The Couch Review

The Trial of the Chicago 7(2020)- Review The Trial of the Chicago 7 is a courtroom drama entailing the events leading to and the aftermath of anti-Vietnam war protests which ended up in riots at the 1968 Democratic National Convention . The movie captures the court case that ensued on the Chicago 7 for inciting a riot. The movie starts with introducing each of the main characters with their backgrounds, their motives, etc. After the initial set of scenes, the movie kicks-off with the key protesters being accused of a Federal Crime. The movie then goes on to showcase the accurate story about the high-profile & historic case it ended up being with an outlandish judge Julius Hoffman (Frank Langella) presiding the trial and a young prosecutor Richard Schultz (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) making the case for the government. Firstly, the casting for the movie should be lauded for gathering an ensemble of actors that perfectly fit in the roles. Often at times, movies try to cast very big na

Instructions Not Included(2013)- Review   Instructions Not Included is a Mexican comedy-drama film about Valentín Bravo (Eugenio Derbez). He carries a persona of a playboy and has no interest in having a normal lifestyle. He has always been fearful and afraid of everything that would require courage. His father Juan ‘Johnny’ Bravo is quite the opposite of him, extremely courageous and full of vigor. Juan in order to make his son brave like him tries all means available and exposes Valentín to every possible fear he has. But to no avail, Valentín continuous to be frightened and runs away resenting his father. Years later after Valentín is the local playboy and sleeps with pretty much every tourist that comes into town. But on one dreary morning, he finds at his doorstep the nightmare that is to turn his life upside down. The movie continuous with Valentín and his daughter Maggie (Loreto Peralta) building an envious bond when he raises her letting go of his lifestyle giving Maggie a

Late Night(2019)- Review Late Night is a comedy-drama about a late-night talk show hosted by Katherine Newbury (Emma Thompson), who is a celebrated comedian and has had an extensive career over the years. While she is considered a pioneer in comedy, she is seen as only that a veteran who paved way for the next generation, whose glory years are well past her. Lately, her show has seen a steady decline and a reduction in viewers, which is not appreciated by the network which telecasts her show. Once she was a generous artist working and bonding with people around her, but now people working for her neither like her nor come in too much contact with her. In order to revamp the show, there is an opening among the writing staff for a woman. Molly Patel (Mindy Kaling) is a secluded Indian-American woman who has an interest in comedy but has never had the opportunity to showcase her talent. After she gets to know that show is looking for a writer she tries to get that job. To her awe &

Ramprasad Ki Tehrvi(2021)- Review Ramprasad Ki Tehrvi is a drama-comedy directed by Seema Pahwa. It starts with Ramprasad’s (Naseeruddin Shah) demise and his family having to come and live under the same roof to perform all the Hindu rituals within the 13-day mandatory period that they need to stay for. Ramprasad & his wife (Supriya Pathak) have a big family with 6 children their spouses, their children, and a lot many close relatives. While the task of staying and showing their respect sounds simple enough the enormity of the family and the friction among some of the members, the task is going to be nowhere near easy. The movie tries to showcase the familial bonding that one share’s, even after having some dicey moments with their loved ones, and aims to do so with few comic scenes here and there. In the modern hustle & bustle of urban life modern families often share a not so great relationship with their family. While this has come to be in recent times it is nothing as

The White Tiger(2021)- Review The White Tiger is a drama film based on the book by Aravind Adiga of the same name. It is a story about Balram Halwai (Adarsh Gourav). Balram is born in a humble family with very few means or as stated in the movie in a ‘Lower-Caste’ family. Despite studying in a village he has quickly grasped the English language and envisions to study further and be a well-educated man unlike his family and this dream is further propelled when he is told he shall be given a scholarship to study in Delhi. But his fate had a different plan altogether. After his father’s untimely demise he is forced to leave school and start working to pay off his family’s debt. As time passes his dream of being educated stays a dream nowhere near his reality. Tired and fed up of his life in the village he wishes to step up the ladder by working in the city. The perfect opportunity comes along the way when he learns. Ashok (Rajkummar Rao the son of the village’s landlord is on the look

