90s Movie Review - Mrs. Doubtfire

Director: Chris Columbus
Genre: Comedy
Runtime: 125 minutes
Year: 1993
Starring: Robin Williams, Sally Field, Pierce Brosnan, Harvey Fierstein, Lisa Jakub, Matthew Lawrence, Mara Wilson, Robert Prosky, Anne Haney, Polly Holliday

Description: After a bitter divorce, an actor (Robin Williams) disguises himself as a female housekeeper to spend time with his children held in custody by his former wife (Sally Field).

Review: “Mrs. Doubtfire” is universally acclaimed as a heartwarming family classic, carried by and iconic and award-winning performance by Robin Williams. A favorite for my family when I was a kid. Although the film is known for its slapstick humor, I always appreciated the serious undertones regarding divorce and parenthood.

Robin Williams plays Daniel Hillard, a divorces father who disguises himself as the British nanny Mrs. Doubtfire to be with his children. He is the heart of the film. The film dares to present an honest portrayal of the impact of divorce on children and fatherhood, without resorting to a standard “happy ending” where the parents get back together.

This film brings back so many memories and as an adult I can still appreciate this film.

Rating: 4 / 5

Movie Review - Black Bag

Director: Steven Soderbergh
Genre: Crime/ Thriller/ Drama
Runtime: 93 minutes
Year: 2025
Starring: Michael Fassbender, Cate Blanchett, Pierce Brosnan, Naomie Harris, Regé-Jean Page, Tom Burke, Marisa Abela,
 
Description: When intelligence agent Kathryn Woodhouse (Cate Blanchett) is suspected of betraying the nation, her husband (Michael Fassbender) – also a legendary agent - faces the ultimate test whether to be loyal to his marriage, or his country.
 
I WATCHED THIS FILM FOR MY 2025 MOVIE CHALLENGE
WEEK 42: A FILM WITH MICHAEL FASSBENDER
 
Review: We follow secret agent George Woodhouse, who must find out which of his fellow spies has betrayed the country. His wife Kathryn is at the top of the list of suspects.
“Black Bag” is spy thriller by Steven Soderbergh. It’s a clever and intimate thriller with a mix of suspense and psychological drama.

The cast is strong, Cate Blanchett and Michael Fassbender are great as ever and have excellent chemistry. The style and atmosphere is elegant, stylish and mysterious. But that’s where the positivity ends for me.

For the genre that it is, the great cast it has and the interesting and intriguing plot, “Black Bag” is boring. And the story is unnecessarily complex, incoherent and complicated. And this way it’s really difficult to stay engaged. The pace is very slow, the film mostly consists of conversations. And there is nothing wrong with that, some of my favorite films are very heavy on dialogue. But for this movie it works to its disadvantage.

Probably the biggest disappointment of the year.

Rating: 2,5/ 5

Movie Review - The Thursday Murder Club

Director: Chris Columbus
Genre: Mystery/ Comedy/ Crime
Runtime: 118 minutes
Year: 2025
Starring: Helen Mirren, Celia Imrie, Pierce Brosnan, Ben Kingsley, David Tennant, Naomi Ackie, Daniel Mays, Jonathan Pryce, Richard E. Grant
 
Description: Four irrepressible retirees spend their time solving cold case murders for fun, but their casual sleuthing takes a thrilling turn when they find themselves with a real whodunit on their hands.
 
Review: Anyone who has read the bestseller “The Thursday Murder Club”, knows the story: in the fictional English town Fairhaven, the elderly residents of Cooper’s Chase lead a peaceful existence. For some of the seniors, that is too boring, so they get together every Thursday to discuss unsolved murder cases.

To do this, they transform the puzzle room into a small office filled with crime scene photos and clues. As a former secret agent, Elizabeth Best is the natural leader, supported by union representative Ron Ritchie, psychiatrist Ibrahim Arif and nurse Joyce Meadowcroft.

They all have a specialism, which naturally comes in handy during the investigation. When their retirement home is shaken with a real murder of a real estate developer, the foursome suddenly find itself with a brand new murder case on its hands.

