Gergy Reviews

Gone in 60 Seconds (2000)

Vrrrrooooooommmmmm

[8 September 2000]

This good action movie was made by a motor sports fan for fellow motor sports aficionados. However it has a certain feeling of a déja-vu. The plot, as expected, is full of clichés, but who cares since the most important aspect of such movies is the action. The action here is mainly about car chase scenes and the accompanying stunts which are a compilation of all the car chase scenes you saw in every movie and TV series altogether.

The actors are convincing in their roles with remarkable performances by Nicolas Cage and Robert Duvall. Having said that, I still wonder what is the reason behind having the character played by Angelina Jolie. You can remove the scenes where she appears without affecting the movie in anything, and you might even get a tighter and stronger plot. I believe that the producers created the character to add a feminine touch to an otherwise all-macho movie and thus give Angelina Jolie a chance to exhibit her silicone-enhanced lips. The same applies to the character played by Robert Duvall: his only contribution to the grand theft consists of jotting some lines on a chalkboard!

A point in favor of the movie: the brief fight scenes prevent the viewer from getting distracted and help him concentrate on the main course of action.

One last question: if it takes 60 seconds to steal a car, then stealing 50 cars would take 50 minutes, what the heck were those guys doing all night long then??

The Barber of Siberia (1998)

Wow!

[10/10 · 29 August 2000]

I went to see this movie based on a suggestion from a good friend of mine. I expected to see a typical love story and was curious about the way this story was developed and directed. I admit that my expectations were very low in this regard. The Barber of Siberia is a work of art, Mikhalkov is surely one of the great movie authors of all times, and I am humbly thankful to my friend for her priceless advice.

The plot may seem like any conventional love story but the fashion in which the story is developed and the performances of all the actors (yes, ALL of them) is really fascinating.

What strikes you most is when Mikhalkov directly compares the life of a military cadet between Russia and the US. There's also a latent comparison between the American and Russian ideals. I leave it to you to discover how and when these comparisons appear on screen.

Mikhalkov magnificently plays the role of the Tzar Alexander III (the father of the recently canonized Tzar Nicholas II). As portrayed by Mikhalkov, Alexander III embodies the grandeur of Russia and sets the standard on the qualities of a ruler. You cannot but compare these standards to those set by Boris Yeltsin (who was in charge in 1998) and you would better understand the passing of power to Putin.

This is one of the rare times I get emotional about a film, and believe me the Barber of Siberia contains a lot of emotions. DON'T MISS IT AT ANY RATE!

The Patriot (2000)

Vote Gore

[21 August 2000]

It has been proven that Roland Emmerich makes good movies. It remains to be seen however, if those movies are milestones of modern film making.

The Patriot, although lengthy at parts, is a good movie. It aims to shed a light on the birth of American history. As such it contains the usual clichés: Women's opinion was heard and respected (although later on women had to fight for their rights), white people respected their black slaves and were honored to have them fight and die for their cause, etc. I believe these fairy tales are necessary for any film to be politically correct and thus make a good performance in the box office. Speaking of box office, I think the most important factor in the success of the movie is Mel Gibson. His performance here is reminiscent of Braveheart and will surely make you forget about the minor discrepancies of the movie.

Finally, I would like to add a small remark. The Patriot is Emmerich's second movie (after Independence Day) whose release coincides with US Elections, and here again the movie comes to the favor of the Democratic Party. Does this mean that Al Gore will become the next US President? Let us wait and see.

Mission: Impossible II (2000)

My Name is Hunt, Ethan Hunt

[28 July 2000]

You cannot enjoy this movie if you are an aficionado (like I

am) of the TV series. What made the success of the TV

series was the quiet and steady method used by Jim Phelps to accomplish the mission he chose to accept. Action scenes were kept at a minimum to enhance the suspense and illustrate the clever plot. Both movie versions of Mission: Impossible are far away from the TV

series. I guess Tom Cruise wanted to do a 007-like movie

and he came out with the idea of re-modeling Mission: Impossible for this purpose.

MI2 contains all the ingredients of a James Bond movie:

The super-spy himself who works alone (Cruise), his boss

M (played here by Anthony Hopkins); Q, the hardware guy

(Ving Rhames is the alter ego of the late Desmond Llewelyn); the Bond girl (Thandie Newton who strangely

reminded me of Catherine Zeta-Jones in Entrapment); and

last but not least the car and motorcycle chase scenes.

The analogy goes as far as Nyra asking Hunt : "Who are

you?" and the reply comes naturally: " My name is ...".

