josephmcpike

The subject material is so grim I was uneasy about going to see this movie. Jim Caviezal gives an emotional performance as the Homeland Security agent who can't turn a blind eye to the children entrapped in the sex slave industry. The child actors are also incredibly convincing in their portrayals of innocence shattered. The message is one of hope, that the evil-doers can be stopped and the child victims can be set free. Although the movie does not delve deeply into the sexual abuse, I feel the underlying current of psychological trauma that these formerly innocent children will have to live with for the rest of their lives. How can mankind be this wicked and depraved?

If you are a regular average movie-goer/watcher you might want to skip this one. So many people giving this a Ten rating and I'm sure it is for them. But for me it was numbingly repetitive. How many times do we see the townspeople show their displeasure to the wife of our noble hero as she struggles to run the farm without him. Over and over again her husband deals with the fallout of his principled stand while imprisoned. The omnipresent depressing musical score doesn't let us forget just how bad the characters are feeling. Yuck. Three hours of this, really?!! I enjoyed the first twenty minutes of the movie, the acting is good, the backdrop is gorgeous. but THE STORY NEVER MOVES FORWARD, it's like watching Groundhog Day set in Austria with Nazis. Refund please.

Here I am in 2020 watching this movie from 2000 and really appreciating it. The characters are all believable and appealing. Vanessa Redgrave carries the film with very strong support from Ray Liotta et al. Redgrave would have been about 63 when this was made and she still bears herself with grace and nobility and inner beauty. I imagine her fellow actors raising their performances to match her and the result is a beautiful simple story that doesn't hit the audience over the head to make its points.

This was a beautiful, touching, well made movie. It brought tears. If you have a heart you will be affected.

I probably would have given this movie a 9 or 10 if Bradley Cooper's performance had made more sense. Cooper has been such a strong force in every film I have seen him in but his portrayal of Jack as a mumbling moron, barely able to speak intelligibly even when sober just didn't ring true. It's not logical that such a sophomoric personality would have risen to stardom and convinced a sensible woman to marry him. Its like he was trying to channel Kris Kristofferson, a truly limited actor in every way. Lady Gaga has made me a fan. Perhaps Cooper should stick to roles under the direction of others.

Really enjoyable movie. Bruce Dern and Geneve Bujold are outstanding and the boy Austin is great too. There are flaws; the boy is mature beyond his years, the other family characters are underdeveloped and there are scenes that seem pointless. But I was intensely interested in what would happen to the main characters and I found this movie riveting. If you appreciate a thoughtful movie you will like this one.

Everything was good about this movie, except it was a bit of a snoozer. If you love Wes Anderson you will likely think this is more greatness. If you're a regular movie-goer expecting something captivating you may be disappointed. There is a lot to like. Calmly humorous and original, yet at the same time, been there, done that. Nutmeg is trite. Atari fizzles. Chief is pointlessly inscrutable. I wanted to like it but after a while I started to think about other things,

An interesting but depressing movie about corruption at high levels in our government. This is a well made film that doesn't pretend to answer the lingering questions following the death of Mary Jo Kopechne. Did she drown or was she already dead when the car went in the water? The -inside the submerged car- flashbacks suggest she drowned. The fill-in coroner pushed air from her lungs, not water, suggesting she didn't. If Kennedy was in the car with her when it went over the bridge and he got out, then how is it she was trapped? It could be that he murdered her and staged the drowning. Were they having an affair or not? He strongly denied it but his wife was portrayed as very angry about something. The movie showed Ted Kennedy to be of such low moral character and so self-absorbed as to be capable of murder. If it was an accident, why did he behave so ridiculously guilty in the aftermath? This movie played it down the middle, we were able to sympathize with Ted because of his snake of a father, but in the end, he still tuned out to be a slimy self-serving politician. Good acting throughout.

Should have been good...but it wasn't. As a 15 yr old I was early in my social consciousness when this hijacking took place. I remember the concern and the tension felt even here in the US over the fate of the hostages and the jubilation I felt when they were rescued. The real life events had it all...the Israeli/Palestinian conflict, a bold hijacking, a daring and unlikely rescue, even the flamboyantly dangerous Idi Amin! All elements for really good cinema but it didn't work in this case. A lot of effort was spent on humanizing the hijackers/terrorists but little on the humanizing of the hostages. Yes we all know that terrorists are fighting for a cause. It's their methods that are so objectionable. They kill innocent people to make their point, which is never justified; I don't want to identify with them. The artsy odd dance routine was excellent and interesting. Unfortunately, it added nothing to the story, it just distracted from the human drama. The movie was poorly done enough that it became a welcome distraction toward the end.

Wow I went because my girlfriend wanted to see it; I had not heard anything about it. I found this movie to be an absolute delight. I'm a rather tough critic and I never said a movie is a TEN before but this movie is fantastic. It is uplifting with a very positive message and great music and choreography. Very skillfully crafted and basically flawless, the creators of this movie cared about and respected the audience. Definitely a "feel good" movie! I feel sorry for people who didn't love it.

Slow but not slow enough for me to fall asleep. I wish I had. This movie sacrifices honesty for political correctness and kills anything approaching authenticity. Lots of dead people and grave digging duty but since we don't care about the characters it is pointless carnage; I felt like I was being beaten over the head with the pointless carnage. Pointless carnage throughout. Forced and cliched, with underdeveloped characters and illogical progressions, this movie never overcomes the PC baggage that ties it down. Minus two stars because of the PC, minus two more because it is depressing, minus one because it is slow, minus one because it had potential but never lived up to it and minus one because some fine actors weren't given a chance to shine in such a dimwitted cinematic vehicle. That leaves three stars. Is that too many?

Minimal spoiler alert. I rate this movie a 5 out of 10. The people who rave about it are uncritical about the fact that the storyline is unconvincing and contrived. Those who pan it don't mention that this movie keeps your attention throughout, even when you can't suspend disbelief. The acting is strong; all the leads are commendable. The script is weak; our heroine is a vigilante thug who is never held accountable for her actions. Not realistic. There are too many subplots in this movie and they are unresolved. Too much going on, it is an unfocused mess. When, at the end, when we are led to believe some growth has taken place,.....we are disappointed again. Maybe I will start liking this movie more with time, but my gut reaction is, its overrated.

Because of the level of acting talent, I expected this movie to have some redeeming qualities. It has none. Amy Adams, Jeremy Renner and Forrest Whitaker are uninspired at best. The plot dissolves like the alien's eggships. Move along folks, nothing to see here. So why the high IMDb rating? Someone needs to check their math. I took the time to look at the most recent 100 reviews. Total score 371 which for that sample gives us an IMDb movie rating of 3.7. That number I can believe! 45 of those 100 reviewers gave it a one!!! This movie is maddeningly awful.