Gideon58's Reviews

The on-target performances and surprising chemistry of the stars makes up for the "been there done that" aspect of the story in 2010's Due Date, a well-worn comic premise that earns its credentials through a pair of sharp starring performances.

Todd Phillips, the man behind The Hangover, directed this broad episodic comedy that stars Robert Downey Jr. as Peter, a tightly-wound architect trying to get home in time for the birth of his child, who gets thrown off a plane, thanks to a neurotic, pot-smoking nutcase (Zach Galifianakis) and then ends up on a cross-country road trip with the guy in order to get home.

This film borrows from a lot of movies in the past, Planes, Trains, and Automobiles, in particular, but what sets this film apart is the performances from the stars. Robert Downey Jr. delivers a perfectly executed comic straight man as Peter, the regular guy caught up in extraordinary circumstances and Galifianakis is his usually nutty self, offering a character who provides big laughs, even if there are nervous ones at times. Galifianakis has patented that unique comic character who has you rolling on the floor and wanting to beat the crap out of him at the same time.

What is so fun about the actors' work together is that even though his character is technically the straight man, Robert Downey Jr. garners just as many laughs as Galifianakis thanks to some uncanny comic timing and the ability to keep everything his character does routed in reality. As funny as Galifianakis is, it is Downey Jr. who makes this movie so funny. There is also a funny cameo from Jamie Foxx as an old friend of Downey Jr's who he suspects had an affair with his wife (Michelle Monaghan).

As in The Hangover, there are some over-the-top adventures including a Mexican jail break that has to be seen to be believed, but it is the masterful comic timing of Robert Downey Jr. that make this movie the pleasure it was to watch. BTW, the director does make a cameo appearance in the film as a tenant of the drug dealer played by Juliette Lewis. 7.5/10

An exuberant lead performance from Debbie Reynolds is the primary selling point of The Unsinkable Molly Brown, the 1964 film version of Meredith Wilson's 1960 Broadway musical that won a Tony for its star, Tammy Grimes.

This musical is the fact-based story of one Molly Tobin (Reynolds), a backwoods tomboy from Leadville, Colorado who longs to be rich and the cream of Denver society one day. Molly meets a coal miner named Leadville Johnny Brown (Harve Presnell), who Molly won't give the time of day because he's poor, so he goes out and makes a fortune, they marry and move to Denver, where Molly learns that money does not guarantee social acceptance.

This elaborate and well-mounted musical has at its heart an extremely likable lead character who always has you on her side, though I think the Molly Brown portrayed by Kathy Bates in Titanic was probably closer in real personality to the real life Molly than Reynolds' Molly is, but this is a musical, so I'm OK with that. Reynolds gives the strongest performance of her career here that earned the actress her only Oscar nomination. Harve Presnell is impressive repeating his Broadway role as Johnny Brown and works extremely well with Reynolds.

Unfortunately, Meredith Wilson's original score has been butchered, but we still have "I Ain't Down Yet", "Belly Up to the Bar Boys", "Colorado My Home", and a song written especially for the movie called "He's My Friend."


Ed Begley, Jack Kruschen, and Hermione Baddeley score in supporting roles, with a special nod to Audrey Christie as Mrs. McGraw, the bitchy Denver matron who leads the boycotting of the Browns into Denver society.

The film is a little long, but it is an entertaining film that sustains interest pretty well to the end. BTW, after you see this movie and you see the mansion in Denver that Molly and Johnny build for themselves, take a little field trip to Denver and get a gander at the real Molly Brown house, which is an actual landmark in Denver...talk about dramatic license at its zenith. 6/10

Robert Altman's atmospheric direction, a simple story, and a couple of 100-megawatt starring performances make 1971's McCabe and Mrs. Miller worth a look.

Warren Beatty lights up the screen as John McCabe, a professional gambler with a dangerous reputation, who arrives in a small western town called Presbyterian Church in order to start a whorehouse, with little more than three girls and three tents for handling their business. McCabe knows there is money in prostitution but knows little else about the business and how to operate it properly.

Enter Mrs. Miller (Julie Christie), a streetwise and experienced madam from Seattle who arrives in Presbyterian Church, with her own girls in tow, and forms an unlikely partnership with McCabe when she is able to show McCabe there is more to prostitution than girls and tents. The partnership is threatened when representatives from a large corporation arrive in town and want to buy McCabe out.

Based on the novel "McCabe" by Edmund Naughton, this is the anti-western, for those of us who aren't really into westerns and easily Robert Altman's most economic work, clocking in under an hour and a half, but still providing a compelling story with larger-than-life characters, a little more structured than what we Altman fans have come to expect from him, but that structure and a story that even pushes buttons regarding small business vs corporate America in a way that is appealing. The pervading theme of business is business is never abandoned as even when the title characters do eventually share a bed, we cheer as McCabe pays for Mrs. Miller's services before anything happens.

