27th Jul2019

The Night of the Iguana (Theatre)

by timbaros
The Night of the Iguana - Clive Owen as Rev. T. Lawrence Shannon and Lia Williams Hannah Jelkes (c) Brinkhoff.Moegenburg.The Night of the Iguana was never really Tennessee Williams’ best work, and a new theatre production in London adds very little to it.
 
Now playing at the Noel Coward Theatre, movie star Clive Owens plays defrocked priest Reverend T. Lawrence Shannon (Richard Burton in the film) who escapes to a Mexican lodge deep in the forest to while away his time. Others in the lodge include the owner Maxine (Breaking Bad’s Anna Gunn playing Ava Gardner’s role in the film), Hannah- a middle-aged single woman (Lia Williams), with her very old grandfather Nonno (Daniel Glover), and a German family who keeps on going back and forth from the lodge to the beach who in their quirky way liven up this production.
 
So what happens in the 2 hours and 35 minutes of this show? Not a whole lot! The most dramatic moment comes when a thunderstorm literally starts dripping buckets of rain onto the stage, leaving the cast scrambling for cover. It’s a fantastic effect that you would think would set the mood for an even more exciting second half, but it’s all dialogue between Shannon and Hannah that leads to a bit of sexual tension but not enough to make this show sexy and exciting. Director James MacDonald limits the actors to a very small confined space on stage (though there is a cleverly designed staircase that goes down to an unseen beach), and while the rest of the cast are quite good, Owen is just OK, but there is really nothing spectacular about this production. Perhaps it’s one for hardcore Williams, Owens, and Breaking Bad fans. 
 
Review by Tim Baros
 
Category : Theatre
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03rd Sep2016

Equity (Film)

by timbaros

equity-is-such-a-good-wall-street-movie-you-almost-forget-that-all-the-characters-are-womenA female investment banker is under pressure to bring to the market a successful IPO but she faces lots of obstacles in the new film ‘Equity.’

Anna Gunn (Breaking Bad) is Naomi Bishop, a high-flying banker at Remson Partners who expects to be promoted to Global Head of her division but is hindered by the lackluster performance of her last IPO in a company called Dinosaur. She gets a second chance to lead another IPO in a company called Cachet because she knows the company’s founder Ed (Samuel Roukin). It’s a privacy company that can build social network which are hack-proof. But Bishop all too quickly loses her credibility and business acumen. Her assistant Erin (Sarah Megan Thomas) closes the deal by getting very close to Ed. And Bishop has a very curious (and a former acquaintance) prosecutor Samantha (Alysia Reiner) on her back asking lots of questions, questions that include her relationship with a junior banker at her firm (James Purefoy). Things get more complicated when a former employee at Cachet comes out with info that hurts the IPO putting the deal, and Bishop’s job, in jeopardy.

‘Equity’ tries to bring a fresh perspective on women in the world of banking and finance but fails miserably. Directed and written by women (Meera Menon and Amy Fox with Megan Thomas respectively), the entire plots just doesn’t add up. Bishop is not as smart as one would expect someone in her position to be, thanks to the poor choices, and mistakes, she makes. And her outfit choices are just plain bad. The performances are barely passable but the script definitely isn’t. ‘Equity’ is a sell and not a buy.

Category : Film
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