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jakk54
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Reviews
Ozark (2017)
Great - if it were not for the hillbillies
A really terrific series, with excellent characters and an incredibly tense storyline. It's only let down by the Deliverance-esque hillbillies. Surely the writers could have developed more interesting villains besides what are portrayed, rather patronisingly, as stupid white trash. I hope these characters are dropped - apart from the young woman, who is sharp as a tack, and potentially interesting.
The Cobbler (2014)
A decent idea spoiled by slapstick
Setting aside the cringeworthy religious message at the end, the film had great potential, which was unrealised.
Sandler gave an excellent performance. Unfortunately, the lovely, engaging premise was ill-served by the crime/slapstick elements. The central idea of stepping into someone else's shoes had the potential to make for an intelligent, thoughtful, witty film. Instead, my suspicion is the producers wouldn't got for that and went for the easy option.
The dialogue and performances were good generally. But the line about the keeper of soles/souls was toe-curlingly bad.
There is a good film in there - it was just that I had some trouble finding it.
Sex Tape (2014)
Bad to the core (yes, Apple, I am also talking about sponsorship).
I'm speechless, frankly. I really like Cameron Diaz, she is talented and funny but utterly wasted in this piece of nonsense. Where's the script? Not only a missing script but a film which features two highly implausible, utterly unlikeable and slightly surreal characters. I gave the film two stars because of a genuinely funny central sequence in which Diaz snorts coke, while her husband is trying to avoid a very determined German Shepard - I laughed out loud.
And, yes, Apple, while I am a big fan of Apple products, the product placement for the ipad was more than shameless. The marketing pitches saying what a great machine the ipad is were more embarrassing than anything else. Come on, Apple, you're better than that - sure, get some product placement (it's common enough in the industry). But not like this, please!
Shaft (2000)
A game of two halves
When it's got these three leads, it's got to be worth checking out, right? Well, yes and no.
The first half was really good, with snappy dialog, crisp performances and a potentially decent story.
Then, it went downhill, with clichés galore, a ridiculously over the top storyline which turned into a car chase gun fest for no good reason I could think of.
Samuel L. Jackson is terrific as John Shaft, and enjoyed the original Shaft making a reappearance as the uncle. As for the Latino bad guy - he was a cartoon character - I felt it was insulting for him to be directed to speak in ridiculous pidgin English in a ludicrously over the top gay Latino way (it was borderline racist, in my view).
Still, the film was fun at times, but ultimately a failure.
Brooklyn Brothers Beat the Best (2011)
A joy to watch
Truly a delightful little film. The leads gave terrific, emotionally- resonant performances.
Unlike too many mainstream comedy films, this one has subtlety, and depth of character and motivations we can all relate to.
I really enjoyed the music, too. There seems to be a trend in indie movies at the moment, for quirky, acoustic songs, and the music in this little gem adds something to the milieu.
There are touches of pathos alongside the humor. And you do find yourself rooting for the oddball heroes and heroine.
I can recommend this unreservedly if you enjoy originality, a sparky script, great performances and the road movie genre. Wonderful stuff.