Perhaps the most surprising critical hit of the past decade, The Lego Movie did the impossible in 2014 by disproving the cynical rule that commercial product movies have to be soulless. Sugary to the extreme, the film launched a yellow brick franchise that in just five years transgressed from novel to tired. To this end, Mike Mitchell’s follow up to the original – The Second Part – has some major ground to regain for the sake of the franchise’s ongoing longevity. Oddly – for what is essentially a rehash – he’s managed a very genuine success.
In much the same way that Boy Erased curiously paralleled The Miseducation of Cameron Post months later, Ben is Back sees arthouse starlet Lucas Hedges lead a belated companion piece to Felix van Groeningen’s Beautiful Boy. Both features concern the strain of parental connection in the face of a crippling drug addiction. Whereas the latter told the tale of father and son, the former offers the perspective of a mother. It’s moving stuff, very well directed and performed with outstanding nuance by a tremendous cast.
Bless Jessica Hynes. Our interview with the star of Spaced, The Royal Family and Twenty Twelve was moved last minute from midday to the end of a long afternoon of media coverage. And, in the nicest way possible, you can tell in her voice that it’s been a long afternoon of media coverage. Despite this, Hynes only grows in animation as we discuss her new film – The Fight – and the Kent town at its beating heart.
The Film Blog 