Reviews by johanlefourbe

To be honest, it has been a while since I have seen this flick but, if I recall it correctly, I actually saw the damned thing in the movie theater when it was released in France. Anyway, it is a really obscure feature, pretty much no one else here on Listal as seen this flick on Listal but I thought it was actually really good. Indeed, I have always been amazed by the fact that Bertrand Tavernier seems to be completely unknown here on Listal when he is , in fact, one of the best French directors and for already 4 decades now. Anyway, among all the movies directed by Tavernier that I have seen so far, this movie actually turned out to be one of his best. Indeed, I thought the subject was just fascinating, dealing with the French movie business during the WWII. This way, you get a nice view on how they used to make movies back in those days but, on top of that, they had also to deal with the limitations and even pressure provided by the German occupation. To conclude, even though it is a rather obscure feature, I really liked it a lot and I think it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in French movies. 

The main reason I wanted to check this movie was because it was directed by Barbet Schroeder. Indeed, even though this director is pretty much forgotten nowadays, he managed to breakthrough internationally in the 90’s thanks to some really solid thrillers and I always had a weak spot for his work. From all the movies Schroeder made at the time, it was probably not the best or most popular one but I though it was not bad. Apparently, it was a remake of an older film noir from the 40’s which I haven’t seen but I always had a weak spot for the neo-noir genre. To be honest, the cast was not completely convincing and, above all, Helen Hunt was hardly convincing as a recovering alcoholic. Furthermore, I never really cared for David Caruso but, back in those days, Nicolas Cage was still one of the most interesting actors at work and he completely stole the show here playing some kind of psychotic/asthmatic mobster. Unfortunately, 20 years late, Cage’s career has become a big joke,  it’s too bad and hopefully he will manage to make a come-back at some point. To conclude, even though it was nothing really amazing, I thought it was decent watch and I think it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre.      

Honestly, it has been a while since I have seen this flick and I should probably rewatch it at some point. Anyway, it is probably the most obscure movie directed by Martin Scorsese. I mean, who would have expected this catholic guy who almost became a priest to make a biopic about the Dalai Lama?!? Anyway, for Scorsese, it was probably his most experimental feature and, eventually, it turned out to be a flop at the box-office. Still, I was quite eager to check it out. Basically, even though the directing was solid as usual (I wouldn’t expect less from this director), I thought that it was still rather bland. Furthermore, after the similar and superior 'The Last Emperor', I had a rather hard time to really care about the whole thing. Still, the Dalai Lama is quite an intriguing figure and I have to admit that it was really interesting to have such a movie dealing with his life in details. To conclude, even though I wasn’t really blown away by the whole thing, I still think it was a decent watch and it is worth a look, especially if you are interested in this subject or if you are interested in Martin Scorsese’s work.

Back in the 90's, I was a huge fan of Abel Ferrara's work and, back then, I spent a lot of time tracking down his movies. Indeed, Ferrara has never been an easy director but I always found his movies really mesmerizing. However, all the movies he directed during the last 10-15 years were more alienating than fascinating to watch which is just too bad. Anyway, coming back to our main feature, it was with this movie that Ferrara finally managed to reach a wider audience. To be honest, it is not really a ground-breaking gangster feature but there was still a lot to enjoy here. Indeed, what I enjoyed the most was probably the really dark and gloomy mood, definitely a trademark in Ferrara's work. Furthermore, it is always neat when Christopher Walken finally gets the opportunity to play the lead and only him could play such a demented drug lord without sounding completely ridiculous. Anyway, 2 years after making this feature, Ferrara would come up with ‘Bad Lieutenant’ which would be one of my all-time favorite movies. To conclude, even though it might not be a masterpiece, I thought it was pretty good and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in Abel Ferrara's work. 

For about 20 years, I have been following the Coen brothers and, by now, I have seen all their movies. To be honest,  I’m not a huge fan of their work anymore and, in my opinion, everything they have made during the last 10 years, except for ‘Inside Llewyn Davis’, has been rather overrated. Still, I have to admit that I have actually enjoyed every single one of their movie, except for this movie though.  Indeed, it was a huge critical flop when it was released and it is arguably the only failure in their otherwise prestigious career (Personally, I do have a weak spot for ‘Intolerable Cruelty’ but it didn't get much love either). Anyway, in spite of its weak reputation, I still wanted to check it out and, at the end of the day, it was a rather lazy and completely unnecessary remake. Sure, Tom Hanks did his best with this material  and it was nice to see him playing a completely different kind of character for once but the whole thing, going from the plot to the characters involved, was just rather underwhelming. To conclude, even though it was disappointing, I still think it is worth a look though, especially if you are interested in the Coen brothers’s work.