Beatty and Christie's chemistry is off the chart and Christie received an Oscar nomination for Lead Actress. Several Altman rep company players can be glimpsed in small roles like Michael Murphy, Shelley Duvall, and Keith Carradine. There is some striking cinematography and some lovely music as well. Even for Altman fans, this is something off the beaten path, but well worth the investment. 8/10

American Gangster is a rambling and expensive fact-based epic which finds Denzel Washington and director Ridley Scott going the De Niro/Scorsese route without nearly the success achieved by the latter.

This 2007 film is the story of Frank Lucas, a drug kingpin who decides that in order to get the premium product (in this case, heroine), that he must travel to the far east himself to procure what he needs with the help of a personal connection there (Roger Guenveur Smith). As the personal touch begins to payoff in his profits, Frank moves his family in to assist in the business while a police detective named Richie Roberts (Russell Crowe), works to get the product off the streets and find out who's behind it.

The film seems to purport a cat and mouse game between Lucas and Roberts, but the problematic screenplay takes forever to get there. Nicholas Pileggi, who wrote the screenplays for Goodfellas and Casino served as one of this film's producers but he might have served this film better working on the screenplay which has plot holes you can drive a truck through, unnecessary subplots, and a conclusion that left a bad taste in my mouth.

I'm not even sure where to begin here...I had a hard time believing that Frank's family, including his God-fearing mother (beautifully played by Ruby Dee in an Oscar-nominated performance) had no idea where Frank's millions came from and had no idea what his business involved...the shock on his brothers' faces when Frank takes out an enemy on the street in broad daylight was a little hard to take. I also found myself groaning when in the middle of his investigation of Lucas, we see Roberts receive notification that he has passed his bar exam, at which time we know not only will Roberts be arresting Lucas but will be prosecuting him as well. The screenplay attempts to show the effects of Roberts' job on his personal life by showcasing his divorce and custody battle for his child. I guess it's supposed to evoke sympathy for Roberts, but he's already the good guy and the whole subplot just seemed superfluous, though Carla Gugino is effective as his wife, but it just seems to slow the film down. There are also large parts of Roberts' investigation that seem to get glossed over...one minute he's performing surveillance on street drug runners and the next he's confronting Lucas at church telling him he's going down. How Richie gets from the street to Lucas isn't made clear.

I also was troubled by what happens between Lucas and Richie at the end of the film. I was troubled by the fact that Lucas was allegedly sentenced to 70 years and only served 15 because he turned in 150 cops he had in his pocket. Then to add insult to injury, we learn that when Lucas finally goes to trial, Roberts defends him? Seriously? I'm sorry, but any credibility the film had went out at the window at this point and the way that Frank and Richie appeared to be almost friendly by the end of the film was just disturbing to me.

Washington commands the screen as Frank Lucas, but I never really bought an overweight Russell Crowe as Richie Roberts. Chiwetel Eijeifor also registers as one of Frank's brothers, as does Josh Brolin as one of the cops in Frank's pocket, but the faults definitely outweigh the virtues on this one. For hardcore Washington fans only who think their boy can do no wrong. 5.5./10

Woody Allen won his 3rd Best Original Screenplay Oscar for Midnight in Paris, a sparkling and intelligent 2011 romantic fantasy set in the city of lights, a city that Woody loves almost as much as Manhattan and that he would set this clever romantic fantasy in Paris is a true testament to Woody's love of the city.



The film stars Owen Wilson as Gil, a Hollywood screenwriter working on his first novel, who takes a trip to Paris with his fiancee, Inez (Rachel McAdams) and his future in-laws. One night while Inez goes out dancing with friends, Gil goes for a walk and is picked up by a car of party goers and finds that he has been transported to his favorite place and time...Paris in the 1920's where he meets Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway, Cole Porter, Paul Gaugin, Gertrude Stein, Pablo Picasso, and Salvadore Dali among others. The next day, Gil tries to take Inez, but he finds out he took her too early as the cab to the past only comes at midnight.



Woody doesn't venture into fantasy too much, but it usually works when he does, like The Purple Rose of Cairo and he really knocks it out of the park here, putting very human faces on historical figures and making them believable characters steeped in realism. I especially love Woody's take on Hemingway, who is painted here as a raging alcoholic who is extremely insecure about his own work and has no interest in the work of other writers. I love when Gil asks Hemingway to read his novel and he says no but he will have his good friend Gertrude Stein look at it. Kathy Bates is marvelous, as always, as Stein. One of my favorite moments revolves around Gil seeing one of Picasso's works right after he finishes it and then hearing his smart-ass best friend (Michael Sheen) talk about the piece in a museum the next day.



