Just For Lookin' Thru

Some of these musicians are massive, I mean American massive. One of them forces his bulk through the coffee shop holding a piece of cake and a drink, and drops his napkin. It is returned to him with the comment, ‘You may want to get a fresh one.’ He doesn’t respond, even with a glance, but collects another and sits down with his co-singers exuding the attitude of a spoilt child. Moments later, when one of the other band members asks what the cake’s like, he says, ‘It’s sum kinda baaaed sheeeit.’ He doesn’t finish it. Who would have expected black Americans to be so precious but it’s the Health and Safety culture that’s to blame, when a perfectly good piece of cake is simply not good enough and a paper napkin that has touched the floor is a noxious thing. On stage, the Stylistics exude professionalism and charm. The huge guys are the Style Orchestra; the Stylistics are up front in matching suits, shirts and shoes and look in pretty good shape for a band that’s been together for 39 year

Ryan Phillippe plays Eric, a young, bright, FBI employee whose IT skills and quick thinking get him a job spying on Robert Hanssen (jailed for life in 2001 for providing the KGB with military secrets for 15 years.) Ambitious and motivated, Eric takes it on, hoping for fast track promotion to agent. Hanssen’s certainty that he is smarter than anyone else is what drives him, but Eric’s smart too, and this suspenseful, intelligent film keeps us guessing as to which one will outwit the other. Eric keeps his cool despite his prey becoming his predator when Hanssen (Chris Cooper) monitors him just as closely, turns up at his house, anticipates every move Eric makes, and is aware of every level of FBI surveillance. He’s a hard man to dupe. Alongside their egos clashing, the story covers the moral dilemmas of both men. Hanssen is a devout Catholic who fantasizes about Catherine Zeta Jones and sells movies of himself having sex with his wife, while young Eric isn’t happy with the w

It’s unclear whether this film is supposed to be a romance, a road trip, or a creative documentary, and the result is a bewildering series of unconnected scenes. A disturbed French girl, Zingarina, arrives in Transylvania with her anxious sister as carer, and an interpreter, and the trio are searching for Zingarina’s absconded lover. She finds him, he rejects her, and she descends into a prolonged schizophrenic episode and, because we know nothing about these characters and have been shown nothing to evoke our interest or sympathy, it’s meaningless and irritating. Zingarina whirls around in her own misery, messing up a really interesting carnival procession of national costumed musicians and singers when, as a documentary, this could have been fascinating and illuminating. At various times during the film there are tantalising glimpses of local performers but there is little dialogue and no insight into either gypsy or local culture, leaving the impression of a film shot o