Reviews by johanlefourbe

Honestly, it has been ages since I have this flick but I can remember it very well. First of all, I have noticed that Cédric Klapisch is not really famous here on Listal but he is actually highly regarded in France and many of his movies were very successful there. In fact, this movie was his first (and maybe) only big box-office success in France and I remember that, at the time, there was a big buzz about the whole thing. To be honest, even though I thought it was indeed pretty good and quite entertaining, I can’t say I was really blown away by the whole thing though. I mean, I always had a weak spot for Jean-Pierre Bacri’s sarcastic black humor (this movie was an adaptation of the play with the same name written by Bacri and his girlfriend Agnès Jaoui who also played a character in this movie) but, I don’t know, I still had a hard time to care about those characters and what they were going through. Still, I think I will re-watch it at some point to make up my mind about the damned thing. To conclude, even though I’m not sure if it is really a masterpiece, it is a still a pretty good comedy and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in French movies.

Honestly, I had nog idea what to expect from this flick but the subject seemed to be interesting so I thought I might as well give it a try. Well, it turned out to be a really depressing watch. Basically, you get to see a lot of sickening stuff and, even though we are all aware of the human traffic business, the fact that someone would choose this line of work is pretty much a proof that we live in a very fucked up world. In my opinion, even though the whole thing was sometimes terribly misguided, they did manage to give a frightening and believable view on the subject. It means that 2/3 of it, when it was focusing on those poor girls was very good and, unfortunaly, the last 1/3 was really contrived and belonged more into a fairy tale (probably the reason why Roger Ebert disliked the movie so much). The issue is that, at some point, it became some kind of completely unbelievable chase involving a young Mexican boy looking for his kidnapped sister with the help of some American played by Kevin Kline. I mean, sure, you wish that something like that would happen in real life, that someone would show up and save those poor girls but, in this cruel world, they are just lost and their life just becomes one terrible hell. To conclude, even though the whole rescue thing didn't work whatsoever, I still think it is a good drama and I think it is worth a look.

Henk had once again picked up a really nice movie. Basically, it was a movie with a concept as you follow one character driving in his car and, that 's it, you get nothing else. Of course, they had to spice up the whole thing so the guy has a cool BMW, a bluetooth phone and two dramas to deal with. Obviously, the possibilities with this set-up were rather limited, but they managed to get most of it thanks to an outstanding performance by Tom Hardy who was obviously all the time on the screen, in close-up, and he literally carried the whole thing on his shoulders. They also managed to create a realistic and intriguing character and the whole thing was definitely quite spellbinding to behold. Indeed, you get to see a man with high responsibilities who is used to handle difficult situations, to solve issues, and here, even though his whole life is pretty much falling apart, he keeps trying to make things work. So, it was all quite impressive but, I don't know, it is and remain a gimmick in my opinion. To conclude, even though I was not completely sold, it was still a really solid drama and it is definitely wort a look, especially if you like the genre.

I already saw this movie but it was a while back and since I had it on DVD, I thought it was time to give it a 2nd look. Last week, I already re-watched ‘Star Trek’ also directed by J.J. Abrams and I have to admit that it was much more fun than I expected. With this in mind and since this movie is considered as superior by many, I was really eager to check it out again. Well, to be honest, in contrary to ‘Star Trek’, I wasn’t really impressed after all. Indeed, the whole thing still looked great, there were some nice action scenes and it was fairly entertaining but I'm not sure if I really cared about the plot. On top of that, I really liked what they did in the previous movie, how they give it some new energy, some new faces, some new timeline and, yet, completely respected the legacy. However, with this new installment, they started to rehash some really old stuff like Khan which was, in my opinion, rather disappointing. Sure, I understand the idea, Khan is probably the most iconic villain in this franchise and, I have to admit it, he is a cool character. Furthermore, Benedict Cumberbatch did deliver a really solid performance. However, since they had the opportunity to create a new story line with some new characters, why should you even bother going again against this enemy? Finally, already in the previous  movie, they went for some time-travelling shenanigans so they could mix up the various timelines. Here, they did something similar by having some characters being frozen for centuries, only because Spock Prime already had to face them in the past but, at this point, they should just come up with something really new. Anyway, even if it didn’t blow me away, it was still a decent watch and it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre. Now, I still have to re-watch ‘Star Trek Beyond’ but I’m not sure if I should be really excited about it anymore. 

Before making the transition to dramas, becoming a ‘serious’ actor and winning 2 oscars in the process, Tom Hanks actually starred in such comedies throughout the 80's. Even if I enjoyed some of those ('The money pit' for example, was not bad at all and ‘Big’ was pretty good as well), some of them were actually kind of lame. In my opinion, this flick which was fairly successful at the box-office definitely belonged to the 2nd category. I mean, sure when I was a kid, I thought it was fairly entertaining but, nowadays, there is no way I can’t take such movie really seriously. Sure, Tom Hanks always had pretty good comedic timing and he did what it could with this material but, basically, you had the usual stererotypical jokes that you have in every single movie dealing with dogs so the whole thing was rather tedious. To be honest, in this genre, it is probably not the worst I have seen but it was still not enough to be really worthwhile. To conclude, even though it wasn't really awful, it is still a rather average comedy and I don’t think it is really worth a look, expect if you really love this genre.

