Reviews by johanlefourbe

I have noticed that this movie has a rather lousy reputation but I thought it was actually pretty good. First of all, even though Robert Redford did manage to with the Best Picture Academy Award with ‘Ordinary People’, the guy never managed to become a major director but I always a had a weak spot for the movies he has directed. On top of that, this flick was dealing with politics which I found always quite fascinating. Of course, this movie has many flaws and it was not a masterpiece but I found that the subject was rather well developped. Basically, it gives 3 different point of view about the war. The one involving the soldiers was decent but nothing really ground-breaking, the one involving a college professor (played by Robert Redford) and a student (played by Andrew Garfiled) was probably the weakest segment. Eventually, the best part was the impressive confrontation between Meryl Streep and Tom Cruise. Indeed, to see those two thespians facing one another was really something, their dialogs and performances were really good and only for this, it is worth watching the damned thing in my opinion. To conclude, I think this flick is rather underrated and it it is definitely worth a look, especially if you enjoy movies about politics like I do.

By now, I have seen many movies with Steve Martin, more than 25 as a matter of fact and, honestly, I usually can see their appeal but I never really enjoy them and this movie is not an expection. I mean, contrary to his most recent movies which have been usually received with very some weak reviews, this one seemed to be pretty good and the great Roger Ebert even described it as one great screwball comedy. Well, this time, I really didn’t share Roger’s enthusiasm. Indeed, in my opinion, the premise was in fact rather lame (the soul of woman is transferred to a man’s body but the soul of this man remains in his body as well), it sounded stupid, it was rather stupid and I really had a hard time to care about the whole thing. Of course, you could argue that I shouldn’t take this story too seriously but, at least, it should have been entertaining but, in my opinion, the jokes were not really funny at all. I don’t know, maybe it’s me, maybe I’m just too rational for this kind of humor. To conclude, even though it wasn’t really awful, I didn’t like it much and I don’t think it is really worth a look, except if you are a die-hard Steve Martin fan.

To be honest, since it was a rather obscure feature, I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but since there was a really nice cast, I was quite eager to check it out. Unfortunately, I was amazed about how disappopining the whole thing was. I mean, on the dvd box, you can see such names like Gary Oldman or Robert Carlyle and you would think the whole thing should be awesome but no way... In fact, the lead character was played by someone else called Andrew-Lee Potts and the guy was just painful to watch but he wasn’t in fact the main issue. Indeed, the main problem was that the story was just so underwhelming. Indeed, even though it tries to copy the kynetic style of some other British classics like ‘Snatch’ or ‘Trainspotting’, it fails just miserably and the end-result was just some over-the-top random mess. Concerning Gary Oldman, I have some respect for the guy, he is a terrific actor but, to be honest, I think that he has spent maybe a third of his whole career making such stinkers. To conclude, don't be fooled like me, the whole thing was pretty lame, I think my rating is actually quite generous and you should probably avoid it.

To be honest, since it is a really obscure flick (not even 20 listal members have seen it), I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this movie but since I have a weak spot for Russell Crowe and Salma Hayek, I was quite eager to check this flick. Indeed, for both actors, this movie doesn't belong to their most famous productions but I like both leads and I think that they both delivered some solid perfomances but I still had a really hard time to care for the whole thing. I’m not sure what really went wrong here but I guess the main issue was with the story which wasn't really captivating. Basically, they are in love, then, they fight, then, they miss each other so they get back together and then, they fight again... To be honest, even though it might have seemed realistic, eventually, it felt rather shallow. To conclude, I think it’st too bad because the whole thing had some potential but, at the end of the day, I thought it was a rather underwhelming romantic feature and I don’t think it is really worth a look, except maybe if you are a die-hard fan of the genre.

Almost 10 years before Chris Evans and Scarlett Johansson would rule the world of super-heros and the box-office in the process with The Avengers, they actually showed up in this movie which is nowadays pretty much forgotten. To be honest, I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but there was a decent cast, so I was quite eager to check it out. Unfortunately, the whole thing turned out to be rather underwhelming. I mean, in fact, the premise was actually not bad at all but, in my opinion, it was very poorly developped. Apparently, it is actually impossible to steal a copy of the SAT's because there are several versions but, even so, it could have been an entertaining story if it would have been slightly edgy. However, the makers decided to take a very straightforward approach with some really boring and stereotypical characters. On top of that, they messed up the ending which was also seriously lame( after all the trouble they have been through, they still decide they shouldn’t cheat after all…). To conclude, even though the whole thing had some potential, I thought it was pretty weak and I don’t think it is really worth a look.