Wilson is charming as Gil and has a surprisingly strong chemistry with Marion Cotillard as Adriana, a woman who had affairs with both Picasso and Hemingway and is now falling for Gil. There's a beautifully surreal moment in the film when Gil buys a book that was apparently written by Adriana back in the 20's and finds his name mentioned. Corey Stroll is brilliant as Hemingway and Adrian Brody is fun as Salvadore Dali. Mention should also be made of Kurt Fuller and Mimi Kennedy as Inez' parents.

A delicious romantic fantasy that hits all the right notes and a must for Allen purists with some stunning Paris location photography that helps to make the whole package irresistible. 8.5/10

For me, a successful sequel should begin exactly where the first film left off and remind you of everything that happened in the first film during the first five minutes. The story for the sequel should have a direct connection to the first film without rehashing it and the antagonist has to be infinitely more interesting than the antagonist in the first and most important of all, it should be BETTER than the first film, otherwise, producing it is pointless. Director Christopher Nolan has accomplished all of this with The Dark Knight Rises, his gripping and explosive 2012 sequel to The Dark Knight, whose eye-popping production values are as effective as its riveting story and characters, including the most terrifying movie villain I have witnessed in decades.

The story begins with Gotham City still mourning the death of Harvey Dent and the citizens' unjustified belief that Batman is responsible. It is revealed that Dent's death has affected the Caped Crusader as well, having hung up his uniform for a long time and Bruce Wayne being reduced to a crippled recluse who is in the process of losing his empire and his home.

What appears to be a simple encounter with the Catwoman (Anne Hathaway) and a kidnapped Commissioner Gordon (Gary Oldman) over a necklace balloons into an encounter with Bane (Tom Hardy), a bone-chilling villain with a body like Hulk Hogan and a voice like Sean Connery who is able to destroy a football stadium, bury the entire Gotham City police force underground and releases the entire Gotham City prison population in order to dispense their own brand of justice.

Nolan has created the best comic book movie ever here, a non-stop roller coaster ride that doesn't allow the viewer a minute to breathe. Christopher and Jonathan Nolan's complex screenplay is well-served by the production team and cast. Christian Bale brings a wonderful vulnerability to his Batman/Bruce Wayne characterization that keeps this superhero refreshingly human and Tom Hardy is just dazzling as Bane, the most appealing yet terrifying villain I have ever seen. Oldman brings his accustomed quite power to Gordon as do Morgan Freeman as Fox and the wonderful Michael Caine as Alfred. Marian Cotillard is an attractive and intelligent leading lady as a Wayne Enterprises board member with a secret or two. If I had one complaint, I just couldn't get on board with Hathaway as Catwoman, she just comes off as a little girl playing dress up with the grown-ups and not quite fitting in, but a minor misstep.

If anyone wants to write a book or a blog on how to create a successful sequel, this film should be the number one reference point. Quite simply, a triumph. 9.5/10

Race relations is hardly a fresh topic for the movies, but a previously untapped phenomena which was manifested from racial tension is disturbingly, thoughtfully, and entertainingly addressed in a 2011 comedy-drama called The Help.

Set in Mississippi during the 1960's, this film is an up close and personal look at the black maid...the black woman who got up every morning, left her own family to go to a white woman's home and cook her meals, clean her house, and, most importantly, raise her children. Emma Stone plays Skeeter Phelan, one of those children and an aspiring writer whose fascination with said phenomena motivates her to write a book about the experience of being a black maid, by interviewing actual maids anonymously and compiling their stories into a book Skeeter has already pitched to a publisher (Mary Steenburgen).

This story focuses primarily on two maids: Aibileen (Viola Davis) is a strong and serious minded woman who adores the little girl she takes care of, despite the fact that Aibileen feels her mother (Ahna O'Reilly) really has no business having children, even though she is pregnant with her second. Minny (Octavia Spencer) is a mother trapped in a physically abusive marriage who is fired by a bitchy socialite named Hilly Holbrook (Dallas Bryce Howard) because she thinks Minny used the inside bathroom instead of the outside one for coloreds but then finds herself hired by a big-hearted newlywed named Celia (Jessica Chastain) who has been ostracized by the ladies of the town due to an assumed reputation.

Director and screenwriter Tate Taylor really hits a bullseye here as he constructs a balanced story that looks at the issue at hand from all angles. On one hand, we have the Hilly Holbrooks of the world treating the Minnys like dirt for no other reason that because of the color of their skin. On the other hand, we have Celia, who seems blind to the whole bigotry thing. All she wants from Minny is a perfect house and perfect meals in order to please her husband without him knowing that Minny is doing all the work, but there is a twist here where Celia knows she would be lost without Minny and it's almost hard to tell who is the employer and who is the maid.

