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Reviews
Fuck (2005)
Great Promise but Lacking in Depth
F*CK has a great premise: explore the origins of the word, its existence as a taboo word, how it plays in today's culture, music, film, business, etc. The film does a great job of covering all the bases and giving us perspectives from a variety of sources: from "cunning" linguists to professors to comedians to filmmakers to senators to musicians. The filmmakers do a good job of balancing the far right and the far left and make almost everyone seem reasonable and level-headed. The only weakness in the film is that there is no arc. The film gives us 5-6 topical segments and then stops, leaving us wondering, really, what was the F*cking point? In general, a fine film, though given that ThinkFilm picked it up (and also released Aristocrats) it would have been interested if Aristocrats (the most verbally gruesome film in the last 5 years) had been covered. Hopefully Michael Moore will take a look at this and remember how documentaries should be done.
Bad Santa (2003)
It's Good to be Naughty
Oh god this is hilarious. Definitely don't try to eat or drink during this film because you'll drop everything on the floor laughing ... and if you try to maintain some sense of dignity or morality, forget it. Willie (Thornton) is in cahoots with Marcus (Cox) as a roving band of thieves that dress up like Santa and his Elf during the holiday. However, Willie's got a bad temper, a beat-up liver, and a runaway libido. Brett Kelly, the Kid, is the fat slob that starts to gnaw at what's left of Willie's heart and conscious ... and the sexy Lauren Graham is Sue, a no holds barred bartender that gives Willie a reason to get up, literally, in the morning. Bernie Mac is terrific as the suspicious Gin and John Ritter (RIP) is the neurotic and bumbling Bob Chipeska. Oh, this film is so bad (sex and language) that it's real real good.
Mr. & Mrs. Smith (2005)
ZZZzzz
This is one of those movies that seems like the perfect storm: two gorgeous actors (Jolie and Pit), a funny sidekick (Vaughn), the cross-over TV actor (March), pretty faces (Huntley, Monaghan), a crazy plot, and just enough special effects to make it work. Unfortunately, with all these bricks, it sinks under its own weight. The plot is too detailed to let go and instead gets in our way. Pit and Jolie, as a bored married couple trying to hide each other's identities as competing assassins, is novel, but wears thin once they discover each other and start the death match. There's little suspense, and this is probably one to blame on the director or editor. Vaughn, as always, steals the show and is the main reason the film maintains any sense of stability.
Crash (2004)
From Brilliance to Hack
Luckily, Crash doesn't suffer the same overwrought, juvenile story telling of the more acclaimed Million Dollar Baby. At least in this case Haggis is able to weave several interesting characters into a somewhat digestible film. However the so-called great exploration into race relations is totally underwhelming, ever so for anyone that's ever dealt with racism in real life.
The most interesting stories have to do with Det. Waters (Cheadle) and the other with Jack Ryan (Dillon). Waters is a respected African-American detective who lives in shame because of his addict mother, inability to have a healthy interracial relationship, and has to come to terms with his younger brother's actions and is forced to "sell out" within the force.
Dillon, in an amazing performance, is a racist cop, made so, not born with it. His father, hard-working, is forced into poverty and lives in pain and Dillon blames it on blacks. During a routine stop, he molests a young women in front of her husband. Their subsequent meeting, and the interaction between the characters during a life-threatening moment, is gripping. Ever more so, you never know if either character actually changed or whether these moments simply reinforced the realities of racism.
Good entertainment but without significant substance.
Ocean's Twelve (2004)
Weak Story Torpedoes the Cast
With Ocean's 11, the formula seemed straightforward, but Soderbergh decided to make an immensely complex and ridiculous story that made the characters seem goofy rather than sophisticated.
In this sequel, Danny Ocean and his crew are back, but not voluntarily. They have each been hunted down by Terry Benedict and ordered to repay him, with interest, all the money that was stolen from the Bellagio, or Terry will kill them.
Inspired to repay Terry, the group convenes and decides to leave the U.S. ("too hot") and go to Europe and set upon a series of crimes. They can't find any jobs worth doing until they come upon the idea for the heist of the century.
Everyone's back, the whole gang, but Danny needs to recruit one more: Ocean's 12. To make matters worse, Interpol agent Isabel Lahiri (beautiful Catherine Zeta-Jones) is hot on their tail.
An amazing cast but the story fails to delivery a substantial twist and the characters end up flat with no development that grabs your interest.
Ocean's Eleven (2001)
Terrific - Thrilling and Funny
Soderbergh brings together a brilliant set of actors in this remake of the Sinatra classic. Filmed on location, any Vegas fan will fall in love with the "action" that's happening off the blackjack and craps tables. Danny Ocean (Clooney) is a criminal (and a liar, ha ha) who's just been released from jail. He dreams up a convoluted scheme to take down 3 of Vegas' largest casinos, all, incidentally, owned by Terry Benedict (Andy Garcia). Danny needs money to fund the operation and a crew. Danny goes to Reuben Tishkoff, who'd love to see Terry go down. Next, Danny brings together the eclectic crew of criminals, from actors to bomb makers to a tiny Chinese gymnast.
The plot is fairly solid with a traditional twist at the end reminiscent of many suspense murders / robberies but it's the chemistry of the cast that really makes the film sparkle.
The subplot is Danny's romance of Tess, his ex, who is now with Terry.
Will Danny's pursuit of Tess endanger the pursuit of cold hard cash?