The Way of War

Todd Says:

1/2 STAR

This movie was terrible. Terrible. The Plot, Acting, and Scene Structure are easily among some of the worst I have ever seen. I felt embarrassed for Cuba Gooding Jr for being in this movie. The only thing that kept me watching this movie through to the end was the hope that something would happen to at least make it make a little sense. It didn't.

The story is full of characters that never feel real, doing things that don't make any sense for them to be doing. There were times in this movie where the characters did extremely unusual things with no apparent motivation. The main character's motivation is never clearly developed, and when his apparent enemy reveals that he is sacrificing himself to save the hero at the end of the movie, with no explanation, I have to speculate that the 'villain' was just as tired of being in this movie as I was of watching it.

Even if you can't find anything else to watch, I don't recommend this film. Just turn the TV off and stare at the black screen for 90 minutes. Same effect.

The Interpreter

(2005)



Todd Says:





3.5 STARS





This is a pretty good political suspense drama, and being an anti-fan of Nicole Kidman's typical work, I will admit that she does a pretty decent job here. The whole cast does actually. The whole crew does, but this movie just never reaches the level of greatness that it's trying for.





Sean Penn, who is almost always great, plays a character so bogged down with his own irrelevant side story, which is never explored very deeply, that he has a hard time getting you to focus. Which may or may not have been the writer's or director's intentions. But the sublte difference between a conflicted hero and a confused one are easily lost here.





Nicole Kidman is left to carry this movie almost alone, even in the company of such great talent, and she does a good job. Her character is the story, so I won't go too deep, but this is a rich and well told character. Good work Kidman, Penn I want to see you after practice.





At the end, after we've seen the story and mystery unravel we're confronted again with a painful scene about Penn's character elusive past trama. But, if you can get past that, or maybe even into it, I think that you'll like this one. It will be worth your time, I think.




Alexis says:

3 STARS

When this film came out I was skeptical because of Nicole Kidman who can do both good and not so good work but I decided that I wanted to see it because of what seemed like an intriguing plot and Sean Penn who is almost always good.

The only disappointment here was Penn who's character was more than just a little bit of a letdown, not only did the character seem not well written but also poorly acted. Aside from Penn's federal agent gone boring the film had a lot to offer, there was suspense and drama and not to much effort into turning Penn and Kidman into lovers (boy do I hate when films go that route without cause or desire from the story).

The story was well thought out (except maybe for Penn's background) and well carried out. I had my guesses but it kept you wondering until the climax just what exactly was going on. It sursprises me even to say this, but this wasn't all that bad of a political crime thriller.

Stop-Loss

(2008)


Todd Says:

3 STARS

Stop Loss is a depressing look at the politics of today's military and the war in Iraq. It is well written but very dark and a little hopeless. The cast does a good job with it, giving a convincing picture of today's soldiers fighting a war that they either don't believe in, or that they believe is being mishandled.

This movie is not for everyone, as the subject matter is quite political as well as pessemistic. I think that a lot of people will have trouble with this one for one reason or another, but at the same time I think that it's worth watching.

Alexis says:

2 STARS

I saw the trailer for this movie and I must say that it was well done. It made this movie look very interesting and I really wanted to see it. The movie on the other hand was not very good. I couldn't get over Philipe's annoying Texan accent, I couldn't seem to care about Cornish's boyfriend problems and I felt that the overall theme of this movie, soldiers getting stop-lossed could have been more moving with a better writer and story. The most moving thing in the entire movie was Gordon-Levitt's subplot about a man who wants nothing more than to be a soldier and yet his poor conduct leads to an army that doesn't want him.

Overall, the movie was just a letdown for me. I was interested in the plotline. I was unaware that so many soldiers were being stop-lossed in the War on Iraq so that was educational and interesting. I didn't mind the political undertones. I just didn't care much for the story and character they put out there for you to feel bad about.

It's an interesting enough movie, I just don't think that is enough to award higher stars.

The Kingdom

(2007)

Todd Says:

4.5 STARS

I was just expecting this to be a typical action flick about blowing up the terrorists that hate Americans, but I was pleasantly suprised to find that there was more to it than that. The Kingdom offers a somber comentary on the state of relations between the US and the middle east. This movie is very political, but not so much that it overshadows the story itself.

The actors all do a great job, in both the action sequences and the real acting scenes. Who would have thought that Jason Bateman could ever look good getting shot at, and then shooting back. The whole thing is just well done.

This is a thought provoking film, that hopefully will leave you thinking about the way you look at the world and others in it. It's not neccessarily a hopeful movie though, and it may leave you quite disheartened. You know, one of those 'this is the way it is, and it looks like it will never change' kind of things. I think that we need more films like this, the ones that make us confront the way we look at the world.

