Film Review: NURSE BETTY (2000)

Director: Neil LaBute
Writers: John C. Richards (story/screenplay), James Flamberg (screenplay)
Running time: 110 mins (approx)
Certification (UK): 18

Genre: Comedy/Crime/Drama/Romance
UK Release date: 1^st September 2000

Watched on Sky+ Saturday 31^st August 2013.

PLEASE NOTE: THERE MAY BE UNINTENTIONAL SPOILERS IN THIS REVIEW.

I can’t say I knew an awful lot about this movie before viewing. I had seen the title pop up quite a lot since it’s’ release but had never had the chance to see it until now. I found it interesting but not all that engaging; some good performances but it didn’t quite hit the mark. Here’s a very brief summary before I expand on that.

When waitress and soap opera fan, Betty Sizemore (Renée Zellweger) witnesses her husband, Del (Aaron Eckhart) being murdered, she goes into shock. This has the effect of making her believe she has left Del and is headed to LA to meet up with her ex-fiancé, Dr. David Ravell (Greg Kinnear) from the hospital-based soap ‘A Reason to Love’. Of course the men who murdered Del, Charlie (Morgan Freeman) and Wesley (Chris Rock), are on her trail as soon as they know she had witnessed the crime. On arrival in LA she is befriended and taken in by Rosa Hernandez (Tia Texada), after she saves Rosa’s brother. They set off to find Dr. David Ravell, but how will Rosa react when she realises he’s totally fictitious.

Although I found it an interesting concept, I found it quite hard to engage with any of the characters. Having said that, I did find I had a bit of a soft spot for Betty. It’s pretty well made, although I did feel I was watching a soap half the time. There were far too many coincidental events going on that allowed the plot to progress. The performances were all pretty good with Renée Zellweger easily standing out. Morgan Freeman was, well, Morgan Freeman; he just seems to play every part the same these days. Chris Rock was a bit of a surprise for me, playing the hot headed Wesley with great aplomb and a great degree of swearing. Over all though, I found it a little disappointing despite the decent performances, it never really got going.

SteelMonster’s verdict: RECOMMENDED (Just)

My score: 5.9/10.

IMDb Score: 6.2/10 (based on 25,424 votes when this review was written).
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0171580/

MetaScore: 69/100: (Based on 34 critic reviews provided by Metacritic.com at the time of going to press).

Rotten Tomatoes ‘Tomatometer’ Score: 84/100: (based on 130 reviews counted at the time of going to press).

Rotten Tomatoes ‘Audience’ Score: 38/100: (based on 34,847 user ratings counted at the time of going to press).
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/nurse_betty/

If you’re crazy enough… You can find me on Facebook at:
http://facebook.com/andy.steel3

LINKS:
(Note: All were working at the time of going to press)
Trailer:

Film Review: AS GOOD AS IT GETS (1997)

Director: James L. Brooks
Writers: Mark Andrus (story/screenplay), James L. Brooks (screenplay)
Running time: 139 mins (approx)
Certification (UK): 15

Genre: Comedy/Drama/Romance
UK Release date: 13^th March 1997

Watched on Terrestrial PVR Wednesday 24^th July 2013.

PLEASE NOTE: THERE MAY BE UNINTENTIONAL SPOILERS IN THIS REVIEW.

Scooping Oscars for both leading roles, I guess this one was bound to end up on ‘The List’ despite being a Romantic Comedy; a genre not often visited by this amateur critic. I have to say though, I’m finding them not quite as bad as I had feared (there may be more in the future – be warned). I found this one witty, charming and over all a decent watch; although there was one minor niggles. More of that later, after this very brief summary.

