ross-19

colour me surprised. I'm not sure what I was expecting, but this wasn't it. You see these b-grade sex movies on late night cable and you expect soft core porn, bad acting and bad (or non existant) plots.

What I found was one out of three. Yes, it was soft core porn, but not too gratuitious. It had a plot. It had characters. I'm not saying this is American Beauty or anything, but for what it was I quite enjoyed it.

As I was watching, it occurred to me that this is what porn movies should be like. I mean it had naked women, it had plenty of sex, but it also had romance, story and character. If the sex was a bit more graphic, it would have been perfect.

The acting was entirely adequate for what it was. No one is going to win as oscar off this, but they said their lines and had expressions enough to get the point across. Oh yes, and the women were apropriately beautiful and naked.

I really give my thumbs up to the writer and director of this movie for not making a (too) sleazy or cheap piece of trash.

Oh, and one final thing: what was up with the sorority girl selling tickets. Why was she there?

sometimes you just have to love pay-tv for letting you see movies that you would otherwise never see in theaters or on video. I was just flipping by when I saw Joanna Going (who is really a babe on top of being a good actress) and Brendan Fraser necking in her living room, and I was hooked.

Maybe I'm just a mushy romantic, geek but I liked both the story and the acting. I loved the whole bit on trying to find your true love, and how you have to admit to being worthy of finding it. Like that other guy said, the casting and locations were just great. The harshness of LA and the humid, languid beauty of Texas fitted the mood of the film greatly.

Did I mention that Joanna Going (who I first saw in Wyatt Earp) is a great actress and a babe as well?

I basically saw this movie through happenstance, and had no expectations whatsoever. I will admit to being shallow and expressing disappointment at not seeing Natasha Henstidge topless, but besides that, this movie was enjoyable. It has the feel of a converted stageplay, in the sense that it is essentially six people locked in a room for two hours. Maybe I'm completely out to lunch here, but it reminds me of other converted plays like 'twelve angry men' and 'lifeboat'. It definitely has that HBO/Sci Fi Channel feel to it. The acting was solid overall, though not exceptional. The best of the bunch I think was 'Bama'. Also, maybe I'm a tad naieve, but I found the surprise ending to be a big surprise. Maybe I got suckered by it all just like Jamie, the main character did. Hmph. On an overall scale of enjoyment, I'd have to give this a six or so.

Admittedly, I'm a Van Damme fan (say that ten times fast) but I really liked this movie. It had awesome action. Not awesome over the top (like The Quest) but awesome in it's 'realism' No one was superhumanly tough. Van Damme did not take a thousand hits to prove how tough he was. He got hit in the head in the beginning of the movie, and had a bruise and bandage on it for the rest of the movie. The main bad buy (who was AWESOME) was at one point taken out by two swift kicks (which for most of us, is one more than we would take). The plot was refreshingly original. Sure, it had a lot of required elements, but the way it went about them was original (in my opinion at least). The odyssey of discovering his brothers identity was very compelling. Natasha Henstridge, briefly topless (also a good reason to watch this movie) was very good and I continue to enjoy her roles. Probably the worst thing about this movie was Van Damme's acting ability, which seems to have gone down since his best acted flicks, 'Lionheart' and 'Double Impact' but from what I have heard, he was a major cokehead while making this. Not really an excuse, but what can you do.

I'll be the first to admit that I am a sucker for military dramas. I am also a very big Denzel Washington fan. Thus, for me anyway, this movie had it all. The acting was superb across the board. Everyone both looked and acted perfectly for the part. Matt Damon lost about 40 pounds to look appropriately emaciated and strung out for the part. Anyway, I guess I'm trying to say that I do not agree with the other (previous) reviews of this film. Yes, the story ended predictably, but shat else do you expect from a story of redemption? failure? Nat Serling is a character we want to see overcome his demons, and he does. This does not make the movie a cliche. It is not the destination that counts, it is the journey that takes us there. The unfolding of the various stories of the drama of Karen Walden's demise is both intriguing and gripping. I can honestly say that when the truth is finally revealed that my jaw dropped, and that I walked out of the theater in tears. (small, macho tears, but tears none the less) My only bitch, other than a small tech goof, is that James Horner's soundtrack is very predictable by the numbers and gave me no joy, but then I'm fussy about soundtracks. As is obvious by my over-long comment, this is a great movie and a must see for any Meg Ryan or Denzel Washington fan, or for lovers of military flicks in general.