Reviews by johanlefourbe

To be honest, 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. Back then, Costner was still a big star but within a few years after some massive flops like ‘Waterworld’ and ‘The Postman’, his status would drastically change. So, this was a small movie that Costner made between his usual blockbusters and, to be honest, I thought it was actually pretty good. With such a title, indeed, you might expect a massive ambitious epic but, in the contrary, it is in fact a rather low scale and almost intimate drama but I did like its soft nostalgic vibe. I mean, sure, Kevin Costner pretty much gave his usual perfomance of righteous guy but it didn’t bother me at all it and Elijah Wood definitely displayed already a great potential at a young age. The very same year, Elijah Wood would also show up as the lead in ‘North’, one of the most despised movies ever made but he still managed to get some positive reviews so that definitely says something about this skills. To conclude, even though it was nothing very original, I thought it was a solid drama and it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

I wasn’t sure what to expect from this movie but since I have a weak spot for Claire Danes, I was quite eager to check it out. Eventually, I was actually positively surprised and I thought that it was a very interesting picture. Indeed, I wasn’t really familiar with the British theater world in the 17th century and I thought it was just rather fascinating to behold. Eventually, even though Claire Danes did give a solid performance, above all, I was really impressed by Billy Crudup and his character was definitely the main point of interest in this movie, at least that’s my opinion. Indeed, even though the plot was about a woman who manages to convince everyone that a woman should be the best person to portray a female character, I thought it was more impressive to see how this guy became a superstar playing some very stereotypical female characters. Eventually, you get to see the transition from a very specific rather weird and over-the-top style of theater to something more like our current modern theater. To conclude, even though it wasn’t really a masterpiece, I thought it was a nice watch and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

It is quite an obscure feature but since there was a really nice cast, I thought I might as well give it a try. Indeed, there were some good actors here (Christopher Walken, John Turturro, Dennis Hopper, Ethan Hawke, Robert Knepper, Griffin Dunne, Rosanna Arquette, even Martin Scorsese!) but they couldn't save this mess and you wonder how so many talented actors chose yp work with a first time director with such an underwhelming script. Well, the reason why they deciced to all work for this guy is that, apparently, he was/still is a major New York artist so they couldn’t possibly refuse an opportunity to work with this guy. Well, even though it was apparently positively received at the Sundance Film Festival, I really didn’t care much for the whole thing and, in my opinion, it is just one of these very cheap indy features which doesn't make really much sense and which are, in fact, pretty boring to watch. I don’t know, the characters were either uninteresting or even obnoxious and I seriously had a hard time to find any redeeming feature. To conclude, even though I have seen worse, it was still pretty weak and I really don’t think it is worth a look.

I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this movie but since there was a pretty cool cast, I was quite eager to check it out. Indeed, I really have a weak spot for Nick Nolte and Ewan McGregor and they both did a pretty good job here. The directing was also decent as well but, unfortunately, the story didn’t really work and the ending was even rather disappointing. Basically, like most of your other average thrillers, even though the concept is intriguing (a night watchman at a morgue starts to see some pretty weird stuff), it is also really preposterous. I mean, sure, at first, they manage to create a nice and ominous mood but, at some point, they have to explain what the hell was or is going on and that’s when most of those movies become terribly underwhelming. Anyway, concerning the director Ole Bornedal, this movie was actually a remake of his own movie made in Denmark and, apparently, the guy managed to get a multi-picture deal with Miramax but after many ups and downs, he eventually left his deal to return to make movies in Scandinavia. To conclude, coming back to our main feature, I think it’s too bad because the whole thing had some potential but I still think it was a decent watch and it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

Of course, when this movie was released, many people thought it was actually pretty lame but, in my opinion, if you compare it to what Nicolas Cage has been doing during the last 10 years, the damned thing is almost a masterpiece. In fact, even if you don’t take this into account, I don’t think it wasn't so bad after all. Of course, if you watch this expecting a deep and thoughtful feature, you will be very disappointed, that’s for sure. In my case, I'm a real sucker for movies dealing with treasure hunting even if they are rather preposterous like this one. I mean, sure, it was not Indiana Jones but I thought it was still rather enjoyable. Concerning Diane Kruger, she is sure a fine looking lady but, after all these years, I’m still not convinced by her acting skills and I can’t say she had really much chemistry with Nicolas Cage. Concerning Cage, 3 years later, he would make another movie with Disney also directed by Jon Turteltaub, but for some reasons beyond me, instead of making another sequel which would have made more sense, they would try to launch a new franchise with ‘The Sorcerer's Apprentice’ but it turned out to be a flop. To conclude, if you take it for what it is, a brainless pop-corn blockbuster, it is is actually fairly enjoyable and it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