Yes, the screenplay, based on a novel by Kathryn Stockett, is a little preachy and a little long-winded, but this quietly powerful indictment on the treatment of maids works because it not only shines the expected unflattering light on white folks in the 60's but shines a sad light on the way most of these women just quietly accepted their destinies as maids and how thinking about any other kind of life was just unheard of. There is a very sad moment when one of the maids Skeeter interviews reveals that after her first employer died, she left the maid to her daughter in her will, like she was a piece of property. The saddest part of this reveal was that the woman didn't seem terribly surprised to learn that she was considered a possession.

And just when you think you couldn't be more moved by the plight of these women, the book actually gets published and, not surprisingly, most of the female employers recognize themselves and some of the repercussions from this are a lot of fun to watch.

Tate has assembled a first-rate cast who deliver the goods...Viola Davis is vividly unaffected as Aibileen, a performance that earned her a Lead Actress nomination. Octavia Spencer won the Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her fiery performance as Minny and Jessica Chastain was also nominated for her warm and vulnerable Celia and I would have been fine with Chastain winning over Spencer, she is just as good. Mention should also be made of Bryce Dallas Howard, who is a revelation as the nasty Hilly and Allison Janney as Skeeter's mother. Mention should also be made of a pair of classy bits contributed by Sissy Spacek and Cicely Tyson.

Gorgeous cinematography, effective 1960's settings and costumes (though I wonder about Stone's hair being appropriately period), and some lovely music are the frosting on this strikingly original piece of cinematic cake. 8.5/10

Paul Thomas Anderson's evocative and in-your-face direction and multi-layered story, along with some charismatic performances by a dazzling all-star cast add up to make Boogie Nights, an engrossing and entertaining drama that was one of the biggest box-office hits of 1997.

Commencing in the year 1977, the film initially presents us the story of a 17-year old busboy at a California nightclub named Eddie (Mark Wahlberg) who is approached by an adult filmmaker named Jack Horner (Burt Reynolds) to join his stable of performers. Due to Jack's coaching and Eddie's obvious physical "asset", Eddie becomes the toast of the porn industry under a new name, Dirk Diggler, but this story is really only the springboard of a broader story that casts a specific but jaundiced eye on the hedonistic, "me-gimme-mine" period known as the 1980's...a time when sex was safe and drugs were cool, and we were all going to be young forever.

The story focuses on particular members of Jack's stable including Amber Waves (Julianne Moore), an aging porn queen, Jack's mistress, and the symbolic mother of all the young studs who work for Horner, who is so accustomed to her lot in life it's hard to tell whether or not she is actually happy, though her attraction to Dirk seems to be real...or is it? Reed Rothchild (John C. Reilly) is Jack's main stud who is immediately intimidated by Dirk who he feels is trying to take his place and he deals with it by kissing Dirk's ass without letting Dirk on to what he's doing. Rollergirl (Heather Graham) is a porn actress and prostitute who wants something more out of life but doesn't know how to get it. Buck (Don Cheadle) is an actor whose career is going nowhere due to his obsession with country and western music and wardrobe. William H. Macy plays Little Bill, Jack's assistant director, whose porno star wife has no qualms about public and private sex with other men directly in front of her husband and then there's Scotty (Phillip Seymour Hoffman), a grip on Jack's crew who has fallen madly in love with Dirk.

After seeing Jack and his people climb to the top of the porn industry, we then see what happens with changing times and changing desires from the public in entertainment. We watch as porn goes deeply into the closet and Dirk is no longer the flavor of the month and is clueless what to do with his life. We watch as Jack learns that film is out and that videotape is the wave of the future and that his survival in the business depends on climbing aboard that bandwagon. We watch as Buck attempts to start his own legitimate business but finds his porno past throwing up roadblocks and we watch Amber and Rollergirl stuck in the limbo of a dying industry from which the only escape seems to be cocaine.

Anderson presents a balanced story on an intimate canvas that effectively showcases how changing times affect our lifestyles in positive and negative ways. Wahlberg is fresh and sincere as Dirk and Burt Reynolds' charismatic turn as Jack Horner earned him his first Oscar nomination. Moore also received a richly deserved supporting actress nomination and IMO she should have won. The film also features a musical soundtrack of some of the best music of the 1980's. A unique cinematic journey for the discriminating adult filmgoer. 8.5/10

Boogie Nights is one of my very favourite films, same with McCabe & Mrs. Miller, so I am glad you liked those two. Also a fan of American Psycho and Midnight in Paris

Agree that Julianne Moore should have been rewarded for her performance, one of the greatest I have seen as a truly flawed character who tries so hard to be a normal mother but is consumed by a lifestyle she can't get away from.

