Queen & Country (2015)

Sick Product of a Sick System

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

Watching it is like watching the spectacle of a class clown at their best: you laugh at their jokes, instigate their defiance, and "ooooh" when they get in trouble.

Writer/director John Boorman set a high standard for his war memoirs with his beautifully scripted and acted HOPE & GLORY in 1987. That original bears little resemblance to this off center amateurish sequel QUEEN & COUNTRY. We wonder where the wonder went.In the hilarious highlight of HOPE AND GLORY 9-year-old Bill Rohan rejoices in the destruction of his school by an errant Luftwaffe bomb. QUEEN & COUNTRY picks up the story nearly a decade later as Bill - Boorman's alter-ego - (Callum Turner) begins basic training in the early Fifties, during the Korean War. Bill is joined by a trouble-making army mate, Percy (Caleb Landry Jones). They never get near Korea, but engage in a constant battle of wits with the Catch-22-worthy, Sgt. Major Bradley (David Thewlis). Richard E. Grant is their superior, the very, very, infinitely put-upon, aptly-named Major Cross. The boys begin noticing girls (Aimee-Ffion Edwards, Vanessa Kirby – Bill's sister - and Tamsin Egerton) but that does little to help this thin plot.Boorman is responsible for it all and though it has a few nice moments, it is a cake that falls.

Hope and Glory was delicious, sweet, sad and charming. This sequel, well, seems like a sequel in name only.Some characters from the previous movie show up, but only in very, very minor and brief, non consequential roles. The main story is a little boring and uneventful, like a bland episode of MASH. Pity, I really wanted to like this movie. There just isn't a lot of meat on the table.Tasmin Egarton was GORGEOUS as was Vanessa Kirby. Callum Turner and Caleb Landry Jones did a very good job with what they had, there just wasn't much of a story. The movie didn't just end as much as run out of script... I was actually surprised when the end credits appeared. Sad. I wanted more.

Writer and director John Boorman introduced us to some of these characters back in 1987 with the marvellous war time tale – 'Hope and Glory'. Bill is now ten years old and has been sent off to do his National Service – only we are now involved in the Korean War (which still limps on to this day – peace never having been formally agreed). He and his mate Percy though end up stuck in base camp teaching the typing pool.Life in the camp is far from fun and games and the strict Regimental Sergeant Major and Sergeant Major make their life a bit of a hell – so they create diversions, shenanigans and go chasing the girls near the base by way of diversion. However, as with all diversions – whether on camp or elsewhere – there will be consequences.Now this is a very well made film, period detail is great etc. The make up is all good and the acting is generally very good. Caleb Landry Jones as Percy Hapgood though struck me as miscast – his accent is unplacable (perhaps as he is American?); he does the emotion well but seems a bit unhinged – which may indeed have been the point. David Thewlis is probably the most stand out performance as the irritatingly unlikeable Bradley – and shows how broad his acting abilities are. Overall though a very good film and if you were a fan of the original, then you will probably want to see – but the jokes are much thinner on the ground here, but it still has a vibrancy that evokes the time and the passion in an endearing way.

Watching "Queen and Country" was for me the equivalent of watching a proper and deserved sequel to "Aliens" (1986), written and directed nearly 30 years later by its creator, James Cameron. And even with a completely different cast, you realize that the beloved main characters from the original classic are essentially the same. Only 10 years more mature. When John Boorman directed "Hope and Glory" (released just a year after "Aliens"), I, at age 16, decided it was and would always be one of my favorite movies. And when in 2014 I knew that, 27 years later, he would release a sequel, I WAS IN HEAVEN. And after watching twice - at the 2014 edition of the Mostra International de Cinema de São Paulo - I can say with relief that all the effort Mr. Boorman had to complete this film was not in vain, quite the contrary. And he has said - at age 81 - that this was his last film. A pity. Because the Rowan family deserves at least a trilogy. Main points of my review: Callum Turner convinces both as the adult version of the main character from the first film, Bill Rowan (the Director in its infancy) and also of his original actor, Sebastian Rice-Edwards, one of those rare cases of a gifted actor who had a role only in life, and made ​​him so special. Turner may not have been a great boat handler as convincing as Edwards (heh), but otherwise, he is Billy Rowan. And not an impersonator. IMHO, Caleb Landry Jones (Percy, Billy's best friend in the Army) was one of the best young actors in the amazing cast of "X-Men First Class" (hence my disappointment to learn that his character was killed in "X- Men, Days of Future Past"). In this movie, he alternates between "too much" and "awesome much" (as the Heath Ledger's Joker. Yes I caught thinking myself several times how he would make a great Joker). Maybe he was driven to exaggeration by the director, maybe the actual friend was "just like that". BTW, I'd love to see him in a Terry Gilliam film since Terry understands "crazy" (in a good way). Interestingly, he's a Texan actor playing British characters very well. Tamsin Egerton is really the face of royalty and tragic beauty. She also played Guienevere in a TV series ("Camelot"). When her eyes smile, momentarily leaving behind the perennial state of sadness, you're also quite fond of her. At 26, she has the world ahead to conquer for sure. With the exception of David Hayman who repeats the role of Billy's father, the rest of the protagonist's family has renewed the cast. The mother and older sister were replaced by another actresses (again, the actors may change but they are essentially the same characters). My biggest disappointment was with Billy's grandfather. Ian Bannen (who died in 1999) was a FORCE OF NATURE, stealing nearly every scene in which he appeared. But in the second session, I began to be content with what I had, maybe the director has opted for someone more like his original grandfather. However, the film does not explain the disappearance of the sister of Billy, Sue (or I wasn't paying enough attention). The military characters are all treated with respect and consideration (for a change, they are not stereotypes, but actual human beings). Fortunately, the film picks up, with decency and tenderness, forbidden romance between Billy's mother and Mac (the father's best friend), one of the best things from the first movie. Also, fortunately, it shows something that was only suggested in "Hope and Glory": the love of cinema, from the characters mentioning classic movies and directors and the connection of filmmaking with the idyllic river. And fortunately again, the river also reappears: after all, is special as the other members of the Rowan family. Music: as in "The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes" by Billy Wilder, the theme song evokes the tragic main lady. Here, the theme of Ophelia. On the Wilder's film, Gabrielle. And I only realized, of course, the second time I watched. Editing: the film manages to give us time jumps at the right pace, you realize the plot moving and the characters maturing. And does not care to leave it all explained to the viewer (like the scene in the hospital where - SPOILERS - Billy sees his first great passion for the last time). Despite wishing for a sequel - mostly to keep track of what happened (SPOILERS again) between Percy and Dawn - "Queen and Country" is a worthy ending for all these wonderful, old and new, characters. Thank you, Mr. Boorman.