Reviews by johanlefourbe

To be honest, it has been a while since I have seen this movie and maybe I should re-watch it at some point. Well, it is basically a rather cute feel-good sport feature but, not much more than that, I’m afraid. I guess it might be more interesting for the US audience who might be really fascinated by the history of their national sport but, as far as I was concerned, I thought it was just mildly entertaining. Still, there was a solid cast involved (Tom Hanks, Geena Davis, Lori Petty, Madonna, Rosie O'Donnell, David Strathairn, Bill Pullman, Téa Leoni) and I have to admit that it is really rare that you get to see a sports feature focusing on women for once. Unfortunately, the tone was so light and fluffy and the whole thing was so generic and predictable, as a result, I had a rather hard time to really care for it. At least, it is not very often that you get to see something watchable starring Madonna. Anyway, to conclude, even if it was nothing really mind-blowing, I have to admit that it was still a decent watch and I think it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre. 

Before watching this movie, I thought it could be a decent watch but it turn out to be much better than I expected. Indeed, at first, it started out as a rather standard teenage romantic-comedy but, very soon, it was clear that the whole thing was actually really much more than that. First of all, some people argued that it was rather unbelievable that such a girl would fall in love with such a mess but I don’t agree at all. Indeed, in spite of his drinking problem, the main character was actually a popular guy who was nice with everyone and, since she never had a boyfriend, she idealized him like we all did with our first girlfriend/boyfriend (indeed, I still think that my first girlfriend was an actual goddess). Still, to be honest, I was not so sure about the drinking. I mean, it’s not that the main character was drinking a lot, in fact, the guy was actually constantly drinking (I think he had a drink in 95% of the scenes). It was an interesting look on a very young alcoholic but I still think it was strange that not one of his friends or his sister or his mother would ever actually mention it at any moment. Anyway, I thought that both characters were fascinating thanks to some strong performances by Miles Teller and Shailene Woodley. To conclude, it was one of the best teenage romantic dramas I have seen, in fact, I think it might be even better than ‘The Perks of Being a Walflower’, anyway, the damned thing is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

I already saw this movie but since it was a while back, I thought I might as well check it out again. My wife and I always had a weak spot for Hugh Grant but, let’s be honest, even though the guy always had some great charisma, he eventually has/had a rather disappointing career after all. The main issue with this actor is that he always played basically the same character in countless romantic-comedies. Still, he did make a few very good movies and this one is definitely one of them and he probably gave here his best performance. Indeed, even though he actually played his usual charismatic and womazing bachelor, the rest of the movie was actually quite intriguing. Indeed, in contrary to the other movies in this genre, it didn’t follow a linear structure. For example, in a classic romantic-comedy, the whole thing would have been about a womanizing bachelor trying to score with some single mothers because they might be an easy target. Sure, this concept might sound entertaining but, like all rom-com concepts, it also sounds terribly cumbersome and rather ludicrous. Well, in this movie, fairly early on, the main character himself actually acknowledged the fact that it wasn’t such a good idea after all and simply dropped it which was just so refreshing. Furthermore, even though it was definitely a romantic comedy, it was actually not about the main character finding the love of his life but about how he would find some unlikely connection with some 12 year old boy which was also quite interesting. Finally, it is really rare to see a movie in this genre with some actually fully developed characters. For the Weitz brothers, it is rather hard to believe that they started their directing career just a couple of years before with ‘American Pie’ and they did make a huge leap forward with this movie (unfortunately, they would never manage to reach something so good ever again during their respective careers). Anyway, to conclude, even though it was probably not a masterpiece, I actually really enjoyed the damned thing and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre. 

I remember it very well the first time I saw this movie. Indeed, back then, I was living in England and I saw the damned thing in the movie theater when it was released. At the time, it was a huge critical classic and it is still considered as the best movie directed so far by Cameron Crowe. Well, to be honest, even though I thought it was a pretty cool feature, somehow, it never really blew me away though. It’s weird because, on paper, it sounded like a great story and since I was about the same age of the main character and since I loved the music of that particular time period, it should have been a sure winner. Basically, even though most of the characters were quite interesting thanks among other things to a very strong cast involved (Billy Crudup, Kate Hudson,Jason Lee, Frances McDormand, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Zooey Deschanel, Anna Paquin), unfortunately, I didn’t care much for the main character. Sure, I understand that it was the whole point to have an average and ordinary guy getting in touch with some larger-than-life figures but I’m afraid this approach backfired as I never really cared for him. Anyway, to conclude, even though I tend to think that this movie is slightly overrated, it is still a pretty good movie and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre. 

