Girl, Interrupted (1999)

4 STARS


Directed by James Mangold
Produced by Cathy Konrad, Douglas Wick
Written by James Mangold, Lisa Loomer, Anna Hamilton Phelan (based on the memoir by Susanna Kaysen)

Starring Winona Ryder, Angelina Jolie, Whoopi Goldberg

Runtime 2 hours, 7 min.
Worldwide Gross $48,350,205
Genres Drama, Biography

From the start of James Mangold's thrilling Girl, Interrupted, you can tell that what you're about to see will have a lasting impact in your mind. To me, this film is like a stain that will never go away. I mean this in the best possible way. It's a stain I don't want to get rid of. The reason Girl, Interrupted has made such a lasting impression to me is for many reasons. The main reason in the film's remarkable story. Plagued with depression and a suicide attempt, Susanna Kaysen (Ryder) is stuck battling her inner demons in the time of sex, drugs and rock and roll. She's persuaded to check herself into Claymoore Hospital, an institution for the mentally disturbed. At the clinic she meets psychopath Lisa Rowe (Angelina Jolie in an Academy Award-winning performance), who she reluctantly befriends and confides in.

It's in the performance by Angelina Jolie that serves as a lasting reason to see this film more than once. If you ever have any doubts about Jolie's talent, watch this. Her portrayal is so flawless, it to me stands as one of the most frightening performances of all time. What's truly incredible is the screenplay, which intertwines beautifully with the film's solid cast. With the combined efforts Jolie and the writers, Lisa Rowe is effectively shown as a perfect psychopath. When she's friendly, you love her. When she's mean, you hate her. And when she's mad, you're scared beyond relief. If your eyes don't widen at least once when watching this film, I think it's safe to say that you're not human.

Also played well are the performances by Whoopi Goldberg, as head nurse Valerie Owens and the performance by Elisabeth Ross, as Polly Clark, the woman with a child's soul. Winona Ryder and Brittany Murphy also have moments of brilliance. While most of her scenes are well done, Ryder at times is over-dramatic. Murphy, who plays the depressed and disturbed Daisy, often performs brilliantly. There's only rare instances when her performance seems overplayed. Also a good thing is the score by Mychael Danna, whose eccentric beats and tones play well with the eccentricities of the film's script.

Something I don't quite agree with is the writers' decision to create plot elements, of which are crucial in the film's storyline, which never happened in the book. The real life Susanna Kaysen accused Girl, Interrupted's director of using "melodramatic drivel". Though I certainly agree that Kaysen's writings could have been more respected in the script, on the other hand, the "drivel" that is added leads to some of the film's best moments. Without some of the things that are added, the film's best monologue would've never been a part of the film. For those who have seen the film, I'm referring to Lisa's brilliantly written rant when she's talking to Daisy. Without this scene, the film would be very different.

Though I've mentioned some of the actors' unnecessary drama, I believe it needs to be talked about more. Even though most times it isn't an issue, it can definitely detract from the story. Most of these problems seem to come from Winona Ryder, who otherwise gives a solid performance. And though it's certainly not as strong as it could be, Ryder's performance is incredibly underrated, due to the amazing performance by Angelina Jolie. I find this a bit ironic since this film was supposed to be an awards magnet for Ryder.


Though a lot of reviewers might disagree with me, Girl, Interrupted is a brilliant film that is definitely worth your time. It's emotional and thrilling to watch. Its shock factor itself is a reason to see it. Even if you don't agree with me about the film's story, the performances are thrilling. If you can't see at least this, I feel just a bit bad for you. I understand that a lot of people don't like Girl, Interrupted. But please, give it a chance and you hopefully wont regret it.

Girl, Interrupted is rated R for strong language and content relating to drugs, sexuality and suicide.

