Reviews

This tale of workplace sexual harassment is an interesting study on how people lie, cajole, and manipulate in order to get what they want. Unfortunately, the script glosses over too many potential areas of deeper insight, leaving the audience somewhat unsatisfied. Perhaps this is because it is based on a play - indeed, the dialogue and staging often resembles theatre more than usual film structure - and therefore the audience is expected to provide more of their own interpretation to fill in gaps left by the writer. The family dynamic and examination of parental sexual abuse is particularly poorly done; it felt tacked on and shallow.

I found the opening music to be entirely wrong for setting the ambiance of the film; the music is silly and light, whereas the film is not.

LaPaglia and the Carides sisters are fabulous in this movie. Gia Carides is good as a party girl who is desperate to convince an arbitrator and tribunal that she really was victimized by her boss, playing out the old "whatever we wear, wherever we go, yes means yes and no means no" chant. Zoe Carides does a wonderful job portraying the feminist sister caught between being supportive and wondering just how much of the story really is true.

LaPaglia is the nasty boss, and so thoroughly wonderful in the role that I got chills. I'm a LaPaglia fan and generally prefer it when he plays nice but flawed guys, so in this case his loathsome character really got to me. It's a testament to his mastery of his craft that I found it hard to look at him by the end of the movie - and this is a guy I have as my desktop wallpaper! In particular, a line towards the end of the film was delivered with such malice that remembering it is making me uncomfortable even this many hours later. It's not an easy performance to watch, but I do recommend it nonetheless.

The greatest comfort to combat the on-screen unpleasantness is that LaPaglia and Gia Carides are a seemingly happy married couple!

I would say that this film is recommended for LaPaglia and Gia Carides fans, but not the best sample of either of their work. The two were also together in Paperback Romance, which is a completely different genre but much more entertaining.

I almost never cry at movies, but Anthony LaPaglia had me tearing up all through this movie. I'm not a big fan of soppy platitudes about 9-11, but this movie was very touching. It dismissed a lot of the big-picture stuff in favour of the minutia of people's lives that make them worth knowing about. This is a story about humans, not heroes, which I found refreshing.

Sigourney Weaver is also very good, as usual.

My only complaint is that there were a few instances of repetition in the writing. I'm not sure if that was supposed to be deliberate, as in the character repeating himself out of angst and stress, or if it was bad script editing. I noticed it though because it was jarring, which means if it was supposed to be there, it wasn't handled expertly by the writer. That could have used some polishing.

Other than that, I thought this was a good movie, especially if you're a LaPaglia fan as I am.

The acting in this beautifully shot movie was quite good, but unfortunately the script was terrible. Anderson, forced to roll out the majority of the ridiculously florid dialogue, occasionally struggled with it, but her emoting itself was good. Aykroyd and LaPaglia did a superb job acting and seemed to have no problems getting around the lines, but I must emphasize that the lines themselves were painful at times. Nobody speaks like that! Nobody ever did! The style fluctuated far too often between poetics and colloquialisms, many of the latter seeming entirely too modern for 1905.

Personally, even though I am a huge LaPaglia fan, I don't know if I could stomach this movie again, wonderful though he is. I'm glad I merely rented it.

This brilliant movie uses the Son of Sam murders as a backdrop to a riveting tale about the lives of ordinary people struggling to get by when an entire city is held hostage by terror. John Leguizamo is amazing in the lead role, adroitly capturing all facets of his character. The audience is forced to love and hate the character, pity and admonish him. He's a good person who makes stupid choices and gets in way over his head. Sounds like the perfect everyman to me!

Adrien Brody is likewise magnificent. His character's tortured intellect is both striking and foolish; a difficult dichotomy to carry off so well.

I watched this primarily to see Anthony LaPaglia, but unfortunately, he's not in it that much. His brief scenes are good, though.

This film has a fairly unoriginal premise: cop guy still suffering the death of his family goes out for revenge. The particulars of the crime plot - drugs, money laundering, and other organized crime activity - are also nothing to get worked up about. It's not that they're done badly or even cheesy, but they have all been done before.

What makes this film worth watching is the lead character and the actor who plays him. Willie Serling, played by the wonderful Anthony LaPaglia, drifts in and out of so many false personalities as part of his undercover operations that he's not sure who he is himself anymore. Not only does LaPaglia adeptly handle character changes - moving in and out of accents, mannerisms, gaits, etc. - but he also really brings home the performance of Serling struggling to keep a grip on his own life. LaPaglia's performance is so good that it's easy to forget about the plot issue. Furthermore, the character himself is interesting to watch as he navigates the story.

So don't watch this movie if you're looking for the best crime drama ever, but definitely watch it if you want to see a genius of an actor at work in a thoroughly interesting role.

If you're a fan of movie makeup, that part of this movie alone should entice you. Fabulous work by the makeup crew makes for a fun Spot-The-Agent game on the part of Willie's boss. If the crew didn't get an award for their work, they were robbed.

This movie is about a good cop forced to undergo severe hardship in order to do what he knows is right. The dialogue is very natural and excellently performed. The plot is intriguing all the way through. LaPaglia, Weaving, and Otto, and the other actors were fantastic. As a die-hard LaPaglia fan, I couldn't be more pleased!

If you're looking for a solid cop story with a touch of heart (but nothing soppy), I highly recommend this film.

The only downside to this movie is it occasionally has slightly cheesy music and a few other hints that it was produced on the cheap. Still, if this is the kind of gem that can come out of inexpensive production, what excuse is left for big studios to turn out so much crap? This movie shows that good writing and acting are the most important parts of any film. See it!

This isn't the most original plot in the world, but it's definitely a sweet and touching tale nonetheless. The beautiful visuals highlight LaPaglia's tender performance of a shy, quiet priest trying to get by during WWII. In particular, this is a showcase of LaPaglia's wonderful array of sad-eyed expressions, puppy-dog guilty looks, and heart-grabbing sighs. If you dig LaPaglia in emotional settings, you will definitely want to see this movie.

The other acting is also quite good.

The "Italian" accents aren't always top-notch and I would have preferred the movie to not have used accents in that way at all, but it's a minor complaint.

This movie has an intriguing plot that is carried out by strange and wonderful characters. It examines one man's time spent in a small town where the townspeople put undue faith and expectations on him.

Because the people believe the man's time is coming to an end, they seek guidance and knowledge from him that he isn't necessarily qualified to give.

The subsequent changes in people and their stories carry the audience through a variety of emotions and leave one contemplating the nature of human existence.

Highly recommended. Slater and Tunney are particularly good.

This short comedy is very surreal, silly, and strange. It is thus a perfect vehicle for Corky and the Juice Pigs. If you like their style of humour, you will love this movie!

After opening with some cute sidewalk-chalk credits, the movie takes a few minutes to really get going. The initial scene feels a bit forced, but once Cullen, Nichol, and Neale are allowed to shine through their own antics, the bizarre humour will tickle the funny bone of any Corky fan.

The jokes range from base (such as Cullen mouthing that the barber has just farted) to cute (plenty of sound-effect gags) to intellectual (Shakespeare and existentialism). There are also some clips from the band's debut album, plus a brief selection of their strange kimono-clad martial arts bit from their stage act.

Let's be clear: this isn't exactly the most polished film you'll ever see. There are some rough edits, continuity errors (particularly in a scene late in the movie where it's obvious by lighting changes and a different hair style on Phil that the takes were done on different days), and a couple of the supporting actors are weak. This isn't Academy Award material. But it's good, campy fun, and I recommend it to anyone who gets a chance to see it. It's rare, so take any chance you get!