XJCarey Reviews

Secret Window (2004)

As good as I thought it would be..

[13 March 2004]

.. which isn't saying too much, but it's ok. I didn't find it as scary as I thought it would be, but from the looks of the previews, I figured 'the previews would show the scariest parts, which weren't that scary, so look for a suspense'. It was definitely suspenseful, but if you are a 'suspense movie' sort of person, you will have the movie figured out w/i the first 25 mins. (I didn't read the book.. so I didn't have a clue what it was about..)

Acting: Great. Depp played a wonderful character, and Turturro was wonderful as well.

If you are looking for a frightening movie, DO NOT go see this. However, if you are looking for a good suspense film, not too scary, like Depp, like 'New England-esque' settings, then it's definitely worth a night at the movies.

Enjoy!

8 of 10

Hidalgo (2004)

Slightly Disappointed

[6/10 · 9 March 2004]

It is quite possible that I missed something when I saw 'Hidalgo'. It didn't 'do it' for me, and I felt slighted out of $10.25 after leaving the theater. Let me explain...

First off, the character development was poor at best. The reason why I say this is because if I really enjoyed the movie... if I really, really enjoyed it, I would actually give a crap about the characters. In order for me to care about characters, I need a little bit more background; an attachment if you will. In the beginning, I thought we would receive that - the slaying at the camp, etc. However, that was quickly brushed by, and left me with the 'yeah, this guy is part Indian.. who cares?!' feeling. One of the indians gives the main character a necklace. Did we find the true meaning of the necklace? No. Did it warrant a cheesy flag at the base camp? No, etc. Same deal with the rest of the characters; they were all superficial. With this 'lack of attachment', I was left to deal with the acting (Hidalgo was the best 'actor'), cinematography (definitely good), and the action (definitely there, but too spaced out - not enough to fill 2 hrs 20 mins). Little things, like the slave trading... yes, we know there were slaves in that time period.. either focus on it, or don't. We are left with a slave child (that the lead character bought, but they skipped the 'purchase' scene of the child, BUT they showed an adult slave on the auction block, etc etc blah blah figure it out). Interestingly enough, the child ended up with a dental plan by the end of the race (notice the difference..)

Point: If more time was spent developing the characters, it is quite possible that I would have cared enough to recommend this movie. Instead, we received the highly predictable, cliche, 'mildly entertaining' (as in, 'nothing else to do that evening') sort of movie.

Netflix at BEST, but ONLY if you have a good home theater to appreciate the cinematography...which I don't.. hence the $10.25 loss..

6 of 10