DOWNTON ABBEY: THE GRAND FINALE
(15) 123mins
★★★☆☆
3
IT’S the end of an era – one that has lasted 15 years. And, for some, the end of Downton Abbey will feel like a death.
Which is palpable in this third and final film, from writer Julian Fellowes, as the loss of Dowager Countess Violet Crawley (Dame Maggie Smith) is ever present.
And her whip-smart wit is certainly missed.
Since the fictional Yorkshire estate first swept into our lives in 2010, we have followed the Crawley family — and their faithful staff — through the sinking of the Titanic, World War One and the Spanish Flu pandemic.
Now it’s time to say goodbye, with the last of three films from the franchise.
Sleazy pal
We meet the gang in all their finery during the summer of 1930, when the newly divorced Mary Crawley (Michelle Dockery) has become a pariah in high society.
We see her being frogmarched out of a royal party as her legal separation is deemed to bring shame on those around her.
Her parents Cora (Elizabeth McGovern) and Robert (Hugh Bonneville) are ever-supportive and set her on a new project of running the much-loved mansion house.
But soon they are visited by Cora’s brother Harold (a sleepy Paul Giamatti) and his somewhat sleazy pal Gus (Alessandro Nivola) who arrive with news that bad investments have been made with the family money, so the Crawleys need to pick up the pieces.
Meanwhile downstairs, Mr Carson (Jim Carter) has retired, but still wants to interfere in the running of the house.
There’s also a side story about Isobel (Penelope Wilton) on the committee for the village fair — a role once taken by Countess Violet.
There’s little-to-no jeopardy, the lines between servants and residents get very blurred indeed and everyone talks to each other in a terribly jolly nice way indeed.
Dominic West, as the excitable and theatrical Guy Dexter, gives a stand-out performance, as does the straight-talking and emotionless Dockery, who is still very cool indeed.
While it all feels a little dusty and overly sweetened, the sleek glamour of the outfits, the rich scenery, the top cast and that beloved theme tune sees it through.
One for the fans, who will find it as comforting as a big serving of Mum’s Sunday roast.
SPINAL TAP II: THE END CONTINUES
(15) 84 mins
★★★★☆
3
FOR me, 1984 rock mockumentary Spinal Tap is the funniest film of all time, with its spontaneously combusting drummer and mini Stonehenge.
But could the fictional band that rhymed “flesh tuxedo” with “pink torpedo” still turn the jokes up to 11 in this woke world?
The answer is that Nigel Tufnel, David St Hubbins and Derek Smalls haven’t cut Big Bottom from their set list and remain reassuringly politically incorrect.
To portray a bunch of sad old rockers in any other way would have been fake.
The End Continues finds Spinal Tap reuniting for one final gig, following a fallout between David and Nigel.
The film is laugh-out-loud funny whenever the original trio take centre stage, thanks to their supreme deadpan delivery.
Christopher Guest makes Tufnel hiding a cheese grater in the back of his guitar seem natural, while Harry Shearer’s Smalls is right at home running a museum of glue.
Sadly, the newcomers, including Chris Addison’s morally bankrupt manager and a string of celebrity cameos, don’t quite gel. But Spinal Tap is worth the encore.
GRANT ROLLINGS
THE LONG WALK
(15) 108 mins
★★★★☆
3
IN a dystopian United States under a totalitarian regime, a group of teenage boys enter a brutal annual walking contest.
They must maintain a speed of at least three miles per hour or risk being shot dead. The televised contest continues until only one walker remains alive.
Directed by Francis Lawrence (The Hunger Games), The Long Walk is an adaptation of Stephen King’s 1979 bestselling novel, originally published under his pseudonym Richard Bachman.
It stars Cooper Hoffman (son of the late Philip Seymour Hoffman) and Bafta Rising Star winner David Jonsson, as two contestants who strike up a friendship.
Mile after mile of unforgiving Tarmac grinds the boys down, with blistering heat and punishing rain turning every step into a biblical ordeal.
Tonally, the film finds its heart in the gallows humour and quiet rebellion of its young cast. The witty banter between the boys provides moments of comic relief and camaraderie.
Bleak, demanding and quietly moving, this is both a faithful King adaptation and harrowing cinema.
LINDA MARRIC
