Reviews

The Sting, this movie is not. But it definitely was a guilty pleasure if you enjoy films with a plot twists and "gotchas" at the end. Van Patten stars as the narrator and main character in this ensemble cast of degenerate, quirky gamblers. These characters distract viewers along the journey towards the somewhat predictable ending. But despite knowing the destination, I still had a good time.

Rarely do I find myself completely enjoying animated movies. They tend to be too Pollyannish ("kids can't learn about death!") or too edgy ("animation is but an art form - here's a film about the holocaust!"). Ralph Breaks the Internet walks the fine line between the two extremes while managing to parody modern society, all at once!

Yes, this Ralph Breaks the Internet is "darker" than typical Disney movies. But only if you deliberately live in a escapist world of gumdrops and lollypops. This movie incisively points out the flaws of the modern internet world. Many of us behave like clickbait sheep - witness the popularity of Instagram, YouTube, Facebook, etc. We waste precious time and money on frivolous pursuits or following celebrities who lack any notable talent beside self-promotion. We let our kids spend hours making virtual pizzas, feeding virtual pets or learning virtual dances by spending actual money.

My kids (9,11,13) couldn't stop talking about this movie afterwards. Not about its creativity, action, or humor, but about social issues! Social bullying, fake news, and safe browsing were just a few topics we covered. In an age of saccharine feel-good films, Disney made a film that reflected life. Now that's art!

Many crime films focus either on the action or the characters. Drug War tries to do both. Unfortunately, the film that results is less than the sum of its parts.

What the film does do well is show a grittier dark side of Chinese society. Shooting in Tianjin, China, lends a bit of authenticity.

Unfortunately, this movie suffers from an uneven pace and unclear story line. Aside from Louis Koo and Honglei Sun, most of the acting is forgettable. Of note, I found the Bill Li group especially implausible. The Mute Gang seemed more cutthroat and impressive as a drug gang that the masterminds.

I felt the ending was too drawn out, illogical, and unfortunately, comedic. Gunshots apparently don't kill. Chinese police apparently don't use tactics when apprehending armed criminals, except at the very end.

"When the Last Sword..." covers an interesting period of Japanese history spanning the Tokugawa shogunate through the Meiji Restoration. As with "The Last Samurai" and "Twilight Samurai," it deals with the decline of the samurai order. Though "Last Samurai" approaches this using an outsider-cum-insider's view, and the "Twilight Samurai" from a internal character view, "When the Last Sword" is a character analysis set in a climate of abrupt socio-political change. Kanichiro, our anti-hero of sorts, is a paradox of contradictions. Honorable yet disloyal, frugal yet magnanimous, affectionate yet stern, he attempts to follow the path of the samurai in an turbulent era. I found the film very enjoyable for the first 2/3. Until then, the film works as an interesting study of the effects of socio-political changes on the samurai order, but suddenly shifts the attention over Kanichiro's internal struggles. I found this momentum shift jarring. The final scenes felt overly dramatic and drawn-out. In fact, I spent the last 30 minutes waiting for the end that never seemed to come. All in all, a fairly enjoyable film - it started strong but sputtered in the end.

For those of you looking for a quick cinematic fix, this movie is NOT for you. On first glance, _Roger Dodger_ resembles yet another movie about the battle of the sexes (see In the Company of Men), or the intricacies of love and relationships. It is so much more.

A man of words, Roger Swanson (Scott) prides himself on his wit. Master of his universe, the uncatchable cat-burglar of wordplay, Roger successfully maneuvers through life substituting style for substance. After all, his job is to "sit here and think of ways to make people feel bad." This line essentially captures the feeling of this movie. That is, until his nephew, Nick (Eisenberg), arrives unexpectedly and upsets his world.

Roger proceeds to take Nick on an adventure to introduce him to the beauties of the opposite sex. We begin to see Roger's facade crumble and insecurities ooze through. In contrast to the innocence of youth, Roger's disguise as a modern-day Cyrano reveals itself to be no more than a shallow huckster.

Dylan Kidd skillfully melds the dialogue, location (Manhattan), and music into a fascinating piece. For those of us who have stumbled through the singles' scene while both succeeding and making a horrible mess of things, this movie is for you.

8/10

Most film adaptations of popular novels thrill the casual viewer, but end up disappointing readers. The Bourne Identity is no different. This version, while featuring action sequences galore, fluffs over the plot. The storyline feels contrived, deliberate, and conventional. Matt Damon and Franka Potente both give solid - but unspectacular - performances. As a summer movie, Bourne Identity is enjoyable, but don't go expecting the next Femme Nikita or French Connection. (6/10)

Is it me, or is George Lucas just trying to capitalize on the Star Wars name? First came the fuzzy-wuzzy Ewoks in Return of the Jedi. Next came the annoying, lisping Jar-Jar Binks in Episode I. Now comes the battery-operated Yoda with mini-light saber. C'mon, how much disbelief does Lucas ask us to suspend?

Seriously, Lucas' infatuation with CGI has shifted his focus away from the strength of the Star Wars series - suspense, drama, and action. Christensen - whose performance in Life as a House was superb - comes off as an impetulent five-year old child in this movie. One would expect the Dark Side to work more subtly and sinisterly, especially in such a talented Jedi.

