Reviews by johanlefourbe

To be honest, I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but since I have a weak spot for Jessica Chastain and James McAvoy, I was quite eager to check it out. The whole point of this concept was to tell the same story twice from 2 different points of the view and, I can tell you this, after watching this flick, I can’t wait to see ‘Him’. Beside this concept, the makers took another interesting approach. Basically, in most of movies, you have very often the characters talking about stuff that they already know just to make sure that the viewers are up to speed. Well, that’s something that was completely avoided in this movie resulting in some much more realistic dialogues and characters. On the other hand, this approach did have its drawback and they probably pushed this idea too far. Indeed, as a result, the characters almost never had some straightforward conversations and instead they almost only talked about some anecdotes only thinly related with the actual story and, at some point, it became slightly frustrating . Furthermore, if the amazing Viola Davis managed to do so much with so little screentime, it was rather disappointing that Isabelle Hupert was again completely wasted playing another completely underwritten character in a US production like this one. On the other hand, Jessica Chastain, who remains one of the best actresses of her generation, was once again quite spellbinding to behold. Anyway, to conclude, in spite of its flaws, it was a solid drama and I think it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre. 

I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but since I have a weak spot for Mia Wasikowska, I thought I might as well check it out. Well, first of all, thanks to this movie, you get to see some gorgeous and even hypnotic Australian landscapes and only therefore I think the damned thing was absolutely worth a look. Wasikowska was also a perfect choice to play the main character and she delivered here another solid performance. I also liked the way that they didn’t try to compromise this interesting woman by trying to go really deep in her thoughts and feelings but while I respect this approach, it actually backfired I’m afraid. I mean, it seems that the makers tried to be faithfull regarding the way this woman did interact with people (or how she didn’t interact with them, to be more accurate) and they also avoided to add some far-fetched obstacles just to make the whole thing more spectacular. However, as a result, you only get to see this girl endlessly walking around with her camels in these amazing landscapes but not much more than that. They also tried to add from time to time some flashback scenes to give the viewers some background but, eventually, even Robyn Davidson didn’t really know why she took this journey and, when she was done, it didn’t feel that she had much evolved after all. In fact, I actually wondered what happened to her afterwards. Did she manage to get back in the mainstream society or did she struggle to function as any average person? But I guess that would be a complete different story. Anyway, to conclude, even if it was nothing really groundbreaking, I thought it was still pretty good and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre. 

I already saw this movie but since I have it on Blu-ray and since I just bought an awesome new TV, I thought I might as well check it out again. Even though this movie turned out to be a flop at the box-office, a first in Stars Wars so far successful history, well, to be honest, I have to admit that I was actually positively surprised by the damned thing. I mean, sure, it was nothing really groundbreaking but when was the last time a Stars Wars flick had been anything really revolutionary? On the other hand, pretty much like ‘Rogue One’ which remains by far the best one of the new Star Wars movies, it was so refreshing that it wasn’t dealing with the Skywalker bloodline. Above all, the damned thing was actually quite entertaining. Indeed, even though Star Wars has always focused on the Skywalkers, Han Solo has always been much more fun and charismatic and this movie nailed so many landmarks moments concerning this iconic character such as how he met Chewbacca or how he discoverered the Millenium Falcon. Furthermore, even though I heard that Alden Ehrenreich had been criticized for his performance, I think he was actually not bad at all and he made for a convincing younger version of this character. In fact, I actually enjoyed all the characters, except for Qi'ra. Indeed, I won’t blame Emilia Clarke but her character was just seriously underwritten. In my opinion, it was rather obvious that they didn’t really know what to do with this girl as the cloud of mystery around her never got resolved properly.  Concerning the story itself, like many similar blockbusters, they did try to cover too much ground in one single movie and they could have easily split the whole thing into 3 movies. Furthermore, each scene was rather awkwardly connected with the next one, the flow of the whole thing was rather weak and it probably had to do with the messy production. Of course, I wonder how this movie would have turned out to be with Phil Lord and Christopher Miller still on board and it’s a pity that Disney went from some of the most entertaining directors at work nowadays to the safest and most bland guy from the bunch. On the other hand, I have to admit that Ron Howard has done actually a solid job after all. Anyway, to conclude, I don’t think that this movie deserves such a bad reputation, it is actually a decent Star Wars flick and it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre. 

I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but since it was directed by Nanni Moretti, I was quite eager to check it out. To be honest, I have to admit that, even though I have always admired Moretti’s work, somehow, I always had a hard time to really connect with his movies and this one wasn’t really different, I’m afraid. I mean, the whole thing was quite realistic and there has always been some intimate quality in his movies but I was never really sure what it was trying to achieve exactly. For example, the whole thing was apparently partly autobiographical but why did he choose to have the director being played by a woman? It didn’t help either that the characters were interesting but not really fascinating. Even worse was the situation with John Turturro. Indeed, it was pretty neat that such a fine American actor would be working with Moretti but, unfortunately, he was wasted playing a supposedly funny but in fact completely obnoxious character. On the other hand, Margherita Buy, who I had never seen her before but who's apparently a very famous actress in Italy, was really charismatic and she was able to convey so much emotion only with her beautiful eyes. Anyway, to conclude, even if I wasn’t completely blown away by the whole thing, it was still a decent watch and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in Nanni Moretti’s work. 

I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but since it was starring Will Smith and Margot Robbie, I thought I might as well check it out. Well, first of all, I have always had a weak spot for movies dealing with con artists and this movie was probably the sexiest one I have seen in this genre. Indeed, the whole thing looked really nice and, above all, Smith and Robbie had such a great chemistry together, it has been a while since I have seen such a charismatic couple. Unfortunately, even though they got some ingredients right, the whole thing didn’t really impress me after all. Indeed, eventually, the main issue I had was with the story which turned out to be rather disappointing. Like I mentioned before, Smith and Robbie were fine but it seems that Glenn Ficarra and John Requa put too much focus on their relationship and not enough on the story itself. For example, there was not really a main plot and, instead, the whole thing was awkwardly divided into 2 different cons. I have to admit that the 1^st con was not bad but it was obviously too short so they had to come up with a 2^nd con. However, this 2^nd con was pretty weak, in fact, it had not much to do with a con scam and it seemed to be just some common theft. To make things worse, I’m pretty sure the twist at the end didn't really make sense and, above all, it actually slightly ruined Robbie’s character. Indeed, during the 2nd half, I was expecting her to be running some elaborate scam but, in fact, she was still working on some very low level. Above all, they pretty much reduced her to a disgruntled ex-girlfriend. Still, in spite of its flaws, Smith and Robbie were actually quite spellbinding to behold so I still think it is worth a look but the damned thing could have been so much better though.