Fury (15A) ****
“I STARTED this war killing Germans in Africa. Now I’m killing Germans in Germany,” says Wardaddy (Brad Pitt) as he moves his group of soldiers deeper behind enemy lines.
We’re in Germany, in the final year of World War Two, and while six years of global conflict may be coming to an end, there’s plenty more killing to be done first.
Fury aims to add something new to the war movie genre with this look at how men become brutalised by years of fighting and violence. And while it lacks the storytelling power of films like Saving Private Ryan, this is a powerful portrait of the ferocity of war.
Written and directed by David Ayer, who previously depicted male camaraderie in the underrated End of Watch, Fury is set during the final year of WW2.
The Allies have made ground through Northern mainland Europe into Germany, but Hitler has ordered the entire nation – including civilians – to fight to the death, ensuring this conflict is not destined to end cleanly.
Leading his group of soldiers from town to town is a battle-hardened US sergeant nicknamed Wardaddy (Pitt) who has led his men through the worst of the conflict and vowed to get them home alive.
The five-man crew call a Sherman tank their home – and they’re not happy when a naïve young rookie soldier is thrust upon them.
The young soldier (Logan Lerman) is not too thrilled to be there either. A clerical worker by trade who is terrified at the prospect of frontline action, he is initially shunned by the macho group – especially when his inaction puts their lives in danger.
But the platoon is forced to work together as part of a larger battalion to take on a still-powerful and resistant German army and people, who will do everything in their power to avoid defeat on home turf.
Performances are solid but in truth the cast take second place to the action in Fury. Lerman conveys the terror of his predicament well and Pitt is tough and flinty-eyed, but we’re given little in the way of backstory about their characters, making the story less emotionally resonant than it could have been.
Still, this is gripping throughout, and an effective take on the brutality of battle.
Esther McCarthy
Love, Rosie (15A) **
PREGNANCIES, marriage, love triangles, heartbreak, romance – everything is thrown into the mix for this romantic drama. And the result is a mess.
Based on the novel Where Rainbows End by Cecelia Ahern – and with scenes filmed on location in Dublin – Love, Rosie desperately wants to be a fun rom-com along the lines of Bridget Jones’ Diary.
Instead, it plays as a silly, confused movie, with a surfeit of plot twists and little sense of warmth.
That’s despite the best efforts of Lily Collins, who does her best to anchor this manic movie.
She’s the title character, a goofy but likeable young woman who has been friends with Alex (Sam Claflin) since they were kids. They plan to go to the US to attend college together after leaving school – that is, until Rosie discovers she’s pregnant following a one-night stand, and makes excuses, leaving a bewildered Alex to go it alone.
Over the following years their paths regularly cross in life, leaving Rosie to wonder if there could be more or if it would ruin their friendship.
Collins is charming in the lead role but there are too many contrived and unlikely scenarios and jokes that fall flat.
n THE VERDICT: Proof of how difficult it really is to make a great romcom.
