Reviews by johanlefourbe

Honestly, it has been a while since I have seen this movie but I remember it quite well. It is actually pretty osbcure and I wonder why it never got much love. Indeed, it deals with a fascinating true story and the lead character was played by Ewan McGregor, probably one of the best actors of his generation, so it definitely had some potential to be really great. Unfortunately, I have to admit it, it never managed to be really spellbinding after all. I mean, I still believe that it was entertaining and McGregor delivered once again a solid performance but it is always the issue with a tale like this one, the viewers already know at the beginning how it will end so how do you manage to still make it exciting or interesting? In this case, they only partially succeeded and the whole thing was just too predictable to become really remarkable. Years later, some other movies about the same subject like ‘Margin Call’ or ‘The Wolf of Wall Street’ would work even though the outcome was known from the start. Anyway, to conclude, in spite of its flaws, it still is an interesting feature and I think it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested by this subject.

To this day, it is still the most popular movie directed by Michael Bay. I mean, the transformers flicks have been highly successful financially but they are also despised by many movie viewers (including myself) whereas this movie has always been genuinely respected. Indeed, even though I'm not exactly a die-hard action movie fan, I certainly enjoyed this one and it is a definite milestone for many players involved. For Bay and Bruckheimer, it was a step forward following their previous effort but it was not yet as preposterous as their following productions like 'Armageddon' for example. For Sean Connery, it would be the last time we would see him play such a bad-ass character, some kind of awesome older version of James Bond, his most iconic part. For Nicolas Cage, for good or bad, it was the start of his action movie career. Even though his recent action flicks were pretty terrible, his first outing was actually pretty cool. Back in those days, even for something really weak, Cage would do his best to deliver a solid performance and, here, he delivered all his lines in such an hilarious way, it's really too bad he has lost his touch. To conclude, at the end of the day, it is nothing mind-blowing and rather preposterous but it remains a very well made and terribly entertaining action flick and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

I already saw this movie but it was ages ago and, since it was available on Netflix, I thought I might as well check it out again. Even though this movie seems to be nowadays pretty much forgotten, I remembered very well when it was released in France. Indeed, in my my home country, it was a massive critical success (it even won the César of the Best French Film of the year) and there was a huge hype around the whole thing. For André Téchiné, it was again another critical hit following the already heralded ‘Ma saison préférée’ and ‘J'embrasse pas’ but, above all, it was the introduction of a new generation of talented French actors (Élodie Bouchez, Gaël Morel, Stéphane Rideau). Well, I have to admit that I didn't remember anything about this movie but, eventually, with this rewatch, I was so impressed by the damned thing, probably even more than the first time around. Indeed, when I first watched it, I was actually around the same age as the characters involved and, even if I did appreciate it at the time, I'm afraid it was too subtle for me. However, to watch it again almost 30 years later was actually quite emotional and even overwhelming. Indeed, I think it's a movie for a mature audience but, for me, it was also a whole word of recognition. Sure, I was born in the 80's but I was also born in a very small village in the French countryside and the everyday life and mood still looked quite similar. Furthermore, this time, I could really identify with this group of teenagers and with the complex feelings they struggled with. Indeed, Téchiné managed to create a fascinating mood and those characters were all really 3 dimensional and felt so genuine. Anyway, to conclude, the damned thing was so good, it is probably the best movie directed by André Téchiné, and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in French movies.

It has been a while since I have seen this flick, in fact, I have even seen it in the movie theater when it was released and, to be honest, I wonder how I actually ended up watching this feature. I think I went to see this flick above all because Shohei Imamura had a really good reputation but I didn’t know at the time that it would be his last directing effort (I don’t count ‘11'09''01 - September 11’ since it was just a short feature with many other directors involved). Anyway, eventually, it turned out to be a rather tough watch and even though I admired the work done, I can’t say I was really blown away by the whole thing. Indeed, like many Asian features, there is a lot of symbolism but not only it went rather above my head, to be honest, I’m not sure I really cared for it. Basically, I really liked the characters and I thought the actors involved delivered some solid performances but their behavior was so weird, it made the whole thing rather alienating. To conclude, I think it didn’t get this flick but there was still something really artistic about the whole thing and I think it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

It has been a while since I have seen this flick and maybe I should check it again at some point. Basically, it is a really obscure flick but since I always had a weak spot for Al Pacino and Gene Hackman, I was really eager to check it out. Back then, Al Pacino just got his breakthrough with ‘The Godfather’ and that was the first movie he made afterwards. Unfortunately, even though it was actually a very good drama, it didn’t get much love at the time and it didn’t become a classic like pretty much everything else involving Al Pacino in the 70’s. In fact, I was actually quite impressed by this flick and I thought it worked really well with some great performances by Pacino, obviously at the top of his game at the time but also from Gene Hackman. Indeed, Hackman himself would say that it was his favorite performance and he was really disappointed that this movie turned out to be a flop. Basically, it is about 2 guys wandering and it reminded me of ‘Midnight Cowboy’ which was released a few years before. To conclude, even though it is nowadays pretty much forgotten, it is actually a really good flick and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in those 2 actors.

