treighsea's Reviews

Anne Perry: Interiors (2009)

6/10

23 April 2016

I'm familiar with Anne Perry's background, and I read the other reviews, but still I watched this. I don't want to seem as if I'm just paraphrasing one of the other reviews, but...

This 73-minute documentary was about 13 minutes of actual semi- substantive insight into Anne and her daily life, assistants, and neighbors. The remaining 60 minutes was people walking into rooms, out of rooms, up the stairs, down the stairs (two sets); shots of Anne working, shots of Anne's empty chair, shots of her assistant typing, shots of Anne cooking, shots of the empty kitchen (daytime and dark), shots of Anne eating while watching TV, shots of her brother going out to walk the dog, shots of her brother playing with the dog, shots of her assistant driving away for the night, shots of Anne through the window as the assistant drives away, shots of the driver/handyman working in the hall, shots of everyone staring off-camera, and notably, the bit with her brother dozing off while she talked to him.

The scenery? Nice. I never mind looking at Scotland. So there's that. The music? Evocative. The house? Attractive, certainly. And I did like the sidebar where they were working on Christmas cards.

But.

That's all I got. But.

1 out of 1 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink

Dead Easy (2004)

7/10

A puzzler

25 January 2008

Warning: Spoilers

The puzzle being... who were we supposed to like? I watched it to see Richard Grieco (who I agree is underrated), and through the movie, it was possible to see his character growing and changing and improving, trying to do better. Learning a lesson, if you will, or starting to. That made him about the only likable person in the film apart from the police detective, who initially was too over-the-top falsely jovial for my tastes. Another reviewer commented on the twist at the end, and I agree: while interesting, it doesn't fit the plot. I sat afterward thinking it through and decided that what happened is that the writers/directors came up with the twist on the last day of filming, over a lunch with too many cocktails. The movie is atmospheric, however, and watching the characters 'play' each other, especially once you suspect what's really going on, is interesting. One thing I did find unbelievable -- and this isn't really a spoiler because it takes place in the first three minutes -- is that Grieco, a rich & powerful man, would ALLOW his girlfriend to film their liaison. I thought, DUH? Aren't you too smart for that? C'mon, dude, it's the age of the Internet. Trust no one, as Fox Mulder would have said. In any case, if you're a Grieco fan, give this one a shot. He's purty and he does a good job.

3 out of 3 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink

Final Payback (2001)

7/10

Uneven, but with bright spots

25 January 2008

I'm not sure what I think about this as a whole. I think it wanted to be more than it was: there were interesting side bits about the people police captain Kove draws into his plan to eliminate Joey Randall, the flawed but ultimately sympathetic lead as played by the always-nice-to-look-at Richard Grieco. Corbin Bernsen was entertaining in his brief on screen time; Angelo Ales was also very colorful as Uncle Sal, and Sherrie Rose was a treat as a psycho druggie chick, clearly enjoying her role very much. Some things were predictable and some came out of nowhere, such as Grieco's old love seemingly suddenly changing her mind about her feelings for him. Priscilla Barnes' cameo was nicely creepy. Good cast, uneven script; not too sure about the voice-overs from Grieco about things we could see for ourselves. I'm searching for the way to sum this up... and I guess... it wasn't bad. If you like Grieco, you'll like this, and the supporting cast is interesting. If you like chases and fights, you'll like this well enough, too. Not a cinematic masterpiece by any means, but not the worst way to spend 90 minutes, either. And Grieco is good for "the scenery" alone.

2 out of 2 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink

Against the Law (1997)

7/10

no no, it was, "Are you faaaast?", and never "pardner"

15 January 2008

Okay. Yes, this was a very-tight-budget movie with continuity errors (like single scenes obviously filmed in sunshine and then in shadow and then mixed together), and as much as I love Nick Mancuso he was often a little too good at the burnt-out part, and some of the minor supporting cast was really bad (plus at least one actor was used for two different but conspicuous roles). But come on. Richard Grieco was hysterical (his hair alone is worth the trip). Steven Ford was very likable. Mancuso had some great lines, while Nancy Allen, ironically, was completely bland and uninteresting. Classic? No. Bad parts? Yes. Entertaining? Big yes. I would have loved to have been on-set the day they decided what kind of hairstyle Grieco would have. "Are you fast?" ... "Y'ain't THAT fast."

1 out of 2 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink

Night of Terror (2006 TV Movie)

7/10

Not so bad, all things considered

26 March 2006

I watch most movies that Nick Mancuso is in because, frankly, I love the guy, even though as he ages he is typically cast as the baddie (long-time fans should note that he is for some reason blond in this flick). It's a fairly familiar movie in terms of plot (but then most movies these days aren't exactly original), but Rick Roberts is appealing as the imperfect husband, Martha MacIsaac is equally appealing as the daughter, and Mitzi Kapture does a good job, if that was her goal, of being angry and sometimes pretty hard to like. Nick has still got it in terms of being able to demonstrate both charm and psychosis. However, too much of the plot takes place off-screen -- like motivation, prior behaviors, good times and bad times -- and things that seem apparent to the characters never quite make it to the audience (i.e., me). The final scene leaves everything to be desired in the "but what about..." category, and overall, I can't say that I cared much about any of the characters. That being said, it was what it was -- a reasonably entertaining way to spend the afternoon -- and I still like Nick.

40 out of 46 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink

Loving Evangeline (1999 TV Movie)

7/10

Now, now, now, it wasn't that bad...

29 May 2005

Okay, I admit it, I approached this from the perspective of a Nick Mancuso fan. I'd never read any book at all by Howard, let alone this one, so I have to take the movie at face value. Beautiful scenery, appealing heroine Rowan, nice moments between her and Nick. I took the movie more as a study of how he changes throughout -- he starts out so stiff and rigid (Ultra Businessman) and ends up relaxed and charming, particularly in their dessert scene. Was it a cinematic masterpiece? No. Was he meant to be a dashing hero? Um, no; he got knocked out cold the first time up to bat with the bad guy, and in the end the police did all the hard work. Bad guy (creepy and menacing up to that point) gave up too easily; Shari Belafonte was oddly stiff -- and there were a lot of things left unclear, like how Cannon's brother figured out what was up in the first place. It was lightweight, yes, but it was hardly hate-worthy. I did get pretty tired of Nick pushing up his glasses, but on the other hand, was highly intrigued by the Mars Bar dessert. Hey. Take what you can get. And Nicky, well, he's still got it. So if you've never read the book (I still haven't) and you like Nick... g'wan. Try it. Hardly hurts at all.

3 out of 5 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink

Haute tension: Frontière du crime (1990)

Season Unknown, Episode Unknown

8/10

Mancuso's worth the trip

12 October 2004

Nick Mancuso gives us another flawed, not-quite-good-guy to watch, and as always, he's compelling. But you have to take his performance separately from the rest of the movie, of course, lest you fall into some of the plot holes and injure yourself. Some of it is almost too understated, such as the attraction that springs up between Mancuso and "farm girl" Leah Pinsett, since most of it seems to happen off screen. There are some clunkers, too, like the ending, which leaves you saying "but... what about... wait! you can't end it HERE!", and even a scene near the beginning where one minute they're in deep snow and the next in snow less greenery, and it's so dramatic a difference that one character actually throws out a rather "um, we don't get as much snow up here" line to excuse it. But Patrick Bauchau makes a rather elegant villain, and you know, it's only a movie, so I could be over thinking the whole thing.

0 out of 2 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink

treighsea

Reviews

Tell Your Friends

Recently Viewed