Reviews by johanlefourbe

I already saw this movie but since it was a while back, I was quite eager to check it out again. Following the really popular but also rather generic ‘Billy Elliot’, Stephen Daldry came up with this follow-up which was much more ambitious and it turned out to be another critical success. Well, I"m glad I gave it a 2nd chance because I enjoyed it more this time around. Indeed, to be honest, the first time I saw this movie, even though it was definitely a decent watch, I have to admit it that I actually had a hard time to care about this story. Basically, the tricky thing with this movie is that you have to be able to have an emotional connection with these 3 women, even though you barely get to know them. Still, there is no denying that the directing was really solid. Above all, there was a stellar cast involved and they all gave some fine performances (Nicole Kidman, Julianne Moore, Meryl Streep, John C. Reilly, Toni Collette, Ed Harris, Claire Danes, Jeff Daniels). Especially for Kidman, this movie was basically the highlight of her career as she was awarded the Academy Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role. Eventually, the main issue I still have with this movie is that I still haven't read the actual 'Mrs Dalloway' book which would probably allow me to appreciate this movie even more. Anyway, to conclude, it turned out to be a really good drama and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

Since it is a rather obscure feature, I wasn’t really sure what to expect from the damned thing but since I’m a huge fan of Roman Polanski, I was really eager to check it out. Basically, a year before,  Polanski just made ‘Repulsion’ with Catherine Deneuve. This movie turned out to be Polanski's first genuine masterpiece and, as a follow-up, he would make this flick starring Deneuve's older sister, Françoise Dorléac. You might have never heard of her but, in the 60’s,  she was actually, just like her sister, a very talented actress but she tragically died in a car accident a year after this movie was released. Anyway, coming back to our main feature, it is definitely one of the weirdest movies made by Polanski and, like most of his movie, it was obviously not really oriented towards the mainstream audience, that's for sure. There was not much of a plot and the whole thing was rather gloomy and unsettling but thanks to Polanski's directing, it was still quite spellbinding to watch, at least, that's my humble opinion. To conclude, even though it was not really a masterpiece, it was still a decent watch and  I think it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in Roman Polanski’s work. 

Since I kept hearing some really great things about this franchise, I was really eager to check it out. Eventually, I even managed to convince my wife to watch this and we had the opportunity to watch the extended versions  as they were divided in 6 episodes on TV. Well, we were not disappointed and we both really loved the damned thing. Indeed, the directing was really solid, it was a very intense and entertaining story and, above all, Lisbeth Salander turned out to be one of the most fascinating characters I have ever seen. Indeed, not only Noomi Rapace gave a very strong performance and then became an international star thanks to this franchise, this character was just so well written, she was just mesmerizing to behold. Eventually, since I really loved these movies, I read all the books and, in fact, I think that Salander was even better in the movies because she was more mysterious. Anyway, it was a great thriller, not doubt about it. Eventually, only 2 years later, they would come up with a US remake which gave me some mixed feelings. Indeed, on one hand, since it was directed by David Fincher, it was obviously pretty awesome, but, on the other hand, it was also seriously pointless since this original Swedish was already amazing. Anyway, to conclude, I really loved the damned thing and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre. 

Since I always had a weak spot for Clint Eastwood, I was really eager to check this movie. On top of that, it was the last movie Eastwood would make with Don Siegel (they eventually made 5 movies together) so the whole thing sounded really neat. Basically, it turned out to be a rather classic and straightforward prison break thriller but the whole thing was so well made and Clint Eastwood was so charismatic, I thought it was pretty damned entertaining. Furthermore, to make this story take place in Alcatraz, probably the most famous prison that ever existed, was a great idea as well. Eventually, even though this movie never got the status of ‘Dirty Harry’, it was certainly not far behind quality-wise. In my opinion, I believe it was slightly missing some depths about the characters and the plot, while very effective, was after all still rather generic. In this genre, I prefer ‘The Shawshank Redemption’ which is still the ultimate masterpiece but this movie is still one of the best anyway. To conclude, even though it was probably not really groundbreaking, it was still pretty bad-ass and entertaining and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in Clint Eastwood’s work as an actor. 

I already saw this movie but since it was such a long time ago, I was quite eager to check it out again. Well, I always had a weak spot for Steven Soderbergh and, back then, he was pretty much at the top of his game but, to be honest, I wasn’t really blown away by this flick though. I mean, sure, it was well made, the story was fairly entertaining but it was not much more than that, I’m afraid. Concerning Julia Roberts, she did deliver a solid performance, probably one of the best in her career but, to be honest, it doesn’t mean much. In my opinion, the whole thing is pretty much a commercial flick pretending to be an indie production. And, eventually, what are we supposed to be think about Erin Brockovich? On one hand, her ex-husbands were some douchebags but the only guy she was involved with in this movie was pretty amazing. Furthermore, you get to see her reading some papers very intensely during numerous scenes which must be a proof of her investigative skills and her other skills were apparently that she could remember 100s of phone numbers or that she could seduce any man with her boobs (she actually literally says so). Well, I wasn’t really impressed and to see Julia Roberts with some major cleavage and swearing a lot still didn’t qualify as a great performance, at least, not in my book. The very same year , Soderbergh would also release ‘Traffic’ and it was miles better in my opinion. Anyway, to conclude, even though I think it is rather overrated, I have to admit it, it was still a decent watch and it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre or if you have a weak spot for Julia Roberts. 

To be honest, it has been a while since I have seen this flick and I should definitely check it out again at some point. If I recall it correctly, I even saw the damned thing when it was released in the movie theater at the time. Anyway, ever since the ‘Batman & Robin’ debacle, Joel Schumacher always had a rather lousy reputation and even though he might deserve this, he still made a couple of decent movies and this movie might be the best of the whole bunch. Indeed, it is pretty much a spellbinding thriller and what made it really interesting was the fact that it was so realistic. On top of that, Michael Douglas was just pitch-perfect here and, according to himself, he gave here the best performance of his career. Eventually, even though I was really impressed by the damned thing, I’m afraid it was still missing something to become truly remarkable. Basically, most of the movies delivered by Schumacher have been seriously shallow and even though this one was more advanced concerning the development of its character and its concept, it  was still not digging enough, I’m afraid. To conclude, even though it was maybe not perfect, I thought it was still a really good thriller and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.