Melvin Udall (Jack Nicholson) is a writer of romantic fiction but knows very little about women. He’s very misanthropic, that is to say; antisocial, unfriendly, morose, surly (take your pick). On top of that he has OCD and finds it hard to function in the outside world; stepping on cracks in the pavement is a definite no-no. He likes routine and every day he goes to a certain diner where he likes to sit in a certain seat and have the same waitress, Carol Connelly (Helen Hunt), serve him. His world is turned upside down when his gay neighbour, Simon Bishop (Greg Kinnear) is beaten up and Melvin is forced to look after his dog by Simon’s friend, art dealer, Frank Sachs (Cuba Gooding Jr.). For some reason the dog brings out a softer side of Melvin and he begins doing things that are way out of character. He arranges a doctor for Carol’s sick son, Spencer (Jesse James) and even helps Simon out when he returns from hospital. But will a road trip with Carol and Simon bring Melvin and Carol closer together? Or will his straight-talking mess things up again?

Very well scripted with some really great one-liners; mostly delivered by Jack Nicholson; although there is one point where Greg Kinnear does a rather good impression. Both Jack and Helen Hunt put in great performances that were worthy of praise. My main niggle is that it is way too long; it could have easily been shortened by at least 20 minutes and that would have maybe given it a little more punch. Not that I was bored you understand, far from it, I just felt it would have benefited from being a little shorter. Enough of that; it’s a very well made film with some excellent performances and a touching, well written, script. Well worth a look.

SteelMonster’s verdict: RECOMMENDED

My score: 7.7/10.

IMDb Score: 7.7/10 (based on 165,708 votes when this review was written).
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0119822/

MetaScore: 67/100: (Based on 30 critic reviews provided by Metacritic.com at the time of going to press).

Rotten Tomatoes ‘Tomatometer’ Score: 86/100 (based on 76 reviews counted at the time of going to press).

Rotten Tomatoes ‘Audience’ Score: 81/100 (based on 375,290 user ratings counted at the time of going to press).
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/as_good_as_it_gets/

If you’re crazy enough… You can find me on Facebook at:
http://facebook.com/andy.steel3

LINKS:
(Note: All were working at the time of going to press)
Trailer:

Film Review: LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE (2006)

Directors: Jonathan Dayton, Valerie Faris
Writer: Michael Arndt
Running time: 101 mins (approx)
Certification (UK): 15

Genre: Adventure/Comedy/Drama
UK Release date: 8^th September 2006

Watched on DVD Monday 9^th April 2012.

PLEASE NOTE: THERE MAY BE SPOILERS IN THIS REVIEW.

I bought this DVD several years ago by mistake and it has lurked at the back of my collection ever since. Having heard several good things about it I decided to take the plunge and give it a look. I was pleasantly surprised; it wasn’t the usual ‘dysfunctional family’ cliché ridden rubbish I was expecting. No, it was so much better than that and I must say I even enjoyed it! I will give you my thoughts after this brief summary.

There are six main characters; first there’s seven year old Olive Hoover who has won a place in the finals of the ‘Little Miss Sunshine’ beauty contest. Then we have the mother, Sheryl, harassed as all mothers are in these films and Richard, the father, he has business problems that are causing friction with Sheryl. The fifteen year old son, Dwayne, hasn’t spoken for nine months; he has decided that until he achieves he ultimate goal of becoming a fighter pilot, we will not speak. The grandpa, Edwin, who swears, takes drugs and really doesn’t much care what the others think of him, apart from Olive (of course). Finally, there’s Sheryl’s brother, Frank, who has just attempted suicide and cannot be left alone. This unlikely collection has to get Olive the 700 miles to the beauty contest in a broken VW Camper van in just two days. What could possibly go wrong?... Well, I’ll leave it there or the Spoiler Police will be having me towed (again).

Now I’m not usually a fan of comedies, but the humour in this one is so dark that I actually enjoyed it! Very well made with some great dialogue and some characters that I could actually relate to (makes a change!). All the performances were great; the young Abigail Breslin did a great job as Olive Hoover and I really loved Alan Arkin as Grandpa Edwin Hoover, he really nailed it! Greg Kinnear as Richard Hoover and Toni Collette as Sheryl Hoover both did a good job. I thought Paul Dano as Dwayne also did a good job and Steve Carell showed what a good actor he can be as Frank Ginsberg.

