Reviews

Everyone in this movie except for Mark Wahlberg could have been recast, with positive results, and no one would have noticed. Leguizamo is wasted as some geek math teacher with no common sense. Everyone in the movie seems to have inappropriate emotional responses to things not yet in evidence. Some of the time the characters' facial expressions do not in any way match what they are talking about; they talk about very tense, upsetting things with no expression. The leaps of logic that people make are in no way logical, and Elliott's hissy fit screaming "give me a minute! give me a minute! give me a minute!" does not fit with his character, and really, it isn't as if people are harassing him for a decision. There was no chemistry whatsoever between Mark Wahlberg and Zooey Deschanel, strangers on a bus could have been more connected than this "husband and wife", even with the purported marital problems that seem to have been exaggerated. The way Elliott talks about Alma to Julian as they exit the school, it seems as if the marriage is hanging by a thread and he almost seems to be setting Julian up to be prepared for Alma to be an angry, distant, mentally unstable twit. Julian for his part treats his child as if she were about to go postal, which she never does either, and at times his character seems forced, as if only thrown in to have another "star" name in the credits.

It lives up to the comic book story and meshes well with modern events in the Middle East. The transformation of Tony Stark from philandering billionaire genius who seems to L-O-V-E his weapon creations a little too much, to a superhero trying to make things right- fills an emotional need for hope in these needlessly war-torn times. The mechanism of his epiphany, however enforced by captivity in a cave, is well developed in the movie. While at first I found Robert Downey Jr to be an unusual choice for the hero of the piece, he assumes the role well, although initially his mustache and hairstyle resembles a 1970s swinger or couch-casting producer.

I found this movie to be far more sensual than sexual, although there is a fair amount of that as well. There was a lot of focus on feelings, both physical and emotional, and a lot of underlying subplots revolving around the interaction and history of each character. Both Ewan McGregor and Jonathan Rhys Myers are excellent in their gender-twisting roles. The examination of the relationship between gender, sex, and emotion is very well crafted. Toni Collette is excellent as always, as the wife who moves through a range of emotions and roles from supportive to jealous to accepting to dealing with loss. The movie vividly depicts the free-wheeling atmosphere that led to the birth and flowering of glam rock as well as the decadent times of free love and wild parties. The costumes are amazing as well, spangles and sparkles and feminized menswear.

I loved the opening scene where he is playing himself in the children's hospital ward. Every detail, even down to the "assistant" who is trying to hurry him along, they are running late on their schedule. it seems almost like today's reality TV, only actually REAL. He seems to genuinely like kids, and it shows through, no acting. (obviously, since he either had or adopted so many of them in real life.) He seems to have been a very nice guy, bringing his horse and all into the children's ward room and getting Trigger to do tricks. Then it flashes back to "the past" where he was a rodeo rider etc and plays out the story, where once again, he plays a decent guy trying to help out a friend; from there it pretty much descends into formulaic B Western, although I did notice the nod to the changing role of women, the friend's daughter is a single, modern, rather pushy girl who works in New York as a bookkeeper for a company that does a "Half million dollars a month turnover!"

I enjoyed seeing a very young John Wayne, before he had developed his signature speech, moves, etc. Sure, it was pure B Western schlock, but I had to check here before knowing for sure he was in this movie, it does not look like him at all. A must-see for all fans of John Wayne and westerns. The one thing I liked most about this movie is that even amongst the so-called "bad guys" in black hats, it half-heartedly explored the reasons why some guys joined these gangs-bad raps, wrongful imprisonment, bad choices that left them nowhere else to go and so on, so that even some of the villains elicited sympathy. The only jarring note was the blatant 30s flapper hairstyle and exaggerated eye makeup of the main female character, they didn't even make an attempt to make her look like a storekeepers daughter in the late 1800s.

I ended up somehow seeing this movie in the 1980s, I think I rented it for William Hurt. I loved it but at the time, video stores were just new and most of them didn't sell their tapes or if they did, they cost $100. Then a few years ago I happened on a copy of this great movie at a flea market. it was marked $8. I said to the man "Oh my god, I've been looking for this movie for years! His response? "I'll take 5$". Um, thats not how bartering generally works moron, I would have paid 20. Oh well, I got a deal and have never looked back. The themes, the development of their characters and relationship is amazing. The story within a story also is haunting, the parallels between being in jail (Julia and Hurt) and entrapped (Leni) are just wonderful.

Maybe I am right out to lunch but did anyone else catch an idea that Lupin and Sirius were more than friends? They seemed very close (that was a really tight hug when they first saw each other again) and the comment about "did you take your potion today" sounded very much like an old couple where one person asks the spouse if they took their blood pressure pills today. Also when Snape burst in and said they were quarreling like an old married couple... And lets not forget that Lupin was leaving conveniently when Sirius was on the run. Who else could have told Sirius that Harry's broom got trashed so he would send a new one with a Buckbeak feather? Why would Sirius care about quidditch? Only a person close to Harry like his teacher would have known how much he loved the game. {and I am SO not getting into the scene where Lupin is packing because "parents wouldn't want someone like me teaching their kids--so so SO not going there, nice substitution of the werewolf allegory}I'm not trying to get dirty minded about this, it just seemed to me like they were close. I have to admit I haven't read the book yet but I will.

She has lived in the bakery her whole life and doesn't know how to make bread??? I understand her father probably controlled every aspect of production but to know NOTHING?? I don't bake bread and I bet I could figure it out PDQ if I had to. And really that pathetic closet where she proposed to put her father was just stupid. Anyone with half a brain would see that a dog didn't deserve that treatment. And just who would *bleep* her after meeting her once?? That fat guy at the races??

from clapping my hands over my eyes for the scary parts, I found the premise somewhat shoddy. I would have like to have seen more scenes from the past of other kids going missing or dying. The acting was fine, although I do think that any one of the 3 main parts could have been played by just about anyone. I like Emma Caulfield in Buffy-there she is sharp, crisp, and cutting. This warm and fuzzy big sister act does not work well for her-she is better off in sarcastic or impetuous, impatient roles. Not to mention the fact that "12 years ago" her being 11- I don't buy that. I would have understood her maternal protectiveness if their parents had been dead, or if she had been the little boy's mother. Even playing 23 she could have had him at 16 or something, which would explain her devotion to his cause.