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Lawyerdude1989
Reviews
Code Name: The Cleaner (2007)
This movie "Codename: Cleaner" is weak.
I caught myself falling to sleep during "code name: Cleaner." The previews of other movies were better than this movie. Lucy Liu is the only redemption but she cannot carry this weak movie. The story seems to have been written by 5th graders making it up as they went. Cedric the Entertainer tries but he was given a weak script. Lucy Liu is a cutesy thing. She is a pleasure to watch, but the writers did not write enough good stuff for her. Nicolette Sheridan's role is so bad that her bloopers at the end of the movie are her best lines. Speaking of bloopers, it was not only Nicolette but all the major players who shined in the bloopers. The bloopers outshone the movie. The bloopers proved that the actors could improvise better material than the writers could write.
Those fews morsels that you saw on the previews? Well, those were the highlights of the movie and there was not much more. This movie could have been made into a nice 10 minute short story.
The emotional payoffs were weak.
The plot is contrived. A contrived plot can be forgiven if it is the springboard to a good movie. This contrived plot did not deliver. I could think of so many funnier, more entertaining things to do with Lucy Liu and Cedric. Lucy and Cedric tried their best.
Lucy Liu's role is similar to the role that she played in Lucky Slevin. She played the cute, sexy, nicely dressed very lovable soft core porn object - except in "Cleaner" they took away any overt sexuality and they dressed her more like a nun than the sexy woman that we love.
There was potential in this movie. Cedric and Lucy have proved track records. I went to the movie craving more of what I have seen in prior movies with these established stars, but the directors/ writers did not know what to do with these stars. It reminds me of a person who does not know how do drive a stick shift. They did not know what they were doing. It was pathetic.
Winter 2006/ 2007 has been a sad season for movies. I came home disappointed from this movie. I got more entertainment from YouTube and reruns on the internet.
In Broad Daylight (1991)
Brian Denney brought this true story to life.
I saw this movie some years ago. I also read the book. The man portrayed by Actor Brian Dennehy was Ken McElroy. The town is Skidmore, Missouri, population 200. This is an amazing story. The movie gives everybody different names to avoid lawsuits. McElroy lives a life of crime. He sired perhaps 6 children by several women. He stole pigs and cattle for a living. He shot two locals. The law failed dismally. He even escaped a traffic ticket by pointing a shotgun in the face of a copy. The cop did not complain. On July 10, 1981 the incompetent court continued/ postponed the case once again. McElroy was on trial for shooting a 70 year old man in the neck. He was out on a tiny bail. The farmers immediately held a meeting at 10 a.m. at the American Legion Hall. Within minutes McElroy came to town and went in the bar. This time he was without his gun. Within seconds, the farmers told him to go home. As soon as McElroy stepped in his fancy pickup truck several shots rang out. They killed him. Nobody was ever prosecuted for this assassination. The townsfolk held tight. McElroy's widown immediately reported the crime. She turned back and saw the assassin. She named him to the police. Nobody would corroborate her story.
My only fear is that some day some do gooder will re-open this case. Justice was served.
Incidentally, while the cops would let McElroy go even when he threatened them with murder and pointed a shotgun right in the face of the cop, these same cops would instead prosecute the farmers for speeding tickets.
The law in this town did not work.
People don't need police.
This story shows you why.
Stranger Than Fiction (2006)
Loser. Fatally defective premise. One of the year's worst. Goes nowhere.
Maggie Gyllenhaal was a delight to watch - but even she could not save this loser movie. There was not a single good emotional payoff! No good laughs. No warm fuzzy moments. Nothing. This movie is very bad. I felt very ripped off. I was angry when I left the theater! I blame Will Ferrell for agreeing to do this loser movie. The premise of the movie is not believable. The premise/ plot is not entertaining. It is stupid. This is a first attempt for this weak writer. I wonder what kind of underhanded deals put this loser screenplay in motion. The previews were boring and stupid. I mistakenly hoped that maybe there was some redemption. No. The movie was soundly bad from beginning to end. Sometimes a stupid premise is used to provide insight. "Groudhog Day" was such a movie: "Groundhog Day" has a dumb premise but a wonder heart warming story. Not so with "Stranger and Fiction" Aside from Maggie Gyllenhaal the performances were boring and brainless - and that is the fault of the boring writer. This movie is beyond mediocre. It is offensively bad. If theaters could be required to give back the ticket price, this would be the movie that would deserve a refund.
What the #$*! Do We (K)now!? (2004)
This movie is fraud perpetrated by idiot fraudsters.
