Reviews

The problem with Neill Blomkamp's last film was that it came from absolutely nowhere for paying people like me & floored us. Obviously. we all asked how was he going follow that act?

The answer to that question is "pretty damn well". "Elysium" gives him bigger stars & a bigger set of toys to work with & probably gives his buddy, Sharlto Copley, a bigger paycheck.

This is a constantly entertaining BIG sci-fi film filled great visuals, interesting characters & a very satisfying story with as much political subtlety as a Michael Moore film.

So what if Jodie Foster is rather one-dimensional as a villainous "suit" (think "Avatar's" Quaritch wearing Armani)? She makes that one dimension very entertaining. Matt Damon may not be Bourne-terrific here but he is fine form nevertheless. His "Max" has a story we actually care about. The two standout performances here are Wagner Moura as the computer ace, Spider & Copley as the hit-man/machine/sociopath/mercenary, Kruger. Unlike the two idiot scientist who almost ruined "Pacific Rim" for me, Moura has fun with the role without ever making fun of the role. There is hardly any humor in this movie, but that doesn't make it a downer. Copley has a voice & a way of speaking that I'm sure seems very strange to anybody living in the western half of the U.S. As he showed in "District 9" & the terrific "Europa Report"(his other "E" sci-fi movie this summer) he has a unique screen presence that always holds our attention. I don't know if this makes him a particularly good actor, but he is fun to watch. Kruger is written as a scary guy & Copley makes him one.

Blomkamp keeps things moving at a fast pace that never seems rushed. There is only one fight scene that seems a bit like overkill (unlike just about all the fight scenes in "Man Of Steel" -which I otherwise loved). There is fairly bloody stuff going on throughout this movie. One scene nearly matches the infamous self-abortion in "Prometheus". The gore flashes in front of you quickly & never lingers. Just keep the kids home.

This movie is probably not going to go over very well with people who keep their bank accounts on the Cayman Islands, but for the rest of us it is rollicking entertainment

This new ST movie lacks the freshness & surprise factor of the franchise's reboot. (The last ST succeeded way beyond our expectations.)

However, it is still a blast to watch. The characters play off each other beautifully, Burt Cumberbatch makes a great villain, the script inverts (subverts?) things in surprising & satisfying ways and there is just the right amount of sly humor to go with your popcorn.

I was most surprised by how heavy & philosophical this movie got at times. Star Trek has never tried to hide its humanistic beliefs. That's what has helped make this such a viable & potent franchise over ALL of these years & virtually forced its resurrections by it fan base. (BTW: I don't call myself a Trekkie --Trekker?-- not that there is anything wrong with that.)

The negative backlash is unwarranted & it definitely has a right to exist. All I know is that I got my money's worth of way above entertainment.

If I could nominate 6 movies for my top 5 slots then this film (along with "The Sessions") would fill that 5th slot.

This is one cool, hip, droll & clever movie that revels in it independence without being arty-(youknowwhat). It is emphatically not a thriller but it stays one step ahead of you to the finish. Derek Connolly & Colin Trevorrow work as writer & director as seamlessly as DNA molecules.

None of this works without winning performances by Aubrey Plaza, Mark Duplass (who is also in the year's best film, "Zero Dark Thirty"), Jake Johnson& Karan Soni. Their characters could've so easily been stock rom-com types that are turned upside down, but Treverrow & Connolly don't destroy the apple cart. They let quite a few of them loose. It's Twilight Zone conventional. If there is an antonym to "oxymoronic" this movie defines it.

This is a really sweet movie for people who are sweetness-adverse. The sci-fi element is almost a con. It reminds me a lot of a great Nicholas Meyer movie released decades ago called "Time After Time". This movie is in that league. It's a movie for all but the dimmest of wits.

(First off I'll say that anybody giving this film less than 7/10 is a f**king idiot although the 1st Amendment stills applies to y'all. Go back to GlenBeckistan & wait for Ahnuld's new movie.)

Kathryn Bigelow/Mark Boal's follow up to their Oscar winning "The Hurt Locker" is as tightly focused as that intense thriller but not nearly as exciting because it paints a much broader canvas over a much greater amount of time.

