Movie Reviews 2001
My Best of 2001:
A Beautiful Mind (10)
Harry Potter & The Sorcerer’s Stone (9)
My First Mister (8½)
In the Bedroom (8½)
My Best of non-2001 films:
Chocolat (9) (2000)
This has got to be the most over-rated movie this side of The Royal Tenenbaums.
Billie Bob Thornton plays a racist Georgian prison guard who, within the matter of a couple of weeks, goes from shooting off his shotgun to scare a couple of neighborhood black kids from his property (who were there visiting his son) to putting his more-racist-than-his-son father in a rest home (to room with an elderly black man, of course) because he believes his dad must have made an inappropriate comment to his new girl friend, Halle Berry.
Huh?
Halle Berry, in the meanwhile, is the drop-dead gorgeous former wife of a man Thornton just helped execute at the local state prison. Yet Berry, perfectly coiffed throughout the movie, plays a down and out mother of an obese youngster, barely staying one step ahead of the eviction authorities.
Who writes this stuff?
Halle Berry did a good job in her role, but it was too unbelievable for you to take her seriously. But if two Berry sex scenes are worth your going, fine. Her orgasm scene might be the best since Meg Ryan in When Harry Met Sally.
3 stars
Joe Baltake, the Bee critic, was right: This movie is overly schmaltzy and overly manipulative.
Having said that, I recommend you see it (and bring the tissues); it’s bound to do well come Oscar time.
The acting in this movie is superb. As much you as you might hate him (the only person with more “anti-fan clubs” this side of Russell Crowe?), Sean Penn is totally in character as a man with a seven-year old child’s brain and does an outstanding job as Sam; Dakota Fanning is as cute as a bug in her role as Sean’s daughter, Lucy; Michele Pfeiffer is, ah, well, Michele Pfeiffer!, gorgeous as ever and, except for her own early awkward moments, comes off well as Penn’s pro bono (“that means for free!”) lawyer; Richard Schiff (West Wing) has some great lines as the jerk lawyer trying to keep Penn & Dakota apart; and Diane Wiest does a wonderful job in her Ellen Burstyn role as Penn’s eccentric neighbor.
There are plenty of unanswered questions in the movie (while Sam lives simply, where does he get money to go out to eat so often and own a stereo?…has he faced any government bureaucrats in the first seven years of his daughter’s life who questioned his abilities to raise his daughter?…how did he cope raising a daughter for seven years?), but remember that this is a movie made for you to suspend belief and to shed a tear or two.
The soundtrack – all Beatles songs sung by others – is outstanding and flows well with Sam’s preoccupation with the Beatles (hence Lucy Diamond Dawson). It’s almost worth the price of admission. It certainly sent me to the Internet to pirate a CD soundtrack.
8 stars
This was a slow-moving but interesting intrigue involving sex, infidelity, deceit, human relationships and, maybe, murder. It starts with a dead woman’s body found beneath a lantana bush (delicate flowers on the outside; thorns underneath: a nice metaphor for the movie) and then takes you to the beginning of the story – leaving you wondering whose body that was in the opening scene.
Other than Geoffrey Rush & Barbara Hershey, you likely won’t recognize many of the actors in this Australian-based film. But you learn a heck of a lot about the lives of 10 people, who seem to have a common thread running through them – with some of the commonality very unlikely and very coincidental.
Who’s sleeping with whom – and why – what aren't they telling each other and what do they tell their therapist? Great character development about people who have a lot to hide.
Good enough to see on the big screen, but not essential; definitely worth a look when it hits the video stores.
8 stars
This movie got great reviews, but it didn’t quite do it for me. Frankly, I have problems with British films where everyone mutters in heavy accents on top of each other and pretends as if you know what’s going on. Every comment seems to be for insiders, and I feel like I’ve been invited to the party long after it’s started.
I never did see the Upstairs, Downstairs series years ago on tv, but if you liked it, chances are this movie is for you.
But there were just too many characters (most muttering under their breath), and the whodunit was fairly lame. Did you really care? You get the feeling that the movie would have worked in the 1930s when it was set. Maggie Smith, however, does a terrific job as the class-conscious (but poor) aunt who drives you up the wall. In fact, the best part about the movie was the whole class-consciousness issue and how the upstairs treated the downstairs, and vice versa, and how so many accepted their roles in the English caste system of the 1930s.
