Change Your Image
user-666-622108
Reviews
Ever After (1998)
Ever After
Rating: A+
With a great script, captivating plot, and accomplished actors, Ever After is an entertaining and highly enjoyable historical romance film. Given the medieval scenery and attire, the film pulls the audience directly into the bustle of the late eighteenth century. From sword fighting, romance, comedy, and drama, this film seemingly pulls all of these aspects together into one great film. Each time that I watch this movie, I feel connected to the main character Danielle, played by Drew Barrymore. Through each climatic scene where she faces set-backs and adversity I want her to succeed and find romance in the end. This film, and more specifically Barrymore's acting, has the ability to make the audience feel sad when Danielle is rejected by the prince in front of the entire kingdom or when she is sold off to pay her step mother's debt and happy when the prince saves her and asks for her forgiveness. Although the film is set in the eighteen century, it is easy to relate to Danielle, who despite hardships, has managed to make the most out of her seemingly horrible life. This film is a retelling of the fairy tale Cinderella. With evil step mothers and sisters, an extravagant ball, a pompous prince waiting to marry for love, and even with a glass slipper, the film aligns itself with the same occurrences of the classic fairytale. Noticing the cyclical nature of fairy tales and how they are often redone, it is important to take a look at the common theme between fairy tales and their remakes. In both the fairytale version and in the movie Ever After, the main theme that is shared is that evil behavior will have repercussions and that good will always prevail. In both of the films, the step mothers serve as an oppressive force to the main protagonist. However, in Ever After one of the step sisters helps Danielle, yet comes short of advocating against her mistreatment. Nonetheless, in both of the films, the main protagonist succeeds and finds love when truly all hope seems lost. The glass slipper is probably the most apparent similarity between the two films, which indicates the importance of the symbol. At the end of Ever After, Prince Henry played by Dougray Scott, after begging Danielle for forgiveness, kneels down and replaces the slipper Danielle lost at the ball. This also happened in the classic story. Yet in Ever After, Prince Henry rejected Danielle for falsely imposing as a countess. In the final scene, Prince Henry, after saving her from Pierre Le Pieu, a vile man who is taken with Danielle played by O'Brien, has to ask Danielle to forgive him for his past actions. Although the core message has transferred between the two films, there are differences. In Ever After, Danielle does not represent the typical female fairytale character waiting idly for the price to sweep her off of her feet. Danielle has read books and often times challenges Prince Henry about various topics. Her conviction astounds Prince Henry, who falls in love with her personality over her looks. They say that behind ever great leader, is a strong woman providing support, and that notion is clearly represented in the movie, as Danielle offers her ideas on how to improve the kingdom. Ever After offers the audience the possibility to escape into a new and exciting world, where true love always prevails and evil people are always punished. In contrast to the real world, Ever After offers the audience a chance to escape into a different time period and a new life where there is always a happy ending.
Blind Dating (2006)
Blind Dating
Rating: B
Blind Dating is a unique romantic comedy starring Chris Pine and Anjali Jay. This movie met my expectations as being the perfect chick flick with romance, comedy, and drama tied into an interesting storyline. With the vast array of romantic comedies, this film stands apart from the rest by offering a different take on how to find love. Not only is the main character named Danny blind, he also goes on several blind dates with many different types of women in order to find a woman that will accept him and his disability. In comparison to most romantic movies, the comedic aspect of the movie does fall flat during some scenes. However the alluring and hilarious prospect of watching a handsome, blind guy navigate his way on the "streets" and also into the dating scene kept me captivated throughout the whole movie. In the movie, Danny, played by Chris Pine, has adjusted to being blind with the help of his older brother, Larry, played by Eddie Thomas. At twenty two years old, Danny realizes that he is missing out on having relationships and enlists the help of his brother to set him up on blind dates. When Danny begins the dating process, he is optimistic about the prospect of finding someone who will accept him. However, he soon realizes that the girls that he goes on dates ignore his personality and focus on the fact that he is blind. Become conscious of the fact, Danny begins to try to memorize the restaurant setting in order to pretend that he is not blind in front of his dates. Before this scene in the movie, it seemed as though being blind was something he had come to accept, however at this point in the film it seemed as though he saw it as a weakness. He eventually falls in love with Leeza, an Indian woman who comes from a traditional family. Leeza works as a receptionist at the optometrist that Danny goes to. It is important to note that during the her lunch breaks Danny takes Leeza out, however they stay out much longer than the typical time allotted for a break at a job. Danny and Leeza's relationship develops throughout the movie, and eventually Danny considers having eye surgery so that he might be able to have a normal relationship with Leeza. A small twist in the movie comes in when Leeza becomes engaged to marry an Indian man that her family believes will "support" her. Leeza has to make the choice between someone her parents will accept and someone she loves. At the end of the movie, Danny and Leeza end up together, and the eye surgery is not as successful as it should have been. In addition, both of their families come together and learn about each other's respective cultures. Although the blind dates that Danny goes on provide comedic relief, the message of finding love that is deeper than just mere attraction is highly evident at the end of this film. It was not necessary for Danny to try to change who was, Leeza still chose him because of his personality and sense of humor and outlook on life. The film does have its quirky moments. For example, in order to cope with his disability, Danny sees a therapist named Dr. Evans played by Jane Seymour. For whatever reason, at each therapy session his therapist finds the need to strip in front of him, taking advantage of the fact that he is blind. However, towards the end of the movie Dr. Evans actions help explain the theme of the movie. Because both Danny and Dr. Evans eventually find love, the superficial message this movie leaves to the audience is that finding love is sometime difficult to do; Dr. Evans was old and Danny was blind, they both had major attributions that worked against them in their search to find love. However, perhaps the ending message is that if they can find love, anyone can. Overall, this movie had all the elements that made for a good romantic comedy. It made me laugh and hope for a good outcome for the main two characters.