Futurama: Bender's Game (2008)

3 STARS


Directed by Dwayne Carey-Hill
Produced by Claudia Katz, Lee Supercinski
Written by Eric Horsted, Michael Rowe, Eric Kaplan, David X. Cohen, Patric M. Verrone

Starring Billy West, Katey Sagal, John DiMaggio

Runtime 1 hour, 27 min.
Worldwide Gross N/A
Genres Comedy, Sci-Fi, Fantasy, Adventure

Debuting on television in 1999, Matt Groening's futuristic space comedy "Futurama" was on for four seasons before being cut off the air. Despite good reviews and three Emmy Awards, the program was put to shame by FOX's lack of support and constant changing of the show's timeslot. Once being rebroadcast by late night programming, "Futurama" found itself a strong audience and steady support for the show's revival. Five years later, what fans get is a series of four straight-to-video films. The films were so successful, a new season of television shows are now being produced for airtime on Comedy Central. Bender's Game is the third in the video series.

What "Futurama" was known for was its intelligent humor, as well as its zaniness and originality. Though the humor is still present in Bender's Game, what lacks is the series' sophistication and charm. From five years ago, "Futurama" has seemed to decreased in its quality, taking cheap jokes and easy laughs. The series was much more detailed than these videos are. Everything just seems dulled down for the 20-year-old bachelor crowd. Where's the intelligence and subtle comedy that used to be the soul of this program? I hope they haven't gotten lost in the five years of the show's hiatus.

What is still hear as loud as it was originally is the writers' use of imagination. The plot is fun, fresh and original. In this adventure, the Planet Express crew becomes concerned with business conglomerate MomCorp monopolizing the fuel industry. With gas prices and tensions rising, the gang goes to the MomCorp HQ to try and stop the madness, with damaging and equally interesting results. The voice acting is still marvelous, with each line dripping with the talent of a powerful cast. The animation is crisp as well. It's finely polished and well done. You can tell they put a lot of effort in keeping with the visuals of the television series.

Sadly, I fear that this sharp comedy might be going down the wrong path. Some parts of the story seem rushed. Some plot twists are so quick it makes the film a bit confusing. I never had this problem with the series. Things were showcased beautifully. This is even more impressive since the crew had to force an interesting story into only 22 minutes. But with Bender's Game, they had a whole 90 minutes to use to their advantage. Why did they make the decision to move things at a quicker pace? Take your time. You actually have some of it to spare now.

What Bender's Game succeeds with is its superiority over the two previous films. Though this story's pacing problems might take away from the film from time to time, they're much improved from Bender's Big Score, the first in the Futurama film quadrilogy. This film also is more focused than the second, The Beast with a Billion Backs. So, with what I can tell, the series is definitely getting better. It's just not quite up to the par it used to be. Hopefully these films are simply experimentation until the film's new season and not a change of heart.

Though it might sound like I'm ripping into the film a bit, Bender's Game is definitely worth watching. It's very funny. In fact, I'm actually impressed that the quality of the film isn't worse than it is. With pressure from the currently popular toilet and barf humor in today's comedy, I'm glad that "Futurama" hasn't totally lost its ethics. Though there's some toilet humor in Bender's Game that you wouldn't have seen before, there aren't any "Family Guy"-esque moments that want to make me throw up. That's definitely something to celebrate. Here's to hoping it doesn't get worse!

Bender's Game is currently unrated.

Frost/Nixon (2008)

3 STARS

Directed by Ron Howard
Produced by Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner, Brian Grazer, Ron Howard
Written by Peter Morgan (based on his play, which was based on historical events)

Starring Michael Sheen, Frank Langella, Kevin Bacon

Runtime 2 hours, 2 min.
Worldwide Gross $27,426,335
Genres Drama, Historical

Over two years following the infamous Watergate scandal, American president Richard Nixon has finally resigned his office. Following this event, it takes constant struggle and over $2 million for British journalist David Frost to interview Nixon for a special televised event, which is Nixon's first journalistic interview since his resignation. Its these struggles to get Nixon on the airwaves that takes up the two hours of film known as Frost/Nixon.

