I almost skipped the film altogether since Kenneth Turan had given it a pretty bad review, and I don't care for Jim Carrey all that much anyway. Turned out it was O.K., fortunately Ebert and his buddy had reviewed it as well and both given it a "Thumbs Up." It's pretty clear to me now that Turan does not get it, I think he kind of misses the point of it all.
There are a lot of really bad films out there, this was not one of them. I am no Carrey fan by any means, I tend to avoid his films although I am still curious about "Grinch" and eventually might like to view it, who knows. But Carrey did not bring any harm to this film, that is the point I wanted to make. His part could have been played by any number of currently-available male leads; he played it about more-or-less the same as any of the others would have. The rest of the film works reasonably well, Rifkin & Holbrook (in the McCarthy-esque hearings-backdrop) have decent parts in it and Landau has a more significant role which he carries off competently. It was nice to see James Whitmore as well.
I just don't get it with Mr. Turan. Seems like his standard is awfully darned high if you ask me. Seems to me his job is to help me get to a weekend film I can be OK with, not to one where I walk out shaking my head, saying, "why did I bother?." Regarding the storyline in the film, I'd bet most of the younger audience has no concept whatsoever of the McCarthy era, and at the very least this thing serves as a vehicle to introduce their vacant minds to it (Mom, what's a communist?). Regarding trains used in the film, there are a couple of errors, kind of amusing.
I can understand Mr. Turan's criticisms in a broad sense, some of the individual points he makes are valid. Still, he seems to discourage the movie-goer and I just feel that it was a worthwhile film-fix for the most part. ----- Mrow
There are a lot of really bad films out there, this was not one of them. I am no Carrey fan by any means, I tend to avoid his films although I am still curious about "Grinch" and eventually might like to view it, who knows. But Carrey did not bring any harm to this film, that is the point I wanted to make. His part could have been played by any number of currently-available male leads; he played it about more-or-less the same as any of the others would have. The rest of the film works reasonably well, Rifkin & Holbrook (in the McCarthy-esque hearings-backdrop) have decent parts in it and Landau has a more significant role which he carries off competently. It was nice to see James Whitmore as well.
I just don't get it with Mr. Turan. Seems like his standard is awfully darned high if you ask me. Seems to me his job is to help me get to a weekend film I can be OK with, not to one where I walk out shaking my head, saying, "why did I bother?." Regarding the storyline in the film, I'd bet most of the younger audience has no concept whatsoever of the McCarthy era, and at the very least this thing serves as a vehicle to introduce their vacant minds to it (Mom, what's a communist?). Regarding trains used in the film, there are a couple of errors, kind of amusing.
I can understand Mr. Turan's criticisms in a broad sense, some of the individual points he makes are valid. Still, he seems to discourage the movie-goer and I just feel that it was a worthwhile film-fix for the most part. ----- Mrow