Trailer Trash: Thank You For Your Service

The screenwriter of American Sniper, Jason Hall, returns to familiar territory with another adaptation of the war in the Middle East and the repercussions on the young men who fight for American freedom, based upon the book by David Finkel.

The trailer below shows us a lot of action and drama based upon the soldiers returning to civilian life with great difficulty, following the four men who sit in an armoured vehicle and the one incident that bond them together, for the majority we follow Miles Teller's character as he returns to a young wife and two young daughters in a new home, yet the nightmares and post-traumatic stress start to surface putting a burden on relationships and behaviour.

Teller has been a polarising actor of recent years, yet his work in Whiplash and Bleed For This has garnered substantial attention. His resemblance to a young Dustin Hoffman and the calibre of work marks him out as a talent; however, for this reviewer I worry about his ability to connect to audiences due to his blank expression in performance as if he does not want the mask to slip.  However, judging by the trailer alone, his style of acting is suitable to a troubled man struggling to engage with normality after performing so heroically for his country.

Haley Bennett (The Girl on the Train) plays his wife in a role not dissimilar to Sienna Miller's role in American Sniper; and that is the worry perhaps that the film is too close and too soon to that film's release to garner the same attention, nor does it have the heavyweight punch of Clint Eastwood directing and Bradley Cooper leading.

The trailer though is a good trailer that shows significant moments without giving away everything because this film is based around performance and characterisation; whereas American Sniper as a film had to contend with the inevitability of Pine's death, here the trailer leaves the door open for any eventuality.

Enthused with emotion by Rag n Bone Man's 'Human' the trailer ticks several boxes to garner your attention. Thank you for your reading.

Thank You For Your Service is released later in the year by Entertainment One UK

Trailer Trash: My Cousin Rachel

In a segment I have not done for some time, I am looking at a newly released trailer and wondering what can we expect.

My Cousin Rachel is based on the classic novel by Daphne Du Maurier, whose work - The Birds, Rebecca - has been subjected to cinematic adaptations by the master of suspense Alfred Hitchcock previously. This second cinematic adaptation (previously made in 1952 starring Richard Burton and Olivia de Havilland) is directed by Roger Michell and stars Rachel Weisz and Sam Claflin (Me Before You).

The trailer begins with word that 'she is here' meaning Rachel has landed in Plymouth to visit her cousin Philip. The novel is about an estate that Philip is heir to, but Rachel feels she has a right to as being married to the owner of the estate Ambrose, whilst being eloped in Italy.

Ambrose has passed away and Rachel has come to gain what is hers, Philip is the heir and she bends to his whim, but a connection grows between the two; a kinship that is not as illicit as the title nor trailer makes out as they are not blood relatives and merely related by law.

The film is shot from Philip's point of view and sees Claflin struggling with his emotions towards a woman who only has her own interests at heart.

Whilst Weisz has been able to play this sort of spinster evil woman before her role is one painted by the eyes of Claflin who seemingly goes through the ringer from independent man to fool in love.  Weisz is reunited with the director of Enduring Love and Michell has always been able to generate good chemistry between leads (Notting Hill), ensemble (the under-rated Morning Glory) and odd partnerships (Venus/The Mother). Whilst it has his familiar tropes of love unrequited with a certain streak of National Trust promotional material the trailer shows a tip of the hat to the Gothic tradition of British film-making from the 1950s/60s.

My Cousin Rachel is out on 9th June this summer from Fox Searchlight

John Wick - Preview

Following on from the recent release of the trailer from Warner Bros. for John Wick , NTTA is back with the poster poser of the week for the new one sheet of John Wick before its scheduled release on April 10th in the UK.

 

The new one sheet is not cryptic or as mysterious as others, instead it puts all the eggs in one basket of the prospective audience member being a big Keanu Reeves fan.  Reeves has had more hot and cold hits than many Hollywood stars and yet he still remains an enigma partly due to his zen like modesty and his very shrouded style of acting which can appear to be one tone, yet carries weight in reserve.

In that sense, he is much like those famous Hollywood actors Gary Cooper and Charles Bronson.  Men who had a presence in their build, yet a magnetism that would have the camera in thrall to them.

The reason I bring up Cooper and Bronson, is that John Wick is the kind of role that those two legends would portray.  Individualistic and yet trying to get away from the past life they left behind; devoid of a partner they only have themselves as company and walk alone in search of redemption by putting the law in their own hands.  Think of Cooper in High Noon and Bronson in Michael Winner's series of Death Wish films; are they vigilantes or just men out to serve justice.

The poster has Reeves in brooding form, besuited as he is throughout the majority of the trailer, striding towards the camera confident and brazen in his ability. Unlike the trailer though, which shows plenty of carnage and gunplay you only have in the poster Wick on a street with only an overturned car.  For taste purposes, no poster can really have dead bodies lying around and because of the dark tones used in the blues and blacks any fires would be distracting, as Keanu is put front and centre. 

However, compare it to the poster or US poster below, and you can see a stark difference in the tone of the film.  Keanu holding a gun which he does throughout most of the film, with the barrel of the gun forming the 'O' in John, perhaps a nod to James Bond in terms of adulation but the need to thrust the gun into the face of the audience looking at the poster speaks more about the relationship American viewers have with guns than the UK audience who have stricter gun control policy.

 

The trailer is dynamite and it shows what Reeves does well, actions speak louder than his words although it has two good points - one where he says, 'Am I back? Yeah I'm back' perhaps speaking for himself as well as his character and a piece of dialogue with a concierge about laundry, he has always been under-rated with his timing and delivery.

Directed by Chad Stahelski (a stunt co-ordinater on The Matrix and The Wolverine), the film has done well in America garnering positive reviews for Reeves in particular with a sequel already touted following the $42m gross in the three months since release in October 2014. 

Whilst the avenging hitman and grieving husband is nothing new, it is positive to see Reeves up his action star potential again in a vehicle suited to his range of acting ability. When harnessed properly as in The Matrix and Point Break it can be golden, and John Wick promises to not disappoint on this occasion.

John Wick is released by Warner Bros. in the UK on April 10th