This film reminds me of Alan J. Pakula's 1976 film "All The President's Men"in pacing, tone & brains. ZDT is a procedural depicting digging for clues & evidence discovery. It invites the audience to go along on the process that includes trust issues & backing off & pushing on. Though it may not be as flat entertaining as the excellent "Argo" (& "Lincoln") it is very compelling material that Bigelow expertly depicts.

I think that Jessica Chastain is fantastic as Maya who drives the whole "hunt for Bin Laden" along at some great personal costs. Her face often captures the pain that goes along with the gain.

Bigelow & Boal treat the audience as adults --smart adults-- by not spelling out everything in bold capital letters & black & white. The climatic raid that finally gets UBL plays out in very matter-of-fact manner. It seems almost slo-mo at times but it shows military expertise that has already been played out hundreds --if not, thousands-- of times in training& actual operations on the battle field. I don't remember ever seeing a climax staged in this way. It is a virtuoso effort by a director at the top of her game who is not afraid to change things up.

This is a tough film to categorize. I think of it as a "compeller" rather than a "thriller", but I was caught up in it every single second.

Steven Spielberg, America's greatest movie director, has made over 20 feature films. He's had a few misses, but mostly he's been very good to excellent & he's had a few outright classics & "Lincoln" is one of those classics.

Daniel Day-Lewis gives one of those very few hype-proof performances. No matter how much praise you have heard about his portrayal of the 16th President Of The United States you are still not quite prepared for it (reminding me of Heath Ledger's work as "The Joker" in this regard). His Lincoln is very lived in, worn but not worn down, looking like the weight of the nation is upon his shoulders & looking strong enough to bear up under it. He's funny, warm, calculating, coarse, smarter than most, but wise enough to know he doesn't have all the answers. He has a code that will not break. Day-Lewis's turns in a performances that rates alongside Pacino's Michael Corleone & Ledger's villainous turn as my all-time favorite.

However there are other great performances in this film, most notably by Tommy Lee Jones as a crucial ally to get the 13th Amendment passed during the final weeks of Lincoln's life that the film covers. Every key actor in this prodigious cast has a moment or two that stuns.

None of this is possible without a script by Tony Kushner that may even surpass Day-Lewis's work. It features more than a few speeches written with a love of the language--of English & the English of that time-- rarely heard anywhere in America & they are often thrillingly delivered by a cast up to the challenge. It is also rich in irony (I don't think the Democratic Party during this period would've won the "black vote".)

So all that Spielberg has to do is yell "Action!" & "Cut!". Of course it's not that simple. The great gift of a great director is to know how much guidance is needed to get the job done. There are no obvious Spielberg moments here (like another Kushner scripted movie, "Munich", that he directed), but you know that you're in the hands of a cinematic master.

John Williams' score is subtle. Michael Kahn's cutting let the moments breathe without ever dragging out too long. Janusz Kaminski has said that he merely let his cinematography "serve the story", but he's being a bit too humble. His shots are a stunning parade of shadows & natural light. They don't call attention themselves but, nevertheless, it is a beautiful movie to watch. The set design, costumes, art direction & everything else are Oscar worthy.

"Lincoln" isn't a movie you "should" see (although you should) it is a movie you'll want to see. Despite it lack of physical action it is every bit as entertaining as "Argo" & "The Dark Knight Rises".

This just a flat out enjoyable film that crackles with suspense, intrigue, intelligence (literally & figuratively) & some very sly humor. It also may be the year's best film.

This outrageous tale of hostage rescue would be impossible to believe if it weren't true & that alone makes it a lot of fun to watch. However the fun is weighted down by the seriousness of what is at stake --real lives in real situations. This is first & foremost a very serious film that doesn't ignore the lunacy of its plot. I can't remember a film that had it both ways -- being both very tense & wickedly funny at times-- & gotten away with it like "Argo" does.

