Film
What's on at the cinema plus reviews of the latest movie and DVD releases
LFF - The festival serves up a documentary double bill
'Based on a True Story' and 'Murderball' reviewed.
Nov 2 2005
The 1975 film 'Dog Day Afternoon' starred Al Pacino as John Wojtowicz, the man who tried to finance a sex change operation for his lover by robbing a New York branch of the Chase Manhattan Bank.
Dutch documentary maker Walter Stokman saw the film, became intrigued by the aftermath of the siege, and set about making 'Based on a True Story', a dramatic account of the events surrounding the Hollywood classic.
Tracking Wojtowicz down to the same Brooklyn neighbourhood he lived in thirty years ago, Stokman has great difficulty dealing with the man himself, and so relies on the testament of hostages, police, filmmakers and everyone else connected to the bungled bank job.
What emerges is a portrait of a strange, difficult and at times quite threatening individual; a control freak who found infamy thirty years ago and has been talking about it ever since.
It also proves that truth is indeed stranger than fiction, a statement that is backed up by the other doc of the day, 'Murderball'.
On the surface the film tells the tale of the rivalry between the American and Canadian quadriplegic rugby teams (an aggressive contact sport that was originally called 'murderball').
But at its heart, the documentary is a powerful, refreshingly unsentimental account of a remarkable group of individuals.
With characters like Mark Zupan (an aggressive, goateed monster on the court) and Joe Soares (who defected to the Canadian side when he was dropped by Team America) 'Murderball' is a hugely entertaining insight into the realities of being disabled.
It is also, without doubt, the best sports film of the year.
Most popular on this site
Top Stories
Hippies who work for The Man
To celebrate George Clooney comedy 'The Men who Stare at Goats', we look back at six memorable onscreen hippies who fought the system from within
Roland Emmerich's guide to disaster movies
Ahead of the release of '2012', Roland Emmerich offers his ten tips on creating the perfect global catastrophe
Grant Heslov: interview
Grant Heslov, director of 'The Men who Stare at Goats' talks about his old pal George Clooney, his interest in the paranormal, and his fond memories of working on 'Happy Days'
The Coen brothers discuss 'A Serious Man'
Masters of contrary comedy, Joel and Ethan Coen have struck gold again with their latest, ‘A Serious Man’
Ten inspirations behind 'Avatar'?
Time Out ponders the influences behind James Cameron's anticipated space-opera on the basis of the trailer
Michael Jackson's This Is It: review
Kenny Ortega's posthumous concert film is a rousing eulogy for one of pop's great enigmas
Michael Haneke: The man behind the menace
From Cannes to Munich to London, Dave Calhoun tours Michael Haneke's Palme d'Or winner, 'The White Ribbon'
Lone Scherfig talks 'An Education'
Danish director Lone Scherfig was an unlikely choice for a very English affair like 'An Education'. Cath Clarke meets her
How Jane Campion brought John Keats back to life
Time Out gets Romantic with the ‘difficult’ New Zealander about her new film, 'Bright Star'
Time Out's 50 greatest animated films with commentary by Terry Gilliam
In celebration of the release of Pixar's 'Up' and Wes Anderson's 'Fantastic Mr Fox', read our rundown of fifty classic feature length animations












What do you think?
Post your comment now