Treasure Island

13 May 2019

Treasure Island 2011

• Director: Steve Barron
• Based on book by Robert Louis Stevenson
• Cast: Eddie Izzard, Toby Regbo, Rupert Penry-Jones, Daniel Mays, Philip Glenister, Donald Sutherland, Elijah Wood, Shirley Henderson, Nina Sosanya, David Harewood
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Eddie Izzard – Victoria & Abdul, Valkyria, Across the Universe, Romance & Cigarettes, Velvet Goldmine, himself as comedian
• Rupert Penry-Jones – Hilary and Jackie, Cold Lazarus, Absolutely Fabulous, Cold Comfort Farm
• Daniel Mays – Victor Frankenstein, Doctor Who, Hustle, Atonement, A Good Year, Vera Drake
• Philip Glenister – The Hollow Crown, Kingdom of Heaven, Calendar Girls, The Other Boleyn Girl
• Donald Sutherland – Hunger Games etc, The Eagle, Pillars of the Earth, Cold Mountain, JFK, 1900, Klute, Johnny Got His Gun, MASH and many others
• Elijah Wood – The Hobbit etc, Bobby, Paris je t’aime, Everything Is Illuminated, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, The Ice Storm
• Shirley Henderson – Filth, Life During Wartime, Doctor Who, The Taming of the Shrew (Re-told), Harry Potter, Tristram Shandy, Intermission, Once upon a Time in the Midlands, 24 Hour Party People, Bridget Jones’s Diary, Hamish Macbeth, Trainspotting, Rob Roy
• Nina Sosanya – Last Tango in Halifax, Hustle, Bonekickers, Doctor Who, Much Ado about Nothing (Re-told), Manderlay, Love Actually
• David Harewood – The Night Manager, Hustle, Doctor Who, Blood Diamond, The Merchant of Venice, Babyfather
• Why? Curious, being the book is a classic
• Seen: 11 May 2019 with Hal and YW in our read-book-see-film group      

       If you don’t know the story, Google it. If you haven’t read the book, maybe you should do so.

       The film is certainly starting out with a bang or two. Pirates, thieves, murderers, the lot of them. And then there’s the map. And the parrot. It’s all there.

       It lags a bit in the middle and as YW points out, it’s very male-dominated. Only Jim Hawkin’s (Regbo) mum (Henderson) and Long John Silver’s (Izzard) wife (Sosanya) in small (but well-played) roles that are probably smaller than in the book (I don’t remember, it’s been a while since I read it). It’s hard to keep track of who are the villains and who aren’t (relatively aren’t, that is). It’s too long and fist/sword fights are so boring. A pity. It looked very promising but it’s now whittling away the stars I had been accumulating for it.

       On the other hand, it started with a lot of stars and picked up a couple at the end. So, to my surprise

4* of 5 (from Hal too; YW gave it 3 ½ *)