PaulaMary Reviews

The Company Men (2010)

The other side of the coin...

[29 July 2011]

This is a very well-acted movie, first and foremost. I always adore Chris Cooper, who does an outstanding job, as always. Tommy Lee Jones and Ben Aflec are also quite good.

The movie is about the fallout of hubris and consumerism run amok. The men we meet are all "management" and live high on the hog. But it's also about the fact that while they are living beyond their means and not being prudent with their enormous salaries, losing their jobs has the same impact on their souls, their families and their future as an hourly guy in the manufacturing floor. Another reviewer mentioned the Kevin Costner character, who is scornful of management and rides his brother-in-law about how easy his life is. But his simplistic and narrow world view is no more helpful than that of the heartless CEO who sacrifices thousands of jobs to maintain his $22 million salary. It's just the scope and flavor of his arrogance that's different.

Ben's character learns what too many of us execs forget: our families would rather have us around and emotionally present than all the crap we fill our lives with. Each of the company men learns something from this experience and becomes a better man away from the company.

In Plain Sight (2008–2012)

I love this show

[7/10 · 4 June 2011]

This is a great show, despite being predictable now and again. I love the characters and I love the soundtrack. Both Mary and Marshall are complicated and interesting people. Mary's family is as crazy as any family can be, but as the saying goes, every crazy family is crazy in it's own way. I wish we knew more about Marshall's life because he's easily one of the most interesting men on television, despite having no personal life whatsoever. He's well read and wry and very patient and insightful. Only drawback: I miss Robert Dershowitz!

My husband and I blew a rainy Saturday watching one episode after the next on Netflix. As rainy Saturdays go, it was a good one.

Then She Found Me (2007)

I really wanted to like this movie

[3/10 · 21 March 2011]

I really wanted to like this movie, as I like Bette and Colin very much! The story was interesting and should have been very compelling. So why didn't I make it all the way to the end? Because I cannot look at Helen Hunt without wincing. She is so incredibly emaciated it is painful to look at her. HELEN! EAT A FREAKING HAM SAMMICH. Or tuna.

Colin Firth was wonderful for as long as I could stand to watch. His character is so engaging. He bounces back and forth from English proper and rumbled Englishman to frantic and too blunt divorced man who's a giant, gaping wound. Bette, as ever balances charming and obnoxious like nobody's business! Her character is a roller coaster and manages to hide her vulnerability behind her usual bluster.

I don't know if Skeletor will scare off other viewers, but I hope someone, somewhere can get her to eat some damn thing.

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2007)

Disappointing to readers

[5/10 · 23 July 2007]

I'm a grown-up muggle who looks forward to All Things Harry way more than is probably appropriate, but OoTP disappointing to me. Maggie Smith is perfect, as is Robbie Coltrane as Hagrid, and the actor who portray Harry, Ron and especially my girl Hermoine are wonderful, too. The last two movies have just been such superficial renditions of the books. The CGI effects are very much improved over the first few movies, but at the cost, it seems, of the emotional truth and depth of the first movies. Harry and Sirius are on screen together for what... six minutes? Umbridge? We see hardly any of her true wickedness! It was bad enough how Cedric was a cardboard cut-out in TGoF, but now his murder is marginalized from everyone's emotional landscape. I just felt a little cheated at all the shortcuts.

All that said, these movies are like Cary Grant movies. Even when they aren't great, some Harry (or Cary!) is better than none.

The Big Lebowski (1998)

just did not care...

[4/10 · 19 May 2007]

I love the Cohen Brothers. I've seen most of their movies way more than once. This one.. barely made it through once.

All the characters were horrible! I wanted to reach into the movie and clunk "The Dude" in the head. John Goodman's character was unspeakably rude and stupid and offensive. What a waste of Steve Buschemi! The only part that was amusing was Julianna Moore's character-- mostly because she was doing a great impression of Katherine Hepburn. Now that I think of it, the dream sequences were surreal enough to be interesting, especially the bit with a POV of the inside of a bowling ball!

My friend who recommended it replied to my objections by saying, "Oh, maybe I forgot to mention that this is a movie best watched stoned." Yeah... maybe. Do yourself a favor. Skip this one and watch Miller's Crossing again!

Unbreakable (2000)

I see comic book heroes and they don't even know....

[8/10 · 19 May 2007]

I was surprised how much I liked this movie. One preliminary comment: There are never that many people at a Penn football game. Well... except to kick Princeton's camel haired backsides. Willful suspension of disbelief only goes so far. :-) I wish Bruce Willis would make more movies like this one and fewer like Die Hard Blah Blah. He is so compelling as an obviously sad, lost man. Robin Wright Penn was good, too, but the script doesn't give her a lot to work with. Sam Jackson, as usual, hijacks your attention every minute he's on screen.

I'd highly recommend the movie to anyone who liked "Sixth Sense." The director has some clearly recognized "habits," like the physical darkness of the sets, the emotional distance between the married characters, the old fashioned score(a' la Elmer Bernstein), and the O'Henry ending, but everyone has a voice. He's consistent in his directorial style. It works.

I've never even read a comic book but I seem to enjoy movies about them. Perhaps it's the lack of moral ambiguity. The bad guys are bad and the good guys are good. If only life were that simple! A couple other reviewers have called this and other M.Night movies "family friendly," but I have to disagree. The movie is too emotionally dark and scary -- especially (PLOT SPOILER) the gun scene in the kitchen and the dead woman at the end.