100 Movie Challenge 2014 - # 6: The Magic of Belle Isle

Director: Rob Reiner
Genre: Comedy/ Drama
Runtime: 109 minutes
Year: 2012
Starring: Morgan Freeman, Virginia Madsen, Kenan Thompson, Fred Willard, Kevin Pollack, Emma Fuhrmann, Madeline Carroll, Nicolette Pierini

Description: Monty Wildhorn (Morgan Freeman), an alcoholic novelist of Westerns, has lost his drive. His nephew (Kenan Thompson) pushes him to Summer in quiet Bell Isle. He begrudgingly befriends a newly single mom (Virginia Madsen) and her 3 girls who help him find the inspiration to write again.

Review: After “The Bucket List” (2007) director Rob Reiner and actor Morgan Freeman work together again. He plays the grumpy writer Monte WIldhorn. He spends the summer in Belle Isle, where his cousin Henry thinks he might have some time for writing new material. Monte spends most of his time drinking, but when he meets the young Finnegan, one of the neighbours daughters, we see Monte change and he finds his inspiration again.
Like almost every other time, Morgan Freeman shines in this movie. With his charming and calm way of acting he wins over all the hearts. Especially the conversations he has with the dog are a joy to watch. Emma Fuhrmann, who plays Finnegan, is a talent to watch. It’s a movie for any age and Rob Reiner made a beautiful movie with, off course, a message. And he doesn’t sugarcoat the story, which makes is as good as it is.

Rating: 4/ 5

Movie Trailer Sunday (33)

This weeks trailers are about a man falling in love with a killer whale trainer, a struggling writer, the past and present meeting up, the invention of the vibrator and a woman approaching 30.

Rust & Bone
Description: An unemployed 25-year-old man falls in love with a killer whale trainer.
Director: Jacques Audiard
Starring: Marion Cotillard, Matthias Schoenarts, Bouli Lanners, Celine Sallette
Trailer: Trailer "Rust & Bone"

The Magic of Belle Isle
Description: Monte Wildhorn (Morgan Freeman) is a famous Western novelist whose struggle with alcoholism has sapped his passion for writing. He takes a lakeside cabin for the summer in picturesque Belle Isle, and befriends the family next door, an attractive single mom (Virginia Madsen) and her young daughters, who help him find inspiration again.
Director: Rob Reiner
Starring: Morgan Freeman, Virginia Madsen, Fred Willard
Trailer: Trailer "The Magic of Belle Isle"
Comment: Morgan Freeman can hardly do anything wrong.

Looper
Description: When the mob wants to get rid of someone, they will send their target 30 years into the past, where a 'looper', a hired gun, like Joe (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), is waiting to mop up. Joe is getting rich and life is good, until the day the mob decides to close the loop, sending back Joe's future self (Bruce Willis) for assassination.
Director: Rian Johnson
Starring: Bruce Willis, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Emily Blunt, Piper Perabo, Jeff Daniels
Trailer: Trailer "Looper"
Comment: Looks good, Willis, Levitt and Blunt in one movie.

Hysteria
Description: The surprising truth of how Mortimer Granville (Hugh Dancy) came up with the world's first electro-mechanical vibrator in the name of medical science.
Director: Tanya Wexler
Starring: Hugh Dancy, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Rupert Everett, Jonathan Pryce, Felicity Jones
Trailer: Trailer "Hysteria"

Lola Versus
Description: Lola (Greta Gerwig) is a 29-year-old woman dumped by her longtime boyfriend just three weeks before their wedding. With the help of her close friends, Lola embarks on a series of desperate encounters in an attempt to find her place in the world as a single woman approaching 30.
Director: Daryl Wein
Starring: Greta Gerwig, Debra Winger, Bill Pullman
Trailer: Trailer "Lola Versus"