Reviews by johanlefourbe

It seems that Adam Sandler has lost his touch nowadays as all his recent movies have been some flop at the box-office. As far as I’m concerned, I have never cared for his movies but since this one was supposed to be one of his 'classics', I thought I should check it out. To be honest, I still didn’t like it, that's for sure, but I have to admit it was actually better than 'Billy Madison' and many other movies starring Sandler. Once again, he was portraying an aggressive foul-mouthed moron who actually had a golden heart, at least, that's what the viewers were supposed to think. Anyway, I enjoyed the way they made a parody about sport movies in general and golf in particular, pointing out a few ridiculous things concerning this sport. Still, even though it was funny from time to time, most of it was still really boring and Gilmore was eventually more obnoxious than funny. Anyway, this flick was a success, even more than 'Billy Madison' so there was no way to stop Adam Sandler from making similar flicks for the next 20 years. To conclude, even though I didn't hate the damned thing, I still think it was average and I don’t think it is really worth a look, except if you are a huge fan of the genre. 

I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but since I have a weak spot for Audrey Tautou, I thought I might check it out. First of all, even after she got some major exposure thanks to 'Le fabuleux destin d'Amélie Poulain', Tautou actually never really broke through on the international scene. However, in France, she has remained one of the most sought-after actresses. This time, she had the opportunity to portray a French icon and she delivered a totally different performance than in 'Amélie' but I thought she was quite convincing. The directing by Anne Fontaine was also pretty good and she managed to give an idea about how she must have felt and also about the mood during this paticuliar time period. So, I enjoyed this biopic but I can't say I was really blown away by the whole thing though. Indeed, the story was definitely intriguing but I didn't care much about her love life. I mean, her relationship with Balsan (portrayed by Benoit Poelvoorde) was rather interesting but her other relationship with Boy Capel (portrayed by Alessandro Nivola) was honestly rather boring and predictable. Anyway, even though it was not a masterpiece,  it was still a well made and rather fascinating biopic and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in this subject.

Cédric Klapisch is not really famous here on Listal but he is highly regarded in France and many of his movies were very successful there. This time around, he went for one of those hyperlink features and he managed to get a top French cast (Juliette Binoche, Romain Duris, Fabrice Luchini, Albert Dupontel, Mélanie Laurent, François Cluzet, Karin Viard, Olivia Bonamy). Eventually, the biggest problem I had with this movie was that there were just too many storylines, too many characters and the whole thing felt poorly developped and even rather messy. I wish he had focused on some of those stories and got rid off the rest. Still, even though there was some real bullsh*t here and there, I really enjoyed the directing and the performances were really good as well. I especially liked Fabrice Luchini and even though he keeps playing the same role in all his movies, he is always hilarious and it wasn't different this time. I guess the fact I'm not such a big fan of Paris was probably another reason why I wasn't really blown away by the whole thing. Anyway, to conclude, in spite of its flaws, there was plenty of sweet and touching stuff and, eventually, I enjoyed it and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in French movies.

Obviously, I didn't expect much from the damned thing and indeed it turned out to be pretty bad. Eventually, the only thing positive about this movie was that it wasn't worse than its predecessor, that's it... But I can't say it was better either though. The most incredible thing is that this sequel was actually a success, even one of the most successful movies ever made! I mean, I can accept that the 1st movie was a success, it was something new, based on a popular cartoon, but why all those people would pay ONCE again some expensive movie tickets to see such a worthless sequel?!? Anyway, once again, those chipmunks were terribly obnoxious, the jokes were terrible, the music was awfull and I won't even mention the 'plot'... Since I have 3 kids, I have watched and still watch many family features with them and it is really depressing that so many parents would bring their kids to watch this when there are so many better and underrated kid flicks out there. To conclude, it was pretty bad, it is not worth a look whatsoever and if you want to watch something with your kids, just watch 'Fantastic Mr Fox' or anything done by Pixar instead.

I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but, with its quirky poster and title, it seemed to be rather intriguing so I was quite eager to check it out. Basically, like many actors before him, Liev Schreiber decided to make his directing début and, eventually, I thought it turned out to be actually pretty good. Indeed, the directing was decent enough and, above all, I really loved the first half which was just hilarious with some great dialogues and some seriously weird and whimsical characters. But, then, during the second half, it became suddenly really deep and serious and the end was eventually even rather heartbreaking. To be honest, this rather brutal switch was a little bit hard to digest. Still, the story was really intriguing and the actors delivered some good performances. Indeed,  Elijah Wood was fine but I was also impressed by 2 unknowns actors called Eugene Hutz and Boris Leskin. It is interesting that even though Elijah Wood had reached some major stardom with the Lord of the Rings trilogy since then he has mostly showed up in such small and even rather obscure productions like this one. Anyway, to conclude, in spite of its quirkiness, I thought it was a pretty good tale and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.