Garyswordz

Just Plain Dreadful, 21 March 2008

Author: gary-444 from United Kingdom

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

I went to see this movie not expecting much. Some epic scenery, a few battles with animals and rival tribes, the odd heaving bosom and a frothy pop corn story. Sadly i was still disappointed.

Never can so much money, particularly on cgi and special effects have been spent to so little effect.None of the actors is worthy of a name check – although i suspect that the threadbare script found numerous first choices “busy”.

Charaecteristaion is pretty much non existent, which you can get away with if you have a rip roaring fast moving script.But this isn’t. the cinematography is quite sweeping, and the music quite “nice”. But that is about it.

Roland Emmerich fails miserably here, his greatest crime being in assuming that the people would be grunting idiots. His alack of humanity, a trade characteristic for him, undermines what few shreds of invention this film has.Two sequences, the “mammoth” hunt and the “ostrich attack” in the jungle had great dramatic possibilities, bot both ere squandered, as were the possibilities of pretty much the entire story.

A Very Fine Film, 21 March 2008

Author: gary-444 from United Kingdom

In the same way that time had to move on in order that considered films on the Vietnam War could be made, so time sometimes needs to move on to provide a perspective on those films themselves.In the early 21st century America finds itself in another hopeless adventure abroad, in Iraq, with young men killing and being killed with no-one quite sure why.With the passage of time this story assumes a depth and resonance that wasn’t possible at the time.

De Palma’s strength is in how he portrays people, and this is a veritable tour de force in this respect.Sean Penn is about the finest actor of his generation, and his Sgt Meserve is superb.Brutal and loyal, yet cruel and amoral. Just what the Army needs in a battle, but not the sort of person that the Capitol Hill aesthetes would welcome for dinner.

Michael J Fox carries the part of the effete whistle blower well, his hair is always as nicely washed and clean as his morals, yet in the crucial court martial scene, it is hard to work up any enthusiasm for his actions.Cleverly, De Palma runs two parallel belief sets here. On the one hand, kidnapping, raping and murdering farm girls is not right. Equally when you train young men to kill, and risk their lives day on day, when they see their friends killed and mutilated, when all vestiges of their home life are stripped away in an alien jungle, nobody should be too surprised that some will get up to no good.

Ultimately this is the triumph of the film. The casualties are literally everywhere.I felt as much for the convicted soldiers as I did for their victim.The chaos of the battle scenes where all you have is your buddies is well played. The loyalty, bravery, Stoicism and heroism of the doomed patrol are shown as vividly as the amorality of their actions.

A worthy synthesis of excellent battle set pieces and cerebral soul searching

Powerful, Punchy, Brave Tale., 1 March 2008

Author: gary-444 from United Kingdom

A wonderful example of how good writing and strong direction can tell a tale which stands the test of time. Director Archie Mayo enjoyed a career directing films spanning some 30 years, and 84 titles.This one was Directed 20 years in and was number 67. It shows.None of the 83 minute running time is wasted, and if some of the characters come across as caricatures,it is only in the interests of brevity and pace.

A youthful Bogart delivers a fine performance as an ordinary working man of his time seduced by the specious ideology of the Black Legion, whose ideals clearly reflect that of a Ku Klux Klan very much alive in the US at that time.Although carrying a UK PG certificate, Mayo portrays flogging and beating scenes in a manner that although are understated, leave you in no doubt as to what is going on.

Traditional family, friendship and civic values are naturally triumphed, but the insidious nature of xenophobia and the crippling effect of moral rectitude are skilfully played out in a sharp, pacey story.

An almost textbook example of how to tell a powerful, entertaining story with a message in less than an hour and a half, with a fine Bogard performance merely the centrepiece of a strong supporting cast.

Tepid, Formulaic , Nonsense, 16 February 2008

Author: gary-444 from United Kingdom

I condemn this film, not because it is bad, but because it is lazy. Producers Turteltaub and Bruckheimer both have experience of big(pirates) and low budget(cool runnings) success.But here they switch to remote control, and the overwhelming feeling is of a film that was created to generate a paycheck, and no more.

The film is rotten at the core, who cares whether Ben and Patrick Gates (played by Nic Cage and Jon Voight)ancestor was implicated in the murder of Abraham Lincoln? And without that the film loses all dramatic impetus. London? Black cabs, double decker red buses,Houses of Parliament, Buckingham Palace, red post boxes………..yawn, it really is as predictable as that.

The plot is preposterous, and helen Mirren looks as though she would have been better employed looking for a decent script rather than trotting out the banal dross she has to speak.The two hour running time is desperately short of both decent action and witty script, instead we have to trudge through a formula so clunky that you find yourself screaming for an on screen mechanic to give it some oil.

