Reviews by johanlefourbe

Before this flick was release, there was a pretty good buzz about it. Indeed, Joe Wright was trying something really different than his usual costume dramas, a modern thriller with Saoirse Ronan starring as a young female killing machine and an awesome soundtrack by the Chemical Brothers. Unfortunately, the whole thing was rather underwhelming, I'm afraid. I mean, it was not bad at all, the photography was really beautiful and there was a very strong cast (Saoirse Ronan, Eric Bana, Cate Blanchett). I was above all impressed by Saoirse Ronan who must be one of best actresses of her generation. Still, like I said before, the whole thing was not really amazing though. Indeed, I thought the story was rather weak. Basically, it is one of those thrillers with a murky plot where at the end everything is revealed. Unfortunately, I didn't care much for the whole thing or the characters involved and the ending was rather anti-climatic in my opinion. I don't know, it seems that Joe Wright didn't really master the genre and never managed to make the whole thing really exciting. Concerning the over-hyped soundtrack by the Chemical Brothers, it was just like the movie, decent but nothing amazing whatsoever. To conclude, even though it turned out be rather disappointing, I have to admit that it is still worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

By now, I have seen almost all the movies starring Eddie Murphy (I think I miss only 4 movies). The weird thing is that I'm not even a huge fan of this guy but his movies very often come up on the various Dutch channels so I always end up checking them, out of sheer curiosity of boredom. Nowadays, he shows up in the most inane features and his career doesn't have much credibility. Still, the guy has made a few good movies, especially in the 80's, and this flick is definitely one of them. Basically, it is one of your typical buddy action flick with a tough cop (played by Nick Nolte) and a clueless civilian (played by Eddie Murphy). To be honest, the whole thing was not really original but they used very well the rules of the formula and the whole thing was just really entertaining and pretty often really funny. Recently I saw 'Raw' and I was amazed about how hilarious Eddie Murphy could be. The point is that if you give him the right material, the guy could be really amazing. Unfortunately, for the last 20 years at least, he has been involved in some very stupid movies but, at least, his acting debut was pretty good. If there is someone I wish would make a come-back, he would be on my top 3 (Linsay Lohan would be there too). Anyway, it is one of his (very few) good movies and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

I wasn't sure what to expect from this flick but since I have a weak spot for Hilary Swank and Sam Rockwell, I thought I should give it a try. Lately, I came to believe that Swank is struggling a little bit with her career after winning twice the Academy award for the best actress. To improve on this, she keeps showing up in real life stories like 'Amelia' and this flick. Unfortunately, those efforts were rather underwhelming. Still, I have to admit it, this flick was better than 'Amelia'. The point is that the story it was based on was really good but the movie, unfortunately, was not. First of all, I didn't care much about the random chronology. I mean, if it really doesn't add much, just don't use it. Furthermore, even though Hilary Swank gave a decent performance, I was still missing something from her character. Indeed, she ends up in a terrible situation and takes some drastic decisions but she never loses her mind in anyway. Maybe the real Betty Ann Waters also remained composed during her 20 years fight but it didn't make for a fascinating watch. On the other hand, I was once again really impressed by Sam Rockwell, such a fine and underrated actor. The guy basically spends most of the duration in the visiting room of the prison but you can see him slowly physically changing and decomposing mentally through the years. Also, at the end, they show a picture with the message 'For Kenny' so I was pretty sure the guy died but they didn't say. And guess what? I looked it up and he died in a freak accident only 6 months after he had been released! I mean, that's quite something but I guess they didn't want to ruin their happy ending. Still, it remains a very good story and in spite of its flaws, it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

