Captain Tom’s daughter kept £1.5m book cash meant for NHS, bombshell report finds

Arts & Culture, Books

Hannah Ingram-Moore with husband Colin (left) and son Benjie (right) (Image: Joe Giddens/PA Wire)Captain Sir Tom Moore’s daughter and her husband are accused of “repeated” misconduct in a report by the Charity Commission about the running of the Captain Tom Foundation.The 30-page document acknowledges that the foundation, set up in the war veteran’s name, was created during the Covid-19 pandemic – “a period of global turmoil”.”However, the Commission has concluded that Mr (Colin) and Mrs (Hannah) Ingram-Moore’s misconduct and/or mismanagement was not an isolated incident but a repeated pattern of behaviour which continued past the worst of the pandemic,” the report said.Here are some of the findings of the report, which follows an inquiry opened in June 2022:Captain Tom booksThe Ingram-Moores’ company, Club Nook, was to be paid an advance totalling £1.5 million in a book publishing deal, according to a redacted document provided to the Charity Commission by Penguin Books.This was reduced to £1,466,667 after the cancellation of a planned fourth book.However, the Commission said that “to date the charity has not received any money from the first publishing agreement”.The report said that the private limited company Club Nook Limited was incorporated in April 2020, with Mr and Mrs Ingram-Moore as company directors who, in addition to their two children, hold shares in the company.Literary agent Bev James, who represented Captain Tom, told the inquiry that her “understanding” was that the Ingram-Moores “were very clear that they did not want the money from the books to go to charity, but they would make a donation when the Captain Tom Foundation was set up”.The report said it “appears that Captain Tom himself believed or intended that (his book) Tomorrow Will Be A Good Day would in some way financially support the charity”. READ MORE: Captain Tom’s daughter blow as company made thousands from father’s charity Get top stories from The Express sent straight to your phone Join us on WhatsAppOur community members are treated to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. You can check out at any time. Read our Privacy PolicyCaptain Tom gained recognition for his charity work during Covid (Image: Getty)It references the book’s prologue, which is attributed to Captain Tom, and reads: “Astonishingly at my age, with the offer to write this memoir I have also been given the chance to raise even more money for the charitable foundation now established in my name.”The report’s authors say: “The inquiry cannot see how the first sentence in the above quote from Captain Tom can be interpreted as anything other than funds provided to Captain Tom for writing his memoir would flow to the charity to continue his charitable work.”They continued: “The inquiry formally wrote to Mr and Mrs Ingram-Moore on October 4, 2022 and November 23, 2022 setting out the information it had gathered, to provide them with an opportunity to rectify matters by making a donation to the charity in line with their original intentions as understood by those involved.”On both occasions they declined to do so.”The Charity Commission “concluded that the public had a reasonable expectation that the Captain Tom books they purchased, in particular Captain Tom’s autobiography Tomorrow Will Be A Good Day, would have financially benefited the charity and the public would understandably feel misled given no donation has been made to the charity.””The Ingram-Moores’ failure to honour the donation to the charity following the first publishing agreement, and the misconduct and/or mismanagement as evidenced in this report, has seriously damaged the reputation of the charity,” it continued.Demolished spa block buildingThe Ingram-Moores used the name of the charity in an initial planning application for a Captain Tom Foundation building in the grounds of their home.The Charity Commission said local council documents show decision-makers gave “significant weight… to the fact that the charity was to use the proposed building for its charitable purposes”.A revised planning application, which added a spa pool facility, did not feature the word “charity” or “foundation”, was refused permission and a demolition notice was issued. The building was levelled in February this year.Mr and Mrs Ingram-Moore said the inclusion of the charity’s name in the original planning application was an “error, though they did have the intention to use the building for charitable purposes”, according to the report.”The inquiry was told that this oversight was as a result of the fact that they were both busy undertaking ‘global media work’ which meant that their attention was on the substance of the application ‘rather than minor errors in the design and access statement prepared by a planning consultant acting on their behalf’,” it continued.”It is the view of the inquiry that Mr and Mrs Ingram-Moore’s actions in using the charity’s name in a planning application on their own property would have increased the prospects of that application being successful.”A failure to consult the full board of trustees and seek their authorisation also suggests that Mr and Mrs Ingram-Moore were using the charity and its name inappropriately for their private benefit.”It said that press coverage of the demolition “negatively affected the charity” and this “could have been mitigated if the decision to link the charity to this planning application had been properly considered and authorised by the unconflicted trustees”.Payment for Virgin Media awardsCaptain Tom acted as a judge for the Virgin Media Local Legends Awards between 2020 and 2021, for which he was personally paid £10,000.Mrs Ingram-Moore acted as his substitute during this campaign, and this arrangement was agreed in advance of Mrs Ingram-Moore being a trustee or taking up her employment at the charity.At about the time the Local Legends Awards concluded, Mrs Ingram-Moore was approached to become a judge for the following year’s awards, according to the report.It said that in September 2021, while employed by the charity as its interim chief executive, she entered into an ambassador services agreement with Virgin Media for the judging and presenting of the Virgin Media Captain Tom Foundation Connector Awards.As a result of the ambassador agreement, Mrs Ingram-Moore was personally paid £18,000, and in addition Virgin Media donated £2,000 to the charity, the report said.The report added that “the inquiry does not agree with Mrs Ingram-Moore’s assertion that this was something that she undertook in her personal capacity – there is no evidence to suggest that this work was done outside her contracted work hours, or that annual leave was booked to undertake the role”.It noted that in Mrs Ingram-Moore’s signed employment contract, dated August 31, 2021, “there is no clause relating to conflicts of interest”.”In the covering email of the same date to (charity trustee) Mr (Stephen) Jones with the signed contract attached, Mrs Ingram-Moore states: ‘I have signed the contract but removed the conflicts of interest clause as this is not a legal requirement and given my responsibilities is too restrictive. It is a given that I will not be doing anything to conflict with all my roles but I cannot be in a position that I have to request authority at every turn, my life would grind to a halt, I am sure you understand.”‘The report continues: “One month after signing her employment contract and having purposely taken out the conflicts of interest clause, Mrs Ingram-Moore signed the ambassador agreement from which she benefited significantly.”The Ingram-Moores and the Captain Tom Foundation have been approached for comment.WHO IS CAPTAIN SIR TOM MOORE’S DAUGHTER HANNAH INGRAM-MOORE?Hannah Ingram-Moore, daughter of Captain Sir Tom Moore (Image: Danny Lawson/PA Wire)When her fundraising father Captain Sir Tom Moore hit the headlines for his pandemic efforts, his daughter Hannah Ingram-Moore was never far from the spotlight.But before that, she was “one of Britain’s leading business women”, according to her official website.She is also described as a life coach and motivational speaker, with the site saying she has gained a “wealth of knowledge and expertise” from working over the years with well-known brands including clothing retailer Gap and high-end department store Fortnum & Mason.Her story has been “one of business, family and leadership”, the website stated.When Sir Tom soared to prominence as Covid-19 spread across the globe, Mrs Ingram-Moore – one of the veteran’s two daughters – often gave interviews and appeared in photographs and video footage taken by the media as her father’s charitable efforts captured the imagination of a locked-down UK.She spoke of the “richness of living in a multi-generational household”, having asked her elderly father to move in with her family in their property in Marston Moretaine, Bedfordshire – on the lawn of which he completed his 100 laps, raising £38.9 million for the NHS. Alongside her chartered accountant husband, Colin, Mrs Ingram-Moore co-founded business recruitment agency Maytrix and both are co-directors of private limited company Club Nook.Mrs Ingram-Moore accompanied her father to the regal surrounds of Windsor Castle in the summer of 2020 to see him knighted, and took a seat in the Royal Box at Wimbledon months after Sir Tom’s death in 2021 where she stood to applause and cheers.But just three years later she and her husband had been banned by the Charity Commission from being charity trustees.Mrs Ingram-Moore described the commission’s inquiry as a “harrowing and debilitating ordeal” which had left the family feeling suspended in “constant fear and mental anguish”.A quote on her website, attributed to Mrs Ingram-Moore, described how she feels a “weight of responsibility for doing the right thing, for not letting people down and responding to the love and compassion that has come our way”.

