Reviews by johanlefourbe

To be honest, I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but since it was starring Aaron Taylor-Johnson, I thought I might as well check it out. Eventually, I thought it was still a decent rehab drama, even it was nothing really ground-breaking. Indeed, Aaron Taylor-Johnson was as usual quite charismatic and I think he did a pretty good job at the beginning of the movie showing how his character was going into a very destructive path. The directing was also solid, even though Sam Taylor-Johnson did drop her interesting artistic touches that she did add at the beginning rather quickly so the rest of the movie did feel rather conventional after all.  Eventually, beside the fact that it seemed way too easy for this guy with seemingly no funds to get into this rather fancy rehab program, the only thing that really bothered me was the fact that, while the beginning of this journey was dark and chaotic as it should be, the final act went on just too smoothly. Indeed, as pointed out several times during this movie, when an addict goes to rehab the first time, they almost never succeed to stay sober. On top of that, in this case, the main character was not only a major junkie but he also really loved to get high, even completely messed up, so it was a huge stretch to see him managing to kick the habit like that after his first attempt. Unsurprisingly, even though the book it was based on was supposed to be a true story, it turned out to be largely fictional after all (apparently, a huge controversy at the time) but, if you watch this movie, it was actually hardly surprising. Anyway, to conclude, I have to admit that I was maybe too generous with my rating here but I thought it was a decent watch and it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre. 

I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but since it was starring Gael Garcia Bernal, I thought I might as well check it out. First of all, I didn’t know much about Pablo Neruda so I figured this movie would be a nice way to get acquainted with the famous poet. Well, even though Pablo Larraín definitely took an unconventional approach to the biopic genre, to be honest, I have to admit that I really had a hard time to care about the end-result though. Basically, even though this movie seemed to be about the few years after WWII during which Neruda had to hide in Chile before going in exile in Europe , it wasn't at all the main focus of this movie after all, in fact, even Neruda himself was not the focus here. In this case, you might then expect that the main character would be Óscar Peluchonneau, a cop who was chasing Neruda at the time, especially since the voice-over by Gael García Bernal was pretty much constant through the whole thing, but it was still not the case either. So, after reading all this, you might rightfully wonder what this movie was all about then and that’s probably exactly the reason why I didn’t feel much connection with it. Basically, they went for some poetic approach and, while I appreciate their commitment to deliver something different, as far as I was concerned, I thought it was rather alienating. At the end of the day, if you don’t mind that all the characters basically speak in riddles through the whole thing, you will probably enjoy this movie more than I did. Anyway, to conclude, even though this movie didn’t really work for me, it was still a decent watch and I think it is worth a look, especially if you are eager to see something slightly more artistic and original than your usual biopic.

To be honest, I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but since there was a decent cast involved, I thought I might as well check it out. Well, I’m a huge fan of Indiana Jones and, sure, it might be unfair to compare this movie with such a classic but to be honest, I was surprised by how lame the damned thing turned out to be. Seriously, even if it wasn’t a complete disaster, it wasn’t far from it though. I wonder if the story worked better in the book it was adapted from because, with this adaptation, right from the start, the damned thing was just a mess. Indeed, instead of giving us a proper introduction, you start in the middle of the story which was rather confusing but, even more problematic, they kept making some weird shortcuts all along. Anyway, somehow, the main character ended up in some weird hotel looking for the Midas box which was first supposed to turn everything into gold but it had nothing to do with gold after all, while his parents and little brother were all kidnapped. How did they come up with this story? The worst thing was that it was so tedious to behold. Concerning the cast (Michael Sheen, Sam Neill, Lena Headey), they all seemed to have some fun but, in spite of their efforts, their respective characters were all boring. At least, Mariah Mundi was an intriguing name for a male character but it was properly the only interesting thing in this movie, I’m afraid. It was rather funny that they did add a cliffhanger (which was also quite pathetic) during the end-credits, obviously hoping that they could come up with a sequel which was obviously never made since nobody cared about this movie. Anyway, to conclude, I think my rating was actually really generous here, the damned thing was really weak and you should probably avoid it. 

