Reviews by johanlefourbe

Following the amazing ‘What's Eating Gilbert Grape’, still one of my favorite movies after all these years, Lasse Hallström came up with this drama. This movie was also written by Callie Khouri who won just a couple of years before an Academy Award for writing ‘Thelma & Louise’ and there was a high-profile cast involved (Julia Roberts, Dennis Quaid, Robert Duvall, Gena Rowlands, Gena Rowlands) so the expectations were pretty high. Well, eventually, I didn’t get much love when it was released, I’m afraid. Personally, I thought it was not bad but I was still  nothing really exceptional, that’s for sure. Eventually, I think it depends where you stand concerning Julia Roberts. I mean, if you have a weak spot for this actress, you will probably have a good time watching this flick but, if you can’t stand her, it will probably bore you. Personally, I always had some mixed feelings towards this actress and even though I have to admit that she was quite charming back in those days, I always thought that her range as an actress was just really limited. It was also pretty much the same thing concerning Dennis Quaid, an actor always fine to watch but never really fascinating. To conclude, in spite of its flaws, I still think this movie was a decent watch, above all thanks to Hallström’s solid directing and I think it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre. 

Even though Richard Linklater has directed 2 of the best movies released recently (‘Boyhood’ and ‘Before Midnight’), somehow, this director is still not really among my top favorites. I don’t know, even though his movies are usually interesting, sometimes, I actually barely care for them and this movie is a perfect example. Basically, it was one of the very few attempts of Linklater to direct a commercial feature and it was actually a big hit at the box-office when it was released (it was even for quite some time the highest grossing musical comedy of all time). Well, to be honest, even though the whole thing was pretty much tailor-made for Jack Black and even though I have to admit that it was fairly entertaining, I can’t say it really blew me away though. The main issue I had is that the whole thing seemed to be too easy. Indeed, the music was really neat and I really helped that Black had some feeling for this music genre but the plot followed too much the formula that you usually get with this genre. Still, in spite of its flaws, it was a decent watch and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre. 

Apparently, this is one of the most obscure movies I have seen since I’m still the only one who has rated the damned thing on this website. Basically, it is one of these typical Dutch romantic-comedies, my wife is a huge fan, but I usually don’t care much for them. Still, I have to admit it, even though there was absolutely nothing really groundbreaking about the damned thing, I thought it was a decent watch and probably one of the least annoying movies I have seen in this genre. When thinking about it, I think it might have been one of the very first Dutch rom-com that I saw so it might explain why I might be slightly generous here but I thought it was not bad. Above all, I thought that Miryanna van Reeden was quite charming and quite talented and it’s too bad that this movie didn’t lead to some more interesting projects for her. To be honest, without her, I don’t think I would have cared much for the damned thing. Anyway, to conclude, I thought it was a decent romantic-comedy and I think it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre but you shouldn’t expect anything really amazing before watching this flick. 

To be honest,  I didn’t really know what this movie was about before watching the damned thing and the main reason I wanted to check it out was because it was included in the ‘1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die’ list. Well, it turned out to be a really weird and messed up documentary, that’s for sure. First of all, I have to confess, I wasn’t really aware of all the horrors that happened in Indonesia about 50 years ago and only therefore it was already a really valuable feature (as a result, Indonesia is another country I won’t be visiting for ‘fun’, I had recently the same experience with Mexico after watching ‘Sicario’). Anyway, not only this movie deals with a massively traumatic experience but it deals with it in such a unique way, as a result, the whole thing was just as much fascinating as it was horrifying. Indeed, even though you might expect these executioners to regret their actions, most of them didn’t feel much guilt, in the contrary, they were actually proud of what they did and, as a result, this movie was more about the psychological impact then putting actual blame on people. I mean, if you see ‘Shoa’, everyone, even the former SS, agree that what happened in WWII was horrible but, then, Germany lost the war. In Indonesia, the same people who ordered the purge still have the power and, therefore, after so many decades, those ‘winners’ have been telling anyone that what they happened was actually justified creating this weird acceptation of a major human tragedy. And yet, when you get to see Anwar Congo, right from the beginning, you wonder if he really believes everything he says and, indeed, slowly, after reproducing these terribly deeds, his attitude changes and, towards the end, he seems to be finally devastated by what he has done. Anyway, to conclude, it was an unique documentary, I will probably keep thinking about it for the following days and it is definitely worth a look. 

Even though this movie is rather obscure, since it was directed by Steven Spielberg, I was still quite eager to check it out. Indeed, even though 'Duel' is nowadays considered as Spielberg's directing debut,  this movie was in fact his official first theatrical feature film. Anyway, even though 'Duel' was a pretty cool flick, I thought this one was rather disappointing, to be honest. First of all, it all depends where you stand concerning Goldie Hawn. Basically, she played here the same character she has portrayed in most of her movies, her typical hysterical whining rather annoying chick, so if you have a weak spot for her gimmick, you will probably enjoy this movie for than I did, otherwise, it might not work for you. For Spielberg, I think it was a rather interesting attempt to deliver a dark comedy but it wasn't nearly dark enough to make it really entertaining, at least, as far as I’m concerned. To conclude, it is one of the most obscure movies directed by this director and even though it is not really a must see in my book, I thought it was still a decent watch and I think it is worth a look, especially if you are interested in Steven Spielberg’s work. 

Like any other pop-star, Eminem tried to be an actor at some point but, even though most of this movies turn out to be usually pretty terrible (see ‘Crossroads’, ‘Glitter’,  ‘Burlesque’, ‘The Bodyguard’ or  ‘Get Rich or Die Tryin'), this movie turned out to be actually pretty good. Sure, you might argue that Eminem had to play someone so similar to him that he didn’t really had to act at all and just be himself which would be true. However, I think it was a smart choice because Eminem, just like Britney Spears or Mariah Carey, is not an actor so, to minimize the risks, I understand that he would choose such a part. Furthermore, even though this tale was rather straightforward and generic, I thought it was fairly entertaining and I really enjoyed the gritty approach. For Curtis Hanson, after ‘L.A. Confidential’ and ‘Wonder Boys’, it was another critical success but we don’t hear much from him anymore and he seems nowadays to be retired due to Alzheimer disease. Coming back to our main feature, to conclude, even though it was nothing really groundbreaking, I thought it was a decent watch and I think it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre or if you are a fan of Eminem’s work.