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Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 20 April 2025

Warfare has many great qualities but, above all else, it’s to be admired for its simplicity.  Shot in real-time, it depicts a 90-minute confrontation on 19 November 2006 between U.S. Navy SEALS and al-Qaeda insurgents in the city of Ramadi.  There’s no background to the characters, no footage of mission control, no information about the Iraq War, and no cliched scenes of soldiers showing photos of their loved ones.

After a memorable opening scene (love the random song choice), we get to the crux of the movie. Navy SEALS have infiltrated the home of an Iraqi family and intend to use it as a surveillance base, but they are soon discovered by locals and come under heavy fire.  Two soldiers are severely injured and the focus of the team is on finding a means of escape, which won’t be easy given insurgents are targeting them from all sides, and ensuring every SEAL makes it out alive.

You’d be hard pressed to find a more different duo than the filmmaking team of Alex Garland and Ray Mendoza.  Garland has been in the business for over two decades.  He started as a novelist (The Beach), transitioned into screenwriting (28 Days Later, Never Let Me Go), and then became a director (Ex Machina, Civil War).  Mendoza has never made a movie before, but he does bring rather important IP to the project.  He was one of the Navy SEALS who fought in the actual battle!

What they’ve achieved together is impressive.  Mendoza understands war, Garland understands cinema, and they’ve teamed up to create a gritty, powerful war flick.  Mendoza worked closely with the actors, who went through a rigorous boot camp prior to the shoot, to recreate events as precisely as possible.  He wanted this to be authentic.  Garland makes great use of close-up cinematography and sounds (sometimes intense, sometimes muffled) to have us feel like we’re beside the characters as they try to stay calm in an increasingly fraught situation.

Further, I can’t think of another movie in recent memory where a soldier’s injuries have been covered in such detail.  When a gravely wounded SEAL is screaming relentlessly for several minutes, and you see blood and fluid oozing from open wounds… yeah, that’ll have an impact on audiences.  Deep breaths will be required.  I’d argue it’s more gruesome than the average horror film.

Void of politics, Warfare provides a reminder of the risks military folks face, regardless of who they’re fighting for, and the courage required when missions go bad.  A movie you will not soon forget.

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Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 09 April 2025

As a fan of spy thrillers including the Bond, Bourne and Mission: Impossible franchises, I wanted to enjoy The Amateur.  The cast includes the likeable Rami Malek and Laurence Fishburne, and the source material is a novel authored by Robert Littell, a “he’d have seen a few things” journalist who worked as a foreign correspondent for Newsweek during the 1960s.  As a footnote, a Canadian adaptation was released in 1981 starring John Savage and Christopher Plummer but didn’t do much at the box-office.

Sadly, this 2025 version lacks credibility, and this will make it difficult for audiences to buy into the drama and emotion.  It begins with a top-notch CIA cryptographer, Charles Heller (Malek), learning his wife (Brosnahan) has been murdered by terrorists while attending a business conference in London.  Heller uses CIA intel to identify the suspects and takes the information to his superior (McCallany).  The bigwigs don’t want him working the case, rightly so given the conflict of interest, but Heller uses blackmail to get his wish.  It’s not long before he’s travelling to Europe on a false passport and hunting his wife’s killers.

The Amateur is the kind of movie where characters, depending on what is needed to prolong the narrative, are either incredibly smart or incredibly dumb.  There’s no denying Heller is a shrewd computer whizz but the fact he could be trained for a few hours and then become a field operative with the talents to take down renowned terrorists… yeah, I’m not so sure.  A scene where he picks the lock at a quiet apartment building while getting instructions from a YouTube video playing at full volume – it’s laughable stuff. 

Laurence Fishburne (The Matrix) as a fellow CIA operative and Caitríona Balfe (Belfast) as a helpful source add a splash of interest with their supporting roles.  Their motivations are uneven (Fishburne is an assassin one minute and then best friends the next) but that’s more an issue with the script as opposed to their decent performances.  I was less impressed with Oscar winner Rami Malek (Bohemian Rhapsody) who struggles as the film’s protagonist.  I didn’t believe he was smart/lucky enough to pull off some his elaborate plans.

There’s also something off-putting about Heller’s blind rage in avenging his wife’s killers and portraying him as the simplistic hero.  The CIA we see within the film is rife with corruption and while that’s a convenient plot point to allow Heller to “go rogue”, it’s a shame the film doesn’t ask moral questions of the character and whether his protocol-ignoring actions are the right ones.  Is this how all CIA agents should act in the same situation?

Unable to be redeemed by a big finale (it’s weak), The Amateur is trying too hard to be cool.

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Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 15 April 2025

It felt inevitable that the story of Australian Peter Greste would be made into a movie.  For those new to the tale, Greste was an Al Jazeera journalist accused by the Egyptian government of associating with terrorists.  He was imprisoned between December 2013 and February 2015 and his plight became international news as an attack on journalistic freedom.

It’d be easy to turn this into a simplistic good versus evil story, but screenwriter Peter Duncan (Rake) and director Kriv Stenders (Red Dog) find plenty of “greyness” to explore.  For starters, the film seamlessly uses flashbacks to cover another important story – one involving Greste and a British colleague, Kate Peyton, who were covering the upheaval in Somalia in 2005.  It highlights the fine line journalists walk when balancing the importance of their work versus their own personal safety.  Greste doesn’t come off smelling like roses.

In the terms of the main 2014 narrative, the filmmakers do a skilful job highlighting the farcical nature of Greste’s court case but also the moral questions he faced in seeking freedom.  Other Al Jazeera journalists had also been jailed and there was debate amongst them in prison, sometimes heated, about tactics and legal avenues.  Should they semi-confess to get a light prison sentence and allow the Egyptian government to save face?  Should they stick together in their fight for freedom or does an element of self-interest take priority?

