Movie Reviews
Recent movies I saw and would recommend...
"Open Range" -- ***1/2
Starring Robert Duvall, Kevin Costner, Annette Benning
Directed by: Kevin Costner
Kevin Costner's successes in the film-making industry are few and far between. His western, Dances with Wolves, remains one of my favourite movies of all time and is a classic. Since then, his resume has been filled with failure and money thrown down the drain. Costner has finally returned to the formula that made him successful and respected as a director and film-maker, the Western. In Open Range, he smartly does not cast himself as the lead, but more as the second-fiddle to the Duvall character. Duvall's character is a grizzled, old, experienced cattle ranger and Costner's character is his hired hand and companion. Duvall's character is somewhat of a mentor to Costner's character. As open grazers, they are not welcome by a town they stumble upon and all-out war ensues when the town sheriff shoots one of Duvall's hired men. The Annette Benning character, the sister of the doctor that treats Duvall's injured men, plays the love interest for the Costner character. I enjoyed the film for its scope, for its ambition, and its sensitivity. The attraction between the Costner and Benning characters was handled very tastefully and sensitively, without jumping to conclusions like many other love stories unfold in other movies. The character development was deep for both the Duvall and Costner characters and the action sequences, particularly the finale gunfight, were handled with skill and precision. The storyline is somewhat simple, but Costner's directing takes a simple story and keeps us interested through the beautiful scenery and our involvement with the characters. The screenplay was well-written, with dialogue that outsteps the boundaries of cheesiness. Highly recommended.
"Glengarry Glen Ross" -- ***1/2
Starring Al Pacino, Jack Lemmon, Alec Baldwin, Kevin Spacey, Ed Harris
Directed by David Mamet
I decided to watch this movie after hearing it mentioned on the movie "Boiler Room". I enjoyed Boiler Room very much and I can see now that it got its inspiration from Glengarry. The movie follows a bunch of salesmen, selling property that nobody wants to buy. The salesmen are performing poorly and the company in charge sends in Alec Baldwin's character, a hot-shot salesman from downtown, to give a "pep talk" so to speak to motivate them. Baldwin gets top billing in the credits but only has a 20-minute role. He makes the most of his 20 minutes, however, delivering a very memorable and intense monologue. Baldwin chews up the scene and abuses well-respected acting icons in Lemmon, Pacino, Spacey, and Harris while at the beginning of his career. I'm impressed, that took guts. The movie's simple story involves the theft of important leads to clients. With their employment threatened, it's anyone's guess who could have stolen the leads. This movie made me admire the acting abilities of these screen legends even more. Pacino has always been a favourite of mine, with the ability to turn the most boring dialogue into something fit for an Oscar. I have newfound respect for Jack Lemmon (who was before my time) and Spacey and Harris turn in top-notch performances as well. This movie is worth watching for the acting performances alone and I'd definitely recommend it to any movie fan that appreciates good acting and a refined dialogue.
"Spartan" -- ***1/2
Starring Val Kilmer
Directed by David Mamet
Spartan is a smart political thriller of espionage and deceit starring Val Kilmer. The film follows a loyal Special Ops agent (Kilmer) sent into the field to rescue the kidnapped daughter of the president. As Kilmer's character becomes more involved with the investigation, he discovers a trail of cover-ups and betrayal. Well-paced, written with excellent dialogue, and well-directed with a solid screenplay, this film is a solid political thriller. I normally don't enjoy Val Kilmer in movies, but he does a good job with this one.
"24" -- ****
Starring Kiefer Sutherland
While not a movie per say, I have recently gotten hooked by this television show. Essentially, it's a 24-hour movie that's densely packed with multiple storylines that intersect, top-notch production values, very respectable acting performances, and such a high level of tension and suspense that you won't want to wait a week before the next episode. I caught all of season 1 and this is without a doubt, one of the coolest television series to hit the tube since the original CSI. Essentially, each episode depicts one hour of the longest 24 hours of Jack Bauer's (Sutherland) life. Bauer is head of a Counter-Terrorist Unit that has recently gotten news of a threat to assassinate the African-American senator running for presidency. As the plot unravels and puts us through many plot twists and red herrings, we follow the lives of Jack, his wife and child, and the senator. Eventually, the threat on the senator's life is linked to Jack, and the wife and daughter are in danger as well. Very intense, very cool, very exciting... which got me very hooked! Can't wait to check out seasons 2 and 3.