Helen Mirren and Ben Kingsley were kind of already in my mind, when I was reading the book (almost 5 books in the series now). Mirren is perfect as Elizabeth and so is Kingsley as Ibrahim. Wasn’t sold on Pierce Brosnan as Ron. I pictured someone like Ray Winstone, but Brosnan is good in his role. He plays his own version of Ron, he is not book Ron. My favorite character in the books is Joyce and Celia Imrie brought her to life in the most perfect way. I love Imrie as Joyce. Still my favorite character.

I love these books, would recommend them any time. And for the most part, Chris Columbus stays true to the source material. There have been changes made, which is always the case with a book to movie adaptation. And I’m fairly okay with them. I’m just not so happy with what they did with the character of Bogdan, towards the end. People who’ve read the book, will probably understand.

I really don’t understand why there are so many negative reviews out there. Many say the film is boring, but they probably found the book boring as well. This movie gave me the same vibe as the book did. The cozy mystery vibes are there. And the cast is amazing! I hope the do all the books (especially number 4), because I’m in!

Rating: 4/ 5

Movie Review - Black Adam

Director: Jaume Collet-Serra
Genre: Action/ Adventure/ Fantasy/ Science Fiction
Runtime: 124 minutes
Year: 2022
Starring: Dwayne Johnson, Aldis Hodge, Pierce Brosnan, Sarah Shahi, Noah Centineo, Quientessa Swindell, Marwan Kenzari, Bodhi Sabongui, Mohammed Amer, Viola Davis
 
Description: Nearly 5000 years after he was bestowed with the almighty powers of the Egyptian gods and imprisoned just as quickly, Black Adam (Dwayne Johnson) is freed from his earthly tomb, ready to unleash his unique form of justice of the modern world.  

Review: Teth Adam (later Black Adam) received magical powers from the wizard Shazam thousands of years ago. He has used these powers for evil purposes, they imprisoned him for centuries. Now he is about to be set free.

“Black Adam” is the latest film in the DC Extended Universe, which seems to be revived. But is this becomes the new standard, there’s not much improvement in it for the studio.

“Black Adam” is a very messy film. The story goes down thanks to the script. The structure is way off. In many films, story technical flaws are forgivable. But in this case, it distracted tremendously from the pacing, and thus the entire movie experience.

It takes very long for the story to get going. The introduction of Black Adam himself is well done and pretty cool. But until near the end of the film, our main character has completely no motivation. He has no needs, no purpose, he just exists in the film. And the plot itself jumps back and forth. Initially they have to stop Black Adam, but soon they choose a completely different route, which does not really work. This is why the eventual ‘plot twist’ feels confusing and cheap, and why the film does not flow nicely. The entire film just feels like a collection of events.

Dwayne Johnson, always an entertaining actor, seems like a good choice for the role, but he doesn’t really feel comfortable in his role. He plays a very emotionless character. Which seems logical, with the backstory he has. This also gives the film a very serious tone. And there is nothing wrong with that, but when characters like Atom Smasher and Karim, purely in the movie for comic relief, are trying to break this tone with their jokes, it feels out of place.

There is also the introduction of a new superhero group called the Justice Society, consisting of Cyclone, Hawkman, Dr. Fate and the aforementioned Atom Smasher. Among them, it’s only Dr. Fate who really leaves an impression and is interesting enough to actually care about. That’s mostly due to actor Pierce Brosnan and his experience. We are supposed to feel something for Cyclone and Atom Smasher, who have no chemistry, when we are clearly looking at potential love interests. And Hawkman’s character was anything but original, but his costume was really cool though.

The film is entertaining enough, because of the high quality of action, something to be expected from the DCEU. Maybe an overkill of slow-motion scenes, but that’s something I could forgive.

Unfortunately,  the technical feats do not save “Black Adam”. The poor structure, lack of interesting characters and weak editing, make this for a very “meh” experience. Kudos to DC for shining the light on a lesser known superhero, sadly not very well executed. I went in with no expectations, came out feeling I could have also just watched it at home.