Stenders deserves praise for the quality of the film’s production.  Richard Roxburgh (Moulin Rouge!) is terrific in the lead role and portrays Greste as a simple man who knows the importance of keeping his emotions in check.  So many of the supporting players leave an impression – from Michael Denkha as a hamstrung lawyer, to Rahel Romahn as a backgammon-loving colleague, to Majid Shokor as a politically motivated judge, through to Mojean Aria as a wise new friend.  They maximise every minute of screentime, and we see them as more than just one-dimensional characters.  Kudos to the casting.

The film moves at a brisk pace, and it doesn’t muck round with an unnecessary introduction to Greste.  The set decoration is credible, and it feels like it was shot inside a filthy Egyptian prison (note: it wasn’t).  The visuals also stand out.  A great example is the way cinematographer Geoffrey Hall (Chopper) shoots the tunnel walk to the courtroom and then showcases the viewpoint of Greste from behind his heavily enclosed cage.

Yes, we know how Greste’s story ends but it doesn’t make The Correspondent any less compelling and important.  The number of journalists imprisoned around the world is currently at record levels and it’s an issue that deserves continual attention.

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Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 07 April 2025

The Zone of Interest, one of the best films of last year, looked at a Germany family living a normal life during World War II while thousands of Jews were murdered in a concentration camp next door.  It highlighted how “easy” it can be to turn a blind eye to atrocities in our own backyard.  Small Things Like These explores similar themes.  The characters are fictitious but it is centred on actual events which took place in Ireland across several decades.  The particular setting here is 1985 with the source material being a highly acclaimed novel, shortlisted for the Booker Prize, authored by Claire Keegan.

The film is also notable as it marks the first performance of Cillian Murphy since he won the Academy Award for his leading turn in Oppenheimer.  It’s hard to imagine a bigger contrast between the two movies and the two characters.  There, he was part of a 180-minute, big studio funded epic playing an acclaimed nuclear physicist dubbed “the father of the atomic bomb.”  Here, he’s part of a 98-minute, low-budget indie.  He steps into the dirty shoes of Bill Furlong, a poor, softly spoken coal trader named who resides with his wife and five daughters in a small Irish town.  Bill comes across as a kind-hearted man, but his quiet nature leaves you wondering what he’s thinking on the inside.  Is he content with life?  Is he happy?

We follow Bill’s interactions with a variety of folk, but the film’s one-two punch comes from his dealings with a convent run by secretive nuns.  Bill delivers coal on a regular basis and he’s seen enough to know something isn’t right within the convent’s walls.  When a young woman passionately pleads for help, he faces a tough moral decision.  Is he prepared to stand up to the power of the Catholic Church and risk alienation from the religious townsfolk?  On the flipside, is it possible to bottle his feelings and continue to ignore?  Reflections on his own childhood, which we see as flashbacks, shape his answer.

Shot on a small budget and co-produced by Matt Damon, Small Things Like These is a subtle, moving drama.  Director Tim Mielants does a terrific job capturing the essence of the time – from the gloomy weight of poverty through to the glimpses of joy brought from Christmas holidays.  Screenwriter Enda Walsh uses dialogue only when necessary and slowly ratches up the tension.  Perhaps the best scene in the film is an exchange between Bill and the convent’s head, played by Emily Watson (Breaking the Waves), who is quick to weave her charm, influence, and money.

Winner of best picture at the Irish Film & Television Awards (edging out the equally good Kneecap), Small Things Like These is a stirring character study and an important history lesson.

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Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 15 April 2025

If you heard of a movie called Drop, there’s an array of possibilities as to what the title could refer to.  Is it about mountain climbers worried about falling into an icy crevasse?  Could it be about stockbrokers dealing with a plummeting bear market?  What about gangsters organising a place to exchange a kidnaped person for a suitcase full of cash?  It’s unlikely that your first guess would be what this new film from director Christopher Landon (Happy Death Day) is about.

It’s referring to AirDrop, the process by which someone nearby can share photos, videos and other files using their mobile phone.  So how is this the premise for a Hollywood thriller?  Allow me to explain.  Violet (Fahy) is a single mother who has finally harnessed the courage to go on a first date with a new guy, Henry (Sklenar), at a classy, rooftop restaurant.  It’s a rare night out of the house for Violet and so her sister (Beane) has taken on babysitting duties for her young son.

Within minutes of walking into the restaurant, Violet receives a “dropped” message on her phone.  She shrugs it off at first but after the pestering continues, she relents and looks at the messages.  Suffice to say it ain’t good.  A villainous person has broken into her home and, unless Violet does exactly what she’s told at dinner, the life of her son and sister will be in jeopardy.  Adding to the drama is that she knows it’s someone in the restaurant (you must be close by to AirDrop) but she’s unsure who.  Screenwriters Jillian Jacobs and Chris Roach tease audiences with several suspects.

At a quick-paced 95-minutes, Drop isn’t a bad idea for a movie.  It’s a fresh approach on the whodunit genre as we watch our hero think through the situation, manage her stress levels, and outsmart her adversary.  Yeah, it’s a little far fetched but it’s still fun to think about what you’d do in the same situation.  Violet is warned not to tell anyone what’s going on, but could she find a way to alert someone about the imminent danger?  What if they’re in on it?  Who can she trust?

Drop held my attention, but the finale doesn’t offer enough to match the early intrigue.  It’s a little clumsy and contrived.  Still, this is a good-enough mystery thriller with a worthy lead performance from Meghann Fahy who will be known to audiences for her turn in the second season of The White Lotus.  It’s also a good reminder to not be checking your phone at dinner!