To be honest, I wasn’t expecting much from this flick. Indeed, even though I have actually nothing against Rowan Atkinson and his character Mr. Bean, I actually hate ‘Bean’ which was one of the most agonizing movie experiences I ever had (ok, the fact that I was completely stoned when watching this movie in the theater might have had some influence as well but whatever). Maybe I'm too harsh and I probably should give this movie another shot. Anyway, we're dealing with another movie here so there was the possibility that I might have a good time. Indeed, the concept was actually rather neat (‘what if Mr Bean would become a spy?’) and there was definitely some potential to get something really entertaining. Unfortunately, once again, the end-result was quite disappointing. Indeed, in my opinion, most of the jokes were lame, the action scenes were pathetic and the whole thing was pretty weak. Eventually, this whole thing about Rowan Atkinson portraying a loser spy agent is just too similar to Peter Sellers’ Inspecteur Clouseau but Atkinson never managed to really convince me in this character. Anyway, to conclude, even though it was nothing really awful, it was still pretty damned average and I don’t think it is really worth a look.

Back then, when this movie was released, there was a huge buzz about this flick and his director, Neil Marshall. Since then, and after a couple of disappointing movies ('Doomsday', 'Centurion'), we don't hear much from him but it didn't stop me from watching all his directing efforts. Personally, I really liked this movie, especially when they get stuck in the caverns. Indeed, it was really well done, you totally felt this claustrophobic feeling lived by the characters and I was definitely captivated by the movie. It was also interesting that the cast was made of unknown actresses as it made it even easier to idenfity with them. But then, suddenly, the movie completely went to completely different direction (don't worry, I won't spoil it) and I guess many viewers thought it was really awesome but, personally, I thought it was actually rather disappointing. Indeed, the material, until that point, was already fascinating and it could have been further developped but instead we got a rather standard monster slasher flick. The rest of the movie was just about people screaming, running around and getting massacred with tons of blood... It was well done but it was nothing I hadn't seen already 100 times before. Still, it remains a very well made flick, with some very good ideas and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you're into horror movies.

Since this movie has a really solid reputation, I was really eager to check it out. Eventually, I know it is a classic but, to be honest, it didn't really convince me. The main issue, I guess, is that it was pretty much a rather straightforward musical. I know, you might argue asking what’s wrong with a straightforward musical? The thing is that, by now, I have seen almost 5300 movies, I have seen all kind of movies in all kind of different genres, and I’m afraid that the musicals is the only genre I still have a really have a hard time to really care for. Eventually, for a movie in this genre to manage to really impress me, it has to be either really amazing or really original and I’m afraid it wasn’t really the case here. Indeed, sure, there were few good numbers (it was above all very neat to discover that the very cool song ‘If I Were a Rich Man’ actually came from this movie) but I was unfortunately rather bored during the whole thing. To conclude, I think the whole thing is not bad at all, it is just an acquired taste and it is still worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

To be honest, I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but since I have a weak spot for Sylvester Stallone, I thought I might as well give it a try. In fact, something pretty weird happened with this flick. Indeed, for some reasons, I actually really loved the intro. Basically, you get to see Stallone's back in close up and slow-motion with some really kick-ass music. The whole thing lasted maybe only 1 minute but I thought it looked just downright amazing. It's just really funny because after those 60 seconds, I barely enjoyed anything for the rest of the movie and I thought it was terribly predictable and completely forgettable. It’s too bad because the whole thing had some potential and it sounded like a perfect project for Stallone. I haven’t seen the original version starring Michael Caine, it does look awesome so I will definitely check it out at some point, but this remake was just one of those weak and underperforming action flicks that Stallone used to make before his come-back with ‘Rocky Balboa’ in 2006. To conclude, I have seen worse but I think it was still a disappointing feature and I don’t think it is really worth a look.