Good Deeds (2012)
Movie Review
Rating: C-
Guided by the notion that people are not offered the same opportunities in life, the film entitled Good Deeds is unfortunately supported by a predictable script and horrible acting from start to finish. Having the potential to shed light on the real-life struggle of single mothers, the love affair between the two "star crossed" lovers, Wesley Deeds and Lindsey Wakefield, adds a melodramatic, blockbuster effect to what could have been an empowering and representative movie. As a result, the movie progressed as a romantic comedy, with the more serious message of the stark and unfair differences between social classes in the peripheral. In the movie Tyler Perry plays the main character named Wesley Deeds. As the main character, Tyler Perry tarnishes the overall movie by his horrible acting and highly apparent disconnect with his character. At times, it seemed as though he was merely reading the script without any animation or emotion. To the audience, Deeds, despite his fancy cars and lavish lifestyle, leads a mundane life. However, Deeds believes he has a perfect and happy lifestyle. Therefore, although Perry plays a boring character, Perry's acting comes off as if he is trying too hard or not trying at all. Gabrielle Union plays Natalie, Deed's beautiful fiancée. Natalie's character serves no purpose other than to highlight Deed's predictable actions. For example, she knows when he comes home, what he wants to wear every day, and what he wants to eat. Then, there is Wilimena Deeds played by Phylicia Rashad. Wilimena is Wesley's overbearing mother who disapproves of Wesley's brother and eventually of Wesley's decision to become involved with Lindsey. Following a highly predictive script, Deeds does the same thing every day, notices struggling single mother named Lindsey, played by Thandie Newton, offers her some assistance, and then finally questions his career path and life actions. Not only is scrip predictable, it also plays heavily off of stereotypes for both the lower and upper classes. Tyler Perry's character, Wesley Deeds, is the wealthy executive of Deeds Corporation. In the beginning of the film there is no hesitation as Deeds promptly states how he is fifth generation Ivy League grad. Throughout the entire movie, Wesley's lavish lifestyle is heavily displayed. Going to an Ivy League school, always being serious, having the perfect trophy wife, and expensive sports car and loft, are all common stereotypes associated with the upper class men. In addition, for the added effect, Natalie's marriage to Deeds has been planned and expected of the two. In the movie, when Deeds tries to reprimand Lindsey for not properly taking care of her child, Lindsey asks Deeds if he knows how much a gallon of milk cost. This scene implies that rich people would of course not know how much a gallon of milk cost because they spend money without thinking. In addition, because Lindsey has a relationship with Deeds, it seems as if she is being used, bought out and taken advantage of. Trying to expound the message of social responsibility, Deeds does help Lindsey and her daughter find a place to stay. However, the movie is tarnished by the fact that Deeds emotionally cheats on his fiancée with Lindsey. Instead of receiving the lasting message that it is society's obligation to help people who have run across unfortunate circumstances and that in helping others, people feel better about themselves, due to Deeds and Lindsey's developing relationship, the audience takes away that you do good deeds in exchange for love or a relationship. Their relationship seems forced, and it casts the whole movie in a negative light. If the movie focused more so on the theme of how doing good makes you feel good, instead of on developing Deeds and Lindsey's relationship, the movie would have been much more powerful.