Flash Reviews: Downsizing, Coco, The Commuter & The Post

Here are some more flash film reviews that may or may not save you some cash. And seeing as it's Oscar season, that means there are lots of opinions floating around in the ether, so why not share some of your own views and comment below.

Downsizing Review: A Film That Should Have Dreamed Bigger

Matt Damon stars in this comedy-drama in which people are offered the opportunity to literally “downsize” and live in a miniature community to help reduce waste and combat overpopulation. On first glance it’s an intriguing hybrid of sorts between Honey I Shrunk The Kids and The Truman Show, but sadly the result is anything but. Not only does the film morph – rather jarringly - into nothing more than a commentary about our dying planet, there’s no humour, satire, conviction or even creativity to make it remotely interesting. And at a staggering runtime of over two hours, the film could do with a little downsizing itself.

Coco Review: A Film About Music And Ghosts With No Music Or Soul

Young Miguel’s dreams of becoming a musician are squandered by both his music-hating family and the fact that he winds up in the Land of the Dead, where he must quickly find his way back home before it’s too late. For a film that deals with the next life and the morbid idea of being eternally-forgotten, Coco about as deep as a shallow puddle, and its desperation to make you cry and head to the nearest toy store and go loco for Coco all at once is palpable. Disney and Pixar’s latest might revolve around music and the dead, but sadly this wannabe-tearjerker lacks heart and soul.  

The Commuter: You’ll Be Taken For A Ride (In A Good Way)

When Liam Neeson’s insurance salesman is fired from his job, a mysterious passenger (Vera Farmiga) appears on his commute home and forces him into a deadly game in which he must find an unknown fellow passenger. As well as sounding just like 2011’s Source Code - which strangely stars Farmiga giving the main character instructions on how to find an unknown commuter on a train – Neeson’s latest also bears hilariously-uncanny resemblances to his previous 2014 actioner Non-Stop. Perhaps that’s because Jaume Collet-Serra is the man behind both, but either way both films make for entertaining whodunits (or a “whoisit” in this case). Let’s just hope Neeson returns to complete his “Planes, Trains and Automobiles” trilogy.

The Post: Spielberg’s Latest Hardly Makes Ripples

Tom Hanks and Meryl Streep play Washington Post editor Ben Bradlee and publisher Katharine Graham, who faced the dilemma of printing an expose about the purposely-leaked government files that detailed cases of corruption that spanned three decades and four U.S. Presidents, including the controversy surrounding the Vietnam War. Hanks and Streep turn out typically-fine-tuned performances, but this is far from Spielberg’s most compelling fact-based drama, feeling as lacklustre as 2015’s Bridge of Spies, and about as overrated too. But while the film isn’t as Oscar-worthy as they’ll have you believe, it demonstrates the courage in going head-to-head with one’s own country to deliver to the people a well-deserved truth.

I'll be back soon with my own version of the Oscars as promised, and looking at the best and the ugliest of 2017. In fact, I hereby call these awards "The Rookies"! 

Check out my reviews on all the above with Swindon 105.5 here.