A little Pauly Shore goes a long way, but I have to admit that the 1993 comedy Son-in-Law is a guilty pleasure of mine.

The film stars Carla Gugino as a girl who grew up on a farm who, during her first semester of college, asks the campus party animal (guess who?) to pose as her fiancee and come home with her for Thanksgiving in order to end her relationship with a local boy, but the guy immediately rubs her dad the wrong way while he quietly starts falling for her in the process.

Though a little on the predictable side, the film does have a few things going for it, including an effervescent performance from Gugino as the farm girl who comes out of her shell thanks to Shore, developing a new independent spirit that her parents (Lane Smith, Cindy Pickett) aren't crazy about. There's also a solid performance from Smith as the dad who has decided that if this guy is going to be his son-in-law, he has to learn how to run a farm, which leads to the expected slapstick situations revolved around slopping pigs and driving a tractor.

Again, your enjoyment of this film is definitely dependent on your tolerance of Shore, but I found his annoyance factor on the lower side of the scale here and loved Gugino and Smith. 6/10

Denzel Washington's 100 mega-watt movie star performance playing a truly despicable character is the centerpiece of 2001's Training Day, an intense combination of police drama and character study that, despite the unflattering light it sheds on the police and some intensely squirm-worthy situations, will rivet you to the screen.

The film takes place on the first day of work on a new job for a narcotics officer named Jake Hoyt, played by Ethan Hawke, who is excited to begin training with a veteran officer named Alonzo Harris (Washington) who puts Hoyt in one compromising position after another from the moment they begin working together, including forcing the guy to smoke pot on the job, leaving him alone in the home of some dangerous drug dealers, and setting him up as the fall guy for a murder that Alonzo commits in order to get his hands on a large stash of cash.

Dirty cops are nothing new to the movies, but Harris really redefines the term to the point of stretching credibility. Harris' manipulation of Hoyt seems almost like second nature to Harris, like it's something he's done a million times before and it is hard to believe that a cop THIS dirty has gone completely unpunished for as long as Harris has. He also has a small entourage of officers who are completely loyal to him and it makes you wonder what he might have done to them or what kind of dirt he has on them to keep them in his pocket. It's also unsettling when it is revealed that Harris not only has police in his pockets, but entire neighborhoods, one of which houses his girlfriend (Eve Mendes) and his infant son,. who he has no qualms about putting in danger to save his own neck.

Washington completely invests in this complicated and unlikable character and was rewarded with his second Oscar for his efforts. Hawke was nominated for Best Supporting Actor, even though his role is really a lead. Scott Glenn, Tom Berenger, Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, and Nick Chinlund also score in supporting roles. Antoine Fuqua's intense direction is also a big plus. There's a whole lot of unpleasant stuff that goes on here and I still find it hard to believe at times that the entire movie takes place in one day. 7.5/10

After my recent re-visit of Boogie Nights, I was motivated to check out a film with some similar themes, but not nearly as good. 54 is a glossy but substance-challenged look at the world's most famous nightclub, Studio 54 in Manhattan, where the regular folk mingled with the rich and famous and featured the best party favors in the world...endless champagne, cocaine for the asking, and sexual fantasies fulfilled from the balcony to the basement...all orchestrated by a mad genius named Steve Rubell.

Written and directed by Mark Christopher, this film looks at the club through the eyes of a 19-year old gas station attendant named Shane O'Shea (Ryan Phillippe), who catches Rubell's eye outside the club one night and we watch as Shane's body moves him from party guest to busboy to the ultimate job at Studio 54, bartender, a job where, at the time, the world was your oyster and you could get anything you wanted. The film follows Shane's bumpy journey for his piece of the 54 pie.

But the far more interesting story presented here is the story of Steve Rubell (Mike Meyers), a smart and manipulative businessman who seemed to base his hiring practices on his physical attraction to his potential employees, as all busboys and bartenders worked shirtless, and whose manipulation of his famous "list" and his completely unpredictable nightly selection process of guests for the evening made this list the list that everyone wanted to get on and made Studio 54 the place where everyone wanted to be and where everyone wanted to spend their money, which would lead to Rubell's eventual downfall via the IRS.

Christopher's cliche-ridden screenplay asks us to accept a lot, like the fact that Shane seems oblivious to the fact that Rubell only hired him because he looks good without a shirt or that Shane's best friend/co-worker Greg (Breckin Meyer) doesn't see what's going on between his wife (Salma Hayek), a disco queen wannabe and Shane or why he continues working at 54 when he knows the only way to promotion is sex with the boss. These three characters unfortunately provide the bulk of the film and none them appear to have a brain in their head.