Rating: 2/ 5

Movie Review - Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga

Director: David Dobkin
Genre: Comedy
Runtime: 123 minutes
Year: 2020
Starring: Will Ferrell, Rachel McAdams, Dan Stevens, Pierce Brosnan, Graham Norton, Mikael Persbrandt, Demi Lovato

Description: When aspiring musicians Lars (Will Ferrell) and Sigrit (Rachel McAdams) are given the opportunity to represent their country at the world’s biggest song competition, they finally have a chance to prove that any dream worth having is a dream worth fighting for.

Review: I wasn’t very sad about having to miss the Eurovision Song Contest this year. Even though my country The Netherlands won last year and it was supposed to take place here this year, I was never a fan of this song contest. I merely watch it because I want to laugh at the silly acts and bad songs. The film “Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Sage” is a perfect consolation prize for all the fans and I would chose this movie over the actual event any time.
As a straightforward American, comedian Will Ferrell had no idea what the Eurovision song contest was. When his Swedish wife Viveca invited him to watch with her family, his jaw dropped. Nice idea for a film he thought.
In “Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga”, Will Ferrell plays singer Lars who has dreamed of performing at Eurovision all his life. Together with his childhood friend Sigrit, played by Rachal McAdams, he forms the Icelandic band Fire Saga, who can participate in the Eurovision Song Contest due to an unfortunate accident. They’re just not well-prepared and they stumble through everything hilariously.
Will Ferrell clearly has been preparing for “Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga”. He went behind the scenes of the Eurovision Song Contest to do research and was later allowed to come back with a camera crew to make recordings of the audience. The realism is further enhanced by cameos of a number of former participants and of Graham Norton, the regular British commentator. This makes it a real party that manages to evoke the feeling of Eurovision.
The film couldn’t come at a more perfect time, with the actual event being cancelled. And like I stated before, I prefer this film over the real Eurovision.
It’s hilarious, over-the-top film, with funny performances by both Will Ferrell and Rachel McAdams. And it has everything that Eurovision also has, bizarre costumes, silly songs, extraordinary characters. This film shouldn’t be taken too seriously. And if you don’t, “Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga” is a lot of fun!

Rating: 3,5 / 5

00s Movie Review - Océans

Director: Jacques Perrin, Jacques Cluzaud
Genre: Documentary
Runtime: 105 minutes
Year: 2009
Starring: Pierce Brosnan (narrator)

Description: An ecological documentary, filmed throughout the globe. Part thriller, part meditation on the vanishing wonders of the sub-aquatic world.

I WATCHED THIS MOVIE FOR MY 2020 MOVIE CHALLENGE.
WEEK 7: A MOVIE SUGGESTED BY A FAMILY MEMBER

Review: When the credits roll across the screen, you realize what a massive undertaking “Océans” filming must have been. Over a period of four years, the makers of this documentary travelled all continents and filmed around the coasts of Madagascar, New Zealand and Antarctica during no less than seventy expeditions. The end result is nothing less than impressive and sets a new standard for nature documentaries.
With “The Travelling Birds”, an Oscar-nominated documentary about migratory birds, the Frenchman Jacques Perrin, known mainly as an actor had already earned his spurs in the genre of nature documentary and is doing even more with “Océans”. With an astronomical budget of fifty million euros and the most up-to-date technological equipment at his disposal, Perrin, together with co-director Jacques Cluzaud, dived into the marine world with the intention of showing the viewer how diverse life in the ocean is.
The first hour of “Océans” is of unparalleled beauty. The overwhelming images follow each other in rapid succession to the point where you almost wish Perrin would take a step back because at some point it will be too much to process. One of the countless highlights in this part of the film is a beautiful scene on the seabed between two exotic creatures, reminiscent of a classic shoot-out from a western. But also a scene in which a sea turtle is watching a space launch from afar is, although most likely staged, considered beautiful.
What sets “Océans” apart from other nature documentaries such as “Planet Earth”, with which the film will often be compared, is the use of the voice-over. The BBC series had at its disposal the authoritarian voice of Richard Attenborough who explained everything that could be seen on screen. “Océans” does not do this. The voice-over, in the English version spoken by Pierce Brosnan, is used sparingly and serves not so much as a guide to what is happening on the screen but more as a guide that you occasionally take by the hand. “Océans” is therefore much more of a descriptive than an explanatory documentary. The film looks at his subject full of wonder and awe and tries to evoke a general feeling of surprise in the viewer rather than discussing all the details in detail.

