When a plan...

So, on a recent trip to New York, I very excitedly plunked my money down for a ticket to see the remake of The A-Team. Now I'm a child of the 80's, (well technically the 70's but only by 6 months)and therefore The A-Team is my childhood encapsulated on screen. I did grow up being 'Face' in the playground, and I think I still have my Mr. T doll with his missing leg kicking around somewhere. None of this is relevant to an impartial review of the film, but it does show my level of anticipation for an 'A-Team' movie. When John Singleton was attached to direct the film I had high hopes, he made a couple of films I really liked, Boyz n the Hood, Higher Learning and Four Brothers. Four Brothers was the one which gave me the highest hopes for the 'A-Team', being as it was a tale of dysfunctional family, which is how I always saw the A-Team. When he dropped out and Carnahan took over I was cautious. I had enjoyed both Narc and Smokin' Aces with both being almost entirely fun but forgettable.
Having said all that, the casting gave me a little cause for concern. I had always had a perfect cast in my head. This cast varied slightly over time but generally always featured Ving Rhames to take the B.A Baracus role. Looking at Rampage Jackson, physically he was perfect but having never acted before it made me wonder, will he fill Mr. T's boots? The answer to that later...
Onto the film. I settled down, Coke and Sour Patch Kids in hand, for what I was hoping would be fun! Well, fun is the one word which it most certainly was.
It started with a lengthy pre-credit sequence showing how the team got together. Big explosions, tongue in cheek humour and a nice introduction to each character, Hannibal has a plan, B.A has a van and a bad atitude, Murdoch is crazy and Face is pretty and charming. It then jumps ahead a few years (which confused me slightly)to a point where they have been together for a few years and to quote Jessica Biel's Cpt Sosa:
"They are the best, and they specialize in the ridiculous."
Well if that's not a recommendation then I don't know what is? The plot is fairly irrelevant, the whole point of the A-Team was always just go along for the ride and enjoy it. The point of this update is 'ACTION'. The plot is always secondary to the action. What happened then? Doesn't matter, something exploded! Why did that character do that? Doesn't matter, Bradley Cooper took his shirt off and then something exploded. This basically is the template for the movie. It kind of follows the old TV show thread, they get set up, go on the run, save the day. The only thing missing was a lonely widow living on a farm in the sticks somewhere, but if it makes enough money that is the template for the sequel sorted.
Bradley Cooper as 'Face' comes out of the film well, building on his leading man status from The Hangover. He is all charm and rippling abs, perfectly filling the shoes of Dirk Benedict, while Sharlto Copley plays the Murdoch role capably, accent wandering at times but otherwise the right level of manic for the role. Liam Neeson basically played Liam Neeson, with the expected amount of cigar chomping and constant repetition of "I love it when a plan comes together." I'd have preferred to see someone like Clooney have a go at it, but he was likeable enough. The big surprise was Rampage Jackson, for a non-actor he nailed the glowering menace of B.A along with just enough to charisma to keep him likeable. He has the physical presence to make him intimidating and the moment *SPOILER* where he realises that violence is the answer is as good a moment as any you will see this summer.
In short, the film was a blast. We saw it with a typical American crowd, whooping and cheering at every big explosion or silly joke. I had a great time, and even the plot holes were excused based on some amazing set pieces. Who parachutes a tank out of a plane? The A-Team. Who tries to fly that tank? The A-Team.
Switch off your brain and enjoy the ride...

Promises Promises

It has become a ritual between my girlfriend Caroline and I that when we come to New York, or even London for that matter, we go see a show on Broadway (or West End). My reluctance is firmly on record and so we tend to go see something that I can cope with. Everytime we go with a list of things I actually want to see, which is usually short, very short. We also then have a list of things I don't mind, usually classics like Grease or Mary Poppins. Then there is the 3rd list, which is the definite no list. This features things like Hairspray. This years yes list was topped by Promises Promises. It was a yes primarily because of Kristin Chenowith. She first came to my attention as Olive Snook in Pushing Daisies where she was so cute and adorable! When I realised that the play was based on Billy Wilder's 'The Apartment' I was delighted. A classic comedy, performed by one of the most respected musical theatre performers around? Even I could cope with that. Sean Hayes (Jack from Will & Grace) was actually playing the lead role, Chuck Baxter. Hayes is a performer who I have seen very little of outside of W&G and a one episode appearance in Scrubs. He was excellent as the put upon Baxter, giving up his apartment in hopes of a promotion. Chenowith didn't have too much acting to do in the role, but she had a couple of big song and dance numbers, which she pulled off with some aplomb. Best of all though was Katie Finnernan, bursting through into the 2nd half like a whirlwind of scene stealing mayhem. The show was fun and diverting but for me the only thing to come out of it would be that Sean Hayes is actually a very talented actor with great physical timing, that Katie Finnernan should be a massive star, and that Kristin Chenowith is still adorable. Also, the seats in the theatre were tiny and I spent most of the evening with my legs all pretzel like.
In short, the show was very enjoyable but felt very dated, even though clearly still set in the 60's. Definitaly worth a watch but I certainly wouldn't pay the full $240 they were charging for seats. I give it a solid B.