Since I’m a huge fan of Alfred Hitchcock, I was really eager to check this flick. In my opinion, it is not one of his great masterpieces like ‘Psycho’, ‘North by Northwest’ or ‘Vertigo’ but it is still a very solid thriller nonetheless. It was actually a rather important movie in his career. Indeed, it was the first film he made in Hollywood and the only one that managed to win the Best Picture Oscar (that the guy never managed to win a Best Director Academy Award is quite mind-blowing). To be frank, I don’t think it is one of the strongest stories developed by the great master but it was greatly compensated by the awesome mood created and the very good cast. Honestly, I haven’t seen many movies starring Laurence Olivier (only about 8 so far) but the guy was sure a fine actor and I will definitely check his other movies whenever I get the opportunity. Against him, you had Joan Fontaine, one of the many female stars we have seen in Hitchcock’s spellbinding thrillers. Fontaine was pretty good as well and together they had some great chemistry. Anyway, this first American feature was a success and his career which was doing already pretty well became even bigger, much bigger in the following years. To conclude, it is a very good thriller and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

Ever since I heard that Matthew McConaughey made his come-back in this feature, I was really intrigued by it. Eventually, I thought it was not bad but still nothing really mind-blowing though. I mean, the first 20 minutes were really good, with a gritty look, some dynamic directing and indeed a very sharp McConaughey. Unfortunately, from the moment he got involved in the Roulet case, the whole thing became less interesting. I mean, it was well made and rather entertaining but it still felt like a standard thriller combining a court drama and your usual omnipotent serial-killer. It was rather disappointing that in the first part McConaughey created an interesting sleazebag lawyer but suddenly, the guy grew a consciousness and it was immediately rather underwhelming. Furthermore, the plot was not completely convincing, with enough plot holes and the usual annoying twists at the end. Still, McConaughey was indeed pretty good and the rest of the cast (Ryan Phillippe , Marisa Tomei, William H. Macy, Josh Lucas, John Leguizamo, Michael Peña, Frances Fisher, Bryan Cranston) was pretty nice as well. To conclude, even though it was nothing amazing in my opinion, it still remains a decent thriller and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

I know Johnny Depp is nowadays a huge super-star and probably the most popular mainstream actor at this moment but I honestly don’t care much about his recent work. Personally, I prefer what he did in the 90’s when he was still considered a box-office poison. This movie is a perfect example. It might be known among Depp aficionados but the mainstream audience seriously didn’t care for it when it was released. Back in those days, I thought it was pretty good so I thought it would be nice to re-watch it with my wife and, to my surprise, I thought it was just really awesome, much better than I remembered. Indeed, in my opinion, it is one of the few really good romantic-comedies out there. Even though it follows more or less the rules of this formula, they managed to create some genuinely interesting characters, especially the main character portrayed by Johnny Depp. Such a fascinating character, many actors would have ended up creating a pathetic parody of Chaplin and Buster Keaton, but not Depp. You really believe that someone like him could exist and might actually have a more inspiring life than many of us. Furthermore, the whole thing was just really whimsical, even though there was still some room for some drama. To conclude, I have a huge weak spot for this flick, I really love it and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

I remember, when this movie was released, it was pretty huge but since it looked really stupid, I really didn’t care for it. Eventually, after a few weeks after it was released in France, I received the VHS in the mail, sent by my buddies from the US. It was one of those American VHS with a cardboard box, instead of the plastic ones you had in Europe, and there was even a pretty neat hologram of the White House being blown up (I still have this box as a matter of fact). There was this kid at school who offered me a fair amount of money for it but even though I wasn’t interested by this flick at all, I wasn’t going to sell it since it was a gift from my dear friends. However, since I didn’t care for this flick and since my VHS player couldn’t read American videos, I took me 2 or 3 years to watch it until the VHS player finally broke down and was replaced. To my surprise, I thought it was not bad at all. Yesterday, I watched it again with Nick, my step-son, who not surprisingly loved it, and I had the same feeling. To be fair, I don’t think it is something that requires multiple watches but, for a blockbuster, it is actually pretty entertaining. The point is that, indeed, the whole thing is kind of stupid but the makers were fully aware of this and didn’t handle this too seriously. As a result, it was actually quite fun to behold and the special effects were pretty neat, even 20 years later. I think this time we saw an uncut version and I thought it was very long (150 minutes or something) , a little too long for its own good. For Will Smith, it was a step towards mega stardom and the guy was immensely charismatic in this. Of course, it remains a really preposterous flick, completely predictable and not original at all but it still remains a fun flick, the quintessential summer blockbuster and I think it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

