It's not a bad film and I'm not one who was turned off or offended by the prospect of a woman becoming involved with her friend's son, because people can be motivated by very deep issues. HOWEVER... the connections just don't make sense. BOTH sons cross-seducing? With the families as close as they are supposed to be, and the sons like brothers... it might make sense for one mother or the other to come on to her friend's son, and the son to respond as a young man might. But casting the sons as seducers of each other's moms is just absurd. If the filmmakers wanted to make this plausible their scenario didn't work.
Reviews
7 Reviews
Left to Die
(2012 TV Movie)
well made film but...
18 January 2013
It's another in the "Americans are never guilty" parade of films. The notion that US citizens are always duped victims in drug smuggling cases is naive at best. While they may not deliberately smuggle drugs in all cases, having worked in travel for many years I can declare that US citizens can be extremely gullible when abroad and equally gullible that "I'm a US citizen" immunizes them from local laws. This is a quite nicely predictable "US citizen unjustly imprisoned" film, and all the predictable people are evil and in league against the poor US citizen. That Americans are naive does not mean they are immune to legal consequences. "I was suckered" is too frequently heard abroad to serve as a defense. And being familiar with Ecuadorian government and law, I can say that they are not exactly the rampant fascists portrayed in this film
Of Human Bondage
(1964)
Not terrible but not brilliant
6 September 2010
For all the complaints about Bette Davis' accent, I think the earlier version with Davis and Leslie Howard was much better at evoking the ratty edges of the story and the essence of the characters.
There seems to have been a strange "opposites day" bit of casting here. Kim Novak's Mildred appeared rather vulnerable in her ignorance and Laurence Harvey as Philip seemed much more calculating in the early scenes where he first was taken with her. Leslie Howard appeared rather pathetic in the same scenes, but Harvey seemed to have a sharper agenda. Yes it was turned on its head, but he didn't appear to be the poor little shut out clueless failure that Howard was so good at portraying.
Meh... worth watching to see how a story can be updated for more modern audiences than the '34 version, but stick with the original for the gritty stuff.
There seems to have been a strange "opposites day" bit of casting here. Kim Novak's Mildred appeared rather vulnerable in her ignorance and Laurence Harvey as Philip seemed much more calculating in the early scenes where he first was taken with her. Leslie Howard appeared rather pathetic in the same scenes, but Harvey seemed to have a sharper agenda. Yes it was turned on its head, but he didn't appear to be the poor little shut out clueless failure that Howard was so good at portraying.
Meh... worth watching to see how a story can be updated for more modern audiences than the '34 version, but stick with the original for the gritty stuff.
Eat Pray Love
(2010)
This. Movie. Sucks.
18 August 2010
Never read the book and thanks to this well-produced wretched film never will. The IMDb synopsis is inaccurate... you get no sense this broad is trying to have a kid or that her marriage has been failing. She one day decides she doesn't want it anymore and, props to the acting of Crudup, the husband has no reason to know why. Her subsequent lover is left with the same "huh?" moment. It's as if she needs to punish anyone who treats her well.
Only good looking men fall in love with Liz, and everyone admires her. She dumps her lovers and husband and the only friend that will tell her what she needs to hear, in the belief that "balance" lies so far outside herself that she has to travel the world (on a very tight schedule) to seek enlightenment. How she pays for it is never hinted at. And to have this bone-thin creature lecture another bone-thin creature on the need to "just enjoy eating, we can always buy a bigger pair of jeans" is insulting AND laughable. That the scene is followed by two bone-thin actresses faking attempts to "squeeze into" jeans is just insulting.
And the punch line? The woman who has wasted 2.5 hours of your life whining that everyone around her says she needs a man finally finds "balance"... by finding a man. And FYI EVERY man in this film is sensitive and caring. I have to say that the direction and very good supportive acting presents an effective image of all sorts of energetic life going on around Liz (and inviting her to be part of it) while she sits whining to herself in voice-over. But the unreality of EVERYONE LOVING HER is just a bit lame.
Fiction? Not much.
Oh, and why did I spend money to see this? A friend convinced me it would be great, and she is such a good friend and enjoyed it so much I will never tell her exactly how much I despised it. See? For people you care about sometimes you hold yourself back.
FYI Richard Jenkins is the only person Julia Roberts' Liz really connects to... and even that is ruined by a last-minute "Hollywood" moment. No spoiler here, you'll see it lumbering toward you like an elephant in the desert.
Only good looking men fall in love with Liz, and everyone admires her. She dumps her lovers and husband and the only friend that will tell her what she needs to hear, in the belief that "balance" lies so far outside herself that she has to travel the world (on a very tight schedule) to seek enlightenment. How she pays for it is never hinted at. And to have this bone-thin creature lecture another bone-thin creature on the need to "just enjoy eating, we can always buy a bigger pair of jeans" is insulting AND laughable. That the scene is followed by two bone-thin actresses faking attempts to "squeeze into" jeans is just insulting.
