80s Movie Review - Rain Man

Director: Barry Levinson
Genre: Drama
Runtime: 133 minutes
Year: 1988
Starring: Tom Cruise, Dustin Hoffman, Valeria Golino

Description: After a selfish L.A. yuppie (Tom Cruise) learns his estranged father left a fortune to an autistic-savant brother (Dustin Hoffman) in Ohio that he didn’t know existed, he absconds with his brother and sets out across the country, hoping to gain a larger inheritance.

Review: “Rain Man” is a heartwarming, moving and powerful road movie with exceptional performances. I used to watch it all the time when I was younger, time for a rewatch.

Charlie Babbitt learns that his estranged father has passed and he left him none of his fortune. Charlie finds out he has an autistic brother Raymond, who inherited all their dad’s money.

Dustin Hoffman’s portrayal of Raymond is a world-class performance. Tom Cruise’s development of his selfish character into a mature human being is also a highlight. The two have excellent chemistry.

The film is moving and effective in showing a growing bond between two brothers, making it a feel-good experience despite the heavy subject matter.

Emotional Impact: The film is moving and effective in showing the growing bond between the brothers, making it a feel-good experience despite the heavy subject matter.

“Rain Man” is classic that resonates with its heartwarming story and brilliant performances. It remains an essential film about human connection and character transformation. I forgot how much I loved this movie.

Rating: 5/ 5

00s Movie Review - Runaway Jury

Director: Gary Fleder
Genre: Crime/ Thriller/ Drama
Runtime: 127 minutes
Year: 2003
Starring: John Cusack, Rachel Weisz, Gene Hackman, Dustin Hoffman, Bruce Davison, Bruce McGill, Jeremy Piven, Cliff Curtis, Leland Orser, Jennifer beals, Bill Nunn, Luis Guzman, Nora Dunn, Dylan McDermott

Description: A juror on the inside (John Cusack) and a woman on the outside (Rachel Weisz) manipulate a court trial involving a major gun manufacturer.

Review: Rankin Fitch is a ruthless jury consultant who must select a jury for a revolutionary trial to ensure its verdict. He fears nothing or no one. One the trial begins, it turns out that the selection of one juror can cause problems. He finds himself in a situation that shows he doesn’t know his opponent as well as he initially thought after all.

The films starts with a gruesome shooting in an office that kills many people. We are then place two years later when it is revealed that the shooting caused a trial to now take place that should set a precedent. The wife of one of the men killed is suing the gun manufacturer because it caused guns to be easy to get.

On one side us the conscientious lawyer Wendell Rohr. On the other, the man who is one the side of the gun manufacturer and who actually ges paid for it if the trial is won: Rankin Fitch. His job is to make sure who gets on the jury, because justice in the USA is still left to juries, so it is important to know the people on the jury well. Fitch’s team takes this very seriously and also very far.

Both parties are given a list of names and files of all the people who were called for jury duty, for them to decide which of them will actually be on that jury. Fitch thinks that they got this one, but someone within the jury is there with a purpose.

It is based on a John Grisham novel, an author known for his court dramas. But “Runaway Jury” is one of my favorites and it’s not your standard court drama either. We get to experience how incredibly flawed the jury system is. This movie is about manipulation, corruption, extortion and so on. And even though this movie came out in the early 2000s, this film is still so topical.

“Runaway Jury” is a very strong crime thriller with some surprising twists throughout and a fantastic cast. A movie that is underrated if you ask me.

Rating: 4/ 5

90s Movie Review - Sleepers

Director: Barry Levinson
Genre: Drama/ Thriller/ Crime
Runtime: 147 minutes
Year: 1996
Starring: Kevin Bacon, Jason Patric, Brad Pitt, Billy Crudup, Ron Eldard, Robert De Niro, Minnie Driver, Dustin Hoffman, Brad Renfro, Bruno Kirby, Joseph Perrino, Geoffrey Wigdor

Description: After a prank goes disastrously wrong, a group of boys are sent to a detention center where they are brutalized. Thirteen years later, an unexpected random encounter with a former guard gives them a chance for revenge.  