What this film does have is a quietly brilliant performance by Mike Meyers as Steve Rubell, a richly complex and fascinating character who makes this film worth sitting through. Writer/director Christopher would have done better to focus more of this film on the club and on Rubell because those parts of the film work. When the story leaves the club and Rubell, the film becomes very hard to take. No argument that Ryan Phillippe does look great in various states of undress, but there's something about the performance that doesn't ring true. Breckin Meyer fares a little better but not much and Salma Hayek is just annoying (though she looks amazing). Neve Campbell is also wasted a soap star with whom Shane is obsessed.

This film was probably a really good idea on paper, but something was definitely lost in the execution. The film does have an expensive gloss and some great 80's disco music but that doesn't mask the fact that the film is really so much to do about nothing. 5/10

Even though he showed promise as an actor of substance in his first major role in A Time to Kill, a phrase I never imagined passing my lips was "Academy Award winner Matthew McConaughey", but the phrase has become a reality thanks to the actor's powerhouse performance in a disturbing yet riveting drama called Dallas Buyers Club.

This is a fact-based story revolving around an alcoholic, cocaine-sniffing, womanizing, homophobic electrician named Ron Woodroof (McConaughey) who is floored when he learns he has contracted AIDS and has been informed he has 30 days to live. Refusing to accept this diagnosis, Woodroof travels to Mexico and finds a drug that helps to sustain his life and then decides to purchase as much of the drug as he can and return to his hometown of Dallas and start a business selling the drug to other AIDS victims, through the ruse of a club membership where the monthly dues pay for all the medication needed.

Directed Jean-Marc Vallee presents us with an ugly and mean-spirited story that was not an easy watch, not just because of the sensitive subject matter, but also because the central character is totally unlikable and evokes no sympathy. I found nothing to root for in the character of Ron Woodroof, with the possible exception of the relationship that develops between him and a transvestite named Rayon (Jared Leto), another AIDS victim who becomes Woodroof's unlikely partner in this morally questionable business venture.

Matthew McConaughey delivers the performance of a lifetime that won him a richly deserved Oscar. The physical transformation that McConaughey underwent to make this character believable is astounding, the actor is practically unrecognizable and doesn't even begin to resemble the actor that PEOPLE magazine once voted the Sexiest Man Alive. The actor sheds any pretense of glamour or ego to provide a fascinating yet repugnant central character who I could never quite like, and I'm not sure as to whether or not that was the intention.



Jared Leto, who now tops my list as cinema's greatest chameleon, won a Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his effervescent yet heartbreaking Rayon, a character who evokes immediate sympathy and confusion as you wonder how he puts up with Woodroof. Leto gives a performance as a transgendered individual that is right up there with Felicity Huffman in Transamerica and Jaye Davidson in The Crying Game, an absolutely fascinating performance where you almost forget you're watching an actor playing a character.

Mention should also be made of Jennifer Garner and Denis O'Hare as doctors whose loyalties become divided due to their encounters with Woodroof, Michael O'Neill as a customs agent, and Steve Zahn as a cop and friend of Woodroof's.

The film also boasts an uncompromising screenplay by Craig Borten and Melisa Wallack and outstanding film editing by the director and Martin Pensa, but it is the Oscar winning work from McConaughey and Leto that make this film appointment movie-viewing. 9/10

Some effective bi-coastal scenery, a riveting story steeped in realism, some offbeat casting choices, and an extremely flawed but nevertheless fascinating central character are the primary ingredients of a very black comedy from the word processor and directorial eye of Woody Allen called Blue Jasmine.

This 2013 film stars Cate Blanchett as Jasmine French, the former pampered, trophy wife of a crooked New York businessman (Alec Baldwin) who cheated on her with numerous women and ended up committing suicide in jail, who finds herself starting over by moving to San Francisco and moving in with her unsophisticated sister, Ginger (Sally Hawkins) and her two sons until she can get on her feet again. She has decided to study interior decorating online but has to take a computer class in order to do it, but to pay the bills, she hesitantly accepts a job as a dental receptionist. This is just the beginning of another loopy and unconventional story from the mind of Woody Allen that takes all of the unaccustomed twists and turns we expect from Woody.

I found this film almost instantly wreaking havoc with my emotions primarily because the character of Jasmine is just not that likable. She is spoiled and self-absorbed and thinks she's better than everyone else and is an ingrate to the people who are now trying to help her, especially Ginger. She becomes less appealing as the story reveals that she was aware of her husband's shady business dealings and turned a blind eye to them, even when the money of people she cared about was involved, including Ginger. There's a point in the story where Jasmine meets the possible man of her dreams (Peter Sarsgaard), but we know the relationship is doomed because everything Jasmine tells the man about herself is a lie and in a wonderful karmic justice, her lies do catch up to her.