Newton(2017)- Review Newton is a black comedy film featuring Nutan "Newton" Kumar (Rajkummar Rao) who is a novice government official, currently serving as a reserve for election duty. Newton is a hardliner for rules and believes doing his duty truthfully & diligently. After a main officer assigned to a polling station bows out, Newton being the next reserve is called upon. He unquestioningly accepts his task and sets out for fulfilling his duty. The task however is not so straightforward, the area assigned to him is a naxal-controlled territory that too with very few registered voters. To safeguard him and his team a security force, led by Assistant Commandant Aatma Singh (Pankaj Tripathi), is assigned to be with him. Neither the security forces nor his colleagues take their task seriously but Newton being the honest man he is tries his very best to conduct free and fair polling despite there being a looming threat of possible attacks. The film simply depicts Newton’

The Big Sick is a romantic comedy written by Emily V. Gordon & Kumail Nanjiani. It is based on the real life love story of the two. Kumail is an Uber driver by day and a struggling stand-up comedian by night. While he has embraced the American lifestyle to the full, his family still live within the ideals & culture of their native Pakistan. Kumail not wanting to hurt his family’s feelings tries to keep up the ruse of being as devoted as they are. One fine day after a stand-up gig he meets Emily Gordon (Zoe Kazan), an American psychology student, they happen to like each other from the get go. Both acknowledge that their little rendezvous is nothing serious, but still keep on being around each other from time to time. Kumail’s parents, assuming he is single, start to set him up with Pakistani women for an arranged marriage. As time passes Kumail keeps on meeting women while Emily, safe to say now his girlfriend, isn’t aware of the dates he goes to. While everything is going stup

  Two and a Half Man is an American sitcom mainly about a Charlie Harper (Charlie Sheen) his brother Alan Harper (Jon Cryer) and his nephew Jake Harper (August T. Jones). Charlie a jingle writer with a playboy lifestyle and a care free attitude had never been one to be close to his family or the type of person to make one. The sitcom begins with Alan looking for a place to stay with his son, when his wife Judith (Marin Hinkle) decides to divorce him. With this he turns to his elder brother for a temporary place to crash. Charlie lets Alan and Jake stay at his Malibu beach house, after Alan pleads that it is going to be temporary. This simple story produces hilarious scenes with Charlie hoping to continue his lifestyle but being hindered by Alan who seems to have made his stay permeant and his 8 years old nephew always around. The story even at its basic level feels like an amazing plot for a sitcom which is made even better by Chuck Lorre. Chuck makes sure to keep the show humorous thr

Tandav(2021, Season 1)- Review   Tandav is a political drama centring on the controlling party of India lead by Devki Nandan (Tigmanshu Dhulia) the three time prime minister of India, en-route to win the latest election and retain his seat for the fourth time. His son Samar Pratap Singh (Saif Ali Khan) full of ambition and vigour aspires to one day take his fathers place. Devki has a lot of experience and is entrusted by his party and has very close relationship to its members, Gopal Das Munshi (Kumud Mishra) & Anuradha Kishore (Dimple Kapadia) in particular. The series takes the viewers through the wild ride that is to come after the party wins the election as expected. Along with showing the highest pedestal of politics it also delves into student politics with showcasing the student presidential election of a university in Delhi, which houses among it Shiva Shekhar (Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub) a student with no desire to get his hands dirty with politics, but still finds himself

12 Angry Men(1957)- Review 12 Angry Men is a courtroom drama displaying deliberations, as its name suggests, by 12 men who are part of a jury and have to make a consensual decision about an 18 year old boy who has allegedly stabbed his father to death and faces a death penalty. The boy does not come from a glorious background and with his violent past everyone quickly forms a judgment of him. Initially seeming an open & shut case with all evidence pointing fingers to the boy, all jurors unhesitatingly vote guilty in a preliminary vote apart from one, Juror 8 (Henry Fonda). While he too doesn’t have very high regards for the boy, but believes the evidence collected can be questioned when thoroughly studied. With this he feels there is a reasonable doubt to the boy’s involvement to the horrendous act. Other jurors already having made a conclusion in their mind initially get agitated by Juror 8 who is taking an opposite position to the general public & all the jurors. Without

