So I had heard good things about this movie. It certainly does a good job depicting how ugly life can be. It is very dark. Leonardo DiCaprio did a good job in this film, but does much better in other works (just about everything else he has ever been in). The scene where he asks his mother for money and cries outside of her door should have been more violent. Maybe his character didn't have any more strength to act more violently, but the movie had me suspend disbelief willingly up until that point. The movie doesn't glorify drugs or violence and I didn't find it at all unrealistic until that scene outside of his mother's door. I expected Jim to be considerably more violent and desperate, but instead he just kind of paws at the door and at his mother and then whimpers and cries on the steps outside her door (oh he half heartedly yells out a few times but where is that desperate strength, that animal rage that should have been there?). And then at the end - Jim is redeemed so quickly - how and why? What does he have to live for? Why does he cleanup in jail? What is his life about after the drugs? Telling and retelling his horrific "drughead" days? That's not redemption. I did not find this movie to be as good as I was lead to believe it was going to be.
Reviews
3 Reviews
Too long
21 July 2004
The movie is better than a kick to the face, but it is too long - I couldn't wait to get out of the theater. I read the book(s) and felt the same way about them - TOO LONG! In fact Tolkien said he wanted, "to try his hand at a really long story that would hold the attention of readers, amuse them, delight them, and at times maybe excite them or deeply move them." Well he got the really long part of it down and so did Peter Jackson.
I didn't rate this film lower because it is a good film, and it did manage to bring to my attention some parts of the story that I had forgotten. Of course the film (and the whole trilogy for that matter) left out a whole lot of stuff that I do remember (and that I liked) - but I can't complain too much - if they had put those parts in the movie I might still be in the theater watching it! 7/10
I didn't rate this film lower because it is a good film, and it did manage to bring to my attention some parts of the story that I had forgotten. Of course the film (and the whole trilogy for that matter) left out a whole lot of stuff that I do remember (and that I liked) - but I can't complain too much - if they had put those parts in the movie I might still be in the theater watching it! 7/10
12 Angry Men
(1957)
Had to watch it in school. I liked it.
21 July 2004
Warning: Spoilers
I watched this movie in school (I think it was 7th grade). If I were a teacher I would have kids watching movies all the time!!! Anyway, this movie is a drama, and the 12 Angry Men are jurors in a murder case(I guess this was back in the day when women didn't serve on juries?). The movie is about one Juror (#8) and his attempts to convince the other 11 that the young man accused of murder is not guilty.
I don't know if this is considered a spoiler or not but the best part of the whole movie is the dramatic exchange between Juror #8 (the guy who thinks the accused might not be guilty) and Juror #3 (the bombastic juror) near the end of the show.
**warning don't read if you don't like spoilers. While I'm not sure if the following is a spoiler, the IMDb is pretty strict about spoiling movies in reviews. They say I will be blacklisted. Whatever, you've been warned, now back to the best part of the movie.**
Juror #3 says, "I'll kill you!" or "I'm gonna kill you" or something like that and Juror #8 says, "You don't really mean that do you?" Then Juror #3 gets this wonderful sequence of expressions on his face of anger turning into confusion turning into disgust turning into defeat turning into confusion. Yeah, I think he shows confusion twice. He's initially confused at the rapidity and perspicacity of Juror #8's retort and then finally confused about how he could have been wrong all along. What is so brilliant about this sequence (aside from the wonderful acting - reminiscent of a scene in an episode of Quantum Leap where Sam sings "Imagine" to his younger sister and her expression goes through a sequence of changes - but boy is that way off-topic) is the setup and payoff. Juror #3 is so convinced the accused is guilty, especially since the accused was heard by someone (it's been a while since I've seen the movie so forgive me if I'm not entirely accurate here) to have said, "I'm gonna kill you" or "her" or whatever. Then Juror #8 lays a trap for #3 and he walks right in - and it's some good viewin'. See I didn't even spoil it all that much. I didn't even tell you how it ends. It ends well. Oops did I spoil it? 8/10
I don't know if this is considered a spoiler or not but the best part of the whole movie is the dramatic exchange between Juror #8 (the guy who thinks the accused might not be guilty) and Juror #3 (the bombastic juror) near the end of the show.
**warning don't read if you don't like spoilers. While I'm not sure if the following is a spoiler, the IMDb is pretty strict about spoiling movies in reviews. They say I will be blacklisted. Whatever, you've been warned, now back to the best part of the movie.**
Juror #3 says, "I'll kill you!" or "I'm gonna kill you" or something like that and Juror #8 says, "You don't really mean that do you?" Then Juror #3 gets this wonderful sequence of expressions on his face of anger turning into confusion turning into disgust turning into defeat turning into confusion. Yeah, I think he shows confusion twice. He's initially confused at the rapidity and perspicacity of Juror #8's retort and then finally confused about how he could have been wrong all along. What is so brilliant about this sequence (aside from the wonderful acting - reminiscent of a scene in an episode of Quantum Leap where Sam sings "Imagine" to his younger sister and her expression goes through a sequence of changes - but boy is that way off-topic) is the setup and payoff. Juror #3 is so convinced the accused is guilty, especially since the accused was heard by someone (it's been a while since I've seen the movie so forgive me if I'm not entirely accurate here) to have said, "I'm gonna kill you" or "her" or whatever. Then Juror #8 lays a trap for #3 and he walks right in - and it's some good viewin'. See I didn't even spoil it all that much. I didn't even tell you how it ends. It ends well. Oops did I spoil it? 8/10
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