Wait for video when you can hit the rewind button if you missed a line or two or three…or more.
6 stars
Excellent yet disturbing film about family, relationships, death and revenge. This movie quietly draws you into the tragic lives of people in a small fishing town in Maine – and does it well. Sissy Spacek is outstanding as the mother of a college-aged son who is having a summer fling with a mother of two (Marisa Tomei). Fine performances all around, including Tom Wilkinson as Spacek’s doctor husband & Nick Stahl as their son.
No tissue necessary, but do not go to this film if you’re depressed. It will bring you down.
8½ stars
ALI:
It may be odd to say that there was too much boxing in a movie about a boxer, but there was so much to tell about the life of Muhammad Ali (and, frankly, this movie only showed 10 years), that it could have used less of the first Liston-Clay bout (and others) and more about Ali himself. Will Smith did well as Clay-Ali, as did John Voight as Howard Cosell (although I forgot he played Cosell, and he was hardly recognizable as Voight), but the movie itself fell short.
I was a huge Ali fan during his boxing career (I used to say that I didn’t like boxing, but I never missed an Ali fight), and I recall well the changing of his name and his refusal to accept induction into the Army. So I really wanted this movie to work. Unfortunately, if you did not follow Ali’s career, you will get lost in this movie.
The most poignant moments in the movie are when Ali is training in Zaire, and he becomes overwhelmed by the support he has in that country. It’s little wonder why he is the world’s most recognizable person.
It can wait for video.
6½ stars
Omigod! Oscar, Oscar!! This may be the best movie I have seen in years. A must-see. In fact, see it before the Oscar buzz begins.
Russell Crowe does a brilliant job as the genius mathematician John Nash, caught in a world of schizophrenia. Great supporting cast, too, beginning with his wife, Jennifer Connelly, and “big brother,” Ed Harris. I expect awards will be given for best movie, actor, supporting actress, supporting actor, director (Ron Howard), etc. Oh, and bring a hankie if you are prone to tears when the obligatory Hollywood moments occur.
10 stars
Here’s one we meant to see when it was in the theatre, but the baseball season must have gotten in the way. A terrific spoof on British spy movies, this one is definitely worth the rental price.
Pierce Brosnan (as gorgeous as ever, ladies) plays the arrogant, exiled-to-Panama spy trying to one-up the local embassy and turns to get information from a local British tailor, Geoffrey Rush. Rush, at first repulsed by Brosnan’s urgings, but needing money, sees a goldmine and plays along. Rush’s wife, played by the lovely and lovable Jamie Lee Curtis (unfortunately, in a role as a dumb businesswoman/housewife a la True Lies), smells something rotten and tries to figure out why her husband has become so secretive and aloof. It all comes together in the last half hour as you try and figure out who’s been had – and by whom.
Nice dig at George I and his dealings with Gen. Noriega when George Bush, Sr. was CIA chief -- and lines such as this: "You know what the poor call those?" pointing to the city's skyline, "Cocaine towers! And the 85 banks? Launderettes!"
7½ stars
After we once again execute Meg Ryan’s hairdresser, we have to agree that she’s perfect in these shallow romantic comedies.
The trailers give you what to expect: a cross between The Time Machine and The Great Gatsby, with a twist of Being John Malkovich (thus the “portals” in time). In other words, there was little promise to begin with, and you don’t get much more. But it was cute, syrupy and silly – and that’s what you get with Meg. That and a bad hair-do.
Can wait for video.
6 stars
This may be the worst film that I have seen in years. It got great reviews, and if you go on-line at imdb.com, you’ll see that it is highly rated. Gene Hackman even got a Golden Globe nomination for his effort. Sorry, but I have no clue why.
There was scattered applause from the packed audience – and I think it was based on either the fact that: a) they paid $5.75 bargain rates, and they were determined to laugh at least once; b) they were laughing knowing that the next group of filmgoers were about to drop $8.75 on this joke; c) they were asleep and laughing at something funny happening in their dream; or d) that joke that Uncle Roy told at Xmas dinner doesn't sound so bad now.
If you see this and like it, please let me know why.