To be honest, I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but since there was a decent cast involved, I thought I might as well check it out. Well, first of all, I thought it was a really cool title but, fortunately, it wasn’t the only interesting thing this movie had to offer. Indeed, it is not very often that you get the opportunity to watch a movie dealing with schizophrenia and, only therefore, this movie did get some extra points from me. On top of that, to combine such a dark subject with the YA genre might sound misguided but I don’t think it was such a bad idea after all. Concerning Charlie Plummer and Taylor Russell, they were not bad and they had a pretty good chemistry together, however, even though Russell was quite charismatic, she was almost 10 years too old to play this character though. Eventually, the only thing that really didn’t work for me was the quirky tone which was rather annoying. Sure, I can imagine that they figured that it might make the material easier to digest for the younger audience and the mainstream audience in general but I don’t think it was the right approach to handle a teenager slowly loosing his grip with reality. And, yet, beside this tone issue, the rest of the movie worked actually quite well. Indeed, they really managed to display that, even though schizophrenia definitely had a huge impact on Adam’s life, he was still an average teenager who had some dreams, some skills and just wanted to hang out with the girl he loved like any other teenager. Anyway, to conclude, even if it was definitely not a masterpiece, it was still a decent watch and I think it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre. 

I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but since it seemed to have a decent reputation, I thought I might as well check it out. Well, eventually, I thought it was a cute story but, to be honest, not much more than that. Indeed, I think it’s rather unlikely that her relationship with John Brown was the most interesting thing that happened during Queen Victoria’s reign which lasted more than 60 years. The fact that they used the same gimmick again with ‘Victoria & Abdul’ also starring Judi Dench is rather bewildering to me. Still, I have to admit that Judi Dench and Billy Connolly made the best of this material and they both delivered some really solid performances here. Especially for Judi Dench, after making an impression with ’Goldeneye’ a few years before, it was with this movie that she really got her breakthrough and, at her 60’s, she was quite a late bloomer but she quickly became one of the best actresses available. Coming back on this relationship, it was interesting how a monarch could struggle with a depression if nobody dared to have an actual conversation with them. Indeed, that was what John Brown basically did, even though he really respected her, probably more than everybody else in her entourage, he still talked to her as if she was an actual human being, which was something she not only really appreciated but also actually needed to get back on track. To be honest, I do believe that, making Brown becoming increasingly paranoid about the Queen’s safety, was really pushing it and, in my opinion, it was added there just because there was basically not enough drama in this story. Anyway, to conclude, even if I didn’t blow me away, it was still a decent watch and I think it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but since it seemed to have a decent reputation (it is included in the ‘The Best 1,000 Movies Ever Made’ list selected by the New York Times, among other things), I thought I might as well check it out. Well, to be honest, I really struggled to care about the damned thing after all. Recently, I have been focusing on movies released in the 40’s and such quaint features were apparently quite popular back then. However, such films seems so outdated and this one was not an exception, I’m afraid. The other thing that bothered me was that William Holden (I have to admit that I didn’t recognize him while watching this flick) and Martha Scott were both just too old to play their respective characters. I have to admit that Holden was only 22 years old at the time but Martha Scott was almost 30 years old but the bottom line is that they both looked too old and the fact that they played their characters the most childish way possible probably didn’t help. Seriously, they sounded like they were 12 years old in the first scenes. And, yet, during the last act, they finally displayed a darker tone which was interesting and I especially enjoyed to hear the thoughts of the future newlyweds who were both suddenly getting some cold feet. After that, they made a huge switch in mood as it became suddenly some kind of surrealistic dream which was a massive contrast with the rest of the movie. In fact, in the original play, Emily actually died in childbirth which was obviously not the case in this adaptation. Anyway, to conclude, even if it didn’t really work for me, it was still a decent watch though and I think it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre. 

