THE INTOUCHABLES (2011) - FRENCH

A touching film that is titled the intouchables. 

I fell on the film through the imdb top 250 list. I vow myself to complete that list soon. 

When I watched the trailer it was reminiscent of another film "The Bucket List", so that set the expectation. Yet, when I watched the whole film, I was more happy, more involved and I felt it was more realistic. 

Omar Sy, the actor who played the role of Driss did an amazing job. After many films, I was left awestruck by such a realistic and easy performance. He lived it, just did not play the part is what I felt.

The screenplay was terrific, it was straight and without any complications. The film just flew by in 1 hour 52 minutes of running time, thus I owe the credit to editing which was apt.

Directors were faithful I believe to the original story which was two real persons. I thank the writers and directors for being unsympathetic and yet very realistic with the film.

One word that I can echo with the film is "Pragmatic". This film shows that interesting stories can be told in a realistic manner and without any melodrama.

A 5/5 for this. Loved it.

THE MARTIAN (2015) - ENGLISH

The promise of the first ten minutes was thrown away in this overly long film.

I loved the initial ten minutes which set up the film nicely, but after that, it dragged to a predictable point and was very lame by the end. It's is smart in terms of setup and the whole creation of Mars, but it's lame in the screenplay and added uncalled for points. 

Certainly, it brought out of the best of Matt Damon, the leading man. But, I am not so sure that it brought the best in others too. The supporting cast was just doing their part and they did not enthuse me much. 

The special effects were amazing, given the budget and the director Ridley Scott who was a proven Sci-fi master. Thanks to Ridley as he added some drama and fun. Else, this would have just been another survival story. The humor in this film is surely commendable.

Also, there is very little science jargon in this, it helps a layman understand. Unlike Interstellar which had too much of science jargon, that made it abstruse. 

The Martian keeps the dialogue simple and relatable which for sure is nice. My biggest qualm is the length of the film, which could have been trimmed easily by 20 minutes. Other than this, I am fine with most of what I saw. Indeed happy in parts too. 

A 3/5 for a certainly good film, that could have been so much better. Perhaps one viewing is recommended if not a repeat watch.