Change Your Image
cn1793
Reviews
The Fighter (2010)
I did NOT like this movie
Unlike most of the IMDb reviewers, I did not like The Fighter. Perhaps if I had read the book or even read some of these reviews so I knew some of the background, I'd have understood it better--but I still would have wondered why anyone thought this movie needed to be made.
Haven't there been enough movies about underdog boxers who persevered until they came out on top? Haven't there been enough movies about drug addiction--and don't most of them make it plain right away that the addict is addicted, not the victim of having been hit a few too many times in the head? Haven't there been enough movies about overbearing, controlling mothers who would sacrifice their children if doing so suited their purposes? Haven't there been enough movies about dysfunctional families that are unemployed and just sit around the house minding each other's business? Rolling them into one movie does not a "fresh" approach make.
The redeeming feature of this film is the cast. Melissa Leo and Christian Bale take turns chewing the scenery. One of the recurring "jokes"--when "Dicky" dives out of the window (of what I found out too late to appreciate it was a crack house--I thought his racist mother objected to his having an Asian girlfriend) into the dumpster--provided some humanity to their characters. Their leaving the scene while singing "I Started a Joke" provided the most poignant moment in their on-screen relationship. Mark Wahlberg was much more understated, by contrast, to the point that my companion opined that "He was just playing himself." Amy Adams was spot-on with her portrayal of the hurt-to-the-core-but-still-spunky bartender cum girlfriend. Their scene with "Micky's" daughter provided their opportunity to show a human soft side. The exception is the "seven sisters," who were like a Greek chorus. I cringe to contemplate what the original Eklund/Ward sisters thought of the way they were portrayed on the screen.
Christian Bale looks much older than his actual age in this film, and he apparently lost a huge amount of weight again (after doing so for The Machinist). I hope he wins enough awards for this film to satisfy his ambition before he permanently damages his health!
I never could identify with any of the characters in The Fighter. I could never actually like any of them--they were either shrill, whacked out, displaying their worst behavior, committing crimes with nothing to redeem them, or generally providing a negative demeanor--so I never cared one way or the other about any of them. Considering that so many people found the movie entertaining, I have spent a lot of time analyzing why that was not true for me, and I have to conclude that the Eklund/Ward family is like a train wreck. It's awful, but a lot of people want to see every awful moment of it.
The Bounty Hunter (2010)
This is a Bad Movie.
I'm as likely as the next woman to lust for Gerard Butler on screen--he's usually handsome, intelligent, and charming. However, his character in this movie was none of the above. From disgusting nose-picking to psychological and verbal abuse of his ex-wife, his character exhibited no characteristic likely to make me want to shell out the price of a ticket to his next movie.
Jennifer Anniston is getting too old to succeed on "cute," "spunky," and "vulnerable." She plays all three to the hilt in this film, but maybe she should have read the script all the way through before agreeing to appear.
Why did we not demand our money back and go to something with more class and wit and plausibility, such as maybe "The Last Airbender?" Christine Baranski. Her performance as Kitty, Jennifer Anniston's character's mother, was impeccable and was the one glittering light in this otherwise dim excuse for a romantic comedy.
Shadrach (1998)
Authentic and nostalgic
How refreshing it is to see a movie about northeastern North Carolina-southeastern Virginia that could actually have been filmed in the area and that features people who could actually have lived here! Well, it was a bit hard to believe that after living a hard life and birthing that many children, Andie McDowell's character would still look young, thin, and pretty. If I thought it would make me look like that, I'd take up drinking beer.
Amazingly, Harvey Keitel is believable as the irascible father, and his accent is even tolerable. Perhaps what is amazing is his versatility as an actor, since he was also believable as Baines in "The Piano," Auggie in "Smoke" and "Blue in the Face," the police detective in "Thelma and Louise," and all those heavies in all those gangster films.
What should you expect if you view this film? A glimpse at what this part of the world looked like before WWII and farm-to-market roads and typhoid shots and birth control; a child's-eye view of growing up in a rural family in the Depression; a story about doing what's right. I liked it.
Crazy in Alabama (1999)
A disappointing treatment of an outstanding book
The plot was fresh and funny; the supporting characters were excellent (particularly David Morse and Lucas Black); the adaptation kept the essence of Mark Childress' book. So why didn't the movie work? Perhaps Melanie Griffith should avoid dark hair; it makes her look sick and old and malnourished. Perhaps subtleties of expression or movement are lost on a director who's "not from around here" and doesn't appreciate "here" anyway. At any rate, the book was a buoyant look at absurdity arising from tragedy and an affirmation that good will triumph over evil, eventually, although perhaps not in the way we'd have expected. The film falls flat.
I was amazed that IMDB voters gave this film a higher rating than "Crimes of the Heart," which had a similar plot (Babe Botrell shoots and hospitalizes philandering husband, uses the "he needed killing" defense; her entire family's reaction makes up the action). "Crimes of the Heart" was hilariously funny; "Crazy in Alabama" might have been but wasn't.