Reviews by johanlefourbe

Honestly, I wasn't expecting much from this flick. I don’t know, I thought it would be some kind of female 'Midnight Express' rip-off and since I didn’t really like ‘Midnight Express’(I need to re-watch it though), I thought it would be even more underwhelming. Eventually, I have to admit it, it was not bad at all after all. Of course, the story was not really original and rather pedestrian (above all, the fact that those girls were conned by a drug smuggler was rather disappointing) but I thought it was a rather well made drama and both leads, especially Claire Danes, delivered some good performances. Apparently, the two girls couldn’t stand each other on the set but I thought that their characters did have some good chemistry. Another positive thing is that the ending was also rather unexpected. In the same genre, I would rather recommend ‘Return to Paradise’, an even more obscure flick starring Vince Vaughn and Joaquin Phoenix, which manages to stretch the genre to something more interesting. Anyway, to conclude, even though it was nothing really amazing, it remains a decent drama and I think it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

To be honest, I have seen half of the movies directed by Mel Brooks and, I have to admit it, I'm not a huge fan of his work. I mean, by now, I have seen 'Blazzing Saddles', 'Young Frankenstein' and 'Spaceballs' and even though I enjoyed these classics, I can't say that they really blew me away. However, there is one big exception and it is this movie. Indeed, this flick is by far his best one and I really loved it. First of all, it was not a parody, a genre which I am not really found of. No, this is a comedy with some completely pitch black humor and the whole thing was just hysterical. Furthermore, the main characters were no heroes whatsoever, they made fun of old ladies, of nazis and many more things. Considering how outrageous this feature is, it must have been quite a riot when it came out in 1968. About 40 years later, they released a remake starring Matthew Broderick and Nathan Lane, based on a the famous musical and even though it was also produced by Mel Brooks himself, I thought it was terribly underwhelming. Anyway, to conclude, this movie is a great classic, it is completely hilarious and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in Mel Brooks's work.

Since I loved 'Borat', I really had to see this flick. Eventually, even though I really wanted to love it as well, this movie was actually rather disappointing. Ali G is a really awesome and hilarious character (I wouldn't expect less from Sacha Baron Cohen) but the rest of the movie and, above all, the plot were just so lame, it made it really difficult to enjoy this flick. It's too bad since it really had some potential to be at least as good as 'Borat' or even better. To be honest, originally, it was a TV show, a show which pretty much launched Sacha Baron Cohen's career and, even though I heard of this show which was pretty notorious back in those days, I have never seen it but it must have been better than this tedious flick, at least I hope so. The main issue is that they tried this time to put Cohen's creation into a plot but, as it was displayed in 'Borat', those characters work better without a plot but with some sketches. Anyway, to conclude, even though the whole thing really had some potential, eventually, it was rather disappointing and it is not really worth a look, expect maybe if you are a die hard fan of Sacha Baron Cohen's work.

Before becoming above all a tabloid feature, Lindsay Lohan was actually a promising actress, even though it does feel like it was a very long time ago. To be honest, she didn't do anything really amazing back in those days but you could see she had some talent and that she could really become huge if she picked up the right movies. Will she ever recover from her destructive lifestyle? Difficult to tell... I mean, Robert Downey Jr. was a massive drug addict and nowadays, he is one of the most bankable and popular actors in the world but I’m afraid he is more a blessed exception. Anyway, just before becoming a real mess, Lindsay Lohan made this really average romantic-comedy and it wasn’t really good I’m afraid. Indeed, the whole thing was just standard romantic-comedy routine, it was completely predictable and not funny whatsoever and I was rather bored during the whole thing. I have to admit it though, this movie was made for a target audience and since I don’t belong to this demographic group, it is not really surprising that I didn’t like it. To conclude, I didn’t really like this flick and I don’t think it is really worth a look, except maybe if you are curious to see Lindsay Lohan when she looked healthier (even though in this case you'd better watch 'Mean girls' anyway).

Honestly, I wasn’t sure what to expect from this flick but since I'm a huge fan of Jodie Foster, I really wanted to check it out. To start with, in my opinion, the whole thing was rather misleading. Indeed, on all the promotional material, you have Jodie Foster displayed prominently but, unfortunately, she had actually a very small role and didn't do much during the whole thing. Still, even though I didn’t really get what I was expecting, I thought it was actually a pretty good flick. Indeed, first of all, the young cast (Emile Hirsch, Kieran Culkin, Jena Malone) was really good and they all gave some rather impressive performance (later on, Emile Hirsch completely blew me away with ‘Into the Wild’ and, at some point, I seriously thought he might become one of the best actors of his generation. Unfortunately, nowadays, his work is not really impressing so I guess he wasn’t really that good after all). Anyway, coming back to our main feature, I thought that the story was quite fascinating. Unfortunately, I have to admit it, this story was also rather unfocused, especially the end which was way too sentimental and downright disappointing. Still, even though it was flawed, it remains a spellbinding coming of age drama and it is definitely worth a look.