To be honest, I wasn't expecting anything really brilliant with this movie but I thought that the title was rather catchy and, I don't know why, I thought it could be entertaining. Eventually, I really had some mixed feelings about the damned thing but, all in all, I think it was still rather disappointing. Basically, Renny Harlin keeps making B-movies and this one was not an exception even if it actually had some potential. Indeed, there were a few cool scenes (especially the infamous one involving Samuel L. Jackson, it was just really awesome, I won't spoil it but you really need to see this) but the whole thing was still rather lame. Indeed, the sharks looked really cheap, the action scenes were nothing great and above all, the story was just really idiotic. Ever since, for the last 15 years, Renny Harlin would manage to make some even more underwhelming features with maybe ‘Cleaner’ as a notable exception but it was still nothing really impressive. To conclude, it is a rather average shark movie and it is not really worth a look, expect maybe if you are a desperate shark movie fan and, even in this case, you'd better re-watch 'Jaws' instead…

I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but, to be honest, I have to admit it that it was actually not bad at all after all. Indeed, there were actually some pretty good things in this movie. Obviously, the fact that there was Christopher Walken was involved was a major improvement. Indeed, the guy is always a treat and he pretty much stole the show as usual. On top of that, the idea was not bad at all but, unfortunately, there were also some disappointing elements. First of all, I have honestly nothing against Brendan Fraser, I keep watching movies with starring the guy but he is most of the times just so bland, I think he must be one of the most underwhelming lead actors I have ever seen. Concerning Alicia Silverstone, it is actually pretty much the same problem. Basically, she became very famous following ‘Clueless’ but I never really managed to see her appeal at all but I'm not the only one since her career became really disappointing very quickly. Anyway, to conclude, even though the whole thing had some potential, it was still rather average after all but I still think it is worth a look.

It is hard to believe that, at some point, Eddie Murphy was one of the biggest stars in the world and his movies were all biggest hits at the box-office. Nowadays, he spends most of his time ruining his legacy and all his movies have been some massive flops. This movie might be the best example. I mean, first of all, I don't know who said that a man in a fat woman suit was actually funny but the guy was definitely a complete moron... Basically, the whole thing was terribly misguided right from the start and it was just sad that such a charming and talented actress like Thandie Newton would get involved in this. In my opinion, Eddie Murphy should really look for another trick than this disguises. I mean, it wasn't really funny even in 'Coming to America' back then but it is now really getting ridiculous and completely obnoxious. Eventually, he would make 2 other movies with Brian Robbins, ‘Meet Dave’ and ‘A Thousand Words’, and both movies were just pretty terrible as well, especially ‘Meet Dave’. To conclude, this movie was quite a disaster and a complete waste of time, it might be the worst movie ever made starring Murphy and you should pretty much avoid it.

Since I kept hearing some great things about this flick, I was really eager to check this flick. Eventually, I thought that this movie was totally heartbreaking but also very inspiring. If you think you have a difficult life, you should really check this movie. Indeed, it is a massive wake-up call and made me really think about my own life and how lucky I have been so far. On top of that, it also works as a really exciting thriller/sport feature. Indeed, it is not just about those guys trying to give some meaning to their life, it is also about their next big tournament and if they will win the damned thing, even if they have to face their previous coach. Obviously, since it was a massive critical success, it was nominated for the Academy Award for the Best Documentary Feature but even though it should have won in my opinion, it lost to ‘March of the Penguins’ which was maybe a huge box-office hit but I thought it was actually rather overrated. Anyway, to conclude, I thought it was an amazing feature and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you want to see a really inspiring documentary.

I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but since there was a really nice cast, I thought I might as well give it a try. Eventually, I was amazed about how underwhelming the whole thing was. I mean, sure, the cast was pretty neat (Paul Rudd, Jessica Alba, Winona Ryder, Famke Janssen, Gretchen Mol, Justin Theroux, Liev Schreiber, Oliver Platt, ....) but it was just so lame! Indeed, the jokes were not funny and, above all, I thought that the directing was rather amateurish... It is possible that the concept had some potential but it was just so poorly developed. Seriously, I don’t think there was actually one single segment that I actually enjoyed. Surprisingly, the seemingly untalented David Wain would come only a year later with the surprisingly satisfying ‘Role Models’ so there is always some hope, I guess. On the other hand, everything else he did afterwards, always starring Paul Rudd, was terribly weak (‘Wanderlust’, ‘They Came Together’) so it seems that the guy should still look for another job after all. Anyway, to conclude, I think I might be really generous with my rating here, it was just a really weak comedy and you should pretty much just avoid this mess.