Reviews

Perfectly serviceable police-private eye-mystery, worth viewing if it's on a channel sometime, but not something to go out of your way to see.

One of those whodunits where the game is given away thanks to the casting. There's a twist to the motive, but once that's clear, the rest is solve-it-by-numbers.

Shame, because Michael Connelly (the original author) writes good thrillers - but this one didn't translate to the screen especially well.

While Mr Eastwood's commands the audience's attention (as usual), it's not his finest hour behind the camera, with the enterprise looking a little pedestrian at times. Indeed, there are some scenes that look a little like a 1970's "Mystery Movie", with not enough budget to fill the screen.

All in all, it does not serve the source material well, and is a little underwhelming by the final credits.

A film of rare economy, elegance and stillness. Pretentious as it may sound, there's a perfect balance of tension and space about this film. Not a word or scene or character is wasted or unnecessary.

The other reviewers here give a plot outline and performance details. Tracy dominates the picture, his black and white appearance setting out the clarity of his moral position. The other main presence in this classic picture is the silence. Sturges SHOWS us silence, and what denial can do to a community.

I'd just like to make a recommendation to those who think that great cinema need sound and action - watch Bad Day at Black Rock, and sink yourself into its opening emptiness and cut-to-the-bone story.

9/10

Most film makers use the same techniques, the same structures, the same cookie cutter to tell a story. The Coen Brothers have a unique voice, which is no better heard than in O Brother. It's light, but it's worth seeing more than once; it deals with big issues, but it's full of big laughs. And Clooney is a revelation.

Post-modernists will tell me that I'm missing a deep irony when I say just how enjoyable this movie is at human level, but take it at face value: if you need a lift in your day and warmth in your heart (and two hours of literary allusions thrown in for good measure), go see this film.

Sorry to be a killjoy, but this is not the work of genius nor, for that matter, the film of the year that the bandwagon says.

It's beautiful, full of balletic action, has two enchanting female leads, and gives the Western world a view of epic and fantasy different from Hollywood's obsession with Marvel and DC Comics. But it is not a masterpiece.

The problem is the story. There's way too much exposition at the start, we're led in by one character, then lose focus on her and go to another, send lost of time in the desert, but never really get to the bottom of why our young heroine is like she is.

Before you leap to your keyboard, I'm not the kind of movie goer that needs everything spelt out, but for all its visual magnificence (and it is wonderful), at the end I still felt hungry.

Tin Cup - a movie about a "washed-up golfer who enters the US Open to win the heart of a woman who's in love with a rival". There's the concept pitch, and I'm reaching for an airline sick bag already.

But that synopsis misses the point. This is NOT a movie about golf - although it has many deep insights into the game. It's a movie about reaching for the stars and not playing safe. It's a movie about being true to yourself.

It's a buddy picture. It's a romance. It's a feel-good, the little guy battles with adversity, and doesn't win, but comes out a bigger person. It's about immortality and being in the moment.

You've probably guessed that I love this film. Every time I watch it the same emotions sweep through me, and the same tears come to my eyes.

And to think that there are people submitting to this database that score it 6.5 out of 10, and who claim that Star Wars Episode 1 is a great movie, just shows that we've been so overwhelmed by computer graphics and story formulation that we've lost sight of what really makes a movie great - human spirit.

If you loved "It's a Wonderful Life" (and if you didn't, you're dead), you'll love Tin Cup. Give it a shot.

Duvall is, without doubt, one of the finest actors on the C20th screen. Unlike so many superstars (Nicholson, Pacino, Hoffman), you forget he's Duvall within the first couple of minutes of his performance. "The Apostle" is no exception.

Here we have a completely three-dimensional view of a man carrying personal demons and plenty of psychological baggage. Duvall certainly deserved his Academy Award nomination.

The central idea of the movie is also very strong: preacher seeks redemption from past deeds by once more bringing the power of the Word to a small community.

But Duvall the actor, executive producer and director is not equalled by Duvall the writer. I sat watching with the constant niggle that something was missing. And as the final credits scrolled, and reminded me that Farrah Fawcett, Billy Bob Thornton, Miranda Richardson and a handful of others had been on screen, I got the sudden revelation that none had had a part anywhere near as round as Duvall's.

This truly is a one-man movie. Even though the director is on screen for virtually every shot, it's not an egotistical piece. But it's not a deep as it could have been. Which is a great shame. Because with an antagonist of some kind, this would have risen from good film to masterpiece.

Watch it, but only for the central performance. And for the two black children playing their ukelele. They're great.

It made me laugh until the sides of my face ached. It is an engaging entertainment that hooked me from the first few minutes, with interesting, 3D characters in an unfamiliar situation, revealing a little about the human condition.

It is, of course, The Full Monty. THAT is both funny and a movie. "There's Something about Mary" is three sketches, weakly sewn together by a non-plot, mugging in the name of acting, and woeful production.

The way over-the-top reaction to TSAM says a lot about how so many legitimate targets for humour have been repressed by PC. There's almost a palpable gasp of "I can't believe they're showing that", which turns up the laughter gas.

Maybe TSAM serves a useful social function. Spreading hilarity ain't one of them.

So please, people of the "funniest movie in the last ten years" brigade, get out some more eh? There's a dark room, showing real movies, just a short car ride away.

The day after I saw this at the cinema, I went to see it again. I just couldn't believe what my eyes had told me was there on the screen, and I needed to see how writer and director had pulled off one of the finest tricks in recent movie history.

This is so much more than a thriller. Ultimately, it's a meditation about film and the nature of story telling. Just what is real, what can be authenticated, and where do history and fiction stop and start? As the movie ends in a puff of backlit smoke, it reminds us that all movies are just that - light.

The Usual Suspects recently had its TV premier here in the UK. After imploring my friends to watch it for the past few years, there are still some who haven't seen it. My campaign continues.

If you're still one of the unfortunates, tear up that list of your Top Twenty movies. You'll need to create a new spot in there somewhere.

The underlying structure of this intelligent film is as near perfect as I have seen in a long time.

A short first act, establishing everything you need to know about both sets of characters - the cops on one side and the hostages on the other; a tense second act, with a beautiful opening scene that introduces Spacey's character as a mirror to Jackson's; an exciting third act that ties all the lose ends together, solves the mystery and leaves you wondering how the main characters will deal with their doubts of each other.

And woven through all this is the themes of appearaance, bluff, and the eyes being the window to the soul.

The performance garlands will go to Jackson, but Spacey is, as ever, magnetic whenever he's on screen. His second face-to-face encounter with Jackson is electric.

Then again, there isn't a weak performance across the entire company. Between the ensemble and a cracking story line that covers less than 24hours or real time, I was literally on the edge of my seat. Highly recommended.