The World Travel & Tourism Council unveils second Net Zero Roadmap highlighting 27% surge in climate targets

Travel

The World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) has launched the second edition of its Net Zero Roadmap for Travel & Tourism at COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan.
The roadmap shows significant progress in climate action across the sector highlighting a 27 per cent surge in global Travel & Tourism businesses setting climate targets over the past three years, with more than half now actively committed to reducing emissions.
“The urgency of climate action in our sector has never been clearer. Climate change is not a future threat – it’s here, and we are all facing the consequences,” WTTC President and CEO Julia Simpson said.
“This updated roadmap is a call to action for every business in Travel & Tourism. The sector is moving forward; but we mustn’t rest on the laurels. We must work together with greater ambition and urgency to create a sustainable future for Travel & Tourism. Every step counts towards preserving our planet and the livelihoods of millions.”
Analysis of 250 leading businesses revealed that 53 per cent have set climate targets, a marked increase from 42 per cent in 2021. Among these, one-third have adopted Science-Based Targets initiative (SBTi) goals, signalling an accelerated alignment with global climate standards.
The number of companies embracing SBTi goals has more than doubled since the roadmap’s initial launch at COP26 in Glasgow.
The updated roadmap, developed in collaboration with Accenture and UNEP, introduces an enhanced decarbonisation framework, tailored target corridors, and sector-specific strategies, emphasising the urgency of climate action. It also provides guidance for small and medium enterprises (SMEs), which face unique challenges in achieving sustainability.
“This roadmap serves as both an actionable guide and a vision-setting tool for the industry, helping us set ambitious goals while providing clear steps to reduce emissions across all tourism subsectors, from accommodation to aviation,” State Tourism Agency of the Republic of Azerbaijan head of Cabinet Kanan Gasimov said.
“Azerbaijan is proud to be part of this project. Through our COP29 Presidency, we have successfully advocated for tourism’s inclusion in international climate discussions and committed to embedding sustainable practices in our national policies. Together, we can build a tourism sector that aligns with global climate goals, preserves our natural heritage, and supports the livelihoods of our communities.”
Notable findings include a significant drop in Travel & Tourism’s carbon emissions footprint, from 7.8 per cent of global emissions in 2019 to 6.5 per cent in 2023, driven by reductions in carbon intensity across aviation, cruise, and accommodation industries.
The roadmap also highlights the role of Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF), which can cut aviation emissions by up to 80 per cent over the fuel’s lifecycle, urging its broader adoption alongside regulatory support and investment.While progress is evident, challenges persist. Measuring Scope 3 emissions and achieving regulatory alignment remain hurdles. WTTC and its members are calling on governments to incentivize sustainability measures to ensure targets are met.

