Reviews by johanlefourbe

I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this movie but since there was a really nice cast involved, I was quite eager to check it out. Eventually, I have to admit that I had some rather mixed feelings about the damned thing. Indeed, on one hand, it  was really far from being flawless (in fact, Roger Ebert really didn’t like it at all for example). First of all, there were just too many characters and most of them were not developed enough (for example, Lena Olin is barely in the movie and she barely uttered a word at all) and also, some parts of the story just didn't work. On the other hand, in spite of all these issues, I still think I actually enjoyed the damned thing. Indeed, the directing was decent with a nice mood and , the cast was really interesting (Don Cheadle, Ryan Gosling, Jena Malone, Lena Olin, Kevin Spacey, Michelle Williams, Sherilyn Fenn) . Among them, I was above all impressed by  Ryan Gosling, Don Cheadle and Kevin Spacey (though, Spacey’s character was not developed enough). Eventually, I can’t help thinking my rating might be too generous here, I guess it is an acquired taste but I think it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre,

To be honest, it is a really obscure feature so I wasn’t really sure what to expect from the damned thing but since there was a pretty cool cast involved, I thought I might as well check it out. Basically, it was one of these hyperlink features, interlocking several separate stories in the process. Well, even though I always had a weak spot for this genre, I though the whole thing was kind of disappointing. Indeed, there was a very nice cast (Kevin Bacon, Julie Delpy, Brendan Fraser, Andy Garcia, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Emile Hirsch, Forest Whitaker) and I liked the directing but the story didn't work very well. Concerning the director Jieho Lee, this movie was apparently a labor of love, he spent about 6 years on this project but it barely made any waves when it was released and the guy has never directed another movie afterwards. At least, we should give him some credit to come up with something rather ambitious for his directing debut but I’m afraid it was maybe slightly too ambitious after all. Anyway, to conclude, it’s too bad because the whole thing had some potential but I think it is still worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

Basically, there was a time when I would go to a video game shop (which is now closed) and I would buy there on a regular basis 5 DVDs for 5 euros and, sometimes, since I would be missing 1 DVD, I would pick up pretty much anything at random just to reach 5 movies. Anyway, following this amazing process, I ended up watching some rather obscure movies and this one was definitely one of them. Well, I wasn't expecting much from this movie but since my wife has a weak spot for thrillers, we ended up watching this one together but the end-result was rather pathetic. Was there actually anything any good in this flick ?!? Not really... Indeed, the story was bad,  the directing was really weak and the acting was not really better, I’m afraid. Should I add something else? Concerning Dominique Swain, she made a interesting debut with ‘Face/Off’ and ‘Lolita’, both released the same year but, even though she has been steadily working ever since, most of her movies have been such obscure and underwhelming direct-to-DVD garbage. Anyway, coming back to our main feature, to conclude, the whole thing was a total waste of time and it should be avoided at all costs.

Before watching this movie, I wasn't expecting much but since there was a decent cast involved, I thought I might as well check it out. Unfortunately, even with those low expectations, after 5 minutes, I was already bored to death by the whole thing. Indeed, it was actually a very lame and rather stupid concept (the ending made eventually the whole thing even worse.... I mean, you are supposed to believe that Jennifer Love Hewitt who became a music executive, had actually a crush on the band when she was a kid and that's the only reason why she deciced to promote this band??! It was seriously really too far-fetched for me, sorry...) . Concerning Jennifer Love Hewitt, after 20 years in the business, I think we can all agree that she is one of the cutest girls around (she seems to look even better as she gets older) but I have noticed that most of the her movies are usually such obscure and really lame productions. Anyway, coming back to our main feature, the only redeeming feature was probably Ben Stiller who was pretty funny but he was there only for 5 minutes. It was also rather neat to see Will Ferrell before he became famous. Still, a part from that, it was a really average comedy and it is not really worth a look, I'm afraid.

I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but since I have a weak spot for Kevin Costner, I thought I might as well check it out. Unfortunately, the whole thing turned out to be a major disappointment. Indeed, I'm actually a real sucker for movies dealing with politics and I do think that this movie actually had some potential. Unfortunately, the topic was just poorly developed and this movie was just plain average. First of all, I'm really annoyed by those movies where the parent is supposed to be some kind of complete moron but, somehow,  their kid turns out to be a real genius.. Seriously, it is just a really tedious and unrealistic gimmick. In this case, it was even more annoying as this supposedly stupid father was played by Kevin Costner. Indeed I like this actor, he is a really charming actor but that was exactly the issue here. Indeed, the guy was just way too damned charming to play this part. Eventually, I would have worked better with someone like Billy Bob Thornton playing his usual despicable SOB performance. Anyway, even if you would put this aside, the story was still pretty weak. To conclude, the whole thing felt like a missed opportunity and, eventually, I don’t think it is really worth a look.

It seems hard to believe that, not so long ago, Matthew McConaughey was mostly focusing his career on such movies. I mean, at least, you have to admit it, at first, this movie didn’t sound like a really bad idea. Indeed, Matthew McConaughey and Kate Hudson already worked together for ‘How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days’ which was arguably McConaughey’s most watchable romantic-comedy. Unfortunately, even though it could have been something, the whole thing turned out to be just plain average. Basically, the main problem with this movie is that its main selling point was to have Kate Hudson in bikini and Matthew McConaughey shirtless through most of the running time. I mean, sure, they both looked fine but it was certainly not enough and the story and the jokes were just really weak. It’s too bad because such movies dealing treasure hunting can be a lot of fun but this one didn’t have much to offer, I’m afraid. Eventually, 3 years later, McConaughey would make an unexpected come-back with ‘The Lincoln Lawyer’ but we are waiting still for something really impressive from Kate Hudson. Anyway, coming back to our main feature, the whole thing was a rather shameless cash grab and even though I have seen worse, I don’t think it is really worth a look at all.