Oh my God… By now, I have grown so tired of Jason Statham… I mean, he is actually a decent action star but, man, he always plays the very same character in every single movie and it has become so old, he really needs to take some more risks. At least, this one seemed to have some potential but I thought it was ultimately thoroughly disappointing. Indeed, it was based on the famous character from the books written by Donald Westlake which were also the inspiration of some other solid features like ‘Point Blank’ and ‘Payback’ and it seemed to be some perfect material for Statham’s acting style. Eventually, the first heist was nothing really original but it was still well done and fairly entertaining. However, as soon as the main character got to Florida, the plot got terribly murky and inconsistent and I really had a hard time to care about the damned thing. Maybe I missed something, but why on earth was the guy pretending to look for a house?!? Also, Jennifer Lopez (who finally showed up after 45 minutes) was supposed to be his sidekick but, honestly, what did she really do to help him out? Not much, I’m afraid… Finally, even though Statham and Lopez were the big stars here, they didn’t end up with each other as they added a girlfriend, played by some unknown chick whose character was completely under-developped. To conclude, I was amazed about how poorly the whole thing was and I don’t think it is really worth a look.

Honestly, it has been a while since I have seen this flick but, at the time, I thought it was not bad at all. I saw it back then when I was smoking a lot of hash and since it was dealing with this dear subject, I probably ended up watching the damned thing. Anyway, even though ‘Secrets & Lies’ was already released 4 years before, Brendan Blethyn was still surfing on her newfound popularity (she was quite the late bloomer with a breakthrough at 56 years old). Basically, it is one of those rather harmless and fairly entertaining British comedies with a realistic background. Unfortunately, even though the background was quite realistic, the whole plot was rather silly and I had a rather hard time to really care about the whole thing. At least, the characters were funny enough but I still believe that they could have done more with this concept ( the fact that they spent so much time growing this fine looking weed to just burn the whole thing at the end was also rather annoying and disappointing ). To conclude, even though it is nothing really amazing, it was still a decent comedy and it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

To be honest, I haven't seen this movie since I was a kid but, back then, I thought it was pretty funny. Sure, the whole thing is pretty easy, it makes fun of a scout group and there is a fair chance that I would find it rather lame if I would re-watch it nowadays but, at the time, I really liked this kind of comedies and I thought it was really entertaining. In fact, I wonder I watched this thing when it was released. On one hand, I was just 5 years old so it seems rather unlikely but, on the other hand, I went to the movies with my mother when I was very young. Anyway, at the time, Gérard Jugnot was already pretty famous as a comedian in France but he was also an aspiring director and this movie was his second directing effort. Personally, I never been attracted by the scouts (in fact, when I was a kid, I had to go every year to some summer camp - called ‘colonie de vacances’ in French - and I always dread it) but this movie was apparently rather fairly faithful. Anyway, to conclude, I think it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

Since this movie had some pretty good ratings (apparently, with 5.5 million copies sold on DVD, it is the best sold drama on this format), I was quite eager to check it out. Eventually, even though my wife really liked it and is actually a big fan of this movie, to be honest, even though I thought it was fairly enjoyable, I wasn’t really blown away by the whole thing. I mean, sure, it is quite an uplifting tale and it was a very well made but it was also rather straighforward and just too predictable to become trully remarkable. For Gary Ross, it was another success after ‘Pleasantville’ and he would wait almost a decade to come up with another directing effort but it was definitely worth the wait since ‘The Hunger Games’ was quite a massive success. Concerning Tobey Maguirre, at the time, he was pretty much at the height of his career and he made this drama between the first 2 ‘Spider-Man’ installments. It’s too bad that his career has been terribly slow ever since he stopped doing those Spider-Man flicks and I hope he will get the opportunity to make a come-back some day. Anyway, coming back to our main feature, even though I didn’t really love it, there is no denying that it is a solid uplifting drama and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

Honestly, I wasn't expecting much from this flick but, somehow, I still ended up watching the damned thing. Eventually, I didn't like it much. Indeed, basically, ever since 'The Notebook' was a surprise success, there has been this huge hype around the books written by Nicholas Sparks but, to be honest, none of these adaptations were really that good and this movie was not an exception, I'm afraid. Where should I start? I mean, right from the really cheesy introduction, the whole thing was rather hopeless and so predictable. I guess that is what the fans are looking for, something that will never change, that will never challenge their exceptions and to get served the very same recipe over and over again must be quite comforting. Well, I'm not a fan and I find this formula to be pretty boring. Seriously, is this guy for real?! Apparently, he is great with kids and animals, he can play the piano, he can play chess, he can fix your tractor, your boat and the guy was apparently some war hero. Sure, he has been traumatized by the war but after 10 minutes, the issue completely disappeared to make sure it did not jeopardize this otherwise perfect love story. Concerning Zac Efron, obviously, I didn't believe for 1 second that he was a seasoned soldier but, a part from that, I have to admit that he actually gave a solid performance. To conclude, I thought it was quite underwhelming and I don't think it is worth a look, except maybe if you are a fan of the genre.