CAPSULE REVIEWS
Matthew Goltz
20 March 2003
National Security:
While Martin Lawrence and Steve Zahn make an amusing team, this film
would've been much better served if they'd been playing characters the
audience could actually like. Similarly, questionable politics and race
relations issues flood the script and make sitting through this action-comedy
much more work than it should be. All that being said, there are a few
laughs to be found and some amusing physical comedy in the rather punctuated
stunts and in Zahn's frustration at Lawrence. The movie gets extra points
for supplying the image of Eric Roberts as a peroxided baddie, but loses
them again for putting the great Bill Duke (Predator) in an action scene
and refusing to let him cut loose the way we really want him to.
** stars out of four
Confessions of a Dangerous Mind:
George Clooney's directorial debut is as unusual, sure-handed and entertaining
as one would hope it would be, and occasionally more so. Sam Rockwell
amazes as the legendary Chuck Barris, Drew Barrymore shines as his longtime
paramour, Julia Roberts continues to move away from her "nice girl"
image respectably and Clooney himself anchors them all as a shadowy
Government Official. Juggling dazzling recreations of TV's past (sequences
invoving "The Gong Show" stand out spectacularly) with the angst of
living a double-and-occassionally-triple-life, this film uses humor
and awe to keep us on the edge and hold our attention captive. Special
thanks to the team for bringing back Rutger Hauer in true high-style;
seeing him smile for a picture while gleefully "throttling a mark" is
worth the price of admission alone.
***1/2
Shanghai Knights:
Every so often a movie comes along that completely takes the critics
by storm, winning applause and accolades in national review circles...
which can be infuriating when the movie is as much of a train wreck
as this one. Given all the praise from the press - and even Jackie,
himself - you'd think this sequel was one of Chan's best, but the aimless
direction, lackluster fight choreography, lazy dialogue and connect-the-dots
storylines and action sequences (apparently stolen scene-by scene from
Shanghai Knights, Rush Hour, Rush Hour 2 and even Tomorrow Never Dies)
sink this film faster than any sequel in recent memory. As in The Tuxedo,
Jackie Chan is a fun personality stuck in an entertainment wasteland.
Owen Wilson's character, a likable rogue in Noon, comes off a pompous
ass here. Only Fann Wong retains any dignity as Chan's sister. Audiences
that enjoy a movie of this level truly do themselves a disservice; by
both giving those movies entertainment credibilty and by creating a
market for more of the same. Anyone wanting the true "Chan Experience"
should seek out his Hong Kong-made work. It puts dreck like this to
shame.
*
The Quiet American:
Handsomely-crafted and well-acted, yet curiously unmoving. Based on
the novel by Graham Greene and directed by Philip Noyce, this story
of unrest before the fall of Vietnam starts off promisingly. But in
trying to be both an espionage thriller and a love-triangle story, it
eventually loses steam and gets bogged down by its languid pacing. By
placing the romantic tribulations of the engaging Michael Caine, the
elegant Do Thi Hai Yen and the out-of-place Brendan Fraser ahead of
the more satisfying political aspects of the narrative, the drama rarely
rises above soap-opera level when it tries to stun and shock... As fine
as the performances and characters may be, the plot rarely rises to
meet them. Respectable, but never greatly involving.
**1/2
Daredevil:
Closer in tone to the first two Batman films than the more pop-entertainment
of Spider-Man and X-Men, this superhero actioner succeeds largely to
the spirited work of the lead actors and a narrative that respects life
over revenge. There are several highlights involving the flirty interplay
between Ben Affleck's Daredevil and Jennifer Garner's Elektra (especially
the "playground courtship" sequence). Supporting actors Jon Pantaliano
and Jon Favreau round things out well. Colin Farrell fares best as the
psychotic Bullseye, nearly stealing the whole film with his wild eyed
insanity. Despite the many cool moments though, the story structure
seems a tad overfamiliar (the hero's internal struggle of "rage versus
desire-to-do-good") and omits far too much; a lot of material feels
like it's missing. Elektra and Bullseye have virtually no pasts and
despite not having superpowers of any kind they routinely display the
gymnastic abilities of your average Hong Kong wire-fu character. Also,
as The Joker asked of Batman years ago and I'd like to ask of Daredevil,
"where does he get those wonderful toys?"
**1/2
Lost in La Mancha:
This documentary on legendary film-artist Terry Gilliam ranks along
side Hearts of Darkness and American Movie as an educational and enjoyable
examination of the movie business. Chronicling the doomed production
of Gilliam's still-barely-begun "Don Quixote" movie, we see everything
from paperwork problems and scheduling snafus to disease and natural
disasters delay filming day after day. Getting up-close and personal
with the film's production team and lead actors (among them, Johnny
Depp) and presenting dailies and completed clips of what little footage
has actually been gathered, La Mancha truly succeds in making the viewer
want to see Gilliam's film made, however long it takes. By displaying
every nook and cranny of how a major film production begins and can
fail, we are allowed to witness first hand both the thrills of creativity
and the agony of bureaucracy... which, after all, is the central theme
of most of Gilliam's work to begin with.
***