NY’s $7.7B in handouts for film industry come under scrutiny

Arts & Culture, Film & TV

New York’s $7.7 billion in handouts for the film industry came under scrutiny Wednesday — as state lawmakers seized on a new analysis showing taxpayers aren’t getting the best bang for their bucks.

The independent analysis of the Film Production Tax Credit, conducted by a Philadelphia-based consulting firm, found the nearly $700 million yearly in forgone revenue returns only about 31 cents on the dollar. 

“We now have more than enough evidence to demonstrate that a lot of this programming, a lot of the spending, is not being spent wisely and we have to do something about it,” state Sen. Jim Skoufis said after a hearing on economic incentives.

Albany signed off last year on massive new incentives to encourage film and TV productions to shoot in New York — adding up to $7.7 billion over 11 years — with dubious proof as to how much economic return the handouts would actually bring to the state.

An independent study found that the state loses money on a tax incentive meant to attract film and TV productions. Getty Images

Ashley Ranslow, NY State Director for the National Federation of Independent Businesses, testified the mid-sized businesses she represents don’t really feel a substantial impact from the program.

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“For three quarters of a billion dollars I question how that is really helping small businesses generally,” Ranslow told lawmakers.

Skoufis took the head of New York’s economic development arm to task during the hearing, asking her at one point if any analysis of an incentive program conducted by her agency had ever shown a negative return on investment.

“Not during the time that I’ve been in this seat, but I can look back and see if that’s been the case,” Hope Knight, CEO of Empire State Development, responded.

She tried to cast doubt on the damning independent study of the film production tax credit — which was ordered by Gov. Kathy Hochul and the legislature — by saying it didn’t factor in enough of the trickle-down economic benefits small businesses, like caterers and hotels, see when a film production comes to town.

“I think you have to look more inclusively at that metric because … so much of the film industry is connected to the small business community where these productions exist and so there is significant induced activity as a result of these productions engaging the local economy,” Knight told lawmakers.

Empire State Development CEO Hope Knight said she doesn’t know of any state study that has determined her agency’s programs have a negative return on investment. Empire State Development

Knight pointed to other state studies that have estimated the production tax credit nets $1.70 for local and state governments for every $1 spent.

Brian O’Leary, tax counsel for the Motion Picture Association, an industry group pushing for the incentives, also pointed to the other reports to try and prove the program’s worth.

“They have done a credible job of, through the beginning of the history of this program, of showing not just showing the growth in production, but the growth in jobs and union jobs as well as the investments in infrastructure,” O’Leary said.

But Skoufis pointed out that the litany of reports and surveys presented by the MPA had been paid for by the film industry group itself.

“Credit the State Senate for using facts to punch through the Hollywood lobbying fog to show the $7.7 billion Film/TV tax credit and other corporate subsidies are a waste of New York tax dollars,” John Kaehny, of Reinvent Albany, told The Post. Darwin Brandis – stock.adobe.com

“They conveniently left out that those analyses were commissioned by them, paid for by them. So, of course, they’re going to come back and underscore exactly what they want to underscore,” the Hudson Valley rep later told reporters.

State Sen. Liz Krueger, chair of the powerful Senate Finance Committee, shed considerable doubt on the incentives at the conclusion of the hearing and noted that the state needs to tighten its belt since it can’t easily lean on Washington for financial help with the incoming administration of President-elect Donald Trump.

“We know we’re walking into an era where we expect far less cooperation or funding from our federal government. We have to get smarter in New York state about what programs we operate, whether they are worth their salt, whether they are a bad use of the public’s money,” Krueger said.

“Are we going to frankly continue to just have bad policies that we’ve known are bad policies forever and yet not choose to do anything about them?” she added. “I hope that we will choose to do something about them.”

The non-profit group Reinvent Albany calculates that New York spends $75,000 on every film and TV job supported by the program.

“Credit the State Senate for using facts to punch through the Hollywood lobbying fog to show the $7.7 billion Film/TV tax credit and other corporate subsidies are a waste of New York tax dollars,” Executive Director John Kaehny, who also testified, told The Post after the hearing.

“Does anyone but [Empire State Development] and the film industry think spending $75,000 in taxpayer money to pay for one full-time film job for one year is OK?” he added. “This is what legal corruption looks like in New York.”

Black Friday scams make for phishy business with QR cons, fake shops

Business News

Kiwis lost $2.3 billion to scams last year, according to a survey by Netsafe and the Global Anti-Scam Alliance – and more could lose out to Black Friday charlatans. Photo / Getty ImagesBlack Friday scams are so rife some people are now suggesting the November 29 shopping event should also be called Black Fraud Day.Deepfakes and QR code phishing scams joined the plague of fake e-shops to present challenges ahead of major shopping events.
“As we head into peak shopping

Hannah Ingram-Moore: Who is Captain Sir Tom Moore’s ‘leading business women’ daughter?

