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CITY BY THE SEA (2002) - d. Michael Caton-Jones
Not good. Not good at all.
Here's the truth: Robert DeNiro is boring. He didn't used to be, but, aside from a funny-as-hell turn in 'Meet the Parents', I haven't really been interested in anything he's done since 'Wag the Dog' (where he's really underrated). Here, he's a shambles. The story's crap in the first place - 90% of this film's problems seem to come from the overstuffed script - but his performance, an attempt at something smaller, maybe less 'intense,' is so lacking in detail and any genuine sense of a person behind the mask that I felt ashamed to keep watching him. He hasn't mailed it in like this since 'Frankenstein.' One thing that's different about him in this movie, is the weight he's wearing. He's not the same kind of fatty that he was in 'Raging Bull,' it's much more a natural, middle-age kind of extra pounds, and it's interesting to see him looking like that.
If William Forsythe runs around with a long blonde mullet and a shotgun and I'm bored to tears, there's something wrong, probably at a spiritual level. This film suffers from poor moral character.
Frances McDormand isn't even good in it. Eliza Dushku isn't any good, either. It was already pretty clear that it wasn't going to get any better for her than 'Bring It On'. Anyway, she's terrible. I wouldn't cast her in a school play.
All it has going for it is James Franco, who's an interesting actor and is probably due. After seeing his ultra-wooden performance in 'Spider-Man' I'd kind of thought that the James Franco in 'Freaks and Geeks' was a total fluke, but here he takes a classic 50s-style James Dean role and runs with it.
The worst part of the movie isn't the directing, the acting or the script, though. The score, by John Murphy, makes it clear, right from the opening scenes, that it's going to be a long and painful ride. The music is terminally all-over the map and seems to be confused about whether 'City' is a classic Kazan throw-back or a late-80s Yakuza movie starring Michael Douglass. It's a crass score and distracting. Weirdly, Murphy also wrote the score for '28 Days Later,' which has some beautiful music (and a great music supervisor).
There should be some kind of 'Viewer Beware' in front of anything that Franchise Pictures puts out. For real. Keep in mind, they're also the folks behind 'Battlefield Earth: A Saga of the Year 3000'.
MIRACLE (2004) - d. Gavin O'Connor
Okay, I'm cheating here; I saw this a couple of weeks ago. Not great, not bad. The two movies you'd immediately compare it to are 'The Rookie' and 'Remember the Titans,' which are the two movies that Disney wants you to compare it to. It starts off strong, it does a good job of getting the era right, it does a good job of getting the kids right, and most of them are less annoying than you're used to in a movie like this - the guy who plays Eruzione is esp. good.
Bottom line, though, they miss out just when you think they're going to close the deal. The film builds and builds really well, the hockey's well shot, not-too-detailed, but nothing like the disastrous basketball scenes in 'Blue Chips,' either, and the imminent threat of the Soviet team is really believable. It does an admirable job of linking the malaise of our era with that of late-70s/early-80s, as the gas crisis and the hostage situation in Iran are front-and-center. There are even some great pseudo-lefty politics in the film with Jimmy Carter's infamous 1980 'state of the union' address playing over a game of pick-up football on Christmas Day. The team bonds and bad things happen, all within a realistic and compelling framework. A few quick sequences are all O'Connor needs to make the Olympics, Lake Placid circa-1980, and the US' early-round matches feel authentic.
Then you get to the semi-final - the USA-USSR match - and O'Connor loses his nerve. Totally loses his nerve. The lack of tension within the final game is a huge letdown, especially when you think about how much screen time is devoted to it. They blow a gimme chance to get the action up and running red. The crowd is never close to as raucous as you'd have to imagine them being, there aren't nearly enough shots of said crowd, and when you do get a look, it's mostly at the goalie's father, who had a brief, but too-brief, introduction earlier in the film. If they were going to use 'Dad' as some kind of dramatic payoff, the audience would've had to gotten to know him beforehand. We don't, and that sucks. The whole stadium should be absolutely unloading, it should sound like a Dinosaur Jr. playing a concert in your bathroom, but it doesn't, and, unfortunately, there's more focus on the first period (where all the scoring happened) than the other two periods combined. Finally, the outdoors stuff, post-game, in the middle of downtown Lake Placid, was way too sedate. People went nuts when that shit happened, and they don't give you that sense in the film.
Ultimately, though, this is a good family movie. It loses its emotional power towards the end, never nearing the kind of closure you felt at the end of 'The Rookie,' but it gets a lot more right than it gets wrong. More importantly, it's a great performance by Kurt Russell, who basically loses himself in the character of the coach, Herb Brooks. Russell's the only reason I agreed to see this movie, and he didn't disappoint.
FOUR FEATHERS (2002) - d. Shekhar Kapur
Eventually, I might get around to writing about some movies I actually like. But for now, it's the bad ones I'm remembering.
This one just sucks. I really liked 'Elizabeth' and 'Bandit Queen' - or at least respected and believed them - and it sucks to see that this is what Shekhar Kapur's been up to. I don't know if the majority of the problem stems from the casting of the film, but boy, each of the three principals suck and it seems like one big trifecta of a mistake. Heath Ledger's bad, yes, and way too young and not nearly skilled enough to navigate the highs and lows of an epic. But he's not nearly as bad as a totally crap Kate Hudson and a totally crap Wes Bentley, who compete for the mantle of 'Worst English Accent In Years,' which Bentley wins by a nose. Doesn't help anyone that he ends up being a blind guy for the final third of the film. You'll have to just see that part yourself. I'm getting cold chills just thinking about it. The English actors who hang with Heath and Wes are actually pretty good, Kris Marshall and Rupert Penry-Jones, particularly. I have a feeling that Marshall's career is just beginning.
