Man on Fire
I still haven't seen Training Day yet, but I was hoping that seeing Man on Fire would show me some of the same amazing acting that I've heard so much about since Denzel's Best Actor win. To be honest, I found Denzel to be good, perhaps even excellent, but I wasn't blown away by his performance. The person who continues to really impress me is Dakota Fanning. She is one of the best child actors I have ever seen, and this film demonstrated that she has range as well; her character in Man on Fire was not the arrogant brat that she has played in other movies. The beginning of the film, which developed the relationship between Fanning's and Washington's characters, was very good. But the two halves of the film were very different. After Fanning is kidnapped, we follow Washington's brutal campaign for revenge. I found the second half interesting, although it made me uncomfortable, but my wife got bored. And, honestly, I was less interested in that part because of the distinct lack of Dakota Fanning. But I would still say the movie as a whole worked pretty well as a study of Washington's character. And if you like explosions, there are plenty of them.
Viewed: 2004-05-01 | Released: 2004-04-20 | Score: B
13 Going On 30
My wife dragged me to this on a Sunday night, and even though I know there are a lot of people out there who will like this movie, I can't bring myself to give it more than two stars. Much of the humor in the movie is the sort that I just can't watch. In fact, for long portions of the film I was physically uncomfortable. But I do think that Jennifer Garner did a good job, as did Mark Ruffalo. The comparison to Big is obvious, but apt nonetheless. I think that Big was a better movie, but the focuses of the two films are different; in Big you want Tom Hanks' character to go back to being a kid, where in 13 Going On 30 what you really want is for Jennifer Garner to fix the things that she did wrong in her past.
Viewed: 2004-04-24 | Released: 2004-04-13 | Score: C
Happy Hour
I saw this one at the Newport Beach Film Festival, which was great fun for me and my wife. This movie, like so many independent films, featured excellent performances, but somewhat mediocre filmcraft. Many of the scenes were poorly lit and some of the editing seemed a bit amateurish. Still, the performances made up for it. Anthony LaPaglia's portrayal of an alcholic writer's downward spiral was tragic but compelling, and Eric Stoltz as his dry-witted sidekick was just right. My complaint about the film is that, even though LaPaglia's character goes through hell, I still feel that a story about a lone genius alcoholic can't help but glamorize alcoholism just a bit. But my wife quite vehemently disagreed with me, so what do I know?
Viewed: 2004-04-16 | Released: 2003-04-09 | Score: B
Kill Bill: Vol. 2
If the first Kill Bill movie played like a Japanese anime, this installment is more like a Hong Kong kung fu movie. It worked splendidly. Less violent and more character-driven, this film wraps up all of the loose ends of the first one and does so in a characteristically Tarantino way. Say what you want about him, the man is a master of manipulating an audience; parts of the movie had me holding my breath. If the movie has a flaw, I'd have to say it was Uma Thurman. I know other people disagree with me, especially with respect to these films, but I've never seen Thurman forget that she was acting. Even so, the movie is good enough to get around Thurman's performance.
Viewed: 2004-04-15 | Released: 2004-04-15 | Score: A
The Girl Next Door
The first question I have about this movie is: who did the filmmakers intend to see it? I mean, the plot is a reasonably typical teen story, but the R rating guarantees that it will not bring in many from that age group. The producers had better hope that there will be enough twenty-somethings interested. In any case, despite the fact that the story had some pretty glaring structural flaws and there were details about the movie that bothered me, it still managed to pull out some moments that I really found touching. I think that Emile Hirsch (also of The Emperor's Club) may be one to keep an eye on in the future. All in all, not a great movie, but it made for an entertaining evening.
Viewed: 2004-04-08 | Released: 2004-02-17 | Score: C
The Ladykillers
I have a feeling that the original version of this film, starring Alec Guinness and Peter Sellers, was absolute fun to watch. This one really wasn't. The Coen brothers are responsible for some great movies, among them one of my all-time favorites (The Big Lebowski), but this one just kind of fell flat. The quirkiness that appears in so many of their films usually works very well, but in this one it just made the movie feel very incongruous with itself. Tom Hanks' character seemed like a bad parody of a 1950's Southern gentleman, while Marlon Wayans' performance was straight out of Don't Be a Menace to South Central While Drinking Your Juice in the Hood. While there were several parts of the movie that made me laugh out loud, on the whole it just didn't click for me.
Viewed: 2004-03-27 | Released: 2004-03-25 | Score: C
Jersey Girl
Kevin Smith has made some very good movies. This is not one of them. Even though his films can delve quite deeply into the ridiculous at times, I still find the plots engaging and the dialogue clever. What happened here? The story was a completely pedestrian take on family life versus career, and the two leads, Ben Affleck and Liv Tyler, are two of today's least charismatic actors. Raquel Castro, as Affleck's daughter, was certainly cute, but she brought almost nothing else to a role that could have been very interesting. George Carlin, as Affleck's father, and his sidekicks Stephen Root and Mike Starr had some funny lines, but it wasn't enough to save the film. Still, it had my wife in tears no less than five times, so more sensitive viewers may find more here than I did.
Viewed: 2004-03-25 | Released: 2004-03-25 | Score: D
Secret Window
Before I say anything else, I do want to note that Johnny Depp continues to impress me as an actor. His performances are so detailed, so quirky; he is a real pleasure to watch. However, even Johnny Depp couldn't make this into a good movie. There's a line in the preview that comes near the end of the film to the effect that the ending is the most important part of a story. In a sense, that's true. The ending has the power to transform the whole rest of the story. That's especially true in the thriller genre, where the climactic scene reveals the mystery that drives the entire plot. So the fact that the ending of Secret Window relies on one of the most tired, clichéd plot devices ever written completely ruins the entire experience for me. In case you still want to see it, I won't ruin it for you but don't say I didn't warn you.
Viewed: 2004-03-20 | Released: 2004-03-11 | Score: D
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Charlie Kaufman may well be America's greatest living screenwriter. In terms of sheer creativity I can think of no one else who even comes close. Really, it's a testament to his talent that people even know his name. After all, you know the actors' and directors' names, but the writers? Despite the fact that Eternal Sunshine was written by Kaufman, I had my doubts, mainly because I couldn't help remembering Jim Carrey's truly awful performance in The Majestic. Fortunately, my fears were unfounded. This was Carrey's best dramatic performance, better even than The Truman Show, in my opinion. Either the director or Carrey himself must have worked really hard to reign in his tendency toward ham; whoever is responsible deserves a whole lot of credit. The supporting cast was also great, but the film was really all about Carrey.
Viewed: 2004-03-18 | Released: 2004-03-18 | Score: A
In America
Some of you reading this are going to note the lack of a fourth star and start howling for my blood. Before you grab your nooses and torches and start looking for my address, let me say that I thought this was an excellent film. The performances were universally great, the direction seemed very personal, and the writing was solid. But for some reason it took me a really long time for me to connect with the story. I don't know why--maybe I thought there was a lack of urgency--but for the first half to three quarters of the film I just wasn't into it. But when it hit me, boy did it hit me. The last scene alone would have been enough to make this movie good, but fortunately the rest held up as well. I think maybe I'll like this movie better if I see it again.
Viewed: 2004-03-06 | Released: 2003-04-28 | Score: B