I watch movies every week and then write down my thoughts. Read my previous reviews!
My rating is simple, Watch It, It Depends, Skip it.
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| The Fast and the Furious - A fun guilty pleasure, with plenty of import cars. |
The Fast and the Furious (2001)
Buy The Fast and the Furious
Watch The Fast and the Furious on Netflix
Written by: Ken Li (magazine article "Racer X"), Gary Scott Thompson (screen story), Gary Scott Thompson and Erik Bergquist and David Ayer (screenplay)
Directed by: Rob Cohen
Starring: Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, Michelle Rodriguez, Jordana Brewster, Rick Yune
Rated: PG-13
Plot:
Brian makes his way into Dom's illegal street racing crew, but Brian's loyalties aren't as they seem.
Verdict:
This movie is a guilty pleasure. It's not a good movie, but it's a lot of fun. This movie introduced me to import cars, brought the import scene to the forefront of pop culture, and it launched the careers of Vin Diesel and Paul Walker. It's got good action and competent directing, but the dialog is clunky in the best possible way. Nearly every line is quotable because of the stilted awkwardness. "I live my life a quarter mile at a time." "You never had your car." "I never narc'd on nobody." "I owe you a ten second car."
This launched the Fast and Furious franchise which quickly transitioned from a small budget car movie to an ever expanding over the top series of heist movies. This is still my favorite from the franchise.
Watch it.
Review:
This movie loves modified, flashy cars. What the sequels never captured is the prevalent love of cars. In the sequels every member of the team is a trained special-ops fighter and Vin Diesel utters "family" every other line. There is a definite correlation between the increasing budget and my decreasing interest. It's no longer a car movie, and that transition started in the first sequel.
I've seen this movie many times. I went to the theater more than once, and witnessed mini-vans attempting burnouts afterwards. This movie has to be responsible for a lot of idiot's accidents.
Upon this rewatch, I was surprised at the directing. Cohen does a nice job while battling the dialog. I could buy the dialog if this was a spoof, but it's earnest. I don't know how dialog this funny was created without it being intentional. "What's up with this fool? Is he sandwich crazy?" The dialog is mindless at best, but I can't help liking it. It's like the writers' goal was to create the coolest sentence for every line regardless of whether it made sense.
Brian (Paul Walker) becomes friends with Dom (Vin Diesel) and his street racing crew after losing a race and his car to Dom. Dom is the dominant and most popular street racer. This is his world, and Brian is trying to get in. Dom's car of choice is a third generation turbo Mazda RX-7. Brian starts in an Eclipse and transitions to a turbo Toyota Supra. Many of these cars have NOS (nitrous oxide), which is inaccurately portrayed as doubling the power of your car at the touch of a button.
What this movie gets right is the pacing. We see explosions and fast cars, which are as over the top as the dialog with horrid vinyl graphics and bright colors. The action is inter-cut with slower moments where we build the characters. Dom has a violent past and Brian has a few secrets. As bad as the dialog is, the pacing is very good, balancing action, racing, romance, and the characters.
With all of the ten second cars, these races take minutes time. I get it's for effect, but there is no street long enough to contain these races.
The story is good, it's just gotten the '90s filter. It really explores that line of being loyal to opposite sides of the law. It takes more than a few queues from Donnie Brasco (1997), with Brian's allegiances changing.
The soundtrack is definitely a product of the '90s, and I love it. It features Ja Rule, who also cameos in the movie, Limp Bizkit, and Ludacris among others.
Read my The Lobster review
Read my Green Room review
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| My Own Private Idaho - A unique road trip movie. |
Buy My Own Private Idaho
Written by: William Shakespeare (play), Gus Van Sant
Directed by: Gus Van Sant
Starring: River Phoenix, Keanu Reeves, James Russo
Rated: R
Plot:
Mike and Scott are hustlers living on the streets of Portland, trying to track down Mike's mother.
Verdict:
This a different and odd take on the buddy road trip movie. While the story claims to mix in Shakespeare's Henry V, it's debatable. It's rare a movie portrays a narcoleptic character and doesn't go for laughs, but this doesn't. While the dynamic between Mike and Scott and why they are in this style of life is interesting, it's not enough.
Skip it.
Review:
Calling themselves hustlers, Mike (River Phoenix) and Scott (Keanu Reeves) are prostitutes. Scott lives this life as a form of rebellion against his rich father, but eventually he'll inherit his family's wealth. Scott has a choice, but Mike doesn't. Mike's a narcoleptic, which is never used as a joke, not even between the characters. Scott often takes care of him when he falls asleep.
Mike just wants to fit in. He's searching for something to fill the void, and he seeks to find his mother. He and Scott travel across the country and overseas looking for her.
At times the movie is surreal as it gets into Mike's dreams, and it pivots into a documentary style as it interviews different street walkers. One sex scene is just a series of stills. The movie feels like an experiment, and Van Sant worked on it for a number of years, at one point even shelving it completely.
While is forces Shakespearean dialog into the screen play it's needlessly theatrical, and it's at odds with the gritty tone of this movie.
Scott eventually leaves the life when his inheritance comes in, ignoring his former friends. Scott never finds his mother and is left alone and broken.
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| My Left Foot - Daniel Day-Lewis doing his thing. |
Buy My Left Foot
Written by: Shane Connaughton & Jim Sheridan (screenplay), Christy Brown (book)
Directed by: Jim Sheridan
Starring: Daniel Day-Lewis, Brenda Fricker, Alison Whelan
Rated: R
Plot:
Christy Brown is a man with Cerebral Palsy who learns to cope in life using his left foot.
Verdict:
While it's inspiring to see what he accomplished, it's never touching. It's simply an acknowledgement of his life that doesn't translate his determination to film. A great performance from Day-Lewis can't make this into anything more than a story that is notable just because of his disability.
It depends.
Review:
The opening scene showcases solid foot acting. This is very much a physical performance and Daniel Day-Lewis steals the show. This isn't dissimilar to The Theory of Everything (2014) (read my review) where Eddie Redmayne's performance overshadowed the movie. Without the physical performances, there wouldn't be much left to either movie.
While the kid actor does a good job, Day-Lewis is uncanny. Without him or with a lessor actor, there might not be enough her to carry the movie. He's completely believable. Day-Lewis is a method actor, and as you might assume he didn't break character between takes. He remained hunched over in his wheelchair, and the cast even had to help him eat between scenes. While in the movie he uses his left foot, many scenes were done with a mirror as only his right foot was coordinated enough to complete the scenes.
You feel bad for Christy because his family just assumes he's dumb since he can't communicate. It's not until he scribbles "mother" on the floor with his foot that they realize he's not. Even then his parents underestimate him.
Despite his accomplishments, it's surprising how little his parents think of him. While his brothers do include him in various games, his father still doesn't realize his intelligence and his mother is pessimistic that speech and physical therapy gives him too much hope.
He's an inspiration. We often complain about why we can't reach goals because of what we lack, but Christy lacks so much yet is able to paint and write with only his left foot. He plays ball with his brothers.
The restaurant scene is stand out. Christy is upset when he realizes his doctor has a life outside of him and is engaged. Christy had a crush on her, and despite his limited range of communication Day-Lewis conveys the emotion of the scene expertly. Christy's reaction is crude, but it's all he can do with limited abilities.
This is contrasted with the bar fight scene which is a complete change of tone. It would have felt completely normal if this were a comedy, but it's not. It's an absurd scene with grannies breaking bottles over people's heads.
Christy Brown is an inspiration, but this movie is a showcase for Daniel Day-Lewis. Either Day-Lewis is just too good, or the writing didn't rise to the actor.
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