Despite my issues with Jasmine, I still found her fascinating to watch due to a crisp and charismatic performance from Blacnhett which won her a second Academy Award. Blanchett works very hard at making an unlikable character at least watchable and she succeeds for the most part. Alec Baldwin, who has gotten playing slimy characters down to a science, proves why he is so good at it here, a character who only appears in flashbacks and Sally Hawkins creates a vivid and heartbreaking character in Ginger, a better sister than Jasmine deserves. Kudos to Allen for digging up Andrew Dice Clay to play Ginger's first husband, who has always seen Jasmine for exactly who she is. Bobby Cannavale also scores as Ginger's second boyfriend as does Alden Ehrenreich as Jasmine's stepson. Sarsgaard is all kinds of sexy as the man who almost falls for Jasmine's lies.

As always, Woody has backed his story with some wonderful music and despite a somewhat ambiguous ending that didn't leave our heroine smelling like a rose, it did not deter from my enjoyment of the film because, frankly, our heroine did not deserve to come out smelling like a rose. 7.5/10

The 2010 comedy Grown Ups took me back to a time when Frank Sinatra and his rat pack would make glossy but pointless movies like Ocean's Eleven and Robin and the Seven Hoods because they were bored and because they had the juice to get a movie made without studio backing.

Here, the Rat Pack is replaced by the Adam Sandler rep company, under the breezy directorial eye of Dennis Dugan. The story, such as it is, follows five guys who were on the same basketball team when they were 12 years old who have reunited for the funeral of their coach (Brian Doyle Murray).

Sandler plays Lenny, a Hollywood agent married to a fashion designer (Salma Hayek) with two pampered sons who are all about video games. Kevin James plays Larry, an unemployed family man married who is torn by the fact that his wife (Maria Bello) is still breast-feeding his 4 year old son. Chris Rock is a stay-at-home husband who is emasculated by his working pregnant wife (Maya Rudolph) and a nasty mother-in-law (Ebony Jo-Ann). David Spade is an obnoxious bachelor obsessed with sex and Rob Schneider is a message therapist/health nut married to a much older woman (Joyce Van Patten).

The episodic comedy goes to a lot of expected and unexpected places like Lenny tricking his wife into staying for the event instead of going to fashion week in Milan or Spade lusting after Schneider's two nubile grown daughters, but sporadic laughs can be found, even if the whole thing goes on a little too long.

Sandler and Fred Wolf also wrote the screenplay, which definitely could have used some tightening and the film has about two too many endings, but the ensemble cast works really well together and really seem to be enjoying themselves. And I can't believe I'm saying this, but I have never enjoyed Rob Schneider onscreen more than I did in this film. Joyce Van Patten makes the most her of screentime as well. Mention should also be made of Colin Quinn and Steve Buscemi as childhood enemies of the guys who demand a rematch on the basketball court. No classic, but Dugan, Sandler, and company manage to mine more than their share of laughs from the paper-thin story. 5.5/10

Reese Witherspoon's ability to carry a film on her personal charisma is put to the ultimate test in a 2002 comedy called Sweet Home Alabama.

Witherspoon's Melanie is a sophisticated New Yorker with an exciting career who has just become engaged to the son (Patrick Dempsey) of the mayor of New York (Candice Bergen) who learns that she is still married to her first husband, Jake (Josh Lucas) and has to travel to her hometown down south in order to get his signature on divorce papers.


C.J. Cox's screenplay is a little confusing as it doesn't seem to know whether or not we should be sympathetic to our heroine's plight. On one side, we see Melanie's ex Jake do everything to put Melanie off by refusing to sign the papers initially. On the other hand, we see Melanie returning home to a life and family and friends that she seems to be ashamed of, placing her in a very unflattering light. Family is family and geography and a job change don't change that and Melanie's attitude regarding same puts the character under a very unflattering light and suddenly I didn't find myself feeling bad for her when Jake refused to just give her what she wanted and let her go.

Despite Melanie's leanings toward selfishness and arrogance, Witherspoon does manage to infuse some semblance of likability into the character. Josh Lucas is very sexy as Jake and Patrick Dempsey is appropriately anal as Melanie's straight-laced fiancee. Jean Smart scores as Jake's mother as do Fred Ward and Mary Kay Place as Melanie's parents. Andy Tennant's somewhat pedestrian direction is forgivable thanks to an extremely likable cast.

After winning the 1975 Oscar for Best Supporting Actor for The Sunshine Boys, George Burns was Hollywood's "it" guy and was making movie after movie and one of the best of this brief resurgence of Burns' movie career was a little something called Oh God!.