"Open Range" -- ***1/2
Starring Robert Duvall, Kevin Costner, Annette Benning
Directed by: Kevin Costner
Kevin Costner's successes in the film-making industry are few and far between. His western, Dances with Wolves, remains one of my favourite movies of all time and is a classic. Since then, his resume has been filled with failure and money thrown down the drain. Costner has finally returned to the formula that made him successful and respected as a director and film-maker, the Western. In Open Range, he smartly does not cast himself as the lead, but more as the second-fiddle to the Duvall character. Duvall's character is a grizzled, old, experienced cattle ranger and Costner's character is his hired hand and companion. Duvall's character is somewhat of a mentor to Costner's character. As open grazers, they are not welcome by a town they stumble upon and all-out war ensues when the town sheriff shoots one of Duvall's hired men. The Annette Benning character, the sister of the doctor that treats Duvall's injured men, plays the love interest for the Costner character. I enjoyed the film for its scope, for its ambition, and its sensitivity. The attraction between the Costner and Benning characters was handled very tastefully and sensitively, without jumping to conclusions like many other love stories unfold in other movies. The character development was deep for both the Duvall and Costner characters and the action sequences, particularly the finale gunfight, were handled with skill and precision. The storyline is somewhat simple, but Costner's directing takes a simple story and keeps us interested through the beautiful scenery and our involvement with the characters. The screenplay was well-written, with dialogue that outsteps the boundaries of cheesiness. Highly recommended.
"Glengarry Glen Ross" -- ***1/2
Starring Al Pacino, Jack Lemmon, Alec Baldwin, Kevin Spacey, Ed Harris
Directed by David Mamet
I decided to watch this movie after hearing it mentioned on the movie "Boiler Room". I enjoyed Boiler Room very much and I can see now that it got its inspiration from Glengarry. The movie follows a bunch of salesmen, selling property that nobody wants to buy. The salesmen are performing poorly and the company in charge sends in Alec Baldwin's character, a hot-shot salesman from downtown, to give a "pep talk" so to speak to motivate them. Baldwin gets top billing in the credits but only has a 20-minute role. He makes the most of his 20 minutes, however, delivering a very memorable and intense monologue. Baldwin chews up the scene and abuses well-respected acting icons in Lemmon, Pacino, Spacey, and Harris while at the beginning of his career. I'm impressed, that took guts. The movie's simple story involves the theft of important leads to clients. With their employment threatened, it's anyone's guess who could have stolen the leads. This movie made me admire the acting abilities of these screen legends even more. Pacino has always been a favourite of mine, with the ability to turn the most boring dialogue into something fit for an Oscar. I have newfound respect for Jack Lemmon (who was before my time) and Spacey and Harris turn in top-notch performances as well. This movie is worth watching for the acting performances alone and I'd definitely recommend it to any movie fan that appreciates good acting and a refined dialogue.
"Spartan" -- ***1/2
Starring Val Kilmer
Directed by David Mamet
Spartan is a smart political thriller of espionage and deceit starring Val Kilmer. The film follows a loyal Special Ops agent (Kilmer) sent into the field to rescue the kidnapped daughter of the president. As Kilmer's character becomes more involved with the investigation, he discovers a trail of cover-ups and betrayal. Well-paced, written with excellent dialogue, and well-directed with a solid screenplay, this film is a solid political thriller. I normally don't enjoy Val Kilmer in movies, but he does a good job with this one.
"24" -- ****
Starring Kiefer Sutherland
While not a movie per say, I have recently gotten hooked by this television show. Essentially, it's a 24-hour movie that's densely packed with multiple storylines that intersect, top-notch production values, very respectable acting performances, and such a high level of tension and suspense that you won't want to wait a week before the next episode. I caught all of season 1 and this is without a doubt, one of the coolest television series to hit the tube since the original CSI. Essentially, each episode depicts one hour of the longest 24 hours of Jack Bauer's (Sutherland) life. Bauer is head of a Counter-Terrorist Unit that has recently gotten news of a threat to assassinate the African-American senator running for presidency. As the plot unravels and puts us through many plot twists and red herrings, we follow the lives of Jack, his wife and child, and the senator. Eventually, the threat on the senator's life is linked to Jack, and the wife and daughter are in danger as well. Very intense, very cool, very exciting... which got me very hooked! Can't wait to check out seasons 2 and 3.
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