All in all, this is a good film for lovers of action as well as political thrillers. I feel good about recomending it to everyone.

Alexis says:

3.5 STARS

I would be lying if I said I wasn't really looking forward to this movie. Todd had suggested it several times before we finally bought and viewed it. I was for the most part pleasantly surprised. As always Foxx and Cooper are superb and Bateman and Gardner showed they can do well with dramas as well as comedies and super hero let down films. The story is all too real and revealed some insight into the affairs of the middle east that I was unaware of beforehand. Overall, this movie is well written and directed, if only real life political movies such as these weren't so darn depressing.

Lions for Lambs

(2007)

Alexis says:

3 STARS

This is NOT a feel good movie, but you should watch it anyways. I know this is going to seem like a cop out but I think that this movie will strike so many different opinions in all the different people's minds who view it that I think that a simple 'watch this movie' will suffice.

Todd Says:

3.5 STARS

This is definitely a powerful thought-provoking film. I think that most people could benefit from viewing this movie. It is often good to be reminded of, or introduced, to ideas that are hard to deal with comfortably. This is a controversial movie. The controversy, of course, lies with how you view the war in Iraq and Afghanistan. This is not a political blog, so I'll refrain from kicking that hornet's nest.

If you want a movie that is going to make you think about what's going on in the world, and question your own or anyone else's ability to change the course of things, then this is a good movie choice for you. If you just want to be entertained for two hours then you should steer clear of this one. It is not a feel good movie.

Charlie Wilson's War

Sue Says:

3.5 Stars

Hmm. I was going to give this movie 4 stars. Then I started writing my review and I liked it less and less. It was worth seeing, and I would recommend it, if for no other reason, because it has the potential to be a great discussion starter.

I will start off by saying I love “true” stories, government, and history. This movie is, of course, about Senator Charlie Wilson and how he became involved with the Russian invasion of Afghanistan in the 1980s. I felt it did a pretty good job telling the basics of the story. It doesn’t get too political, it mainly covers Wilson’s involvement, which is fine, that’s the idea being it’s based on a memoir.

Tom Hanks is not always my favorite, but I thought he did okay here. Julia Roberts gets on my nerves and I found her to be a little distracting. B-U-T Phillip Seymour Hoffman stole the show.

Side note--A lot of actors seem the same in every role. I think that’s because most of the time the character they are playing becomes just an exaggeration of the personality traits they already posses. Without too much trouble I could see Charlie Wilson being Forest Gump, or Julia Roberts being, you know, Julia Roberts as she is on Oprah, but Phillip Seymour Hoffman is one of the few actors who really becomes someone else every time. -- I also thought Amy Adams was okay, better than she was in Enchanted, so that’s something, right?

A movie like this can either leave you just entertained or it can leave you with plenty to think about. I am the latter. After a movie like this I always think-“Well, if one man can see what needs to be done, and can accomplish so much, why don’t more people get busy?” Of course the answer is that everyone has their own agenda and plenty of people are getting things done, just not the things I think should be getting done.

Overall, I think it was good. For me it could have dug a little deeper, but if you didn’t even know that the Russians invaded Afghanistan, it’s a great start. –Back to my soap box. The problem with these kinds of movies is that they are entertaining, and somewhat thought provoking, but by making it so mainstream and commercial, it misses, just slightly. It almost makes you think about the future consequences of our (the United States) actions, but it’s not quite there. Those who already know of our government’s tendency to make a mess of things might find this type of film annoying, and those who have great faith and trust in our government just see this as a funny movie with that guy from Bosom Buddies and that Julia Roberts who they loved in Pretty Woman.

In conclusion, it was okay.

Todd Says:

4 STARS

I thought that this movie was both insightful and funny. It is about one terribly flawed man (Sen. Charlie Wilson) who decides to do the right thing for once. It's also about how and why other people in Washington try to manipulate him in their own ways and to their own means. Yes, it's a historical movie, but no it's not boring or dry. It's probably more factual than the evening news on most major networks, and it's definitely more entertaining.

I agree that Julia Roberts is once again annoying (and a little creepy), but Hanks and Hoffman carry this movie where it needs to go. I found myself amazed at how candid the story is about Sen. Wilson's life, and also how a man with such an apparent lack of scruples could push so many people so hard to do a good thing.

All in all, this is most definitely worth your time. I don't think you'll regret it.

Alexis says:

3 STARS

I thought this movie was interesting and enjoyable and I even liked Julia Roberts' performance (being a Pretty Woman fan) but I just wasn't in love with it or all that moved. Yeah, it gives some insight to the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan and Hoffman was pretty good but I just didn't really love it, and I really wanted to see it. Overall, the movie was entertaining and slightly educational and I would recommend that you view it, at your convenience (not necessarily your 'earliest').