Reviews by johanlefourbe

Since I kept hearing some good things about this franchise, I was really eager to check them out. Above all, after watching the dismal version starring Steve Martin, I was really wondering if it was any good. Eventually, I wasn't disappointed. Indeed, Peter Sellers is really amazing in this flick and he gave her one of the best comic performances I have ever seen. What's amazing in this performance is that, even though Clouseau was really clumsy and clueless, Sellers never pushed the boundary too far and, as a result, the character always remained believable and compelling to watch. The best thing is that Clouseau was actually just a small part but he completely upstaged the other characters which was something I have rarely seen before. Unfortunately, even though Clouseau was pretty awesome, the rest of the characters were barely interesting and entertaining and the same goes concerning the story itself. Basically, while watching this flick, you just keep waiting Sellers to pop back during some rather boring stretches but it was definitely worth the wait. Anyway, to conclude, in my opinion, without Sellers, it would have been a rather dull picture but thanks to him, it was really enjoyable and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

For a couple of years, I have been following Neil Labute and even though he is not one of the best directors I have encountered, his work is definitely interesting and he was the main reason why I wanted to check this flick. Well, this movie is a fine example of why I like Labute's work. Honestly, beforehand, I wasn't expecting much from it. It seemed to be another obscure movie starring the rather bland Gwyneth Paltrow. Eventually, I thought it was actually pretty good. Above all, I really enjoyed the directing by LaBute who manages to create an intriguing mood. I also liked the fact that it was dealing with some intelligent and articulate characters. Eventually, there were less successful to combine the romance aspect with the thriller elements and, as a result, the whole thing was rather uneven. Still, I think they managed pretty well to combine the modern and older story and I thought the cast gave some pretty solid performances (Gwyneth Paltrow, Aaron Eckhart, Jeremy Northam, Jennifer Ehle, Lena Headey, Tom Hollander). Anyway, to conclude, even though it is nothing mind-blowing, I enjoyed it and I think it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in Neil LaBute's work.

Even though it is widely unknown, Danny DeVito has actually built up a decent career as a director. He usually made comedies except for ‘Hoffa’ and this flick which belongs to the family genre. Even though this movie is usually appreciated if only considering the ratings on IMDB and Listal, I thought it was a rather tedious watch but I’m not sure that DeVito should be blamed though. I guess I’m not really a fan of Roald Dhal stories. I mean, aside from ‘Fantastic Mr Fox’ which I found indeed fantastic, I didn’t like much the movies adapted from his work. This time, I really didn’t care much about the story, the characters and what they were going through. Above all, I thought that they were all rather annoying, even the title character. Furthermore, like many family feature, I found it rather condescending towards children which is something I always dread. I guess, there is a good chance that young children would actually enjoy it and, in this sense, I have to admit that it is rather successful since its target audience is reached. Still, to conclude, personally, I didn’t like it and I don’t think it is really worth a look, expect maybe if you are between 6 and 12 years old.

I wasn’t expecting much from this flick since the ratings were really low but since there was a nice cast, I thought I should give it a try anyway. Indeed, it turned out to be a really average flick but, above all, I thought it was really weird. Basically, you had Dan Aykroyd portraying a very old man (nice make-up though), John Candy portraying various parts including a mute woman, a hip-hop band including the late Tupac Shakur, 2 horrible grown-up babies wearing only diapers (you have to see this to understand this concept…) and a really weird story. Well, I don’t know what they were smoking when they wrote this movie but the end-result was really a total mess. Obviously, they hoped it would be funny but even though I was really wondering what was going on, I never thought it was actually funny or entertaining, I thought it was just plain strange. It’s too bad because with such a cast (Chevy Chase, Dan Aykroyd, John Candy, Demi Moore), it could or should have been pretty cool. To conclude, even though we should give Dan Aykroyd some credit for trying out some directing (it was eventually his only directing credit), the end result was terribly disappointing and it is not really worth a look, even if you like the genre.

Even though we don’t hear much from him anymore, I always had a weak spot for Neil Jordan’s work so I was definitely eager to check this flick. Back in the 90’s, he made one of the most interesting vampire flicks, ‘Interview with the Vampire’ but many forget that he also made a werewolves feature just at the beginning of his career. I must admit that the whole thing was pretty mesmerizing to behold. Indeed, it really looked awesome and, at times, it was pretty weird and creepy but it fit really well the fairy tale style. The special effects were also pretty impressive, with no CGI back then, everything was handmade, increasing the general creepy feeling. The other interesting thing was the multiple layers of story telling (up to 3 levels) , up to a point that you didn’t really know what you should think (is it a dream? Is it a fairy tale?). There was also this constant sexual tensions and innuendos which made you even more uncomfortable since the main character was just 12 years old. All those elements were pretty fascinating and my only complaint would be that the pacing was rather sluggish. Still, it remains a very interesting and entertaining werewolve feature and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

