Weekly Review -- One chemist and a few scares later

Formula 51 (2001) -- Gangster comedies have been a very popular cinematic sub-genre since the 1990s. From Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels to Circus, audiences have embraced crime films with shady characters, quirky jokes and hilarious twists. This Ronny Yu offering is quite entertaining, with great characters and cast, but not up to par with some previous similarly-themed films. After a showdown with his greedy drug dealer boss, chemist Elmo McElroy (Samuel L. Jackson) travels to England in order to sell his "Formula 51", a formula for the most powerful drug that ever existed. However, the showdown did not go as well as Elmo hoped. His boss, Lizard (Meat Loaf), has survived and is sending his favorite assassin, Dakota Parker (Emily Mortimer), to bring Elmo back and kill everyone he is associating with. Upon arriving in Liverpool, Elmo finds himself in the company of Felix DeSouza (Robert Carlyle), local wheeler and dealer and Dakota's ex. Soon, they are all entangled in a war over the formula, with Lizard on one side, local arms dealer Iki (Rhys Ifans) on the other and some eager detectives (Sean Pertwee and Michael Starke) on everyone's tail. Jackson brings his trademark cool to the role of Elmo and has appealing chemistry with Carlyle, whose Felix is a sympathetic small-time crook, comfortable in his little niche. Mortimer makes for a fetching assassin with a twinkle in her eye, while Ifans's Iki is flamboyant and calculating at the same time. The main problem with the film is that the screenplay occasionally tries so hard to be hip, that it neglects its own humor and story. Some jokes are very stale, while some subplots, like the detectives and the Dakota-Felix storyline, could have been fine-tuned and more detailed. Still, Formula 51 is a good effort, with sufficiently original characters and over-the-top action to engage the viewer. It provides laughs, good dialogue and an interesting ensemble cast with a good -- pun intended -- chemistry.

6/10

After Midnight (1989) -- I first heard about this film on an iMDB message board. The first thing that needs to be said is that the cheesy DVD cover art does not do the film justice, and this remark refers to both poster versions -- graphic designers, take note. Poster art aside, I found the film very enjoyable and suspenseful. Professor Edward Derek (Ramy Zada) is famous for his unorthodox teaching methods, which come in handy for his new class, "The Psychology of Fear". He invites his class to his mansion for a scary night of storytelling. The first story the co-eds tell is about Joan (Nadine Van der Velde) and Kevin (MarcMcClure), a couple whose car breaks down near a supposedly haunted house. The second story involves four teenage girls (Penelope Sudrow, Tracy Wells, Judie Aronson and Monique Salcido) who end up in a lot of trouble during a night on the town. The third story is about an answering service operator (Marg Helgenberger) receiving calls from a stalker (Alan Rosenberg) while working the night shift alone. The bad aspects of the film are the mostly amateurish acting, apart from Helgenberger and Rosenberg, and the occasionally strained and hokey writing. Even these flaws can be forgiven, though, if one views the stories as spoken narratives aware of their raw quality. The twist, which was original at the time, today seems dated and done a million times over. However, the stories themselves are frightening because of their simplicity. Lunatics exist and accidents happen, and the stories perfectly illustrate this fact, particularly the third tale. The wrap-up story is also pretty convincing, although not nearly as scary or, dare I say, realistic as the other ones. It is a great film to watch on a stormy night and it will make you think twice about what exactly scares you.

7/10