21 Bridges (15)

Walking out of the cinema after watching 21 Bridges was more interesting than usual – asked by our companion if we had enjoyed the film, and answering positively, we were greeted with an incredulous stare.

“REALLY????”

It seems the two of us had watched very different films...

Further discussion led to phrases such as “been done before”, “just a cop movie” and “predictable” being bandied about — and it was hard to argue against them.

But at the same time, they missed the point.

With 21 Bridges, it's not the story that's being told that matters so much as HOW it is being told.

The plot, despite many a twist and turn, is remarkably simple. A botched raid on some stashed coke leads to a mass shoot-out and more dead cops than you can shake a sub-machine gun at.

Cue Detective Davis (Chadwick Boseman) being called in to track down the two hoodlums responsible for the massacre, and promptly being saddled with Detective Burns (Sienna Miller) from narcotics.

And from here, yes, we can't argue, A follows B in the finest of traditions.

But as we said above, it's how the story is shaped and told...

For a start, the decision is made to shut down the whole of Manhattan – including the titular 21 Bridges. A deadline is then added to the mix.

What this does is create a tense, claustrophobic atmosphere meaning no one can take a breathe and the chase becomes beautifully relentless from there on in.

But even that isn't what makes this film what it is.

The use of dark streets, cars racing through the night, the stark contrast of the underground are all utilised beautifully by first-time movie director Brian Kirk (whose work on Game Of Thrones and Luther proves he knows what he's doing).

The use of aerial shots also give an added sheen to proceedings, bringing to mind a grittier version of Welcome To The Punch.

It's the sound design. That's where the real magic of 21 Bridges lies.

From the moment the bad guys drive up to the wine bar in their quiet car, the doors shutting softly, you know you are in the hands of a lover of the craft (sound designer Lawrence Zipf in this case).

Not since Stoker has the sound of a movie got us this excited.

And that his how the tension is quietly, gently ratcheted up during the course of the film.

The score insinuates rather than instructs, during a brilliant chase scene it underpins rather than shouts over the top (in one case allowing the sound of clattering pots and pans to ring clear).

And while the tempo of the film barely changes, the beat of the sound effects and sound track plug themselves into your adrenal glands and take control.

Now obviously this doesn't work for everyone, but when it does....

And to be honest, it needs to.

The characters are rather cliched, Miller's narc cop is paper thin at best and her delivery is somewhat flat, bad guys Stephen James and Taylor Kitsch have been in a million other movies – but once you get lost in the action, once you let the sounds wrap themselves around you, none of that matters.

It helps a lot that Boseman is a commanding screen presence, utterly believable and plays his detective with depth and nuance. A lesser actor could have got lost in this.

The film is not without other flaws, either, and one piece of expositional dialogue could have been replaced by a bunch of pom-pom waving cops singing “THIS IS A CLUE” in full falsetto and it would have invoked fewer tuts.

But the positives outweigh the negatives here.

Has the story been told before? Of course. Has it been told with more depth? Almost certainly.

But has it been told with slick care and attention to the finer details? Not recently.

At the end of the day, sometimes all you want from a film is just to sit back and enjoy it washing over you. And for that, 21 Bridges is perfect.

Knives Out (12A)

As the trailer played out before us, glances were exchanged – this looked nuts. Not good nuts, just nuts. And then Daniel Craig appears with that accent...

Yup, no way we were going to see Knives Out.

Until we saw the trailer again. When suddenly it looked a bit more fun...

So naturally, a couple of weeks later we find ourselves at the cinema and Knives Out is the only thing on at the right time. So shrugs all round and in we slump.

Only to emerge two hours later grinning like idiots having had more fun than should be possible sitting that close to a giant screen (our fault, we were running late).

You see, underneath the dodgy accent and slightly two-dimensional characters is a very funny script and a who-dunnit that shows just how bad Murder On The Orient Express really was.

The basic plot is classically simple – an obvious suicide which can only be murder. A family of suspects gather, all of whom had motive, while The Help is dragged around like a queasy Hastings to Daniel Craig's American Poirot.

None of which, we appreciate, sounds like a smashing couple of hours – but thanks to a water tight script and seriously slick direction, writer/director Rian Johnson (yup, the Star Wars one) delivers a huge dollop of entertainment.

Now, as we said, there is nothing original going on here – but when we have Jamie Lee Curtis, Don Johnson, Toni Collete and Craig chewing the scenery with joy and gusto, how can you complain?

Curtis, especially, owns every frame she is in, but her co-stars all step up and deliver fitting performances, all clearly buying in to what Rian is after.

The only sticking point is Craig's accent – not because it's bad, but because one does not expect a southern drawl to come tumbling out of that face.

Once you get past that, though, he delivers a fine balance of quirk and Sherlockesque sleuthery.

But the excellent, lush, cinematography and great performances would all count for nowt if it wasn't for the writing.

Because the real jewel in Knives Out's crown is the script.

Observing Checkov's Gun to the letter (“If in the first act you have hung a pistol on the wall, then in the following one it should be fired. Otherwise don't put it there.”), not a word, scene or clue is wasted.

Nothing happens by accident, nothing is forgotten, and even when you think you've spotted something Rian missed, the traditional recap in the final scenes will tell you that you were wrong.

And that is the key to why this film is just so damn enjoyable – the attention to detail.

Everyone brings their A game, no shot is left to chance and every tiny detail matters in the whole scheme of things.

And it's been a while since we've been able to say that.

Oh, and there are more than a few subtle political jibes in there too. Which was nice.

In an era when big blockbusters are causing angst for the likes of Scorsese, it's genuinely refreshing to happen upon a film that just takes a good story and has fun with it.

It proves that both good storytelling is alive and well, and that if your film is good enough (and not four days long) it can still be made.

The fact it's still on several screenings a day also proves that if you film it, they will come.