I wasn’t expecting much from this flick but since my wife had a weak spot for this movie, I thought I should check it out anyway. This movie was directed by Jerry Zucker. Yeah, the same guy who made some incredibly successful comedies such as ‘Airplane’ with David Zucker and Jim Abrahams . However, in contrary to his partners, Jerry Zucker decided at some point to expand his career towards other genres and actually had some success with ‘Ghost’. After this, he tried once again something else, a medieval romantic tale. Unfortunately, this time, the end result was pretty disappointing and it was a flop. I mean, Sean Connery and Julia Ormond were perfectly cast and delivered some solid performances but I thought that Richard Gere was pretty terrible here and, even if he looked the part, his acting was just terribly wooden. Furthermore, I thought that the story was just too pedestrian and generic and the makers really didn’t make an effort to add much to this ancient tale. To conclude, I have seen worse movies and I can see why some people might actually enjoy it, but I personally think it was actually pretty average and I don’t think it is really worth a look, even if you like the genre.

Beforehand, I wasn’t expecting much from this flick and when I discovered that it was produced by Happy Madison (Adam Sandler’s producing company), I was expecting it to be even worse. Eventually, I have to admit that the beginning was actually pretty good with some hilarious jokes. Unfortunately, it just lasted about 20 minutes and the rest of the movie was just rather painful and embarrassing to watch. It’s too bad because the whole thing actually had some potential, it started pretty good and there was a decent cast as well (Steve Zahn, Jonah Hill, Justin Long, Robert Patrick). Unfortunately, it is basically one of those comedies which keeps throwing some stupid jokes at you every 10 seconds. Unfortunately, from those 10 jokes maybe only one was actually funny so, as a result, the whole thing was rather tedious to watch. Finally, I always find it rather disappointing when filmmakers rely on stupidity to make you laugh rather than showing us something insightful. Anyway, to conclude, even though the concept was kind of cool and even though the first 20 minutes were pretty funny, it was still a very average comedy after all and it is not really worth a look, even if you like the genre.

I wasn’t really planning to watch this movie so soon but Nick, my step-son, bought it so I eventually ended up watching it with him. I remember that the trailer was pretty intriguing so I thought it could be an interesting watch. Eventually, to be honest, I thought it was not bad but nothing really mind-blowing. Basically, it is a slasher flick which plays with the rules of the genre and goes pretty far with those rules but, unfortunately, even though the makers obviously tried to make us believe that the whole thing was really smart, I was not really convinced.  In fact, I even thought it was actually rather pretentious. I will try to discuss this without spoiling the whole thing… Right from the start, there was obviously something fishy going on, they didn’t make it a secret, that’s for sure. So, you basically wait during the whole duration for some kind of explanation and what you get at the end was just really preposterous and not really satisfying. I mean, the number of plot holes were just mind-bobbling. Still, I cannot dismiss this feature. Indeed, at least, they did try something different, there were some pretty neat things visually speaking and I was fairly entertained from the beginning until the end. To conclude, even though it was not as revolutionary as the makers would like you to believe, it was still a decent and entertaining flick and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

Honestly, I had some rather low expectations concerning this movie but since I have always been a fan of Harrison Ford, I still wanted to check it out anyway. Eventually, I must admit it was not bad at all. I mean, the first 30 minutes were pretty terrible and it was not much better than your average made-for-TV real life tale with some awful sentimental cheesy music. However, when Fraser and Ford finally got in business, I must say that the whole thing got much better. Indeed, I thought the way they described the whole thing from a personal point of view but also from a scientific point of view and from a business point of view was really interesting. I also liked the performances delivered by Brendan Fraser and Harrison Ford. Indeed, I usually don't like Fraser at all but I must admit that he was really good here and he even gave his best performance, at least, that's my opinion. Unfortunately, they never really managed to get rid-off of the over-sentimental stuff and it would have been more interesting if they focused more on the proceedings of creating a medicine in theory, getting the finance together and finally creating the actual cure and all the obstacles they had to face. Still, all in all, it remains an intriguing true story (even though they modified many elements), and I think it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

Beforehand, I wasn't expecting much from this flick but since there was a nice cast, I thought I should check it out anyway. Eventually, the whole thing was pretty average and not really thrilling to watch whatsoever. Indeed, the cast was pretty good (Sandra Bullock, Nicole Kidman, Stockard Channing, Dianne Wiest, Goran Visnjic, Aidan Quinn, Evan Rachel Wood, Camilla Belle) but the plot was just too generic, pedestrian and predictable to be really entertaining. Basically, the only selling point is to have Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman in the same movie and even though it is definitely an attractive thought, this flick doesn't have anything else to provide whatsoever. I don't think Bullock and Kidman should be blame though. Sandra Bullock does her typical performance but was charming enough and it was nice to see Nicole Kidman trying something else. Eventually, they both deserved a better movie than this and the whole thing felt like a wasted opportunity. To conclude, I have seen worse movies but this one is still pretty damned average and it is definitely not worth a look.