As road trip movies go, I must say that this is the best one I’ve seen in quite a long time. The mix of characters and the way they interact works pretty well and I found the film quite engaging (I even laughed a few times!). Yes, some of the situations they got themselves into were a tad far-fetched, but I can forgive that (this time) because the characters actually had some substance. Would I watch it again? Yes I would and so I have no problem in deeming this one… Recommended.

My score: 8.2/10.

IMDb Score: 7.9/10 (based on 194,846 votes at the time of going to press).
http://uk.imdb.com/title/tt0449059/

Rotten Tomatoes ‘Tomatometer’ Score: 91/100 (based on 205 reviews counted at the time of going to press).

Rotten Tomatoes ‘Audience’ Score: 90/100 (based on 379,546 user ratings counted at the time of going to press).
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/little_miss_sunshine/

If you’re crazy enough… You can find me on Facebook at:
http://facebook.com/andy.steel3

FAVOURITE QUOTES:
Sheryl: [after Frank tried to commit suicide] I'm so glad you're still here.
Frank: Well, that makes one of us.

Richard: There's two kinds of people in this world, there's winners and there's losers. Okay, you know what the difference is? Winners don't give up.

Grandpa: Are you gettin' any?
Richard: Dad!
Grandpa: You can tell me, Dwayne. Are you gettin' any?
Richard: Come on, please.
Grandpa: [Dwayne shakes his head] No? Jesus. You're what? Fifteen? My God, man!
Richard: Dad!
Grandpa: You should be gettin' that young stuff.
Richard: Dad!
Grandpa: That young stuff is the best stuff in the whole world.
Richard: Hey! Hey! Dad! That's enough! Stop it!
Grandpa: Will you kindly not interrupt me, Richard! See, right now you're jailbait, they're jailbait. It's perfect. I mean, you hit 18, man! You're talkin' about three to five.

[Dwayne looks around van; writes frantically on notepad... ]
Frank: [reading notepad] "Where's Olive?"...
Sheryl: Oh!

Olive: What are you guys talking about?
Grandpa: [thinks for a moment] Politics.
Olive: Oh.

LINKS:
(Note: All were working at the time of going to press)
Trailer:

Film Review: GREEN ZONE (2010)

Director: Paul Greengrass
Running time: 115 mins (approx)
Certification (UK): 15

Genre: Thriller/Action/Adventure/War
UK release date 12th March 2010

Watched on Sky+ Saturday 29th January 2011.

PLEASE NOTE: THERE MAY BE SPOILERS IN THIS REVIEW.

This film has had a bit of a slating by certain critics and I know it didn’t go down too well with many in the USA. Given all this controversy I decided it might be worth a viewing and I can see how it might get certain sections of society a bit riled up. What I saw was an entertaining film, a work of fiction based on recent events in Iraq. But more of what I think later, here’s a brief summary first (summary haters please search that building for WMDs while I write the next paragraph).

Roy Miller is a soldier tasked with investigating sites identified as holding Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMDs) soon after the invasion of Iraq. After coming up empty each time he begins to question the validity of sources used to obtain this information. The top brass aren’t interested and just fob him off but a CIA operative, Martin Brown, is sympathetic to his dilemma. Whilst investigating a site (& coming up empty yet again) an Iraqi civilian approaches Miller’s unit and tells him that he has seen some ex-republican guard commanders meeting at a house nearby. This civilian ‘Freddy’ is brought along as an interpreter and they set off to intercept the meeting. Capturing one of the insurgents, they find out that a General Al Rawi was attending. Miller takes a notebook from the prisoner before a Special Forces unit, lead by Briggs, intercepts and takes the prisoner away. The notebook Miller has taken has the key to finding the General and others, with much darker, political, agenda’s would like to get hold of him for their own means. I’ll leave it there as I don’t want to give the whole plot away.