Business News

Your support helps us to tell the storyFrom reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it’s investigating the financials of Elon Musk’s pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, ‘The A Word’, which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.Your support makes all the difference.CloseRead moreThe family of renowned pandemic fundraiser Captain Sir Tom Moore made more than a million pounds for themselves through their association with the charity set up in his name, a damning report has found.The charities watchdog concluded there had been repeated instances of misconduct by the veteran’s daughter, Hannah Ingram-Moore and her husband, Colin.Sir Tom became a household name in the pandemic, raising millions for NHS charities by walking laps of his garden in lockdown.But separately, a £1.4 million book deal and an £18,000 awards ceremony appearance fee were among the financial benefits Mr and Mrs Ingram-Moore enjoyed through their family links to the Captain Tom Foundation.The Charity Commission found a “repeated pattern of behaviour” which saw the pair make private gains and which the watchdog said will have left the public feeling “misled”.When her fundraising father Captain Sir Tom Moore hit the headlines for his pandemic efforts, his daughter Hannah Ingram-Moore was never far from the spotlight.But before that, she was “one of Britain’s leading business women”, according to her official website.She is also described as a life coach and motivational speaker, with the site saying she has gained a “wealth of knowledge and expertise” from working over the years with well-known brands including clothing retailer Gap and high-end department store Fortnum & Mason.Her story has been “one of business, family and leadership”, the website stated.When Sir Tom soared to prominence as Covid-19 spread across the globe, Mrs Ingram-Moore – one of the veteran’s two daughters – often gave interviews and appeared in photographs and video footage taken by the media as her father’s charitable efforts captured the imagination of a locked-down UK.She spoke of the “richness of living in a multi-generational household”, having asked her elderly father to move in with her family in their property in Marston Moretaine, Bedfordshire – on the lawn of which he completed his 100 laps, raising £38.9 million for the NHS.Alongside her chartered accountant husband, Colin, Mrs Ingram-Moore co-founded business recruitment agency Maytrix and both are co-directors of private limited company Club Nook.Captain Sir Tom Moore (second left) with his daughter Hannah Ingram-Moore (second from right) (Joe Giddens/PA)

Nadine Dorries uses new book to continue feud with Kemi Badenoch over Boris Johnson’s downfall

Arts & Culture, Books

Your support helps us to tell the storyFrom reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it’s investigating the financials of Elon Musk’s pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, ‘The A Word’, which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.Your support makes all the difference.CloseRead moreNadine Dorries has used her latest book to continue her feud with Kemi Badenoch, with the former culture secretary claiming the newly appointed leader is both a bully and unfit to be prime minister.Written as this summer’s Conservative leadership race was unfolding, Ms Dorries quoted a number of unnamed party insiders who attacked Ms Badenoch’s credentials.However, a source close to the now Tory leader dismissed Downfall, which will be published on Thursday, as fiction. Ms Dorries resigned as an MP in August 2023 after launching a blistering attack on then prime minister Rishi Sunak. Former prime minister Boris Johnson and former culture secretary Nadine Dorries (Oli Scarff/PA)

The Advantages of Business Expense Cards in Contemporary Corporate Management

Business News

In the UK alone, unclaimed work expenses add up to around £140 million annually. This surprising loss stems from lengthy reimbursement processes that companies operating in the British market sometimes follow.

Many employees (around 38%) opt not to claim these expenses at all. Efficiently managing corporate expenses has become essential — for financial oversight and ensuring employee satisfaction. One increasingly popular tool among companies is the expense card, which simplifies expense management and offers a host of benefits.

What Are Business Expense Cards?

Also known as business expense cards or business credit cards, expense cards are issued to employees to cover business-related costs like travel, client entertainment, and office supplies. Un+like traditional reimbursement models, where employees pay out-of-pocket and then file expense reports, business expense cards allow companies to handle payments directly and in real-time.
Business expense cards come in various formats, including physical cards and virtual options, which can be easily used on mobile wallets like Google Pay or Apple Pay. Virtual cards can be quickly issued and access can be managed for multiple employees, offering companies the flexibility to adapt quickly to their teams’ needs.

Advantages of Business Expense Cards
Enhanced Financial Control

Expense cards allow companies to set clear spending limits on each card, helping keep expenditures within budget. With real-time tracking and detailed reporting, financial managers can oversee spending as it happens, making it easier to prevent overspending or unauthorized transactions.

Streamlined Expense Reporting

The traditional reimbursement process can be tedious, requiring employees to submit receipts, fill out forms, and await approval. Business expense cards streamline this by processing transaction details automatically, reducing paperwork and speeding up reimbursements. This approach also lightens the workload for finance teams, who benefit from quicker, more accurate records.

Increased Security

Business expense cards are often equipped with advanced security measures like multi-level authentication, customizable spending limits, and real-time transaction alerts. Integration with mobile wallets adds another layer of security and convenience, helping companies protect funds and ensure that only authorized purchases are made.

