105

Another Saturday morning on Cambridge 105 and time for 'Bums on Seats', the radio review show featuring none other than yours truly (well, once a month at least).

We had a packed show with reviews of 'Prometheus', 'The Angel's Share', 'Snow White & The Huntsman' and 'Red Tails'. There was an also an interview with Julia Marchese of the New Beverly in L.A. who is behind a movement to stop distributors ceasing to supply 35mm reels, a threat to all revival and smaller, independent cinemas.

I didn't see 'The Angel's Share' but did quite enjoy Jenny and Kevin's review of it (which will be up on the podcast soon), but I've promised a 'Red Tails' review for a couple of days so here it is:

'Red Tails' tells the story of the Tuskeegee Airmen, the African-American fighter pilots who formed the 332nd Fighter Group (there were also some members in the 477th Bombardment Group but they never saw combat). Facing racism both within and without the US Air Force they had already overcome several barriers just to serve behind allied lines as a sweep and clear unit, never seeing proper combat. With rumours of the 'Tuskeegee Experiment' being shutdown rife, an air support mission of the Anzio Landings brings recognition to the group and through the tenacity of Colonel A.J. Bullard (Terrence Howard) they are assigned to escort the bombers of Lieutenant General Luntz (Gerald McRaney) over Europe.

Let's be clear to start with, George Lucas himself (the film's producer), has described this film as "very patriotic, very jingoistic, very old-fashioned, corny". Excellent, because if you're after a good old-fashioned movie the like of which have been missing recently it's well worth a watch. It's definitely not a subtle look at this period of history, the dialogue is corny beyond belief (the German pilots are reduced to subtitled hilarity) and some of the banter is silly beyond belief, but then again it's probably also the kind of thing that real pilots continue to say to each other these days as well - a fact most critics never really pick up on (another reason I discounted several reviews of 'Battle: L.A.').

The casting they've put together is quite exceptional - Cuba Gooding Jr. takes the other senior role in the movie as Major Stance, quite a promotion from his original role of Pilot Billy Roberts in the 1995 TV movie. He also brings a bit more of the corny in 'Red Tails', with a pipe that could lead to the creation of one of the finest movie-drinking-games ever, you could get completely blitzed very easily. David Oyelowo (best known for playing Danny in 'Spooks' over here), Nate Parker, Tristan Wilds (from TV's 'The Wire') and Elijah Kelley make up the four members of the first flight who are the main focus in the film's combat scenes and on the ground.

Oyelowo's "Lightning" is the units best, and most reckless, pilot who slowly starts to mature as he falls in love with a local Italian woman (Daniela Ruah), while Parker's "Easy" is the flight's lead who drinks heavily in such a way that it eventually affects him on duty, leading to the shooting down of "Junior" (Wilds) and the death of another pilot. With the film focused on them the four do their best with the script, it's not the greatest, but their is a great sense of belief in them and they handle their scenes well - especially of note is the confrontation between "Lightning" and "Easy" when the former ends up in prison after a scuffle with some white officers.

The segregation and racism that prevailed in the army is not handled with great dignity or care here and that may actually be one of the film's assets - a few times while watching I caught myself thinking "they can't say that", but then you have to remember at the time they probably would have - it wouldn't have been as overstated or over the top, but it would have been true to form. After the Red Tails have flown cover for several bomber groups one Captain invites them into the officer's club and there's a very cheesy scene of the two groups coming together for the first time out of combat - again, it's over the top and not delicately handled, but some of it could ring true.

The final thing I want to touch on is the fight scenes themselves and one of the oddest things I will say about a film these days - if there was ever something that needed to be put into 3D it would be this one (even if I'd only ever go and see it in 2D...). The CGI dogfights were awesome and the planes themselves were beautiful, you can definitely see why the engineers complained when they kept coming back with bullet holes in them.

Ultimately 'Red Tails' is looking at one of the most turbulent periods of our history and an even more turbulent time in terms of civil rights and the battles faced by a few brave men just wanting to serve their country like every other American. It doesn't handle it in an overly sensitive manner and some of the dialogue is just plain ham-fisted, but maybe, just maybe it's the kind of patriotic, corny, old-fashioned and jingoistic movie we need!