Review: With the director of “Rain Man”, an all-star cast and a heavy subject, “Sleepers” looks like a successful film on paper. I don’t think it was successful, but it’s definitely a film that should get more credit.
We meet four kids from ‘Hell’s Kitchen’, a neighborhood in New York. One day the four boys decide to pull a prank, but it goes horribly wrong and they end up in a youth prison. And life isn’t easy for them, because they are abused, sexually, physically and mentally. After they are released, the lose touch. Until two of the friends, John and Tommy, run into one of the guards and kill him. It’s up to the two other friends, Michael and Shakes, to keep them out of prison.
Even though the ending is a bit flat and the characters don’t all get the depth they need, the overall film is pretty strong and I believe it’s very much overlooked and underrated.

Rating: 3,5/ 5

Oldies Review - Kramer Vs. Kramer

Director: Robert Benton
Genre: Drama
Runtime: 105 minutes
Year: 1979
Starring: Dustin Hoffman, Meryl Streep, Jane Alexander, Justin Henry, Howard Duff, George Coe, JoBeth Williams, Bill moor, Howland Chamberlain, Jack Ramage, Jess Osuna, Nicolas Hofmann, Ellen Parker, Shelby Brammer, Carol Nadell

I WATCHED THIS MOVIE FOR MY 2021 MOVIE CHALLENGE.
WEEK 11: A MOVIE FROM THE 70S

Description: After Joanna (Meryl Streep) leaves her husband Ted (Dustin Hoffman), Ted rediscovers his bond with his son Billy. But a heated custody battle ensues over the divorced couple’s son, deepening the wounds left by the separation.

Review: Ted Kramer is a busy businessman with a job that takes up a lot of his time. When Ted comes home after a long day at work and after bringing in a big deal, his wife Joanna is about to leave him. Joanna has had enough of her life where Ted is negligent and leaves him with their young son Billy. Now that he is on his own, Ted must find a balance between work and his son.
Ted has quite a hard time doing this. He wakes up late, burns food and lashes out at Billy. The frustration reaches a boiling point when Billy refuses to eat his dinner one night and decides to eat ice cream against his father’s wishes. Ted gets angry and Billy goes to bed crying. Fortunately, they make up and things go a lot better from then on. Ted finds a routine and can balance his work life with being a father for Billy. Until Joanna suddenly turns up again.
For a film with mayor names like Dustin Hoffman and Meryl Streep, this movie feels so small. And I love it. It only has a few characters and it takes place in a few different locations. And the story deals with troubles in one family. Big problems told in a small story.
The movie starts with Joanna’s departure and you seem to sympathize with her. You understand that she can’t deal with Ted working all the time. She gave up a good job to be a mom, but that isn’t enough for her anymore. You still don’t fully understand why she would leave her son as well. Along the way, you begin to feel more and more for Ted as he begins to emerge as a good father. And you will probably take his side in the battle.
The acting is powerful and so strong. Especially Dustin Hoffman blew me away. And it’s definitely a film you must see.

 Rating: 4,5/ 5

100 Movie Challenge 2017 - # 79: Straw Dogs

Director: Sam Peckinpah
Genre: Drama/ Crime/ Thriller
Runtime: 118 minutes
Year: 1971
Starring: Dustin Hoffman, Susan George, Peter Vaughan, T.P. McKenna, Del Henney, Ken Hutchison, Jim Norton, Donald Webster, Len Jones, Sally Thomsett, Robert Keegan, Peter Arne, Cherina Schaer, Colin Welland, June Brown, Chloe Franks, Michael Mundell, David Warner

Description: A young American (Dustin Hoffman) and his English wife (Susan George) come to rural England and face increasingly vicious local harassment.