Since this movie has a very good reputation, I was really eager to check it out. Eventually, I wasn't disappointed. To be honest, I was a little bit worried at first because there were too many jokes for my taste but I was soon won over by Charles Laughton's marvelous performance. Indeed, I kept hearing so many great things about this thespian but, after watching this flick, I'm convinced the guy really deserved this impressive reputation. Indeed, even though Marleen Dietrich had maybe the more showy part, I think he was actually the one caring the whole thing with possibly the best performance of a lawyer I have ever seen. Indeed, not only this character was funny, smart and witty but I really had the feeling I was watching a great lawyer and not a fictional character. Concerning the story, it was quite fascinating and really entertaining but, in my opinion, the ending prevented the whole thing from being really great. Sure, it is now considered as one of the greatest twists but, in my opinion, it was actually rather far-fetched and didn't really match the rest of the movie which was quite realistic. Still, it remains one of the best courtroom dramas ever conceived, it is a classic and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

Michael Winterbottom is a very interesting director and I try to catch his flicks everytime I got the chance. However, like some other directors like Soderbergh for example, Winterbottom is victim of his own ambition. Since his directing début in 1995, he has already directed 20 movies! A consequence of this is that some of his movies while still interesting feel half-baked and/or rushed in production. However, there are some exceptions and this movie is definitely one of them. Indeed, it is probably one of Winterbottom biggest critical successes and I thought it was indeed quite enjoyable (I even saw it in the movie theater when it was released if I recall correctly). Indeed, it was the first time around that Michael Winterbottom and Steve Coogan worked together (they have made so far 5 movies together) and I thought that Steve Coogan was just hilarious. Still, even though this flick was probably the only real comedy made by Winterbottom, I wasn’t completely blown away. I mean, sure, it was really fun, but I can’t say I really cared about the people involved or what they were going through. Anyway, even though I don’t think it is really a masterpiece, I still think it is a pretty good flick and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in Michael Winterbottom’s work.

Honestly, I wasn't expecting much from this flick but since I still have a weak spot for Nicolas Cage, I thought I might as well give it a try. Well, it was basically another really underwhelming action flick like so many others Cage has been making lately and it seems that the next station for him is the direct-to-dvd market like so many other guys like Wesley Snipes, Steven Seagal or Jean-Claude Van Damme. I know the guy had apparently some major money issues (I have actually read some rather hilarious articles about it on the internet and it was in fact much more entertaining to read than watching this tedious flick) but how long is it gonna last before he finally makes again something really worthwhile? Coming back to our main feature, I actually do like heist movies but this one was just so generic, so pedestrian, I was just bored throughout the whole thing. I mean, they even used the old trick of the master thief who has to come back from retirement to perform one last job because one of his loved ones has been kidnapped. Seriously?!? They couldn't come up with something a little bit more original? To conclude, I think I'm being rather generous with my rating here, it is jut a really weak action flick and it is definitely not worth a look.

10 years before ‘The Hangover’ (which is not really original after all when you think about it), Peter Berg made this flick with quite a similar plot and while it wasn't a commercial success like ‘The Hangover’, it still managed to become more or less a cult-classic. To be honest, even though I thought it was a decent flick, I can’t say I was really blown away. Basically, the whole thing was just terribly mean and none of the characters have any redeemable features and therefore, it was rather difficult to care about what they were going through. I don’t know, I do like black comedies but, somehow, it didn’t completely work here and the tone felt rather forced, at least, that’s my opinion. Still, it was an interesting directing debut for Peter Berg who slowly increased his status with each movie he directed. Eventually, he even managed to make a big summer blockbuster but, wisely, after ‘Battleship’ was a critical and commercial flop, he took a step back and directed the critically acclaimed ‘Lone Survivor’. Anyway, even though I wasn’t entirely convinced, it remains a decent comedy and I think it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

I wasn’t sure what to expect from this flick but since I always had a weak spot for Sandra Bullock, I was quite eager to check it out. Indeed, ever since ‘The Blind Side’ (which is actually rather overrated in my opinion), her status has changed from a very popular but rather fluffy actress to bonafide dramatic thespian. In fact, almost 10 years before, she actually tried something a little bit heavier than her usual romantic-comedies but it seems that the audience was not really ready since it wasn’t a real success. The point is that it is a very interesting subject and it was fairly well developped but there was a deliberate wish to tone down the material to make sure that it was never too dark or depressing in order to not alienate Sandra Bullock’s core audience. Still, there was enough grittiness and Bullock did manage to deliver a decent performance, even if she did look way too charming to be a real hardcore alcoholist. It was also really nice to see Viggo Mortensen, at the time already a very good but seriously underrated actor, really stealing the show. His next move would be a little trilogy involving some ring, you must have heard of it. To conclude, even though it could have been much better, it is still a decent drama and I think it is worth a look, especially if you are interested in Sandra Bullock’s work.