Episode II is worth seeing in the theaters, if only so one can join in the dinner conversation. (6/10)

Hart's War is a mediocre combination of some of the best WWII POW movies. With hints of Stalag 17 and the Great Escape, Willis' latest feature attempts to up the ante by playing the race card. Aside from Colin Farrell, who produces a solid performance given the limitations of his role, the rest of the cast falls short. Willis fails to give Col. McNamara much depth while the German officers remain stereotypical.

All in all, Hart's War fails to capitalize on the recent wave of patriotic war movies. Do yourself a favor - avoid it while it's in theaters and wait for it to come out on video instead.

Originally released in 1992, Romper Stomper underwent a video and sound update for DVD. The revised edition is a real gem! Crowe delivers an incredible performance as Hando, the leader of an Australian skinhead group trying to give significance to their meaningless lives. We follow Hando's fanatic pursuit of violence and hatred as he slowly alienates himself from his own group and friends. The camera work is also some of the best I've seen, especially during the vicious fight scenes. Romper Stomper simulatenously captures the bloodlust of violence and viscerally draws in the audience.

Romper Stomper stands as one of the memorable films in the tradition of Clockwork Orange. A definite must-see for adventurous movie fans.

"Where the Heart Is" knows where to strike and does it fast. Using a skillful combination of good acting, plot development, and an appropriate amount of emotional manipulation, director Matt Williams successfully guides us along Novalee Nation's (Natalie Portman) seemingly random, unexpected, and thought-provoking life. Portman demonstrates great potential as a serious, mature actress as the young, abandoned, single mother protagonist. Although Portman's relative youthfulness and inexperience surfaces at times, it aptly suits her character's young age.

Portman is surrounded by an excellent supporting cast. Lexie Coop (Ashley Judd) provides an incredible mixture of sass, sensuality, and seriousness at all the right times. Likewise, Stockard Channing somehow remains alone in her own world as Sister Husband, as if serving some sort of higher purpose. Even Sally Field's appearance contributes more to the movie than its briefness would suggest.

Although the women in this movie make it shine, the men provide substance. Dylan Bruno's performance as the insensitive, selfish, womanizing Willy Jack Pickens exceeded my expectations. It would have been too easy to end up hating this man. However, Bruno manages to break out of the trite Hollywood stereotype and emerges as something larger.

James Frain does a commendable job as Forney Hall, the town's eclectic librarian. He manages to blend comfortably with the rest of the ensemble, never overplaying nor underplaying this role. Frain helps keep the movie centered on Novalee's life, not his.

If I sound impressed by the acting, I am! If someone forced me to pick a "flaw" in the movie, I could only point to the ending. Or, to be precise, how the movie wraps itself up so neatly at the end. With such strong acting, "Where the Heart Is" could have taken a chance and ended on a slightly bittersweet tone. How poignant would that have been? Unfortunately, Williams opted for the fairytale ending, leaving me with a faint saccharine aftertaste.

Unless you are a die-hard James Bond fan, this movie is barely worth the rental fee. Without Ian Flemming's storywriting, this movie failed to leave the runway. Its action scenes were recycled, Pierce Brosnan's 007 was unremarkable, and the plot and acting were simply uninteresting. Though later Bond films have never been especially noted for their plot and character development, they have always been rescued by sfx, 007's "toys," and beautiful women. Unfortunately, all we are rewarded with is some sort of armored miniboat and a pretty car that only costs a lot more than mine! Don't misunderstand me -- the women certainly are beautiful, but they do not fit their roles. Sophie Marceau simply does not possess the edge, while Denise Richards lacks the on-screen persona of a scientist to allow me to disregard my disbelief even for a moment! Alas, I am forced to watch Dr. No for the 20th time and wonder what might this movie could have been.

If you must see only one martial arts movie, this is it! Jet Li is in top form, employing awesome hand/foot speed with excellent technique. For those of you who saw it in the movies or on VHS, wait till you see it on DVD! My jaw dropped as I watched the opening fight scene. The movie has been cleaned up and as a result, Jet Li's forms have become even more impressive. Billy Chow performs admirable as the evil Fujita. My only criticism of the DVD version was that the English dubbing was annoying. Why couldn't they keep it in the original Chinese with English subtitles and/or optional dubbing?

Billed as an epic (and certainly long enough to be one), Ridley Scott's "Gladiator" had me anxiously waiting for its release for almost 3 months. Imagine -- Spartacus meets the modern movie techno-wizardry! The potential was enormous.

The opening scene, with its hundreds, if not thousands, of soldiers, overwhelmed me by its sheer magnitude. Scott captures the fear, bloodiness, and brutality of war while at the same time, embuing Gen. Maximus (Russell Crowe) with an amazing gift for leadership. The repulsive beauty of violence has rarely been captured as well on film.

Though the action scenes were amazing, the plot left me wanting more. The superb acting by Joaquin Phoenix as Emperor Commodius was skillfully complemented by Connie Nelson's Lucilla, conveying to us their tension-filled relationship. However, the basic premise of paternal neglect begetting cruelty never truly sells. Kudos to Phoenix for valiantly trying to rescue this crucial plot weakness with his acting skill.

Crowe remains, throughout the movie, nobly removed from the rest of humanity. This is both his strength and weakness, as his relationship with Lucilla was unconvincing. Though both actors were great individually, their on-screen chemistry never truly smoldered. Not enough attention was paid to their history and I left the movie wanting more.

"Gladiator" begins on a strong note but fails to capitalize. If you're looking for a great modern epic, stick to "Braveheart" or "Saving Private Ryan." Excellent action and CGI can only compensate so far for weak plot development.