shelbyc_72

This is one of the most beautifully acted films I've seen. It presents an amazing range of emotions from the ordinary joys this lovely child finds in his classmates, his "job" and his love of his family to the devastation of the civil war going on around them. Heartbreaking but real and watchable, the film gives access - to this very dangerous, brutal world and its monsters and the gentle human inhabitants doing their best against extraordinary odds - to those who otherwise would not be able to see it. It doesn't shy away from the truth; neither does it take a strong, articulated political position; rather, it presents the characters in this situation and shows their very normal and, ultimately, understandable reactions to it.

This compelling, fast-paced story is full of believable characters -- which is, of course, the important thing. Who cares about the circumstances if the characters are poorly crafted? It manages to create a good amount of suspense with a VERY creepy (a la Alien) environment. The movie might affect you negatively if like eating shellfish or squid, or are arachnophobic -- but apart from that, it's good clean fun. Most stunning, perhaps, is that it is still possible to be shocked at how twisted Stephen King's mind is -- especially when you get a load of the ending. You kind of sense the absolute futility of the hero's last determination before it happens, but that doesn't stop the effect of his last act from hitting like a ton of bricks. This was a full-on screamer to watch, and great for a solid sense of relief and release after a week of work staring into a computer screen crafting careful sentences. Great performances by all the actors, too - a real ID with the reactions to the Marcia Gay Harden character.

The only sore/sour note is the clumsy attempt at creating a racist-oriented humor directed toward the Andre Braugher character. When Drayton et al can't convince him to stay inside because giant squid-monsters dragged Norm outside and ate him, they try to entice him to stay by offering him barbecued chicken. It wasn't funny and it was in poor taste. Also the script has Braugher calling the white guys "hicks!" at the top of his lungs, which seemed off. It just didn't work. A minor part of the movie, but seemed weird and awkward. Better to leave race alone if you're not going to be clear about it.

The other versions of this story make fantastic movies, and this one does NOT disappoint. In fact, I was ecstatically surprised. After seeing a few negative comments, mostly concerning this being just (yet) another treatment of the same story, I reluctantly went with a friend. (Really, there are so few options these days.) It was a genuine thriller in large part due to solid acting performances. Nicole Kidman is excellent at the center of the action for the length of the film, is very believable as a psychiatrist (I just saw it again with a friend of mine who actually IS one), and keeps the pace moving the entire time. I thought Daniel Craig was charming and a true supporting character as the love interest, Jeffrey Wright is always a joy to see and in this film served as an admirable catalyst/helper, and the KID was fantastic -- both cute and believable, starting with his terrified-kid scream in the beginning and culminating in his having to stab Nicole in the heart with an Epinephrine-filled syringe when she finally nods off. My doc companion did say that such an act would probably result in her immediate death, but that did not spoil my fun.

The writing, photography, and directing worked very well, and I recommend this strongly for a great time at the movies.

This filmmaker wanted to make a movie without having a story to tell -- and did so. Really awful jumble of unlikely/unexplained coincidences and unidentifiable plot line, all without character or clear motivation.

We get cliché snapshots instead of characters. One in particular is the diminutive and beautiful crime boss, who projects an overdone "tough guy" persona and casts a cartoonish shadow of intimidation over the actual tough guys who have been brought in to work for her. Nothing much startling to look at in the film except for one shot when the boys hit the road and one of them carries a tiny suitcase (as in, the smallest from a complete American Tourister set) in a bright, sky blue, without explanation or apology. Otherwise it's standard visually -- one other exception is a compelling shot of a beautiful bridge in CT.