A lot of people will watch this movie and shrug it off as a simple comedy or even say that it isn't that great, but the fact is this movie does have some new and unique parts to it. The numero uno of these is the way Hogan's character Terry interacts with the handicap Steve. The lines in the bar are excellent to explaining how one should treat someone with a handicap. But they just don't stop there, they continue to show this throughout the rest of the movie. The scenes with Terry & Steve are priceless at times. But this movie has a good deal of tongue in cheek humor as well. Taking a convict and making him an angel of mercy was quite hilarious, like when he robs the fast food restaraunt to feed the poor and especially the scene where he talks with Charlton Heston as God. And of course the very convincing impersonations of Willie Nelson and Rod Stewart are classic. I especially love the scene where the police are interviewing the bank tellers after the robbery. The movie cleverly uses plays on words like "born again Christian" and periodically makes fun of itself, all of which work. The ending was both surprising and touching, especially since the whole movie you aren't sure if Terry had a dream or whether he really was sent back. All in all I must say I was pleasantly surprised by this film. It's too bad the world didn't feel the same way about this movie.
Reviews
4 Reviews
Bicentennial Man
(1999)
Reaching for Humanity
30 March 2002
The last comment I read was superb on commenting on this movie, and I can say little more. Let me just say that this movie was far better than I ever imagined it would be. First surprise, Robin Williams in a totally serious role. True, there are funny points, but they are not due to Robin Williams' patented quick gag style. Second surprise, here is a masterful story with equally masterful acting. I wouldn't have been so surprised though if I had known that the story comes from Isaac Asimov. This movie shows an anomoly in a robot named Andrew that makes him creative and therefore unique. This uniqueness eventually leads him to start his search to become more humanity. This begins slowly, showing him first acting like a human by earning money, and on a quest for new knowledge. Next he searches for others like him, decides there are none and then starts his new quest to look more human. After acquiring skin so that he looks human, he next works towards developing his relationships with humans in the family he was first adopted by. This next leads to his desire for feelings/senses. Slowly he begins a step by step process towards becoming human. Now, I don't want to give away the whole movie, but this is a must-see. It will touch you and let you appreciate what you have as a human as you see Andrew's joy in achieving each small piece of humanity that we all possess. You will see how he has to deal with being ostracized by most humans and loved by those precious few, such as his master at the beginning of the movie, that see him for what he truly is and are not threatened by him. This will have you asking yourself which one you would be and taking a close look at your own humanity. Go out and watch this and be amazed!
The Majestic
(2001)
Another Great Serious Role
12 March 2002
Here is another great serious role for Jim Carrey in another great deep movie. But I think that once again the academy will pass him up on this one as well. I definitely thought that the Truman Show was the best movie of that year and Carrey's best performance to date. It was a crossover movie for him, half funny and half serious, but this movie is completely serious. You won't be seeing any of Carrey's bathroom humor or physical gags. This is totally serious Carrey on a subject that has barely been touched by Hollywood - that of the Blacklist. Here we see Carrey, a B-movie screenwriter, who is blacklisted for having attended a peace club in college. It shows the totally ridiculousness and power of the McCarthy committee. But this is only part of the movie, or more like half of the real point. This is combined with a look at the pain and despair of a town decimated by all its sons killed in World War II. Carrey is mistaken for one of these missing in action sons and assumes his role since he has amnesia. Through Carrey's time in the town he eventually gains courage and strength that he never had from a person he never knew - the very one he had been mistaken for. Also, he brings some happiness back to the town and helps them get over their mourning. All in all, this story combines patriotism, standing up for what's right, courage, and willingness to change.
Regardless, I think this movie shows once again that Carrey is moving towards what Tom Hanks did many years ago. Hanks started out as a small time comedian in little respected movies, but he moved onward to becoming one of the best actors of today with several great roles and academy awards under his belt as well. I doubt Carrey will ever achieve the status of Hanks, but he definitely deserves to be given a great deal more respect now for what he has done. Carrey isn't Ace Ventura anymore.
Regardless, I think this movie shows once again that Carrey is moving towards what Tom Hanks did many years ago. Hanks started out as a small time comedian in little respected movies, but he moved onward to becoming one of the best actors of today with several great roles and academy awards under his belt as well. I doubt Carrey will ever achieve the status of Hanks, but he definitely deserves to be given a great deal more respect now for what he has done. Carrey isn't Ace Ventura anymore.
It's Only the Beginning...
