Review: Sweeney Todd/ Derren Brown: The Heist

After all the televisual rubbish I consumed over Christmas, it was a bit of a pleasure to have two good programmes to watch in the New Year. Sweeney Todd was an atmospheric, quite gory re-telling of the famous old story of the Demon Barber of Fleet Street. It didn't hold back, starting almost immediately with the first of many gruesome murders and fairly rattling through Todd's long and illustrious career. Ray Winstone as the lead played it very low-key, with his shock and horror at the first murder gradually settling into a gleeful enjoyment of his profession. The motives of Todd, after the initial revenge killing of a Newgate prison jailer, revolved around his relationship with Mrs Lovett, who used Todd for her own means and got a nice pie-trade out of it. All well-done, very atmospheric, with some great acting. My only complaints would be the lack of context, as my knowledge of that period is quite limited and the obvious studio sets, which tried hard to recreate East End London, but didn't quite pull it off. Overall, a creepy set-piece, to be watched from behind a cushion.

Derren Brown: The Heist also featured a gleeful protagonist and provided me with my first ever watercooler moment - it was the one thing everyone was talking about at work on Thursday morning. The premise was that, under the guise of a seminar designed to teach his skills, Derren Brown would try to persuade some typical middle-management business men and women to steal £100,000 from a Bank of England security guard. The run-up to the final heist was entertaining, with Brown using a variety of key-words, colours and music to create a mood in the participants that made them feel confident and wanting to "just do it". He then put them through a series of tests to whittle the group down to the four who would be the most suggestible. Getting them to steal from a sweet-shop was fun ("That's the sixth bloke in a suit who's nicked something. Can't they afford to buy a Twix?") - the recreation of the Milgram experiment much more thought-provoking. The pay-off was in the heist itself, which was jaw-dropping stuff. As each person, armed with their toy gun and triggered by various features around them, approached the security guard, I could not believe that they were going to do it, until they did. It was astonishing, and I was giggling with delight, along with Brown, who seemed delighted that he'd pulled it off. Lots of controversy is still rumbling about this (Was it ethical? Were they real people?), but no matter - it was must-see, entertaining TV.

Review: The Gaucho Grill

To celebrate Rick's birthday, on Thursday a group of us visited the Gaucho Grill in Piccadilly. It's quite an impressive restaurant, though not for any faint-hearted vegetarians. Whilst trying to traverse a huge staircase, I was first struck by how dark it was and wondered what they were trying to hide. I think they were just going for atmosphere, but it made reading the complicated concertina menu a bit tricky. The food was delicious. I had empanadas to start with and despite realising that they were mini-Cornish pasties masquerading as exotic South American food, enjoyed them very much. Main course was a medium rare steak, which was juicy and tender and delicious and accompanied by some lovely asparagus, mushrooms and spinach, all liberally piled with lashings of garlic. The wine was good, the service quick and efficient and the company excellent. A very nice place, though they should really turn up the lights and consider getting some new cow-hide for the chairs. Definitely a place for when you want to treat yourself to a lavish evening out.

Review: Match Point

The final part of my promised spamminess is a review of the new Woody Allen film, Match Point. I'm in two minds about this one - whilst recognising that it had some truly terrible elements, I was incredibly entertained and really enjoyed the film. In a change from Allen's usual MO it's set in London, amongst the upper-crust of society. The main character is Chris (played by Jonathan Rhys-Meyers), a working-class Irish boy made good on the professional tennis tour, who's now looking for a solid career and a good time in London. He inveigles himself into a well-to-do family by becoming friends with Tom Hewett, who has a very pretty and eligible daughter. Problem is, Tom is engaged to the attractive Nola Rice (Scarlett Johansson) who soon catches Chris' eye.... To say anymore would be giving the game away, but suffice to say, it is not a typical Woody Allen comedy. The film takes a while to get going, with some really cringe-worthy dialogue and exposition which is somewhat necessary to get the meat of the story. London looks picturesque, though the increasingly tourist board nature of the film did elicit quite a bit of laughter from the audience, as did the popping up of lots of British TV actors. The soundtrack of crackly opera doesn't really help the film flow at all.

Despite all of this, I still found it vastly entertaining, because Allen really knows how tell a story. The acting, particularly that of the supporting cast (Penelope Wilton!) pulls up the script and makes some of the clunkiest dialogue believable. Much better than his last effort and good fun, if you're willing to put aside your more critical eye.