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matty_phila
Reviews
Daredevil (2003)
Even my boy Colin Farrell couldn't save this one!
Before you read this review, be warned: I can't stand Ben Affleck, and I've been irrationally prejudiced against Jennifer Garner ever since "Alias" managed to get all the attention that "La Femme Nikita" should have gotten, but didn't. But all that aside, I walked into this movie wanting to give it at least a 3 out of 5, but walked out realizing that 1 out of 5 was the best I could do.
You know you're in trouble when the best part of a superhero movie is the part explaining the origin, before the real plot even begins. That, and a kickin' soundtrack.
Ben Affleck, whatever. You are optional. Frankly, I wish somebody else had gotten this part. Kudos to Jennifer Garner, who managed to walk out of this with a kick-ass role, especially in the scene with the sandbags/bags of flour (whatever, who cares!). And poor Colin Farrell. Please, will somebody give him a good role. Bullseye is not it. Michael Clarke Duncan does fine in an underwritten part as the Kingpin. This man could play a very scary, multilevel villain, so what went wrong? I'll tell you the problem: Plot, what plot? I don't remember enough to comment on it. That tells you something.
Bottom line, this movie could have been so much better that it is a big disappointment. 1 out of 5. Buy "Fallen" by Evanescence, listen to it, and imagine the movie as it might have been.
Fire Down Below (1957)
What are you waiting for?
If you've read the IMDB plot summary for this film, you already know more than I did before I watched it. Which is a shame, because ... boy oh boy, I did not see where this movie was headed, although the title should have given me a clue. Two rascals with a tramp steamer (top-billed Robert Mitchum, with Jack Lemmon) agree to ferry a shady dame (top-billed Rita Hayworth) from island to island. But, as shady dames are wont to do, she comes between them. One of the surprises was that this was Jack Lemmon's movie, mostly due to the weird but compelling plot turn that takes the movie in a completely different direction about halfway through. Fantastic chemistry between Mitchum and Hayworth, who get all the good lines: "What are you waiting for?", "For someone to touch me with kindness." Both Mitchum and Hayworth are deeply flawed, and exude exquisite boredom, injury and weakness. Jack Lemmon, as the "kid" Tony is decent, happy-go-lucky, fearless and lovestruck, all at once. The love triangle plays out with betrayal, world-weariness, and a big sinking ship (not the Titanic). I say: Worth seeing (4/5).