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Reviews
Cornered: A Life Caught in the Ring (2008)
Manipulative Documentary Film-making
The film really starts off great as a very objective approach to what happened at the notorious Resto/Collins fight. But the film loses all credibility when the director breaks the fourth wall and starts parading Resto around.
It is the cardinal sin of a documentary filmmaker to do anything but DOCUMENT. Here, the director pays to have Resto fly all over America and do something he would otherwise not do. That is not a documentary. That is "reality" television.
Furthermore, his constant harassment of Billy Collins family is very uncomfortable. When a subject doesn't want to be interviewed, LEAVE THEM ALONE. There is nothing entertaining about watching a filmmaker bother someone until the police are called. It's something I would expect from network news, not a serious documentary filmmaker.
It's really such a shame because the film had a lot of promise. I won't say it's completely a waste of time, but I felt the filmmaker could have made a great film without Resto's guilt parade.
Smokin' Aces (2006)
Schizophrenic, Anti-Climatic...
SMOKIN' ACES doesn't seem to know what it wants to be. It has elements of an action picture, but it also tries to be a murder mystery, comedy, and drama. And on all levels... it fails.
The biggest problem is the ending. The filmmakers set the stage for what could have been one heck of a shoot-out. Instead, it settles for a "twist" ending that REALLY disappoints. Many characters sub-plots are left unresolved. It's one thing to have a consistently bad movie, but having a movie that could have been great and blowing the ending is even worse. I couldn't believe Joe Carnahan (NARC) directed this picture. Save your money and don't even rent this one.