Reviews by johanlefourbe

To be honest, it has been a while since I have seen this flick and I wonder if I actually saw it in the movie theater when it was released.  I remember it very well though, back then, it did receive some pretty good reviews and it would provide a (deserved) breakthrough for Maggie Gyllenhaal. In fact, I have just noticed that it would be the first leading part for Gyllenhaal but also her last one as she has been only playing  supporting parts during the following decade. Anyway, coming back to our main feature, it is basically a rather straightforward romantic-comedy with an interesting edge. Indeed, it deals a with a  couple who are into SM and, for once, this SM relationship was described as being healthy which was something apparently never ever displayed before in a fairly mainstream picture. Anyway, even though I admired the whole thing and even though I thought it was quite enjoyable, at the end of the day, since it was dealing with a rather taboo subject, they decided to handle it only fairly lightly as a comedy to make it easier to swallow for the mainstream audience. To conclude, even though it might not be a masterpiece, it was still a really original and well made comedy and it is definitely worth a look. 

Nowadays, Daniel Craig has been hailed as a great James Bond. Indeed, all of his movies have been really successful at the box-office and at least 2 of them are considered as major classics in this franchise (‘Casino Royale’ and ‘Skyfall’). It is all well and quite deserved but, as a result, we all tend to look down a bit on Pierce Brosnan, the previous James Bond actor, and I think that’s too bad. In my opinion, when Brosnan took over with this first movie, the challenge to actually succeed was actually much greater than for Daniel Craig. Indeed, it was already 6 years since the last James Bond installment was released, all the movies with Timothy Dalton were flops and, at least, half of the movies starring Roger Moore were in fact pretty weak and many thought that this franchise was pretty much dead at that point. Well, this movie eventually turned out to be a big success and really revived this franchise which is still going strong 20 years later. Basically, Pierce Brosnan was really awesome, easily one of the best James Bonds, Famke Janssen was one of the best villains used in this franchise, I loved the soundtrack by Eric Serra and the whole thing was simply quite entertaining. Eventually, to be honest, it failed to really blow me away because it was too safe and it still followed too closely the traditional formula but I still think it is a solid James Bond feature and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre. 

I already saw this movie but, since it was ages ago, I thought I might as well check it out again. Well, I was surprised by how little I actually remembered the damned thing so it was definitely worth watching it again after all these years. On top of that, I really enjoyed it a lot, much more than the first time around. I guess what really bothered me (and it still doesn't really work in this area) was the fact that it is really difficult to take Dustin Hoffman seriously as a student when the guy was in fact already 30 years at the time. To make things worse, he and Anne Bancroft were less than 6 years apart in real life, even though she was supposed to be more than twice his age. Same thing with Katharine Ross who was just 9 years younger than the actress playing her mom. However, now, I finally saw how great they were for these parts, especially Hoffman and Bancroft. I was also really amazed by the tone. Indeed, it is actually a rather bleak comedy with a strong nostalgic tone and, even though I barely cared for it when I was in my 20's, it really appealed to me now that I'm in my 40's. I mean, Benjamin Braddock is basically a rather pathetic loser, when the movie starts and even up until the end, he must be one of the confused characters that I have ever seen but it makes him in fact terribly relatable, much more than your usually seemingly perfect romantic lead. Furthermore, even though he seems to have everything covered, nothing he has or had achieved meant much to him after all, so he was in fact some kind of empty vessel which was also pitch-perfect and so relatable. Eventually, the only thing that could spice up things and make his life worthwhile was love, any kind of love, and, to be honest, I don't think there was anything really wrong about having an affair with a much older woman who happened to be married. The only issue was that he actually never cared for Mrs Robinson (you could argue that she never cared for him either) but the only really messed up thing he did was to try to hook up afterwards with her daughter. That was really f*cked up but it made Ben even more fascinating than he already was and the fact that Mrs Robinson's daughter would actually go along was also so intriguing. Anyway, to conclude, it is a classic comedy and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre. 

