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Reviews
Deja Vu (2006)
typical T. Scott - no depth whatsoever
I think the makers of this movie couldn't decide whether they wanted to make a science-fiction or some kind of political-fiction film; what would point to the first of the two genres is of course the whole concept of time traveling but unfortunately there is too much effort put into placing this in reality (a reference to energy blackout in Canada, the date is shown on several occasions).
The result is that the viewer doesn't believe what he sees and one loses the interest in the whole story - if the science-fiction rules of telling the story had been applied along the way this could have been a good, watchable movie.
Denzel has made three films with this director and each one of them is worse than it's predecessor.
Wszyscy jestesmy Chrystusami (2006)
family destroyed by alcoholism
It's a story of three generations of Miauczynski-family, told from the perspective of the second and third male. The reasons for the alcoholism of the first Miauczynski are disregarded - the director instead concentrates on the alcoholism of Adam (2nd) and the influence it has on his son Sylwek (also on Adam's wife and mother). The conclusions are obvious but along the way the viewer receives an excellent examination of social relations in the middle and lower class in Poland - Koterski shows the extent to which alcoholism has been institutionalized in Poland as one of the reasons why this problem hasn't been solved. Great acting by Chyra, not so much by Kondrat. The rest of the cast is good.
Ghost World (2001)
entering adulthood
A story about finishing high school and facing new responsibilities. This is of course a very important period in a man's life as one has to make choices that define our lives, but the main two characters don't seem to make a big deal out of it, they are just happy to be together in a homosexual relationship without sex (how often have we seen that?) - there lies the main strentght of the movie: it portrays the social relations in this community in accordance with the reality of the last decade (in the whole Western World - mainly OECD countries); and it applies not only to the two main characters but to most of them. And it's this realism that makes this film so enjoyable.
The Family Man (2000)
what will you choose - family or financial success?
I enjoyed watching this one; it's not an action movie in any way - it's rather a story of "what would happen if i acted differently 10-15 years ago" and it's told from one perspective like it was some sort of a character study - the main character, Jack, is played by Cage in a way very similar to the role he played in "Matchstick Man" (in both of this films his characters are discovering themselves) but without all the nervous ticks, of course. Leoni is also very good - she's just developing into a wonderful actress and will probably get an Oscar very soon. I do not also categorize this film as pure fantasy as for me this is of course all Jack's dream and we all know that dreams are in some way part of the reality. It has to be said though that the director (by the way he's a future of Hollywood) draws a clear line between the dream world and the actual one - there is a feeling of urgency when Jack is coming to the airport in the final scene and I could certainly relate to that myself as most of us have to choose in our lives between career and relationships and sometimes there are moments when you're not so sure about your past choices. Overall it's a very good movie about our lives.
Heist (2001)
friendship is all that counts among thieves
First of all - I agree that there are too many twists and the dialog is maybe too fast sometimes, but the second watch should reveal all the goods of this movie; direction from Mamet is just marvelous - as we see for example in the first 30 minutes when the action is very intense and very exciting. Then it slows down just to prepare are us for the next intensification, but the viewer has many reasons not to press the pause button as the characters are very real and believable in their actions (Pinky is the exception - a poor performance by the actor) which center on a one final objective (as with Mamet there are hardly any distractions from the main plot). The camera work is exceptional - watch how the camera moves indicate the most important parts of the plot. All scenes are generally very well shot - for example the final confrontation next to the boat is portrayed from very interesting directions - the shot from the other side of the river is fantastic. Watch it for a second time just to appreciate the craftsmanship of Mamet.
Wonderland (2003)
a film about drugs and betrayal
It is such a pleasure to watch this movie. It's one of those films that you can watch over and over again (like for example Reservoir Dogs)- there are two reasons for that: narration and the performance of the actors; the way the story unfolds is very interesting- one learns it from different angles and it's up to the viewer to chose the most likely version (the director trusts the intelligence of the audience), secondly it's not chronological which is always a good choice. The actors do a great job in this one (apart from Bosworth)- Kilmer, Lucas, Nelson, Mcdermont, Bogosian, Levine are just wonderful in this story about drugs, betrayal, murder and many other things. Last but not least LA looks wonderful in this one - it's a credit to COX who overall did a great job. I'm looking forward to his next film.