Reviews by johanlefourbe

To be honest, I wasn’t expecting much from this flick but since my wife really likes such Dutch romantic comedies, I thought we might as well check it out together. Well, even though I have to admit that I actually have a weak spot for romantic comedies, I actually dread the Dutch ones and this one was a perfect example why. In this case, the first thing that bothered me was how messy the damned thing was. Indeed, for some reasons, 1/3 was taking place in Curaçao and 2/3 were taking place in the Netherlands and the random jumps between the 2 locations were just jarring. The other issue was that they were just way too many characters involved. I mean, there were 5 couples involved, even one love triangle, which was obviously too much to handle in 90 mins. In fact, if they had focused only on the love triangle, the relationship between Jack and Cindy and the relationship between Lisa and Jim, and threw away pretty much everything else, it could have worked. However, since there were so many characters involved, none of them were developed enough. The only one who still managed to make his character fairly interesting was Thijs Römer which was quite an achievement considering the material he was provided. The most disappointing one was Yolanthe Cabau whose character was completely one-note and not entertaining whatsoever. Finally, the foul language didn’t really bother me (I mean, with such a title, what did you expect?) but some of the jokes were just downright inappropriate. For example, there was a very young boy who did swallow some Viagra by accident and ended up in a hospital and it was just bewildering that this cringe-inducing scene was actually supposed be funny. Anyway, to conclude, even if the damned thing was rather harmless, it was still really weak and I don’t think it is worth a look. 

To be honest, I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but since I have weak spot for Lily Collins, I thought I might as well check it out. Well, the damned thing was certainly not original and did remind me of many famous romantic comedies such as ‘Four Weddings and a Funeral’, ‘My Best Friend's Wedding’ and, above all, ‘When Harry Met Sally...’. The other major obstacle for this movie was the fact there was no actual meet-cute, in fact, right from the start, it was pretty obvious that the two characters were heads over heels for each other, apparently since kindergarten, so how they could they keep them apart until the end of the movie? Well, in contrary to ‘When Harry Met Sally...’ which handled this concept perfectly, it was however never really convincing here. For example, was Alex an orphan with no friends whatsoever? How come nobody told him to wake the f*ck up and just tell this girl what he feels? For Rosie, it wasn’t much better. Indeed, she did have a family but nobody mentioned that she should probably get with Alex. Furthermore, how weird was that the only friend she ever had was the girl working at the drugstore where she bought her pregnancy test? And, yet, even if it was rather poorly developed (or in fact not developed whatsoever), the concept really had some potential and if I think it could have been pretty good if they took a slightly more realistic and darker approach. Furthermore, Lily Collins and Sam Claflin were both so charismatic and they had tons of chemistry together. Anyway, to conclude, in spite of its flaws, I have to admit that it was still a decent watch, above all thanks to the charming leads, and I think it is worth a look but probably only if you really like the genre. 

I wasn’t sure what to expect from this flick but since it was starring Leighton Meester and since it was available on Netflix, I thought I might as well check it out. Well, my wife apparently thought it was not bad but, to be honest, as far as I was concerned, it has been a while since I have seen such a generic and limp thriller. Indeed, there was really nothing original about the damned thing and, even though it was rather short, it took forever to really take off. Seriously, during the first half, pretty much nothing really happened and then, during the second half, they kept throwing some really underwhelming twists. Furthermore, what was the point of having the action taking place in Croatia if you won’t do anything interesting with this place? I thought it was also fairly ridiculous how they acted as if flying from England to Croatia was like taking a bus (which was supposed to explain how a specific character was able to randomly pop up a couple of times). Concerning the cast, I think it was the first time I saw Leighton Meester playing the lead and she was not bad. Still, her commitment to deliver the most average woman possible did make her character rather tedious to behold. However, the rest of the cast was even more uncharismatic so I had a hard time to care about any of them. Was the damned thing doomed to fail from the very beginning? That’s actually a possibility and the only way it could have worked was if that they pretty much threw away half of the story and most of the cast and completely changed the approach towards this material. Anyway, to conclude, the damned thing was really weak and I don’t think it is really worth a look.    

I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but since it was directed by [Link removed - login to see][Link removed - login to see] and Emeric Pressburger, I was quite eager to check it out. Well, to be honest, I thought it was rather difficult to judge this movie. Indeed, it is not a really visual movie, instead, most of the story is told through the dialogues. Unfortunately, I did see it on the BBC without subtitles and I have to admit that I did struggle to follow everything they were talking about. Anyway, it was one of the last movies Powell and Pressburger made together and, back then, well, they were not at the top of their game anymore, I’m afraid. Still, it was actually well received when it was released and it was even a box-office hit at the time. I mean, from a technical point of view, it was well made and probably historically accurate (if you are into war ships, you will really dig this movie). I also did appreciate the fact that they didn’t add some annoying and unnecessary sub-plots. Still, all the characters involved were rather uncharismatic and I wonder if they couldn’t have found a way to better developed them. Eventually, even if it was probably the most famous naval battle that took place during WWII, I’m not so sure if it was such a fascinating story after all but maybe I would appreciate it more if I see it again with some subtitles this time around. Anyway, to conclude, in spite of it flaws, it was still a decent watch and it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre or if you are interested in Powell and Pressburger’s work. 

