Details

Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 29 June 2000

Determined to prove them wrong, Billy rounds up his crew for one last trip before the winter sets in.  One of the crew, Bobby Shatford (Wahlberg), has left despite the wishes of his wife (Lane). She’s ready to settle down and make a go of it with Bobby and wants him to give up his fishing career.

What they encountered on that trip is what meteorologists define as the “perfect storm” - when a cold front, a low and a hurricane collide to create a massive weather system.  Crucial navigation decisions will have to be made that will affect their survival as the ultimate battle between man and Mother Nature takes form.

Director Wolfgang Petersen (Air Force One, Das Boat) has pulled off a supreme directorial effort for The Perfect Storm and is backed by the wonderful editing of Australian Richard Francis-Bruce (The Shawshank Redemption, Seven) and the cinematography from another Aussie, John Seale (The English Patient, Rain Man).

The special effects in The Perfect Storm comfortably surpass those seen in other disaster films of recent years.  The line between live and computer-generated has been blended with such precision that it’s impossible to differentiate between the two.  The realism provided by the visual effects are the key to supporting the screenplay and giving the story it’s “edge of your seat” quality.  It’s rare to see such a developed plot feature in an action film.  Time is actually taken at the start of this film to develop characters.  As seen by this week’s other release, Gone In 60 Seconds, the action should be built around the story and not vise-versa.

The acting performances are top-notch with some great scenes shared between two stars George Clooney and Mark Wahlberg.  Also working effectively was the creation of several, smaller sub-stories which helped build tension and create a higher interest level.

Perhaps the only downside to The Perfect Storm was the drawn out ending.  Without giving too much away, the film’s final five minutes release the tight grip the film has over the audience and is most unnecessary.

Not to be overlooked as another one of those Hollywood summer disaster movies, The Perfect Storm relies upon a super cast and crew to creates a film with power and feeling that throws up more than a few surprises for the better.   A “perfect” action movie.

Details

Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 22 June 2000

One afternoon whilst hunting in the woods, he befriends a man named Vladimir Lensky (Toby Stephens).  Through Vladimir his is introduced to the neighbours, the Larinas, who don’t take too warmly to his intentions to rent his mansion and farming grounds to slaves.  The Larinas have two daughters, one who is engaged to Vladimir and another, Tatyana who finds a closeness with Evgeny but Evgeny’s harsh outerself prevents her getting closer.  The movie then follows the torment that both suffer over their closeted romance.

Slow and deliberate are appropriate words to describe this tale.  Based on a poem by Alexander Pushkin, this is the third attempt to bring his story to the big screen.  Director, Martha Fiennes (sister of Ralph) creates a very quiet work with soft background music and few words creating an eerily silent movie theatre.

Fiennes and Tyler appear comatose in their roles and whilst this was clearly the filmmaker’s intention it makes Onegin a tiring experience.  The costumes, the sets, the cinematography are all beautiful but it’s little solace to the repetitious screenplay.  Surely more happened in these times than soured romances?  This film would have received more appreciation with a little more colour, a speedier pace and a lot more substance.

Details

Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 29 June 2000

Nicolas Cage is Memphis, a retired car thief who used to be the best in the business.  He has since retired from the game but is forced to return when his younger brother (Ribisi) gets in hot water with a nasty underworld leader after a botched theft.  Memphis is given the challenge of stealing fifty cars in three days so that the leader can meet his client’s demands or else his brother will be killed.

So, Memphis goes out and reassembles his old crew (including Jolie and Duvall) as they set out to pull the impossible off.  On their tale though are two detectives (Lindo and Olyphant) who have wanted to pin a crime on Memphis for years but have never been able to make it stick.  Enough said?

Everything here borders on ridiculous and the fact that studio executives thought one might enjoy this is an insult to our intelligence.  A particular scene of note sees Jolie and Cage stealing a car in a suburban neighbourhood and Cage suspects that someone is watching him.  You’ve got to see it to believe how bad it is.

