00s Movie Review - Someone Like You

Director: Tony Goldwyn
Genre: Comedy/ Romance
Runtime: 97 minutes
Year: 2001
Starring: Ashley Judd, Hugh Jackman, Greg Kinnear, Marisa Tomei, Ellen Barkin

Description: After being jilted by her boyfriend, a talk show talent scout (Ashley Judd) writes a column on the relationship habits of men which gains her national fame.

I WATCHED THIS MOVIE FOR MY 2022 MOVIE CHALLENGE.
WEEK 14: A ROMCOM
 
Review: Effortlessly, Ashley Judd, she shone in “Kiss the Girls”, among others, plays sounding big names like Marisa Tomei, Ellen Barkin and Hugh Jackman off the screen. But to say they know how to save the film is going too far: the weak script with dull dialogues meant that the film was already hopeless from the start.

One cheesy one-liner after another. Jane has a certain theory about men: one a man has slept with a certain woman, he loses interest in her and she is nothing more than an old cow. And she doesn’t stop talking about it. She writes a column about it, together with her best friend Liz and she tries to refine the theory.  

Throughout the film, Hugh Jackman’s character Eddie is around her. Both at work as at home, when Jane is forced to find a new living space and moves in with him. It’s very obviously they are supposed to move closer to each other, but it takes so long for this to happen.

“Someone Like You” is a bland and standard romcom, that only appealed to me because of its leading lady.

Rating: 2/ 5

00s Movie Review - Ocean's Thirteen

Director: Steven Sodenbergh
Genre: Comedy/ Crime
Runtime: 122 minutes
Year: 2007
Starring: George Clooney, Brad Pitt, matt Damon, Al Pacino, Ellen Barkin, Bernie Mac, Casey Affleck, Scott Caan, Elliott Gould, Shaobo Qin, Don Cheadle, Andy Garcia, Carl Reiner

Description: Danny Ocean (George Clooney) rounds up the boys for a third heist after casino owner Willy Bank (Al Pacino) double-crosses on of the original eleven: Rueben Tishkoff (Elliott Gould).

Review: The story in a nutshell: Danny Ocean and his ream get together to assist their buddy Rueben Tishkoff, who has been double-crossed by casino boss Willi Banks. As a result, Rueben has collapsed, is in bed with heart problems and Danny is furious. Time for revenge. The plan is to bankrupt Banks’ casino before it officially opens its doors. Let the swindle and sabotage begin…
After a flying start “Ocean’s Thirteen” collapses after thirty minutes. The different storylines aren’t all that interesting, characters come and go, and certain things remain unexplained. But they are back in Las Vegas, like in the first movie. And the actual execution of the plan feels like old times. And this part was really fun, enjoyable and exciting.  
Does the third film add something to the series? Not really. The second one also didn’t, but I do prefer this over “Ocean’s Twelve”. But “Ocean’s Eleven” was the best of the three and they should have just stuck with that one.

Rating: 3/ 5

100 Movie Challenge 2015 - # 46: Brooklyn's Finest

Director: Antoine Fuqua

Genre: Drama/ Crime/ Thriller

Runtime: 132 minutes

Year: 2009

Starring: Richard Gere, Don Cheadle, Ethan Hawke, Wesley Snipes, Vincent D’Onofrio, Lili Taylor, Will Patton, Ellen Barkin, Jesse Williams, Logan Marshall-Green

Description: Three unconnected Brooklyn cops wind up at the same deadly location after enduring vastly different career paths.

Review: Antoine Fuqua showed us the tough reality of cops and the street life in “Training Day”. Ethan Hawke, who was also in “Training Day”, stars in “Brooklyn’s Finest, together with Richard Gere and Don Cheadle. It’s a cop drama, but not standard: violent, without compromise and gritty as hell.

The effective intro sets the mood. The movie opens with criminal Carlo and cop Sal, in a parked car. The conversation isn’t important, but you can conclude that Sal needs money. He breaks the law for that. Then we meet cop Eddie, who wakes up and drinks a glass of whiskey right before he is about to start the last seven days of being a cop. Last we meet undercover cop Tango who, while driving a BMW, enters an apartment in the projects in Brooklyn with some gang members. It appears that a young dealer has just been shot by a cop.

This is the setup to the film and we shift between those three storylines. We follow them for a week and sometimes the stories intertwine. It gives you better insights in all the characters. For instance Sal, who needs to support his five children, and two on the way. Everyday there is the temptation of taking drug money that is found at the scene of the crime. Sal starts to take more risks. Ethan Hawke really impresses in his role. Eddie is set to pass on his experience to some new rookies. Richard Gere plays his role very subtle, he is a broken man. I liked seeing Gere in a role like this. Don Cheadle is undercover detective Tango and probably has the most interesting role. He managed to infiltrate and become friends with local drug lord Caz, played by Wesley Snipes. He is on the point of a break through and a promotion, so he can say goodbye to being an undercover agent. But his connection with Caz make the thin line between good and bad even thinner.

“Brooklyn’s Finest” is an above average cop drama, that doesn’t succeed because of its plot, but because of the strong cast and the anguished atmosphere. It’s an overlooked movie, that deserves more credit.

Rating: 3,5/ 5