Reviews by johanlefourbe

I already saw this movie but it was ages ago and, above all, I just finished reading the book so I thought I might as well check it out again. In fact, I have to admit it, it is not really the kind of stories that would at first really attract me. However it was the very first time that Robert Redford directed and appeared on screen which made the whole thing slightly more intriguing to me. Eventually, it turned out to be pretty successful at the box-office and it was probably the most popular movie he has directed. Well, personally, I actually ended up with some mixed feelings about the damned thing. I mean, on one hand, there was a very strong cast involved (Robert Redford, Kristin Scott Thomas, Sam Neill, Dianne Wiest, Scarlett Johansson, Chris Cooper, Kate Bosworth) and Redford definitely managed to create a really nice mood. However, on the other hand, I’m not sure if I really cared about this story. In fact, a big difference between the book and the film adaptation was that the love story between Tom Booker and Annie MacLean was unconsummated in the movie but it was definitely not the case in the book. The end-result was therefore much more realistic but also much less passionate as well. Another issue, this time in both versions, was that it was never convincing that Tom would fall so much in love with Annie. I don’t blame Kristin Scott Thomas, she was as usual terribly charismatic but her character, especially in the movie version, was for too long such a bossy stressed out and arrogant woman. As a result, you wonder why such a laidback guy like Tom Booker would ever be so fascinated by her. Finally, the issue with this story was that it started out as the very intriguing healing of a traumatized horse and a traumatized girl by a wise horseman but it got completely undermined by this sappy and rather unconvincing love story. Anyway, to conclude, in spite of its flaws, it was still a decent watch though and it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre. 

To be honest, it has been a while since I have seen this flick. Anyway, one of the main reasons that motivated Clint Eastwood to become a director in the first place is that there were some stories in which he really wanted to get involved but nobody would think of him since the studios would rather cast him only for another Western or some other action flicks where Eastwood would portray his usual no-nonsense tough guy. This way, by becoming a director, he was able to pick up some different projects, more intimate, showing a different facet of his talent. This movie is a perfect example. To be honest, it is not actually one of this best dramas but I thought it was pretty solid. Indeed, Eastwood gives a nice performance, like his son by the way, and I really enjoyed the sad and melancholic tone of the whole thing. The very same year, Clint Eastwood made also ‘Firefox’ which turned out to be a box-office hit, while this movie was a flop. Well, in my opinion, ‘Firefox’ was just  terrible while this movie was not bad at all. Anyway, to conclude, it won’t go down as one of Eastwood’s masterpieces but it is actually a decent watch.

To be honest, it has been a while since I have seen this flick. In fact, if I recall it correctly, I even saw the damned thing in the movie theater when it was released. Indeed, after I saw ‘Manhattan Murder Mystery’, I became a huge fan  of Woody Allen and I went to see every year his latest directing effort in the movie theater and I think this one would be the very last one I saw this way. Basically, at some point, it became a rather thankless job to watch his movies like this. Indeed, every since he started, Woody Allen has been making one movie every single year and, even though you might be impressed with this work ethic, I think it had quite a negative impact on the quality of his work and this movie is a perfect example.  Indeed, it was made during the period often considered as his weakest one, a period which stopped either with ‘Melinda and Melinda’ or ‘Match Point’ and it wasn’t really good, I’m afraid. I mean, even though the concept had some potential, especially with Woody Allen playing a movie director, the whole sickness angle was pretty weak.  To conclude, in spite of its flaws, it was a decent watch though and I think it is worth  a look but it is definitely one of the weakest movies delivered by the great master. 

It is another movie I really wanted to watch for at least a decade, probably even longer. After waiting for so long , I wish I could say it was worth the wait but the whole thing was just terrible. In fact, I have to admit that I remember quite well when it was released and that it was really trashed by the critics. Anyway, basically, the whole thing was some kind of weird supposedly quirky indie comedy but it was never entertaining or intriguing to watch. Obviously, it was filled up with some rather weird characters but none of them had something really interesting to tell. I mean, right from the start, the concept of this girl with some huge thumbs going hitchhiking for years was seriously misguided and completely underwhelming. At least, back in those days, Uma Thurman really looked quite stunning and she was probably one of the most promising actresses at work at the time but this movie would be one of the first really bad move she made, something that would keep occurring in her career time and time again (see also ‘Batman & Robin’, ‘The Avengers’, ‘My Super Ex-Girlfriend’, ‘The Accidental Husband’, …). Anyway, to conclude, it was pretty bad, easily the worst movie ever directed by Gus Van Sant and I don’t think it is worth a look at all.        

Following ‘Sous le sable’, François Ozon’s first critical success, the French director came up with this flick which was definitely bigger and more ambitious than his previous projects. Indeed, for this movie, Ozon managed to have an impressive all-star cast with some of the most famous French actresses (Catherine Deneuve, Isabelle Huppert, Fanny Ardant, Emmanuelle Béart, Ludivine Sagnier, Virginie Ledoyen, Danielle Darrieux). Well, eventually, even though it was a decent watch and it was indeed pretty neat to see all these great actresses working together, I can’t say it really blew me away. Basically, the main issue I had is that even though the available acting talent was quite amazing, the material was terribly light and, therefore, it slightly felt like  a missed opportunity. Of course, you might argue that Steven Soderbergh basically did the same thing with ‘Ocean’s eleven’ and you would be right but ‘Ocean’s eleven’ was in fact just another blockbuster, without any pretension, and I thought it was just more fun than this flick. To conclude,  even though I didn’t really connect with the whole thing, it was still not bad at all and I think it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in French movies.