Both movie versions of Mission: Impossible contain a strong and powerful message: All spies are villains. In both

movies the evil man is a member of the IMF team. I wonder

what made Anthony Hopkins have confidence in Tom Cruise if (almost) all his spies are potential traitors! I

guess we will have to wait for MI3 to find out.

The action shots of the movie are well done. The exaggerated slow motion (c.f. Matrix) is there to clearly

show us that it is Tom Cruise himself who is doing the

stunts. Even the cliche of having the villain wake up (after

he was believed to be dead) to deal the final coup to the

hero is used to illustrate the prowess of Cruise as a stuntman.

All in all, it is a good spy movie with a simple plot and a lot

of action. It surely has nothing to do with Mission: Impossible.

Deep Impact (1998)

A remake of Independence Day??

[17 July 2000]

I couldn't help comparing Deep Impact to Independence Day. There are many similarities between the two: the Earth is threatened by something coming from the skies and the human race faces elimination, the USA (of course) make the necessary arrangements to avoid the disaster and save the human kind, the movie ends with a naive message of hope.

This movie, however, has some originalities: The US government chooses to preselect a group of scientists, scholars and artists to go to the shelters and ensure the continuation of the human race. One question pops immediately to my mind: would MC Solaar have been preselected by the French Government? I will not dare to speculate about the choices that the Lebanese Government would have made.

I enjoyed the performance of Robert Duvall (especially when he started reading Moby Dick) more than the special effects that are inherent to this type of movies. Robert Duvall in command of the spaceship reminds me of Harrison Ford with the Millennium Falcon in Star Wars, and later of Captain Kirk with the USS Enterprise in Star Trek.

The most original thing about Deep Impact has Morgan Freeman playing the role of President Beck. It is surprising to see a black man as President of the most powerful country in the world. One might even wonder why is that? Well the answer was given to me by my brother-in-law: continuing the comparison between Deep Impact and Independence Day, we find that the WHITE President of Independence Day was a true hero that would not accept a defeat and finally lead the battle that saved the Earth from the aliens; whereas the BLACK President of Deep Impact was a dull president that announced bad news after bad news and that went to the shelters to escape the calamity. You must agree with me that it is a very logical explanation. No white President would have done that, don't you think?

The Rainmaker (1997)

A film about good performances

[17 July 2000]

This is a beautiful movie. Everybody looks (and acts) beautifully. This simple but not obvious movie can only be made by an artist like Coppola.

All the actors were astonishing and I especially admired Red West who played the drunk father of the boy who died from cancer.

There are however two problems with this movie: 1. You know what will happen from the very first minutes of the movie. John Grisham's lawyer background is predominant in all his novels that went to the movies.

2. I believe that Clare Danes' role was put there to add a 'feminine' touch (either by Grisham or Coppola). You can remove the scenes where she appears without affecting the movie in anything, and you might even get a tighter and stronger script.

The Devil's Advocate (1997)

WOW! What a movie

[11 July 2000]

This the kind of movies that I would describe as 'Intelligent'. I prepared myself to leave the theater with the impression of a déjà-vu: a classical Faust-like story about a covenant with the Devil, but the last minute of the film changes everything and makes the movie really interesting. A few questions remain unanswered: Would a lawyer sell his soul? Why did the Devil choose to head a law firm? Is there a similarity between the two (Devil and Lawyer)? Does this mean that lawyers are Evil? The film tries to give an answer but it didn't convince me. Maybe the script writers were too diplomatic ;-D Al Pacino is superb, Keanu Reeves is snobbish, Charlize Theron is, well ... (no comments). A point in its favor: the movie handles the subject without any exaggerated special effects. The film features Senator D'Amato playing himself. I recommend that you go see the movie. Make sure to stay until the last minute.

Gladiator (2000)

A 'modern' Roman Epic

[9/10 · 7 July 2000]

Ridley Scott has done to Roman Epics what Steven Spielberg did for WW II movies: destroy all the traditional cliches and bring a more realistic approach to the subject.

What most impressed me was the realistic portrayal of the fights making us realize that violence is not an entertainment.

The high quality of the production is reflected in every single detail: from the shining face mask of the gladiator to the giant coliseum, passing by a bird's-eye view of Rome that the Romans themselves couldn't even see, to the splendid illustrations of the atrocities of the arenas and the battlefields.

The plot is just like what one would expect from such movies. The message is simple: Loyalty and honor are worth fighting for.

Everyone should see Gladiator and enjoy the wonderful acting and the marvelous special effects.