Review: The somewhat nerdy David Sumner and his English wife Amy have had it with all the violence in America. They move to Cornwall, the town Amy grew up in. The Sumner don’t really blend it, the people around don’t like them entering their close community. David because he is an American, but also because he is a bit eccentric. And Amy is seen as a lust object. Soon they are the victims of harassment.
“Straw Dogs” was a very controversial film whe it came out in 1972. Reason was off course the rape scene. Nowadays, this scene wouldn’t be as shocking.
The film takes some time to become interesting. Dustin Hoffman manages to lift the acting a bit, but the rest of the cast is a bit bland. I was a bit disappointed by this film, I expected so much more. There doesn’t really happen a lot, to be honest.
“Straw Dogs” offers an interesting story and there are moments that kept me captivated. But overall it’s not the movie I expected to get.

Rating: 3,5/ 5

100 Movie Challenge 2015 - # 111: All the President's Men

Director: Alan J. Pakula

Genre: Drama/ Thriller

Runtime: 138 minutes

Year: 1976

Starring: Robert Redford, Dustin Hoffman, Jack Warden, Jason Robards, Hal Holbrook, Martin Balsam, Jane Alexander, Meredith Baxter, Stephen Collins, Penny Fuller, John McMartin, Robert Walden, Frank Wills, F. Murray Abraham

Description: Reporters Woodward (Robert Redford) and Bernstein (Dustin Hoffman) uncover the details of the Watergate scandal that leads to President Nixon's resignation.

Review: This movie is probably the base for many journalists and their ambitions, but any upcoming reporter is obligated to see this. “All the President’s Men” is about some fine journalism. Protecting your sources, creative games to get information from people. And this all to reveal one of the biggest scandals in American history.

The movie is based on the book written by the two journalist Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein. They wrote about the Watergate-affair. The fact that this scandal is real maeks the movie legendary, but Alan J. Pakula made good thriller. You have to pay attention though, because you get a lot of information from various people in different organizations. Although most people know what happened during the Watergate-affair, many will still be shocked by it and what it did to people.

The camera work isn’t extraordinary and sometimes it feels a bit repetitive. The setting is cold and sober, not much has been done to make it look better. But the acting by Dustin Hoffman and Robert Redford makes up for it. Sometimes a bit too much, sometimes very thoughtless, it feels natural.

“All the President’s Men” is a pretty slow film that should be viewed for its contents. It’s an interesting film about an interesting topic.

Rating: 3,5/ 5

100 Movie Challenge 2015 - # 79: Chef

Director: Jon Favreau

Genre: Comedy

Runtime: 115 minutes

Year: 2014

Starring: Jon Favreau, John Leguizamo, Bobby Cannavale, Scarlett Johansson, Dustin Hoffman, Sofia Vergara, Oliver Platt, Robert Downey Jr.

Description: A chef (Jon Favreau) who loses his restaurant job starts up a food truck in an effort to reclaim his creative promise, while piecing back together his estranged family.

Review: We all know those cooking shows that make our mouths water. Well, “Chef” is a movie that does the same thing. Jon Favreau stars in this film, but also wrote and directed it.

Good food, that’s the world of Carl Casper. His demanding job as the chef of a restaurant cost him his role as husband and father. Together with his team of cooks and the hostess Molly, he prepares for a food critic who comes to the restaurant. Carl wants a new and exciting menu, but boss Riva wants the usual. It gives Carl a destructive review. After a public tirade, Carl is without a job. With help from his ex-wife, Carl buys a food truck. This is the start of a new food adventure and also a good change to reconnect with his son.

“Chef” is great. Jon Favreau is at his best. His character is very likeable and even with all the big stars surrounding him, your attention goes out to Carl. Food trucks are really hip and the use of social media in this movie is done well too. “Chef” is a feel good movie, but can’t avoid clichés. But the movie has a sincere message: chasing the dream and passion. “Chef” is a movie with a lot of optimism and heart.

Not too sweet, with good humor. Jon Favreau delivered us a great film. Tip: make sure you eat before the movie, because this movie is pure food porn!

Rating: 4,5/ 5