Happiness is . . .

1. Finding out you've been paying too much income tax for the last 7 years and are due a substantial rebate.

2. Winning £250 on Friday's EuroMillions Lottery.

3. Having a long weekend and not having to drag my lazy arse into work tomorrow.

4. Having a great day out today with the Restless Natives on the mountain bike.

It's been a damn good week.


Unfortunately, every silver lining has a cloud, and mine was going to see the movie 'Taken'.

Liam Neeson plays 'Brian', an ex-CIA agent who has retired from the service in order to spend more time with his 17 year old daughter. Whilst on a trip to Paris with a friend, said daughter goes missing when she's 'Taken' by a band of people traffickers. Liam doesn't like this much and sets off to find her.

The film follows the traditional Hollywood action path that leads to bullets missing Liam, cars exploding after a single gunshot, and dead bodies strewn around him like confetti at a wedding.
None of this is bad news however, but as I see it there are two problems with this film.

Problem 1.
The whole of the first 40 minutes or so is given over to showing the cinema audience just how much Brian (Neeson) loves his daughter Kim (played by Maggie Grace). He talks about it, his friends talk about it, even his estranged wife, played by the godess that is Famke Janssen, talks about it, but call me stupid if you will, but he's her dad - she's his daughter, I'd have taken it as read that he loved her and would do anything for her.

Problem 2.
Maggie Grace.
If there was an Oscar for 'Over Acting In The Role Of A 17 Year Old Daughter' then she's made it her own. I was actually glad she was 'Taken', that's how annoying her giggly "daddy, daddy, daddy" character was. I know that in real life she's 25, but running around flat-footed in plimsols and screeching every 2 minutes does not a teenager make.

The rest of the film passes in a blur of bullets and broken necks carried out by a man of 56, leading to a conclusion that was never in doubt.

5/10