To be honest, I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but since I have a weak spot for Noomi Rapace, I thought I might as well check it out. It’s rather unfortunate that, after her breakthrough with ‘Millenium’, the rest of her career turned out to be rather underwhelming after all. Well, the good news was it has been years since Rapace showed up in something so interesting which was pretty cool. Indeed, at least, you can’t deny that it was something original. Furthermore, the directing was solid and I especially enjoyed the unsetlling mood. Seriously, you have to give the makers some credit to manage to make all these animals look so creepy. Unfortunately, even though the concept had some potential, I’m afraid that it was not enough for a full-length feature like this one and I think that a short might have been more suitable. For example, during the 30 mins, really nothing happened at all. At least, since I didn’t know anything about this movie before watching the damned thing, it kept me on my toes wondering what the hell was going to eventually happen but, for the viewers who already knew what was this movie was actually about, it must have been pretty boring. Concerning the actors, they were fine and I always had a weak spot for such minimalistic features with only a few characters involved. However, I eventually didn’t care much for them which probably had to do with the fact that you learn very little about them after all and the fact that they didn’t evolve through this bizarre chain of events probably didn’t help. Anyway, to conclude, in spite of its flaws, it was still a decent watch and I think it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre. 

Since I’m a big fan of Asghar Farhadi’s work, I was quite eager to see this movie, especially since it was another critical success. Well, once again, I wasn’t disappointed, that’s for sure. Indeed, Farhadi delivered another fascinating humanistic tale and the end-result was once again quite spellbinding to behold. In fact, the story itself which was based on something that apparently really happened in Iran was not the most interesting aspect in this movie. As usual with this director, what was mostly interesting was the attention and depth he gave to the characters, especially the main character. Indeed, the guy was quite charismatic with his gentle smile but, fortunately, he turned out to be so much more complex than just a pretty face. Indeed, at first, you obviously root for the guy but, eventually, even if he was never really dishonest, he was never completely honest either. I mean, what if these gold coins would have been enough to cover his debt? What if his debtor would have accepted the 70.000 tomans and let him pay the rest over time? In these cases, it would have been really doubtful that he would have given them back to their rightful owner. There was also the fact that he got into an ugly fight with Bahram which displayed how flawed and also self-centered he was. But, on the other hand, are you sure you would handle much better such a situation? Indeed, with almost all conflicts, we are all always convinced that we are doing the ‘right’ thing at least for our own benefit but, as displayed in this movie, what is right and what is wrong is highly subjective. Eventually, you get such a mirror effect and it made me reflect on my own life wondering if I really did act the right way during such major conflicts. Anyway, to conclude, it turned out to be a really strong drama and I think it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in Asghar Farhadi’s work. 

I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but, since it was available on Netflix, I thought I might as well check it out. To be honest, I have to admit that I barely remembered ‘A Dog's Purpose’ but, apparently, it didn’t impress me at all when I saw it. Eventually, within a few mins, I was reminded that it was actually dealing with a dog who seemingly keeps getting endlessly reincarnated. Of course, it is really far-fetched and how much you will enjoy this movie and its predecessor will depend on how much you can swallow this idea. However, for some reason, I actually enjoyed it more this time around though even if most of the movie still didn’t really work. For example, did the chronology really make sense? I mean, CJ was a baby when Bailey was an old dog, then he came back many years later as Molly and spent maybe 7 years with CJ before tragically dying. After that, the dog came back as Big Dog and died of old age but, how old was CJ then? It means that, with the final reincarnation as Max, she was well into her 30’s and, yet, she never had performed on stage yet? Anyway, in spite of all these flaws, I have to admit that the last 30 mins were actually quite heartbreaking. Indeed, when Dennis Quaid’s character finally meet again Max and instantly knew that it was still the same dog he used to have when he was a kid in ‘A Dog's Purpose’, I have to admit that I was on the verge of tears. Anyway, to conclude, I think I might have been too generous with my rating here but I guess it is still worth a look but probably only if you really like the genre.