Reviews by johanlefourbe

To be honest, I wonder how I actually ended up watching this flick. I guess I watched it above all because I always had a weak spot for Georgina Verbaan. In the Netherlands, pretty much all the movies are with some subtitles and are not dubbed so there is a demand for Dutch family features since the very young kids pretty much can’t watch anything else. I have to admit it, I'm usually not a fan of such Dutch kids flicks and most of them are usually boring and lazy in my opinion. Well, even though this movie was maybe nothing really amazing, I thought it was actually not bad at all. Indeed, in my opinion. Indeed, in my opinion, it was actually rather well done, totally harmless and eventually quite charming to behold. I wasn't really wild about the songs but I still think it is actually a very nice watch for all children between 3 and 9 years old. To conclude, even if I really don’t like this genre at all, I thought this movie was actually really cute and not bad at all and I think it is actually worth a look, especially if you want to entertain some very young children. 

I already saw this movie but since it was a while back and since I have it on DVD, I was quite eager to check it out again. Eventually, it is a classic which definitely lives up to its strong reputation. Indeed, the directing by Billy Wilder was pretty impressive but Gloria Swanson was the one who really stole the show with her amazing performance. It was quite amazing that even though some scenes in this movie were rather over the top, this movie was still well nuanced and subtle. Personally, I have not always been a huge fan of Billy Wilder’s work, especially his comedies like ‘Sabrina’, ‘Some Like It Hot’ or ‘The Apartment’, but here, he delivered a really dark tale and it was just spellbinding to behold. You can say whatever you want about Hollywood but, from time to time, they do allow a great director to go really dark and, in this case, the end-result was just quite amazing. On top of that, this movie works on so many levels, it tells a story about the characters, about the actors involved, about Hollywood in general and it goes on and on. Anyway, to conclude, I really enjoyed this flick, it is a great classic and a must see for any decent movie lover.

I had no idea what the whole thing was about before watching this and, to be honest, I thought at first that it was a story about adultery but then suddenly, something really unexpected happened. Before this event, I was really into the story but then, when this pivotal event took place, I’m afraid it didn't work for me anymore. The focus on Michelle Williams was in fact rather well done but all the other sub-plots (Ewan McGregor, the little moslim boy, her husband's colleague, the ‘conspiracy’ theory) were unnecessary and/or poorly developped. Also, it was pretty obvious that the whole thing didn't know where to go. Indeed, was it a psychologial drama or a conspiracy thriller? Still, It wasn't a bad movie either, that's for sure. Indeed, the directing was pretty good and I really loved the mood. Michelle Williams delivered a good perfomance (Still, you might wonder wonder why they didn't actually pick an English actrice for this part) and Ewan McGregor was, as usual, very good as well, even though his character was barely developped in my point of view. Anyway, to conclude, even if it was a failure, it wasn’t a disaster and, in spite of its flaws, I still think it is worth a look.