Chris Pine stars as Jack Ryan in a reboot of the character that has already been played by Ben Affleck, Harrison Ford and Alec Baldwin. With no link to any of the previous movies Pine is studying at the London School of Economics when the 9/11 attacks occur which acts as the motivation for him to sign up for the US Army leading to his placement in Afghanistan. It is during one mission where his helicopter is shot down that he ends up in a army medical hospital convalescing and meets Cathy Muller (Keira Knightley) who is assisting with his recovery but in a Florence Nightingale like spin they end up falling in love. Pine is also approached by Thomas Harper (Kevin Costner) who wishes to recruit him for the C.I.A as an expert analyser once he recovers.

We cut forward ten years and Pine is working undercover in Wall Street when he notices some irregularities in the market activity which suggests that there are large sums of money disappearing from certain accounts which are all linked to a Russian tycoon Viktor Cherevin (Kenneth Branagh), so Pine is sent to Russia under the guise of carrying out an audit to probe further and from there Pine needs to dig deep into his previous training and transform himself from pen pusher to actual spy where he uncovers a far more sinister plot being developed and when Cathy unexpectedly arrives in Moscow and discovers who Pine really is he she nearly blows his cover which only complicates things further.

Despite the jump from desk to field agent being a little far fetched the movie does a decent job or developing a Cold War style thriller which nods to both the James Bond movies of the late 1960’s and more modern movies such as Mission Impossible, in fact Pines undercover infiltration on Cherevins premises would sit right into any of those Tom Cruise movies.

Pine is fine as Jack Ryan but it’s hard to stand out when inevitably compared to the previous guises as the character. Knightly initially seemed a little out of place but once the action switched to Moscow she grew into the role more. Costner was believable as the C.I.A agent who assists Pine across the globe but it was Branagh who both acted and directed that looked like he was enjoying himself most with a completely over the top performance which was a great throwback to classic villains.

In the end the film falls back into the old action movie tropes that have all been done before but the middle section of the movie is worthy of a stand alone mention and if you enjoy the Mission impossible movies then, while not quite up to the same standard, there’s enough here for you to enjoy.

DJ Speaks Rating: 5.5 Out Of 10

Another Eli Roth vehicle but this time the full on gore of his previous movies is tamed in favour of a more thriller like theme. Keanu Reeves is Evan, an architect who we see as having a near perfect life, with the wife (Ignacia Allamand), kids and house ticking all the boxes of the expectation of what is conceived as the American dream. His wife and kids are away for the weekend while he is home alone working on a major project when two young women Genesis (Lorenza Izzo) and Bel (Ana DeArmas) knock on his door in the middle of a rain storm claiming to be lost and looking for a house where they were invited to a party.

They managed to convince Evan to invite them in to dry off while he calls them a cab. The interaction starts playfully enough with light flirting but in the forty five minutes that they are waiting on the cab to arrive the girls make it very clear of their intentions and while Evan is initially the perfect gentleman he is gradually broken down into engaging in some sexual activity with the women.

The following morning Evan is full of remorse and as he finds the women making themselves at home he asks them to leave but things then start to take a turn for the darker as they claim that Bel is underage and that if he doesn’t do as the ask they will call the police claiming they have been raped. This is just the tip of the iceberg however as their demands become more and more elaborate and the tension builds until the inevitable snap occurs and it is then a back and forward game of how far either side is willing to go to end the situation.

The issue with the movie is that the women feel more annoying than dangerous with their screeching noises and childish acts and while Bel adequately pulls off a potentially under age girl, (especially when she appears in the schoolgirl outfit), Genesis, if the stripper like name didn’t give it away, always seems to calculating in her demeanor to be anything other than trouble and their actions swing wildly from irritating Evan to full on life threatening with no real end point. Even after the movie is finished there still seems no real point to their actions, they are far too in control to be psychotic and if it was just all for fun then it’s a lot of very hard work for a small piece of fun so I still don’t understand their motivation.

While it ends up being an okay thriller there are far too many plot leaps to make it a coherent story and while it is nice to see Roth tone it down a little and try something other than full of horror there felt like there was something missing from the movie and maybe that is what it was, a bit of actual purpose and danger to the situation.

DJ Speaks Rating: 4.5 Out Of 10

Another collaboration with Melissa McCarthy and her husband Ben Falcone as McCarthy stars as Michelle Darnell, a self-made millionaire business woman through her self-help advice who was raised in an orphanage and for some reason she was repeatedly rejected by all families who adopted her over the years. Perhaps it’s not hard to see why as she is brash and driven and is fully willing to stamp all over anyone who gets in her way although maybe it was the constant rejection that molded her into the person she became, this was never made clear.

When she is betrayed by her former lover Renault (or Ronald to you and I) where Peter Dinklage once again gets to show his comedic side, and sent to jail for insider trading crimes on Wall Street she is left penniless and destitute and has nowhere to turn except to her former aide Claire (Kristen Bell) who reluctantly agrees to let Michelle stay with her for a few days. Of course Michelle once again abuses Claires good Samaritan act and it is not long before she is concocting a plan to use Claires baking skills to take over the cookie selling business from the girl guides except this wouldn’t be Michelle if she wasn’t planning on making a tidy packet out of a charity organisation.

