Reviews by johanlefourbe

Since I kept hearing some pretty good things about this flick, I was quite eager to check it out. Well, to be honest, I really struggled to get into this flick. I don’t know, maybe I wasn’t in the right mood but I didn’t really get what was so ‘fun’ or’ entertaining’ about seeing some evil kid killing a bunch of people. I have to admit that the cast was fine though and it is very rare to see some decent actors in a horror flick like this one. However, even if Vera Farmiga and Peter Sarsgaard had a decent chemistry, most of their decisions and actions were dictated by the plot and not by what these characters would actually choose to do. Anyway, there were just so many things that rubbed me in the wrong way. Basically, it is a movie that toys with the concept that, since you were not involved in the first years of an orphan, they can never really be trusted which is just an appalling idea. Furthermore, if you would believe this flick, you shouldn’t trust ‘weird’ kids and you should even be entitled to make fun of them since they could actually turn out be some psychotic killers. Finally, it was just ridiculous to see a shrink deliver a full psychological profile of her client after just one session. At least, I have to admit that the 3^rd act was actually fairly entertaining and effective and the twist at the end was actually not bad but, still, most of the damned thing didn’t really work for me. Anyway, to conclude, even though I didn’t like it much, I have to admit that, in the evil kid genre, it might be one of the better movies I have seen so I guess it is worth a look if you like the genre. 

I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but since I have a weak spot for Jake Gyllenhaal, I was really eager to check it out. Well, even though the whole thing had some potential, I wasn’t really convinced, to be honest. Basically, in my opinion, it was one of these movies that try to be original but actually end up being rather random. Of course, you might argue that life is pretty random but, in this case, the damned thing was just too damned quirky for my taste. Furthermore, I did like the burgeoning relationship going on between Gyllenhaal’s and Watts’s characters but, instead of developing this relationship, they put the focus on her teenage son which was a mistake. Indeed, it was just so lazy, generic and predictable to see this rebellious but actually really cool teenager getting along with this messed-up but actually really cool grown-up. Also, it was such a pity to see the lovely Naomi Watts pretty much wasted here playing another half-baked character. Still, it was not bad and it was a decent take on the grieving process. Above all, the whole thing was still quite watchable thanks to Jake Gyllenhaal who gave here another solid performance and the guy basically remains one of the best actors of his generation. Anyway, to conclude, in spite of its flaws, I still think it is worth a look, if only to see Gyllenhaal nailing another performance. 

I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but since this movie had received some decent reviews and since I have weak spot for  Natalie Portman, I was quite eager to check it out. Well, in my opinion, this movie struggled with a similar challenge faced by ‘Diana’ and ‘Grace of Monaco’. Indeed, all these movies worked really hard to make Diana, Grace Kelly and Jackie Kennedy look really amazing but none of these movies managed to convince me. In this case, they used some gimmicks like the fake interview (even if such an interview did take place, the content was definitely made up) or the fake conversation with a priest to give some extra depth to this woman. They even went for a random chronology which is just one of the cheapest tricks to make a simple story look much more complicated than it actually is. I know, it might sound like this movie was very lame but it was actually not bad at all, at least, it was miles better than the terrible ‘Diana’ and ‘Grace of Monaco’. Indeed, the whole thing looked great and, above all, Natalie Portman was really impressive and easily gave her one of her best performances. In fact, many people thought she had a shot to win the Academy Award for the Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role (she she did get a nomination though) but the fact that the movie itself was nothing really amazing pretty much ruined her chances. Anyway, to conclude, even if the whole thing didn’t really blow me away, I still think it is worth a look, if only to see Portman nailing another fine performance.