Change Your Image
robcox7
Reviews
The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
What is all the fuss about?
SR is a good film. In my view it is not a great film!
Firstly - it is lazy film-making to have a character (Red, in this case, played by Morgan Freeman) as a narrator to tell us what is happening. The film itself should convey the narrative. If someone has to read the narrative I might as well just buy the book!
Secondly - the story is simply not believable! I can't believe that a prisoner gets to do all the tax returns for the guards and governor. I can't believe that a prisoner entering the prison just happens to have a heard another prisoner in another prison boast about committing the murder for which our hero is serving time.
Thirdly - the story all ends up 'happy ever after' which is seldom the case but which, I suppose, satisfies those of a simplistic/idealistic nature. I prefer more grit and realism.
Fourthly - the 'goodies' (Dufresne, Red, Brooks) and the 'baddies' (Bogs, Hadley, Norton) are drawn so simplistically they might as well have been wearing white and black hats! There is no depth of character here.
Fifthly - and most damning - this film made me feel very little! I didn't really care about the characters (except - maybe - Red). The plot with Dufresne taking on his alter-ego on escape was clever and the suicide of Brooks was a bit moving but this was not enough for me. I go to the cinema to be moved by the plot or the characters; to be made to think; or simply to laugh! This was not a laughing film but neither did it reach me on any other level.
It was also too long!
Man Up (2015)
I hate romcoms
Yes - I really hate romcoms. So twee! So predictable! So badly acted! So contrived! So many happy endings! I only went to see this because I had 3 cinema voucher tickets to use before their imminent expiry date and my wife and her friend decided on this film!
Amazingly I enjoyed this though! The humour was clever and verbal rather than slap-stick. I loved the references to other films! I thought Lake Bell who played the female role was superb and the premise ('stealing' someone's blind date) was new to me.
It wasn't perfect. It could have done without the OTT Rory Kinnear character and the gaggle of youngsters who chase down the streets to witness the somewhat predictable finale.
But you don't expect romcoms to have a perfectly watertight plot or even a credible one. So take this at face value, as I did, and you will enjoy it too!! OK - I admit it - I even shed a tear or two. Maybe I'm getting soft in my old age?
Premonition (2007)
Thought provoking and well-crafted!
I watched this movie some years ago on TV and it must have had an effect on me. Because when I saw it advertised again yesterday (2014) it rang bells with me and I re-watched it.
If you are looking for a feel-good fairy tale ending then this is not for you. If you are wanting a life-affirming message then - again - this is not for you. But if you appreciate a good, thought provoking, well-crafted story with much to think about then you will not be disappointed. A second viewing reinforced my initial feelings of quality and helped me understand some of the subtleties of the direction and screenplay.
It is one of those films that reveals itself more as it progresses. Throughout the movie small things - the empty wine bottle, the page torn out of the directory, the 'other woman' etc - slowly return to make sense of the confusion. Things begin to slot into place as the flash-backs and memories depicted start to make sense of the plot. The tragic finale is (by the time you get there) predictable but no less powerful for that.
There are holes in the plot but these are insignificant compared with the effect and the drama of the unfolding story. Watch it with an open mind. You will not be disappointed!
In the Deep Woods (1992)
Poor but compelling
This film has a totally unbelievable premise, is badly acted and poorly filmed. It reminded me of a long version of those 'B' films I used to watch before the feature film I had really turned up to see. It was sad to see Anthony Perkins play such a one-dimensional character. It was almost funny to see the police chief attempt to catch the serial killer of 26 females with only the killer's sister and a freelance private investigator as 'back-up'!!
But I watched it to the end - hence the generous 3 rating - just to see who the killer really was! Watch it if you must but be prepared to take none of it seriously and leave your critical faculties behind when you do so!
Apocalypse Now (1979)
What's all the fuss about?
I finally got to sit down and watch this iconic film (on TV I must admit) and was mightily disappointed. Maybe - almost certainly - it was more powerful when it was made in 1979 but I didn't feel it had anything new to say for today.
Yes - the cinematography was great and the battle scenes were incredibly realistic for that time but that is not what makes a good film. The story line was pretty non-existent; the message (war is futile and dehumanising??) has been made many times before (and since) and I felt no empathy with any of the characters (with the exception, strangely, of the pilot of the boat). I really didn't care whether the Duvall character lived or died! The scene towards the end interspersing the sacrificial killing of a bullock(?) with the killing of the mad Kurtz was embarrassingly trite and the film in general - dragged....! Sorry - this film is over-hyped!!
Ordinary People (1980)
Incredible Movie
Quite simply this is my favourite movie of all time. Not because it is an easy or comfortable film to watch - it is certainly not that - but because it touches the emotions in a believable and honest way.
There are no evil villains here - not even Beth, the mother who finds it so hard to express her love for her son - just 'ordinary people', captive to their own personalities and characters who are 'found out' by tragic and unforeseeable circumstances. Nor are there any 'happy endings' here - just a sense that, in admitting the truth, some of the characters may be beginning a new chapter in their lives.
Watching this film is an exhausting experience! An amazingly mature performance by the young Tim Hutton underpins an excellent cast and Redford's directorial debut is remarkable. Confusing initial images and flashbacks slowly fit together and make sense as the film progresses. I come back to this film at regular intervals and it never fails to stir me.
Watch it!!