McCarthy has always been at her best when she has the opportunity to be crass and vulgar with put downs flowing and she gets plenty of opportunity to do so in this movie however the film is weak because it looks like it was particularly written to enhance McCarthys moments thus there is nothing else worthwhile going on in support. You are supposed to feel for Claire and her daughter Rachel (Ella Anderson) as they take Michelle in and act as an almost surrogate family but because she is such a selfish person you know they are going to get hurt and when your protagonist is such a bitch there is no empathy towards her.

Yes, there are some funny moments but they are few and far between and while the cast in Spy were given leeway to develop and thus bring a subplot into McCarthys showcasing, this is sadly missing here so what you get it an hour and a half of McCarthy bulldozing her way through a film dragging everyone else with her with and plot that can’t seem to keep up either.

Perhaps there is some metaphor for modern America in the actions of Michelle Darnell but again if this is what Falcone was going for it lost among all the attempts to add humour to what is essentially a weak story line.

DJ Speaks Rating: 4.5 Out Of 10

Ricky Gervais stars as Ian Finch, a radio sound engineer who  acts as an assistant to station lead reporter Frank Bonneville (Eric Bana) who’s confident swagger often gets him stories before other journalists but he is not a particularly nice person, speaks down to his colleagues and ignores his boss Geoffrey Mallard (Kevin Pollack) who tries to keep him in check.

When news arrives of an uprising in Ecuador, Bonneville bullies his boss into sending him to the action and Finch is the compatriot who draws the short straw and has to accompany him. On the way to the airport Finch loses the tickets and passports so while he and Bonneville are sitting in a local Spanish restaurant they decide the best course of action is to fake the news report using some clever sound work and Bonnevilles talent of making up lies on the spot.

This works well enough until the situation in Ecuador takes a turn for the worse, mainly down to the lies they are creating and the pair are ordered to check into the US Embassy in Quito for their own safety. When they realise that they have no chance of doing so, they decide to fake their kidnapping to buy themselves some time. As one lie leads to another and with Finch’s wife Eleanor (Vera Famiga), who actually couldn’t give a damn about him, drumming up a rescue campaign to make money and gain her fifteen minutes of fame in the limelight Finch and Bonneville have to try and smuggle into Ecuador and report to the US Embassy claiming that they manage to escape their captors and during this escapade they are actually captured by Ecuadorian drug runners.

While the premise sounds great the film suffers from a lack of realism, is it plausible that this could occur, unlikely but possible, but the film spends too much time on the two leads sitting on a sofa killing time until the next report is due, which leads to a lot of drag in the movie speed. Even after they travel to Ecuador there is still a farcical feel about the who thing so the real kidnapping never feels dangerous or particular interesting.

Yes, there’s plenty of satire about how gullible the TV watch public can be, a few laughs here and there and a good concept for a film but when Famiga is the best part of a movie where she should only be a bit part player it shows how this movie missed the mark. Let’s hope that Gervais can bring the laughs more freely in the upcoming David Brent movie.

DJ Speaks rating: 5.5 Out Of 10

Jake Gyllenhaal stars as Davis Mitchell an investment banker who’s wife Julia (Heather Lind) is killed in a car accident from which he escapes without a scratch. While in the hospital he uses a vending machine which takes his money without giving him the goods and he writes a complaint letter to the manufacturers which becomes almost confessional in content. Davis is struggling to come to terms with the passing of his wife but rather than being overcome with grief Davis can’t understand why he is feeling no grief which makes him begin questioning his own life and thoughts. His father in law Phil (Chris Cooper) is concerned and advises him to try and break down his life and examine it advice which Davis takes far too literally as he starts to dismantle his, and others if he can get away with it, material possessions to find out how they work in the  hope that it will give me some guidance as to how to find out how he ticks.

In the meantime he finds some solace in the letters to the vending company so he continues to put this thoughts and feelings down and sends the letters on a frequent basis to the customer service department, that is managed by Karen (Naomi Watts) who is touched by the honest outpouring of emotion she is receiving on paper and decides to reply. Karen has her own issues that she is struggling to cope with so they begin a relationship that makes them both rethink their concept of friendship but it’s Davis’ relationship with Karen’s son Chris (Judah Lewis) who finds a father figure of sorts in Davis despite, or perhaps because of, Davis’ unusual take on life’s expectations and he becomes a willing accomplice in the deconstruction of Davis life, that serves as the most interesting piece of the movie.

Part drama, part black comedy the movie is held together by Gyllenhaal’s ability to switch back and forth between both without ever looking like he is amending his performance which elevates the film into more than it is. Far funnier than I thought it would be given the material it reminded me a little of Silver Linings Playbook but it never reaches the heights of that movie. Credit can be given that it does not try and hit the usual drama clichés but attempts to do something different, unfortunately it fails in most cases but don’t be fooled by the trailer, there is enough humour in the movie to keep you entertained and Gyllenhaals performance, as always, is worth a watch alone.

DJ Speaks Rating: 5.5 Out Of 10