Hanging by a Wire (tbc)
Directed by Mohammed Ali Naqvi
⭑⭑⭑☆☆

IN August 2023, an area in the Himalayan foothills of northern Pakistan gained global attention when cables supporting a homemade cable car snapped, leaving six children and two adults dangling above a 900-foot chasm.   

Mohammed Ali Naqvi’s documentary uses sequential storytelling and a mix of material — phone-shot video, newsreel, drone footage, talking head commentary and re-enactment. Conventional in form and technique, the film reflects the tension of the situation perfectly: terrified people hanging from a wire, an anguished community and a series of chaotically heroic rescue attempts. 

Conversations with survivors, families and rescuers are emotionally charged but never mawkish, partly because the film is packed with moments of surprising humour. For example, a rescuer, an affluent gym owner, celebrates his own good looks and magnificent physique. Later, a slanging match ensues when rescuers arrived at the cable car from different directions. It’s impossible to miss the contrast between the bourgeoise bodybuilder’s state-of-the-art pulleys and the improvised contraption of his poorer “rival.” 

The commitment of all involved — police, army helicopter crews, freelance adventurers and the local community — is apparent. However, the fatalistic view taken by all involved is not subjected to serious scrutiny.  

We learn the homemade cable car system was installed with government approval, but without help or financial support. TV journalist Sumaira Khan suggests those in power ignore the region unless shamed into a semblance of virtue. Frustratingly, her critique is almost obscured by stirring incidental music.

Nonetheless, this is a gripping and unexpectedly life-affirming documentary.  
AH
In cinemas August 28.

I Want Your Sex (18)
Directed by Gregg Akari
⭑⭑☆☆☆

A STRANGELY tame attempt at a sexy farce, enlivened only by a star turn by Olivia Wilde — she’s unfailingly magnetic and holds together an otherwise shaky and meandering caper of a movie.

Wilde plays Erica Tracey, a contemporary artist who’ll do anything for relevance. Cooper Hoffman is Elliot, a recent college graduate who lands the role of one of Tracey’s many assistants (a “hipster sweatshop”) in her gaudy, garish studio.

Elliot is bored in his relationship with an unconvincingly sexless girlfriend (a dialled-in performance by pop star Charli xcx), and jumps — or rather, crawls — at the chance of being Tracey’s submissive lover.

Via flashbacks and stern police interviews (Johnny Knoxville and Margaret Cho, more stunt casting), Elliot’s descent into chaos at the hands (and dildos) of the sociopathic Tracey unfolds with all the eroticism of Confessions Of A Windowcleaner. Hoffman seems to be in a different movie entirely, the chemistry between the two leads non-existent, the lovemaking wholly unconvincing.

Akari, our recovering enfant terrible of a director, riffs on the supposed prudishness of gen-Z people, comments on the emptiness of fame, and throws plenty of colour at the screen. But beyond the unforgettable Wilde, there’s nothing here.  
JW
In cinemas August 28.

The Pout-Pout Fish (PG)
Directed by Ricard Cusso & Rio Harrington
☆☆☆☆☆

LOOKING for a family film to go to at the end of the summer holidays? Sad to say, this isn’t it.

This animated comedy film is based on Deborah Diesen’s popular children’s books. The film laboriously tells the tale of a grumpy fish and a baby sea dragon called Pip trying to find a fish that grants wishes.

The animation is average and irritatingly flat looking. The soundtrack, at times seems out of place and ruins any tension, while the dialogue kills the film dead in the water. Unfunny puns are everywhere. Clams reading “Bottom’s Feeder’s Digest,” The “New Orca” and “Cosmopollock” etc etc, are jokes that I cannot imagine children would understand or adults find funny. The starfish seem to be straight from A Nightmare Before Christmas. The message of “Have confidence in yourself” is groan-inducing. 

Watch Paddington 2 instead. Maybe with some fish and chips?
JB
In cinemas now.

Rise of the Foot Soldier: Retribution (15)
Directed by Nick Nevern 
⭑☆☆☆☆

THIS is the seventh instalment in a true-crime franchise (surely that’s enough lads?). This one follows the story of Pat Tate (Craig Fairbrass) looking for revenge in Ibiza for his murdered mate Kenny. And, as that’s really all there is to the plot, some gun-smugglers and CIA are thrown into the mix so that more people with guns can shoot at other people with guns.

The acting is dreadful. The cinematography at times tries embarrassingly to go all German-Expressionist. The language and violence tilts totally into cliche while the editing is so poor that a student taking their GCSE in film studies would be embarrassed.

Clearly the money has been spent on hair dye. They must have used a vat of it.

Get Carter it isn’t. More like The Inbetweeners Movie without the laughs.
JB
In cinemas August 28.