In most instances, I don't know what I should be feeling when watching it. Is this film about the interviews? Or the presidency? Though some might say that this doesn't matter at all, I feel that it does. It feels like the script is constantly battling with itself about the film's plot. Just when you start to think that the film is about the Watergate scandal and the interviews between Frost and Nixon, pictures are shown of the violent impact of the Vietnam War. Vietnam hasn't been a major plot element until this moment. Why does Vietnam matter? In a film about Nixon's presidency, it would. But this film isn't about that...or is it? I have no idea. This is one of the film's big problems.

To tell the honest truth, I do like this film. Outside of Langella's strong acting, Frost/Nixon is intelligent and knowledgeable. I feel like I learned some things watching it. However, I'm reluctant to accept this film as pure fact. Many historians note constant inaccuracies. The largest criticism I've read is that the film presents an opinion that the Frost/Nixon interviews were a bigger event than they really were. Others have said that many of the crucial dialogue is completely fake and that some events never even happened. Even if this is expected in a dramatic film, it would have been nice if history was respected more in Peter Morgan's screenplay.

Though I've previously noted my problems with the film's script, it succeeds in some ways as well. The relationship between Frost and Nixon is developed nicely and is very intriguing to watch. It's what hooked me into the story. Some of the film's dialogue is great as well. Another thing worth noting is the film's opening. It does very well in attracting attention.

To me, Frost/Nixon's biggest problem is that there is nothing in the film that hasn't been seen before. Where other 2008 films like Slumdog Millionaire and WALL-E flourish in creativity, there is nothing here that is incredibly memorable. Though Frank Langella's performance is well done, his approach to the character is nowhere near fresh. It's been done before and probably better. This can be said about all aspects of the production. Where's the replay value? What would make you want to see this film again?

Though nothing in Frost/Nixon is incredibly terrible, don't expect too much from it. It's not shocking, appalling, incredible, heartbreaking or anything else that could possibly make it a great film. It just is. I'm not saying that a film has to be any of these things to be great, but in a political drama, some intrigue would be nice. Go ahead and give Frost/Nixon a watch. You just probably wont want to watch it again.

Frost/Nixon is rated R for some language.

Doubt (2008)

5 STARS


Directed by John Patrick Shanley
Produced by Mark Roybal, Scott Rudin
Written by John Patrick Shanley (based on his play, Doubt: A Parable)

Starring Meryl Streep, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Amy Adams

Runtime 1 hour, 44 min.
Worldwide Gross $50,847,196
Genres Drama, Mystery

It's hard to express just how amazing this film is. Based off John Patrick Shanley's epic Tony Award-winning play, Doubt tells the story of a Catholic school in The Bronx. It's 1964 and Sister Aloysius Beauvier (Streep) is having some doubts about the school's reverend, Father Brendan Flynn (Hoffman). She tells her fellow sisters to keep an eye out for suspicious activity. When Sister James (Adams) tells Aloysius about a private meeting Flynn had with one of the school's children, chaos ensues.

Throughout the film, some things should be considered. Are the child abusers really the enemy? Or are the people who go after them the ones we should be worrying about? No one's saying that child abusers should be given sympathy. But is searching for them like a witch hunt really an effective way to do things? If Aloysius had never told her Sisters to look for suspicious activity, would anything at all have stood out to Sister James? These are questions that came to my mind when watching Doubt.

Something great about Doubt is its cast. Academy Award nominations went to Streep, Hoffman, Adams and Viola Davis as Mrs. Miller. But the performance that stands out the most to me is Streep's. Her performance is the best I've ever seen her in. She plays her role with an incredible power that puts every other modern-day actor to shame. After all, what other actors can say that they have fifteen Oscar nominations? But this role takes the cake.

