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Reviews
The Follow (2001)
BMW Films has yet to let me down - fantastic.
Another great short film from BMW films. Clive Owen is impressive as always as The Driver, but this time, he has heart instead of speed. Forest Whittaker is also wonderful and appears unbilled. A simple story told well brings a lot of emotion to a mere 6 and a half minutes. Bravo.
Driven (2001)
Keep on walking past the theater and rent Two Lane Blacktop
Sylvester Stallone produced, wrote, and starred in this dribble of a film about the harsh world of the Indy racing circuit. This up close and personal speedfest is at first impressive, then after the first two races it become repetative reminding me why I never watch a car race from start to finish, "Wow, that was fast - how many more times around? 150 laps? Crap.". Lord only knows what inspired this cinematic opus (yes, I know that there cannot be such a thing as a cinematic opus, as the root of an opus is musical, but I love challenging the structure of the English language.)
Stallone plays an old hat racer that is brought back into the sport by Burt Reynolds to coach the rookie kid that has the skills but needs some direction. As blockage in Stallone's path is the rookies obsessive brother/agent, Stallone's ex-wife, and of course his old nemesis. A predictible storyline, bad acting, unlikable characters and a snore after the first half hour make me think that there are only two things that can save a movie like this: cool crash scenes and nudity. It sadly only delivers one of these.
The crashes are impressive and the special effects that put you "in the driver's seat" are breathtaking, but that alone is not enough to carry an entire movie. One of the CG effects really annoyed the hell out of me, however: during a race in the rain, it shows a first person view of the driver . Realistically, all you would see is a smokescreen of water coming off the tires of the racer in front and shooting at you at 220 miles per hour, but instead, it looks like someone tossing blobs of hair gel at 5 MPH.
I honestly cannot recommend this movie even for rental. I wasn't expecting this to be a good film, but I was expecting it to be fun. I walked away from the theater shaking my head and wishing I had saved my money.
For those that want a movie that captures the spirit of speed and the open road in it's entirety without flashy nonesense that most movies believe are necessary, watch Two Lane Blacktop.
Cast Away (2000)
Great movie, with a BIG "but..." *Spoilers*
This movie was one of the best I have seen this year, without a doubt. There was a major problem with it, however and that was the last half hour.
From the time he got onto the island, I was enthralled. I couldn't take my eyes off the screen, and it was simply beautiful. His developing friendship with a volleyball named Wilson was brilliant and I loved how he coped and adapted to his surroundings. (the tooth scene was a real cringer). Now, as the typical Hollywood market would suggest, he will, of course make it off the island, and the "great escape" was also astonishing - especially when he lost Wilson.
When the big tanker pulled up beside him, then it immediately cut to a scene with him in an airplane clean shaven with the words "Four weeks later", a voice inside my head was shouting "Wait a minute!" I desperately wanted to see what happened during those four weeks. After four years on an island, how does he react to the first human contact? How does he respond to a warm meal? An ice cube? A toilet? WHAT HAPPENS? Instead, it decides to focus on his relationship with Helen Hunt (typical Academy Award fluff), which I really couldn't care less about.
A local movie critic describes it best when he says that it was a fat juicy steak surrounded by bland pudding. I really should have left after seeing "Four weeks later", because in my mind that is where the movie should have ended.
Overall, I give it 3.5 out of 4 stars. Other than the last part, a beautiful picture.