Reviews

This was a very good movie and the leads (Jennifer Aniston and Paul Rudd) have very good chemistry. The problem was the script, which at times becomes so predictable, you could doze off for 10 or 15 minutes and still would have not missed anything.

It really was a very unique and interesting idea for a plot, but most of the time it just taps on the surface of emotions of the characters. Situations are dealt with in a simplistic and unrealistic way. Granted it is suppose to be a comedy, but it really never reaches a comedic level. This one would have been better as a light drama and went deeper into the frustrations of finding that perfect someone, but instead it turns out to be unrequited love.

Again, the performances here are very good, including Alan Alda as the step-brother-in-law. For a light comedy, without much thought and depth, it does better than most. Above average 6 out of 10.

This film takes its cue from past formula proven scripts such as "Pretty Woman" and "My Fair Lady", but with a slight twist. Even the location used for filming is familiar to any that has watched Fox TV (Beverly Hills 90210, Buffy the Vampire Slayer). The story, although not quite original, does have it moments. The cast is perfect and believable in their roles. Look for an unaccredited cameo from Buffy herself. If you just sit back and let the movie entertain you, then this is the ticket. Recommended: 6 out of 10.

This movie is an exercise in how humans can take even the simplest idea and make it very complicated. The film centers on three men who find the American dream in the form of a duffel bag. Often painful to watch, "A Simple Plan" aims to show how people with the highest morals can be tempted and corrupted with the easy path. Billy Bob Thornton turns in a good performance as the brother of Bill Paxton, who at times seems to be caught-up in the moment.

The problem here is not with the acting, nor the direction, but more in the script that keeps promising to lead somewhere, but instead keeps delivering more sidesteps that never seem to go anywhere. Characters start out with the best intentions, but in a quick reverse, do exactly the opposite of their nature, and we never really know why they have a "sudden" change of heart.

The cinematography is quite gripping and you quite often get a sense of how Minnesota can be brutally cold and barren during the winter. "Fargo" this film tries to imitate, but again the script doesn't let it ascend to that level. Above average. 6 out 10.

Terrence Mallick has delivered his third film in the director's chair and it delivers with a powerful punch. The film's centerpiece is the Japanese invasion of Guadalcanal Island, one of the worst battles in the pacific of WWII. The dynamic scope of the film is breathtaking and the imagery is beyond compare, and it's in the poetic verse and hypnotic images of war where the film soars very high. The film unfolds through the eyes and thoughts of the men who fought and died on Guadalcanal. These images are spliced and sewn together, as if Mallick is making a giant quilt of war images.

However, when the film sores, it soars high, but when it lands it seems to lose connective tissue. Many characters come in and out of the film without any real meaning or substance. The promotional campaign for the film touted its long list of Hollywood heavy-weights, and it's here where the film flounders. Cameos from John Travolta, John Cusack, George Clooney, and Woody Harrelson are forced in and out of the picture without any real meaning or purpose. Sean Penn, at times, looks and acts as if this were a squeal to "Casualties of War". Perhaps the saddest part of this whole experience was the fact that after almost three hours I felt that I didn't really know the two lead characters. I felt cheated.

I personally wish Mallick had given the audience more substance and confined the action more on the two central characters rather than introducing fragments of many characters. My biggest fear is that audiences are expecting another "Saving Private Ryan" with a lot of star power and they will be hugely disappointed. While "Ryan" follows the standard, straight-forward rules for unfolding a story, "Red Line" relies heavily on the abstract, philosophical images of war, and it is through these images that audiences will be introduced to the slaughter that occurred on Guadalcanal. Cinematographer John Toll (Legends of the Fall, Braveheart) uses breathtaking, beautiful images of an island in the Pacific as a backdrop to the ugly, brutal, and often savage images of war, and it is in these images where "Red Line" soars higher and farther than "Ryan" could hope to.

If audiences grasp these images and take them to heart, then this is a three-hour journey well worth the time. This film will be talked about and dissected long after other WWII dramas are forgotten. I recommend this film, giving it 8 out of 10.

This movie took an excellent idea and somewhere along the course of 2 hours it manages to miss the climax. The cast is excellent and John Travolta is in top form. William H. Macy again takes a back seat to the lead and creates an excellent supporting role. The problem I had with film is probably the script, which never seems to deliver. Unlike most courtroom dramas of recent memory, the audience never gets the feeling of satisfaction. The good guys/bad guys concept is very clouded and subtle. I give this film 7 out of 10 for the excellent acting by John Travolta, William H. Macy and Robert Duvall.