Chris Terrio's script will be studied in film school. Director Affleck has been really good & really really good before ("Gone Baby Gone" & "The Town" were hugely enjoyable), but here takes another big step forward by taking a wild, woolly, huge story & making it look so easy. The movie begins with a lollapalooza hostile takeover of the U.S. embassy in Iran (a great sequence that tops even the action scenes in "The Town") then dials that energy down a bit with never losing its tension & momentum. It also pulls off the trick that "Apollo 13" did by keeping us on edge with a story whose outcome was decided decades ago.

On top of all of this are some very good, if not, great work by the actors. Alan Arkin should be a lock for a Supporting Actor nomination & Bryan Cranston should be considered too. Both have the benefit of having some of the best lines in a screenplay full of them & make the most of them. Affleck is suitably restrained as the CIA ex-filtration agent who is the fulcrum of the heroics here. That restraint is key in making his command of the situation believable without question. John Goodman is in fine form as well.

I left the theater with a lump in my throat & damp eyes. It is that kind of movie.

Imagine if James Ellroy, Raymond Chandler or James M.Cain had written a sci-fi movie then we'd have the 1st half of "Looper". Now imagine if Terence Malick had written & directed a sci-fi movie then we'd have the 2nd hour of "Looper".

The first hour is sci-fi noir almost as visionary as "Bladerunner". It is sharp, nasty, thrilling, brutal & inventive. Rian Johnson does such a great job with cracking dialog, cracking visuals & sharp cuts that it almost kills me to say that when this movie goes out to pasture it just about "buys the farm".

"The Departed" died when Nicholson's character croaked. This film almost dies when it goes into a field of bad dreams. Its pacing completely changes. A head rush becomes a marathon.

The performances are well above par. Joseph Gordon-Levitt can carry a film as he proves here. (His work in "The Dark Knight Rises" had surprising gravitas.) Bruce is Bruce. The make-up didn't distract me one bit due to the acting. To say that Jeff Daniels is under-appreciated has become a cliché.

I give this movie a 11/10 for the 1st hour & a 5/10 for its 2nd hour. The math loop adds to 16/20 = 8/10 (=4/5 for you math teachers).

Mr. Johnson, can you keep the same editor for the entire movie next time?

If any movie deserves a Medal of Valor or an "A" for Effort this year I doubt there'll be a movie any more deserving than this one.

TBL is a really cool movie that is a lot of fun to watch, really well acted & directed. The script is convoluted but so what? It's not like the other "Bourne" films were lessons in straight ahead plotting & that is part of their appeal. You must pay attention to them.

Renner is an excellent choice to carry the "Bourne" DNA. In this movie the best plot twist is that he does it & very well. Rachell Weisz is the other best addition to the "Bourne" mythos. She is a lot of fun to watch.

The set pieces are waaay better than I thought they'd be. The sci-fi element is totally plausible & welcome.

HOWEVER, Paul Greengrass & Matt Damon raised the bar so high in the 2 prior Bourne movies you had to know that it couldn't be beat. It isn't here & not due to lack of effort.

There are nuances that Damon brought to character --a certain wistfulness, melancholy, doomed acceptance-- that Renner got better at capturing as this movie went on. This is Renner's best role since "The Town" & he makes a lot of it.

I guess the thing I miss most about this version of the legacy is what drives a lot of people nuts about director Paul Greengrass. I love his style of directing. His unfairly maligned visceral style really keeps me on the edge of my seat & joyfully off-balance. That jittery feeling is mostly lacking here & ergo about half of the adrenaline rush --but miraculously only half.

If you can separate TBL from the other "Bournes" then this is a movie that rates higher than the 7 stars I give it.

It's taken me awhile to fully digest this beautiful & tension wrought epic of chaos descending & grace ascending.

If Christopher Nolan hasn't topped himself with this 3rd Batman film he sure as heck has come close.

Christian Bale's Wayne/Batman carries this film as much as he does the 1st of the trilogy with a haunting performance that damn well better get at least a nomination for Lead Actor.

Anne Hathaway's Selina Kyle ("Catwoman" is never said here) is as much fun to watch as Michelle Pfieffer's iconic turn in the same role in 1992. She is a real kick to behold for Catwoman fans like me.

