What a peculiar curate’s egg this is and such a long time in the making. Based on the eponymous book by Deborah Moggach, who also penned The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel’s source, Tulip Fever is a period pudding of the sort that proves to be watchable in the viewing but entirely forgettable by the credits. There are handsome performances all round, each gloriously dressed, and some lovely aesthetic details but it all hinges on a dull and silly central story, which is dramatically overshadowed by more engaging sub-plots.
The title of Sorry to Bother You is a misnomer, slyly pitched by first-time director Boots Riley. Best known for his music, Riley makes no apology for bothering audiences in his absurdist inaugural effort but instead has a riot in doing just so. Whilst the more cinema conventional viewer might find this increasingly unconventional brand of satire hard to take, fans of Michel Gondry, Terry Gilliam and even Yorgos Lanthimos are in for a surreal treat.
As sequels go, this follow-up to Rich Moore’s Wreck-It-Ralph isn’t bad but never feels necessary. The colours are bright and the jokes ample but, in plumbing a story in the vein of – whisper it – The Emoji Movie, co-writers Phil Johnson and Pamela Ribon have created a genial experience of the sort you’ll quickly forget.
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