Reviews by johanlefourbe

Even though Michel Blanc is pretty much unknown here in Listal, he is actually pretty famous in France as he is one of the most popular comedic actors for already more than 30 years. This was actually his directing debut and it is actually rather common for French comedic actors to eventually direct their own movies like Gérard Jugnot who has built up an interesting career on the side as a director. Anyway, this directing debut is a rather typical French comedy mixed with a buddy movie. On one hand, you have the handsome guy played by Gérard Lanvin and, on the other hand, the grumpy guy portrayed by Michel Blanc himself. Even though there were definitely some funny bits, I thought that the plot was a little too pedestrian for my taste and the whole thing never really reached its full potential. Still, it remains a decent comedy and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in French movies.

I wasn’t sure what to expect from this flick but since there was not much else on my HD recorder, I thought I should give it a try anyway. Basically, it is decent quirky drama but not much more than that, I’m afraid. The main issue I had is that it was rather poorly written. Indeed, I didn’t care much about the story and I thought that the characters were rather stereotypical. I mean, even if Claire Forlani gave a decent performance, she was just another evil step-mother. Same thing about Sophia Myles who was a nice girl but, of course, she must have a pathetic affair with a douche bag married with someone else. How original… And even though the title character was a disturbed young man, it didn’t make him really interesting to follow, in my opinion. Still, in spite of these flaws, there was some quality about this flick. Indeed, Jamie Bell and Sophia Myles who both never really broke through in their career were pretty good in this movie, better than the material they were given. I also enjoyed the directing and I discovered afterwards that David Mackenzie also made the underrated ‘Young Adam’. This guy is definitely talented and I will check his other movies when I have the opportunity. To conclude, even though the end result was rather half baked, because of the actors involved and the interesting directing, I still think it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

Even though André Téchiné is pretty much unknown here in Listal, he is actually one of the most highly regarded directors in France and already for 40 years. With this movie, it was the 3rd time he worked with Catherine Deneuve and it is probably the best movie they made together so far. Deneuve was once again pretty amazing and even at 50 years old, she still looked really gorgeous. We shouldn’ t forget Daniel Auteuil though. Pretty much like Téchiné, Daniel Auteuil is pretty much unknown here in Listal but he is actually one of the best French actors and for the last 3 decades already. Too bad he never made some movies abroad. With Deneuve, they provided some really impressive performances and they had some tremendous chemistry which made it pretty awkward since they portrayed siblings but it was exactly the point in this movie. I have to admit that like most French dramas, nothing much really happens during the whole thing, expect that the characters are constantly talking to each other so it is an acquired taste but I’d rather watch something like this than your standard Hollywood feature filled with chases, shootings, explosions and CGI. To conclude, even though it is nothing really mind-blowing, it remains a pretty good French drama and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

Honestly, I’m not a huge fan of sport movies, however, since the ratings for this movie were pretty good, I thought I should check it out. Since it is a Disney production, I shouldn’t expect anything really revolutionary and, indeed, it followed the rules of the genre like other similar features such as ‘The Rookie’ (which had in fact pretty much the same plot except that it was dealing with baseball) or ‘The greatest game ever player’. Still, I enjoyed most of it. Indeed, it is a rather amazing Cinderella story and it is quite endearing to see how humble Papale remained under the circumstances (at least, that’s how he was displayed in the movie). Going from absolutely nothing, losing his job, losing his wife, with no money to pay the rent, the guy managed to become a NFL player and became a local hero for a community struggling to make ends meet. I thought that Mark Wahlberg was pretty good and I wish he took more risks in his career like when he starred in ‘Boogie Nights’ for example but he still had a decent career so far. Unfortunately, like I said before, the movie still followed the usual template so you had a whole bunch of underdeveloped or unnecessary subplots like the obligatory love story, the family scenes with the coach, Papale’s friends… Still, it remains a really uplifting tale. To conclude, even though it is nothing remotely original, it is remains a well made and entertaining sport feature and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

I wasn’t sure what to expect from this movie but since there was a pretty good cast, I thought I should check it out. Not only there was a really interesting cast (Michelle Pfeiffer, Jessica Lange, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Colin Firth), but it was also an adaptation of a Pulitzer prize winning novel which was also a loose adaptation of ‘King Lear’ written by good old William Shakespeare. So, it all sounded pretty impressive on paper but, unfortunately, the whole thing ended up being a rather half-baked melodrama. I don’t think the actors should be blamed though. Indeed, they all did a decent job, it was pretty neat to see Michelle Pfeiffer and Jessica Lange together and Lange was even nominated for a Golden Globe award. I’m not sure which one was worse, the directing or the writing, which was quite disappointing especially regarding the source material. Eventually, I didn’t care much about the characters and what they were going through and I was rather bored during the whole thing. To conclude, it could have been an impressive drama but the end result was pretty disappointing and, at the end of the day, it is just a really average flick and it is not really worth a look, I’m afraid.

