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Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 13 March 2005

Released way back in 1995, Get Shorty was a great comedy with a stellar cast.  As the sequel, Be Cool has an equally strong cast but the comedy just isn’t the same.  Everything seems hit and miss.  For every good joke, there’s a bad one.  For every great scene, there’s an average one.  For every amusing cast member, there’s a dull one.  The result is a film which should have been better and makes you appreciate the wit of Get Shorty.

This time around, former gangster Chili Palmer (Travolta) has decided to quit the movie business.  It’s time for something new and having stumbled across talented singer Linda Moon (Millan), he wants to delve into the music industry.  The transition isn’t as easy as Chili had hoped.  Linda’s contract is currently held by manager Nick Carr (Keitel) who has no intention to release her.  Further, Chili’s late friend Tommy Athens was just murdered and music manager Sin LaSalle wants Chili to make good on the $300,000 that Tommy owed him.  Oh and yes, the Russian mafia is after Chili to finish some unwanted business.

Despite these dilemmas, Chili always remains “cool”.  He finds love with Tommy’s late wife Edie (Thurman) and everything he does for Linda turns to gold.  He even manages to get her a gig performing with Aerosmith in front of 20,000 people.  Don’t ask me how but the suave Chili always knows what to do…

It’s a fun character for John Travolta and I’m sure he enjoyed the opening scene of the film where it pokes fun at filmmakers and the idea of a sequel.  There are also a few sly jokes at certain people and methods within both the film and music industries.  It’s trying to be intelligent and it hits the mark on several occasions.

Yet as I’ve already alluded to, there are some horribly disappointing moments.  The usually enjoying Vince Vaughn is dreadful in a role in which he plays a white guy who thinks he’s black.  My criticism is not just of Vaughn but also of the silliness of the character.  In contrast, The Rock steals the whole show.  I can’t believe I’m saying that a former wrestler out-shines the likes of Keitel, Thurman and Travolta but there you have it.  Almost every word and action of The Rock will leave a smile on your face.

Those looking for the lofty heights of Get Shorty will undoubtedly be disappointed.  Those who haven’t seen the predecessor may find a little more amusement.  It’s a tired cliché but once again we have a sequel which just isn’t good enough.

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Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 03 March 2005

Few know who Alex ‘Hitch’ Hitchens (Smith) by name but most know him by reputation – he is the “Date Doctor”.  If you’re a guy looking for help in wooing a girl, Hitch is the man to see.  He helps you through the basic fundamentals and will have you fully prepared for that valuable first impression.

His latest assignment is one of his toughest – an accountant named Albert (James) has fallen head-over-heels for a client at work.  Not just any client though – this is a rich heiress who is continually splashed across trashy newspaper and magazine covers.  Her name is Allegra Cole (Valletta) and after consulting Hitch, Albert is ready to make the first move…

As Albert’s quest commences, so too does an opportunity open up for Hitch.  He’s attracted to an alluring journalist named Sara (Mendez) but he just can’t get it right.  The man who apparently knows all the answers, can’t seem to find them for himself.

What follows is an amusing comedy with a few twists along the way.  I particularly enjoyed the way several of the side-plots were woven into the story (particularly that of a scum-bag which Hitch refuses to take as a client).  Sure it’s obvious but hey, aren’t all romantic comedies?\

I’m not usually a Will Smith fan but he’s funny enough in this role for me to forgive past misgivings.  He’s still his usual self but at least the writing is better.  He works well with co-star Eva Mendez who seems to be the “in thing” in Hollywood.  In the past two years, she’s featured in many major films including Out Of Time, Stuck On You, Once Upon A Time In Mexico, Training Day and 2 Fast 2 Furious.

