Change Your Image
jfriedl
Reviews
Shattered Image (1998)
An utter waste of time, film, electrons....
I and a friend saw this at a premier in San Jose, and spent most of the time wondering why we were there, and wondering if it could possibly get worse. The acting wasn't particularly heinous, but the story was so over... over... over-everything, nothing could save it. At first it was quite confusing and disjointed -- I figured the director was skillfully weaving a complex thriller. But as time dragged on, I realized that there was nothing but the superficial disjointness that was comically apparent. It was a truly Bad movie because it left us with nothing more than a profound regret for the time wasted. We had passes to the show -- the only thing worse than our experience would have been to have to pay for it.
Good Will Hunting (1997)
A wonderful, moving experience.
Starting slow but interesting, I found the story utterly absorbing and emotionally moving (which is, unfortunately, quite rare with me). For me it was one of those movies that you check your watch and pray it's not over yet -- it's not a story you watch to bring you from Point A to Point B -- it's the going that's good. It's a well-written, well-acted story with deep characters that you care about.
Even the least-developed main relationship, Will and Skylar's, was profound. The torment that Will brought her in the end merely reflects his own, and you can feel that.
I'd love to see a sequal (Better Will Hunting?) to see what they do with Will/Skylar. If it were true to life, it'd have her telling him to shove-off, but that'd make for a pretty short movie.