Rating: 4 / 5

100 Movie Challenge 2014 - # 116: A Long Way Down

Director: Pascal Chaumeil

Genre: Comedy/ Drama

Runtime: 96 minutes

Year: 2014

Starring: Pierce Brosnan, Toni Collette, Imogen Poots, Aaron Paul, Sam Neill, Rosamund Pike

Description: Four people meet on New Year's Eve and form a surrogate family to help one another weather the difficulties of their lives.

Review: Former TV Show host Martin is standing on top of a tall building, waiting his moment to jump. Maureen interrupts him, but she has the same plan. Totally in tears and seemingly desperate, the young Jess arrives and she’s in a hurry to end her life too. And pizza boy J.J. is the fourth person to join them. Four complete strangers, different people all with their own reasons, form a pact: not to commit or try to commit suicide before valentine’s day. With this pact an unlikely friendship arises.

The novel is written by author Nick Hornby, who previously had his books “High Fidelity” and “About a Boy” made into films successfully. Hornby is a master at writing books which combine wit and light drama perfectly. Although the theme, suicide, is very heavy, the story never feels like that. Hornby did a fantastic job. Sadly, the movie didn’t do it justice.

The movie is little over 90 minutes long. There is hardly any character development, when the book did this so wonderfully. It’s the books strength and it’s an essential point in the story. You want to get to know them and relate to them, but it’s almost impossible. The story feels rushed.

The actors aren’t the problem. It’s a good cast and they did a solid job. They all tried their best. Imogen Poots is probably the eye catcher, as troubled Jess.

The movie isn’t terrible, it’s average and very watchable. But it couldn’t live up to the great novel by Nick Hornby. The director had the material: a great story and good actors. He simply didn’t do enough with it. Sad…

Rating: 2,5/ 5

100 Movies Challenge 2014 - # 42: The World's End

Director: Edgar Wright
Genre: Comedy/ Science Fiction/ Action
Runtime: 109 minutes
Year: 2013
Starring: Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Martin Freeman, Paddy Considine, Eddie Marsan, Rosamund Pike, Pierce Brosnan

Description: Five friends who reunite in an attempt to top their epic pub crawl from 20 years earlier unwittingly become humankind's only hope for survival.

Review: The trio Edgar Wright, Simon Pegg and Nick Frost are back in the last part of their so-called “Three Flavors Cornetto-trilogy”. With previous successes “Shaun of the Dead” and “Hot Fuzz” Pegg and Frost write the screenplay and play the lead characters and Wright has the honors to direct this comedy.
Twenty years ago Gary King and his friends wanted to achieve “The Golden Mile”, which means that they visit twelve pubs in their hometown Newton Haven and ending in The World’s End. They didn’t make it and now, all grown up, the group of friends is going to give it another shot. But if they will make it to The World’s End or not is the least of their problems.
If you’re a fan of the previous films, like I am, you get exactly what you want. “The World’s End” is filled with the British humor that I love, mostly very subtle and not in your face. The film brought us a very memorable fight scene in a bathroom, which you really have to watch to understand why it’s close to being classic. Off course there is again a scene featuring a fence and a very subtle cornetto remark, both only meant for the insiders.
The entire cast is perfect and they all work very well together. Simon Pegg is the star of the film though, he shines in every scene and shows us that many American comedians still have a lot to learn.
If I want a good comedy, I leave it to Wright, Pegg and Frost, a magical trio. This is really my humor and they can hardly do anything wrong in my eyes. “The World’s End” is again a great film, for the lovers. And I hope the three men decide to make another movie… or two.

Rating: 5/ 5