The director Luca Guadagnino (Challengers and Call Me by Your Name) poses an interesting question for this reviewer with his latest film, After the Hunt. Can you enjoy a movie that you feel absolutely no connection to? Will an amazing performance by an against-type Julia Roberts help with this conundrum?

Set in the overwhelmingly pretentious world of the professorial elite of Yale, Guadagnino lays down the challenge of finding anything parallel between you and the lives of these self-ordained aristocrats. If you live in the normal world and use speech that doesn’t require a dictionary to translate, the challenge to relate becomes even more elusive.

Along the way, there are directorial and cinematic decisions that provide an even bumpier road. Quick cuts before headlines are read and dropping the ambient light to near darkness during crucial scenes keep you on your toes. And throughout all this is Roberts’ performance, a marvel of balancing repugnancy and appreciation for her flawed character. This also takes place while a masterful job of make-up and lighting ages her decades right before your eyes.

By the film’s end, the question posed at first is no closer to being answered. But hours and even days later, and having the film and its eccentricities still occupying one’s mind, then this becomes the legacy. With so much disposable art being paraded as significant, is this approach actually a bad thing?
Rob Hudson
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We’ve teamed up with Sony Pictures Australia to giveaway double in-season tickets to giveaway to After The Hunt!

From visionary filmmaker Luca Guadagnino, AFTER THE HUNT is a gripping psychological drama about a college professor (Julia Roberts) who finds herself at a personal and professional crossroads when a star student (Ayo Edebiri) levels an accusation against one of her colleagues (Andrew Garfield), and a dark secret from her own past threatens to come into the light.

Starring Ayo Edebiri, Andrew Garfield, Julia Roberts, Chloë Sevigny, Michael Stuhlbarg, After The Hunt will be released in Aussie cinemas October 16!
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From visionary filmmaker Luca Guadagnino, AFTER THE HUNT is a gripping psychological drama about a college professor (Julia Roberts) who finds herself at a personal and professional crossroads when a star student (Ayo Edebiri) levels an accusation against one of her colleagues (Andrew Garfield), and a dark secret from her own past threatens to come into the light.

After The Hunt, only in cinemas October 16!
www.facebook.com/SonyPicturesAUS/

From visionary filmmaker Luca Guadagnino, AFTER THE HUNT is a gripping psychological drama about a college professor (Julia Roberts) who finds herself at a personal and professional crossroads when a star student (Ayo Edebiri) levels an accusation against one of her colleagues (Andrew Garfield), and a dark secret from her own past threatens to come into the light.

Starring Ayo Edebiri, Andrew Garfield, Julia Roberts, Chloë Sevigny, Michael Stuhlbarg, After the Hunt will be released in Aussie cinemas this October
www.facebook.com/SonyPicturesAUS/

The story is set in Bali and that beautiful land is utilised to the fullest. The scenery is stunning and the locals and their customs are absolutely endearing. Almost every frame could be blown up poster size and work in an upmarket travel agency. From sunrise to sunset, it’s all dazzling.

The story revolves around a dedicatedly divorced couple played by Clooney and Roberts. They race to the islands in hope of preventing the rushed marriage of their recent law school graduate daughter Lily (Kaitlyn Dever) and a local lad Gede (Maxime Bouttier). If that sounds familiar, is not a stretch.

It would seem churlish to not give in to all the scenic beauty and on-screen star power and be won over, even if only a little bit. Ticket To Paradise does indeed appeal by film’s end. It makes it quite easy for one to banish their cynical side and just enjoy the holiday from reality.
Rob Hudson
www.facebook.com/UniversalPicturesAU/

Directed by Ol Parker (Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again, writer of the Best Exotic Marigold Hotel films) from his script with Daniel Pipski, Ticket to Paradise is produced by Tim Bevan (Darkest Hour, The Danish Girl) and Eric Fellner (The Theory of Everything, Les Misérables) for Working Title, by Sarah Harvey (The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, co-producer In Bruges), by Deborah Balderstone (Palm Beach, Gone), by George Clooney and Oscar® winner Grant Heslov (Argo, The Midnight Sky ) for Smokehouse Pictures and by Julia Roberts and Lisa Roberts Gillan and Marisa Yeres Gill (both co-executive producers, the Homecoming series) for Red Om Films.

Ticket to Paradise is filmed on location in Queensland, Australia, aided by incentives from the Australian federal government and from Screen Queensland’s Production Attraction Strategy and will be released in Aussie cinemas September 15!

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Roberts is the loving parent of Ben (played in a star turn by Lucas Hedges) who is home for the holidays. Ben, an ex-junkie in recovery brings a lot of baggage with him. This manifests itself in mother and son getting pulled back into the dark world of drugs, those that sell and those that use.

It’s at this point in the proceedings that the story changes tract and morphs into thriller mode. The tension rises and rises as the mother refuses to give up on her son. There are a number of unexpected twists and most of these come from the curve balls the script throws Roberts.

The resilience and love shown from mother to son is the main take away from the film, however it does not shy away from showing the human cost brought on by Ben’s addiction. This is tempered by the reality of how truly awful the lives of those with addictions problems become in the current climate. These are humanitarian problems and should be treated as such, not just as a legal issue.

Rob Hudson
www.facebook.com/benisbackmovie

Based on the New York Times bestseller, Wonder tells the incredibly inspiring and heartwarming story of August Pullman. Born with facial differences that, up until now, have prevented him from going to a mainstream school, Auggie becomes the most unlikely of heroes when he enters the local fifth grade.

As his family, his new classmates, and the larger community all struggle to discover their compassion and acceptance, Auggie’s extraordinary journey will unite them all and prove you can’t blend in when you were born to stand out.

Embarking on a rollercoaster journey full of action and danger, the Smurfs are on a course that leads to the discovery of the biggest secret in Smurf history! IN CINEMAS FROM MARCH 30 2017
www.smurfsmovie.com

The storyline revolves around a TV show called Money Monster that dispenses financial advice and features George Clooney as Lee Gates, its smarmy and egotistical host. When Gates’ on-screen advice looses one of its viewers his life savings, he concocts a plan for revenge.
 

 
While the film is set in the television studio, it’s a claustrophobic thriller as Kyle Budwell (Jack O’Connell) seeks retribution for the loss of his inheritance and life’s savings. When through a scenario that could only happen in the movies, they move the action outdoors, the film enters the realm of farce and the suspension of disbelief requires too much of its audience.

The film’s climax is almost comical in its execution, which is a shame because there are a number of very effective moments and even a surprise or two. Emily Meade as Budwell’s pregnant girlfriend Molly has a great scene where she gets to deliver one of the most over the top monologues ever, that scene alone is almost worth the price of admission. There is a much better film hidden in what remains a bit of a disappointing outing for cast and crew.

Rob Hudson
www.moneymonster-movie.com