I couldn't give the movie a rating as high as a 9 or 10 but I felt it was a very strong eight. It's the most original movie made in the US in many years and along with American Beauty, also one of the year's best movies. The film should make a star out of Catherine Keener. Cameron Diaz, underplaying her part, is sweet and adorable as always-the highpoint of the film is her chasing after Keener near the end of the movie. It is surprising to see this movie get the wide distribution that it has. Malkovich himself is also very funny , especially when he gets on line to tour himself. It's a good movie now and will be an excellent video rental in the fu
Reviews
4 Reviews
Murmur of the Heart
(1971)
My favorite French film
29 August 1999
Warning: Spoilers
I think Louis Malle's Murmur of the Heart is my very favorite French film because it was the first French film I saw long ago and the one that at the time, made a deep impression on me. I saw it again last night after several years away from it. Laurent still has that bird-like quality to him and his mother (in a strong performance by Lea Massili) is still the girl-woman with flexible boundaries. His rougish, despicable older brothers and his very detached father make for one of the more unsympathetic family portraits on film and yet, as we see in the end, they are still a family. The film makes hay with the Catholic Church in a big way . When the incest scene finally comes, it is more about breaking the taboo of an overly constricted religion than breaking the general social taboo. The event is presented without sentimentality and you are left to draw your own conclusions. The very end was unnerving to me, though, and I am not sure why Malle made the choice that he did. It is an important, realistic and not particularly sentimental film which foreshadows the direction of much of Malle's l
Colonel Chabert
(1994)
Good, on-target adaptation of Balzac
27 June 1999
Colonel Chabert is one of the best adaptations from novel to screen I have seen in the movies. It combines the realism of French cinema with excellent characterisation, from Depardieu's lost Chabert to Fabrice Luchini's proud Lawyer to Fanny Ardant's complex widow. The movie has wonderful dimension, as you might expect from a top cinematographer such as Yves Angelo. The characters keep this movie in gear and although a bit slow in the beginning, picks up pace and is a fine movie by the time it reaches the finish.
Freejack
(1992)
Very imaginative depiction of the near future.
27 June 1999
Freejack was recommended to me by someone who had reviewed a screenplay I had written, as some of the ideas were similar. It was a good observation. I enjoyed Freejack for its imaginative juxtaposition of past and future. It's one of the most imaginative movies I have seen, making a good case for the adaptation of science fiction novels to the screen. I think some of the slam bang action is overdone but when the movie steps back and becomes a story, the story it has to tell is an interesting one. If you missed this the first time around like I did, check it out now. An engaging cast of characters in an interesting film.
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