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Menri11433
Reviews
I Care a Lot (2020)
First review in 20 years because of this dumb movie
The first half of the film is incredible. It then rapidly turns into something terrible. Our lead character, who the film establishes as an awful human being, suddenly becomes a gritty anti-hero, so tough and cunning she can take on the Russian mob single-handedly. At the same time, the mob becomes a cartoonishly inept enterprise out of the Three Stooges. Most members of organized crime are elementary school drop-outs prone to drug use and brutal short-term violence to get what they want. In this movie, they occupy downtown skyscrapers and stage elaborate, silly confrontations like James Bond villains of the 60's and 70's. By the time these confrontations are happening, I am so beyond the point of rooting for Marla that the film becomes, well, boring. It all feels very pandering and slapped together, and the experience of seeing something so promising become so silly is frustrating. My wife and I debated whether this was the original story or the results of an ill-fated re-write; maybe several re-writes? Who knows. I changed the thumb's up Netflix rating during a bathroom break midway to a thumb's down at the conclusion.
Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby (2006)
Shockingly unfunny...seriously....
I couldn't even sit through this. I thought Talledega Nighs would be better than "Anchorman"; instead, and sadly, this movie actually takes itself quite seriously. Yes, it is a comedy, and yes there is one great vintage Ferrell scene (the "grace" sequence is laugh-out-loud, albeit a lot of lines seem to be shortened from what I remember in the previews).
The movie, and especially the writers, drop the ball here. Extended dramatic scenes, character development, love interests....not to mention the fact the film is one big rip-roarin' infomercial for how excitin' an' cool Nascar is. I was nervous when I first heard the producers mention in an interview they got "permission" from Nascar to do this movie. That's never a good sign and this movie confirmed it. Nascar, something that has cried out for satire for years now, is put on a pedestal and made the spring board for straight-faced action sequences. Yes, action sequences!! If you like the standard big-budget, play-it-safe Hollywood comedy...here ya go. The sharp wit and unpredictability of Anchorman is no where to be found here.
Very disappointing.
Andersonville (1996)
Solid film, but nothing stellar
Good movie, some electric acting and action scenes, but drifts into the arena of silly on more than a handful of occasions.
Gotta disagree with some of "historynut"'s points....for one, I think the TV Guide review of this film hit the nail on the head with regards to the acting: "the performances have the subtlety of sports broadcasting". And that excludes Jan Triska's performance as Captain Wirtz, which I think stole the film along with William Sanderson and Freddy Coffin. All three are over-the-top performances, but each actor knew how to pull it off. The main group of "heroes", however, played up everything they could to IMAX-scale proportions. Oftn to the point where sometimes....well, cartoonish wouldn't too far off in describing it.
And as far as the use of reenactors, Frankenheimer does use them very well here, as mentioned by historynut. Where it slips away from him seem to be the stunts...check out the prisoner v.s. raider brawl, led by Limber Jim. There's some play-fighting going on that has not been seen since my high school production of West Side Story.
And as far as past reenactor usage in film...I agree they were used well in Glory. I also agree that reenactors were used not-so-well in "Gettysburg". However, for all its instrinsic faults, Maxwell seemed to have learned his lesson when using reenactors in "Gods and Generals". There was a FAR more strict screening process in the casting of onscrean reenactors than in "Gettysburg" (I, too, participated in that film). As well, and perhaps most importantly, Maxwell did not let ANY reenactor attempt his own "death" or even "maiming" in any of the major battle shots without prior expressed permission by him, his A.D. or his stunt coordinator. When reenactors were chosen to "get hit", they were then properly coached in how to take a death fall, and placed strategically away from the actors and stuntmen. "Gods and Generals" also had a much higher production value than here, but that goes with the huge budget the film had.