Tom-2128 Reviews

The Long Way Home (1997)

History of the founding of Israel

[8/10 · 24 November 2009]

Wars and major political events get most of the attention in the history books and the movies, but what happens in between can be just as interesting, if not as spectacular. The period between the end of the American War for Independence (1783) and the ratification of the Constitution (1789) is such a period. So is the period between the end of World War II (1945) and the establishment of the state of Israel (1948). That is the time covered by The Long Way Home.

Everyone knows what happened during World War II from lots of war movies and from more specific movies such as Schindler's List. The history of Israel since its founding hasn't been as thoroughly covered, but movies such as Munich help. The only other movie I know of that covers the 1945 - 1948 period is Exodus.

Some of the points covered by this movie are surprising. The opposition both to the creation of Israel and to Jews in general was widespread, not just in Germany but also in Britain and even in America. The comments of Ernest Bevin and George Patton are shocking. President Truman was one of the few people in the country who supported Israel. One wonders what would have happened if Roosevelt had still been President.

This story is told from the Israeli point of view. The arguments of the Arabs (e.g. that they shouldn't bear the burden of Germany's policies) are mentioned, but just in passing. Although the movie isn't balanced, it's still a reasonably fair presentation of the history of the foundation of Israel.

Jerry Maguire (1996)

Successful multi genre

[9/10 · 26 February 2007]

This movie is a comedy, drama, romance, sports movie, and a money movie (e.g. Wall Street, where the main character is trying to make a lot of money). The problem such a movie faces is maintaining a consistent tone. Remember Prizzi's Honor? JM solves that problem by using restraint. It doesn't go over the top, although its characters sometimes do. It has funny moments, but it's not Animal House or American Pie. It's a drama, but it keeps the stakes low. This isn't Armageddon: they aren't trying to save the world. There are no life or death decisions. The romantic stakes aren't that high either: Renee Zellweger loves Tom Cruise, but she's been in love before and if this doesn't work out, she will be again. The only really high stakes are the money. By keeping the stakes low, JM let's us watch it with a bit of detachment.

This is more of a drama than a comedy. A good test is whether the characters change. Here, Tom Cruise starts off completely cynical, abruptly changes to ridiculously idealistic, then spends the rest of the movie finding the right balance. Renee Zellweger starts by loving Tom Cruise from afar, then gets him, then has to work out her ambiguous feelings.

JM is fun to watch. The characters, though flawed, are sympathetic. We enjoy watching them succeed, fail (sometimes in funny ways), and try to discover what they really care about. It's complicated, thoughtful, and surprisingly subtle.

Sound and Fury (2000)

What gives a child a choice?

[8/10 · 9 December 2006]

The issue raised by this movie is whether it's OK for parents to have cochlear implants put into their deaf children. One of the arguments against is that it would be making a decision that the child should be allowed to make for himself. As mfriend pointed out, that would be analogous to waiting until the child was 15 and then allowing him to decide whether he wanted to be literate. Since brain plasticity declines with age, if the CI is not implanted reasonably early, the child will not get the full use of it. That means that, to a large extent, the decision will have been made for him. Remember that if a child is taught to read, he can always choose not to later: many do. As cheriesnow pointed out, a child with a CI can choose not to use it. Although the surgery can impose physical limitations (because of the fragility of the equipment) that is due the the current state of the technology. In the future, that should change.

Scaramouche (1952)

Reinventing identity

[8/10 · 25 October 2006]

Rafael Sabatini's movies are usually dismissed as just swashbucklers. That's not always fair.

Look at the central character in Scaramouche:

Andre Moreau is a bit of a con artist. He knows how to tell people (women especially) what they want to hear. This ability helps him when he needs to change his life. At various times he is a playboy, a lover, an actor, a swordsman, a politician, and an avenger. An actor and a politician, more than most, need to be able to reinvent themselves.

He changes not just what he does but also who he is. That is the deeper meaning of this movie: a person's identity is what he pretends it is.

Avalon (2001)

Very good, but flawed

[7/10 · 13 September 2006]

Lot's of comments compare this movie to "The Matrix" but they don't point out the obvious difference: the plot of "Avalon" is the reverse of "The Matrix". In "The Matrix", the main character starts out in the game (the Matrix) and moves to the real world. In "Avalon", the main character (Ash) goes in the opposite direction.

Another interesting point is that the philosophy of "Avalon" is the opposite of that of "The Matrix". In "The Matrix", living in reality is presented as the highest value, worth sacrificing comfort and security. In "Avalon", the point is that the real isn't morally superior to the artificial: choosing the artificial (i.e. virtual reality) is presented as a perfectly reasonable choice.

There is a dispute about whether the first part of the movie is boring or just depicting a boring character. It's both. The problem is that the director apparently didn't realize that showing a boring life doesn't have to be boring. He could have used techniques such as showing a dull sequence, then referring to it briefly several times. "Groundhog Day" used that technique.

A common complaint in many comments is that Ash is emotionless and her real world is bland, boring, and (almost literally) colorless. That is crucial to the movie: it has to make the point that Ash's life outside the game is meaningless.

I like the fact that the movie combines Dungeons and Dragons, video games, and Multi User Dungeons, and it handles each of them accurately.

We can summarize the point of the movie as: the artificial world we create can be better than the world we live in.

Wicked Pleasures (2002 Video)

Plot needs work

[3/10 · 25 August 2006]

A murder mystery based on a love triangle, actually a pentagon: the murdered woman had a husband and a boyfriend, but the boyfriend had a wife and the husband had a girlfriend. In addition, the female prosecutor had a history with the main suspect. This makes the plot a little complicated.

The movie doesn't fit into the standard mystery categories. It isn't a true open mystery (in which the killer is revealed at the beginning) or closed mystery (in which the killer is revealed at the end). Instead the answer is revealed about halfway though. This spoils the suspense for the rest of the movie.

This movie would have been better if it writer had been more careful about when information is given to the audience.

Dangerous Invitations (2002 Video)

Ending could have been better

[4/10 · 25 August 2006]

The writer missed an opportunity for a clever ending.

The main character (Ethan) works for a computer game company. He is under pressure to come up with ideas for a new video game. At the end of the movie, he gives his ideas to his boss. This is where there could have been a clever twist: Ethan's idea should have been the story of the movie, (i.e. what he just went though) especially the fight at the end. The game company could even use the warehouse (which they had already paid for) as the background for the game.

The rest of the movie was predictable because the villain showed his hand very early.