And the punch line? The woman who has wasted 2.5 hours of your life whining that everyone around her says she needs a man finally finds "balance"... by finding a man. And FYI EVERY man in this film is sensitive and caring. I have to say that the direction and very good supportive acting presents an effective image of all sorts of energetic life going on around Liz (and inviting her to be part of it) while she sits whining to herself in voice-over. But the unreality of EVERYONE LOVING HER is just a bit lame.
Fiction? Not much.
Oh, and why did I spend money to see this? A friend convinced me it would be great, and she is such a good friend and enjoyed it so much I will never tell her exactly how much I despised it. See? For people you care about sometimes you hold yourself back.
FYI Richard Jenkins is the only person Julia Roberts' Liz really connects to... and even that is ruined by a last-minute "Hollywood" moment. No spoiler here, you'll see it lumbering toward you like an elephant in the desert.
Chinese Box
(1997)
Perfect metaphor
17 January 2010
When I first saw Chinese Box, it was because I was a fan of Irons and Gong Li and the fact they were in the same film made it irresistible. Coincidentally I'm a world events hound and was well informed about the relationship between and history of Hong Kong and China, though that didn't factor into my seeing the film as I was unaware of its story. The actors were enough to attract me.
But oh my, I was more than stunned after seeing it! This worked on so many levels I'm amazed it didn't get more notice. Ah, well, that's what happens to truly substantial films far too often; they are shoved aside (in the US at least) by the flashy hyped stuff.
But oh my, I was more than stunned after seeing it! This worked on so many levels I'm amazed it didn't get more notice. Ah, well, that's what happens to truly substantial films far too often; they are shoved aside (in the US at least) by the flashy hyped stuff.
White Collar
(2009–2014)
Dr Mudd...
12 January 2010
Dr Mudd if you're looking for perfection on TV you are delusional.
I'm happy to see a series written with grownup dialogue and with a multilevel plot that a 12 year old could not have written. Big jump from the usual TV.
The lead makes me think of a young Tom Hanks. And his good looks do not get in the way of good acting, thank god. He doesn't fall back on blue eyes as an excuse to do nothing.
I also have to say that the marriage portrayed is very real in its everyday interaction.
Anyone whining about what the wine "really" was needs not to watch TV. The fact that this show grasps what country might be engaging in which criminal activity is enough for me, thanks.
I'm happy to see a series written with grownup dialogue and with a multilevel plot that a 12 year old could not have written. Big jump from the usual TV.
The lead makes me think of a young Tom Hanks. And his good looks do not get in the way of good acting, thank god. He doesn't fall back on blue eyes as an excuse to do nothing.
I also have to say that the marriage portrayed is very real in its everyday interaction.
Anyone whining about what the wine "really" was needs not to watch TV. The fact that this show grasps what country might be engaging in which criminal activity is enough for me, thanks.
The Rose
(1979)
Excellent film
22 March 2009
First-rate rock'n'roll road film.
When I saw it in the theaters the year it was released I was a. totally impressed by it as a film and b. totally sympathetic with Rose.
I have to say though that 10 years later as a manager and agent for musicians (not rock'n'roll and certainly not on the scale presented in the film) I had a whole new appreciation for people who possessed one undeniable talent yet made life hell for those who worked to help them make a living at it! Having managed one very popular high-end Irish booze-hungry performer who showed up when he felt like it ("I know when the sound check should be") and also felt free to book conflicting dates on his own when he felt the money would be better -- AFTER a contract had been signed! -- I felt huge sympathy for Rudge Campbell. Yes he might have been a little too money hungry but by god he was right when he "fired" her... once the contract is signed it's too late to change your mind.
Bottom line though is that this is a fine film and a very accurate record of how an unstable performer can run herself into the ground.
When I saw it in the theaters the year it was released I was a. totally impressed by it as a film and b. totally sympathetic with Rose.
I have to say though that 10 years later as a manager and agent for musicians (not rock'n'roll and certainly not on the scale presented in the film) I had a whole new appreciation for people who possessed one undeniable talent yet made life hell for those who worked to help them make a living at it! Having managed one very popular high-end Irish booze-hungry performer who showed up when he felt like it ("I know when the sound check should be") and also felt free to book conflicting dates on his own when he felt the money would be better -- AFTER a contract had been signed! -- I felt huge sympathy for Rudge Campbell. Yes he might have been a little too money hungry but by god he was right when he "fired" her... once the contract is signed it's too late to change your mind.
Bottom line though is that this is a fine film and a very accurate record of how an unstable performer can run herself into the ground.
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