I expected this movie to be good. The one review published here to date suggested that it would be. The DVD box, not surprisingly, promised it would. The ideas seemed lofty. The cast - well, Kingsley, anyway, suggested competence. What could go wrong?
The answer is: Almost everything. This is a truly awful film. Baldwin is up (or down) to his usual standard. Great hair. Bad voice. Poor acting. Mostly, it's the writing that undermines everyone. Some of the situations that were supposed to be tense or exciting were just laughable. The relationship between Baldwin and the judge just seemed silly. The profanity - and I can't recall myself saying this before - seemed gratuitous. The Hebrew dialog sounded phonetically learned, which is pretty funny since these characters were supposed to be orthodox Jews.
Maybe this was a great book, or a great idea for a book. But as cinema, it was rock bottom. Don't waste your time or money.
The answer is: Almost everything. This is a truly awful film. Baldwin is up (or down) to his usual standard. Great hair. Bad voice. Poor acting. Mostly, it's the writing that undermines everyone. Some of the situations that were supposed to be tense or exciting were just laughable. The relationship between Baldwin and the judge just seemed silly. The profanity - and I can't recall myself saying this before - seemed gratuitous. The Hebrew dialog sounded phonetically learned, which is pretty funny since these characters were supposed to be orthodox Jews.
Maybe this was a great book, or a great idea for a book. But as cinema, it was rock bottom. Don't waste your time or money.