Reviews by johanlefourbe

Since I have seen all the movies directed by Wes Anderson, I was quite eager to check his last directorial effort. Well, once again, Anderson didn’t disappoint and delivered another delightful picture. Eventually, it’s not very often that I came across such an anthology of short stories which worked so well. Indeed, none of these 3 stories could have been really developed as a full-length feature and yet, there was plenty of room to fully develop each tale (which wasn’t the case, for example, with 'The Ballad of Buster Scruggs’, the anthology delivered by the Coen brothers). However, even if it was quite enjoyable, I don’t think it was one of Anderson’s best movies though. Above all, I thought the whole thing was just rather exhausting to watch. Sure, as usual with this director, the whole thing was visually really impressive and the amount of details and visual tricks was once again just amazing. In fact, to really grasp what was going in the screen, you should pretty much watch it frame by frame so you can notice every single neat detail. However, in normal speed, there was so much random stuff going on, I think I missed half of it which was rather tiresome and frustrating. Concerning the cast, well, pretty much every Anderson production has become some kind of All-Star game of the best actors around which might sound neat but it also has its downside. Indeed, as a result, at least half of them came by just to do one scene and it was in fact rather distracting to see a major actor playing some random character with barely any impact on the movie. Anyway, to conclude, even if it was maybe not another slam dunk for Wes Anderson, it was still pretty good and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in this director. 

To be honest, I wasn’t really sure what to expect from the damned thing but since there was a solid cast involved, I thought I might as well check it out. I have to admit that I had no idea what this movie was about and, with its title and poster, I was expecting something rather cheesy. However, it turned out to be actually one of the most cynical and darkest romantic-comedies I have ever seen. Indeed, the couple involved was just so messed-up but it was actually seriously refreshing. Eventually, even if they hated everything and everyone, they above all loathed themselves even more and, as far I was concerned, it made them really stand out from the usual couples you get in such romantic features. It also reminded me of a discussion I had so many times with my wife. Indeed, she often argued that a romantic relationship is always based on a nice and friendly connection but I always strongly disagreed because, in my opinion, romantic relationships are much more complicated than that. Basically, there are actually so many reasons why you decide to be with someone (and some of these reasons can be pretty messed up) and it goes way beyond the single fact that you’re being nice or not, as it was perfectly displayed in this movie. Anyway, concerning Keanu Reeves, the guy has always been criticized for his wooden performances but I think he was actually really good here and, in my opinion, he completely disappeared in this character. Indeed, it’s hard to believe that this misanthrope is actually considered as one of the nicest guys working in Hollywood. Concerning Winona Ryder, she was not bad either but I thought she was slightly less convincing (it felt too much that her character was constantly drunk or high) but she still had a pretty good chemistry with Reeves. Eventually, they both had to carry the movie by themselves (seriously, there wasn’t a single supporting character around to support them) which was very gutsy but, to be honest, it did make the whole thing slightly monotonous. Basically, the whole duration was about the two characters endlessly barking at each other which was sometimes rather tiresome. Anyway, to conclude, in spite of its flaws, it was still a really surprising romantic-comedy and I think it is worth a look, at least, if you want to see something else in this genre. 