To be honest, it has been a while since I have seen this movie and maybe I should re-watch it at some point. Still, I remember it very well when it was released. Indeed, back then, Robert De Niro was still one of the best, even probably the very best, actor in the world and this movie would be his directing debut so the whole thing sounded quite intriguing to me. Of course, you might argue that the guy didn’t take any risk as he went for another gangster feature rather similar to the stellar work he has done before with Martin Scorsese but it didn’t bother me, on the contrary. Indeed, it was a classic tale but it was really well told. Lillo Brancato was also a great choice to play Robert De Niro’s son as he really looked like him. Even though this movie was critically successful, it would take De Niro would more than 10 years to come back in the directing chair for ‘The Good Shepherd’ but, even though it was a really ambitious project involving some big stars like Matt Damon and Angelina Jolie, it turned out to be a flop. Anyway, coming back to our main feature, to conclude, even though it was maybe nothing really ground-breaking, it was a solid crime drama and I think it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre. 

Not to be confused with ‘A Most Wanted Man’ which was released the very same year, this movie was the 3rd directing effort delivered by J.C. Chandor and since I really liked ‘All Is Lost’ and even loved ‘Margin Call’, I was really eager to check it out. Well, eventually, even though I did like the damned thing, I’m afraid it was still his least convincing movie so far. Even so, it was actually not bad at all though, the directing was solid with a nice realistic and gritty approach and the actors involved delivered some decent performances, especially Oscar Isaacs and Jessica Chastain. Unfortunately, I can’t say that the story was really mind-blowing though. That’s the tricky thing with such a title as you might expect a lot of action or some kind of badass gangster feature but I’m afraid it was rather misleading since there was not so much violence after all. It didn’t really help that they were involved in some rather dull business. Furthermore, the main character was right that it was a bad plan to give some guns to his employees but I was rather surprised that he didn’t seek any other alternative at all like, for example, tailing his trucks. Anyway, even if the whole thing turned out to be slightly disappointing, it was still a decent watch and I think it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre. 

I already saw this movie but since it was ages ago, I was quite eager to check it again. In fact, I remember it very well, the first time I saw it, I was not really interested by the whole thing but after it won the Best Picture Academy award, I thought I might as well give it a try. So, I went to see it in the theater, without knowing the plot or who the hell was John Nash and I must admit it, I was actually positively surprised. Indeed, since I didn’t know what it was about, I really didn't expect it when Nash started to become insane and it made for a rather intriguing viewing. Since then, the opinions on this flick have been rather polarized though. Indeed, some think it is really amazing and some others think it is one of the most overrated features to win the big prize at the Academy awards. Personally, I think it is not bad but, on the other hand, it was also rather obvious that Ron Howard basically chickened out and removed many dark elements surrounding John Nash’s life, elements which could have made the movie really and truly brilliant. Eventually, did it really deserve to win the Best Picture Academy Award? Certainly not. Was Ron Howard really the most adequate director for this job? Absolutely not. However, it is still quite a fascinating story, Russell Crowe did deliver a really solid performance and since it is one of the very few big budget movies that was dealing with schizophrenia, it gets a few extra points from me. Anyway, to conclude, even though I wasn’t completely sold by the whole thing, it was still a decent biopic and I think it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

Back in the 80’s, Rob Reiner was easily one of the most successful American directors but ever since the huge debacle called ‘North’, the guy has never managed to get back his magic touch. Since I always had a weak spot for his work, I still watched most of the movies he made afterwards (7 out 11) but this feature must be the weakest one he has directed so far, after the abysmal ‘North’ of course. Honestly, even though the whole thing was rather harmless, nothing actually worked in this movie. Indeed, the concept was just lame and the characters were rather boring so it was rather hopeless from the very beginning. At least, I have to admit it, Kate Hudson was really cute back in those days but I never believed in Luke Wilson’s potential as a romantic lead and I don’t think they had much chemistry together. Above all, it was a rather sad affair for Sophie Marceau. Indeed, it is not very often that you get the opportunity to see the lovely French actress in a US production so you wonder why she chose a project so underwhelming. Anyway, even though I have seen worse, the whole thing was pretty weak and I don’t think it is worth a look.