Joey Magidson
It’s impossible not to think about where modern media is today while watching Ink. Danny Boyle and James Graham certainly aren’t discouraging it, and even put the exclamation point on their film with a montage reminding you of such. Despite those heavy themes and dour thesis, this movie can actually be an energetic bit of fun. Playing at the Telluride Film Festival, this seductively entertaining work has a lot to offer.
Ink has a propulsive nature that has it zoom along for a while with an energy that helps seduce you, much like the characters are seduced by the prospect of changing the way people consumed information. For a while, there are lots of smiles to be had, until it takes a turn and the cost of doing this business in this manner is actually revealed.
In 1969, Rupert Murdoch (Guy Pearce) has purchased newspaper The Sun. Recruiting Larry Lamb (Jack O’Connell) to run it, the goal is to become the best selling tabloid in Britain. Murdoch wants to disrupt and be different, tasking Lamb with doing it a whole new way. Finding a ragtag group to fill out the staff, mostly by hiring folks away with fat checks and promotions, The Sun is initially an afterthought. It’s only when Lamb, along with Jules Davies (Claire Foy), starts to figure out that they can focus on giving people what they want, instead of what they need, that the tide turns.
As The Sun becomes as much about entertainment as information, Murdoch is increasingly uncomfortable with the sex and violence that the paper is trafficking in. The desire to win fuels Lamb to go further and further. When the paper is directly connected to a shocking crime, their involvement leads to an explosive resolution, one that shows where Lamb’s single-mindedness diverges with Davies, and even Murdoch.
Jack O’Connell leads the way with a stirring turn that initially has you rooting for the man who helped bring about the downfall of news. Early on, he’s out to prove that he can win, and you’re right there with him. O’Connell makes the transition to cold-hearted a subtle, to the point where, when it’s fully happened, you’re shocked. He’s rarely been better, which is saying something. Guy Pearce does the impossible in making someone potentially feel bad for Rupert Murdoch. Pearce finds the charmer in Murdoch’s early days, as well as the fear later on when he realizes the monster he’s let loose. Claire Foy is an equal partner for O’Connell, often getting the best lines in any scene involving a staff meeting. Supporting players include Bertie Carvel, Brian Gleeson, Jonathan Hyde, Patrick Kennedy, and more.
This is vintage Danny Boyle direction, full of vim and vigor, or piss and vinegar, if you will. Taking James Graham’s script, which adapts his own stage work, Boyle opens things up with clever camera angles (courtesy of cinematographer Alwin H. Küchler), and editing tricks, not to mention an ace Daniel Pemberton score.. He’s in overdrive, helping to make the pacing nearly perfect early on. Boyle and Graham have a sequence at a white board where The Sun is being crafted, while the future is being charted, and it’s brilliant. The only flaw here is the big crime in the middle section of the movie eats up the narrative for too long, slowing down the momentum.
Ink entertains more than expected, while still leaving you in a place to consider all the harm that entertainment has caused. Food for thought, as well as a pleasurable viewing experience, Netflix has a winner on their hands, while Telluride has another fine film to showcase this year. For those looking for a vintage Danny Boyle production, this sure is it.
SCORE: ★★★
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