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Reviews
Magnolia (1999)
MY ALL TIME FAVORITE FILM
Before I stepped into the theater to see this film, my favorite movie of all time was the Orson Welles classic, THE THIRD MAN. About half way through MAGNOLIA, I knew that that was going to change. What a brave film this is. In a time when big studios only want to release films that are an hour and forty-five minutes and dumbed down to the point where a two year old could understand them, Anderson had the guts to make a three and a quarter hour, sweeping, mosiac of a film, filled with substance, characters we care about, even though it may be hard to care about them, and theology that will make even the brightest scholars think deeply. The thing that makes Anderson's films so wonderful is the fact the he truly cares about every character he writes, and makes sure we care about them too. After SYDNEY and BOOGIE NIGHTS, it was safe to say that Anderson was a talented auteur. After MAGNOLIA, I have no problem saying that he is the most talented writer, director, living today. Lets just hope that this upcoming Adam Sandler project doesn't ruin him. Thank you Mr. Anderson for not making me feel like two year old. Oh yeah, Am I the only person that thinks its a little strange that the voter rating for this film is 8.2. This cannot be just one of those things.
Message in a Bottle (1999)
Take Newman out, and there is nothing here.
I was sort of hoping to enjoy this flick, but boy was I disappointed. First of all, the story is set in The Outer Banks of North Carolina, but clearly this film was shot nowhere The Outer Bank, and I would say nowhere near North Carolina. My best guess would be that they took their cameras up to Maine or something and thought that no one would see the difference. BIG MISTAKE! People who have been there know how beautiful The Outer Banks really are, and will recognize the difference. Secondly, this story is just dumb, drawn out, and overly melodramatic. This story could probably have been told in just over an hour, not just over two. The filmmakers got a little trigger happy when Costner signed on, and went overboard(no pun intended) with everything, the result being a confused, disappointing mess. The one bright light in all this muck of a film is the startling performance given by Paul Newman. Sure, it is basically the same character that he played in Nobody's Fool, but who cares. The man is still one of the finest actors that ever lived, and this performance is among some of his best work. If you decide to watch this film, do it so you can enjoy Newman's wonderful performance. His work is the only reason that this film should be viewed.
The Green Mile (1999)
With Talent Like This, How is it So Disappointing?
In a year with so many wonderful, original, intelligent films, I expected The Green Mile to deliver as well. I left the theater in a daze at the 3 hour running time, and utterly disappointed in the film. Let me just say that I thought that the film was very well cast, and the direction from Darabont was actually quite good. What was lacking was a good, intelligent script. If you break it down, there is not really an original idea in this entire film. It's like King and Darabont watched as many prison films as they could, and stole all the good ideas. If you don't believe me, check out Birdman of Alcatraz. They even stole from their previous collaboration, and far superior film, The Shawshank Redemption. This script, and story in general, also lacks any true heart or emotion. The characters are paper thin, and we are told which ones to like and hate. The filmmaker does not give us a chance to choose; the bad guys are totally bad, and the good guys totally good. Plus, all the big so-called "emotional" scenes are totally contrived and completely phony. I might be coming down a little hard on this film, but only because I wanted to like it, and I expected better. With all the talent involved, this should have been a great film. Instead, it is quite disappointing. Sorry guys.