Film Review:- "Push"

THE film Push is an interesting film that would any other year would have been seen as a hit film, sadly with it hitting the screens this year, the film will be lost. Publicity for this film has not been very good and most big screens only have the film showing once or twice, so do not be surprised to see it disappear from listings very quickly.

The film is a science fiction thriller that is set in Hong Kong around a group of psychic people. There is nothing groundbreaking about this film, and reminds me of David Cronenberg film Scanners and plenty of others. The main plot centres around a group of people with extraordinary psychic powers and their attempt to take down a US government agency that is using a dangerous drug to enhance the powers of Movers, Pushers, Watchers, Wipers etc. Their is the odd subplot, but they never really develop and merge into the main plot. The main subplot is a second group of psychic people who use their powers to hunt the good ones down. Sadly, no real reason was revelled for the odd dour tone, as to their significance to the plot, other than an excuse to use some visual effects. Yep, this film is as my report is reading and as many critics are saying "convoluted". The film is visually flashy and has huge potential, but lacks that spark that an episode of Heroes has. With a reported $38,000,000 budget, this film could have been kept much tighter and have embrace its thriller side far more. Alas, the nearly 2 hour film, never jelled. Most of it could have been made into an interesting version of a Heroes episode in 45 minute running time. Their was just to much junk crammed in to the 1hour 51 minutes and that junk could have been split into 2 films to deliver a far more wacky premise and a higher quality.

The best cast member on the set in my view was 15 year old Dakota Fanning, who played a very good role as 13 year old Cassie Holmes. But I am not 100% if it was the fact her script seemed to be better or of it was her acting ability. I think that her acting background in things like the TV series Justice League in 2001 and CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, as well as her film roles in Taken and War of the Worlds have made her acting skills suited to this type of genre. Aged 28 in real life, Chris Evans who played Nick Gant was interesting in his role as lead in the film. Oddly the script often made character Cassie Holmes more important, but as I said, this was a convoluted script. The worst was Camilla Belle, who played Kira Hudson. Her script did not leave huge room for her to develop or show any character, but what she did offer came over as very plastic. This let down some of the action.

Do not get me wrong, the film is good, but not one I would rush out to see again. If you like action films that are hyperkinetic, then this will get your brain's billions of neurons firing as you spend hours trying to work it out afterwards.

Star rating out of 5



"Room for improvement, but still enjoyable."

Film facts

Directed by:- Paul McGuigan
Produced by:- Bruce Davey, William Vince and Glenn Williamson
Written by:- David Bourla
Starring:- Chris Evans, Dakota Fanning, Camilla Belle, Djimon Hounsou, Ming-Na
Distributed by:- Summit Entertainment
UK Film Age Rating:- 12A
Official Website:- www.push-themovie.com

Have you seen this film?  If you have, let us know what you thought of it by emailing us to news24@southportreporter.com.

Click here to get the latest film showing times in Southport's Vue Cinema.

UNIONS WELCOME ACAS PAY AWARD AFTER LONG-STANDING DISPUTE

TRADE unions, representing 1.3 million local government workers in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, have welcomed an ACAS award of an additional 0.3%, bringing the 2008/2009 pay increase to 2.75% on all pay points. An extra £100 had already been agreed for the lowest paid.

UNISON, UNITE and GMB had been involved in a long-standing dispute over pay, including strike action, last year. They had rejected previous offers and referred the dispute to binding arbitration. The award is backdated to 1 April 2008.

In a joint statement, UNISON, Unite and GMB, said:- "We welcome the fact that ACAS has accepted our arguments that members should receive a higher pay increase. ACAS stated that the award is ‘justified and affordable in the context of the claim for the year 2008/2009’. ACAS also recognised that local government workers are among the lowest paid in the public sector and they have been affected significantly by the worsening economic climate. We have always argued that local government workers have become the poor relations of the public sector. They have contributed enormously to improving local services and meeting council efficiency targets and they deserve a better deal."

Cleaners, binmen, school meals workers, librarians, admin and clerical workers, teaching assistants, home care and social workers are among those covered by the award.

KNIFE CRIME DAY OF ACTION

MERSEYSIDE Police and its partners carried out a high-profile day of action against knife crime on Friday, 27February 2009, across Merseyside.  The force-wide operation, was supported by the Government's Tackling Knives Action programme (TKAP), used a wide range of tactics and resources being used throughout the area with the aim of reducing and preventing knife related crime. These will include warrants being executed, hand-held metal detectors and safety arches being used on the transport network and outside licensed premises, test purchase operations on retailers and demonstrations and talks at local schools and colleges.

This photographs of the portable scanner being used in Southport Town Center. One of the officers using it told us that:- "It has been a very good night. We will be using this more and more in Southport and in other areas in Sefton."

The Mersyside Police Press Office said that:- "All areas of the force are uniting to reinforce the message that carrying a knife is illegal and will not be tolerated. Those caught breaking the law face a fine of up to £5,000 and up to 6 months imprisonment."

Superintendent Mike Cloherty added that:- "We are committed to tackling knife crime on Merseyside. Working with our partners we want to stamp out this problem and get knives off our streets. One strand of our joint approach is test purchasing operations such as this and we hope they send a clear message to retailers that we will take action against those who break the law. Tactics such as those we have used on Friday are regular feature of making the streets of Merseyside safe and transferring the fear of crime back on to the criminals themselves."

Anyone with information about knife crime or if you know someone who is carrying a knife can contact Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.