Even though Tom Cruise doesn’t have much a good reputation these days, I still think he is an intriguing actor and always try to check his movies when I get the opportunity. This flick was released the same year as ‘Risky Business’ which was his first hit and 3 years before ‘Top Gun’ which would make him a superstar and the new box-office darling. Basically, it is one of his more obscure features but I thought it was actually pretty good. Of course, it is not a masterpiece whatsoever and the whole thing remained a little too pedestrian and predictable but I thought it was better than the average flicks in this genre. Indeed, I thought it was rather realistic and I really enjoyed the rather grim tone of the proceedings. Indeed, even though it follows the usual events inherent to this genre, the end was far from being really positive which I found really refreshing. Even though it won’t be remembered as one of his best performances, I thought that Tom Cruise did a decent job here and he and Lea Thompson had some good chemistry. To conclude, even though it is actually nothing amazing, it is still a decent sport flick and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in Tom Cruise’s work.

In 2010 was a terrific year for Natalie Portman. Indeed, she showed up in ‘Black Swan’ giving her best performance so far and won the Academy Award for the Best Actress. The year after, she was in 3 big Hollywood productions. I still have to have to watch ‘Your Highness’ which looked promising but seemed ultimately rather underwhelming. ‘Thor’ was a decent super-hero flick but nothing really amazing in my opinion. And then you had this romantic-comedy which, pretty much like ‘Your Highness’, sounded pretty good on paper but was eventually pretty disappointing. Indeed, even though the whole thing was supposed to be a bold and irreverent attempt at the genre, I thought it was in fact terribly tame with a really pedestrian plot. First of all, I thought they took forever to set up the whole thing. Indeed, there was not one meet-cute but 4 of them… Of course, it was copied from ‘When Harry met Sally…’ but it felt really redundant here. After that, the whole plot was just really underwhelming and predictable, going from A to B to C and ending on D. Ashton Kutcher was not too bad but he gave once again his typical goofy guy act and it is getting rather boring at this point. I mean, if he ever want us to take him seriously as an actor, he seriously has to show some range in the future. Concerning Natalie Portman, I felt rather bad for her while watching this. Indeed, in spite of the poor material, she actually gave a very good performance and she definitely deserved a better story. The main issue, in my opinion, is that romantic relationships are in real life usually more complicated and always more interesting than these old tired stereotypes. Why they keep on going with this old formula is seriously beyond me. Anyway, even though the whole thing actually had some potential, it still remains a rather weak romantic-comedy and it is not really worth a look, even if you like the genre.

I remember, when this movie was released in France, there was quite a buzz about it. Michel Blanc was above all famous as a comic actor and it was his 2nd directing effort. Honestly, it was quite an ambitious project, some kind of metaphysical comedy which Michel Blanc not only directed but also for which he portrayed the main character who happened to be himself. Still following me ? It definitely had some potential and it reminded me a little bit of Woody Allen with this rather neurotic character. It was also fun to see all those stars showing up for a cameo (Carole Bouquet, Philippe Noiret, Josiane Balasko, Marie-Anne Chazel, Christian Clavier, Guillaume Durand, Charlotte Gainsbourg, David Hallyday, Estelle Hallyday , Gérard Jugnot, Dominique Lavanant, Thierry Lhermitte, Mathilda May, Roman Polanski,…). Still, even though the whole thing was rather clever and midly entertaining, it was still nothing mind-blowing in my opinion. Indeed, instead of developing the concept and giving it some depth, Michel Blanc usually prefers to go for the cheap jokes which was rather underwhelming. Still, it remains a decent comedy and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in French movies.