0 stars
If you like Tim Allen’s humor, this one is full of it. Jim Belushi is funny as a washed up kung fu actor with a beer gut and owner of a martial arts gym, who instructs Tim on how to fight back against a bully who knocked him down in front of his daughter. Julie Bowen is funny and cute as the company “happiness director.”
While this movie is not to be taken too seriously, it's one of those movies where you laugh a lot, then wonder why at the end. Well, because it kept you entertained in spite of its silliness.
6½ stars
Too many things seemed to go right in Ocean’s Eleven, and there was a double-cross every few minutes in The Heist, which makes The Score sort of like baby bear’s porridge: just abut right. This DeNiro-Ed Norton-Brando heist flick is pretty good, considering the bad reviews it got when it first came out (or was that bad publicity owing to the appearance of Mr. Brando?). Dumb and slow start, but it got going after awhile. Worth a look on video.
7½ stars.
Now this was a strange movie, but entertaining nonetheless. Knowing little about it before I saw it, I was not expecting a circa 1900 film with semi-modern music and lyrics! I wanted to see this before the Oscar nominations came out, and I’m glad I did…although also glad I saw it on a dark and stormy night, not when there were other things better to do.
6½ stars.
Both ALONG CAME A SPIDER and SWORDFISH got pretty bad reviews when they came out, so we avoided them. But if you do not mind some (well, more than some) gratuitous violence, then they may be worth renting. Frankly, I was surprised because I wasn't expecting much (although I am glad I did not waste my time when they playing on the big screen).
I love Morgan Freeman, and he was good in Spider, which dealt with the kidnapping of a senator’s daughter. The reasons for the kidnapping turned out to be a bit odd, and, as in many movies, you had to suspend belief quite often, but there were some interesting plot twists that kept you thinking.
Swordfish actually comes with a printed post-9/11 violence warning on the cover, as well it should. But if the heavy violence and a pleasant, but very gratuitous glance, at the gorgeous Haile Berry’s naked upper torso does not bother you, then this film gets interesting …provided, of course, you take it with a big dose of humor (I know we weren’t suppose to laugh when John Travolta forced a hacker to break a computer code in 60 seconds that he said would take no less than an hour, and he has to do it with a girl’s head in his lap and a guy’s gun stuck to his temple, but if you can’t laugh at places like that, well, then go rent another movie).
Both get 6 stars. For the price of Vanilla Sky you can rent them both!
A Tom Cruise, Cameron Diaz, Penelope Cruz psycho-thriller that I could not wait to end, and not just because I had to drain my bladder. The trailers make this look like a Fatal Attraction-type movie, with Cruise skipping out on Diaz for Cruz (WHAT was he thinking?). But it’s not. It’s about narcissistic Cruise having trouble telling the difference between reality and his dreams. If confusion is your forte, this one could be for you. But if seeing Cruise go back and forth (and back and forth again and again) from pretty boy to scarface to the (plastic) masked man is not your cup of tea, then wait and fall asleep when it comes out on video.
5 stars
Now, this was fun, good, entertaining movie. I was expecting a classic rob-'em-blind movie when we saw Heist, but was disappointed in the double-digit double-crosses. In Oceans Eleven, however, you get a bunch of actors having a good time making a movie. A complaint may be that is was too smooth; there was little that went wrong.
Plenty of laughs along the way -- and plenty of eye candy for the ladies. George Clooney and Brad Pitt were well-cast; Elliot Gould was hillarious in his limited role as the fading Vegas bigwig with a grudge, as was Carl Reiner as the retired small time crook, ready to pull one last job; Andy Garcia plays the perfect casino owner whom you love to hate. Only Julia Roberts seemed miscast in her supporting role; like using a chainsaw to slice through butter. Why couldn't they find a newcomer for her role? There was nothing in her character that showed how she could go from being married to happy-go-lucky Clooney to dating cold-as-ice Garcia.
Worth a trek to the theatre.
8 stars
This subtilted French film has gotten excellent reviews. and I agree it is worth seeing.
Poor little Amelie, thought to have a heart condition since birth because her heart raced so when her dad-doctor put the stethescope to her heart, one of the only times her dad would touch her! Grown up, she finds a tin of a boy's childhood memorabilia and sets out to reunite the tin with its rightful owner, starting her down the path of doing good things for other people.
