Change Your Image
![](https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BMjQ4MTY5NzU2M15BMl5BanBnXkFtZTgwNDc5NTgwMTI@._V1_SY100_SX100_.jpg)
smitty-12
Reviews
Cowboy Up (2001)
Good movie unlikely casting . . .
This is an interesting movie--with some casting problems. We find that there is a lot more to riding a bull than just being big or tough. Kiefer's character (brother to the lead) expands the stereotypical cowboy role because he is a sensitive, yet confident, thinking mans cowboy; full of compassion and depth. Molly Ringwald is waisted on a weak script. She plays a women who is supposedly a great catch but she has no patience, understanding, or sex appeal and is a poor listener. In addition, she looks at least 5 years older than Ely (her boyfriend). What do they have in common? What in the world was the attraction for these two people? In fact, all of the women's roles are written politically correct or safe and are therefore drab, boring, and unrealistic (they're too perfect). We never find out what Ms. perfect mom saw in the completely dysfunctional dad. It's hard to believe she could stand him long enough to have two kids . . . the movie shows that he had no redeeming qualities--whatsoever. Daryl Hannah is a fine actress but to long in the tooth to play the love interest of a man (Kiefer) nearly 2 inches shorter and 7 years younger than she is. Conversely, it's encouraging to see men and women closer in appearance and age--but this pair up just doesn't work--in the scene in the cafe Hannah looks old enough to be Ely's mom--which makes a later scene highly unlikely. All in all a good TV movie but comes up short when compared to other quality big screen cowboy fair like Urban Cowboy, The Electric Horseman, or The Grey Fox.
I'll give it 3 out of 5 stars.
Ocean's Eleven (2001)
Great story marred by horrible sound track . . .
Ocean's 11 is the story of 11 con artists/thieves getting together to rip off a wealthy casino magnate in Las Vegas. After we get to know everybody a theme of Robin Hood against the Sheriff of Nottingham comes to mind. Then the heist--although their methods can be explained as impossible to pull off by any stretch of the imagination one doesn't care because we are lifted away to a place where rooting for the bad guy is mandatory--kind of like in the Sting only about a tenth as convincing or enjoyable. Conversely, it's not fair to compare this film to the Sting because the Sting has a sound track that compliments the thoughts and actions of the characters, the era, scenes and locations. In O-11, The entire look and feel of the movie is back ground to, or is over shadowed by, a loud thumping repetitive bass and drum track which evokes nothing to the imagination but perhaps annoying car or jeans TV commercials. Las Vegas overflows with a rainbow of diverse music--none of which resemble the sounds in the O-11. Only twice, and very briefly, does the sound track support the locations, scenes and characters: the entrance of Sahl (played by Carl Reiner), and the very end of the movie. Gen-X folks will most likely be the only folks who can relate to this sound track. This movie, unlike the Sting, will never be a classic because of the irritating, emotionally devoid, dated, loud, frustratingly repetitive sound track (which one can not call music). In addition, because the history or magnitude of the relationship between Roberts and Clooney is never apparent, we never really care about the Julia Robert character--it is unimportant to the movie and her performance is week and boring not to mention there is no chemistry at all between her and Clooney. In fact, all the characters (with the exception of Reiner, Damon, and Garcia) seem to be acting or pretending and thus are not convincing. On the bright side, the script is clever and humorous. And there are some fun twists that surprise you. If you enjoy repetitive, loud, bass and drums, you will like this movie. If you like a good mystery/adventure/heist movie--try watching with the captions on and the sound off--it's much better that way. C+
Never Say Never Again (1983)
Poor sound track . . . great movie!
Although Never Say Never Again (NSNA) has a weak sound track, it is far superior to its competition at the time, "Octopussy." Never Say Never Again is an updated and improved version of Thunderball (Connery's least popular bond flick). NSNA is rich with clever dialogue, wit, smarts, sex appeal, and one of the best and most convincing bad guys in the entire Bond series. In addition, NSNA features a very talented young and beautiful Kim Basinger. British comedy fans will also recognize the actor (Attwood), known as, "Mr. Bean." I wouldn't trade any of the Moore pictures for this one. However the earlier Connery/Bond efforts (with the exception of "Thunderball,") are superior.
Starting Over (1979)
Great Baby Boomers Couples Movie
If you're a baby boomer you might enjoy this movie that portrays men and women as equally sensitive, misunderstood, honest and fallible in the adventures of love. Of course, we know that good endings aren't always indicative of real life -- but that's what movies like this are all about--feeling good at the end. This is without a doubt my favorite Burt Reynolds movie and Jill is simply awesome. Enjoy this movie with someone close to you!