Improved Budget Management

Business expense cards provide businesses with real-time spending insights, allowing for better budget control. Companies can analyze spending data to identify trends and adjust budgets accordingly, leading to more strategic planning and effective resource allocation.

Convenience and Flexibility for Employees

For employees, business expense cards eliminate the need to cover work costs with personal funds, which is particularly helpful during travel or when unexpected expenses arise. These cards can be used on a variety of platforms for tasks such as booking travel, dining with clients, or purchasing office supplies.
Expenditure of business tourists worldwide: Source Statista: Business travel spending worldwide 2022 | Statista

Key Features of Modern Expense Card Solutions
Seamless Integration with Financial Systems

Modern business expense cards integrate with existing financial software, providing a unified view of spending without needing to juggle separate systems. This integration streamlines data entry, reduces errors, and simplifies auditing, giving finance teams a more comprehensive overview of expenses.

Real-Time Tracking

Real-time monitoring is crucial for expense management, allowing both employees and financial managers to track spending instantly. This feature provides transparency, ensuring that expenses align with company policies and allowing any discrepancies to be addressed immediately.

Customizable Spending Limits

Companies can tailor spending limits based on individual roles and needs, setting boundaries to ensure that employees can’t exceed designated budgets. This feature maintains financial discipline while offering flexibility for different team members’ spending requirements.

Mobile Access for On-the-Go Management

Business expense cards often support mobile access, allowing employees to use digital wallets like Apple Pay and Google Pay for seamless transactions. Many card solutions also include mobile apps for tracking expenses, capturing digital receipts, and receiving instant alerts, making expense management more efficient.

Detailed Analytics and Reporting

Comprehensive reporting tools provide valuable insights into spending patterns, helping companies make informed financial decisions. Business expense cards allow for customizable reports that focus on specific metrics, such as departmental expenditures or vendor-specific spending.

Conclusion

Business expense cards are transforming business management by enhancing financial oversight, simplifying reporting, strengthening security, and optimizing budget control. As these tools continue to gain popularity, more companies are expected to adopt them, optimizing their expense management processes and supporting both operational transparency and employee satisfaction.

Three NDP MLAs off to Los Angeles to talk up B.C.’s film industry

Arts & Culture, Film & TV

Three members of the NDP government are off to Los Angeles this week to promote B.C. as a place to film movies and television shows. 

Minister of Finance Brenda Bailey, Minister of Tourism Spencer Chandra Herbert, and Parliamentary Secretary for Arts and Film Nina Kreiger will head up the delegation. They are members of the NDP government that was sworn in last week following the October election. “We are getting to work right away to ensure the film industry continues to choose B.C. as a leading destination for filmmakers worldwide,” Bailey said in an NDP government release. The trio of NDP MLAs are intent on building “strong international relationships” to support the province’s film and TV industry, per the release. BC Conservative MLA Gavin Dew, MLA for Kelowna Mission and the party’s shadow minister for economic development, was critical of the NDP MLAs trip to Los Angeles. “Our film and television sector is important, but before heading off on international junkets I would welcome the ministers to visit Kelowna. They could learn how the NDP’s changes to tax credits have undermined the growth of our local animation sector,” Dew told The Kelowna Courier.”While they’re at it, they could learn how the NDP’s sledgehammer short-term rental rules have cratered our tourism sector,” Dew added. “We’ll be happy to offer better solutions on both fronts.”Across B.C., the film and TV industry supports 47,500 jobs and is worth $3.3 billion in economic activity, the government says. The Okanagan Film Commission says that crews spent $70 million in the Valley in 2022 filming 46 films, TV shows, and commercials. 

‘The Merry Gentlemen’ Netflix Review: Are Christmas Movies Even Trying To Be Good Anymore?

Arts & Culture, Film & TV

Christmas-themed releases have always been a mix of movies that can be enjoyed by everyone, regardless of where they are from or what religion they follow, and then movies that are for a certain kind of audience. Upon  closer inspection, you’ll also notice the difference in the quality of filmmaking between these two categories of Christmas films, with one feeling timeless and the other reeking of blandness and regression. I have grown up watching stuff like Home Alone, Die Hard, Jingle All the Way, and of course, How the Grinch Stole Christmas. Amongst recent releases, there are some good examples like Klaus, Anna and the Apocalypse, Krampus, and Merry Little Batman. But it seems like this snowy landscape has been hijacked by Netflix now. And the streaming platform is giving Hallmark a run for its money with garbage like the Princess Switch films, Love Hard, A Not So Merry Christmas, I Believe in Santa, Christmas as Usual, Best. Christmas. Ever!, and Falling for Christmas. Now, The Merry Gentlemen is here to pad out this amazing roster while testing if it can qualify as a film despite not doing anything cinematic.

