12 Years a Slave (15A) *****
There is a particular type of cruelty about the story of Solomon Northup, for he knew a better and more privileged life.
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Northup was a so-called ‘free man’, a black, New York State citizen who worked as a medic and lead a charmed life with his wife and young family.
But a meeting with two potential business associates leads to Northup being greatly deceived - and his life changing dramatically.
Despite his protestations, he’s moved south and sold into the slave trade, working first for a kindly, but ultimately spineless, farmer (Benedict Cumberbatch), before being passed on to a ruthless and nasty plantation owner (Michael Fassbender) in New Orleans.
This unflinching story of how Northup suffered and developed his own methods of survival focuses on his deeply human story. But director Steve McQueen also broadens his focus to give us the ultimate film about one of the darkest periods in American history.
We see class systems and snobberies at play between the free men of the North and the slave workers of the South. And we even see those slaves pit themselves against each other, with favoured house slaves carrying out regular cruelties against their own, who work in the fields.
As we follow Northup’s plight - and his efforts at dealing with his situation - McQueen builds up the tension and the emotional power of the story into a devastating finale, without ever hitting a false note. It’s not easy to watch at times, but then it shouldn’t be.
Performances are pitch perfect. Fassbender is mesmerising - and terrifying - as a man who is basically a sociopath, while newcomer Nyong’o is extraordinary as a slave who goes to extreme lengths to survive.
Best of all is Ejiofor, the heart and soul of this wonderful film, whose painful experiences stay with you long after you’ve seen it. Expect lots of Oscar nominations.
The Delivery Man (12A) ***
Vince Vaughn attempts to break with type in this charming comedy that fails to make the most of a great idea.
Vaughn is David Wozniak, an affable but unambitious type who works as a delivery man for his family’s butcher shop.
His girlfriend (Cobie Smulders) is expecting their first kid and to complicate matters, he’s fallen into sizeable debt with a bunch of local crooks.
But David’s past of donating regularly to a sperm bank to raise cash comes back to haunt him when he gets a legal missive. A mix up at the sperm bank means his magic potion was given to hundreds of women, leading to the birth of 533 children - who are now taking a class action. They’re taking a legal battle through the courts to get the clinic to reveal the identity of their father.
Freaked out at this prospect, David goes ‘undercover’ to meet some of the teenagers he has fathered.
What emerges is a sweet tale which features two Irish actors rocking the Brooklyn accent. Simon Delaney has a supporting role as David’s brother in his first big US movie role. And rising star Jack Reynor displays the onscreen charisma that grabbed the attention of Michael Bay - who cast him in the forthcoming Transformers film. He shines as one of David’s unsuspecting sons, a wannabe actor working as a barman.
Which brings us to the movie’s main downfall. Instead of focusing on a handful of the teens’ tales (including that of the underused Reynor) and David’s developing relationship with them, the movie flounders in trying to cover dozens of different stories, leaving all of them underdeveloped.
