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Paul Whitington
Paul Whitington's reviews only count toward the Tomatometer® when published at the following Tomatometer-approved publication(s):
Irish Independent
Movies reviews only
| Rating | T-Meter | Title | Year | Review |
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Wonka (2023) |
Leave it to Hugh Grant to steal every scene he’s in as a well-spoken and imperious Oompa-Loompa. - Irish Independent
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| Posted Dec 06, 2023
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Fallen Leaves (2023) |
Kaurismäki’s film manages a rare feat -- to be simultaneously touching and ironic. - Irish Independent
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| Posted Dec 01, 2023
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Maestro (2023) |
There’s something superficial about [Cooper's] performance. Carey Mulligan, though, is astoundingly good as Lennie’s sainted, side-lined wife. - Irish Independent
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| Posted Dec 01, 2023
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Eileen (2023) |
Hathaway plays Rebecca like one of Hitchcock’s blondes, and film references abound in Oldroyd’s story, from classic noirs to the melodramas of Douglas Sirk. - Irish Independent
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| Posted Dec 01, 2023
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So This Is Christmas (2023) |
Sometimes Wardrop’s film is not an easy watch, but the honesty of his subjects and the respect with which he treats their stories, make this documentary utterly compelling. - Irish Independent
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| Posted Nov 28, 2023
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Rustin (2023) |
George C. Wolfe’s film tells the story pretty straight: luckily for him, it’s a really good one. - Irish Independent
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| Posted Nov 27, 2023
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The Eternal Daughter (2022) |
Hogg channels the traditions of mid-20th century British ghost stories by PD James and others into an exploration of the essential unknowability of our parents. - Irish Independent
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| Posted Nov 27, 2023
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Saltburn (2023) |
There’s no one at all to like in Ms Fennell’s film, which may undermine its aspirations to moral seriousness. But it’s a bit of a laugh, especially early on. - Irish Independent
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| Posted Nov 27, 2023
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Thanksgiving (2023) |
Thanksgiving is tired stuff, glib and nasty. Scooby Doo with sadism. - Irish Independent
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| Posted Nov 17, 2023
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Napoleon (2023) |
And what of Joachim Phoenix’s Napoleon? It is, I must admit, a very fine and measured performance, and the American catches that odd mixture of sullenness and magnetic intensity historical eye-witnesses described. - Irish Independent
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| Posted Nov 16, 2023
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Dream Scenario (2023) |
Dream Scenario is an amusing and fanciful black comedy somewhat in the manner of Charlie Kaufman. - Irish Independent
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| Posted Nov 10, 2023
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Anatomy of a Fall (2023) |
Anatomy of a Fall is a beautifully constructed elliptical drama, constantly demanding our close attention as we ponder the protagonist’s innocence or guilt. - Irish Independent
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| Posted Nov 10, 2023
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Dance First (2023) |
This is an honourable attempt at a Beckett biopic, well cast and not overplayed. But it might have been nice to hear some of Beckett’s writing, so that those unfamiliar with his work might get some sense of just how special he was. - Irish Independent
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| Posted Nov 03, 2023
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Five Nights at Freddy's (2023) |
Five Nights At Freddy’s is a strange film, uneven in tone, encumbered by a very grown-up serial killer plot and disastrously lacking a sense of humour. - Irish Independent
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| Posted Oct 27, 2023
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Cat Person (2023) |
Cat Person offers genuine insights into the female experience of dating before collapsing into a bog standard horror. - Irish Independent
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| Posted Oct 27, 2023
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The Killer (2023) |
Keoghan is the one who holds this film together by force of presence: his stillness as an actor is remarkable but late on, when huge physical demands are placed on his performance, he responds to the challenge brilliantly. - Irish Independent
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| Posted Oct 27, 2023
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Nyad (2023) |
Benning plays her excellently, but is upstaged at times by the brilliant Foster, who really should act more often. - Irish Independent
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| Posted Oct 20, 2023
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Killers of the Flower Moon (2023) |
Killers Of The Flower Moon finds Scorsese on top form, bringing intelligence and fluency to an endlessly fascinating film that more than justifies its epic length. - Irish Independent
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| Posted Oct 20, 2023
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Foe (2023) |
In the end, Garth Davis’s ambitious but rather stagey drama has the elliptical dullness of late period Terrence Malick, and squanders interesting ideas about science and our scary future by refusing to develop them. - Irish Independent
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| Posted Oct 18, 2023
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The Burial (2023) |
It’s easy to take an actor like Foxx for granted and forget how exceptionally good he is when given a chance. He’s tremendous here, by turns hilarious and touching, and works well with a quiet and underplaying Jones. - Irish Independent
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| Posted Oct 13, 2023
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The Miracle Club (2023) |
Lushly scored, The Miracle Club is gently humorous, mildly sentimental, but, thanks to its excellent cast, contains moments of real dramatic tension, and Agnes O’Casey is excellent as a vulnerable young mother. - Irish Independent
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| Posted Oct 13, 2023
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Lies We Tell (2023) |
The film’s ending is a little rushed and not entirely coherent, but in the main, Mulcahy nicely sustains the gothic tension, particularly during an excruciatingly awkward series of mournful candlelit dinners. - Irish Independent
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| Posted Oct 13, 2023
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Tarrac! (2022) |
The film’s plot feels well worn, but some fine acting, and the beautiful backdrop of the Kerry coastline make Tarrac a worthwhile watch. - Irish Independent
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| Posted Oct 06, 2023
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BlackBerry (2023) |
Blackberry gets lost in the minutiae of its own story halfway through, but is otherwise an entertaining cautionary tale. - Irish Independent
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| Posted Oct 06, 2023
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The Great Escaper (2023) |
Never mind the roses, the chocolates and candlelit dinners: this is real love, love when it’s most difficult, when it really counts. - Irish Independent
