Reviews

Looking at the cast and knowing a little bit about the plot, I thought this film had potential. Wow...it just went on and on. It could not decide what it wanted to be...drama or comedy??? I blame the writer. I am a big fan of Roger Michell's work so that is especially disappointing. ("Persuasion" was great!) It was just BAD. There were a few moments with Diane Keaton that were worthwhile, that was all. What a mess. Harrison Ford was TERRIBLE. The main character, Rachel McAdams, is so cute and throughout the movie she was trying to win people over...to what? There was no character to her character. Yes, she was "charming" and "hard working" but her life was so empty.

Overall, the screenplay was not that well written. It was too long and not very well paced. As others have noticed, there were places where you just said "Huh?" when something didn't ring true.

However, the actors made it worth while. They rose above the material. "Harry" was great and I yelled to my husband in the other room, "Hey, it's the German Bruce Willis!" Very good looking, very sexy and not just an action hero, but expressive as well. Of course Sebastian Koch (Matthis) is just dreamy and a great actor! The actress who played "Fritzi" was good too.

Well worth seeing. FAR above the usual Hollywood junk.

I just saw this film for the first time on TCM last night. I was struck by the similarity to "Far From Heaven" which I loved. I kept saying to myself, "This is so corny!!!" Yet I couldn't turn it off.

Part of my admiration came from looking at the movie. It is simply dazzling. The brilliant colors, shadows, reflections, etc., are enough to keep you watching. However, that's not all.

I liked the story. I too (like others who have written here) thought that the story was ahead of its time. The 50's were all about conformity. Doesn't anybody remember McCarthyism? Here is a woman who is following her emotions and bucking the social system. That is amazing. A woman of the upper class who would even look at a gardener as a person is unusual. I liked Jane Wyman (Cary). She didn't show passion, but she communicated deep feelings. I felt her reserved manner was in character. I liked her dignity and her plain way of speaking. She was a genuine person. It's unfortunate that she felt she had to give up her romance with Ron (Rock Hudson) for the sake of her children. Sheesh. I knew how that was going to turn out. The ending was....well....yikes, the deer!!! Still, I'm glad the lovers ended up together. (I was brokenhearted at the end of "Far From Heaven"!!) And as for Rock Hudson....what a hunk! There was quite a bit of jealousy among Wyman's female friends for obvious reasons!

"Hotel Rwanda" is a valuable film. I did not realize the scope of the tragedy in Rwanda when it was happening. I feel sad and guilty that Americans did not intervene when these massacres were happening.

Don Cheadle and the actress who played his wife were both excellent. Neither one overacted. Their emotions rang true.

However, the production values on the film were not good. It wasn't very well written, either. And some of the acting was not convincing. (For example, Nick Nolte's performance was uneven.) It's too bad that the quality of the overall movie wasn't better so that this movie could have made more of an impact. I would compare this film to "The Killing Fields", but that film's direction, cinematography, and writing were of higher quality.

I think people have definitely idealized Donat's version of Chips (I can't believe he beat out Clark Gable in GWTW for the Oscar). I saw the 1939 version of Chips and I thought it was overly sentimental AND overacted. It definitely doesn't age well. (As opposed to GWTW, Casablanca, and other films of that era.)

About the 1969 version...Peter O'Toole is far superior to Donat. Oh, okay, the songs are a little ducky. However, being a hopeless romantic (well, hopeless, anyway) I liked "What a Lot of Flowers". The idea that love can make a person see the world in a different way is so hopeful. Far more important is O'Toole's immersion in this character, the great script, the chemistry between O'Toole and Clark, and the great character actor support (Ursula, Headmaster, etc.) The scene in the kitchen when Chips goes to London to find his wife is worth watching over and over. ("Chips...You'll lose everything you hold dear." "Everything I hold dear I'm holding now.") Sigh! Another great scene is when Chips confronts Lord Sutterwick. ("I don't have to stand here and be insulted." "Except that you are standing here, and you are being insulted. Correct me if I'm wrong.")

Overall, in spite of its flaws, I love this movie! Peter O'Toole will break your heart. Unfortunately, not on DVD yet!

George Peppard and Audrey Hepburn are gorgeous, but this movie stinks! There is not an authentic moment in it. And it's terribly dated. If you see it on the cable schedule, tune in for the last 5 minutes. The kiss in the rain is great.

Watch Audrey in these far more worthwhile movies: Two For the Road (With Albert Finney...her best film, in my opinion) The Nun's Story (With Peter Finch, a heartbreaker) Roman Holiday (Gregory Peck...sigh!) Sabrina (William Holden (sigh!) and Bogart (miscast but who cares?) Robin and Marian (With Sean Connery) It Takes a Thief (With Peter O'Toole)

Of course, the fashions in "Tiffany's" are classic.

One of my favorite "fairy tale" movies. Visually, it's not too interesting.

But the script is so funny that I've watched (or listened) to it many, many times. Probably the most famous is Loretta's line (while slapping Ronnie) "Snap out of it!" That is far from the funniest or most memorable line. This movie shouldn't work. Cher is not a great actress. Vincent Gardenia & Olympic Dukakis are hammy. Nick Cage is bizarre. And the plot points are, well, unbelievable. But all together, the fairy tale magic kicks in and not only do we embrace the characters, we believe that the fairy tale ending could happen. Family members do love and support each other. (Let's face it...in real life not exactly a sure thing!) The last scene, with the entire family waiting for Johnny Camarari to arrive, is priceless ("Someone tell a joke...") ("Tell them the truth, Loretta, they find out anyway.") And I believe, with Ronnie, that "We are here to break our hearts, and to love the wrong people."

