Park City's Flick Chick by Jill Adler
November 2004 - Movie Reviews in a Nutshell
Bridget Jones: Edge of Reason
Film Rating: PG
I'm
about to betray my gender. I like a good flickchick as much as
the next chick - Fried Green Tomatoes, The Notebook, Terms of
Endearment - but BJER just didn't do it for me. Sorry, Gals. This
sequel to one of my favorite chickflicks - Bridget Jones' Diary
- relies too heavily on the assumption that we would love anything
and everything about Bridget (Renee Zellweger) and there's no
need to explain why again. She's back; fatter and more oafish
than ever but now you truly wonder what these amazingly attractive
men (Colin Firth and roguish Hugh Grant) see in her whiney, puppy
dog padding of quiet desperation. Don't get me wrong. BJER is
cute, funny and harmless. It's just that the whole story seemed
way too cliche (and shallow) this time around. Self-depricating,
homely girl finds ultimate bliss for six weeks, sabotages the
relationship, wallows in self-pity, winds up in a Thai prison
and is rescued by the love of her life and they live happiliy
ever after. Until the sequel, of course.
Alfie
Film Rating: PG
I
know Alfie. Though he’s much more sophisticated than most
Park City dudes, there’s a little of Alfie in all of them
– that guy who thinks he’s the bomb, shagging random
chicks and never looking back or leaving a number. No, wait. There’s
a LOT of Alfie in PC boys. God Bless ‘em. Jude Law’s
Alfie is so charming it’s bearable watching him make shallow
confessions directly to camera. This is a chick flick disguised
as a d*^kflick. But my boyfriend had the right assessment. Law’s
actually best when he has no conscience and we vicariously enjoy
his escapades and devilish attitude. But true to any commercial
movie these days, he (and we) have to learn something. What Alfie
finds is that the superficial quest for random action with Marisa
Tomei, Jane Krakowski, Susan Sarandon and Sienna Miller just can’t
keep him from feeling alone. Awwwww. I never saw the original
Alfie that made Michael Caine a major star, so I found this remake
a totally fun romp.
The Incredibles
Film Rating: PG
Incredible
animation, incredible action, incredible fun. Can you tell I’m
gushing? Pixar once again puts a hurt on Dreamworks’ swimming-in-mediocrity
Shark Tale with their new DC Comic homage, The Incredibles. The
Incredibles are actually a family of four forced to live as normal
folk after lawyers and sue-happy citizens put the kibosh on superhero
crimefighting. Makes sense that one day someone whose life is
saved, sues for the whiplash or property damage that occurred
in the process. But overweight, frustrated and bored insurance
adjuster Bob Parr (Craig T. Nelson), a.k.a. Mr. Incredible, and
his wife Helen (Holly Hunter), a.k.a. Elastigirl, along with their
two kids are called out of retirement by Syndrome (Jason Lee)
whose been killing all of the superheros in a dastardly plan to
conquer the world and prove he’s the only superhero they
need. What follows is a wild ride of amazing technical CGI animation
wrapped in a James Bondish adventure of intrigue and action. As
killer as this cartoon is, there’re bombs, bullets, beatings
and bullies that made not a few of the little ones in the audience
wail. Leave the under-10 set home.
Saw
Film Rating: PG
The
premise is pretty simple; chain two people who don't know each
other to rusty pipes in a dilapidated, nasty washroom; give them
a rusty saw, torture them emotionally and see who's the first
to crack and saw off his foot to escape. If only I could have
taken a blade to the casting director. This wannabe horror/suspense
flick by first-time director James Wan has some decent elements
- stylized sets ala Seven, freaky music, interesting plot involving
a serial killer who drives his victims to kill themselves. But
the acting turns SAW into one of the lamest movies of 2004. In
fact, our "hero" (played by Princess Bride's Cary Elwes),
is so horrifyingly bad that I laughed where I should have held
my breath. Danny Glover also sucks playing the renegade, misguided
cop who thinks Elwes is the killer. Everyone should have died
in the first 15 minutes to put us moviegoers out of our misery.
