Reviews

OK, I've read all the other reviews, to date, and I have to agree with those who had a positive experience. I'm a 62 year old gay white male, and I gave this movie an 8/10. I am not an unreserved fan of Tyler Perry, and think some of the Madea sub-plots are pretty ugly. That said, I have watched nearly everything he's done, enjoyed most, and feel that this one is the best I've seen. The plot(s) were not difficult to follow, or swallow, and the entire cast was perfect, not a bad actor among them. As expected, Alfre Woodard and Kathy Bates were truly excellent in their roles. These gals have been doing this, and doing it well, for a long time, and are perfect together. If they aren't long time friends off-camera, they surely fooled me.

Try as I might I just can't get into this movie. It's been showing on one or the other of my forty-some movie channels for months. I've yet to be able to watch it all the way through. I've seen the entire movie, but in pieces because it's so slow. It's like walking through thigh-deep water. I simply can not wade through the sludge. The acting is good, and for that reason I do occasionally try again, but so far this thing just doesn't work for me. Since "ER" I have no particular fondness for Clooney, so that doesn't help. McElhone is good in the role of, what ever it is, but, as with the rest of the script, the dialog is choppy. I have even tried, unsuccessfully, to count the number of incomplete sentences and thoughts left hanging. I almost bought the DVD, sight unseen, when they started packaging it as a bonus disk in a two-pack-for-20-bucks deal. Luckily I realized the distributer was doing this because the unit sales were so lousy.

High action and wonderful explosive effects, as well as the becoming-more-familiar Asian fighting influence, makes this movie a winner. Complaints of weak plot have, perhaps, some validity, but to say the film is awful is unfair to those many of us who enjoy pure action for it's own sake. After hating Lucy Liu's character in Ally McBeal (a testament to her abilities) I've been pleased to see she has taken to the action genre so well. Antonio Banderas, not among my favorite actors, was fine in the role of the near down-and-out ex-agent and Gregg Henry worked well as the heartless power hungry government jerk. I found the movie FUN. That's good enough for me.

Okay folks, short and sweet: this is one of the most enjoyable movies I've seen in a while, and I rank it right up there with Steel Magnolias. The interaction between the ... senior cast members is flawless. Burstyn, Flanagan, Knight and Smith are perfect in their roles. Bullock's is on par with her Birdee Pruitt in Hope Floats (1998) and Sally Owens in Practical Magic (also 1998) -- both of which I thoroughly enjoyed. I'm a sucker for Jim Garner, so more of him would have been great, but not really in keeping with the female emphasis of the script. All in all I can't hesitate to recommend this one.

This is a romantic comedy where Albert Einstein, played wonderfully by Walter Matthau, and his cronies play match maker to his niece (Meg Ryan) and a talented auto mechanic (Tim Robbins). The interplay among these major roles is augmented by a terrific supporting cast of well recognized character actors. This movie is cute and fun ... a "feel-gooder"! Hearty recommendations.

A better-than-many serial killer movie. I liked it well enough to see it twice on cable and even to recommend it. I found it dark and brooding. The acting was more than acceptable and, although the genius of the child was, perhaps, not completely credulous, it also wasn't totally unbelievable. The build up to the finale was well planned and the last fifteen minutes kept me on the edge of my seat.

This was one of those times when I had nothing to do with 27 premium movie channels available to me. The Theory of Flight grabbed me and held my interest. I found it both touching and amusing, a nice combination of feelings. I recommend it!

Fun, Fun, FUN! Fast moving with plenty of action and more than a sprinkling of comedy. Will Smith and Salma Hayek looking and sounding good, Kenneth Branagh looking and sounding, well, you have to see the movie n]. And what's not to love from the talented Kevin Kline? ILM F/X are excellent, as is the cinematography. Not too long, nor too short, just right.

Best viewed in a darkened room with a good sound system. Acting is excellent and plot twists are good. Haunting musical theme by Loreena McKennitt is perfect.

A group of 4 of us watched for 6 hours. The acting was acceptable and the plot had potential. Our greatest problem with this mini-series is that it was unresolved at the end. If this were a pilot for a series, or the first part of a multi-part story, it would have been acceptable. As a stand-alone, however, we found ourselves frustrated and "let-down".