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Reviews
The World According to Garp (1982)
A Worthy Adaptation
This book is one of my favorites, so I had to see eventually how the movie stacked up. Not bad, but not perfect either. The movie takes so long to get going that the end seems rushed. If I hadn't read the book, I would have had a hard time really understanding the feud with the Ellen Jamesians or Pooh's hatred of Garp.
Still, this is one of Robin Williams's less annoying performances and a talented cast that at the time not many people had probably heard of. In the end, the movie is complex, at times funny and others sad, and maintains the spirit of the novel.
The book is better, IMO, but this is close enough. "The Cider House Rules" is an even better adaptation--if you like this, you'll love that.
Free Enterprise (1998)
It Has Its Moments
This movie has some laughs, but it's not put together well enough to be a good film. There are subplots and characters that don't seem to contribute much to the plot. The ending is almost nonsensical; you'd have to see it to know what I mean. Shatner isn't involved as much as I expected in this movie; he doesn't seem to really guide the main characters to getting their lives on track as the descriptions promise.
I found it sort of refreshing that the main characters were not the stereotypical Trekkies living in their parents's basement, but at the same time (like during the Toys R Us scene) it seemed like the filmmakers were trying too hard to establish the characters's credibility as sci-fi geeks.
Because there are some good laughs (and some other good R-rated stuff) I'd recommend this for anyone who is or knows a Trekkie/comic book/sci-fi geek. Ultimately, though, this doesn't measure up to Kevin Smith's "Clerks", "Mallrats", or "Chasing Amy".
BTW, I thought the real title of this movie should have been "Get a Life" to tie it to Shatner's famous quote and the film's theme. Maybe that was taken already. ;-)