11 October 1999
I've heard a lot of people complain about this movie in many ways and most of them in my opinion need to remember one very important thing about going to see a movie, especially one in a series of movies: DO NOT GO TO THE MOVIE WITH A SET OF PREJUDICES/EXPECTATIONS!! You will almost always be disappointed since the chance of the movie actually going exactly how you expected it to go are close to nothing. That is the biggest problem with this movie. People go expecting to see Luke, Han, Leia, Chewie, etc... and are disappointed when they get to see full-fledge Jedi Knights as the main characters, something we really only got to see a glimpse of in A New Hope with Obi-Wan in his advanced years. So, these Jedi's aren't like Han & Luke, being more calm and sometimes not as easy to relate to as a result.
Also very important to remember is the fact that we are at the beginning here. We are going to watch how the Evil Empire developed out of the Republic, so of course we don't start out with the Evil Empire. This is a completely different time and set-up than the other Star Wars movies and should be treated as such.
I tried real hard to go into this movie without any pre-determined biases. I didn't read anything about the movie's plot and tried to keep my mind free of guessing the plot, although this was hard. I must admit that when I first watched this movie I left slightly disappointed, but then the more I thought about it and the more I saw it, the more I liked it. Of course the best part of the whole movie was the light saber duel which far out-classed anything we had seen beforehand in the other Star Wars movies. It took me watching the movie several times to just fully grasp the whole duel!
The special effects were great, as always, in fact this was the best computer animation I've ever seen. On that topic, a lot of people also complained about Jar-Jar. I didn't have that much of a problem with him, treating him what he was. Also, people had problems with the cultural accents several characters had. I don't feel this is in any way putting down any cultures, but trying to emphasize that these different races are like our different races.
There were a few things I disliked about the movie. These included the talking of meta-chlorians -- seeming to be an attempt at a scientific explanation of the force. I also thought that with the technology shown in this movie, the Star Wars: A New Hope seems very off in the fact that it's technology is so far behind this movie when it's supposed to be before it. This is why I thought Lucas should have changed a few of the 70's technology in his remake of A New Hope to fit with the technology in all of the other movies. Also, I didn't care for the "virgin birth" idea for Anakin, who we all know is going to become Darth Vader.
Although in general the acting was adequate, there is no doubt that Liam Neeson was the best actor of the bunch. Ewan McGregor did a pretty good job though and was very convincing as a young Obi-Wan (a big job with who's shoes he had to fill!) There were scenes where the actor playing Anakin could have done a little better job, but he is just a kid. Also, I wish they would have kept a few of the small scenes they cut (that are in the book) that would have helped fill in a few gaps.
I loved this movie and have always loved Star Wars. The worst part of the movie was the end, because it asked/left more questions than it answered! I will hate waiting the 2-3 years before the next one! Definitely go see this, and preferably in the theater with surround sound!
Also very important to remember is the fact that we are at the beginning here. We are going to watch how the Evil Empire developed out of the Republic, so of course we don't start out with the Evil Empire. This is a completely different time and set-up than the other Star Wars movies and should be treated as such.
I tried real hard to go into this movie without any pre-determined biases. I didn't read anything about the movie's plot and tried to keep my mind free of guessing the plot, although this was hard. I must admit that when I first watched this movie I left slightly disappointed, but then the more I thought about it and the more I saw it, the more I liked it. Of course the best part of the whole movie was the light saber duel which far out-classed anything we had seen beforehand in the other Star Wars movies. It took me watching the movie several times to just fully grasp the whole duel!
The special effects were great, as always, in fact this was the best computer animation I've ever seen. On that topic, a lot of people also complained about Jar-Jar. I didn't have that much of a problem with him, treating him what he was. Also, people had problems with the cultural accents several characters had. I don't feel this is in any way putting down any cultures, but trying to emphasize that these different races are like our different races.
There were a few things I disliked about the movie. These included the talking of meta-chlorians -- seeming to be an attempt at a scientific explanation of the force. I also thought that with the technology shown in this movie, the Star Wars: A New Hope seems very off in the fact that it's technology is so far behind this movie when it's supposed to be before it. This is why I thought Lucas should have changed a few of the 70's technology in his remake of A New Hope to fit with the technology in all of the other movies. Also, I didn't care for the "virgin birth" idea for Anakin, who we all know is going to become Darth Vader.
Although in general the acting was adequate, there is no doubt that Liam Neeson was the best actor of the bunch. Ewan McGregor did a pretty good job though and was very convincing as a young Obi-Wan (a big job with who's shoes he had to fill!) There were scenes where the actor playing Anakin could have done a little better job, but he is just a kid. Also, I wish they would have kept a few of the small scenes they cut (that are in the book) that would have helped fill in a few gaps.
I loved this movie and have always loved Star Wars. The worst part of the movie was the end, because it asked/left more questions than it answered! I will hate waiting the 2-3 years before the next one! Definitely go see this, and preferably in the theater with surround sound!
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