George Clooney and Mark Wahlberg are more than passable as jaded American soldiers. Ice Cube is merely OK as part of their team going on a mission to retrieve stolen gold.
It’s an interesting but uneasy balance of comedy, history and violence. The tone is all over the place and it doesn’t always work. It’s gritty without being believable, and it’s silly without being especially funny.
Sandra Bullock plays an alcoholic who is forced to enter rehab after her drinking sprawls out of control. After initially resisting it, she eventually ends up coming to terms with a new way of life.
It’s a somewhat sanitised account of addiction. Even at her ‘worst’ moments, she looks fantastic. But – this being Sandra Bullock – there are moments of humour, and it’s always engaging.
Viggo Mortensen is underused as a fellow addict and possible love interest.
Dominic West is (deliberately?) annoying as Gwen’s bad-influence boyfriend, while Steve Buscemi is passable as one of the clinic’s counselors.
It’s nice to see (and hear) Loudon Wainwright, who strums his guitar and sings on a few occasions.
Marcia Gay Harden is perfect as his wife, the painter Lee Krasner, in a role that’s satisfyingly developed.
Harris, who also directs, does a great job of articulating the artist’s gifts and his mental struggles, often at the same time. It can’t have been an easy role, but he convinces in the part to the extent that it’s impossible to imagine any other actor doing it so well.
Jennifer Connelly plays Ruth Kligman, who Pollock had an affair with shortly before his death in a car accident.
So-so comedy directed by Donald Petrie.
Sandra Bullock stars as an FBI agent who goes undercover as a contestant in a beauty pageant after a terrorist threatens to set off a bomb. Michael Caine plays her coach, Victor, while William Shatner is the veteran presenter, Stan.
There are a few funny moments, but not nearly enough. As always, Bullock is brilliant but the material isn’t worthy of her talents. It’s also somewhat ambiguous in terms of its messaging about beauty contests, seeming to both condemn them and praise them. Plus, there's not enough of her as an agent.
I don't think I need to bother with the sequel.
Directed by Jonathan Mostow, it’s a fast-paced wartime thriller that’s full of action. Matthew McConaughey is excellent as the man who unexpectedly finds himself as captain after his boss, played by Bill Paxton, is killed. Harvey Keitel does his usual thing (as the Chief Gunner's Mate) and has some presence. In an odd casting decision, Jon Bon Jovi portrays Lieutenant Pete Emmett, but brings nothing special to a minor role that could have been played by anyone. The other major failing is that the music is loud enough to obscure the dialogue at a couple of points.
At times you can clearly see the influence of the submarine masterpiece that is Das Boot. But where that film had long, brooding scenes that built up a claustrophobic tension, this one races from one dramatic moment to another. It does that very well, but ironically – given the subject matter – there’s a lack of depth.
Inspired by real-world figure of Master Chief Petty Officer Carl Brashear, this is a mostly well-made film. There are some dramatic sequences showing the dangers of the divers' underwater assignments. At times it seems a little sappy, perhaps because of the choice of music, but the storytelling and acting lift it above average status. The two male leads are both excellent, and they make their characters suitably convincing to bring this true story to life.
The ensemble cast is absolutely pitch perfect, mining the seriousness of the dog show for all the possible comedic value. The vanity of these dog owners is exposed with continually funny consequences.
During the training process there are age-related jokes aplenty (Eastwood seems obsessed by the topic) before the four guys actually go into space and things get (relatively) serious.
A few flaws. The Russian plot is never really explained. Also, the despatching of the bombs is oddly never shown. Were those graphics outside of the budget? Or did something get mangled in the edit?
James Garner seems underused.
Marcia Gay Harden is good as the scientist Sara Holland, who becomes Tommy Lee’s unlikely love interest.
Hardly a classic, but it’s a good-natured romp with some enjoyable comic moments.
Excellent war drama directed by Joel Schumacher and starring Colin Farrell.
It details the training process for soldiers who will be sent into the Vietnam War. Farrell is absolutely perfect as the rebellious Private Roland Bozz, who has a different outlook that gets him in trouble but makes his colleagues trust him.
It’s a more even and satisfying Vietnam training film than Full Metal Jacket.
Russell Crowe stars as Terry, a former SAS man tasked with rescuing Meg Ryan’s husband from the guerrilla rebels of the Liberation Army of Tecala.
It’s morally all over the place, with one American’s life apparently worth so much more than the lives of all the locals from the fictional South American country.
It’s also clumsily written, with a couple of plot threads not satisfactorily resolved. For example, why does Terry’s sister Janis (Pamela Reed) drop out of the narrative about halfway through? And what happened to the story about the oil pipeline funded by a US conglomerate? Also, the story has you hoping that Crowe and Ryan will get together as a couple, somewhat limiting your wish to see Ryan’s husband safely delivered home – the entire purpose of the mission.
Crowe and Ryan are both charismatic and watchable, and they lift the sub-standard material, but it’s still poor. And while no one would wish to deny the right of Meg Ryan’s character to wear nice make-up and clean white vests all of the time, you do wonder why she never once looks tired, nervous or unkempt despite the living hell she has to endure.
