I went to the pictures today. It's sign of the time that the Phoenix Cinema and Arts Centre in Leicester is now closed on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, but it was buzzing today. There was a bigger audience for The Salt Road than my choice, The Phoenician Scheme.
It's a funny film, much funnier than the reviews had led me to expect. Maybe the problem was that critics found it natural to compare it with Wes Anderson's other films and find it wanting. But the only other film of his I'm certain I have seen is Moonrise Kingdom.
Yes, there was a lot of formalism around, but you can ignore that and still enjoy the movie. I didn't bother to spot the numbers in Peter Greenaway's Drowning by Numbers, but that didn't stop me being engrossed in the film.
Equally, I am old enough not to have recognised half the people contributing cameo performances, and I will admit to not being enthused by Benedict Cumberbatch. Richard Ayoade as a charming revolutionary guerrilla leader was good though. I was reminded of the way Terry Gilliam cast Michael Palin, the nicest person he knew, as the torturer in Brazil.
So it's three and a half stars from me and you should see it.
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