Ultimately, what makes the film truly shit is the fact that it's about rich people in the first place. There's way to much build-up to the adventure in Sudan, and that build-up is all about rich turn-of-the-century English people who you're sure to loathe. At least, I did.
BIG TROUBLE (2002) - d. Barry Sonnenfeld
Tim Allen sucks. Barry Sonnenfeld didn't use to suck, but now most definitely sucks. I've never been a huge Rene Russo fan, even though I totally had a thing for her in 'Major League'. Stanley Tucci just embarrasses himself here. Who makes a movie where I start to envision a day when I no longer have a thing for Zooey Deschanel? And what was Jason Lee thinking? It's just so fucking bad.
THE ORDER (2003) - d. Brian Helgeland
Where to start? I quickly figured out where to stop.
17 minutes in, I decided that it didn't matter if I watched another minute of this piece. It got held back from release, and held back, and held back, and, boy, is it clear why.
Heath Ledger, Leading Man, is becoming a less and less likely proposition every day. The dude's losing it, fast, and if he doesn't come out of 'Ned Kelly' smelling roses, then I think it's time we all give up. He's one of the least believable priests you'll ever see. Richard Lewis might make a less believable priest, but I'm going to give Heath the edge there until someone proves otherwise.
The movie's stupid. Appallingly stupid. Shoot-yourself-Brian-Helgeland stupid. Too-bad-Shannyn-Sossamon-can't-act stupid.
Bri, buddy, stick with the gun-for-hire screenwriting assignments. You're 0 for 3, bro.
Did I mention I lasted a full 50 minutes before I came to my senses and did what I should've done at the 17 minute mark? Ugh.
BAD BOYS II (2003) - d. Michael Bay
I saw the trailer for this way back when, the one where they have that awesome shot which pans in a circle, where Will and Martin are ready to pounce on some bad mothers, and - for one pure, perfect second - I really wanted to see it. I actually liked the first one, thought it was perfectly good, so I was ready to go with this one.
Let's just say I didn't make it to the car chase, which I'd still like to see. Mostly, I couldn't bear to watch Jordi Mollá, an actor who I like, piss all over one of his first big shots in an American movie. Michael Bay needs to be stopped.
OUT OF TIME (2003) - d. Carl Franklin
Not bad. I'm constantly rooting for Carl Franklin. There were times when the movie really lost me and I'd think 'ok, this is it, I'm done,' but Franklin seems to realize that that's the kind of story he's working with, always managing to pull you back in at the last possible second. Denzel mails it, but Denzel mailing it in a movie like this is still better than 99% of the other big stars giving it their all.
Sanaa Lathan. Why isn't this woman working constantly? Her next movie's going to be 'Alien Vs. Predator'? A small part of me just withered and died. Why can't black actresses get decent parts?
S.W.A.T. (2003) - d. Clark Johnson
Not great. Not terrible. Another pretty big release by a black director. I love Clark Johnson from his days as a re-enactor on 'True Stories of the Highway Patrol.' He was also pretty great on 'Homicide.' He's a guy I'll always root for.
The film's brainless and a little dull, but the camera moves well enough, and the cast and the character detail are well above average. When Johnson gets the hang of it, it's going to be his skill with actors that puts him over the top. Sam Jackson is up for it, as always, Colin Farrell is fun, and Michelle Rodriguez is great. This isn't a big stretch for her, but you get a bit more of a sense of an interior life for her character than anything she's been in since 'Girlfight.'
I was interested to see Jeremy Renner in a substantial mainstream role. I think the jury's still out on him. He's clearly a good actor, but right now there's a softness he needs to lose, especially in a part like he has here.
The best thing about the movie though, is watching Josh Charles (a.k.a. the poor man's John Cusack) as a bad guy. It's fun to watch him on the wrong side for once.
UNDERWORLD (2003) - d. Len Wiseman
Kate Beckinsale is so pretty, sometimes it's hard to get too down on her, but I'm going to take my chances. This isn't the worst movie ever, and it seems to get some stuff right, but, deep down, I have to admit that it's pretty lame.
The premise behind 'Underworld' kicks ass - vampires and werewolves have an old-school clan rivalry and are constantly doing everything in their power to finish each other off. There's some good visuals, some good effects, but there's also some bad visuals and some bad effects. Beckinsale and Bill Nighy are the only actors who hold any kind of dramatic weight, and the rest of the cast - as uninspired a collection of long-haired Eurotrash as the filmmakers could hope to find on such short notice - really really suck. Wait, no, that's not true, Sophia Myles and Michael Sheen are good, too. You can see why people are betting on them.
Anyhow, it's a stupid film, but like 'League of Extraordinary Gentlemen' before it, I'm not sorry I saw it, I found it entertaining, and no matter how bad the sequel is, you can pretty much guarantee that I'm going to watch it. That Beckinsale ended up married to the guy who made this speaks volumes. Volumes about what, I have no idea.
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