Reviews by johanlefourbe

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. 

To be honest, I had no idea what this movie was about but it seemed to be pretty cool and, since it was available on Netflix, I thought I might as well check it out. Well, even if there were many things I really enjoyed in this flick, at the end of the day, it wasn’t a really strong story though. Indeed, the whole thing was basically some kind of black version of ‘Thelma & Louise’. Seriously, it followed the exact same pattern, even with the over-the-top tragic ending. Well, since I’m not really a huge fan of Ridley Scott’s classic, there was little chance that I would suddenly fall in love with this concept, especially since the makers didn’t bring anything really new, except the ethnicity and gender of the characters. As a result, you get a rather basic road-trip which is, in my opinion, one of the laziest genres. Of course, the characters keep making some quirky encounters and, of course, they bond with each other in the process. Some of the scenes still worked, like when they went dancing but too many other scenes, like when they went horse riding, were just too much. Still, there is no denying that Daniel Kaluuya and Jodie Turner-Smith made such a charismatic couple together. Seriously, where this girl came from? Eventually, if the material was rather derivative, they were always convincing and always fascinating to behold. There was also the obvious link with the ‘Black Lives Matter’ protests and the heart-breaking fact that, in the US, being pulled over by the police might be one of the most dangerous events occurring in the life of any black man or woman. All these ideas were interesting but to squeeze them into a generic road-trip was not the way to go. Anyway, to conclude, in spite of its flaws, it was still a decent watch though and I think it is worth a look. 

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, it has been a while since I have seen a movie which was so completely all over the place. Indeed, it was dealing with living on Mars, the first baby on Mars, growing up on Mars, discovering Earth for the first time around, kids growing up without parents, kids growing up in the foster care system, … Seriously, you could make a whole movie focusing only on each one of these ideas but it didn’t stop here, they also gave us a road-trip AND a teenager romance on top of that. So, there is no doubt that the damned thing was really scattered but some of these ideas were not bad. On top of that, Asa Butterfield was a perfect choice to play the main character and he made the most of this material. Concerning the rest of the cast (Gary Oldman, Carla Gugino, Britt Robertson), it’s rather hard to pick which one had the most thankless role. Coming back on the teenage romance, they made a cute couple, even if Robertson was actually 10 years older than her character, but it was quite a stretch that the only person he would be chatting with online would turn out to be the perfect girl of his dreams. If we could all be so lucky but I’m afraid that’s not how the internet actually works, even when you are living on Mars… Like I said before, there was so much going on in this movie, it is hardly surprising that almost nothing was properly developed. And I shouldn't forget the last minute twist about Gardner's father's identity which was also so lame. Anyway, to conclude, my rating was probably too generous here but I think the damned thing was still watchable if only because it was a decent reminder that we should cherish more our planet after all. 

To be honest, I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but since there was a pretty cool cast involved, I was quite eager to check it out. First of all, it was definitely one of the best titles I ever came across (in fact, it doesn’t mean anything and it has no link with the movie itself, it’s just a random sentence David Lowery wanted to use as a movie title) and I loved the poster as well so that was definitely a promising start. Well, I always had a weak spot for Rooney Mara and Casey Affleck, together they had a lot of chemistry and made a very charismatic couple. Concerning the rest of the movie, it was pretty obvious that Lowery had been inspired by Terrence Malick’s work which wasn’t necessarily a bad thing. Indeed, it was visually pretty neat and I really enjoyed the ephemeral poetic mood. However, it is also had most of the drawbacks from Malick’s peculiar approach to filmmaking. Above all, there was eventually very little attention given to the plot. Indeed, it was pretty much an excuse to separate these two characters in order to reach a seriously doomed love story. As a result, you don’t get any details on how the actual robbery went down or on how Bob Muldoon actually managed to escape from jail which was obviously intentional but what we got instead was never really fascinating, I’m afraid. Another issue was that, while this couple was always interesting to behold, even if they were in fact not together for most of the duration, I didn’t care much for any of the supporting characters. The fact that none of them was developed whatsoever probably didn’t help. Anyway, to conclude, even if not everything did work in this movie, there was still something quite spellbinding about this couple and I think the damned thing is worth a look, especially if you like the genre.