Joseph Gordon-Levitt's idealistic cop Blake may be the biggest surprise here. His acting is not the surprise (this guy has already proved his chops) but the weight of his role is. I don't remember seeing Levitt with as much gravitas as he has here.

Tom Hardy's Bane is truly terrifying. He delivers two of the most brutal beatings I've seen lately in film & certainly tops anything I've ever seen in this genre. Bane doesn't get under your skin like Ledger's Joker. Bane can be explained --he has a cause-- while The Joker defies explanation.

Marion Cotillard is in the mystery role & is every bit as good as she was in "Inception".

Sir Micheal Caine, Gary Oldman & Morgan Freeman are all in top form too.

The movie drags a bit during the first half of the third act but then recovers with a heart-stopping &, finally, elegiac ending that moved me to tears. This maybe the most heartfelt film Nolan has ever made (although "Inception" was pretty bloody moving). As gigantic as this movie is (Nolan has really improved as a director of action) it ends on a very wistful, beautiful & poetic note.

The production values are off the scale. Try to catch this film in IMAX because it is astonishing.

Starz! is starting to give HBO a run for their money in original programming. Their Spartacus series is one of my all time "guilty pleasures".

But "Boss" ups the ante considerably with this deadly serious & very dark melodrama of politics in Chicago.

Forget "Frasier Crane", Kelsey Grammar has the role of a lifetime playing the titular character of Mayor Tom Kane & he knocks it completely out of the park with somber rhetoric, explosive rages & double dealings. When he is on the screen he dominates it.

Of course, given the talent of series creator Farhad Sarfinia maybe the only task of Grammar's was not to screw it up. Either way it works brilliantly.

The supporting cast is excellent. The plot lines are labyrinthine without ever becoming lost.

If you like compelling drama about dirty politics & politicians you will thoroughly enjoy these 1st 8 episodes --the 1st season.

WOW! This is a much better film than a lot of the "lame stream media" has given it credit for.

Andrew Stanton's jump into live action is every bit as enjoyable as his excellent animated films like "Wall*E" & "Finding Nemo".

This fantastical tale of warring Martians clans & an American Civil War calvary man who inexplicably gets caught up in the middle of it all is strictly for romantics who want a rollicking good time at the theater.

The acting is universally fine with leading man, Taylor Kitsch, commanding it with all the authority his role demands. Actors like Willem Dafoe & Thomas Hayden Church shine although they're completely unrecognizable as 12 foot tall green 4-armed Tharks.

The effects are constantly breathtaking. Mars/Barsoom has never looked so thrillingly un-Earth(Jarsoom)like.

Despite its over 2 hour length this movie never dragged.

The script & dialog are far better than the so-called critics say it is.

I burned through the book last summer, loved its almost quaint treatment about all things sci-fi, honor, loyalty & love. This movie did not let me down. Stanton has taken his passion for the material & has produced a movie that is much more entertaining than Peter Jackson's equally lovingly produced & directed Lord Of The Rings trilogy.

I just hope Disney doesn't give up on this movie (as it looks like they will) because I really look forward to the next John Carter Of Mars film.

See this movie in 3-D.(The post conversion sets a new standard for such work.)

This movie does not belong in a cinema. It belongs in a museum of modern art running in a continuous loop. (At least "Melancholia" has a plot.)

Terrence Malick's ruminations on the difficulty of balancing Nature & Grace is beautiful bore.

There are images in this film that are as breathtaking as any I've ever seen in cinema.

The 19 minute sequence that depicts "Creation" is easily worthy of favorable comparison to "2001"'s "Voyage Beyond Infinity" sequence. I was practically floating out of my chair while watching --experiencing-- it.

It also features a couple of brief dinosaur scenes which surpass any in "Jurassic Park" in terms of sheer realization & beauty. This portion of the film was definitely worth the effort put into creating it.

BUT there are 2 other hours of this film which occasionally stir emotions & don't really connect to anything except Malick's own cosmic navel gazing.

I love "2001", "Walkabout', "Koyanniqatsi" & "Brazil". "The Tree Of Life" shares these films uniqueness & sense of wonder but didn't connect with me on a deeper level like them.

