Over the years, many films have taken a dark look at the supposedly perfect ideal of a white picket fence, a little house, and a nuclear family. For many, the suburban life is the American dream. For others, however, it can turn into a twisted nightmare of unfulfilled desires, repressed needs, and shattered hopes. Beca...
History repeats itself, the first time as tragedy, the second time as farce. So, apparently, do the films of Luc Besson. In 1992 he made "La Femme Nikita," which in its cold sadness told the story of a tough street girl who became a professional killer and then a civilized woman. Now he has made "The Pro...
I jump! You can look but don't you hump. I'm major. I roar. I swear I'm not a whore. We cheer as we lead. We act like we're on speed. Hate us 'cause we're beautiful--but we don't like you either. We're cheerleaders! We are cheerleaders! Those are lyrics from the opening musical number of...
About five times during Message in a Bottle, I checked the time on my wristwatch as well as my pulse to see if I was still alive. The screen romance between stars Kevin Costner and Robin Wright Penn is so labored, the movie makes the insufferably long Meet Joe Black look like a coming attraction by comparison. Conveni...
When MGM elected not to screen Autumn In New York for film critics, the decision touched off a minor controversy. First, stars Richard Gere and Winona Ryder spoke out publicly against this move, claiming it was an insult to the integrity of their film (director Joan Chen wisely declined to comment). The MGM execs count...
"Rumor Has It ... " is the unfortunate victim of comparisons to "The Graduate." Obviously, there's no way the film can possibly stack up to the 1967 comedy classic, directed by Mike Nichols, which spoke to an entire generation of young filmgoers. But it is also the victim of comparisons to earli...
The desire for familiarity in movies can lead to sequels and re-makes, but that doesn't always have to be the case. It can also mean the use of storyline everyone sitting in the theater knows. A Good Year is a respectable retelling of the "back to nature" narrative, in which a selfish individual becomes s...
With Just Like Heaven, director Mark Waters (Mean Girls) wants to have his cake and eat it to. That's not necessarily a bad thing, until you consider that the recipe used for this confection is missing a few ingredients and the final product is half-baked. And, rather than eating it, he kind of chokes on it. Just L...
Mike Leigh has often been referred to as a prince of misery. His films, grounded in working class reality, are often downbeat. It's hard to argue with their quality or authenticity, but one typically doesn't walk out of a Mike Leigh film with a renewed appreciation of life. His most widely esteemed movie, Vera ...
Every time I think Hollywood has slipped beyond redemption, someone in the system produces a film like Jerry Maguire that renews my faith. Apparently, creativity is not dead in the mainstream movie market -- not entirely, at least. This is the kind of movie that reminds me why I started reviewing in the first place. Je...