I have to admit it, I always had a weak spot for romantic-comedies but it is a real shame that most of the movies in this genre are in fact terribly generic and underwhelming. Fortunately, there are a few exceptions out there and this movie was definitely one of them. First of all, even though I have always thought that Bill Murray was an interesting actor, to be honest, I never really cared for his movies. However, with this movie, they really found the perfect material for him. Obviously, like any other romantic-comedy, it was in fact all rather sweet, cheesy and predictable but what made this movie quite stand out from the rest was the main character perfectly played by Murray. Indeed, the guy was basically a major douche-bag and he made the whole thing so much more entertaining than the usual boring perfect man that they provide in this kind of movies. Furthermore, the whole concept was obviously rather preposterous but they handled it so well, it was just so much fun to behold and it was also a masterstroke to never explain how the main character endlessly kept reliving the same day. Finally, Andie MacDowell had never been more charming and she had some great chemistry with Murray. To conclude, it is a classic, I really love the damned thing and it is definitely worth a look. 

I wasn’t really aware that this movie was so obscure. Indeed, I’m in fact the only one who has rated it on this website (apparently, only 500 people has rated it on IMDb which is also a really low figure). Anyway, I had no idea what to expect from the damned thing but since it was starring Nastassja Kinski and Ben Kingsley, I was quite eager to check it out.  Back then, Kinski had just showed up the year before in ‘Paris, Texas’, one of my all-time favorite movies. In my opinion, she was just mesmerizing back in those days and it’s just too bad that she would keep showing up in such obscure features like this one and, at the end of the day, I think she had a rather underwhelming career in spite of her great potential. Anyway, coming back to our main feature, on one hand, the whole concept was obviously rather sleazy and exploitative, but, on the other hand, I thought it was fairly well handled and I have to admit that it almost worked for me, above all thanks to Nastassja Kinski’s performance. To conclude, in spite of its flaws, I thought it was a decent watch and I think it is worth a look but don’t expect anything really amazing before watching the damned thing. 

I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick, it seemed rather obscure to me but the TV magazine gave it a great review so I thought I might as well give it a try. Apparently, it was a big plop when it was released but it eventually managed to become a cult-classic. Well, eventually, even though it turned out to be a decent watch, I seriously failed to see what was so amazing about the damned thing though. I mean, sure, it was rather well made and the cast, filled with B actors, was decent but, at the end of the day, I just didn’t care much for this story, I’m afraid. Basically, the whole thing was pretty much ‘Deliverance’ with some soldiers this time and since I wasn’t really blown away by ‘Deliverance’ in the first place, it is hardly surprising that this movie didn’t really impress me either. I don’t know, I just don’t really get this fascination and fear of the Louisiana swamp and this concept has always been only mildly interesting to me. At least, the ironic title was pretty neat. To conclude, even though it didn’t really work for me, it was still not bad at all and it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre. 

To be honest, I never really cared about Tupac Shakur, when he was alive or after his death, but I have to admit that the guy definitely displayed some potential in this movie. Basically, it is a rather obscure feature that pretty much everyone forgot about. Obviously, it was a rather straightforward drug drama-comedy and the whole thing was nothing really groundbreaking but, in my opinion, it was still a solid and rather well made feature. Indeed, I really enjoyed the mood which was fairly realistic and, in my opinion, the comedic elements were in fact rather subtle and they worked fine with the rather dreary subject. On top of that, Tim Roth (an English guy) and Tupa Shakur (a rapper) seemed to be a rather unlikely duo but they were actually pretty good. Indeed, back then, Tim Roth was definitely one of the most interesting actors at work but, for Tupac, it was definitely something else than his usual thugs and the guy really surprised me here. Unfortunately, he would be shot not long after making this movie and it would be released after his death. To conclude, even though it is definitely not a masterpiece, it was still a decent watch and it is definitely worth a look.