Honestly, I had actually some rather low expectations concerning this flick. I mean, come on, it was a rather hard sell to have Ashton Kutcher in an action flick. Eventually, to my surprise, the whole thing turned out be not bad at all after all. Indeed, I never really cared about Kutcher but, on the other hand, Kevin Costner remains a dependable actor (it's too bad we don't see him much nowadays, he really needs a come-back) and, here, he delivered the goods, as usual. And for Ashton Kutcher, I must admit it, he was actually alright and he gave a decent performance. At least, you have to credit the guy for trying something far from his comfort zone. Concerning the movie itself, it is and remains a rather standard and predictable action flick but I thought it was entertaining enough. The fact that it was directed by Andrew Davis, the same guy who gave us ‘The Fugitive’, might be a reason why the whole thing was really watchable from the beginning until the end. To conclude, even though it is nothing really amazing whatsoever, it is actually a rather decent flick and it is worth a look, especially if you want to see Ashton Kutcher doing something completely different than his usual stuff.

Personally, I think that Jeff Bridges is a rather amazing actor and I would watch any of his movies, anytime, so only for him, I was really eager to check this flick. This time again, he was really good and provided an impressive performance. Honestly, it was pretty obvious that other actors would have been ridiculous portraying this alien being but not Mr Bridges. The movie was also very well directed by the always competent John Carpenter. Nowadays, it seems that Carpenter has lost his touch since, in the last 20 years , none of his movies were either critically or financially successful and it seemed that the guy should retire before really ruining his legacy even more. As a matter of fact, it was quite surprising how subtle this movie was, especially compared to Carpenter's usual work. Of course, I have to admit it, it is and remains a rather standard Science-Fiction tale about a friendly alien and, as usual, you have the evil government which wants to get him to proceed with some devilish experiment. So, it wasn't really original but I thought it was entertaining enough. To conclude, even though it is nothing really amazing, I thought it was a decent SF feature and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in John Carpenter's work.

Before becoming a ‘serious’ actor and winning two Academy awards back-to-back, Tom Hanks used to make some pretty goofy comedies and he was pretty successful at it. Well, this movie was definitely one of those. To be honest, I'm not so sure what to think about this flick. I mean, the first time I saw it, I had some really low expectations and I thought it would be rather lame but, eventually, I was quite surprised since the whole thing was just really hilarious. But then, a year later, I watched it again with Nick, my step-son and, this time, I barely laughed at all... Maybe I wasn't in the right mood the second time around, I don't know. Anyway, it is basically a rather outrageous and over-the-top comedy full of visual jokes and slapstick. Obviously, the plot was rather weak but it doesn't really matter with a movie like this one. Still, the whole thing was so non-sensical, as a result, it was rather difficult to really care about the character or what they were going through. Basically, you either dig this humor or you don't. To conclude, I thought it was pretty funny (at least the first time I watched it...) and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like those good old comedies starring Tom Hanks.

I don't know why exactly but this movie intrigued me from the moment I heard about it and I was definitely eager to watch it. Eventually, I wasn't disappointed as I really enjoyed it and it’s too bad this movie is nowadays pretty much forgotten. Indeed, first of all, what is better than a movie starring Liam Neeson? A movie starring Liam Neeson AND Laura Linney! I thought they were both very impressive, they are quite underrated and here, once again, they delivered some very strong performances. Nowadays, Liam Neeson has made a come-back as an action star with ‘Taken’ which is pretty neat but I think the guy is just too talented to only do some action stuff. Anyway, a part from that, I thought that the story was quite fascinating and, as a result, the movie was quite spellbinding to watch. Honestly, before watching this flick, I had actually never heard of Kinsey so I don't know if the movie was really faithful, but I didn't really care since it dealt sensibly with some really thoughtful and deep ideas. To conclude, I think it is a very interesting biographical drama and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

Honestly, I don't really know why but, somehow, I was really eager to check this movie. Apparently, I was one of the few people actually interested by this flick since it was barely seen when it was released. Eventually, even though it was nothing really amazing, I thought it was pretty good and I really liked it. When I think about it, to be honest, the premise was actually pretty lame but what made the movie still interesting is that all the characters had some rather unexpected reactions and behaviors. For example, in a more standard movie, the Topher Grave character would have been a total douche-bag but not here and the same goes for the other characters too. Eventually, there was something really intriguing about these characters and I actually cared about what they were going through. The fact that all the actors involved gave some decent performances must have helped as well. At the time, Topher Grace seemed to have a bright future (I still think he has some potential) but his career was not really impressive during the last 10 years later and, nowadays, he has to stand in the shadow of Ashton Kutcher who is definitely a weaker actor but who has been more successful. To conclude, even though the story was not really mind-blowing, I thought it was entertaining enough and I think it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre.