Details

Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 09 November 2000

McGinty wants total control over team selection.  His list of players consists entirely of “has beens” and those that “never were” but they’ve all caught the eye of McGinty some time over his career.  His quarterback is Shane Falco (Reeves), a college star who choked four years ago in the Sugarbowl (when the team lost by 45 points) and was never heard from again.

Athletes don’t often get a second chance but for this team, that opportunity has been presented to them.  They’ve got nothing to lose and everything to play for.  A chance to make amends for past disappointments.

The pitiful screenplay from Vince McKewin (Fly Away Home) takes stereotypes to an unattainable level.  Every team member has their own heartbreak story and it’s tiring to listen to and believe them all.  Reeves has a love interest in Brooke Langton which nothing more than a frivolous distraction.  It’s as if the story doesn’t know what it wants to be.  It tries to throw in laughs, romance, drama, action and in the end, it adds up to a zero interest value.

What they were thinking in getting Howard Deutch to direct?  Just look at his last two films, Grumpier Old Men and The Odd Couple 2, and one tells you that he’s not a guy who’ll bring flair to this production.  His direction is flat and when compared against that of Oliver Stone’s in this year’s other big football flick, Any Given Sunday, it looks even worse.  The football scenes were confusing and I could  not understand his insistence on showing the cheergirls every ten seconds.

As much as I loathed The Replacements, the two performances from Keanu Reeves and Gene Hackman shone.  I have never rated Keanu Reeves as an actor but my respect has increased over the past two years.  When he rejected Speed 2, the press ridiculed him but he rebounded with The Matrix, winner of four Academy Awards.  Here, Reeves underplays his role and shows that a leader need not necessarily be the most outspoken.

Gene Hackman was equally impressive as coach McGinty.  He’s in a similar position to the replacements in that this is going to be one of his last opportunities to coach at this level.  He’s not loud, he doesn’t shout at the players - he’s there to have fun and it’s invigorating to see a coach played that way.  Hackman also has the honour of closing the film with a line that epitomises the feeling one has for his character - “greatness, however brief, stays with a man.”

Details

Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 02 November 2000

Every time Norman is out, Claire hears strange creaks and noises from within the house.  At first she dispels these occurrences but when they persistently continue and an illusion starts appearing, things are getting a little scary. 

So who is this mysterious illusion and why does she inhabit their home?  I hate to give more away but if you’ve seen the trailer, you’ll already know the answer.  Why 20th Century Fox would choose to give away the key secret of the film is beyond me.  It’s like telling everybody before the movie that in Psycho, Norman Bates was impersonating his mother.

Director Robert Zemeckis compares the 20th Century Fox strategy to that of McDonalds and its success.  The reason McDonalds is so popular is that there are no surprises and people know exactly what they’re getting.  It is Zemeckis’s theory that cinema goers work in a similar vein - people like to go to a movie knowing what they’re in for (and can I add Double Jeopardy as another good example this year).  This astounds me particularly when the whole point of a thriller is to shock and surprise.

Given I knew who the apparition was, I sat impatiently through the first hour waiting for her identity to be revealed.  It seems that this wasn’t the only ghost to appear - Alfred Hitchcock appears to have risen from the grave himself to direct What Lies Beneath.  I have the utmost respect for Zemeckis in light of his last film, Contact, but his insistence on creating a Hitchcock-like film doesn’t quite result in the intended effect.  Things have changed since his era.

Music is kept to a minimum, the smallest sounds are amplified, and tricky camera angles will have you jumping from your seat more than once.  The film is quite scary but ruined by a ludicrous ending that has you questioning rather than enjoying the finale.  At film’s end, someone tries to kill someone else (that’s all I can say).  Firstly, I cannot understand why the person in question would try to kill the other.  Secondly, I cannot understand the method of killing and finally, I cannot understand how the other person escapes.  That sounds very vague I know but you’ll read them in a new light once you’ve seen the movie.

Michelle Pfeiffer is well suited to her role despite it being very different from her “norm” and it’s great to see her in action.  Harrison Ford’s role is much smaller and fans will be disappointed by his weaker showing (both in terms of time and performance).  Australian fans hoping to catch Miranda Otto can stay home as she features for not much more than a minute.

After dominating the box-office in the United States, What Lies Beneath is yet another in the ever growing list of Dreamworks blockbusters.  A film worth recommending if only we didn’t know “what lies beneath”.

Details

Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 09 November 2000

Turkish (Stratham) and Tommy (Stephen Graham) are two regular guys setting up a rigged boxing match for Brick Top (Alan Ford).  They’ve arranged for their boxer to go down in the fourth round so Brick Top and his friends can cash in with the bookies.  Two days before the fight, Tommy goes in search of a new caravan for Turkish and winds up in a gypsy community.  When an argument over price ensues, the boxer is flattened by gypsy Mickey O’Neill (Pitt), leaving them without a fight.  To save face, they convince Mickey to take his place in the ring.

Meanwhile in America, Uncle Avi (Farina) is overjoyed to find the jewel heist he organised has gone off without a hitch.  Franky Four Fingers (Del Toro) with his Russian crew stole an 84-carat diamond in Antwerp and has fled to London waiting to return to the States.  Franky has a nasty gambling habit and Avi is just hoping Franky can stay out of trouble.  That won’t be as easy as Franky has gotten wind of the fixed fight and wants a piece of the action.

Russian Boris The Blade (Rade Serbedzija) isn’t letting Franky just walk out of London with the diamond.  He’s arranged two pawnshop owners, Vinny (Robbie Gee) and Sol (Lennie James) to intercept Franky at the fight.

There are even more characters but to save you from total confusion, we’ll leave it at that.  The fundamental problem with Snatch is whilst well acted and directed, it is all too similar to Lock, Stock and other recent English films.  The idea has been done to death and one gets the feeling the studios are become less and less adventurous.

A slick soundtrack and quick camerawork add to the film’s positives but a soft ending spoils much of the earlier work.  Rent Lock, Stock & Two Smoking Barrels.

Details

Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 02 November 2000

Billy’s mother passed away last year and at age 11 he lives with his older brother Tony (Draven) and his dad (Lewis), both coal miners in a small Northern Ireland town.  The community is at boiling point with the miners on an enduring strike demanding better pay and the companies are refusing to concede to their demands.

Billy is given 50 pence each week by dad for boxing lessons but when he see the girls being taught ballet in the same hall, something inside tells him it’s more his style.  The ballet instructor, Mrs. Wilkinson (Walters), sees talent in Billy and persuades him to get serious so that he can audition for a spot at the Royal Ballet School in London.  Initially, Billy is doubtful, thinking that all male ballet dancers are “poofs” but the creative flair he has within is just waiting to burst out - he yearns to dance.  However, when his father and brother get word of the lessons, they’re determination to put a stop to it will be just one of many hurdles Billy will have to cross.

I have described Billy Elliot as apt I could but I cannot express the feeling and sentiment that any audience member will appreciate.  I was engrossed from opening to close and it was impossible not to get caught in Billy’s emotional story with its laughter, surprises, suspense and tears.

Director Stephen Daldry is a newcomer to filmmaking but is backed but a strong career in the theatre - his style is different.  During many of the film’s pivotal scenes, several stories are tied in by being shown at once, during the same song, with the camera crossing back and forth quickly between the stories.  He also uses well-crafted camera angles and subtly shows other characters in the background when focusing on one individual.

Lee Hall’s screenplay is also exceptional.  It revolves around the miners’ strike that actually did happen in 1984 and to which Hall was a witness.  Yet amongst all the bitterness it caused between families and in the community, he manages to craft a beautiful story between a boy and his father.  They share a scene on a fence near the film’s end that epitomises this beauty but the triumphant scene came when Billy danced in front of his father in the boxing hall to the music of composer Stephen Warbeck. 

It’s the little things that make the screenplay so rewarding.  The moment where Mrs. Wilkinson reads the letter from Billy’s mom.  The moment where Billy kisses Michael on the cheek and simply says “I’ll see you then”.  The moment where Billy and his father argue about the merits of ballet.  The moment Tony and his dad share at the mine when he crosses the picket line.  The moment when Billy asks “Miss, you don’t fancy me do you?”  The moment when Billy describes what it feels like when he’s dancing.  The moment where Billy opens the envelope from the Royal Ballet School.  Every scene as special as the next and will be long treasured.

The finale is a masterpiece in itself.  As Billy heads away, we see his father and brother going down the mine, Mrs. Wilkinson alone in the boxing hall and Billy alone on the bus.  All their lives have been touched by Billy’s electricity but now they return to the drone that is their lives – it’s the most moving part of the film.  In showing Billy at age 25 and then crossing to flashes of Billy jumping on his bed at age 11, we see just how far Billy has come.  He was once just a small boy with a big dream…

13-year old Jamie Bell plays Billy Elliot in a performance that will have you breathless.  Beating out over 2,000 others for the role, Jamie’s first film will be remembered for his refreshing innocence and his bashful smile.  Jamie has striking similarities with Billy in that he has been dancing since the age of 6 and hidden the talent from even his closest friends.  Since the film’s release, Jamie has been heckled by many for a kissing scene with another boy and had to hire bodyguards as a result.  It makes you wonder why people are insecure enough to focus on such an insignificant detail.  I’m sure they’re the same people who bag guys for getting into ballet and who provided the motivation for Billy Elliot in the first place.  Can a 13-year-old take home the best actor Oscar?  This is as good a chance as any.  The brilliant Julie Walters and Gary Lewis can also star preparing themselves for several acceptance speeches in the new year.

It is ironic that whilst not a film based on a true story, this is a true story based on a film in that Jamie’s life has many parallels with the screenplay.  It’s in a class of it’s own - a feel-good rollercoaster that words will never describe.  It’s “once in a lifetime” films like Billy Elliot that inspire people, including myself, to make the most of one’s life.  A flawless masterpiece. 

Details

Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 09 November 2000

The story opens with Ryan (Prinze Jnr) and Jennifer (Forlani) bumping into each other at several points across the early years of their lives.  When the film settles, we find them at college where they develop a strong friendship but neither seems to have much luck when it comes to love.  From the opening minute it is painfully clear to the audience that the two are perfect for each other and will ultimately end up together.  Yet somehow our two stars find it necessary to draw it out for another 93 minutes.

I squirmed and squirmed trying to slink deeper and deeper into my seat, wanting to escape from the whole experience.  When you take the director of She’s All That and combine with the writer of Color Of Night, you can start saying your prayers.  It’s a love story so commercial, you’ll feel like it’s been written straight from a screenwriter’s textbook.  Rule number 1: If you’re going to tackle a genre that’s been done many times before at least try to make it different.

I never walk out of films but this is as close as I’ve gone this year.  The last half hour was spent slipping in and out of consciousness.  Boys And Girls should not be approached at any cost and is considered dangerous to your future wellbeing.