gretch-4 Reviews

Plunkett & Macleane (1999)

a new and interesting twist

[22 April 2001]

I rented Plunkett and Macleane as a fan of Johnny Lee Miller. I expected it to be the "period adventure-comedy" advertised on the video; however, the film turned out to be much darker and much more interesting than I expected. It's basically the story of two losers who team up out of mutual need. Macleane is the poor, vain aristocrat who finds the loot and Plunkett is the criminal who masterminds the thieving. The film is very dark, offering a surprisingly realistic view of 18th century England, filled with bloody eye-gouging, lewd brothels and excrement raining down from windows onto the streets. The characters of Plunkett and Macleane progress from the motives of greed and vainity to becoming true partners and friends. Plunkett learns to trust and reveal his past, while Macleane learns to value friendship and love over wealth etc. (Sounds a bit corny, but it's not that bad) The supporting characters vary. Liv Tyler, as the love interest Rebecca, and the villan Mr. Chance are both underdevloped; although, Mr. Chance has some interestingly violent tendencies for such a small man, including the ability to gouge out a man's eye with his bare hands. Alan Cummings is entertaining as always as Macleane's foppish friend Rodchester. He manages to bring emotion to the seemingly silly character. A previous comment said they were disappointed with the film's ending. Without giving it away, I have to say that I enjoyed it. It was very suspenseful and dark.

Final Destination (2000)

a good surprise

[30 December 2000]

I rented Final Destination because I had read a couple good reviews when it came out; however, I didn't expect much. I was pleasantly surprised. The film actually had a plot and a scary one at that. Alex is a typical high school senior going on a class trip to Paris, when he dozes off and dreams of the plane's explosion. He freaks out and he and five other passengers are kicked off the plane, only to soon watch it explode. From then on the movie is suspenseful and eerie. I enjoyed it because of the atmosphere and its unpretentious stance, not trying to be too deep, but still conveying a sense of constant foreboding and a little insight on the nature of death etc. It lacked the excessive gore and maniacal villians usually present in teen horror films. Devon Sawa was convincing as Alex, looking effectively frightened and desperate. Ali Larter (I think that's her name) is bland as the semi-believer, neglected daughter, slash love interest. The guy from Dawson's Creek is cast as the typical jock and is really bad. He's cocky, stupid, mean, and has some unexplainable hatred towards Alex. Despite these faults, Final Destination is creepy, creative, and suspenseful. I highly recommend this horror film for a good scare and its intelligent plot.

Love's Labour's Lost (2000)

a clever idea, but a shakey final product

[30 December 2000]

Love's Labor's Lost isn't a bad Shakespearean comedy, but lacks the popular appeal of his other works because it is obviously outdated. Brannaugh cleverly set his adaptation in 1939 on the brink of war. I think the idea of this film is better than the movie itself. First of all Brannaugh fails to translate the plot fully, coming off with only brief glimpses of the true comedy and underdeveloped characters. Only being familiar with the play myself helped me appreciate what was going on. The cast has gaping holes at times. I think Alicia Silverstone has somehow managed to do the impossible, that is, make Shakespeare sound stupid and silly. None of the princesses ladies truly stand out besides the brilliant Rosaline. Brannaugh is the perfect Berowne; however, Brannaugh is perfect in everything. Alessandro Nivola is a pleasant surprize as the King. He is one of the few strong voices and he glows during all his scenes with a mischevious glimmer in his eye. Adrian Lester also can sing and dance but lacks in charm. Matthew Lillard, however amusing in other films, seems embarrassingly out of place. The musical numbers are bright and happy, a perfect homage to the old musicals of the 30's and 40's. Some of the songs come off very awkward and stilted; however, the songs with the men work the best. My favourite scene was the one in the library when the men discover each other's treachery. It has the Shakespearean comedy, a musical number, and the hammy comedy of old movies. From that scene you can tell what Brannaugh's true vision for the whole movie was, and could've been. I recommend this film to lovers of old musicals and fans of Kenneth Brannaugh, for he is truly a visionary.

The Scarlet Letter (1995)

not that bad.

[7 November 2000]

the scarlet letter would have been better off if it totally ignored hawthorne's book at all and resigned itself to being a mediocre puritan melodrama, instead of dragging the name through the mud. demi moore is definitely a good looking hester, but lacks any sort of real emotion. Her portrayal consists of happy hester, defiant hester, and my favorite, proud self-righteous hester. robert duvall's roger chillingworth is merely a scary bad guy who goes indian crazy in the end and scalps someone. chillingworth in the novel is truly scary through his slow psychological torture of dimmesdale; the fear lying in his lack of action and this film is anything but subtle. i can't completely hate this film because gary oldham is brilliant. despite the fact the filmmaker's attempted to make dimmesdale a more romantic hero, oldham still conveyed the torment of his sin and his conflicting emotions, in everything but the ending. oldham's performance fails to redeem the movie because of the ridiculous plot twists, cramming in a witchcraft trial, the confession of his guilt, and an indian massacre all in one. i don't recommend this film to anyone who has every read the book; however, i think it might be interesting to someone who has no idea what to expect.

Dreaming of Joseph Lees (1999)

poignant and beautiful

[4 November 2000]

i rented dreaming of joseph lees as a fan of rupert graves. i was not disappointed. samantha morton portrays eva as fragile, passionate, and naive, pining after her cousin joseph while living with the local pig farmer harry. harry's dependency and mental illness is disturbing and vaguely unexplainable; however, graves steals the film, sympathetically and realistically playing the mysterious joseph lees, carrying his own burden of a terrible accident in which is lost his leg. the ending is powerful and worth wading through the last half hour of harry's violent, pointless insanity and eva's maddening indecision.