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mihart-m
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Lawless (2012)
Shia Labeouf completely miscast
I enjoyed the story, it is a very interesting time in history. It could have been a great story. Some exceptional acting (namely Guy Pearce and Tom Hardy) really could have brought the story to life. Instead they centered more around Jack who is played by Shia LaBeouf. Because of that decision it is hard to root for the main character. Feel empathy, excitement, satisfaction. Emotionless.
I can't help wonder though why they thought Shia Labeouf (I have nothing against him in the right role) was a good fit for Jack. I'm not sure I have ever felt quite so strongly of a poor casting call. He was horrible as Jack. No depth, no heart, I could not feel for his character what-so-ever. Unfortunately this poor call ruined much of the movie for me.
Broke. (2009)
Who pawns their boots?
An interesting portrayal of an often-overlooked fragment of society. You find them in the shady segment of communities; neighborhoods where they are a need. It is that need that gives off the seedy perception to pawn shops. They enable addicts and crooks. They pray on the down trodden.
Many arguments can be made for both sides of the pawnshop coin. This film is about neither. It is about veiled humanity. While Mr. Woolfson is blunt to his customers, he does so in a neither a judgemental nor a condescending way. Many he sees over and over, knows their stories, their addictions. While he admonishes them, he never talks down to them.
When someone walks with their prized possessions and pride into a pawnshop and pawn's them in order to put food on the table he counsels them with dark humour.
While a lot of pawn shops are trying to 'clean' up their act and maintain an esthetically pleasing shopping experience, David Woolfson's shop is a character in itself. It is crammed, floor to ceiling, inch after inch of wall space, with STUFF. It seems he takes in much, much more than actually leaves.
Watch this film and hopefully you will walk away with a different perception, but if nothing maybe a little compassion.
***As a side note. In early 2010, after filming, David Woolfson was beaten by a hatchet in his store. 3 customers found him unconscious and called 911. He has survived and has since sold the store.
Finder's Fee (2001)
Pleasantely Surprised
With Jeff Probst as director, I didn't have high expectations. The premise sounded interesting so I thought I would give it a go.
Happily, this movie was much more than I expected. Enough for me to write my first movie review. And look for the next movie by Probst. I would recommend this to anyone and glad to have it in my collection.
The premise of a young man, who is shown to be thoughtful and caring , who finds a wallet containing a winning lottery ticket and the turmoil within that ensues. The plot was realistic, set in real time, with what I consider to some very real decisions and choices by real characters. There were some good plot turns that weren't expected which is always a nice treat keeping the movie moving - I never thought "ok lets move on".
These were real characters, in which I could see a lot of my friends in. They were quickly set up and I found that great. The lead character, Tepper, was well acted by Erik Palladino, in which you could relate to his turmoil. Matthew Lillards character was obnoxious - a little over the top, but well acted. He definitely could have been toned down. I felt that he was given too much camera time and not enough to Ryan Renyolds character. Quigley should have been more developed - it was as though he was thrown into the cast at the last minute - possibly to give the movie a little more "star power".
The movie is not perfect, but then there never is. Most of the holes that others pointed out, I felt were mainly due to bad choices by the characters. As in real life, we make bad decisions at the time or someone else may see that we made a bad decision. These weren't flaws where you say "that is impossible". Personally I found this movie to be thought provoking, and many of the reviews over-analyzed it, missing the point.
NOTE: I personally like the "redial" scene, as it made me think - it wasn't in my face like a country song.
If I had to pick 1 thing I didn't like...it was probably the twist at the end. I like a subtle clue or 2 where you say at some point in the movie, "I wonder if".