Keira Knightley seems nice enough, but you can’t read a review of her films without a description of her ‘bony’ frame, which seems mean to me. Did Audrey Hepburn suffer the same ignominy, I think not. Poor Keira hasn’t done a bad movie yet, although she is currently doing rounds of interviews oddly predicting that she will do a stinker one of these days. Well, it isn’t the Princess Di-evoking The Duchess which has opened to a rousing chorus of approval. I personally turn off when anyone slips into period dress. But this mainstream effort apparently hits the spot.
El Cantante is a biopic of Hector Lavoe, a Puerto Rican singer who became a huge star in the US in the 70s. Guess what? He had a messy love life and an out-of-control drugs habit. And a beautiful woman loved him and tried to help him battle his demons. So far, so riddled with cliché. Now, this film is obviously made for Latino diaspora around the world, so the likelihood of it doing well in the UK is very small – however, it stars the husband and wife team of singers Marc Anthony and Jennifer Lopez. This might pull in the viewers… or maybe not. Good luck to the film, I’d rather watch a repeat of Holiday 78.
And finally to Guy ‘Mr Madonna’ Ritchie’s new film RocknRolla. Another one who has received his fair share of criticism for the two appalling films that followed Lock, Stock… and Snatch, he has apparently hit the bullseye again. Unfortunately he’s hit the same heisty, Mockney, London shoot ‘em up target as those first two successful films. This means he’s a good director, but not a great one. Which is nice, but not brilliant. Above average will do, it seems, to get a film distribution deal.