Reviews

Joe (Wes) & Jim (Adam) re-acquaint us with the beauty, isolation (psychological as well as physical) and utter terror of "murder most fowl" in the Navaho Southwest. Characterizations, settings and plot continually build .. . even if at times the personal asides leave us wanting "more" .. . with some interesting alternative choices as to "who done it?" Flashbacks (e.g. Peter Fonda . .. good to see him) provide clues but they don't go where you might think. Comic asides (e.g. the Preacher) are mild and appropriate. Where "Skinwalkers" and "Coyote Waits" start to drag .. . "Thief" engages the clutch and four-wheels you around the next corner, never quite sure what's there. Disagree with Joe Leaphorn's manic comment to Jim Chee to "slow down" for the potholes. Wrong ... there are no potholes in the plot, just tracks to follow. On to the next episode! Great photography (as always), appealing characters and more to explore!

A parable of the "war between men & women & society." Alexandre (Philippe Noiret) is the hapless "Sad Sack" married in to a country-French farming family, headed by the beautiful daughter, Agathe (Marlene Jobert). Farming is hard business .. . made harder by Agathe's incessant "supervision" by walkie-talkie while Alexandre is farming in the fields. As hapless a driver as Alexandre is a farmer, Agathe constantly zips about in a bright red Citroen 2CV, ending in a fatality that removes both Agathe and her parents from the scene. Alexandre inherits the entire farm and proceeds to go on permanent vacation! The townspeople endeavor to bring Alexandre back into society, no doubt spurred on by his indolent example that's a threat to their society. There's the rub! This is a delightful, beautiful country farce reminiscent of a Mr. Hulot in Jacques Tati's Mononocle .. . how everyman adapts to the modern world, set in comedic proportions. No wonder the French take the glorious month of August off . .. I think I will too. Where's my dog? Enjoy!

Brilliant series with Adrian Pasdar displaying his able talents as "Jim Profit." Reminds me of an American version of Kenneth Haigh's "Joe Lampton" (Man At The Top - TV series - 1971)in which the protagonist is trying to overcome corporate "evils." This time around .. . Jim Profit IS the evil mirror of Joe .. . opening all sorts of plot tangles and twists. Delicious script character material! See the four released episodes however you can.. . TV drama at its absolute best. Suspect "Profit" was cancelled due to poor time placement which would have killed it out of the gate before the sweeps rating period. In the wake of "Enron" . .. perhaps it should be brought back or is the truth too truthful?! Regardless, Adrian Pasdar is eminently enjoyable in the later "Mysterious Ways."

Tom Mason (appears as the slim agent on the TV movie "The Return of The Man from Uncle) and Shelley Hack ("Charlie Girl") are terrific as a modern, married couple attempting to mix the opening of his new restaurant and their marriage. Charming mix of "The Thin Man" (William Powell & Myrna Loy) mystery and conflict. Woefully underrated series. Wonderful reparte. Great Chicago scenery. Unique and wonderful. If you can get it, watch it!

Bill Freeman

Scott Glenn gives an excellent performance as a waistral, down-on-his luck, out-of-work boxer who becomes a fallguy for a heirloom (Samurai sword) smuggling plot. Scott, like others in only a handful of movies (e.g. The Yakuza (Robert Mitchum) and Black Rain (Michael Douglas)) gives a rare performance that contrasts the Japanese/American cultures of honor, discipline and duty. John Sayles and John Frankenheimer explore these values with a shoot-em-up verve that attempts to merge business, home, family, warrior and personal values. Tall order! Glenn is the Kevlar-perfect warrior who somehow survives James-Bondian onslaughts .. . and Samurai-disciplines to emerge a winner. Toshiro Mifune needs no introduction .. . and is, as always, a delight. One could only have hoped that better definitions of the term "Ninja" (fogged in myth as assassins and even as a race of women assassins) and "Samurai Sword" (through an expert such as Kenji Mishina) could have been added to the movie. A unique movie dealing with topics that fifty years after a major military and cultural conflict between two diverse cultures, go largely unexplored ...