The film's script is great as well. There's many memorable lines and some scenes that will never leave my mind. What's really great about the screenplay is that each character has their own noticeable traits to identify them with. Unlike some films, Doubt's characters are fully developed. Father Flynn has his eyecatching flamboyance, Sister James has her incredible kindness and devotion and Aloysius keeps strong with her die hard strictness. It's with theses quirks that the actors mend so well with.

Are there any bad qualities in this film? To tell the truth, I can't find any. Everything just seems so amazing to me. Some critics say that some of the film's scenes seem fake and overstaged. I completely disagree. To me, you can't get any more real than the drama displayed in Doubt. Its writing is pure as it can possibly get. Conversely, other critics said that Doubt wasn't dramatic enough. That it didn't shock them like a mystery film should. But in my opinion, Doubt isn't a film that's supposed to shock you. It's supposed to make you think. And Doubt certainly does this.

Doubt is definitely another amazing film in a great year for cinema. How it managed not to score a Best Picture nomination astounds me. Doubt is truly exceptional and succeeds in ways that other films don't even come close to. Even if you don't like it as much as I do, Doubt is still a film that you should see at least once.

Doubt is rated PG-13 for thematic material.

Little Children (2006)

4 STARS


Directed by Todd Field
Produced by Albert Berger, Todd Field, Ron Yerxa
Written by Todd Field, Tom Perrotta (based on the novel by Tom Perrotta)

Starring Kate Winslet, Patrick Wilson, Jackie Earle Haley

Runtime 2 hours, 10 min.
Worldwide Gross $14,821,658
Genres Drama, Romance

In 2004, Tom Perrotta, writer of the acclaimed 1998 novel Election, releases Little Children, which is subsequently listed on numerous Top Ten lists. Only two years later, Little Children is released for the silver screen. How is a film made in such a short amount of time? Little Children is a very good film. The fact that it was realized, adapted, cast, shot, edited and released in under two years only adds to the film's brilliance.

It's hard to describe the plot of Little Children. It's mainly about two people, Sarah Pierce (Winslet) and Brad Adamson (Wilson) who embark in an extramarital affair. Then there's ex-cop Larry Hedges (Noah Emmerich), who is pissed off about a convicted sex offender living in his neighborhood. The sex offender, Ronald McGorvey (Haley) is having trouble battling his immoral urges while his mother (Phyllis Somerville) is wanting to help him get on with his life. Meanwhile, Sarah's relationship with her husband is falling apart and gossip about her is circulating the neighborhood. On Brad's end, he's having trouble with his wife (Jennifer Connelly), who's pressuring him to pass the bar exam and get a job as a lawyer. Needless to say, a lot is going on.

The strongest element of Little Children is its cast. While Kate Winslet and Patrick Wilson are both decent in their portrayals, its the film's supporting cast that is really notable. Amazing performances come from both Jackie Earle Haley and Phyllis Somerville. Another great performance comes from Tony Award-winner Jane Adams, who plays Sheila, Ronald's date in the dinner scene. Though her performance is less than five minutes in length, it's flawless. Truthfully, its hard to find someone in this film who does a bad job acting. This is the most compelling reason to see the film. It's hard to think of a film that matches Little Children in its quality of acting.

Something else notable is the film's screenplay. With all of its subplots, the script is still coherent enough to be easy enough to understand. It's not a confusing film, which is a great achievement considering the story's complexities. Something that might throw people off is the film's alarmingly slow pace. Though there's many eye grabbing moments, the film is altogether slow. But like my review of The Queen, I don't see this as a bad thing. I don't mind, but others might.

I also really like the score, composed by Thomas Newman. But something that really makes Little Children original is its narration, which is fun and creatively done. However, the best quality of this film is its ending. It's perfect. It almost effortlessly resolves all of the story's conflicts and answers all questions quickly and effectively. But most of all, it's shocking. That's right, shocking. I actually gasped. Be prepared. It's perhaps one of the greatest endings to a film I've ever seen.

The one thing holding the film back for me is its length. When looking back, some scenes seem a bit unneeded. This makes it seems like the film is just rambling on, when this really isn't the case. The film could have been much more fluent if some things were taken out. But that's just my opinion.