Call me a low brow, but I'll take "Caption America: The First Avenger" over this film any day.

This is a movie that aspires to be a great nilhlistic existential thrill ride into oblivion & falls well short of its aims.

But maybe I'm mistaken thinking this film has any aspirations. I kept waiting for "Drive" to rev up & it never really did. It has one pretty cool chase scene & a couple of other OK ones --stuff we've seen done much better in the "Bourne" movies, "The French Connection", "To Live & Die In L.A.", etc. It's like watching "Vanishing Point" never arriving at a point.

"Drive" has none.

The key problem is its lead. Ryan Gosling zombies through it all focused like a cat staring intently at some phantom object that none of us can see except this film's true believers who praise this movie like it's in the same class as "Heat" or "Collateral". There is a scene in which he puts on a rubber mask that has no real facial features & it conveyed the same amount of nuances & emotions that a maskless Gosling had been sharing with us all along.

A big deal has been made out of Albert Brook's turn at villainy. Like just about everything else here, Brook's is okay. (I'll take Paul Reiser's sleazeball in "Aliens" or Robin William's chilling dryness in "Insomnia" way over this.)

I felt bad for Carey Mulligan. Her soft edges never played off Gosling's blankness the way I think they were intended to. It makes me want to watch "Never Let Me Go" again.

And a key part of the soundtrack was lifted directly from last year's Oscar winning score for "The Social Network".

"Drive" steal from a lot of better genre films & it doesn't do it well.

The fact that this film ever got made with its troubled production history is a minor miracle, but due to Brad Pitt sticking with it did get made. His faith in the material was not misplaced. This film is a major success.

There hasn't been sports film this weird since "Field Of Dreams". Aside from the performances its pleasures lie elsewhere. The script makes numbers crunching amusing, there are jokes without punchlines, an unhurried pace which allows for potent pauses (as opposed to pregnant pauses) & a confidence in itself which is intoxicating. It also doesn't hurt to have Chris Nolan's Oscar winning cinema-photographer, Wally Pfister, adding what amounts to be almost another character to his shots.

Another odd choice was Bennett Miller who brings his art house smarts to this defiantly non-mainstream material. A team of underdogs hasn't been managed/directed this well since with as much success since the '88 Dodgers or the '02 Angels (I live in SoCal).

However, Brad Pitt & Philip Seymour Hoffman (he may be underused but he is great nevertheless) are certainly no underdogs. The Mickey Hatcher work here is done by Jonah Hill who soars in his first straight dramatic performance. It is understated & awkward & often very moving & funny because of its total lack of clichés. His execution of the role pretty much describes the whole movie.

BUT make no mistake about it this is Pitt's film. His quiet confidence & ease carries this film throughout & makes it an enormous pleasure to watch.

It may help you if you love baseball as much as I do or smart movie-making because "Moneyball" is an early Oscar contender.

The best thing I can say about this movie is that it made me appreciate "300" & "Watchmen" that much more. ("Watchmen" is a criminally under-rated movie. It is rates w/ "The Dark Knight" &"The Crow" as maybe the best movie based on a graphic novel ever.)

Zack Snyder is a victim of his own talent here. He present us --again-- with stunning visuals, but they don't add up to anything. His "women in peril" plot seems tired. Most critically I didn't care about any of the characters. The acting is rather by rote. I felt sorry for talents like Jena Malone & Carla Gugino for being stuck inside this candy coated empty shell. You could almost feel Snyder pulling back from delivering a knockout blow in order to deliver a PG-13 rating, but I don't think movie would've have benefited from that added freedom because it seemed so pointless.

It may prove to be the biggest disappointment of the year in cinema.

Nic should be caged for appearing in this dreck, but we all know he'll take any $$$ for all the debt he's acquired. This movie has the --rhymes with 'greyest"-- villain I've seen since "Quantum Of Solace". Madam Sonya Palm Reader could beat this Satan to a pulp. The only reason this movie rates a "1" is for the 3 nice looking birds who appear in various states of attire throughout.