Of course the set pieces are fine, and the stars do their bit – but no more.Avoid unless you are pretty desperate for something to do

Surprisingly Entertaining, 15 February 2008

Author: gary-444 from United Kingdom

I “boycotted” this film for a long time for two main reasons. Firstly i hate Phil Collins brand of smarmy music, and secondly ,glamourising a nasty crime by paying to see it was morally not something i was prepared to do.

Although I stand by my original two points i have to confess that I got it wrong about the film.It is an affectionate retrospective view of Sixties England and has a touch of the “Ealing Studios” about it. The “mechanics” of the robbery are glossed over, and Phil Collins does a pretty competent job ” carrying” the film, ably supported by the versatile Julie Walters as his long suffering wife.

Crime doesn’t pay, the main players get picked up pretty quickly, and those that don’t are either getting ripped off themselves or are looking over their shoulder all the time, or both. The period touches are largely sharply observed, the contemporary soundtrack faithful and enjoyable, Collins “Two hearts” and the Four Tops “Acupolco” totally dis-resonant from proceedings.

Viewed as a piece of period fiction it is entertaining, pacey, light and humorous.As an insight into the Robbery, Edwards or the gang it is laughable.

Solid, entertaining and uncontroversial, 22 January 2008

Author: gary-444 from United Kingdom

An odd film, in that the fine ingredients don’t quite deliver the result you expect. Tom Hanks delivers an excellent performance in the title role, convincing, but restrained,qualities that Julia Roberts, playing a wealthy Texan Socialite appears oblivious to.

At 97 minutes the film bounces along from scene to scene, and location to location, aided by a wry, satirical script with a number of “laugh out loud” moments.The dark machinations of politics “on the Hill” are painfully exposed without fear or favour, yet somehow the film falls short of greatness.

Ironically its finely crafted component parts are also its downfall.It is pretty funny, but it isn’t a comedy.It is pretty satirical, but falls short of satire.It is a “Bio pic” which falls short of a biography, and it is also a history of events, without being a history.

The politics of arming the good guys(the Afghans)against the bad guys (the Russians), and then having to treat the Russians as good guys (in the war against terror) and the Afghans as bad guys (in the war against terror)is pretty familiar to European audiences whose governments have been experts in swapping sides as fast as a Warlord for the past 100 years , but this may seem less familiar to US audiences.

Very agreeable light entertainment – which could have been so much more

Solid, entertaining and uncontroversial, 22 January 2008

Author: gary-444 from United Kingdom

An odd film, in that the fine ingredients don’t quite deliver the result you expect. Tom Hanks delivers an excellent performance in the title role, convincing, but restrained,qualities that Julia Roberts, playing a wealthy Texan Socialite appears oblivious to.

At 97 minutes the film bounces along from scene to scene, and location to location, aided by a wry, satirical script with a number of “laugh out loud” moments.The dark machinations of politics “on the Hill” are painfully exposed without fear or favour, yet somehow the film falls short of greatness.

Ironically its finely crafted component parts are also its downfall.It is pretty funny, but it isn’t a comedy.It is pretty satirical, but falls short of satire.It is a “Bio pic” which falls short of a biography, and it is also a history of events, without being a history.

The politics of arming the good guys(the Afghans)against the bad guys (the Russians), and then having to treat the Russians as good guys (in the war against terror) and the Afghans as bad guys (in the war against terror)is pretty familiar to European audiences whose governments have been experts in swapping sides as fast as a Warlord for the past 100 years , but this may seem less familiar to US audiences.

Very agreeable light entertainment – which could have been so much more

Awkward and Disappointing, 1 January 2008

Author: gary-444 from United Kingdom

The production values for this film make it fall short of Hollywood blockbuster status, and the script makes it fall short of cult status. What is left is a tired formulaic attempt at the disaster movie genre that will disappear with the ebb tide.

A decent cast, are either miss cast, or cannot be bothered.The beautiful Joanne Whalley is unable to bring any gravitas to the role of Police Commissioner Nash who wears the most irritating matching waist clincher above her skirt.

Jessalyn Gilseg plays the heavyweight part of Director of the Thames Barrier with all the conviction of a fairground candy floss. Her Canadian nationality and accent were presumably drafted in to appeal to a transatlantic audience. It, and she, fails.Her initial appearance in a tight fitting pink jogging suit as she arrives at work is risible.

The part of the “Siren old git who was right” is played by Tom Courtenay as though he is acting in his sleep, and the various plot twists that are designed to energise his son, played by Robert Carlyle, struggle to get any response from him.

Nigel Planer looks determined to commit ritual hari kari for his failings as Met Office Director, or for his acting, or both, and only David Suchet emerges with some credit for his role as Deputy PM.

There was enough in the story, and the cast and the effects to have produced a decent effort. Alas that did not happen