A pre-teenage boy called Trevor (Haley Joel Osment) is inspired by his new school teacher Mr. Simonet (Kevin Spacey) and his alcoholic mother Arlene (Helen Hunt) to start doing more good in the world. He creates a scheme based on passing on kind deeds, which ends up having a profound effect on others around him and beyond.
The film works because you can believe in the characters, who are given depth and complexity. In particular, Spacey and Hunt are credible as emotionally (and in Simonet’s case physically) scarred adults doing their best to hold things together.
It’s different enough to be thought-provoking, unpredictable, touching and memorable. My only real criticism was that it seemed a little too easy for Arlene to stop drinking after she decided to do so.
The disheveled Michael Douglas is excellent in the main part, and his mid-life crisis is highly watchable. I wasn’t too keen on the queasy blend of comedy and drama, which sometimes feels awkward. The presence of a dank Tobey Maguire doesn't help.
The soundtrack is for men of “a certain age”: Bob Dylan, Neil Young, Leonard Cohen and Van Morrison all feature.
Directed by Curtis Hanson and adapted from the 1995 novel by Michael Chabon, this is a celebrated film that doesn't quite live up to expectations.
A young American traveller called Richard (Leonardo DiCaprio) goes in search of a mythical island – and finds it. There, he joins an idealistic community led by Sal (a believable Tilda Swinton). But he soon discovers that this is far from the paradise he dreamed of.
DiCaprio is superb in the main role. His mixture of arrogance and vulnerability seems very real.
I’m less keen on some of the stylings from director Danny Boyle, such as when Richard imagines he’s within a video game and the film becomes one. But the story and acting are so strong that you are swept along by the plot anyway.
Laura Linney and Mark Ruffalo star as Sammy and Terry, a sister and brother who lost their parents in a car crash when they were young. Sammy has stayed in her home town and her family house, living as a single mother with her son Rudy (Rory Culkin). Terry is a troubled drifter who has spent some time in prison. When he comes to stay with Sammy, you see Terry form a bond with his nephew and Sammy’s increasing confusion as she tries to resolve her complicated love life – including a fling with her boss (Matthew Broderick) as well as wrestling with being a mother and a sister to a complicated brother and son.
It’s tender and extremely moving. There’s gentle humour, and the script is perfectly judged. Linney and Ruffalo deliver astounding performances that feel incredibly real. Ruffalo in particular has such an expressive face that you can’t take your eyes off him.
Nicolas Cage plays Memphis Raines, who has to save his brother Kip (Giovanni Ribisi) from dangerous gangsters by stealing 50 cars in one night. He’s helped by his old criminal pals (who of course are all good guys really) and his old flame (an awkwardly awful Angelina Jolie).
It’s extremely silly, but – unlike the original – it has a proper plot and characters with motivations and interactions, even if those characters (like villain Christopher Eccleston) are ridiculous. There’s even a script, albeit one that might have been written by a 12-year-old boy.
The lighting is conspicuously styled with lots of blue and yellow shades, and while that might be atmospheric it makes the film less “realistic”. The original looked far more real, mainly because it was built around actual footage of real situations.
What holds it all together and makes it worth seeing (once) is Nicolas Cage, who has a bottom-line charisma and presence.
Roberts is remarkable in this role – she makes every moment of every scene count. It’s such a vivid and entirely believable performance that it's difficult to imagine anyone else doing it better. Albert Finney is excellent, too. He plays her boss, a lawyer nearing retirement, whose cynicism is challenged by Erin’s refreshingly unorthodox approach.
Directed by Steven Soderbergh, it looks good too. He really captures the beauty of the dusty California landscapes that contain an ugly secret. It’s a long film, but every detail matters and contributes something to the unfolding drama. Character and story are kept central throughout.
A gritty, violent drama that quickly escalates into something harrowing, Shiner tackles issues of class, the meaning of family, and American versus British ways of life. It also works as a sort of Shakespearean tragedy.
The film was poorly received and that’s a great shame because Caine is stunning in the lead role – completely convincing as a tough guy whose life is beginning to unravel.
It’s a strange film – not quite a rom-com and not really a drama, either. There are too many extra characters of little consequence. For example, Grace lives with her Irish grandfather (Carroll O’Connor), who owns an Italian restaurant and socialises with his friends. There’s quite a bit of these elderly men sitting around playing cards and talking about Frank Sinatra or Dean Martin. We also get to see a lot of Grace’s friend Megan (Bonnie Hunt, who also directed) spending time with her husband (James Belushi) and their children. There’s also too much about Bob’s dog (and even the boy who helps look after Bob’s dog). Plus, there are threads about painting, gardening and antique bicycles. A further dimension comes from the gorilla sanctuary that Bob’s wife worked at and which he helps to expand and redevelop to honour her life’s work.
All of these bitty elements don’t add up to much. But when Duchovny and Driver are on screen together, it works. You just wish they had been allowed more screen time as a couple, and with less of the unfunny silliness that surrounds them.
