Hysteria Movie Review

Releases: 6^thSeptember 2012

Rating: M – Contains sexual references

Duration: 95 minutes 

Genre:  Drama 

Starring: Maggie Gyllenhaal, Hugh Dancy and Jonathan Pryce 

Director: Tanya Wexler (Ball in the House, Finding North)

Reviewer: Jodie Clist 

The Premise>> Hysteria is a romantic comedy with an accomplished cast led by Maggie Gyllenhaal, Hugh Dancy, Jonathan Pryce, Felicity Jones and Rupert Everett, that tells an untold tale of discovery – the surprising story of the birth of the electro-mechanical vibrator at the very peak of Victorian prudishness.

The Review>> I admit it; I love period films so I was instantly sold on this quirky little trip back to 19^th Century England at a time when a condition, said to be caused by ‘uterine disturbances’ was wreaking having among the upper-class housewives of London.

Cue Dr Dalrymple (Pryce), whose answer to easing a patient’s suffering is to perform digital manipulation of a certain part of a woman’s anatomy.  Enter the handsome Dr Mortimer Granville (Dancy), a young physician trying to make his mark in the field of medicine and finding the only door open to his medical skills and newfangled thinking about germs and beliefs in the latest medical studies is Dr Dalrymple.

Charlotte Dalrymple (Gyllenhaal) is a breath of fresh air (and source of constant frustration to her father) as a liberal and free spirited social worker whose compassion for the “poor in station” runs in direct contrast to her father’s flourishing “practice” of treating the ‘hysteria’ prone, rich, upperclass housewives.

Everett’s dry and witty take on Lord Edmund St. John-Smythe, Mortimer’s electricity loving, invention obsessed friend, is delivered with style and panache while managing to deliver some of my favourite ‘one-liners’ in the movie. 

The Verdict>> As one reviewer put it, only the British could make a film about the invention of the vibrator without showing couples having sex or anyone being rude or crude, using the “F” word and still make the audience laugh.

Charming, funny and surprisingly wholesome (for the most part).

And yet another in the latest raft of films that you should make sure you stay for the closing credits.

Some extra bits to know about the film and to look out for>> Dr. Granvilles electromechanical vibrator was portable but had a wet cell battery that weighed about 40 pounds.

Win Tickets to See Hit and Run

Hit and Run is coming to the big screen from the 6th of September, so  Big Screen NZ are giving you the chance to WIN a double passes to the film.

All you need to do is answer this simple question… 

What TV Shows did Kristen Bell previously star in? 

Email your answer with your name and contact details to  win@bigscreennz.com

Competition closes 11:59pm Friday 14th of September 2012, (you must be a resident of New Zealand, and judges decision in final.)

The Premise>> Former getaway driver Charlie Bronson jeopardizes his Witness Protection Plan identity in order to help his girlfriend get to Los Angeles. The feds and Charlie’s former gang chase them on the road.

In Cinemas 6th September 2012

Rating M – Contains Violence, sexual references & offensive language

Hit and Run Movie Review

Releases: 6^thSeptember 2012

Rating: M – Contains Violence, sexual references & offensive language

Duration: 100 minutes 

Genre:  Action Comedy

Starring: Dax Shepard, Kristen Bell and Bradley Cooper

Directors: David Palmer, Dax Shepard

Reviewer: Jon E Clist 

The Premise>> Former getaway driver Charlie Bronson jeopardizes his Witness Protection Plan identity in order to help his girlfriend get to Los Angeles. The feds and Charlie’s former gang chase them on the road.

The Review>> Dax Shepherd reminds me of Luke Wilson. He’s funny, pretty good looking and actually a not bad film makes either. Perhaps you might not realise that both Luke and his brother Owen actually made their own film called Bottle Rocket for their major film debut. Obviously it’s normally the other way round, an acting career that leads to directing. So when you see that Shepherd who is a relatively newish face on our cinema screens not only stars in this film but also wrote and directed it, I would have to say that I was a little surprised.

In saying that, it’s not really an Oscar worthy film by any stretch of the imagination. After seeing another film about a driver in the past year, it will be hard to put this film here into any similar classification of greatness and to be honest I think that Drive will unfairly disadvantage this film in the eyes of most reviewers.

Overall, it’s not too bad a film. I know that sounds a little like a back handed bit of praise but seriously it’s a Good bit of b-grade action comedy. There are plenty of car chases and loads of cheesy dialogue that for the most part suits this style of film. Granted it is a little over the top at times and does come across a little too try hard.

Dax and Kristen are mostly believable as a couple and certainly have their moments on Screen where their back and forths bring about some solid laughs. Of course there are times when the dialogue attempts to take a more serious tone and it is at this point when you hope that they are doing it tongue in cheek and didn’t mean to really be deep and meaningful. At these times the dialogue does come across as a little chunky and cliché, I found myself laughing at it, while one other reviewer pat verbally scoffing the film out loud. Dude, seriously save it for your review and don’t ruin the experience for the rest of us.

The Verdict>> This film is targeted at the date night audience. Some romance for the girls, car chases for the boys and laughs for everyone.

Some extra bits to know about the film and to look out for>> Both the hot rod Lincoln Continental and the off-road race car belong to Dax Shepard in real life. Also, since the movie was an independent production with no studio supervision, Dax also did his own stunt driving.

Most of the cars seen in this film are from Dax Shepard’s personal collection.

The budget for this film was about $2,000,000. $1,000,000 of that was to secure music rights.

Dax Shepard made this movie with a bunch of his friends in the business. This includes his real-life girlfriend Kristen Bell who plays the same role in this film.