What WHIP IT nails as well as anything ever committed to film is that heady, giddy moment in a girl’s life when she is sure that she has all the answers and that her parents are idiots. In other words, it’s that moment when the prospect of absolute freedom, unencumbered by responsibility, first makes its… Read More »
EVERBODY’S FINE
After too many years and too many films spent squandering his considerable talent, Robert de Niro has redeemed himself in a little film, EVERYBODY’S FINE, perfectly designed to showcase his genius. He plays Frank, a recently widowered retiree with a lung condition from years of working with telephone wires. He’s a man who has devoted… Read More »
GOING THE DISTANCE
A solid underpinning of the reality of these economic times makes GOING THE DISTANCE more than just another rom-com. A pair of charismatic leads in Drew Barrymore and Justin Long invest the career-stymied lovers with real chemistry as well as a real depth of feeling that becomes more that just physical attraction. Though there is… Read More »
RIDING IN CARS WITH BOYS
Okay, Ill admit it. Until now, I have been immune to the acting charms of Drew Barrymore. Actually bemused, disconcerted, and frankly puzzled would be a better way to describe it. Sure, shes cute as a bugs ear and sweet as a honey pie, but a screen presence? No, I just didnt see it. Then… Read More »
BIG MIRACLE
In what should become a textbook example of how to run a productive meeting, a group of people with nothing in common, except wanting to save a family of three whales trapped beneath arctic ice, bicker over motives. Each is passionate about his or her agenda and all of them are accomplishing nothing until one… Read More »
BLENDED
Its never easy to see innocent children dragged into the madness of adults. Their fresh little faces and trusting innocence exploited by hard-hearted cynicism. And so it is with BLENDED, another in a seemingly endless series of Adam Sandler flicks designed to pay for his vacations. The venue this time is Africa, and the story,… Read More »
CHARLIE’S ANGELS: FULL THROTTLE
<P class=MsoNormal style=”MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt”><SPAN style=”FONT-FAMILY: Verdana”>The nice thing about CHARLIES ANGELS: FULL THROTTLE is that it laughs at itself. And, because it doesnt take itself seriously, we get to be in on the joke. Its a flight of hard-body fantasy served up with a healthy dose of self-mockery and some slick action sequences.… Read More »
50 FIRST DATES
With 50 FIRST DATES it seems as though Adam Sandler is going through an identity crisis of some sort. The film itself is an ill-conceived amalgam of sentiment played sweet not sappy, mixed uncertainly with the usual lower-than-low-brown humor with which Sandler’s films, PUNCH DRUNK LOVE excepted, are saturated. Hence the walrus spew scene less… Read More »
FEVER PITCH
In an alternate universe where all such daring experiments work, this might have seemed like a good idea. Alas, here in our little corner of space/time, the uneasy melding that is FEVER PITCH of the directing team of the Farrelly Brothers and the writing team of Lowell Ganz and Babaloo Mandel is a bust, even… Read More »
MUSIC AND LYRICS
There’s nothing wrong with a fluffy film that doesn’t try to be anything more than what it is: a pleasant way to pass the time. Executed well, it can offer a welcome break from the mundane and such is MUSIC AND LYRICS. Delicately spun and deftly acted, it’s a harmless trifle that amuses and sometimes delights. Hugh Grant is Alex,… Read More »