DVD reviews: The Edge of Love and Iron Man
Robert Downey Jr in Iron Man, The Edge of Love with Keira Knightley and House M.D. season 4
31 March 2009
Iron Man
Robert Downey Jr is a billionaire weapon maker who, after being captured by terrorists, escapes by building a flying suit of armour. He then rids the world of the evil that’s tooled up on his very creations. Gwyneth Paltrow is his loyal secretary and sexual-tension foil, while Jeff Bridges – bald, goatee – does the nemesis thing as a corporate rival out to steal RDJ’s robot plans. Daft, yes, but director Jon Favreau zooms in on the humanity behind the costumes, and the script is sparky enough to carry some cute, wry asides on how superhero stories all fall apart if you look too closely.
The Edge Of Love
Potentially steamy tale of Dylan Thomas’ wartime dalliance with a soldier’s wife that’s muffled by Atonement-style period over-polish and some phlegmy accents. Matthew Rhys is decent as the boozy bard, but Keira Knightley clunks as his missus, and Sienna Miller takes the trophy for Most Subcontinental Welsh Accent. Despite the posters, there’s no girl-on-girl fizz between Miller and Knightley and the only thing the film seems to say is that, for all his eloquence, Thomas could be a bit of a tosser.
House MD season 4
Every hypochondriac’s favourite discomfort TV weathers the writers’ strike with some terrific, often terrifying, meditations on synaesthesia, seizures and rectal bleeding. Best is the Mira Sorvino-starring episode with House and co forced to diagnose and treat via webcam. Next up: proxy-surgery by SMS? Taut human drama, pithy script, and Hugh Laurie.
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