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mc_mimiow
Reviews
Naina (2005)
Don't Waste Your Time!
I really hate to trash movies, but "Naina" deserves it. I couldn't even bring myself to finish it because of the poor quality.
I usually find it hard to judge acting abilities or script quality in foreign films, but both we absolutely worthless in this movie. The actors sometimes spoke in Hindi and sometimes English, even within the same sentence, at times. The whole dialog track was dubbed, and some of the English voices were completely laughable. On the DVD cover, one of the blurbs commends the superior special effects... let me just say that there is an ill child in the beginning of the film who is bald, and I'm pretty sure they sell better "bald" caps at joke stores.
Don't waste your time and/or money on "Naina," watch "The Eye" instead.
The United States of Leland (2003)
There is No Joy without Sorrow...
"The United States of Leland" centers around what people choose to perceive and what is real. The film centers around Leland (Ryan Gosling), a teenager who may or may not have killed his ex-girlfriend's "retarded" younger brother. We see Leland as a an intelligent, although somewhat apathetic, boy locked in an interim between trial and prison in a juvenile facility. His teacher Pearl (Don Cheadle) immediately realizes that Leland isn't a product of a violent society or abusive parents and is completely taken with him. Pearl also happens to be an aspiring writer, and although his compassion is apparent, he has little problem admitting that Leland will be his first published book. Kevin Spacey is superb as Leland's alcoholic, all-too-smug father, who is a famous author (a woman on an airplane asks Spacey if he's a famous actor, and he smiles in that bored way only Spacey can pull off and says, "Aren't we all, dear?"). Everyone in Leland's life and in the community wants to know why this murder happened, but we realize that we all have a different interpretation of why. By the end, we have a "why," a reason for the crime, but I'm sure each viewer will interpret it differently... and that's what makes this movie so unique and beautiful. It reminded me somewhat of "American Beauty," but on a deeper-feeling, Indy level.