela’, starring Idris Elba. I wish I could tell you it was great. I can tell you it was certainly heading in that direction: epic scope, powerfully convincing performance by Elba, but 45 minutes in, a guy came out and told us that due to ‘technical difficulties’, the screening would be suspended and wouldn’t be resumed. This was while the film was playing perfectly. Very disappointing and frustrating, but I’ll see the rest of it in November when it goes into general release.

 
(‘Mandela’ teaser poster)                                    (Jason Bateman in ‘Bad Words’)

Day Three, part 2: I got an email that there was a new screening of ‘Mandela’ at 10:15pm, so I hustled back to the theater to check it out and I’m glad I did. Like most biopics about famous people who made a difference, Nelson Mandela’s life is too big to capture in 160 minutes. But, if viewed as an primer to his life, struggles and victories, as well as the monumental changes in South Africa that he was the center of, it’s a worthwhile introduction. Epic in scope and production, ‘Mandela’ moved me in a way that Spike Lee’s well regarded ‘Malcolm X’ never did.

(Idris Elba with Naomi Harris in ‘Mandela’)

Idris Elba brings power, temperance, passion and warmth to the title role, aging from a young man to a man in his late seventies by the film’s end. Naomi Harris (Skyfall) wasn’t quite as successful as Winnie Mandela. She had moments, and was particularly effective conveying the anger of her experience personally and politically, but something was just a bit off.  Her physicality was so different from the real Mrs. Mandela that it was sometimes distracting. That’s not her fault, and I must say, she clearly threw herself into the role, and has been widely praised for her portrayal beyond this humble blogger, so take my comments with a grain of salt.

(Idirs Elba and Naomi Harris dressed down at the Tiff press conference for ‘Mandela’).

Following what I understand is a powerful, harrowing exhibition of man’s inhumanity to man in Steve McQueen’s upcoming ’12 Years a Slave’, ‘Mandela’ looks to be a salve, showing the results of the power of determination, cooperation and one man’s understanding that no one is free unless everyone is free.  Perhaps too respectful for some, and not comprehensive enough for others, ‘Mandela’ does an admirable job of honoring one of our planet’s most noble citizens.

Part two of the TiFF report will be up next week.