Reviews by johanlefourbe

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. 

To be honest, I actually lost interest in Steven Soderbergh a while ago but since his last directing effort was available on Netflix, I thought I might as well check it out. Well, eventually, it turned out to be a typical Soderbergh effort, with the usual qualities and shortcomings inherent to his work. First of all, the guy has a talent to find some very interesting subjects for his movies and this one was not an exception. Furthermore, he usually get some strong actors and André Holland delivered here another solid performance. I was also impressed by Zazie Beetz who, after seeing her in only 2 movies, is already shaping to become one of the most interesting actresses in the business. However, her character was actually a good example about what was wrong or, at leat, what was missing with this movie. I mean, Beetz was fine but, even though they tried to convince the viewers that this woman was super competent and talented, the only memorable thing she actually did during the whole thing was sleeping with their star basketball player. And, indeed, eventually, none of the characters, even the main character, was actually developed, in fact, even the whole thing actually felt rather half-baked.  Still, it was a very interesting and seemingly realistic look on the business behind professional top sports and, at least, Soderbergh managed to focus on his subject until the very end (not like in ‘Unsane’ for example). Anyway, to conclude, in spite of its flaws, it was still a decent watch and I think it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre. 

To be honest, this movie rather seemed to be some excuse to see some naked girls but, somehow, I still ended up watching the damned thing. Well, first of all, it actually turned out to be surprisingly tame after all. I mean, sure, you still get to see two beautiful girls completely naked through the whole duration but there were only maybe 3 rather short sex scenes after all. So, what did they do the whole night then in this apartment? Well, they spent their time talking and, suddenly, it became a rather minimalist romantic piece involving only one location and two characters. Unfortunately, even if I have a weak spot for the genre, the end-result was rather half-baked. I mean, it wasn’t necessarily a bad idea that they didn’t spend the whole movie having some great sex but their conversations were not really interesting, I’m afraid. As a result, it actually reminded me of ‘Before Sunrise’ but, to be honest, this movie never achieved the level of this classic. Indeed, with such a simple set-up, you need some amazing dialogues because, well, there is nothing else going on. However, here, they tried to go for a mix of realism and fantasy but it never really worked. For example, right from the start, they confessed that they might not be telling the truth and, sure, I understand that it might be interesting to pretend to be someone completely different to a stranger but, by confessing that they might be lying, this idea was then completely ruined. Furthermore, the fact that, at some point, they started to be honest after all made the whole thing also unnecessary messy and confusing. And, yet, in spite of its flaws, there was still something quite spellbinding about the damned thing (the fact that Elena Anaya and Natasha Yarovenko were both quite gorgeous probably helped) and I think it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre. 

Like many other movie buffs, I have been waiting to see this movie for almost 20 years. In fact, Terry Gilliam had even been working on this project for about 30 years. Well, I wish I could say it had been worth the wait but, unfortunately, I really struggled to care about the damned thing. Eventually, I wonder how much Gilliam has changed his script and something tells me that the original version starring Jean Rochefort, Johnny Depp and Vanessa Paradis would have been much better but I’m afraid we will never know. Above all, even though there were some good ideas, the damned thing was a mess very difficult to digest. Of course, you could argue that every Gilliam movie is pretty messy but the fact that it was just way too long (about 140 mins) without really going anywhere didn’t help either. On top of that, in spite of the excessive running time, there were only a handful characters involved and, except for the main character, nobody was developed whatsoever. For example, even if Jonathan Pryce was not bad, his character was basically a one-trick poney constantly repeating that he was actually really Don Quixote which was extremely tiresome very quickly. Eventually, like some other cursed movie projects like ‘The Other Side of the Wind’ (which also managed to finally be released in 2018) or ‘Dune’ by Jodorowski (which never got made), it seems that the legends around the doomed production of this movie were more interesting than the movie itself after all. Anyway, to conclude, even if this movie was rather disappointing, it is still worth a look, especially if you are a fan of Terry Gilliam’s work.