Peter Sullivan’s Netflix film, The Merry Gentlemen, tells the story of Ashley, who is a dancer at a Broadway show called the Jingle Belles. But since she is in her 30s, she is deemed “stale” by the producer, Jodie, and replaced by a younger dancer. This prompts Ashley to return to her home in Sycamore Creek and spend Christmas with her parents, Stan and Lily, in the hopes of finding her bearings before choosing the next step of her professional life. That’s when she finds out that her parents’ bar, the Rhythm Room, is on the brink of being shut down because Denise, the landlady, has been increasing the rent for quite a while. Given how the bands that are still performing there aren’t drawing big crowds, Stan and Lily are failing to make ends meet. After some light brain-racking and ogling at the bodies of the handyman, Luke, the bartender, Troy, and Ashley’s brother-in-law, Rodger, the former Broadway star comes up with the idea of turning the Rhythm Room into a stage for an all-male revue. Will Ashley’s gamble pay off? Of course it will. This is a Netflix Christmas film. What are you expecting? Complexity? Come on.

To be perfectly honest, the premise of The Merry Gentlemen isn’t bad at all. It’s essentially Christmas-themed Magic Mike. But the issue here is that the writing doesn’t do anything substantial with this slam dunk of an elevator pitch. The stakes are too basic to create any kind of drama. The characters have no depth. And, most importantly, there’s no conflict. You can say that a movie, especially a Christmas movie, doesn’t need conflict to make its story interesting. However, when you hear about a girl returning to her small town after spending a few years in the Big Apple and turning her family-owned bar into a stripclub, what’s the first thing that comes to your mind? That’s right, conflict. For some reason, though, the writers simply bypass that plot line and substitute it with, well, nothing. There are several moments where it seems like it’s the end for the dancing troupe, but those hiccups are resolved so swiftly that it made me wonder why the writers even made the effort of generating the illusion of tension. Also, if the writers think that I didn’t notice how they presented the only Black character in the team as the source of anxiety, they would be wrong.

Peter Sullivan is kind of a veteran when it comes to trashy Christmas-themed films. He has made classics such as Silent Night Fatal Night, A Prince and Pauper Christmas, The Case of the Christmas Diamond, A Cozy Christmas Inn, The Christmas Edition, The Road Home for Christmas, Jingle Belle (yes, the name of the aforementioned fictional Broadway show is a reference to this), My Christmas Inn, Sharing Christmas, Wrapped Up in Christmas, Broadcasting Christmas, The Flight Before Christmas, 12 Gifts of Christmas, A Christmas Mystery, Christmas Under Wraps, Dear Secret Santa, Christmas Twister, All About Christmas Eve, and last but not least, 12 Wishes of Christmas. When compared to all of these projects, The Merry Gentlemen looks and sounds like Citizen Kane. Does it really matter if Britt Robertson’s wig is inconsistent between shots in the same scene? Does it really matter if every conversation scene is framed and edited in the blandest fashion imaginable? Does it really matter if the movie fails to portray its central gimmick in a sensual and exciting manner? The answer to all three of those questions is, no, it doesn’t. And why should Sullivan care about all this stuff? He has invented his own genre, which is liked by his producers and his fans. So, why does he need to care about filmmaking to get paid for making films, am I right?

Coming to the cast, well, they are all doing the best they can with what they have. Colt Prattes, Chad Michael Murray, Hector David Jr. (that’s the Green Samurai Power Ranger, by the way), Marc Anthony Samuel, and Maxwell Caulfield do most of the heavy lifting in the film even though they are not the protagonists of the film. They are putting their bodies on the line to make the viewing experience somewhat engaging, and I salute them for doing so. Maxwell Caulfield deserves an extra shoutout for setting the stage on fire at his age. Come to think of it, if the film would’ve been more focused on these five dancers trying to make a living as strippers in a small town in the lead up to Christmas, I think it would’ve been way more interesting than what we got. I mean, at the very least the spirit of Christmas would’ve been palpable. Instead, we have to suffer through the sad excuse of a romantic plotline and tolerate the lack of chemistry between Britt Robertson and Murray. Their acting is alright, I guess, but the writing is just awful. The rest of the supporting cast is okay.

Look, I am sure there’s an audience for Netflix’s Christmas films, and I know for a fact that they’ll gobble up The Merry Gentlemen and leave no crumbs. And it doesn’t matter to them if I recommend this film or not. But if you don’t fall into that category of cinephiles, then stay the hell away from The Merry Gentlemen. It’s not worth your time and energy. Go and check out Batman Returns, Tokyo Godfathers, It’s a Wonderful Life, or any of the other revered holiday classics and have a merry Christmas, I guess. I know it’s a fool’s hope, but the optimist in me says that if a sizable chunk of viewers stop mindlessly watching every other Christmas release, then streaming platforms like Netflix are going to compel their artists to put some actual effort into making these pieces of content. Yes, I am purposefully using the word “content” here because The Merry Gentlemen isn’t cinema. It’s content. There’s nothing cinematic about it. It’s an obligation that people like Peter Sullivan have to fulfill every year around the holidays to keep the lights on. If their target audience refines their taste and realizes that they’ve been eating slop all this while, this whole subgenre is bound to improve. Until that day arrives, I’m going to rewatch Die Hard for the 1000th time.

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‘GTMax’ Movie Ending Explained & Summary: Did Soelie Save Michael?