Quantum physics has nothing to do with pop psychology. Ramtha is a fraud promoted by an idiot. JZ Knight is simply a con artist hiding behind the cloak of freedom of religion and free speech. She is a nut job who rips people off. The three directors of this movie are her sheep. I wish that somebody had told me this before I wasted my time on this movie. I am a very well educated person. At first I thought that perhaps this movie was a dark comedy because it is so pathetically stupid. Then I realized that the idiots in this movie are actually serious. Ignorance is rampant. Free speech permits us to lie as long as we call it religion or new age. These movie producers falsely promote this bad movie as enlightening/ scientific. Therein lies the fraud. This movie is pure bunko! Sadly the masses may actually belief the crap promoted in this movie. This move is disinformation. It is not enlightenment.
JZ Knight went to court in 1996 to sue some person who latched onto her Ramtha game. The court threw her case right out and the court of appeal affirmed the lower court. The producers of this movie know nothing of science or intellectual matters. Therein lies the fraud. They are mere uneducated cultists and they should have disclosed it. They have nothing to offer you. They are predators. They prey upon those seeking knowledge. They have nothing of value to offer in this movie. They have nothing to offer in real life in their fantastically expensive cult seminars. They are Scientology lite. The fraud comes in not disclosing the truth about this movie. It is as if the Scientologists has produced a movie and disguised the fact that the movie was by and for Scientologists. The Ramtha cult exists to make movie for JZ Knight who lives in a tolerant land. There are too many of these nutjobs springing up in the tolerant places in American like Oregon and Iowa.
Had I known that JZ Knight was behind this movie I never would have gone.
Lucky Number Slevin (2006)
The best. As much as you could want in this genre!
This movie gets "best of breed" award. This is a thinking person's movie. It is chock full of flashbacks and clues! This is also a first rate action movie. It is a treat! All the emotional payoffs are all there. Even the music is top notch! You won't be disappointed.
We begin with action! Pow! Assassinations! I nearly spilled my drink!
Then Lucy Liu tries to figure out the mystery of what happened to her neighbor Nick Fisher. This is a one of Lucy Liu's more delightful cutesy roles. The characters are all delightful! Kingsley is the Jewish gangster. Morgan Freeman is the black gangster. This is one of Bruce Willis's best roles. There are enough colorful gangsters and cops to satisfy anybody's appetite.
The dialogue is witty. There is not a wasted word! There is not a dull moment. The clues are all there if you listen and watch carefully. The story has one twist after another. This is a first rate movie!
I have never seen a movie quite as convoluted as this movie - but it all comes together wonderfully and it could not have been done any other way. This is storytelling genius!
I watched this movie two nights in a row. The 2nd time I watched it, it was like watching a different movie! If you don't enjoy this movie, well then there is something wrong with your enjoyment button.
What a well written script. Wow. Trivia: You will see Kingsley do something that he did in another movie within the past few years.
Fun with Dick and Jane (2005)
Jim Carrey in top form
I had high expectations. The movie delivered. Tea Leoni and Jim Carrey are two of my favorites. The story line was very believable. The movie was good from beginning to end. Emotionally satisfying. It was incidentally a good primer on how to avoid financial pitfalls. Don't make the same mistakes that this couple did. Don't think that you will be rich forever. Don't believe all the financial promises of the big employers because the savvy people know that the corporations are run for the benefit of the executives. They skim the money out of the company and then dump it and depart. Alec Baldwin played this same role (the corporate executive who jumps ship from the failing company) in another movie that I saw this year - oh, the one about the shoe designer: Elizabethtown. Fun with Dick and Jane was half as long and 4 times as enjoyable as Elizabethtown.
A History of Violence (2005)
I enjoyed this movie!
I enjoyed this movie! There was a good emotional payoff throughout the movie. The bad guys were very well cast! The only bad casting was the lead/ husband, the wife, and the son. I hated those three. The little girl was cute. There is really no mystery as to whether Tom is Joey. There are several lines that give you this information, as if the story would be better otherwise. This is a well told story without flashbacks. The downside is that the story is so shallow. Also, the plot is very contrived. 1 No woman lawyer would marry a man without knowing his past. 2 This small town diner would not be that crowded. 3 If the gangsters wanted this guy they simply would have got him without the cat and mouse. This story could have been written by a 10th grader. This is not a great movie. It is not even as satisfying as a good episode of Law and Order. However, it was good enough to satisfy my taste for a movie. Now that I think of it, this was really a dumb movie!