Change Your Image
bobc-14
Reviews
Killing Me Softly (2002)
An embarrassment
One of the worst movies I've seen in a very long time. Heather Graham can't act. If the part called for a bimbo, then maybe she fit the bill. She's almost as bad an actor as Raquel Welch was early in her career.
It goes to show what a bad script and direction can do to an actor like Joseph Fiennes who was so good in "Shakespeare in Love" and "Elizabeth". It would be hard to imagine that the good actors in this film didn't know it was a turkey when they were making it.
This film almost is in the category of so bad it's good. I did chuckle from time to time at some of the ludicrous dialog and scenes. But, if you're looking for that type of movie, a much better choice is "Beyond the Valley of the Dolls".
Minority Report (2002)
What a disappointment.
Just got back from seeing this movie. What a disappointment. Sure it looked slick, but the script was utterly routine. We've seen this all before. One corny cliche after another. Acting was fine, but if you want to see Tom Cruise in a good movie, rent Magnolia. Most of the special effects were first rate but the scenes with the 2054 freeway traffic hardly looked realistic. It had a worthwhile moral, but that's not enough to make up for the rest. How it is getting such good reviews I don't understand.
The Ninth Gate (1999)
not favorable
What a stinker! An unintelligent script with one guessable cliché after another. In Polanski's commentary on the DVD he mentions a foot stool that the camera focuses on in the opening scene. He says this is to get the viewer wondering. Well, you see a distraught elderly gentleman in his well appointed library, sitting at his desk writing a note. Gee, I wonder what the note could be and what will he do next? If you can't guess that one, maybe you should see this film.
The best part of this film for me was what appears to be an homage (though Polanski makes no mention of it in his commentary) to Pixar's Geri's Game, the great award winning short subject of an old man playing chess with himself. In the Ninth Gate, the Depp character visits two old twins (actually one actor with special effects) who have a rare book store in Spain. They're made up to look like "Geri" and do a credible imitation, down to the cackling laugh.
If you like Lena Olin, she looks great for 44, even for 34. You get a brief look at her bare breasts in a laughable pointless sex scene towards the end of the film (if you can stay with it that long).
I watched part of the DVD commentary by Polanski, hoping for some insight. No such luck. Was this really the director who made Chinatown and Rosemary's Baby?
If you want too see a much better film about the satan, see the Devil's Advocate.