TOY STORY 5
(PG) 102 minutes
★★★★☆
IT’S more than 30 years since the first Toy Story film changed the way we look at the contents of an old toy box.
And it might seem that after four films — and a pretty dire Buzz Lightyear spin-off in 2022 — that the story of toys could have been packed up and put in the loft for ever.
But, no. There’s always room for another play.
And Woody, Buzz and their motley crew realise there’s a new enemy sucking the imagination out of their beloved children’s minds: Technology.
The film focuses on good old rootin’-tootin’ Cowgirl Jessie (voiced by Joan Cusack), who is favoured by her owner, Bonnie.
The kid loves nothing more than playing games where Jessie and Buzz Lightyear get hitched.
Sadly, the neighbourhood kids don’t want to join in with Bonnie. In fact, they laugh at her suggestions.
When Jessie goes on a mission to persuade them otherwise, she watches as they all sit staring at devices, like little zombies.
“That’s not playing!” she exclaims. “They’re not even looking up.”
In a misguided act of kindness, Bonnie’s parents buy her a Lilypad (Greta Lee) — a kid-friendly tablet that she can use to “connect” with other children. And, as you can imagine, this does the opposite.
Bonnie becomes addicted to the screen, while shunning her toys, losing her imagination and getting cyber-bullied by the girls in her class.
So, it becomes Jessie and the crew’s job to get her away from the screen and the misery it brings. Which, as any parent will know, is a near impossible task.
There is also another story running alongside it involving a shipment of new Buzz Lightyears trying to find their way to a star.
At the same time, Woody has to be brought into the pack as he’s living on the outside with the rebellious Bo Peep.
The brilliant dynamic between competitive pals Woody and Buzz is hugely missed here — as is Randy Newman’s superb theme tune, You’ve Got A Friend In Me.
This time, Taylor Swift’s original song, I Knew It, I Knew You, is played at the credits.
And Jessie’s relentless energy also becomes a little grating.
However, it’s great to see the gang back together on the big screen, and this outing has enough entertainment and imagination to make sure you won’t check your phone throughout.
EFFI O BLAENAU
(15) 90mins
★★★★★
THIS hard-hitting drama is adapted from Gary Owen’s one-woman play Iphigenia In Splott, which transforms his doomed Greek tragedy character into a working-class woman.
Effi (Leisa Gwenllian) has a bleak life, spending her days drinking vodka from a mug with her mates and eating Pot Noodles in a grim house in the Welsh valleys.
Her joy comes from club nights in Llandudno, where she meets handsome soldier Lee (Tom Rhys Harries) and the pair have a passionate one-night stand.
After he ghosts her, Effi discovers she’s pregnant.
But in the poorly maintained hospital in the poverty-stricken area, an NHS maternity care horror story then changes her life forever.
This Welsh-language film is a breathtaking work by director Marc Evans.
It strikes the perfect balance of grit and heart to make the subject matter compelling.
Gwenllian’s performance as the unpredictable and broken Effi is a masterclass in how to make an initially unlikeable character be- come someone you want to throw your arms around and care for.
FAMILIAR TOUCH
(12) 90mins
★★★☆☆
IN her debut feature film, director Sarah Friedland brings to life a moving story about a woman with dementia who is placed in a retirement community.
We meet clever, stylish Ruth (Kathleen Chalfant) as she’s making a delicious meal with immaculate precision. Yet at one point, she pops a piece of toast on to the dish-drying rack.
Her son then arrives – whose name she needs a reminder of – and she wonders about his profession and acts as though they may be on a date.
But he is there to take her to an assisted-living home.
Ruth has significant short-term memory loss, though she can still reel off the recipes with precision.
She enters with little protest, apart from telling the carer, in front of her son, that she never wanted children.
Chalfant’s performance is brilliant and has none of the clichés of the elderly.
Ruth is still a sassy, flirty woman who really knows her own mind even though it is betraying her.
This gentle film has a slow pace and the long, silent scenes often ask a lot of the audience – and there’s no rush in unravelling the story.
But its subtle characterisation makes it compelling and somehow uplifting.
FILM NEWS
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- A THIRD Jump Street film is in the works, starring Channing Tatum, Ice Cube and Jonah Hill.