My major gripe with Hitch was watching the characters change personality too quickly.  Albert is terribly nervous one minute and amazingly confident the next.  I can’t say I really bought it.  The same applied to Hitch – I couldn’t believe that a man who is an expert in the field of dating could make so many mistakes himself.  On top of this, many of the films events feel predetermined and you know exactly what’s going to happen before it does.  I’ll use Albert’s first encounter with Allegra in the boardroom as a perfect example.  Even if you haven’t seen the trailer (which reveals too much of the story) you’ll know.

The box-office success of this film shows that many have suffered in making that first move and can relate to funny situations that Hitch and Albert find themselves in.  That said, I’m not sure if the deep, metaphorical pick-up lines Will Smith uses would hold up here in Australia.  Guys can try them if they like but be prepared to be laughed at.

Details

Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 13 March 2005

The world loves sport.  It brings out the competitive urges in us all.  Soccer may be the world-wide game but in America, there’s a brand of football which it can call its own – gridiron.  Their passion and the fanaticism for this game would rival even the craziest English soccer supporters.

Odessa is a small community in western Texas which serves as the background to Friday Night Lights.  In 1988, writer H.G. Bissinger followed the fortunes of the high school football team, the Permian High Panthers, and their pursuit of the State Championship.  I haven’t read Bissinger’s book but I’m told it provides an honest look inside the culture associated with high school football.

The cinematic version of Bissinger’s novel focuses on the coach and a select group of players.  Billy Bob Thornton (Bad Santa) plays Coach Gary Gaines and you’ll see the intense scrutiny from a town in which any loss is deemed unacceptable.  Lucas Black (All The Pretty Horses) plays quarterback Mike Winchell, an intensely-focused player looking to use his sporting talent as a platform to a college scholarship.  Garrett Hedlund (Troy) is runner Don Billingsley, a party-loving teenager struggling to live up to his father’s high expectations.  Derek Luke (Antwone Fisher) is Boobie Miles, the star of the team but battling an injury which threatens his future dreams of playing professionally.

There are more characters than those I’ve listed but you can see from my brief outline that one shouldn’t think this is stereotype free.  We’ve got the over-bearing parents, the dreams of going to college and escaping a dead-end town, and the coach who is always misunderstood.  Everyone of these topics has been covered in other teen football flicks including Varsity Blues and Remember The Titans.

It may not be anything new but Friday Night Lights is helped by the realisation that this is a true story.  I’m sure it’s had a touch with the cosmetic brush but the results of the matches and the ultimate conclusion is as it really happened.  I particularly seeing what became of all the players after high-school (in a short blurb at the very end).

Actor turned director Peter Berg (Welcome To The Jungle) is behind the camera and gives the film a grainy-documentary like style.  With several hand-held cameras and many quick zoom-ins and zoom-outs, you feel closer to the action and you’d think it was shot back in 1988 as it happened (rather than as a re-enactment).  It’s a good look.

Whilst it won’t be as popular in Australia as it has been in the States, Friday Night Lights is a half-decent sporting film.  Perhaps most importantly, I remember feeling a tingle down my spine when watching some of the final matches.  For me, that’s a benchmark for any sporting film.  If I’ve become emotionally connected with the characters, stereotypes aside, it’s done its job.

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Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 27 February 2005

I have respect for Keanu Reeves.  He can’t act but at least he knows it.  Others tell me that he’s been quoted as saying how lucky he is to be given so many great cinematic opportunities.  He knows there are much better actors out there who can’t find work.  Keanu is just making the most of what he’s got.

The truth is, Reeves is very disappointing in the leading role of John Constantine.  He delivers his lines in the same deep and unemotional tones that we’ve come to expect after The Matrix trilogy.  There were some parts where I thought he was reading his lines straight off an autocue.  Nothing seemed spontaneous and the deliberate pauses were continually annoying.

For those interested in the storyline, John Constantine is an important individual.  Not to those on earth but to those who control it.  You see, God and the Devil made a wager and at stake are the souls of every living human being.  God tries to make people good and the Devil tries to make people bad.