Section 375(2019)- Review Section 375 is a courtroom drama based on, as its name suggests, the section 375 of the Indian Penal Code. The film focuses on a well-known film director Rohan Khurana (Rahul Bhat) who comes to the infamous center stage when one of his subordinates Anjali Dangle (Meera Chopra), an assistant costume designer for his movies, accuses him of rape. Dejected and felling like a victim himself Khurana sees his reputation tarnished leading to a downfall in his personal & professional life while he is arrested and in jail. While in the court of public opinion he is already convicted, senior criminal barrister Tarun Saluja (Akshaye Khanna) still accepts to be his lawyer. Though his task won’t be easy with Hiral Gandhi (Richa Chadda), once his trainee, now the prosecutor and defence barrister of the claimed victim. The film takes us through the events of this case in and out of the courtroom with both counsellors trying their best to prove their client’s innocence

Inside Man(2006)- Review Inside Man is heist thriller movie by director Spike Lee. It takes us through the 24-hour heist  on a Wall Street bank. The mastermind and the executor of the heist Dalton Russell (Clive Owen) devises a plan for a “Perfect Bank Robbery” which includes taking control of the bank and in turn everyone inside the bank as hostages. Though it’s a minutely crafted strategy everything should go as planned to the letter, and the authorities need to be kept at bay. This won’t be the easiest thing with Detective Keith Frazier (Denzel Washington) assigned to negotiate. He is highly motivated official hoping to make Detective First Grade and to swipe the tarnish of his scandalous past. Arthur Case (Christopher Plummer) the chairman of the board of directors and founder of the fictional Manhattan Trust bank, has his own set of skeletons in the closet that he wishes were not revealed to the world. To make sure of this he hires Madeleine White (Jodie Foster) as a powerbro

Bazaar(2018)- Review Bazaar is a thriller drama film showcasing an Allahabad stock broker Rizwan Ahmed (Rohan Mehra) who   a spires to be in the big leagues of the Indian stock broking setting. With this in mind he comes to the financial capital of India, Mumbai with a barely filled wallet & a pocket full of dreams. He looks up to Shakun Kothari (Saif Ali Khan) a lauded businessman who has a reputation of making money whichever way he sees possible. Rizwan idolises Shakun and hopes to work with him some day. But that seems a tall order when he finds the reality of the city of dreams when he starts looking for work. With a lot of effort and determination he finally has his opportunity to shine. The quick learner he is, Rizwan quickly learns the tricks of the trade and is on the ladder of success. With his professional life buzzing it doesn’t take time for his personal one also to do so when he gets close to Priya Rai (Radhika Apte) his co-worker at the trading firm he works for.

Ludo(2020)- Review Ludo is an anthology film created by Anurag Basu and distributed by Netflix. It showcases a series o f   characters playing out different storylines. First is Akash Chauhan (Aditya Roy Kapur) who finds out there is a sextape uploaded online of him and his ex-girlfriend Shruti Choksi (Sanya Malhotra) who is to be married in a few days. He wishes to find out the culprit who uploaded it and to remove it from the internet. Then comes Alok “Alu” Kumar Gupta (Rajkumar Rao), he has been in love with Pinky (Fatima Sana Shaikh) since they were children. Even after she is married to someone else Alu still can’t forget her and jumps to be a part of her life once again, when she comes hoping for his help. Next comes Bittu (Abhishekh Bachchan) originally a right-hand to a gangster, after falling in love lets go of that life style, but his past comes back biting and he is jailed for 6 years. Now after serving his sentence Bittu finds himself alone and without his wife & ch