CAPSULE REVIEWS
Matthew Goltz
22 May 2003
Basic
Former US Ranger John Travolta interrogates survivors of a training mission
gone bad that claimed the life of a Commanding Officer (Samuel L. Jackson).
Travolta's fun in this slowish-but-still-intriguing offering from director
John McTiernan. Though it takes it's time, there are moments of cute interplay
between the actors... and the unexpected ending earns high marks, helping
make the film a guilty pleasure.
*** stars (out of four)
The Core
The Earth stops spinning and a rag-tag team of scientists tries to jump
start it with nuclear devices. Jon Amiel's overfamiliar sci-fi flick is
actually better than it looks, but just barely. The cast generally rises
above the material (especially Hilary Swank and Tcheky Karyo) with personalty-over-substance.
Pretty much a 50's drive-in flick with 2003 effects.
**1/2
Spider
David Cronenberg's psychological "thriller" is intriguingly
creepy but a bit standoffish and without any real point. A murder-mystery
wrapped in a riddle wrapped in an enigma wrapped in a dirty sock in someone's
pants. Ralph Fiennes mutters, Gabriel Byrne scowls and Miranda Richardson
(best of all) vamps convincingly. None of the performances though, no
matter how technically interesting, can hide the fact that for at least
the first hour nothing happens at all.
**
The Hunted
Tough, fast, and lean. Leave it to William Friedkin to remind
us, in these times of unnecessary cinematic "twist-and-turn"
movies, that sometimes there's no better story than the simple-story-told-well.
It's not layered, it's not deeply meaningful. What it is, is mano-a-mano
battle for two hours, and you've gotta love it when those manos are actors
like Benicio Del Toro and Tommy Lee Jones. "They're the best there
is at what they do."
***
Dreamcatcher
Good Lord, what a train wreck. The first 20 minutes are fun. Then the
shit hits the fan, almost literally. (See the in-depth review here.)
*
Old School
This year's return to slob-comedy is a little long but has more
than its share of originality and also just happens to be funny as hell.
The inconsistencies of Luke Wilson's character get to be a bit much, but
Vince Vaughn and Will Farrell rule the film from the sidelines. And Craig
Kilborn practically oozes evil in every frame... even more so than on
TV every night.
***
-MG |
