A Couple of Movie Reviews
Posted By Kathleen David on November 7, 2011
This past weekend we went to see a couple of films. One was just coming into the movie theater and the other is about the leave the movie theater.
The first film was Tower Heist which we went to see on the strength of the cast and with a little trepidation because of the leads. Ben Stiller has been hit or miss for me. There are times that I really enjoy his performance and other times that it feels like fingernails on the chalkboard to me. Eddie Murphy I have enjoyed his more recent animated performances than his life performances in film.
I have to say I was pleasantly surprised by this film. The advertising gave me the idea I would be seeing a different kind of film that I did see. It’s a buddy caper movie not an over the top comedy. And both Stiller and Murphy surprised and entertained me. They took the right amount of time to introduce the characters and the situations that would be used in the film. Once we got to the caper part of the film, all the pieces were in place.
So we had strong performances by the leads and the supporting cast did a bang-up job as well. Matthew Broderick was wonderful in his role and Gabourey Sidibe did more with her scenes than anyone else there. The scenes between her and Murphy really wanted to see a movie with the two of them pulling off a caper. Alan Alda plays the villain of the piece and does a mighty fine job of pulling of a lot of dialogue with double meanings and giving us both versions at the same time.
The plot is basically people done wrong go to exact justice from those who wronged them with a screw-ball heist. And it is executed well. There are a couple of scenes that the scope of the movie screen is used to the film’s advantage but nothing that screams you must see this in theaters with one exception but since that’s towards the end I am leaving it out of the review.
Yesterday we went to see “The Three Musketeers”. In the spirit of full disclosure I am a big Dumas fan. I read my way through the D’ Artagnan romances. I have seen every film and TV version that I can get my hands on. I have seen the good, the bad and the ugly. This seemed to be one of those ideas that sounded good at the time but the execution leaves a little to be desired. It is a mash-up of steampunk and sections of the Three Musketeers with a lot being changed. It almost feels like a piece of fanfic with one heck of a budget.
Was I entertained? Yes, yes I was. Did they follow the journey of D’artagnan? Kinda-sorta? They did play with some stuff that is in the books but not in that form like Athos and Milady de Winter’s relationship. They gave Milady a bunch of things to do which aren’t in the books as written but we know how crafty, cunning, and deadly she can be.
Honestly I would love to see a Musketeer’s film with the three actors they have playing Athos, Porthos, and Aramis. They did a great job and had great chemistry between the three of them. The opening sequence with the group was the movie I wanted to see even if it had strayed far of the source material.
The thing that brought the film down like a lead balloon? D’ Artagnan, the kid looked like a pretty boy toy and his acting was not the strongest. The dialogue delivery was wooden and looked like he was reading cue cards or a teleprompter. He had the range of a to b if that. Now this could be the director because I have seen other actors who I find just dreadful in one film but real finds in others and it always seems to come down to the director who seems to be known for adaptations of video games into film which makes sense now with some of the scene cuts.
So not the best film I have seen this year but not the worst either. I think if you go see it with the knowledge that it is not the Dumas 3 Musketeers but that the characters are being used with some really fun situations with some good dialogue and some stellar performances by the older members of the cast.
I am grateful that I saw both of these films in the movie theater.
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