Plenty of places to laugh in this film (although without trying to spoil the film, I thought her final choice of a suitor rather odd); some of the humor probably is lost on us poor Americans. Not the best film for reading subtitles, however.
7½ stars
This is a classic thriller, with Robert Redford doing a fine job as a last-day-on-the-job CIA spook, who quietly makes an effort to save rogue agent Brad Pitt from certain execution in a Chinese prison. Great use of flashbacks. The CIA bureaucrats might have been a bit too stereotypical, and some things might have been a bit too cute (it's always an open zipper getting in the way of a professional spy's job, right?), but it's only a two-hour movie, for godssakes, and the action was all about Pitt & Redford, so who cares?
See it on the big screen.
8 stars
We went to this expecting to be disappointed, and we were not. Very funny story of monsters that need to scare children in order to keep their town running on energy. Even funnier considering the current affairs of ENRON’s Ken Lay getting his comeuppance. Children and adult humor throughout.
8 stars
We finally saw this on video, and it wasn’t half bad (although glad we waited). It kept going right up the edge of silliness, and then was brought back by some humorous sidelight. The scene of the Harvard administrators watching Reese Witherspoon's video (part of her entrance admittance) was hilarious. As silly and dumb as this movie could and did get, Reese somehow pulls this farce off. Worth a look-see on video if there’s nothing else to watch.
6 stars
MEMENTO (2000):
Now, this was truly a strange movie, shot in reverse, as the star (who has a severe case of short-term memory loss) tries to figure out what’s going on his life. You cannot (repeat: cannot) be grading papers, balancing your checkbook or knitting an afghan as you watch this video flick. Pay attention and it starts to make sense.
7 stars.
Tracy so wanted to see this when it first came out, but we were turned off by the reviews. Can understand why. But Cusack, Crystal, Zeta-Jones & Roberts make this movie work ok as a rental…although glad we did not expect much from it.
Cusack & Zeta-Jones are a formerly married pair, both on and off the screen, and it’s Billy Crystal job to try and get them back together for the release of their latest film. Julia Roberts plays second fiddle to (sister) Zeta-Jones (I understand she turned down Z-J's “bitch role”), but is very good as Cusack’s alternate love interest.
6 stars
This one was headed in the right direction – and who can’t like Ashley Judd, who is wonderful as the confused jilted lover of an even more confused Greg Kinnear – until Judd hooked up with her sleaze co-worker/roommate. All because they wanted to prove Judd’s theory about men wrong? This movie confirms why office sex just does not work...then goes and tries to make something out of the worst example of why office sex does not work. And we're supposed to root for it to work?
Marisa Tomei is good as Judd’s best friend, and Ellen Barkin, looking very different from the days of getting it on with Dennis Quaid in The Big Easy, does a great job as the over-the-top daytime talk show host boss. This was headed to a strong 7 until the last 10 minutes…
(I’d like to take the celluloid from this and America’s Sweetheart and make one good one, because there certainly was one here somewhere.)
5 stars
HARRY POTTER AND THE SORCERER’S STONE:
…Stop! If you have read a review that strongly suggests that you go back and read this book again before seeing the movie (or reading the book for the first time before seeing it), don’t! Bad advice. Very bad advice.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book when I first read it and enjoyed it again when (it was suggested in reviews that) I read it again this week (actually I listened to audio tapes, which I feel are far superior to reading the books; the emotion that Jim Dale puts into the readings are truly extraordinary and need to be experienced). But that made me watch the movie looking for differences rather than sitting back and enjoying the movie for what it was.
This is a fine movie and a must-see on the big screen. Of the seven of us who went, two had never read the book (one did not even know what a Nimbus 2000 was, if you can believe that!), and I think they got the most out of the movie; the other four had not read it recently and thoroughly enjoyed it. I probably enjoyed it the least, but I still give it high marks. Chris Columbus did an excellent job on casting, stage design and realism of the magic. Quidditch was far better than I ever would have expected.
9 stars
Saw this Hackman-DiVito it-takes-a-thief movie while in Minden, Nevada recently, and it had more twist and turns and double-crosses than one should put up with in one film. Not a bad “thief” movie, but you felt it could have been better if the director wasn’t trying to be so cute.