I wasn't sure what to expect from this flick but since Nick, my step-son, is a huge fan of Werewolves movies, I thought I should check it out with him. Eventually, it wasn't really good I'm afraid. For instance, if you think 'Twilight' was pretty pathetic concerning its portrayal of Werewolves, you should check this flick. Basically, the major difference between us and them is that they constantly make some weird jumps, that's it. I must admit that it was a nice approach to make them change into real wolves though. Still, the plot was pretty average and rather boring. You could sense that there was some potential and, apparently, the book tells a really different story but the end result was here pretty disappointing. I also found it a pretty pathetic this idea that a comic-book writer could live and spend time abroad like this for weeks. Indeed, it is in fact a very hard and thankless job, only a handful have managed to make some money out of this and I'm talking about the really famous ones. To conclude, I have seen worse movies but it still remains a rather average flick and it is not really worth a look, in my opinion.

Even though I heard here and there that it was one of the worst movies made in 2010, I was still curious to see how it turned out to be. Surprisingly, I don't think it was that bad actually. Indeed, the concept was actually pretty good and the whole thing was not as mean-spirited as many other Sandler's vehicles. Unfortunately, even though it was not as bad as I thought it would be, it was still pretty average. Above all, I thought it was rather poorly written. Indeed, you have 4 couples, a bunch of kids, David Spade as a single guy, but none of those characters were properly developed. At the beginning, it felt like all those couples had some issues, some kind of deep secrets but you didn't learn anything about them after all. The biggest victim was Chris Rock, my favorite actor of the bunch, as he barely had anything to do or to say during the whole thing. Concerning the jokes, some of them were funny but most of them were rather pathetic and embarrassing. Eventually, it was nothing great and pretty average but I though the whole thing was rather good-hearted and harmless. But it doesn't matter at all what I think because Adam Sandler, once again, made a chuck load of money with this flick. To conclude, even though it is eventually not one of the worst movies starring Adam Sandler, it remains a very average comedy and it is not really worth a look.

Oh God!! I really really didn’t like this flick… I mean, of course, with such a title, I wasn’t expecting much but even with such low expectations, it managed to disappoint me… I don’t know, some people do seem to have enjoyed this movie but I thought the plot was just completely tedious. Of course, I’m aware of the fact that the whole thing shouldn’t be taken too seriously but it doesn’t change the fact that it still has to be entertaining somehow and it was definitely not the case here. In my opinion, the whole thing was just terribly lazy, unoriginal and just really boring to watch. The cast was made of 3 upcoming young actors (Nick Stahl, Katie Holmes, James Marsden) and it is interesting to note where their career went from there. Nick Stahl is still making movies nowadays but most of them are just some obscure B features and he is apparently struggling with some substance issues. Since Katie Holmes has married (and in the mean time already divorced) Tom Cruise, her career is going pretty much nowhere and it is too bad as she was a really promising actress before she met the guy. James Marsden is the only one who managed to have a decent career, even though you don’t see him much portraying the lead character nowadays. A part from that, I don’t have much else to say about this flick, except that, apparently, in some markets the film lasted only a week in cinemas, so I guess, I wasn’t the only one who didn’t care at all about this flick. Anyway, to conclude, I think it is pretty lame and I don’t think it is really worth a look at all.

It is interesting to note that even though, thanks to ‘Pulp Fiction’, John Travolta made one of the most impressive comebacks ever, he still continued to make his share of flops but he always managed nonetheless to remain on the A list this time. This flick is one of those turkeys and it is arguably one of the least popular movies starring Travolta. Honestly, even though I had some low expectations, I don’t think it was that bad at all and I enjoyed most of it. Indeed, I thought it was pretty neat to have an angel portrayed as a misfit. I mean, if I recall correctly, he was not really a thug, just an angel who wanted to enjoy what life has to offer and I thought it was an interesting idea. I thought that Travolta did a decent job and William Hurt was just really good, as usual. Hurt is a terrific actor, one of the best in the 80’s, and I will never understand how he just disappeared from the limelight in the 90’s. A real shame and waste of talent. Andie MacDowell was not bad and charming as usual but rather underused, I’m afraid. Still, even though I thought it was not bad at all, it was still nothing really impressive. The point is that even though Nora Ephron started with an interesting idea, there was an obvious lack of any ambition and the whole thing never went much further than your standard romantic comedy and that was rather disappointing. Still , to conclude, in spite of its reputation, I still think it is a rather decent comedy and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like John Travolta.