Reviews by johanlefourbe

I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this movie but since there was a decent cast involved, I thought I might as well check it out. Well, even though my expectations were rather low concerning the damned thing, I was still amazed about how disappointing it turned out to be. Indeed, the story, the dialogues, the acting, everything was seriously really weak and tedious to watch. Concerning Colin Firth, it is understandable that the guy wanted to try something completely different than his previous work and I think he did what he could do so he shouldn’t be blamed for the end-result. Eventually, I felt above all bad for for Aishwarya Rai. Indeed, I thought it was pretty neat that she was for once showing up in a Western production (apparently, she barely does any movies outside Bollywood)  and it’s such a pity that she picked up such an average feature...  At least, I got to see one of the most gorgeous women in the world in action and without her, it would have been a complete waste of time to watch this movie. Anyway, to conclude, even though the whole thing actually had some potential, it turned out to be pretty weak and I don’t think it is really worth a look. 

I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but since there was a really nice cast involved, I thought I might as well check it out. Well, to be honest, it is not very often that I came across such a lame comedy wasting such talented actors. Indeed, I always had a weak spot for Zach Braff, Jason Bateman and Amanda Peet but there was no way that they could make this work. I mean, right from the start, the whole concept of the guy faking to be handicapped felt more misguided than really funny and the makers never managed to turn this into something really entertaining. Concerning Zach Braff, I have to admit it that I have actually never seen ‘Scrubs’ but I really loved ‘Garden State’ and since ‘The Last Kiss’ turned out to be actually not bad at all, I hoped that this movie would be at least a decent watch but it turned out to be a huge disappointment. Concerning the lovely Amanda Peet, it would unfortunately be another misguided choice and she would slowly disappear during the following 10 years. Anyway, to conclude, even though I have seen worse, it was still a pretty weak comedy and I don’t think it is really worth a look. 

I already saw this movie but since it was a while back and since I had this movie on DVD, I was quite eager to check it out again.To be honest, before watching this movie, I have to admit that, even though I had had heard about Harvey Milk, I didn’t know much about the guy so, only for this, it was an incredibly valuable picture that allowed me to get more acquainted with this fascinating man. Concerning the movie itself, sure, it turned to be a rather straightforward biopic but the material was so strong that it didn't bother me. As a result, it is probably one of the most accessible movies delivered by Gus Van Sant so far but, at least, it was miles better than the rather overrated 'Good Will Hunting' which is still considered by IMDb as his best movie. Back then, everybody was pretty much expecting Mickey Rourke to win the Academy Award for the Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role for his amazing performance in 'The Wrestler'  but Sean Penn eventually did win the damned thing. Well, even though some might think he robbed Rourke of a well deserved Academy award, I thought he was still impressive in this movie and he showed again that he was, at the time, one of the best actors around. Anyway, to conclude, it was a really strong biopic and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in Harvey Milk. 

Even though I didn't have some really high expectations for this movie, unfortunately, it still turned out to be disappointing. In fact, it is only after watching the damned thing that I discovered that the directors (Shari Springer Berman & Robert Pulcini) were also responsible for the awesome 'American Splendor'. Basically, 'American Splendor' was an original, gripping, spellbinding little indie gem whereas this second directing effort was just lazy, unimaginative and seriously tedious to watch. Indeed, in spite of the interesting cast (Scarlett Johansson, Laura Linney, Paul Giamatti, Alicia Keys), I was rather bored by the whole thing.  In fact, I thought that two characters  involved were just completely despicable (Mr X and Mrs X). I have noticed that Roger Ebert was slightly more more enthousiast about it than I was but I thought the whole thing was just downright average. Fortunately, after this movie, Shari Springer Berman & Robert Pulcini would deliver 'The Extra man' which has been praised by some of my favorite listal members so I will definitely check it out at some point. Anyway, to conclude, I still think this movie had some potential but, at the end of the day, it remains a really average flick and it is not really worth a look whatsoever.

To be honest, even though I heard some pretty good things about this flick, I have to admit that I didn't have some very high expectations concerning this movie. Indeed, even he fact that it was chosen as the best movie of the year by the Academy of Motion Picture didn't mean, for me, that it was actually an actual masterpiece. In my opinion, the Academy voters have always been suckers for such historical true stories. Eventually, I have to admit that it was, indeed, a rather impressive movie. Basically, the directing was pretty good but most of all, I was blown away by the performance provided by Colin Firth and he definitely deserved his oscar. Geoffrey Rush was amazing as well and they both fascinated me throughout the whole thing. Of course, the plot was hardly original (they started with an issue which seemed unsolvable, they struggled a little bit, they found a solution, there were some complications but, at the end, everything was fine...) but it was very well told and it was quite efficient. To conclude, it is a very well made historical drama with a top cast and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.