Hey folks, Harry here with another look at a movie from the LONDON FILM FESTIVAL... this time it came from one of them things after that good doctor... but he seems to have been charmed by CRADLE WILL ROCK... so I'll let him continue before the chant of DESTROY DESTROY begins....

Harry

Just thought I'd drop you a line to say how much we love your site and for once have something to contribute (it's not easy living in the UK -
we get very jealous).

Yesterday we were lucky enough to see Cradle Will Rock as part of the London Film Festival, I am a huge fan of Tim Robbins, I love all his work
from Tapeheads to Dead Man Walking, as far as I'm concerned the man is a god. So as you can imagine, I had high expectations of Cradle Will
Rock, I've watched Tim grow as a director and he just seems to get better, so I really wanted great things from the film. And I got them... but I
then didn't.

Let me give you an example, I think Dead Man Walking is great, and one of it's strengths is that it's very even handed, it shows you both sides
of the story and lets you decide which way you feel. Cradle Will Rock doesn't do this at all, it is very one sided. To a certain extent, I think this
is deliberate, there is a scene where Orson Welles says that he thinks that theatre should provoke a reaction, it should get people talking, and I
kind of get the impression that this is what Tim is trying to do. But I think he goes too far. There are several scenes where he really feels that
he has to hammer the message home, when he's already made his point.
I know I'm sounding quite negative, but this isn't the case, I really enjoyed the film, and it contains some flashes of true brilliance, it shows that
Tim isn't just a good director, he's a great director, and he's still learning his craft. His real strength is the comedy, he is a fantastic comic writer
and so much of the film is genuinely laugh out loud funny. It's just a shame that some of the dramatic stuff is a little heavy handed. The other
great thing about the film is the fantastic performances, there isn't anyone who is less than outstanding in this film, Emily Watson, John Tutturo
and Hank Azaria deserve special mentions and Angus Macfadden is brilliant as Orson Welles.

One of the best things about this film is the end. In the last ten minutes I was thinking, "but how can he end this?" - the film finishes in 1937
when things are only going to get worse before they get better, the dark days of the McCarthy witchhunts are many years away. Well let's just
say that the final frame is one of those flashes of brilliance that I was talking about. I can't say that I was expecting it and it successfully
answers many of the questions raised in the film and asks a few more as well.

Overall, I loved this film, but I wished it could have been better, there were glimpses of the truly great director that Tim Robbins will be one day
and maybe that was why I was so sad that the rest of the film didn't live up to the promise of those magical moments.

Keep up the good work.

Dalek