Several years ago, John tried to commit suicide.  In fact, he was dead for close to two minutes before regaining consciousness and returning to the real world.  In that two minutes, which he called “a lifetime”, he saw a glimpse of hell which he never again wanted to see.  He knew he must redeem himself to God to ensure that when he died a second time, he wouldn’t be going back.

John’s mission is to help God by removing “half-breeds” – these a associates of the Devil who are part-human and part-immortal.  They use their powers and influence to sway the bet in the Devil’s favour.  Unfortunately for them, John has a few powers and weapons of his own and he continues to defeat those half-breeds who step out of line.

A romantic interest enters the picture when police detective Angela Dodson (Weisz) has a sister who dies in a mental institution and she comes to John with questions of the after-life.  John soon releases that there’s more to Angela that he first thought and she is soon the key to winning the battle once and for all…

I couldn’t help but think all the way throughout the film of The Devil’s Advocate – the 1997 film starring Keanu Reeves and Al Pacino in which Reeves works as a lawyer who has the devil as a client.  I know the two films aren’t the same but you can’t help but think there’s a similarity in that they do revolve around Lucifer himself.

In reviewing Constantine, I found myself bored and uninterested.  Lots of special effects, glimpse into the underworld, the exploration of supernatural themes.  It just doesn’t interest me and first-time director Francis Lawrence did little to keep me enthused.  The disappointing start to 2005 continues…

Details

Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 05 March 2005

For quiet 16-year-old Eddie O’Hare (Foster), he expects this summer to be the best of his life.  A budding writer, Eddie has been chosen by famous children’s book author Ted Cole (Bridges) to serve as is intern.  Eddie has even drafted a novel of his own and anxiously looks forward to what this great writer will think of his work and what help he can offer.

What transpires is everything but.  From their first encounter, Eddie realises that Ted is not the man he expected him to be.  Eddie has arrived at a time when Ted and his wife Marion (Basinger) have begun a trial separation.  They may be separated but they have developed a strange habit regarding their living arrangements.  So that they can equally spend time with their 4-year-old daughter, Ruth (Fanning), they each spend alternate nights at their sea-view home.  When one of them is at home, the other spends the night in a small city apartment.

Eddie soon finds himself as a confidant to both parties.  With the romance drained from her life, Marion takes pleasure from the innocent school-boy crush that Eddie develops on her.  An affair then ensues.  Ted on the other hand, is looking for a free chauffer.  He lost his drivers licence a few months earlier so he uses Eddie to drive him everywhere.  What he sees and hears from Ted is strange to say the least.

As open as this married couple are, there’s one topic they never speak of.  Their two teenage sons recently passed away and Eddie senses this is the key reason behind their crumbling marriage.  How did they die?  Eddie wants to open this “door in the floor” but it’s a precarious topic to approach…

This film from writer-director Tod Williams is based on the novel A Widow For One Year by John Irving.  I’m no book critic but I like Irving’s style have read The Cider House Rules a few years back.  When you watch The Door In Floor, you’ll feel the richness and complexity within the characters.  They are multi-dimensional and very mysterious.  Like a good novel, not all is revealed in the first chapter.

Three great performances act as the catalyst in bringing Irving’s book to the screen.  For Jeff Bridges (The Big Lebowski, The Contender), it proves once again that he’s great in any role.  For Kim Basinger, it proves that the talent that won her an Oscar for L.A. Confidential is not going to waste.  For Jon Foster, it proves that there’s one more newcomer with a bright future.

The only limitation I felt with Floor was that it felt a little compact.  So much story and so much character development was being squashed into a miniscule 111 minutes.  As I’ve indicated in the past, the challenge of condensing a beloved novel is the hardest tests for any screenwriter.  There were too many elements to this tale which were not explored to my liking.  Then again, I suppose it’s always better to say too little rather than too much.

In regards to this review, I too should probably say no more.  The rest of the film’s great qualities, I will leave for you to see yourself.