The gore is forced although not really gratuitous for this sort of junk. Everything else is perfunctory except the final demise of said fey baddie which looks like an outtake from a '60's psychedelic movie.

This is my 10th qualifying line.

With the thought of another Niccol film due out this year I decided to catch up with this movie on cable.

After catching it I wondered how the heck did I passed on it in '02? This is a really fine & entertaining movie that makes fun of Hollywood so pointedly that I doubt that Niccol can get financing from inside the industry town.

The premise of a director who sees himself as Terrence Malick 2.0 tiring of working w/ actors who demand that all the red M&Ms be removed from their Jackson Pollack painted 8-wide trailers who creates a virtual no demand actor is really no longer science fiction. In 2011 that can be done.

Writer-director Andrew Niccol takes this premise, builds upon it & runs with it in very smart & funny ways. It proves that "Gattaca" & (his screenplay for) "The Truman Show" are not exceptions.

"S1mone" is not nearly as earnest as those 2 works. It shares their way above average intelligence, but is a lot funnier. In its 3rd act it exposes itself as a farce. If you accept this then you'll love this movie. If you wanted it to take the more tragic tone that it plays with then you'll be disappointed.

Oh, the movie stars Al Pacino in fine form that is not virtual --I think.

After living (because "experiencing" is too weak a word here) this film for the last 2 & 1/2 hours (the DVD extras are equal to the feature) I will not be able to see another combat film for a very very long time.

What Sebastian Junger & Tim Hetherington have captured with this doc may be the final word about soldiers in combat & their thoughts afterword.

Afghanistan has been called a place "where dynasties go to die". The men shown here mostly don't give a flying f**k about history or politics. All they are concerned about is getting one day closer to the end of their 15 month deployment in the most dangerous on Earth AND the guys on either side of them.

This is most clear-eyed view of fighting I've seen since (the excellent) "Gunner Palace". Junger/Hetherington put their own asses on the line getting their footage & wisely kept completely out of their own picture. It drags at times because it shows that fighting is about burning their own human waste, building dirt barriers & killing time before the next kill --a kill they rarely see. The interviews interlaced among the field footage are as riveting as the fighting.

BUT make no mistake the fighting is as hellaciously intense as "Black Hawk Down" & "...Ryan". However J/H pull back from the gore. There are PG-13 movies which are more graphic in their violence. The real "graphic" parts of this film are the emotions in the faces & the eyes of the men. Sometimes it is difficult to figure out what comes first: the man inside or the soldier outside.

Buy the DVD. The extras are huge.

Like others before me when I initially heard about this project I wondered what could a director as talented as David Fincher see in a Facebook movie? (I thought this was just a project to keep him busy before his take on "The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo".)

What Finch & writer Aaron Sorkin saw was an epic tale about human triumph & tragedy set in the digital age & pretty much encompassed in one man's soul. And now we see one of the very best films of the year. I rank it along with "Se7en" & "The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button" as one of Fincher's best films.

Jesse Eisenberg is spectacular as FB founder Mark Zuckerberg in the most complex performance of the year. He is an unsympathetic underdog & yet I found myself siding with him. He is not an anti-hero. I often root for anti-heroes. This guy is something different altogether. Know what? There is no small amount of Lisbeth Salander in him or his portrayal here.

But other actors shine here too: Andrew Garfield & Justin Timberlake (yeah, that Timberlake) hit it out of the park as the burned partner & the Svangeli.

Sorkin's script is a marvel of fast-paced dialog & is funny as hell. I never thought I'd be laughing as much as I did here. This is, by far, Fincher's funniest film.

Jeff Cronenweth's cinematography carries on his father's legacy proudly. The score by Trent Reznor & co. is the most inventive since Hans Zimmer's & James Newton Howard's "The Dark Knight".

The title of this movie could also serve as it's 1-word review. It is well worth watching if you are serious about films. But it very strong stuff that poses some serious questions about a subject that I don't like to think about; torture in the pursuit saving lives.

Samuel L. Jackson plays a shadowy U.S. Government operative who will go to any lengths to get info from a terrorist & his plot to blow up millions of people on our home soil. Michael Sheen (who memorably played David Frost in "Frost/Nixon") is that terrorist. Carrie-Anne Moss is an FBI agent caught in the middle of their deadly cat & mouse.

