Quick Reviews – No Escape, Hyde Park on the Hudson, The Man Who Knew Infinity

(Some quick looks are more recent movies)

No Escape (2015) – Owen Wilson and Pierce Brosnan are interesting, which is more than the rest of the movie can claim.  A family is trapped in a southeast Asian country as the government is overthrown.  A good concept and a few tense moments don’t make up for no character depth and silly slow-mo sequences.

Rating – ** Not Impressed


Hyde Park on the Hudson (2012) Bill Murray as Franklin Delano Roosevelt on the legendary weekend the King and Queen of England visited him at “his” home in New York.  I really wanted to like this movie, but it has no center.  Is it about FDR and Daisy?  FDR and the King? The King and Queen?  It just wanders aimlessly between the stories, never really going anywhere.  Then suddenly at the end, it’s supposedly been about one of those stories all along.  Credit to Murray for stretching his wings, although I don’t think he quite captures the patrician air of the President.

Rating – ** 1/2 Not Impressed

The Man Who Knew Infinity (2015) – Biopic on the very brief life of mathematical prodigy S. Ramanujan, who was gifted with the ability to simply “see” the answers to highly complex math.  Add this to the list of movies that I enjoyed starring Dev Patel.  Jeremy Irons co-stars as Ramanujan’s “sponsor” at Trinity College, G.H. Hardy.  As with any biopic there are some liberties taken with the facts but they are relatively minor here.  An inspiring movie.

Rating – **** Recommended