leneker Reviews

Scotland, Pa. (2001)

Great updating of Shakespeare's classic tale of ambition and power.

[9/10 · 28 February 2002]

A clever retelling of the tragedy of MacBeth. Rather than being the loyal vassal to the King of Scotland he is the dedicated sort-order cook for the workaholic restaurant proprietor, Norm Duncan. Inevitably Joe's wife decided that the time is now for these "underachievers who need to make up for lost time". After the tragic and mysterious death of the owner, the couple is able to buy the place at a discount from the dead man's sons. Once ensconced as the owners they make a stunning number of changes including big red arches, a drive-thru, and little fried chicken pieces (called little chicken MacBeths). It all seems so perfect until the little things start to crop up. A policeman named MacDuff who searches for the murderers of Duncan, Joe's best friend starts asking questions about where the MacBeth's were the night of the murder, and Mrs. Macbeth develops an obsession with a grease burn she got on her hand.

This was a movie well worth the $8.75. It was funny from one end to the other. It reminded me of the comment that Kissinger once said about academia "The Politics are especially vicious because the stakes are so small". In this film we see that even the smallest kingdom is sometimes worth fighting for.

Break Up (1998)

Worse than mediocre

[3/10 · 28 January 2002]

Worse than mediocre thriller about an abused wife who goes on the lam after she is linked circumstantially to the death of her husband and sister. Determined to prove that her husband is alive she follows leads across the state, her peril increasing at each stop. Chasing after her are the traditional 'good-cop' and 'bad-cop' pair of partners. One is convinced of her innocence the other more interested in closing the case and getting home. This pair is often able to corner their suspect but never quite to capture her. All the main players meet up in a remote town in the desert and the truth begins to unfold with deadly consequences for some.

Wow! This was a bad movie. The lead acted as if she was tranquilized, The cops couldn't find a suspect if he or she is in the police station (this happens twice) and everyone else is as one-dimensional as can be. Avoid this one at all costs.

The Others (2001)

Suspenseful. The ending wasn't tough to guess but fun to watch

[9/10 · 4 September 2001]

`The Others' embodies all there is that makes the ‘suspense' genre so popular. The isolated mansion, the fragile woman alone, the sinister servants who know more than they can or will tell and the darkness inevitably combine in unworldly ways.

All of these elements are used superbly by the director to create a movie that is scary with out being bloody. No bodies hang from trees and no skulls fall from the closet shelf. Yet something is wrong, very wrong. It might be the voices that the daughter of the house hears or pretends to hear. It might be in the new servants who conveniently showed up shortly after the prior employees vanished without giving notice. It might be that there really are intruders in the house, people long dead with issues unresolved. To the lady of the manor the one unthinkable option is that the isolation and strain could be wearing her down and causing her mind to play tricks on her.

Beyond Silence (1996)

A solid, enjoyable, film.

[27 July 1999]

Lara, A hearing girl with deaf parents, is struggling to be an adult before her time. She is often called upon to do many tasks for her parents that require her to interact with adults. The very nature of this tends to upset the parent-child balance and we see scenes where the petulant child takes a very liberal view of how and what to interpret for her parents. Lara's aunt is, to the girl, the pinnacle of sophistication and independence. The girl is thrilled with the gift of her aunt's old clarinet. He father is less enthusiastic with the his daughter's attachment to his estranged sister. Lara, now 18, has become torn between the desires she has for her own life and the needs of her family.

The more I think about this movie the more it reminds me of `The Little Mermaid'. I'm not trying to be funny, it just kept striking me about the girl who longs to be ‘part of that world' of music and yet is drawn to the world of silence where her parents live.

I should have read the box on this a little more carefully. I didn't realize that it was in German when I rented it. Those guys from Miramax are very clever about not playing up those little points. I wonder if GSL is similar enough to ASL for American signers to follow the plot without the sub-titles.

The Cardinal (1963)

Not as good as the book !!

[6/10 · 9 July 1999]

A young priest comes to grips with his vocation. A young super power comes to grips with its new position in the world. These are the stories told in the magnificnt book "The Cardinal".

The movie is a watered down version. The intellectual aspect of the priest is considerable weakened. The cast of characters with whom he interacts is two-dimensional. The plot takes some noticible turns towards popular opinion. Much less satisfying than the novel.