Reviews

I know that the intentions were good when they made this movie, but I could not ignore the glaring plot holes! I know I'm no geologist, but who says that(of all places)L.A. has to be the exact place to counteract a seismic cataclysm? I've also never been a soldier, but I've never understood Hollywood's classic depiction of the armed forces as jar-headed and idiotic. I am also not a communications expert, but if something like 9/11 could completely jam up land-and-cell telephony, could you imagine what it would be like if a disaster on an even larger scale happened? And whatever you do, DON'T forget the wonderful Los Angeles Metropolitan Subway System (complete with New York Transit Authority "M" logos all over the train)...Some pinheaded producer probably thought that if the story was based in New York, that it would be too similar to 9/11. I'm not even going to touch on some of the so-called "acting" that occurred on this movie, but I really expected more from such respected actors like Rutger Hauer, John Rhys-Davies and G.W. Bailey. Excuse me while I go watch "Gilligan's Island"...It's a whole lot more credible!

It's amazing how some shows tend to glamorize my adopted hometown of Las Vegas...How everyone who lives here has tons of money and the best of all indulgences under a sunny sky and neon nights. Well, "Casino" gives everyone a good primer on what NOT to do if you are a local.

I particularly liked Rothstein's narrative on how everything is choreographed and coordinated to separate the happy tourists from their money. A little cynical, but otherwise very accurate and enlightening. Anyway, the movie is an entertaining look at the way life was out here, back in the 70's. A lot of the old-timers (some of whom knew the actual players on which "Casino" is based) tell me that they miss the good old days when the town was cleaner, less crowded and safer to live in. It gives a slight thrill to see the glamour and excitement, but never fails to remind us that there is a gritty and seamy side to the town. Then again, almost every American town has a "City Confidential" of its own. Even the real people that these characters are based on had a lot of just day-in, day out routine. Anyway...DeNiro did a great job portraying Sam "Ace" Rothstein, even though Frank "Lefty" Rosenthal was not a particularly exciting person in real life. Joe Pesci played a very convincing Nicky Santoro, but a little more over the top than what Tony "The Ant" Spilotro was supposed to be like. Sharon Stone was even more compelling in her role as Ginger McKenna, because she was very accurate in her portrayal of Geri Rosenthal, Frank's beautiful but troubled wife. The timeline is a jazzed-up and high-compression version of Vegas from '73 to '83, thanks to Scorsese's action-packed touch and all-star soundtrack. I thought it was a crowning touch that most of the filming was done at the Riviera, as it is one of the classic "old Vegas" joints and definitely was in the same league as the Dunes and the Sands once upon a time. All in all, a great movie that tells a great story...Just remember that you have to remember that for once, fiction is a little more entertaining than truth.

In the dim, dead, dark days preceding my ownership of a PC, I was rather intrigued with the movie. Very Hitchcockian in its tone, and kind of a David-beats-Goliath theme that every one can relate to (Apple vs. Microsoft, employee vs. boss, ad infinitum). Seven years hence...I realize that many of the governmental entities supposedly "hacked" were, at the time of this movie, utilizing systems built when leisure suits were still the rage--and IBM was lord and master of the computer domain. Granted, hackers can be considered a real and acknowledged threat, but we should take this movie for what it is...Just some passably good entertainment and not too representative of R/T (Real Time for all you Netsurfing newbies). However, the plot remains fundamentally sound, and not too taxing on the mind.

Sandra Bullock gave a reasonably credible performance as programmer/support tech/consultant Angela Bennett. I realize that sex appeal fuels Hollywood, and it IS possible to have beauty and brains. But the story seems to have some fundamental flaws. What are the odds that NO one would know who you really were...It's impossible to think that we really have become the so-called "ghosts in the machine". As long as we have receipts, hard copies,friends and loved ones, we won't be caught in "The Net."

Some good performances by the smooth but irreverent Dennis Miller, and by the suave but deadly Jeremy Northam make for a movie worth watching when there's nothing better on the boob tube...Or if you're a closet geek like yours truly, you call friends and laugh about all the inaccuracies.

I reviewed this film for Amazon.com over 2 years ago, before I had even really visited Los Angeles...But now I feel even more compelled to review it again, after making 2 visits. The movie was very much accurate in its portrayal of the so-called "City of the Angels". Michael Douglas is William "D-FENS" Foster...Just another hard-working, screwed-over man who believed in making his American Dream come true in the Golden City...Los Angeles, California. Where once the skies were clear, the ocean was blue and the weather warm, there's now a smoggy and congested megalopolis with enough rage to go around for everyone. Bill is a figure that is easy to sympathize with as he relentlessly churns through this bleak and filthy maze, with one thought in his frustrated and exhausted mind...to find his daughter. She is the apple of his eye and is his hope for the future. It is the proverbial wake-up call to be more mindful of those of us who are less fortunate and to help one another...Otherwise there will be more Bill Fosters(I think that tragedies of the last 2 years bear witness to this).

Robert Duvall is Officer Prendergast, a man who has been as much or more than Foster but somehow made sense of things and survived. He has doubtless felt the quiet but mounting frustration that Bill has endured, yet he refuses to be drawn into the chaos of "Lost" Angeles. Prendergast realizes he has to find Bill before it's too late...for the both of them. FALLING DOWN could be considered a story of good against evil...And how they both reside within us.

I'm sure that Rudolph was trying to emulate the style of his patron, the great (and sometimes confusing) Robert Altman. But where Altman gives the audience more of a bird's-eye view to his characters and how they complement each other, Rudolph just confuses and muddies what could be a neat little movie. I have seen other examples of Emily Watson's work (Hilary and Jackie, Angela's Ashes)and performed wonderfully in them. Sometimes you could feel the strain she was making to endure this project. She might as well have been a young female Archie Bunker with the overabundance of malapropisms. Nathan Lane gave me the impression that he was wishing himself away from all this. The rest of the cast probably felt the same way. I know I sure did after about 30 minutes of laboring through it.