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Reviews
The Silencer (1999)
Fairly simple and easily watchable
I sat down with the wife and watched this one on Satellite TV. It was quite a decent film, easy to watch and little to complain about.
I particularly enjoyed the plot but I think a lot more could have been made out of the story. i.e. the film could easily have been longer, more involved, there could have been a lot more scenes and involvement between the two main characters - but this did not spoil the film.
Certainly worth more than it's current average mark.
Traffic (2000)
A let-down of a film after hearing all the reviews in the press.
Well, never have I been so disappointed in a film that was acclaimed by the critics as how I felt when I sat through Traffic yesterday. Even the ratings on this site suggest that there are a lot of viewers who enjoyed it, yet the audience I was in just sighed at the end; you could also hear them muttering on the way out of the cinema about how disappointed they were too.
Basically, there are three plots going on in the film and none of them cross paths. Michael Douglas plays the Judge, appointed to be the drug czar of America, only to find his own daughter is becoming an addict. Catherine Zeta-Jones has a husband who becomes entangled in drugs through his business; I won't go into that plot any further. There is also the business of the Mexican police and their clashes with a particular Mexican army general.
Anyway, the camera work is very clever and good use is made of colour in the film. It's not all viewed in hi-colour, as you will see. It is basically used to remind you what plot you are in at any given time.
However, whether the plot / story-line, call it what you will, whether this is interesting or not - and it is mildly, you still feel bored as the film moves along slowly. Lasting over 2.5 hours, you are feeling like you want it to end after about ninety minutes. You don't feel anything towards the characters, it's all apathy. I couldn't have actually cared any less for them - which is why I was disinterested and bored long before the end.
There are a lot of clever things in the film and about how it was made etc, but it doesn't capture you as a paying member of the audience.
Trust me, you will not come out feeling excited about it, or feel entertained.
You will also not want to bother to watch it again. Then, however, it's up to you and your personal taste. As I said, trust me.