WCS02
Joined Oct 2000
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Reviews92
WCS02's rating
This film is a philosopher's paradise. The two Gerrys (they have the same name) walk, run and crawl about the screen like a pair of ants lost in a shag carpet. G Van Sant, M Damon and C Affleck illuminate a human's relative insignificance to the planet before exposing us to where our significance may exist.
There's little dialogue and even less action in these 100 minutes. It is minimalistic the way My Dinner with Andre is. The desert scenery is sweeping and panoramic. Van Sant contrasts man to his environment. It is a moving/memorable if you take the inner journey the filmmakers intended. But, as I began, this is a thinking person's film - for those with the time and inclination to analyse its purpose. Its similar to a trip to the Museum of Art. Aficionados of Sponge Bob SquarePants and standard brain-dead Hollywood fare will do themselves a favor by selecting something else. If you tote this one home, however, watch it rested, well fed and carefully. There is good value in its 100 minutes.
There's poetry to its pace. The lost men ride the human spirit with the ups and downs of a single note's sine wave. As its vibrations wane, the sound fades - but you know its vibration forge on elsewhere in the grand scheme of life in the universe. As do the spirits of the beaten pair who never expected to get turned around - either from their car or the life they knew. And yet it happens. It could happen to any of us.
You'll pack an extra water bottle for your next hike! Bet on that. I enjoyed it. I recommend it. 8 out of 10.
There's little dialogue and even less action in these 100 minutes. It is minimalistic the way My Dinner with Andre is. The desert scenery is sweeping and panoramic. Van Sant contrasts man to his environment. It is a moving/memorable if you take the inner journey the filmmakers intended. But, as I began, this is a thinking person's film - for those with the time and inclination to analyse its purpose. Its similar to a trip to the Museum of Art. Aficionados of Sponge Bob SquarePants and standard brain-dead Hollywood fare will do themselves a favor by selecting something else. If you tote this one home, however, watch it rested, well fed and carefully. There is good value in its 100 minutes.
There's poetry to its pace. The lost men ride the human spirit with the ups and downs of a single note's sine wave. As its vibrations wane, the sound fades - but you know its vibration forge on elsewhere in the grand scheme of life in the universe. As do the spirits of the beaten pair who never expected to get turned around - either from their car or the life they knew. And yet it happens. It could happen to any of us.
You'll pack an extra water bottle for your next hike! Bet on that. I enjoyed it. I recommend it. 8 out of 10.
Problems are hurled at the McKay family as if they were in a batting cage with an endless supply of quarters and no bat. This South Boston Irish-Catholic family deals with the rock bottom side of life they best way they know how. Baseball quietly emerges as a rallying dynamic for the seemingly-defeated male McKays in this coming of age story. It has a lot of heart, and there's a lot to like here. My criticism is that there's too much misfortune for one 95 minute story - as if every stereotype in play today had to be included. It moved me nevertheless. I recommend it. It seems to have gone directly to DVD but should have enjoyed a stint in the theater first.
Looking for an escapist movie free of political propaganda? See something else.
Looking for a complicated thriller where seemingly disconnected plot lines neatly converge after two hours with brilliant acting by all, this is for you.
This may decomplicate the plot weave a smidge:
George Clooney plays a veteran CIA operative on the down-stroke of his career selling explosives and arms to Iran terrorists;
Energy analyst (Matt Damon) is recruited to advise Crown Prince Nasir (Alexander Siddig). Nasir, the wiser of two brothers vying to succeed the retiring Emir for his kingdom. Nasir wants to evict the wicked American Oil company so Communist Chinese oil enterprise can step in ( yipes!) for the ultimate good of his country.
There's this American Oil company (Connex) which is considering a merger with a much smaller oil company (Killen) that holds the exclusive Kazakhstan oil drilling rights.
Connex's lawyers send an attorney (Jeffrey Wright) to discover just how Killen "got" those rights before the SEC does. (The SEC, you see, has to approve the merger)
And then we have your Pakistani migrant oil workers suddenly confronting the realities of unemployment after the Chinese take over. They're recruited by a religious fanatic after yet another spell of idle poverty.
The film provides perspective on why and how things can get "confused" in this part of the world. Weirder still: that the Chinese and the religious zealots come off as the good guys as the evil US oil companies make prey out of Nasir, justifying corruption for their version of a greater good.
It's a well made film. But, man-o-man, for simpler entertainment, check out that Harry Potter and his Fire Goblet. For this one, wear your thinking cap and bring your paranoia defenses. 7 out of 10 . . . for the acting.
Looking for a complicated thriller where seemingly disconnected plot lines neatly converge after two hours with brilliant acting by all, this is for you.
This may decomplicate the plot weave a smidge:
George Clooney plays a veteran CIA operative on the down-stroke of his career selling explosives and arms to Iran terrorists;
Energy analyst (Matt Damon) is recruited to advise Crown Prince Nasir (Alexander Siddig). Nasir, the wiser of two brothers vying to succeed the retiring Emir for his kingdom. Nasir wants to evict the wicked American Oil company so Communist Chinese oil enterprise can step in ( yipes!) for the ultimate good of his country.
There's this American Oil company (Connex) which is considering a merger with a much smaller oil company (Killen) that holds the exclusive Kazakhstan oil drilling rights.
Connex's lawyers send an attorney (Jeffrey Wright) to discover just how Killen "got" those rights before the SEC does. (The SEC, you see, has to approve the merger)
And then we have your Pakistani migrant oil workers suddenly confronting the realities of unemployment after the Chinese take over. They're recruited by a religious fanatic after yet another spell of idle poverty.
The film provides perspective on why and how things can get "confused" in this part of the world. Weirder still: that the Chinese and the religious zealots come off as the good guys as the evil US oil companies make prey out of Nasir, justifying corruption for their version of a greater good.
It's a well made film. But, man-o-man, for simpler entertainment, check out that Harry Potter and his Fire Goblet. For this one, wear your thinking cap and bring your paranoia defenses. 7 out of 10 . . . for the acting.