Reviews by johanlefourbe

Even though this movie had a rather lame reputation, somehow, I still ended up watching the damned thing. Apparently, after making ‘Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls’, Jim Carrey decided he got enough of making sequels, he turned most of them down. Eventually, they all turned out to be some massive flops without him and this one was not exception. I mean, to start up, ‘Bruce Almighty’ was maybe a decent comedy but it was nothing great and it mostly worked thanks to Carrey. Therefore, without the funny guy, this project was pretty much doomed from the start. On top of that, it was incredibly expensive to make (8 years later, it is still the most expensive comedy ever made) and there would be approximately a 30 millions dollar loss after some disappointing results at the box-office. Basically, the end-result was rather boring and not really funny. Back then, Steve Carell just got his breakthrough a couple of years before with ‘The 40 Year Old Virgin’ and even though the guy can be pretty funny, the whole concept was just really half-baked and they spent way too much time and money in some unnecessary special effects. To conclude, it is some very average stuff and,  in spite of Steve Carell, I’m afraid it  is not really worth a look.

Even though it is not really a famous movie, I kept hearing some pretty good things about this flick so I was quite eager to check it out. In fact, I do know a few listal members who would tell you that this movie is a real masterpiece so I had some rather high expectations. Eventually, I can't say that it was really amazing after all. I mean, sure, it was not bad at all and there were some scenes that were pretty funny but I never thought it was great at any moment. First of all, I always had some major issue with Denis Leary. Indeed, I never thought he was a very good actor and I never find him really funny, ever, in this movie or another one. On the other hand, I have to admit that Kevin Spacey and Judy Davis were definitely good, I wouldn't expect less from Spacey who was still rather unknown at the time but, a year later, he would finally have his breakthrough with arguably 2 of the best thrillers ever made ('The Usual Suspects' and 'Seven'). Anyway, coming back to our main feature, to conclude, it was not bad and definitely worth a look but don't expect to see the best movie of the year before watching this.

To be honest, I wasn’t expecting much from this flick but, somehow, I still ended up watching the damned thing. Basically, Steve Martin always reminds me of Eddie Murphy. Indeed, even if their comedies are usually rather underwhelming, their family features are actually even worse.  Indeed, those ‘Cheaper by the Dozen’ movies are so boring and even though this sequel was not worse than the previous installment, it wasn’t really an improvement either. Seriously, I can't believe I actually wasted my time watching both of them. Eventually, the weirdest thing was how much Hilary Duff changed between both movies. Indeed, even though there were only 2 years in-between, Duff still looked pretty much like Lizzie McGuire in the first movie but, in the 2^nd one, it was as if at least as if 10 years passed by which was a little bit disturbing. Anyway, when you are starting to pay attention to such trivial details, it is never a good sign.  At least, it was one of the very few watchable movies starring Carmen Electra that I have seen but that isn't much, I’m afraid. To conclude, even though I have seen worse, the whole thing was still a waste of time, it was just really average and I don’t think not it is worth a look at all. 

I'm not a big fan of Ron Howard but he remains a solid director and the buzz surrounding this flick was very good so I was really eager to check it out. Eventually, he did a great job on this movie and, in my opinion, it is easily the best movie Howard has made so far. Indeed, I have always had a weak spot for movies dealing with politics and this story was just really fascinating. To start with, Frank Langella and Michael sheen were both at the top of their game and the rest of the cast was also pretty good (Sam Rockwell, Kevin Bacon, Matthew Macfadyen, Oliver Platt, Rebecca Hall, Toby Jones). This time, Ron Howard decided to go for a sober directing style and it really worked like a charm, especially if you compare it to the disappointing blockbuster extravaganza he gave with his previous directing effort, ‘The DaVinci Code’. Basically, it is a damned entertaining flick and, in my opinion, it gives you a great insight on one of the most controversial historical figures that ever lived. Of course, there is always the very old argument that not everything was 100% accurate (as a matter of fact, the phone conversation at midnight between Frost and Nixon never actually happened) but, if the directing is fine, if the acting is fine, I seriously don’t really care and there is absolutely no such thing as a 100% accurate retelling of a historical event. Anyway, I really loved this flick and I think it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.