Review: The Sum of All Fears

The Sum of All Fears is one of the few Jack Ryan thrillers I hadn't seen previously. This time it's the turn of Ben Affleck to don the analyst's mantle. He does a respectable job in a slick thriller which manages to convincingly ramp up the stakes with some surprisingly powerful although constrained special effects.

The plot is a little meandering, but is anchored by a bunch of recognisable, but hard to name actors. Hinds as the Russian President and Freeman as the Director of the CIA standout in particular.

Verdict: Serviceable Clancy thriller. 

Review: Five Forget Mother's Day

Phew. I've finally reached the end of my reading of the adult Famous Five book series. Five Forget Mother's Day is a respectful entry in the series, even if it's perhaps the most insular.  Of note, is its attempt to give Aunt Fanny a voice and greater depth of character than the background cipher she is in the original series.  Vincent does a good job of getting us to see her from various viewpoints including her own - neatly labelled Aunterior monologue - and how they can shift depending on context.

Would I recommend this series overall? I'm honestly not sure. It certainly has its moments of amusement and I've enjoyed seeing the Five develop into plausible modern adults with moments of self reflection that would never have been found in Blyton's books. But by the end of book thirteen I feel I've had enough of the deliberately parochial nature of their newer adventures.

Verdict: The one with Aunt Fanny. 

Review: RBG

I noticed this documentary had crept onto the Oscars list and knowing little about its subject I thought it would be worth a spin. RBG turns out to be US Supreme Court Justice Ruth Baden Ginsburg - someone I admit I knew next to nothing about.

No matter, Ginsburg turns out to be an extremely tenacious pioneer of women's rights and representation in the US through a series of landmark cases - even earning the monicker: Notorious RBG - in recent years.

As at documentary, it's well made and perfectly serviceable - managing to surface voices as diverse as childhood friends and President Bill Clinton in its well paced story of her life.   It is slightly repetitious at times, particularly in observing her small physical stature, keen intelligence and quiet reserved nature.

As its subject,  RBG remains somewhat enigmatic with only hints at what drove such discipline and dedication - but never less than inspirational.  Perhaps that's not surprising given she is still serving.

Verdict: Celebratory, rather than examining, but still deftly told. 

Review: Dealt

Dealt is the fascinating story of Richard Turner, a card mechanic and sleight of hand magician with a truly extraordinary ability. It's a talent which is doubly impressive for reasons I'll let the documentary itself outline.

Surprisingly, Dealt doesn't cover many of Turner's tricks - but more the journey his life has taken and the role personal acceptance and discipline has played.  I also liked his self-deprecating humour and obvious warmth.

Verdict: Profound, inspiring and moving. 

Review: Five Escape Brexit Island

The sequel to Five on Brexit Island sees the plucky Famous Five ensnared by the dastardly cousin Rupert in a cunning plan to take advantage of some maritime ambiguity resulting from Brexit. 

This is perhaps the closest the twenty something Five (including four hundred something Timmy in dog years) have come to recreating one of their daring childhood adventures making it one of the most satisfying entries in the series.

It's still spiced with smile- rather than laugh-worthy humour making this riff appealing on more than one level.

Verdict: Enjoyable escapism.

Review: Five on Brexit Island

Five on Brexit Island is one of the earlier spoofs on the Famous Five featuring adult and modern versions of the beloved children's books characters.   I admit I wasn't looking forward to this one as I feel I've probably read as much as I want to about Brexit.

The characterisations aren't quite as well developed as later books, but it's still a mildly diverting read.  But for those of you who want to find political analogies in the characters then I'll leave you to uncover them. Certainly, Julian resembles a former PM...

Verdict: Not the best in the series, but not the worst either. 

Review: Five lose Dad in the Garden Centre

While still funny, Five lose Dad in the Garden Centre turns out to be a surprisingly poignant meditation on fatherhood and life as insular old bloke.  There's not a huge amount of jokes in this one, but I certainly shuddered at the horror of the sprawling Mobius strip like garden centre as it brought back memories of being dragged around them as a child.

Verdict: Vincent gets under the skin of shy grumpy old blokes everywhere.