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Reviews
Behind Enemy Lines (2001)
Not a spoiler, but the true awfulness of the film needs to be acknowledged
Having just watched this film (based on the participation of an actor I admire) I have to say that this film was can only be described as unintentionally funny throughout. Full of clichés (ie European general who doesn't care about the troops, gung ho Americans itching for action). Oh dear. The worst bit about this film is not the political idiocy of it, the emptiness of the plot, the disdain for life or the appalling editing (slow motion shots which are a reminder of the A Team) but the music. What does it say when a civil war in the former Yugoslavia is accompanied by rock music? Well, it says that this is essentially a movie for American teenagers who haven't a clue where Yugoslavia is (or was) but who do need to be made to sit still in the cinema. Result: with an action movie where random death happens to people they don't know about or care about but American lives are precious. Ultimately, this is a recruiting film for kids who think that they can be involved in foreign wars they know nothing about, get shot at, but come home safely. Dire.
Don Quixote (2000)
Reasonable... just
American and British luvvies have fun in southern Spain. I don't know what the Spanish think about this: The greatest work of Spanish literature turned into a Holy-Pinewood romp. The British actors got there doubtless by Easyjet, but although Lithgow is good at muting his American accent some of the others sound like they have strayed in from a beach in California. Still, one mustn't turn one's nose up at this. It is amusing even if camped-up in places. The terrible thing is it shows how just how unfortunate it was that Terry Gilliam's version got washed away. Here's a suggestion to people who enjoyed this film: read the book; and if your patience doesn't extend to this listen to the Jacques Brel version of the musical. This captures some of the pathos of the origin.