The Gene Hackman-Rebecca Pigeon “marriage” was odd enough, although thank god there was no sex between the 71-and-38 yr-olds. But why on earth would she have picked the young worm (Sam Rockwell) to cross, then double-cross, then triple-cross Hackman with; what was she thinking? And whom did she eventually end up with? And do we care?
Call a tow truck (inside joke) and wait for video…
6 stars
Our second Goth-kid movie in a row, and this one does not come close to “My First Mister.” Kevin Kline tries to reconnect with his whacked-out son by forcing him to build a house on a cliff in Malibu that for some unknown reason he has put off building for 25 years…and he somehow reconnects with his ex-wife (Kristin Scott Thomas) who for some unknown reason is married to a real creep (and has two young sons with him).
Far too sappy with some dumb little side plots – e.g., Mary Steenberger, Kline’s neighbor, sleeping with her daughter’s 16-yr old boyfriend. There were few surprises in this made-for-tissues movie; it just doesn’t cut it, even if you are a Kline and/or a Thomas fan.
Possible future video rental, but save your popcorn money.
5 stars
Perhaps the sleeper of the year. A very good film about a 17-yr old Gothic girl (Leelee Sobieski) and a 49-yr old (going on 60) owner of a men’s clothing store (Alpert Brooks); it’s all about 'friendship, family, forgiveness and forever.' Brooks’ performance may be Oscar-quality, and Sobieski is no slouch herself.
Fair warning: If you are susceptible to tears, bring tissues. Definitely worth a look.
8½ stars
A funny, stretch-of-the-imagination (aren’t they all) crooks’ story about an odd couple of bad guys – Bruce Willis & Billy Bob Thornton – who escape prison, rob banks and fall in love with the same girl (Cate Blanchett). It dragged a bit, but had an unusual ending and some quirky times along the way. I read one reviewer who said: “You'll cringe, you'll crack up, you'll come back for more.” Wish I’d thought of that.
At least check it out when it comes out on video.
7 stars
Except that it was a bit tedious (REAL tedious if war flicks aren’t your thing), it was pretty good as far as war films go.
It certainly convinced you of the brutality of war, and it is not hard to understand how the Russians lost two million during the six-month siege at Stalingrad in WW-II: If the Nazis did not kill the Russians, the Russians killed their own if they retreated. The major problem with the film (although it is based on a true story) is that it is difficult to believe that a battle between two snipers was that pivotal.
The special effects were outstanding and, while the historical accuracy can be called into question (a 9-to-5 war, making love among the sleeping soldiers with a sexy female who is ignored by all of these horny soldiers?), the battle sequences WERE believable.
The movie made no effort to cover up the British accents of Russian soldiers, etc. But nice jobs by Ed Harris as the Nazi super sniper and Jude Law as the Russian rookie sniper. Some pretty tense scenes as they try to outwit each other.
6 stars
THE CONTENDER (2000):
I always meant to see this at the theatre, but never got around to it. Thus it got to be bigger than life, because it was one of those that I “missed.”
Too bad I didn’t leave it at that.
While this movie had some good points to make about the level of sleaze in politics, the technical advisor(s) should be shot. This was so Hollywood, rather than being even close to believable, that it lost relevance half way through. And it got worse after that. There was one delicious twist near the end of the movie, however, thanks to some good detective work by a female FBI agent (who was simply awful in her small role, by the way) that almost was enough fun to make the $3 rental worth it.
Much of the acting wasn’t that bad: Joan Allen did well (but hardly Oscar quality), as did Jeff Bridges as the cocky president (in spite of the lameness of his ordering different types of food as a joke on the kitchen staff), Sam Elliot was believable as the prez's SOB chief of staff and Gary Oldham did a good job as a crotchety, moralistic Reep chairman. (Note: All the good guys in the film are Dems, even eventually Christian Slater who, for reasons that are never clear, has no problem from the get go cozying up with and conspiring with the other party – gee, maybe they used California’s Gary Condit as a technical advisor to Slater!) But the script sucked eggs.
Rent it if you wish, but don’t expect greatness like I kinda did.
4 stars
A disturbingly violent (but powerful) “black parody” of mindless television violence, starring Kelsey Grammer as the sleazy tabloid tv news host, Robert De Niro as the cop on the lookout for fame and Edward Burns as the fire marshal not on the lookout for fame.