Arts & Culture, Film & TV

GTMax is a 2024 French action thriller film on Netflix that boasts high-speed scooter races, intense adrenaline-boosting chase scenes, a grand heist, and a tale of family drama, all in a compact package. The plot is centered around siblings Soelie and Michael Carella, who have to get involved in some rather shady businesses after their father, Daniel, gets into financial trouble. With this family of motocross racers at its center, GTMax goes about spinning an interesting story of crime and family and is rather entertaining as a quick and mindless watch.

Spoiler Alert

What is the film about?

GTMax begins with a high-speed chase on the streets of Paris as a police unit in cars and on motorcycles tries to pursue a group of robbers escaping on three customized scooters. Although the leader of the unit, Lieutenant Lucas Delvo, is given the order to stop the chase simply because of the property damage it has been causing on the roads, he refuses to let the criminals escape. But Delvo has to stop eventually, when he alone continues the chase and finally crashes, much to his frustration. The police officer, who was himself once a biker and racer competing in the official racing circuits, grows determined to investigate the robbery and catch the criminals, no matter what.

Elsewhere in the outskirts of the city, a much-awaited motocross race event is being held at the Circuit Carella, a racing track founded and maintained by Daniel Carella and his family. Daniel is a highly esteemed ex-racer who had won multiple motocross racing championships a number of times in his heyday, and it is in honor of his late wife, Clara, who was also an extremely skilled motorbike rider, that he had built the track. Daniel’s two children, Soelie and Michael, are also racers, and they are the ones who represent their distinguished family in every racing event at present. Although Daniel has a clear bias towards his daughter, Soelie, for he believes that she is the better racer between his two children, the young woman is actually not participating in the current race. Due to some accident in the seemingly recent past, Soelie is unable to ride anymore, and so she tries to prepare her younger brother, Michael, for the upcoming race. 

Although the race is at his home track, quite literally, Michael is clearly intimidated by a few of the other riders, and he feels that their sponsorships and better bikes would pose a daunting challenge for him. Therefore, Michael ultimately finishes 2nd in the race, despite leading for a long time, which evidently upsets Daniel. While Michael and Soelie cannot understand why their father is being so harsh on the racer, despite him having finished 2nd, they soon learn of a serious development. The racing circuit has not been making enough money to keep the family afloat, and the sponsors had already decided to part ways if Michael did not win the race. To make matters worse, the Carella family has accrued a debt of 150,000 euros, because of which the bank wants to foreclose on their racetrack and their house if they do not receive the money in a short time. Thus, in order to hold on to the family’s racing legacy and also to ensure that their parents’ beloved bikes do not have to be sold, Soelie and Michael get involved in a life of crime, making use of their brilliant skills as riders. 

What criminal plan do the siblings get involved in?

Even before Soelie and Michael learn about the financial duress that their family is in, a young man named Yacine comes to meet Michael with a specific job. Yacine is a racer as well, and having trained together for races a couple of times, the two young men have become friends. It is suggested that Michael had often asked Yacine to get him some odd jobs so that he could start earning money on the side and helping out his family, and now there is one such opportunity. When Soelie spots this meeting between the two men, she is not very keen on letting her brother work with someone like Yacine, whom she clearly has some reservations about. However, the job offered to Michael involved just testing a motorcycle and seeing the effects of a few jumps on it, and a tidy sum of 300 euros was being paid as compensation. With the siblings realizing that they now need to be more open to employment opportunities, Soelie agrees to take Michael to the address mentioned by Yacine.

Being the younger child, Michael is not as attached to his family or its legacy just yet, but to Soelie, the financial crisis is a matter of great concern. If Daniel is unable to pay off the bank loan before time, he would not only have to sell off the racing track, which in itself is very close to him and Soelie, but he would also need to get rid of the fantastic collection of motorbikes at his home. This collection was, in fact, started by his wife, Clara, who was also a racer by passion and profession. Along with having love and admiration for her father, Soelie is still very attached to the memory of her mother, whose passing away from cancer some time ago still affects her. When Clara had fallen extremely sick and passed away, all seemingly within a short span of time, Soelie could not believe the cruelty of fate and grew angry at the entire world. In this terribly angry state, she took out one of her mother’s bikes and went for a ride, driving the vehicle in a rash and reckless manner. This is when she met with a horrific accident, which not only made her suffer very serious physical injuries but also traumatized her so terribly that she is no longer able to ride bikes at all. 

Therefore, Soelie wants to preserve and protect her mother’s memories with all her will, because of which she needs money, and needs it quickly. But she also remains wary of what her brother is getting involved in, and so she accompanies him as his personal mechanic to the warehouse where the test is to be conducted. At this warehouse, the siblings get introduced to the exact job at hand, and also the men organizing such an uncommon bike trial. Yacine is basically working with a man named Elyas, who is in charge of the whole operation, and there is a shady vibe about him from the very get-to. Elyas has hired a masterful mechanic named Theo to work on dirtbikes and transform them into scooters, which would be more suited to being driven on city roads. Michael is meant to ride one of these modified bikes and perform a few jumps with it, ensuring that it is fit to be driven for some major event, the nature of which Elyas does not immediately talk about. On the first day of the trial, Michael suggests that more changes be made to the bike, and Soelie agrees to work on the vehicle, despite Theo not wanting to let her do it.