Little Children is very well done. Something that astounds me is how underrated it is. It bombed at the box office, taking in $12 million less than it's production budget. It was also shunned at the Academy Awards, earning only three nominations and no Best Picture nod. But it's alright. Little Children is revealing, frightening, controversial, brilliantly acted and in a way, even beautiful. And that's good enough for me.

Little Children is rated R for strong sexuality and nudity, language and some disturbing content.

MouseHunt (1997)

3.5 STARS


Directed by Gore Verbinski
Produced by Bruce Cohen, Tony Ludwig, Alan Riche
Written by Adam Rifkin

Starring Nathan Lane, Lee Evans, Maury Chaykin

Runtime 1 hour, 38 min.
Worldwide Gross $122,417,389
Genres Comedy, Family

For me, MouseHunt is cherished film. I have fond memories of watching it when I was younger. However, putting all biases aside, MouseHunt is still great. I used to love The Rugrats Movie too, but that obviously doesn't hold up. This film does. Gore Verbinski, of Pirates of the Caribbean fame, puts a lot of effort into his first feature-length film. Nathan Lane and Lee Evans star as the Smuntz brothers, heirs to a failing string factory and a seemingly worthless house. However, after looking into the property, the brothers find that the house is the work of a famed architect and is worth millions of dollars.

After its introduction, the majority of the film profiles the Smuntz brothers in their multiple attempts to rid the house of an intelligent mouse. Though outlandish at times, the plot works in most instances. Ernie Smuntz (Lane) has personal experiences with pests, quipping "A single vermin can bring you down." Ernie's hatred of such pests is explored early in the story, in one of the film's most memorable scenes. But the scene is memorable for all the wrong reasons. To me, it's truly one of the most disturbing things I've ever witnessed in a film. Trust me, in the restaurant scene, when the food gets to the Mayor's table, just close your eyes and wait for the screaming to stop. You'll be better off.

This is something about MouseHunt that I'm a bit unsure of. Are all of the film's gags really needed? Do we really need to see a stereotypically overweight man crunching on a cockroach (yes, that's what happens)? Some of the gags aren't needed, not because of its gross-out factor, but because of their tediousness. Yes, the Smuntz brothers don't have the best luck. We get it. We don't need another crazy antic to convince us of this.

But not all the scenes in Hunt are this way. Most parts are quite funny. It's only toward the end of the film when you might start to tire of the film's slapstick humor. The fact that most of the scenes are unrealistic doesn't phase me. In a slapstick comedy, unrealistic scenes are expected. What's really great about this film is how the actors work with the outlandish things in the script. Nathan Lane is fantastic. Lane's dry wit and sarcastic lines sound perfect coming from his lips. Also fun to watch is Christopher Walken's role as Caesar, an offbeat exterminator. You'll never see Walken in a crazier role and this movie is worth watching for his appearance alone. Lee Evans is decent as well, but some parts of his performance seem very cut-and-paste.

In a film with a lot of things going for it, there is something I had a major problem with. Though screenwriter Adam Rifkin knows how to write some great comedy, he's not so great on developing his characters. At first, Evans' character seems very simple and humane. In a scene he says he's exactly comfortable with killing a little, innocent mouse. In a scene soon after this, he's chasing the mouse around with a mallet with a thirst for death in his eyes. Is this really true to his character? What made him change his mind all of a sudden?

In a year of big box office earnings, MouseHunt slid by almost unnoticed. From the 1.8 billion dollar earning, special effects smash Titanic to action-packed blockbusters The Lost World: Jurassic Park and Men in Black, its nice to find a film from this time period that isn't afraid to be smaller. MouseHunt is a fun little movie, a hidden gem and an underrated production. With great comedy, good acting, a solid story and excellent casting, MouseHunt is a film you wont want to see just once.

MouseHunt is rated PG for language, comic sensuality and mayhem.