To be honest, I wasn’t expecting much from this flick but since I have weak spot for Emma Roberts, I thought I might as well check it out. Well, even though not everything did really work, I was actually surprised by how intense this movie actually turned out to be. Eventually, the concept was actually not bad at all and, in my opinion, it worked much better than in ‘The Purge’. Indeed, there was a good chunk of the running time during which I was nodding my head, thinking ‘Ok, this might actually work’. I also did appreciate the fact that they never provided any explanation about who was behind this game. The only thing that didn’t make much sense (beside the fact that their mobile phones seemed to have some endless battery life) was how did they get their money to reward the players but it was explained later on that the viewers were paying to watch the players of their choice (however, it was rather far-fetched that people would pay a whopping 20 dollars to watch a live-stream…). Unfortunately, even if it was expected, it was too bad that the dares became more and more hazardous because, as long as the dares were believable, it was actually all possible and therefore actually quite entertaining. And obviously the ending was also seriously lame. It was rather ridiculous to see a bunch of hackers managing to crack this thing within minutes and it was rather disappointing that the final dare would be to have the players shooting each other… Everything involving the friends of the main character was also rather useless and could have been removed as well. Eventually, as long as they were focusing on this team of players and as long as the dares were not seriously life threatening, it was actually quite spellbinding to behold. Concerning Emma Roberts, she was a perfect choice to play the main character and she had a pretty good chemistry with Dave Franco. Concerning Franco, he was not bad either but it’s too bad that his character’s behaviour at the beginning of the game didn’t match at all what was probably his actual state of mind at this point, considering the information we got later on in the movie. Anyway, to conclude, I have to admit that the damned thing turned out to be much better than I expected and I think it is 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 there was a really nice cast involved, I was quite eager to check it out. Apparently, it was a pet project for Robert Redford who actually wanted to do it with Paul Newman about 20 years ago which would have been pretty awesome but Nick Nolte was still a pretty cool replacement though. On top of that, I have to admit that I aways had a weak spot for such movies dealing with some seemingly impossible hiking trail. In this case, at least, as far I was concerned, this movie was actually a solid good commercial for the Appalachian Trail and, while watching the damned thing, I thought it could be pretty cool to do something like this. But it was probably one of the many issues with this movie, the fact that they made it look too easy. And yet, right at the start, seriously during the very first hours, you saw both guys already really struggling physically which was so lame. Indeed, it was pretty obvious that there was no way that they would quit so soon so it was rather pointless to make them start up this way. At least, it was rather refreshing that they didn’t actually finish the famous hiking trail but it was probably the only original idea displayed during the whole thing. Eventually, it’s too bad that they chose such a light tone. Indeed, it was pretty obvious that both characters had a lot of ‘baggage’ and I’m not talking about their backpacks and such an endless hike could have been the perfect opportunity to dig deeper into these guys but the makers chose to completely avoid any real introspection. Anyway, to conclude, in spite of its flaws, I thought it was still a decent watch and I believe it is worth a look, at least, if you actually like the genre. 

To be honest, I had no idea what to expect from this flick but since it was starring James Franco and since it was available on Netflix, I thought I might as well check it out. Well, I have to admit that I don’t know much about the gay porn industry but it turned out to be actually a strong story and I believe it could have been a really awesome movie. Eventually, I did appreciate the rather neutral approach they chose showing that it is actually possible that many young men actually enjoy themselves and make tons of money this way but the danger of being exploited or abused is definitely present at every corner. The movie also interestingly displayed the duality of these men getting involved in some wild sex acts who, at the same time, stay in the shadow either because they're ashamed of being gay or ashamed of being involved in porn or both. Unfortunately, pretty much everything else was rather weak though. First of all, the directing was borderline amateurish. Indeed, they tried to mix up two tales taking place in the gay porn business but they really struggled to make this mix work and the back-and-forth between the two stories was awkward and felt rather jarring. Concerning the cast, even though James Franco was the main reason why I wanted to check this movie in the first place, I didn’t think he was really convincing though. Of course, his character was supposed to be obnoxious but it was unfortunately the only thing that this guy had to provide. As a result, he was seriously one-dimensional but that’s something that could be said about all the characters involved. Indeed, even if I thought that Garrett Clayton and Christian Slater were not bad at all, their characters really could or should have been more fleshed out as well. Eventually, with this material, they could have easily added at least 30 mins to develop more these 4 men. Anyway, to conclude, in spite of its flaws, it was a really intriguing story and I think it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre. 