However, the whole situation is interrupted by the arrival of the police at the warehouse, with Lieutenant Lucas Delvo in possession of an arrest warrant for Yacine. The young man tries to escape the law but is eventually caught and dragged to the police station for further questioning. As becomes clear within the next few minutes, Elyas is actually running a gang of robbers, and their modus operandi is using modified bikes and scooters to loot valuable items and then flee the scene. Along with the monetary gains from such raids, the men involved in the gang also take immense pleasure and pride in the fact that the police cannot catch them. The most crucial reason for the gang being out of reach of the police force is that they always operate in a meticulously planned manner. However, Yacine creates problems for all of them when he goes off to rob a civilian all by himself, using the same scooter used in the major heists. The fact that he conducts the robbery during the day and also gets beaten up by the man he tries to rob also ensures that there are a lot of witnesses to the crime, and he is tied to the heist cases because of the scooter. Therefore, the police detective, Delvo, tracks him down and arrests him, before eventually letting him go as well, only with a tracker hidden in his jacket.

Delvo does so because he knows that a grander heist is in the works, and it is for this heist that Elyas hires Michael, and then Soelie as well, when she agrees to work on three scooters and modify them according to the specific needs of the job. The target is a man named Mazetti, who is coming to Paris for a special event named the Crystal Week, which is an exhibition of exquisite pieces of jewelry. During this event, Mazetti will be bringing and presenting a set of red diamonds, which are supremely rare and therefore expensive. Elyas plans to steal these diamonds, not only for the money but also to gain notoriety, and Delvo also figures out that the robbers must be targeting these gems, since stealing jewelry is their specialty. 

How does Soelie get forced into becoming a part of the heist?

Soelie initially does not want to be involved with Elyas in any way, and this is why she turns down his offer to work on his scooters at first. However, when she finds out that her father has already had to sell off most of the bikes in his collection just to give the family some more time to pay back the borrowed money, she decides to take the job. Soelie asks for a hundred thousand euros for her work, and although it shocks Elyas at first, he agrees to pay such a large sum of money for her services because of her skills and the fact that she belongs to a family of racers. The protagonist begins working on the scooters, and in this manner, she becomes close friends with the original mechanic, Theo, as well. Despite Theo initially not liking her, as he felt that she was intruding on his work, he realizes that Soelie is really very skilled, and impressed by her passion, he takes a liking to her. 

Eventually, Elyas’ violent nature is seen when Yacine suddenly arrives at his bike shop, feeling that he will be protected by his fellow gang members. But Elyas is very concerned that the police will track Yacine and find his shop through the reckless acts of the young man. He is already quite irritated with Yacine for having robbed a man by himself and drawing police attention to the whole gang, and so the man decides to ruthlessly punish him. Elyas feels that there is no turning back for Yacine, and so he shoots the young man dead. Both Michael and Soelie are actually at the shop during this time, and Elyas decides to rope both of them into his heist plan since he is now short of one crucial gang member. Although he had gotten Michael to ride the bike at first, he is too shocked after witnessing the murder of his friend and is therefore unfit to participate in any heist. Therefore, Soelie is the only candidate left, and to convince her, Elyas forces Michael to hold the gun he had just used to kill Yacine, so that the young man’s prints are on the murder weapon. He threatens to hand over this gun to the police and lie about Michael having killed Yacine if Soelie does not participate in the heist. The protagonist now has no option but to comply.

Did Soelie save Michael and their family?

The heist is finally executed, and the first part, which involves stealing the red diamonds, goes just as planned. Next, the three robbers have to get away with it, and during this phase, Theo crashes his scooter and has to run from the police on foot. Eventually, Soelie is handed the diamonds, and Elyas drives into Delvo to ensure that the police officer cannot pursue her. A fight breaks out, and although Elyas is able to knock Delvo out, the officer manages to handcuff the criminal right before losing consciousness. Thus, by the time Soelie comes to Elyas with the diamonds, he cannot move and is at the mercy of the protagonist. This is when Soelie reveals that she has turned Theo to her side, and the two of them, along with Michael, have decided to give testimony to the police about Elyas having killed Yacine. The only way that Elyas can avoid such a situation is if he promises to stay away from the lives of the three individuals and to never cause any harm to them. The fact that Soelie does not hand Elyas the keys to the cuffs and throws them into the water instead means that the gangster will be found by the police and will be imprisoned for his crimes. But more importantly, Soelie does not give Elyas the diamonds either, keeping them with herself and seemingly giving Theo a cut of the money she gets from selling them. The rest of the money is used to rescue her family from bankruptcy, ensuring that Circuit Carella remains with the family. 

GTMax ends with scenes from a year after the heist, when another motocross race is being held. Soelie and Michael are both now participating in the race, which is a matter of immense pride for Daniel. Police Lieutenant Delvo also attends the event, and although he knows that Soelie was the third criminal in the gang that carried out the heist, there is no evidence to prove this, and so he just maintains a friendly relation with the Carella family. Theo is also seen attending the race and seemingly watching it from a distance, supporting his friend and possibly girlfriend, Soelie, since he cannot come close to the track because of the police presence. Ultimately, it all works out greatly for Soelie and Michael, and they are able to save their family at the end of GTMax.

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