The movie's biggest strength is that we believe that Jackson's "H" is capable of doing ANYTHING to save innocent lives including the "unthinkable". Jackson, in words & action, really sells the role. This is some the best work he has ever done. Sheen shows why he is one of the most sought after actors today. Moss is strong as the movie's moral center -- a center that shows some very serious signs of disintegrating.

The tension is non-stop. The script is often heavy-handed, but for good reason. The direction is crisp & the editing sharp.

How this went straight to video echoes the question why last year's best picture Oscar winner got such poor distribution.

BE WARNED: the numerous torture scenes are very tough to take. They almost cross over into torture-porn (which I hate). I'm sure --I hope-- the filmmakers had plenty of debate about how far to take the violence. My usual disgust with such scenes was balanced by the way they drive home the debate of a very troubling issue.

I'm not ready to see this movie again anytime soon but I'm glad I saw it once.

I was almost giggling at the opening minutes of this film because I instantly knew that Paul Greengrass was doing it again & that was to send me through another hellacious thrill ride of a movie. That pace slows down a bit as things become very murky. The weight of what is at stake will erase that smile from your face.

The other thing about Greengrass is that you have to have your brain operating at a high level to really appreciate the gifts of this master. This is the smartest movie he has ever made (& that probably accounts for the lackluster opening weekend box office). It deals with big issues in a big way.

As another IMDBer noted the trailer makes it look like a Bourne rip-off. The only thing it shares with Bourne is the adrenaline rush those movies gave you (including Liman's excellent 1st Bourne). If Greengrass has a weakness it might be that he cannot resist making your pulse race.

This is a very political & complex thriller. (FOX news fans stay away --your time is better spent watching Beck's home webcam.) It wears it heart on its sleeve & makes no apologies for the stance it takes.

Matt Damon leads a very impressive cast of actors. He IS NOT Bourne here. It is a delight to see Brendan Gleeson & Amy Ryan here too & Greg Kinnear wears his reptile skin very well. Everybody seems to be underplaying things a bit to great effect. There are other actors from Greengrass's earlier films you may recognize including a cameo by a key player from what I think is Greengrass's best film "United 93".

The Greengrass team is at the top their game AGAIN, but I am so sick of people whining about the camera work in his films. It is edge-of-your-seat 1st person POV cinema --but then again I like to ski downhill really really fast too.

Ineviteably you can't help but to compare this movie to "The Hurt Locker" (which I also loved). This film is much bigger in scale, much more political (THL was almost totally devoid of politics), much less straight forward (although it doesn't have the open ending of the Oscar winner) & lacks the 1 signature iconic performance of the prior movie.

Disclaimer: I often think that movie makers DO get the books right at least 50% of the time (& sometimes they actually improve upon them).

This movie proved to be a really nice surprise.

I love the book & 20/20 piece did a nice job on the story so I felt I had already seen the movie. (So why spend $10 on it?)

The actor cast as Oher did not look intimidating enough (as he is initially portrayed in the book) to pull off the unlikely transition that is the key to this true story so I thought this would be Leigh Anne Touhy's story due to all the press about Sandra Bullock's performance in it.

I was wrong. Oher is the main character & Quinton Aaron proved more than capable of portraying this complex young man as I remember him in Michael Lewis's excellent prose. BUT it is also the Touhys' family story as well & Bullock well deserves the Oscar nom she is likely to get. Unfortunately for her & the movie it may too down-home-value oriented for her to get the statue.

The movie is schmaltzy, a bit corny & pushes some obvious emotional buttons (things I typically hate in a movie) but John Lee Hancock & his players never push too hard. The true story itself is incredible. The movie's makers know this & are smart enough not to over sell it --in fact they actually pull back from a scene on the football field that Lewis described in further detail when Oher finally decides enough is enough.

If you liked REMEMBER THE TITANS (which pushed buttons much further & got away with it) then you'll love this movie. It is one of the best of the year, but be quiet & don't tell "Hollywood" that.