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| Posted Oct 06, 2023
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The Old Oak (2023) |
This is not a pessimistic film. There’s a kind of wistful poetry, too, to the film’s quiet evocations of the town’s mining past. - Irish Independent
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| Posted Sep 28, 2023
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No One Will Save You (2023) |
The sound design is excellent, the decision to almost entirely avoid dialogue daring, but No One Will Save You unravels somewhat in a hurried ending, and should perhaps have remained small and resisted the temptation to explain itself. - Irish Independent
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| Posted Sep 28, 2023
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The Creator (2023) |
The slender story is not always strong enough to carry all this subtext and a giddy climax uses one too many action set-pieces. But The Creator is absolutely marvellous to look at and Washington has enough charisma to make his taciturn hero interesting. - Irish Independent
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| Posted Sep 28, 2023
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R.M.N. (2022) |
One of the leading lights of the Romanian new wave, Cristian Mungiu uses earthy locations and low-key storytelling to explore what it is to be human. He’s at his bleakest in R.M.N., a drama inspired by real events. - Irish Independent
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| Posted Sep 21, 2023
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The Lesson (2023) |
The Lesson starts out competently enough, but collapses late on into absurd melodrama. - Irish Independent
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| Posted Sep 21, 2023
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Flora and Son (2023) |
It’s risky, but it works, thanks in large part to the genuine charisma between Hewson and Gordon-Levitt, who’s well cast and is a bit of a musician himself. - Irish Independent
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| Posted Sep 21, 2023
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Love Life (2022) |
Love Life is a story about grief, and communication, and what to do with the emotions a bereavement as terrible as this one dredges up. It’s a fine film, sombre but also funny. - Irish Independent
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| Posted Sep 15, 2023
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Cassandro (2023) |
Roger Ross Williams’ surprisingly sober biopic is set in the world of Mexican wrestling and tells a quietly moving and even heroic story. - Irish Independent
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| Posted Sep 15, 2023
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A Haunting in Venice (2023) |
Poirot films have every right to be silly, but one thing they must never be is dull. - Irish Independent
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| Posted Sep 15, 2023
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Past Lives (2023) |
There’s a certain tragedy at the heart of this story that no amount of goodwill can soothe: sometimes you don’t get over traumas, you just learn to live with them. But Past Lives, a thoroughly grown-up film, is able to accommodate this inconvenient truth. - Irish Independent
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| Posted Sep 08, 2023
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Passages (2023) |
Ira Sachs’ mercilessly honest film plays out like a Greek tragedy, and gives compelling insights into the collective madness of love. - Irish Independent
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| Posted Sep 01, 2023
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The Blackening (2022) |
The results are intermittently funny as the friends find their ethnic awareness tested to the limit... But The Blackening doesn’t make enough of its premise. - Irish Independent
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| Posted Aug 25, 2023
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Theater Camp (2023) |
Some of the child actors are fantastic and while the film’s attacks on the relentless self-absorption of thespians are well aimed, it treats the concept of a drama camp with more affection than despair. - Irish Independent
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| Posted Aug 25, 2023
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The Dive (2023) |
Simply shot and relentlessly focused, Erlenwein’s film loses us a little too often in opaque and inky waters, but his simple plot keeps you interested, and Lowe is very good in the more demanding role. - Irish Independent
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| Posted Aug 25, 2023
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Blue Beetle (2023) |
DC have an uncanny knack for conjuring ugly CGI, and while the effects here are not as ghastly as they were in, say, The Flash, Blue Beetle’s climax is pretty wearing. - Irish Independent
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| Posted Aug 18, 2023
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The Future Tense (2022) |
A thoughtful, funny and sometimes profound film that is bound to make you think. - Irish Independent
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| Posted Aug 18, 2023
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Lie with Me (2022) |
De Tonquédec is very good as the rather self-involved writer and Belmondo is a ringer for his grandfather Jean-Paul, inheriting some of his charisma. - Irish Independent
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| Posted Aug 18, 2023
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Gran Turismo: Based on a True Story (2023) |
A gripping film might have been made about Jann Mardenborough’s remarkable story, but this certainly isn’t it. - Irish Independent
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| Posted Aug 11, 2023
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They Cloned Tyrone (2023) |
Juel Taylor’s film is genuinely funny at times and the acting is terrific, particularly from Foxx. - Irish Independent
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| Posted Jul 21, 2023
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My Name is Alfred Hitchcock (2022) |
Cousins’ eye for telling details is remarkable and his documentary is a must for anyone with even a passing interest in the master of suspense. - Irish Independent
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| Posted Jul 21, 2023
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Oppenheimer (2023) |
Murphy gives us a tragic protagonist of Shakespearean proportions, not so much Prometheus as Icarus, a thin-skinned, tortured man whose ambition was his worst enemy. - Irish Independent
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| Posted Jul 19, 2023
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Puffin Rock and the New Friends (2023) |
The whole thing is very cleanly animated, with the higgledy-piggledy perspective of a small child’s drawing. - Irish Independent
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| Posted Jul 14, 2023
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While We Watched (2022) |
Vinay Shukla’s documentary profiles a key figure in the faltering resistance to this assault on free speech and civil liberty. - Irish Independent
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| Posted Jul 14, 2023
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The Deepest Breath (2023) |
The Deepest Breath offers an absorbing insight into this most extreme of sports and the motivations of those brave enough to attempt it. - Irish Independent
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| Posted Jul 14, 2023
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Smoking Causes Coughing (2022) |
A cut-price superhero film with a winningly juvenile sense of humour. - Irish Independent
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| Posted Jul 12, 2023
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