Reviews

Standard Hollywood big-budget "non-conformists save the world from the nasty military" fare. These buffoons follow the same old template which has a cast of "heroes" who are all anti-authoritarian and humanitarian, but have enormous egos and fight and scratch, but of course all make up and kiss (and, thankfully, some of them die) before the movie blessedly ends. As usual, the U.S. Military is an evil and ruthless group which is responsible for an unbelievably kooky world disaster, and the eventual story is told at their expense by a beanpole teenage punk who knows more about computers than the collective Microsoft brain trust. The people that made this movie should be shipped to the core of the Earth, and not let back up until they are ready to apologize and get real jobs.

I thought this was a well done film, and it reminded me of having read the novel about 15 years ago, as well as what a good writer Ludlum could be (he could also be pretty bad, as in The Chancellor Manuscript), but the film was nowhere near as intricate and interesting as the novel. To be fair, there is no way a two hour movie can capture a book of over 500 pages that never lets up on the action. Franka Potente was superb, as was Clive Owen. What I can't believe is the number of people gushing over Matt Damon, who is (a) unbelievable as an assassin because he is so wimpy, and (b) an incredibly BAD actor. As a critic once said about the young Katherine Hepburn, Damon "runs the gamut of emotions from A to B." He is the one glaring hole in the cast, and it is too bad that among the three chief cast members, he is the American. He may be able to write or produce, but all the praise for his acting is just another case of "The Emperor's New Clothes," much like his equally talentless pal, Ben Affleck.

I caught this film on a lark, never having heard of it, and not knowing what to expect. It is a very well done plot twister, reminiscent of "Body Heat," and with a great cast of unknown young people, backed up by more established stars like Emma Thompson, Alan Ricker, and Hal Holbrooke. You're never really sure about what is happening until the end.

This has to be one of the worst movies ever made. It is pointless, plotless, and badly scripted and acted. It was apparently put together as some kind of religious message being foisted on an unsuspecting public by a lot of former Hollywood hopefuls, has-beens, and never-weres. The promise of some kind of apocalpytic thrill is quickly doused by absolutely ridiculous and juvenile overacting and a script that is so bad as to be laughable.

This film never got much recognition, possibly because wartime comedies were ignored unless they had to do with the armed services or the global crisis, but it is an absolutely delightful comedy. It is reminiscent of an old Italian story called "The Crime of Don Giovanni," involving a Roman cafe owner who was jealous of a competitor next door to him, and decided to tunnel underground to steal dishes from the other restaurant's kitchen. Robinson, Crawford, and the supporting cast are superb!

"Simple Men" is one of my favorites -- great acting, dialogue, and a bizarre plot, plus a great deal of ironic humor. One of the most attractive things about Hartley's films, however, is especially striking in this one -- the haunting and memorable background music. After this, see "The Unbelievable Truth." I'm looking forward to "Monster," which I hear also stars Robert Burke.