The 1977 comic fantasy starred singer John Denver, in his first movie role, as Jerry Landers, the assistant manager of a supermarket whose life is changed forever when God appears to him in the form of a little old man with thick glasses, a windbreaker and a golf cap. God explains to Jerry that the world seems to be under the impression that he's dead and he has picked Jerry to convince the world that God is still alive and kicking. Unfortunately, the mission that God sends Jerry on puts him in some embarrassing and hard-to-explain situations that find Jerry struggling to hold onto his family and his freedom, as his sanity has now been brought into question.

With comedy icon Carl Reiner in the directorial chair, laughs are furnished throughout, but my issues are primarily with Larry Gelbart's screenplay...I don't like the way God kept putting Jerry in these weird and unexplainable situations and not having Jerry's back when he needed it. Yes, the comedy here doesn't work unless Jerry is the only one who can see and hear God, but for God to watch Jerry's life pretty much get destroyed in his name was a little troublesome to me.

Burns is charming though and Denver brings a nice everyman quality to the role of Jerry. Teri Garr is also fun as Jerry's wife. It's no classic but there are worse ways to spend 90 minutes and the fact that the leads are no longer with us brings an added richness to what's going on. The film also inspired two sequels.

Hey Gideon. You sure write a lot of reviews. Can you do one for me? Review the movie Satantango.

*Gideon begins watching 7 hour long Satantango*

*He forgets to get up and do anything*

*The movie kills him*

You're dead!

Paul Mazursky's evocative direction, his uncompromising screenplay and a dazzling Oscar-nominated performance from Jill Clayburgh make the 1978 comedy drama An Unmarried Woman appointment viewing. The story is definitely nothing new, but what is new here is an unconventional leading female character whose reactions to what she is going through actually appear to be vivid and sincere at the same time.

Clayburgh shines as Erica, the pampered and wealthy wife of an important businessman named Martin (Michael Murphy) for 16 years who is completely thrown when he announces that he is leaving Erica for a much younger woman. What is unique here is that Mazursky's direction and screenplay seems to try to evoke sympathy for Martin by having him deliver the news through a barrage of tears and apologies, which makes what he's doing come off even more slimy than it is.

We then watch Erica trying to adjust to single life as well as being the kind of mother her daughter (Lisa Lucas) requires. The evolution of the Erica character is a joy to watch because this is a woman who has been taken care of all her life and lived her life as a Manhattan socialite in a vacuum who after getting the proverbial wind knocked out of her, learns to accept that there is life after Martin and that said life doesn't necessarily involve another man.

Clayburgh knocks it out of the park here, creating a full-bodied character who is alternately unpredictable and endlessly entertaining, evoking sympathy from the viewer but never pity. Clayburgh was nominated for Outstanding Lead Actress and was robbed IMO. Michael Murphy is very effective in an extremely unlikable role as are Cliff Gorman and Alan Bates as the new men in Erica's life. Lisa Lucas is a revelation as Erica's daughter, Patti, and Linda Smith, Carole Bishop, and Pat Quinn are also fun as Erica's drinking buddies, but this is Clayburgh and Mazursky's show and they run with it.

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Tom Hanks is one of those actors who can make even the most lame film watchable and never was this more evident than with the 1989 comedy Turner and Hooch.

Hanks plays Scott Turner, a police detective and neat freak who finds himself "adopting" a huge, slobbering dog named Hooch who belonged to a murder victim and was the only witness to the murder so Turner takes the dog into his home hoping at some point that the dog, named Hooch, might lead Turner to the murderer.

I remember first seeing this film and thinking it was a little weird that this detective thought this dog could actually solve this murder, but there is a wonderful scene where Hooch does actually see the murderer and loses it. The chase that ensues is first rate entertainment as are the scenes of Turner bringing Hooch into his house and how Hooch systematically begins to destroy Turner's house and how his efforts to "dog-proof" his house prove to be futile.

Another major selling point to this film is this dog...Hooch is absolutely awesome and from what I understand, several dogs were utilized to make this film, but what appears onscreen is the most lovable and fun dog I have seen in years. Everyone should have their own Hooch. I saw an interview once with Tom Hanks once where he claimed that, even though the film was not one of his bigger hits, he learned more about the art of acting and movie making when he did this movie, which definitely piqued my curiosity about seeing it.

Roger Spottiswoode's direction is a little on the pedestrian side, but Reginald Veljohnson is fun as Turner's partner and Craig T. Nelson is an effective villain. Mare Winningham is wasted as a veterinarian who begins a tentative relationship with Turner, but Hanks and this amazing dog make this film worth a look.