To be honest, I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but since I have a weak spot for Sandra Bullock and since it was on Netflix, I thought I might as well check it out. Well, it was a decent attempt from Bullock to show up in a dark(er) drama and she did give a solid performance. The story also had some potential and the only thing that really prevented the damned thing from being actually really good was some rather sloppy writing. For example, at some point, the main character went to her childhood house and, somehow, the new resident was actually a fancy lawyer who would help her out which did seem to be really too convenient. The fact that he was married with a black woman wasn't really relevant with the rest of the story and it seemed to be simply an excuse so they could add the great Viola Davis to the cast. I also didn’t care much about the sub-plots involving these 2 vengeful brothers. Obviously, they were added to the mix to add a thriller vibe and above all a climatic cathartic ending but I don’t think it was necessary at all. Furthermore, why did they suddenly switch brothers to proceed with this vendetta? What was the added value? Finally, it was pretty obvious that Ruth probably killed this cop by accident but they kept this information for as long as possible and it turned out that she didn’t kill him after all but it wasn’t a strong choice, narratively speaking. Indeed, it turned the main character into a complete victim but what if she did actually kill this cop? After 20 years spent in prison, wouldn’t she still deserve a 2nd chance and wouldn’t she deserve to be reunited with her little sister? In my opinion, this approach would have been even more interesting. Anyway, to conclude, in spite of its flaws, it was still a decent drama though and I think it is worth a look, especially if you are interested in Sandra Bullock’s work. 

To be honest, I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but since there was a decent cast involved, I thought I might as well check it out. Well, if it wouldn’t have been for Alec Baldwin, I'm afraid the damned thing would have been borderline unwatchable. Indeed, right from the start, the first 15 mins were just so clunky, it was just rather painful to watch. Sure, I get it, they had to find a way to make these 2 characters meet each other and the community service gimmick was actually not such a bad idea. However, it was probably the most smug, pathetic and generic rich couple I have seen. It also made Demi Moore’s character look so completely stupid. I mean, within 2 mins, it was pretty obvious that McDermott’s character was not only a criminal but, above all, a major douchebag so it was rather bewildering that she would still cling to her marriage. That was also another issue with this movie, the fact that Demi Moore never managed to make her character really interesting or charismatic enough. Seriously, why would Bill Oakland fall for her? What did she have to offer that was so irresistible? At least, Alec Baldwin’s character was not only handsome but he was witty and really smart so it wasn’t surprising that many women would fall for his charms. Eventually, I think Baldwin did deliver a solid performance as he was believable enough as a blind and fairly depressed man. However, he played the only character who was slightly interesting, all the other ones were just barely developed and rather tedious to behold. Anyway, to conclude, I think I was actually rather generous with my rating here, the damned thing was really weak and I don’t think it is really worth a look. 

When I first heard of this movie, I thought the concept did sound really cool and, even if it turned out to be a flop at the box-office, I still wanted to check it out. Indeed, I loved the idea of Jake La Motta facing Rocky Balboa, even if they were both around 70 years old each. And, to my surprise, even though the critics completely dismissed this movie when it was released, I thought it actually was not so bad at all after all. Sure, the story was fairly generic and completely predictable but, in my opinion, these 2 boxers, their rivalry, how they ended up in this spot, all these elements were all fairly well developed and actually really entertaining. Even the minor characters such as the one played by Kim Basinger, Jon Bernthal, Alan Arkin and Kevin Hart worked fine. The only exception would be Frankie Brite played by [Link removed - login to see][Link removed - login to see] who had so very little impact on the story that he could and probably should have been removed. Eventually, the only thing that didn’t really work was the tone. Indeed, they went for some comedy and they even leaned towards parody which was a rather misguided choice. Eventually, it is hardly surprising since it was directed by Peter Segal, a guy with a not really impressive track-record (for example, he was behind 3 Adam Sandler features among other things). In fact, with such a director onboard, it could have been so much worse. Still, even without going for a dark gritty drama, with such intriguing characters, if they would have gone with a slightly more serious approach, it could have been actually pretty good. Anyway, to conclude, in spite of its flaws, it turned out to be actually a decent watch and I think it is actually worth a look, especially if you are eager to see a confrontation between Jake La Motta and Rocky Balboa.

I wasn’t expecting much from this flick but since it was starring Bruce Willis, I thought I might as well check it out. Well, for once, Willis didn’t show up for an awful cheap-ass action flick, this time, he got involved with an awful Chinese propaganda war film but, to be honest, the end-result wasn’t much better, I’m afraid. It’s too bad because the story of what happened in Chongqing during WWII was actually interesting but the whole approach was actually so misguided. Indeed, they gave us so many characters, all seriously underwhelming, and they were all involved in some random tedious sub-plots. At least, Bruce Willis did show up for more scenes than he usually do in his direct-to-VOD work (indeed, even if he is always displayed prominently on all the promotional material, he usually shows up for only a couple of scenes) but his performance was still pretty pathetic though. On the other hand, you might wonder why they did put Adrien Brody on the poster since he had only a couple of scenes. Maybe it had to with the fact that the original cut ran over 5 hours so many storylines were probably drastically shortened in the process (Bingbing Fan for example did end up with only with 9 seconds of screentime with a completely random scene at the beginning of this film). Anyway, the whole thing was pretty much an unwatchable mess. Indeed, it featured some of the least convincing and ugly CGI I have seen in a very long time (I have to admit that the numerous explosions were actually well done and quite horrifying to behold but that was pretty much the only thing working with this movie). Even the editing was borderline amateurish with no proper transition between many scenes. Anyway, to conclude, it was a poorly made and, above all, really boring Chinese propaganda feature and you should probably avoid it.