This film was recommended by a friend. Since I greatly admire Jack Nicholson, I watched it. This film is "great" in the sense that it does an excellent job in illuminating a life. Whether or not you think that life deserved to be illuminated will determine how you feel about this movie. I don't believe that every person's life deserves to be examined. This man, Schmidt, was interesting because Jack portrayed him. In real life, a man this disconnected from everything worthwhile in life would not be someone you would want to know. He was proud of having done a good job at the insurance company, where he was instantly replaceable. He had zero relationship with his wife, who apparently was a pleasant person, a good housekeeper, and something of a control freak. He did not know her, nor she him, though they lived together for over forty years. He had no close friends. He was a selfish person. He shared no part of himself with his daughter and was surprised when she treated his opinions with disdain. How could a person be this unaware? He didn't change one bit in the movie. He sent checks and whiny, self-obsessed letters to an orphan (who may or may not exist, judging from what I've heard about these organizations), and then felt he had done something "meaningful". At least he (dimly) realized that he hadn't been that great a companion for his wife, and made an effort to communicate that, albeit after her death. What a pathetic person, and what a pathetic life. Thank goodness for Kathy Bates or this movie would have been a wasteland. Jack Nicholson is an actor beyond categorization; I consider him something of a national resource, a legend. It's too bad his great talents were wasted here. The writer should go watch a real film, one that truly reflects the total spectrum of human potential, not just the negative, self-pitying, clueless part. How sad! Schmidt never experienced being truly alive.

Great script. If you like deadpan humor and character-driven films, give this one a try. The relationship between Darryl and Steve is so touching. (Well, yes, a trifle dysfunctional, but as another one of my favorite characters, Royal Tenenbaum, remarked, "But then again, what isn't, these days?") Darryl is brilliant and socially disabled. Steve just loves to be needed. And that marriage of his is never going to work! I just know Steve will end up working with Darryl again, just like Dr. Watson couldn't resist going back to Sherlock. Visually, the movie is nothing special, but the pleasure is to listen to the lines. "Passion is the enemy of precision." "Objectivity and observation, or the two 'obs', as I call them." Bill Pullman, Ben Stiller, Ryan O'Neal, and Kim Dickens are all great. Nobody overacts. And everybody stays in character. Watch it just for the throwaway lines!

Yes, it could have been great...with different casting! Audrey Hepburn was unique and impossibly beautiful, but she is miscast here. She is too princess-like to convince as a woman from the lower class. At the embassy ball, she is shown to perfection, but before the transformation, she is just irritating! If only they had cast Julie Andrews! And to top it off, Marni Nixon's vocals don't compare with Julie's in the Broadway version. Listen to the Broadway recording and you will be amazed!

The great parts of the film are the other actors, especially Rex Harrison as Higgins (though I think his performance on the Broadway recording was more lively, perhaps because of youth?) The other characters: Colonel Pickering, Henry's mother, Eliza's father, all veteran actors, are super. The costumes and sets are perfect. The songs are memorable, especially (for me) "I've Grown Accustomed To Her Face." Definitely worth seeing, but frustrating.

This film is one of the best I've seen in the past several years. I loved the understatement of it. I'm so tired of histrionics being labeled "great acting". No, it's not Jim Carrey stuffing papers in his mouth and getting big laughs! (Not that I didn't love "Liar, Liar"!) This is so much funnier, so much more subtle. Just the script alone is priceless. There isn't one boring spot in it. Then there is the fine acting, especially by Gene Hackman. It's so rare to see a film where nobody is "chewing the scenery"! And the visuals: the house, with every detail perfectly done, the Gypsy cabs and Green Line buses, Margot's fur coat, Richie's headband, Chas' warmup suits, Pagoda doing yoga, fixing martinis, reading in his hammock... How could anybody watch this and pronounce it boring??? You must have burned out your brains watching "The Fast and the Furious". I just hope Wes Anderson keeps making movies for years.

This movie is a gem, heartbreakingly, hysterically funny. Bridget Jones (as so wonderfully played by Renee Zellweger, who should have won the Oscar, but that's another story...)is, as her boss at "Sit Up Britain" says, "Already a legend." What a woman! Determined, honest, not afraid to be looking for her soulmate. I'm not so sure that her soulmate is Mark Darcy (hunky Colin Firth) but at least he is smart enough and wise enough to see the inner goodness, warmth, and sexiness of our heroine. I hope he really does love her "just the way she is", because that is what she deserves. Hugh Grant, as Bridget's irresistible, sexy, smarmy boss, is a pleasure; Bridget's friends are just too funny; and her dad (Jim Broadbent) is touching and sweet. A favorite of mine and my daughter's.

See this movie. Best performances, best writing, rich laughs. There is not a false note in it. I don't know how Michael Douglas could go from this movie, in which he give his best, most honest performance ever, to the baloney of "Don't Say a Word" with all that makeup and all those cliches. But that's another story. The cast of "Wonder Boys" is uniformly excellent. It has its unpredictable moments, but these moments arise out the the characterizations, not just to befuddle the viewer. Highly recommended.

See this movie just for the kiss. There is so much "making out" in the movies nowadays, and most of it soooooo dull (did you see josh hartnett and kate beckinsale in pearl harbor, just for one snoozy and irritating example) but this is the exception. These two people in this very strange little movie have that elusive chemistry that reminds you why we hang around on this planet.