There have been several films made on the subject of this conflict, but this one stands out as one that questions the reasons for the war in the first place. The US government are portrayed as very uncaring and only out to cover up anything that might make them look bad in the eyes of the world. Yes, it’s all very political! Decent performances all round; Matt Damon did a decent job as Miller and Brendan Gleeson was pretty good as Martin Brown. Honourable mentions also go to; Greg Kinnear as Clark Poundstone, “Hello” to Jason Isaacs, with a tremendous moustache, as Briggs and Amy Ryan as journalist Lawrie Dayne. I also thought that Khalid Abdalla was excellent at the Iraqi civilian, Freddy.

Now, as I’ve already said this film is very political, but it is also a very good thriller with a lot of action thrown in for good measure. As a piece of entertainment I found it very adequate although I could see the plot being a bit over-complicated for some. At the end of the day I thought it was an entertaining thriller set against the aftermath of the Iraq war that asks some tough questions of those that brought the war about in the first place. Recommended.

My score: 7.1/10

LINKS:
(RT = Rotten Tomatoes)
IMDb Page: http://uk.imdb.com/title/tt0947810/
RT Page: http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1202804-green_zone/
Official Site: http://www.greenzonemovie.com/
Trailer: http://uk.imdb.com/rg/VIDEO_PLAY/LINK/video/imdb/vi447415577/

Film Review: FLASH OF GENIUS (2008)

Director: Marc Abraham
Running time: 115 mins (approx)
Certificate (UK): 12

UK Release Date: 20th March 2009

Watched on Sky+ Friday 19th March 2010.

PLEASE NOTE: POSSIBLE SPOILERS IN THIS REVIEW.

I really enjoy a courtroom drama and I really enjoy watching the little guy get the better of the big corporation. So I was really pleased when I came across this film, which combines the two. Set in Detroit in the 1960’s, it tells of one man’s battle to get recognition from a large automobile manufacturer who, he claims, stole his idea.

Bob Kearns is a college professor who teaches engineering, he’s also an inventor. He is married to Phyllis and they have six children (yes, six). One day while driving his family home from church in a rainstorm, he comes up with an idea for an intermittent windscreen wiper. He designs a prototype and, with the help of his long-time friend, Gil Previck, he gets it patented. Now Bob wants to sell his idea to Ford, the largest automobile manufacturer, but he also wants to manufacture it himself. They show the idea to Ford, being very careful not to show them how it works, and they are impressed. After a meeting with one of their top managers, Macklin Tyler, and with promises of contracts, Bob eventually lets them examine his prototype. Just as he’s getting ready to go into manufacturing, Ford pulls the plug and Bob is left feeling let down. This is until the day he sees a new Ford Mustang in the street with an intermittent wiper on it. He is determined to get Ford to admit they stole his idea, so much so that it affects both his marriage and mental state. I’ll leave my little summary there or I’ll give too much away!

A really well made film that captured the world of 1960’s Detroit very well. Great performances from both Greg Kinnear as Bob Kearns and Lauren Graham as his long suffering wife Phyllis. Honourable mentions go to Dermot Mulroney as Gil Previck, Mitch Pileggi as Macklin Tyler and it was nice to see Alan Alda as the lawyer Gregory Lawson.

The first half of the film is quite slow, there’s a lot of character development and I felt it ambled along a little too much. However, the second half is much better, the story really starts to take off and there is a really good ending. I really engaged with the main characters and I found it a very enjoyable film to watch. It’s slightly over long, but it’s one I can certainly recommend.

My score: 6.8/10

LINKS:
IMDb Site: http://uk.imdb.com/title/tt1054588/
Official Site: http://flashofgenius.net/
Trailer: http://uk.imdb.com/rg/VIDEO_PLAY/LINK/video/imdb/vi1591476505/