Jurassic World Dominion review: ‘dismal’ script stifles Dern-Neill-Goldblum reunion
Disappointing sixth instalment of the dinosaur franchise is an ‘extinction-level event’
“At the age of 77, with a tremendous body of work behind him, German actor Udo Kier may just have found the role of a lifetime,” said Brian Viner in the Daily Mail. In this “thoroughly engaging” film, he plays Pat, a retired hairdresser and former drag queen who has little to live for in his Ohio nursing home, until a lawyer turns up one day to inform him that one of his former clients, Rita, has died, leaving instructions that “he and nobody else” must ready her body for her open-casket funeral.
Pat initially declines the job – even though it comes with a $25,000 fee and he’s “flat broke” – because he and Rita had a “love-hate relationship, and he never forgave her for not attending the funeral of his lover”, who had Aids. But when he finally accepts the mission to prettify her for the grave, it proves surprisingly restorative. This is Kier’s film, but it also has a “fabulous” soundtrack featuring music from a host of gay icons including Judy Garland and Shirley Bassey.
Kier is never less than watchable, and he is on “captivating” form here, said Glenn Kenny in The New York Times. It is just a shame that “the film itself doesn’t match him”. There are too many “plot inconsistencies”, and too many characters speaking “wisdom from beyond the grave”.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
I found this “bittersweet lo-fi comedy” deeply moving, said Danny Leigh in the FT. It has “a pinpoint eye for the stuff of getting old. Memories feel more real than the present”; an old-school brand of cigarettes “has a whole personal history wrapped up in it. It is a treat all round, but impossible to picture without Kier in the lead: star power raging against the dying of the light to a defiant disco beat.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
Without Cuba, US State Sponsors of Terrorism list shortens
The Explainer How the remaining three countries on the U.S. terrorism blacklist earned their spots
By David Faris Published
-
Codeword: January 21, 2025
The Week's daily codeword puzzle
By The Week Staff Published
-
Crossword: January 21, 2025
The Week's daily crossword
By The Week Staff Published
-
A family tour of Rajasthan by train
The Week Recommends The 'cacophonous, kaleidoscopic' cities of India are fascinating to explore
By The Week UK Published
-
The best new cars for 2025
The Week Recommends From family SUVs to luxury all-electrics these are the most hotly anticipated vehicles
By The Week UK Published
-
Babygirl: Nicole Kidman stars in 'riveting' erotic thriller
The Week Recommends 'The sex and the silliness' is quite fun, but it's 'ploddingly predictable stuff'
By The Week UK Published
-
Smoked haddock soufflé recipe
The Week Recommends Velvety soft soufflé has a delicate and enticing flavour
By The Week UK Published
-
Forbidden Territories: an 'ambitious and ingenious' exhibition
The Week Recommends 'Extravaganza' of a show features an array of works celebrating 100 years of surrealist landscapes
By The Week UK Published
-
Jonathan Sumption shares his favourite books
The Week Recommends The medieval historian recommends works by Edward Gibbon, Johan Huizinga and others
By The Week UK Published
-
A Real Pain: Kieran Culkin and Jesse Eisenberg star in 'uproariously funny' drama
The Week Recommends The film, dubbed an heir of Woody Allen, follows Jewish American cousins who travel to Poland in memory of their late grandmother
By The Week UK Published
-
Titaníque: 'outrageous' Céline Dion parody is a lot of fun
The Week Recommends 'Frothy' musical spoof of the blockbuster film with 'sparkling' performances
By The Week UK Published