Drug War (Johnnie To) is a complex, institutional examination of the Chinese crime world, following narcotics detective Zhang Lei (Sun Hong-lei), an inventive, committed cop who sees a chance to infiltrate a massive cartel when mid-level manufacturer Tian Ming (Louis Koo, who co-starred in the To’s Election films) pops up in hospital after a meth lab explosion. Using Tian’s knowledge of dealers and cartel heads, Zhang inserts himself into their world as a mover of merchandise, with plans to set up a massive deal and catch the entire organization in the act. Director To splits his focus between large-scale action sequences and more intimate clashes in which his two leads game one another. And Drug War slots nicely into To’s filmography of violent, morally cloudy cops-and-robbers thrillers. It’s just that simple. Subtitled. 105 min.
Rating: NNNN (NW)
Opens Aug 9 at TIFF Bell Lightbox. See here for times.
The Deep (Baltasar Kormákur) finds the Icelandic director of Contraband and 2 Guns going home to tell the true story of a fisherman (Ólafur Darri Ólafsson) who swam several miles back to shore after his trawler capsized, enduring six hours in the freezing North Atlantic. The ordeal is recreated entirely through practical means in an extended sequence that forms the movie’s utterly riveting midsection. But once our hero makes it back, The Deep bogs down in a fairly dull recounting of the medical community’s interest in learning how the big, out-of-shape fisherman survived for hours in conditions that should have killed him almost immediately. That stuff may well be historically accurate, but it’s not nearly as interesting as the flashes of survivor guilt we see behind Ólafsson’s eyes. Subtitled. 95 min.
Rating: NNN (NW)
Opens Aug 9 at TIFF Bell Lightbox. See here for times.
Elysium (Neill Blomkamp) is virtually identical, plot-wise, to District 9, the director’s wildly overrated 2009 debut. In 2154, Matt Damon’s Max is a factory worker from the favelas of Los Angeles who’s given just days to live after absorbing a lethal dose of radiation. The tech on orbiting space station Elysium can cure him in seconds, but access is restricted to get a set of forged papers, Max agrees to a dangerous kidnapping scheme that ends up with him carrying information in his brain that the station’s autocratic secretary of defence (Jodie Foster) will stop at nothing to retrieve. As in District 9, all the sociopolitical stuff is just an excuse to reduce humans to goo and smash large things into other things. Fans of that film’s spectacular carnage and garbled political posturing will doubtless find Elysium even more meaningful and relevant and stuff. I would politely remind you that The Phantom Menace still has its defenders, too. Some subtitles. 109 min.
Rating: NN (NW)
Opens Aug 9 at 401 & Morningside, Beach Cinemas, Cineplex Cinemas Empress Walk, Coliseum Mississauga, Coliseum Scarborough, Colossus, Courtney Park 16, Eglinton Town Centre, Grande – Steeles, Humber Cinemas, Queensway, Rainbow Market Square, Rainbow Promenade, Rainbow Woodbine, Scotiabank Theatre, SilverCity Fairview, SilverCity Yonge, SilverCity Yorkdale, Varsity. See here for times.
Informant (Jamie Meltzer) is a doc about a liar that plays very much like a lie. In 2008, American activist Brandon Darby made headlines for diming on David McKay and Bradley Crowder, two Texas protesters arrested during the Republic National Convention for planning to use Molotov cocktails against state police vehicles. According to McKay and Crowder, Darby actively radicalized them, encouraging them to build weapons, effectively entrapping them in his role of agent provocateur. Meltzer doesn’t seem to know what to make of Darby, finding him fascinating, his curiosity scanning as sympathy. Not until the rushed last leg, when Darby’s recuperated by the Tea Party movement, do the knives really come out and his character becomes seriously jeopardized. 81 min.
Rating: NN (JS)
Opens Aug 9 at Bloor Hot Docs Cinema. See here for times.
Kevin Hart: Let Me Explain (Leslie Small) doesn’t explain why fans find Hart so funny. Unlike the most memorable comedians, who often find intimate ways to reflect on the world, he lacks a sharp, critical edge. He’s a dull narcissist whose material is limited to his own friends, security (among his finest moments) and family, yet even within that bubble he lacks insight. He blames his own cheating ways for the breakdown in his marriage, but immediately descends to painting his jealous partner as a demonic creature ready to chew his ass out. His apology is the Trojan horse for a full-scale assault on women. Hart frequently turns his personal life into a weird, meandering fiction that takes an unusually long time to get to a punchline. A few jokes do land, but not enough to justify this movie. 75 min.
Rating: NN (RS)
Opens Aug 9 at Yonge & Dundas 24. See here for times.
Lovelace (Rob Epstein, Jeffrey Friedman) is a stilted, skin-deep profile of Deep Throat star Linda Lovelace (Amanda Seyfried) that lazily recycles the story familiar to vintage porn buffs. Seyfried gives her all as the suburban girl who escapes the clutches of her über-Christian mom (an unrecognizable Sharon Stone) to become an infamous porn star who hobnobs with Hugh Hefner (James Franco at his hammiest). After skimming through the basics, the film rewinds, retelling the story from the perspective of the older, reformed Lovelace, revealing details of her horrifying abuse at the hands of husband and pimp Chuck Traynor (Peter Sarsgaard, effectively sleazy). By splitting the story into two versions, the noncommittal film creates a “he said/she said” dynamic, setting her allegations at a safe distance – a gutless way to treat the subject of a biopic. 92 min.
Rating: NN (RS)
Opens Aug 9 at Carlton Cinema. See here for times.
Planes (Klay Hall) is an animated film about a crop-dusting plane who wants to become a racer but has a fear of heights. Screened after press time – see review August 9 at nowtoronto.com/movies. 92 min.
Opens Aug 9 at 401 & Morningside, Beach Cinemas, Coliseum Scarborough, Courtney Park 16, Eglinton Town Centre, Grande – Steeles, Interchange 30, Queensway, Rainbow Market Square, Rainbow Promenade, Rainbow Woodbine, SilverCity Fairview, SilverCity Mississauga, SilverCity Yonge, SilverCity Yorkdale, Yonge & Dundas 24. See here for times.