Sure the big finale gets the blood flowing with a very length car chase scene between Cage and the entire police force (of course, he eludes them all) but that’s not good enough in my book.  I feel the only positive to come out of this film was the fact that my memory of the whole experience was gone in sixty seconds.  If that sounds like a tacky cliché, wait till you see the film...

Details

Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 22 June 2000

In this tradition of The Phantom Menace, this episode is a prequel to the original.  We are introduced to Fred and Barney as a little green alien named Gazoo comes down from outer space.  Remember him?  Fred and Barney of course can only see Gazoo and his mission is to observe the human mating ritual.

This isn’t quite so easy for Gazoo because Fred and Barney are not married and have no girlfriends.  That is until they come across two lovely ladies, Wilma and Betty, at the local fast food joint, the Bronto King.  As the story progresses, we find Wilma’s family is quite wealthy and her family has plans on her marrying wealthy casino owner, Chip Rockefeller.  Fred has other ideas...

Sure it’s not designed to be a critics' favourite and it does rehash jokes from the original but it’s still fun to go back into the fictional world of Bedrock.  The set decoration from Jan Pascale is fantastic and it’s worth keeping your eyes pealed in every scene for tiny details that make the world seem all the more like the one from the TV series.

Mark Addy was a surprising choice as Fred but does a good job and his voice especially brings Fred to life.  Stephen Baldwin and Kristen Johnston were perhaps miscast but Jane Krakowski was a good selection as Betty Rubble.  It was also pleasant to see a funny supporting cast including Thomas Gibson, Joan Collins and especially Alan Cumming, who plays both Gazoo and rock star, Mick Jagged.

It’s kept simple and is a great selection for the kids these school holidays.  It won’t have the same draw for adults but frankly, it’s a lot more entertaining then some other “comedy” films that have been released in recent months.

Details

Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 22 June 2000

Jim Carrey plays Charlie, a local police officer from Rhode Island who was happily married until his wife left him for the wedding chauffeur.  Now with three sons to raise on his own, Charlie is the laughing stock of the community because of his inability to observe his wife’s infidelities (the hints are rather obvious).  Charlie has bottled up his emotions and refuses to move on in life.  That is until he develops a split persona - Hank.  Hank is the exact opposite of Charlie and isn’t somebody you want to mess with.

Irene (Zellweger) arrives in town from New York but is forced to return when summoned by the police and it is Charlie’s responsibility to escort her there.  Things become twisted when an attempt is made to eliminate Irene under the assumption she knows details of a big money laundering scam.  In the mayhem that ensues, Charlie loses his schizophrenia medication, which releases Hank from within, and both have fallen for Irene...

The Farrelly’s are the kings of gross-out comedy and this film makes an effort to push the boundaries even further.  There are some truly disgusting moments highlighted by a scene involving a bet, a police officer and a chicken.  Another highlight came when Hank tries to put down an injured cow.  There were however plenty of jokes that left an eerily dead silence in the cinema with a good example being a lengthy scene between Charlie/Hank and an albino waiter at a restaurant.

Jim Carrey has all his facial expressions on show but they’ve been seen many times before and their amusement is short lived.  Rene Zellweger plays second fiddle to Carrey and does little to advance the comedy.  Most members of the supporting cast are also wasted.  It seems Carrey’s gets all the great lines and the rest are left as puppets.

The film is a bunch of set-up jokes with a story based around them.  This was a similar technique to that used effectively in There’s Something About Mary.  The application is not quite as productive in Me, Myself & Irene due to the weaker cast and script.

Featuring plenty of toilet humour (and I mean that literally at times), this new film will take a big chunk out of the box-office yet leave many expectations unmet.  The Farrelly brothers will be back with bigger and better material as they continue to take chances and I do look forward to seeing their next film.  As for now, this is just another one of “those” comedies that you’d expect from a Martin Lawrence or an Adam Sandler.  Certainly not a Jim Carrey.