ABCgirl

i have never read the book so i didn't know what to expect from the story in this movie. i only knew that i would witness something (hopefully) as masterful as the Shawshank Redemption. i am a fan of Frank Darabont's directing and vision, and a tremendous Thomas Newman fan. Cinematically speaking, i knew i was in for an aesthetic treat.

the part that surprised me was the degree of supernatural elements present in the movie. when John Coffey threw his head back and spewed out what looked like tiny bees escaped from the X-files set, i was taken aback and couldn't help but utter a "what?" to myself, with furled brows and a scrunched up nose. it distracted me somewhat, but i eventually got over it.

the only other complaints i have about this movie are a few lines of dialogue and a couple of bad edits. the characters themselves were vastly intriguing, and i was especially engrossed with the performances of Hanks, Morse, and Pepper. there was a real sense of humility and compassion among the characters that brought home a sense of how day-to-day living continued through the Depression. clearly, priorities of that era differ from those of today. this theme tied in very well with the take-home message in the movie: that everyone walks their own Green Mile, and no one ever knows how long it really is.

the botched execution scene hurt me terribly, and i felt emotions run through to my very bones. the thought of Delacroix's physical pain and the mental pain (from Wetmore's last-minute Mouseville revelation)broke my heart, truly. not just for Delacroix, but for Edgecombe and the other guards who could only imagine how horribly that man's life ended.

Percy Wetmore. for the first time, in a long time, i frightened myself with the degree of hatred i felt for an antagonist. i chuckled to myself when Wetmore wet himself and couldn't help a delicious sense of vengeance toward him during "payback"

all around, best casting i've seen this year. nice to see many of the very same actors we saw in Shawshank. all performances were spectacular, and real on-screen chemistry seeped off the walls. these guys were inside the story, and the result was perfection. special kudos to Barry Pepper: engrossing to watch him on the screen, for strength of his acting talents and ease on the eyes.

I went into this movie expecting "good," and I was pleasantly surprised to find that it was excellent! Invigorating scenes left me breathless with the sleek set and costume design, flawless choreography, and deliciously bad-a** feel to the whole film.

The story itself is wonderfully complex and there are very few loose ends in the background and plot, which are usually a big problem in sci-fi/action movies. The philosophy behind the story is well-expressed by Morpheus and Trinity, and indeed fits nicely with the big picture. In fact, there are several parallels between the story and religious faith, but that is a whole other can of worms.

Keanu Reeves is a stroke of casting genius as the rumpled, fly-by-the-seat-of his-pants Neo, whose true purpose, identity, and talents are yet undiscovered until he is tapped by the Resistance. He has only recently begun to earn some of my respect with an excellent performance in Devil's Advocate, and now the Matrix. However, I am still rather scarred from his "Dracula" farce. Carrie-Anne Moss does quite well in this role; a nice change from her "Models, Inc" days, and a terrific showcase of her chiseled features. Laurence Fishburne is perfect as the omniscient, eloquent and always-composed leader, Morpheus.

Several instances of subtle comic relief were appreciated--the activated sprinklers that drenched the agents as well as Keanu's Bruce Lee tribute in his fight with eerily articulate, 10-words-per-minute agent.

Storyboards were put to good use, and the action was easy to follow throughout the movie, even with all the trans-dimensional activity going on. Lighting in every shot was exceptional, conveying a sterile feel about the whole environment. Sound design was also exceptional; it put the audience amid all the action on camera. The soundtrack fits perfectly with the film--the silver bow on a beautiful package.

Highly recommended, but not for the faint of heart. A terrific show with an intriguing and insightful plot. This film gives you a lot to chew on well after you've seen it.

is it any wonder that the vast majority of the glowing IMDB user comments on Field of Dreams were from male viewers? This movie is the end-all, be-all, guy's version of the chick flick. Every man seems to understand exactly what this movie was trying to achieve and even the deepest meaning behind beguiling lines, like "Ease his pain."

I just recently watched this movie for the 3rd time in my life, and I still have only a vague understanding of what was going on, but I am still clueless as to why, or how things happened the way they did. Especially scenes like Doc Graham stepping off the diamond and Terrence Mann going into the cornfield. Why couldn't Ray go into the corn, and what would happen if he did?

Perhaps it's more the pragmatic and realistic side of me that bars me from fully comprehending and appreciating the beauty in this movie that the rest of society raves about.

Although befuddling, the movie is still entertaining to watch. The cinematography is majestic and serene--a perfect backdrop for reflecting on "a time when things were good." The acting and directing were decent, although I find that Kevin Costner seems to do best in movies in which he speaks least.

Didn't someone tell that poor girl that her acting with an American accent would have been just as correct as acting with a British accent? It would also have been much less distracting for the viewers.

Who is responsible for the dialogue in this film? Although the modification of the fairy tale to a slightly more clever story was well done, lines like "and I shall wait all day" and "just breathe" left me with a permanent case of the heebie-jeebies.

There were a few obvious anachronisms. For example, I was uncertain whether the queen would know what a "stroke" was, much less that it would happen to the overanxious king if he didn't calm down.

Although I find Dougray Scott to be quite a dashing love-torn prince, I couldn't stop wondering to myself as I watched him prance about the screen, "is that a sandbag hanging at his middle?" Also, he didn't seem to be such a wonderful and loving guy after neglecting to listen to Danielle's pressing confessions on at least two occasions.

Anjelica Huston was an endless pleasure to watch, as her portrayal of the stepmother was believably mean and dark-hearted, but not cartoonish Satan-spawn. Her facial expressions, inflections and nuances were impeccable! Huston was the saving grace of the film's artistic merit.

I've never been a fan of Bille August, and this film has only furthered my opinion of his work. I found the directing, as well as the editing, choppy and incoherent. Mr. August tried too hard to be mystical and discreet in his telling of the tale--to the point of being annoyingly aloof and superficial.

The take-home message is, however, refreshing in its complexity and layers. The events all seem to come full circle and continue through the generations of the family, as Clara verbalized in her diaries, "the relationships between events." Lende's message was that evil begets evil, and nothing good came from malice. Such is sadly noted upon reflection that many misfortunes stemmed from poor judgment, and unacknowledged or unrectified wrongdoings in the past.

I thought the characters Farula and Esteban were the best-written and the best-acted, by far. Glenn Close exuded every bit of the torn and love-deprived spinster sister, her very gaze a window to her harsh and barren life. Jeremy Irons' portrayal of the dark and contradictory Esteban was brazen yet vulnerable, between his political persona and love for his wife.