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Reviews
Cats & Dogs (2001)
Don't waste your money (or 2 hours of your life)
At three times during this movie I seriously considered walking out (which I have never done). Why did I stay? I guess I hoped it would take a turn for the better. Needless to say, it didn't... it only got worse.
I think the reason I hated this movie so much is that I wanted it to be something else. I wanted an original take on this ancient rivalry, instead of the standard "cats bad, dogs good". (Forget an original story, I just wanted a marginally good one.) I wanted the animals to be real characters, treated with respect and earning our emotional reactions, instead of being used as props - hurt, tossed around, put into scary situations - to manipulate our emotions.
That it's a "kid's movie" is no excuse. What an insult! Kids don't deserve quality entertainment? Movies have to be dumbed down for the kid audience??
If you can handle watching a disturbing, strange, disconnected family (and not in a good/funny way), a squirmingly bad kid actor, some very ugly cats, sloppy editing, and as many cliches as you could ever want, then go see this movie. There are one or two clever moments, and some of the people around me did seem to enjoy it. But make sure you catch it on dollar night.
Hurlyburly (1998)
Good actors struggling to rise above the material.
About halfway through Hurlyburly, I thought, "I really hope someone dies soon." I almost didn't care who it was, but someone in this movie needed to be dead. Preferably all of them.
Not that the movie ever pretends that any of its characters are likable in any way: it revels in sexism and depravity.
But I wanted someone to die just to shake them up, to shake the movie up. Can we have something close to a real interaction here, I silently begged, something not fueled by drugs and/or pseudo-intellectual one-upsmanship?
What I saw as the major flaw of the movie will be its saving grace to many people: the flashy writing. Any one of the vastly different characters could deliver any of the lines - they're like puppets, flapping their jaws as the writer/puppetmaster speaks for them. For any degree of believability, the writer needs to stay firmly behind the curtain - and Hurlyburly's writer will not.
Kevin Spacey manages to lend reality to his character, in spite of the writing; Sean Penn has the same effect, but with less consistency. In fact, the performances here are pretty good - they're just hamstrung by the disconnect between what they're trying to portray and what's coming out of their mouths. Other than that, Meg Ryan is simply way too adorable for her role, though she valiantly attempts a degree of scraggle, aided by unwashed hair and smeary makeup.
There are some moments when the actors rise above the material, including a wonderful fight between Eddie and Darlene (played by Sean and Robin Wright Penn) that progresses from car to side of road back into the car. But the good moments couldn't stop me from checking my watch.
Chicago Cab (1997)
Interesting movie adaptation of a long-running Chicago play.
As of 8/22/99, HellCab is still over at Famous Door - check it out if you're in town.
The movie's story structure is the same as the play's, even though the play's set is nothing more than the front of a cab and the two bench seats representing the interior. Some of the vignettes were improved by the film treatment, but many were more effective in the stripped-down set of the play, where the focus was more on the human interaction.
By the way, the REAL original title is indeed "HellCab." And it IS an appropriate title: this guy's job is a special kind of torment. Please don't judge this movie by its misleading and cheesy video cover.
Followers of Chicago's theatre scene will recognize many of the actors, and even the more familiar faces have ties to Chi-town.