Two Eastern Europeans come into America in search of their half of the loot from a bank robbery; they snap when they discover their share is gone…and one of them thinks it fun to put it all on film because it will make them both famous (ergo, the title of the film). De Niro and Burns team up for the chase.
This is a take-no-prisoners movie. If violence in films repulses you, this is a ONE, so stay away. If you get the joke and the satire – and can stand some gratuitous violence along the way – it’s a strong EIGHT. Fair warning, however.
8 stars
BILLY ELLIOT (2000):
Many of you may have seen this movie already, but we finally got around to it today. Maybe it would have been better if we had seen it without any hype (“one of the best of the year,” etc), because I was not that impressed. A major part of it, I know, is that I am monolingual, and I have a difficult time with foreign films that do not have subtitles. And, frankly, I think I would have understood more of Crouching Tiger without subtitles than I did this one. Extreme British accents need translation!
Other than that, I agree that Jamie Bell did a terrific job as Billy, and it was a nice story about a kid in a working class family near Newcastle who, having just lost his mother, struggles to gain acceptance from his macho (and coal-striking) father and brother for his desire to join a ballet class rather than the boxing class. However, it was too predictable and too corny in too many places.
Worth a look on video when it comes out – at least you can reverse it to try and pick up the words. One eye open for Tracy. Rated “R” for lots of “foiks.”
Note to my Jamie: Billy and his brother were both played by “Jamies.”
6 stars
Even though it came darn close to being disqualified for too many damn trailers, I really did enjoy this movie. A fun romantic comedy romp (with its share of blood and violence, I might add) in which the two stars – Julia Roberts and Brad Pitt (both of whom did well) – rarely are seen on screen together. Brad’s off to Mexico in pursuit of a cursed gun, and Julia is off to Vegas to become a croupier.
James Gandolfini did a great job as Julia’s captor, holding her hostage because no one trusts the stumblebum Pitt to bring “the” gun back. (Although, frankly, the dog might have stolen the show!) Good use of silent, sepia-toned clips as different people recollect how the gun got cursed in the first place.
The movie did drag a bit at the end, slipping it to an:
8 stars
CHOCOLAT (2000):
I’ve been meaning to see this ever since it came out, but other movies always seemed to get in the way. And it was as good as – better than – I hoped it would be.
A very different and delightful tale of the “healing qualities” of chocolate (no wonder only a few of us guys populated a theatre full of women). Juliette Binoche (her first non-subtitled movie since The English Patient) was wonderful as the chocolate siren; Alfred Molina played an uptight town mayor who tries in vain to run the immoral Vianne out of town; Judi Dench proves you do not have to be young and glamorous to be a watchable actress; and Johnny Depp played a believable river rat.
Beautifully filmed in a small French village, this is a must see. Very possibly an Oscar nomination in sight.
9 stars
SNATCH (2000):
Clearly, we shouldn’t have seen this so soon after seeing Chocolat, that’s for sure. This show just had too many characters and too much story line – Pulp Fiction on speed – even though there are plenty of laugh lines and an interesting story of a jewel theft gone bad. My problem is that I could not understand half of the dialog (note: Brad Pitt’s dialog was not meant to be understood, I believe), so I got lost too often. Interesting film techniques, however.
6 stars…maybe subtitles would have helped me!
THE VIRGIN SUICIDES (1999):
This was far better than I would have thought (true story of five daughters in the same family – 13, 14, 15, 16 & 17 – who all commit suicide), although it was difficult to do the story matter justice in a scant two-hour movie. A real downer of a movie, though it does make you think (especially if you have teenagers at home!). Great soundtrack.
7 stars
UNDER SUSPICION (2000):
I like Gene Hackman; and I like Morgan Freeman. But this one belongs on the cutting room floor; I recommend you leave it on the video store shelf.
A bad film about a top-flight lawyer (Hackman) who lives and works in Puerto Rico and who is suspected by the law (Freeman) of raping and murdering two young girls. I am clueless as to why this was shot in PR; each of the main characters is Anglo! The only two things this film had going for it were interesting film techniques (bringing the sheriff right into Hackman’s flashback explanations) and an unexpected but good ending. But, frankly, I’m surprised I got that far.
2 stars