Reviews

One of the funniest of the offbeat, little advertised movies I enjoy the most. Underrated and under appreciated by American audiences, slowly making its way to cult status, this tale of a French nobleman and time travel, at the hands of a slightly daffy sorcerer, played by Malcolm McDowell takes place mostly in Chicago. A twist on the "I am my own Grandfather" theme brings the nobleman face to face with distant Granddaughter, who he saves from a decision she would have lived to regret. This is a remake of the French film, "Les Visiteurs". Jean Reno shows his talent for comedy and wit. Thankfully he and Christian Clavier teamed up for the remake. Clavier was allowed to develop a little in the American version. The rest of the cast are enjoyable, and bring together a tight, clean story. Worth the video rental. Good clean fun.

Mary Steenbergen is at her best with this. Low key but strong willed woman with a love for the countryside and sense of what is right. She faces of with Rip Torn's gruff cracker over a pig, and he ends up inviting her to the barbeque. Heartwarming and heartbreaking.

The movie has some fascinating aspects. For instance the sequence of the attack takes almost exactly as long as the actual attack on Pearl.

The filming and special effects are tremendous! The story of how the attack played out and the impact the thing on the people involved is GREAT! The acting is very good.

Now, having said that, I think the rest of the movie, the love triangle and the the whole shtick about the two boys and a nurse is contrived and dragged on causing an excruciatingly long and boring movie, with a predictability that ruins the overall effect.

They try to do too much with the three main characters.

This movie is Tim Burton. There is no use comparing it to the original. Forget the original, for now.

There is great special effects and a lot of humor around the edges.

You could tell this was a Burton movie.

A few points. Wahlburg cannot fly, or at least cannot land well. The plot devices to set up the whole time line twist don't work. Don't even try to figure them out. Just watch the movie and enjoy the (over) acting.

Wahlburg's character is an idiot. Roth's character is too overdone. Bonham-Carter was fun to watch.

Tim Burton makes a great fantasy movie. Reality takes a back seat. Enjoy.

The opening battle scenes are terrific, and the story rolls from there.

Aside from a serious problem with predictable plot lines, the movie was one of the most entertaining ones I saw all year.

The acting is terrific, and the film is clean and crisp. Phoenix is delightfully hateful, and in the theatre where I was watching, evoked a sarcastic "aww" from the crowd at one point, as he was whining to sis about getting no respect.

Oliver Read was the true star of the film. A fitting epitath to a fine actor of the classic roles.

Finally the promises of computer animation begin to be fulfilled. While some of the background characters are a bit stilted and fluidity of motion is limited, the main characters reach a lifelike realism that often evades real actors.

The dialog is tight and the action non-stop. Twists and turns in the plot take you through a well told story never letting you down. Even the occasional predictable turn carries a new angle.

True, there are cliches, but they fall into place with the satisfaction of a favorite snack. at every turn the plot turns to laugh at itself, or poke fun an someone new.