Of course, since this movie has a really lame reputation, I didn’t expect much but since I have a weak spot for John Travolta, I thought I might as well check it out anyway. Well, to be honest, I think the harsh reviews were slightly exaggerated after all. Was it a good movie? Of course not, it was probably one of the weakest crime drama’s I have seen in a very long time. However, I think it was much more interesting and more ambitious than most of the garbage Travolta has been making recently. In fact, it was a passion project he had been trying to get made for maybe a decade. In the process, many directors and actors left this project and, eventually, he had to settle with actor-turned-director Kevin Connolly. Unfortunately, Connolly clearly didn’t have the chops to deliver something matching the ambition of this project. Indeed, even though John Gotti was a larger-than-life character, the end-result was surprising lifeless. For example, who cares that John Gotti jr. bumped into his future wife during some random party? In fact, it seems that they became aware of this issue at some point and they decided then to go for a random chronology to make the whole thing look more complex than it actually was. However, not only it is a really annoying gimmick but, in this case, it made the whole thing look even more incoherent than it already was. Concerning the cast, I still think John Travolta was not bad at all in this flick but the rest of the cast was not remarkable whatsoever. The worst one was probably Spencer Rocco Lofranco who had to play his character over a 20 year period, a task apparently way too challenging for him and he was never convincing whatsoever. Anyway, to conclude, even if it wasn’t a total disaster after all, the damned thing was still really weak and you should probably avoid it. 

To be honest, I had no idea what to expect from this flick but since there was a very nice cast involved, I thought I might as well check it out. Basically, it turned out to be some kind of French version of ‘Lawrence of Arabia’ which wasn’t necessarily a bad idea. However, even if it was clearly an ambitious project (it was in the fact the most expensive French movie ever made at the time), I’m afraid the damned thing never really worked though. Indeed, in ‘Lawrence of Arabia’, all the issues of imperialism and white saviour tropes were mostly compensated by some impressive epic directing by David Lean but Alain Corneau definitely didn’t play in the same league, I’m afraid. Indeed, even if the damned thing did last 3 hours, there was nothing much really epic about it. There was also the issue that, even though it was made 40 years ago, it still probably already felt outdated when it was released in the 80’s. Concerning the cast, even though the actors involved were really interesting (Gérard Depardieu, Philippe Noiret, Catherine Deneuve, Sophie Marceau), they were all rather weak. Indeed, Depardieu played Saganne as some kind of gentle empty giant but it was probably not the best approach as he never managed to make the guy really fascinating. Concerning Deneuve and Marceau, even though they were both really charismatic, they were actually also rather underwhelming but, at least, they had the excuse that their respective characters were really poorly developed. Eventually, the only one who managed to do something interesting with his character was Philippe Noiret. Indeed, he managed to find an interesting balance between displaying this veteran soldier as a competent experienced man but also as being arrogant, vain and probably missing the point about what was actually going in the Sahara back in those days. Anyway, to conclude, I think I was actually probably too generous with my rating here but I guess the damned thing might still be worth a look though. 

I had no idea what this movie was about but since it was directed by Todd Haynes and since it was available on Netflix, I was really eager to check it out. Well, to be honest, I thought it was rather surprising that Haynes would direct such a conventional drama at this point of his career. Not that there is anything really wrong with this flick, it’s just that if you are familiar with such court dramas dealing with class-action cases against some huge corporations, well, you won’t see anything new or really surprising. One notable exception would be the fact that Rob Bilott’s boss actually got his back and actually supported him in his seemingly doomed endeavour. Indeed, I was expecting him to tell him to back off so his reaction was refreshing but, to be honest, Tim Robbins didn’t do much else through the whole thing beside being rather patient and supportive with his employee. In a similar fashion, isn’t it sad that after 20 years in the business, Anne Hathaway is still stuck playing the helpless poor wife waiting at home that her workaholic husband would finally show up at some point? At least, you have to appreciate the fact that Haynes didn’t sugar-coat the damned thing whatsoever. Indeed, it was all pretty dark and gloomy, as it should be, and compared to this movie, ‘Erin Brockovich’ was pretty much a Disney family feature. Anyway, there is no denying that the whole thing was quite depressing. Basically, when companies get so big, they become pretty much untouchable and they basically can do whatever they want. As a result, even if they are sued, they can easily drag things for decades and, even if some people manage to stick around like Rob Bilott, the lives of the victims are pretty much ruined in the process, I’m afraid. Anyway, to conclude, even if it was nothing really original, it was still a decent watch and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.