Earlier this evening, I watched a movie that depending on who you talk to may or may not be a true story, the 1996 film Sleepers. Directed by Barry Levinson, Sleepers has a deep cast, including Robert DeNiro, Brad Pitt, Dustin Hoffman, Jason Patric, Kevin Bacon, Billy Crudup, Minnie Driver, and others. Heck, John Williams even did the score for the film, so you know that Levinson went all out on this film. In Sleepers, a quartet of boys from Hell's Kitchen circa 1968 have their lives changed forever when a prank goes awry and nearly kills a man. For the prank, the boys are sent away to the Wilkinson Home for Boys, where they suffer many abuses by a team of guards led by Sean Nokes (Bacon). Thirteen years later, a chance meeting between Nokes and two of the boys he abused leads to the foursome taking out their revenge on the guards that wronged them while at Wilkinson, with some help along the way from an aging crime boss (Vittorio Gassman as King Benny), another friend of theirs from Hell's Kitchen (Driver), and the priest that has known them for most of their lives (DeNiro). A few notes from the film, and there probably will be SPOILERS, so read carefully.
- The movie's plot is basically told in three parts, the boys' childhood in Hell's Kitchen leading up to the incident that got them sent to Wilkinson, the incarceration period, and what happened 13 years after where the group got their revenge at the guards that abused them at Wilkinson. Of the three parts, the first part of the movie was the most compelling and well-done, at least to me. Levinson does an excellent job of bringing 1960s Hell's Kitchen to life, and the four boys (Shakes, Michael, John, and Tommy) are all quite interesting characters, with Shakes (played by Joseph Perrino) and John (Geoffrey Wigdor) especially standing out. The film also offers an interesting battle for the boys' souls, so to speak, as they have two mentors. One being the priest Father Bobby Carillo (DeNiro), a former criminal who reformed and found himself in the church, and the other being King Benny, the mob boss that runs Hell's Kitchen. While this part may have run a bit long, it does serve an important purpose as it introduces us to each character and makes the audience feel for them once the abuse at Wilkinson starts.
- Something I find interesting is that, in a film with two Academy Award winners (DeNiro, Hoffman) and one of the hottest young actors of the time (Pitt) in the film, that Kevin Bacon gets top billing. It's espcially odd since Bacon plays the main villain of the film. I will say, though, that Bacon is very convincing as the sadistic, perverted prison guard Sean Nokes. I wouldn't necessarily say it's Bacon's best performance, but it's in the top 5 for sure. DeNiro also does an excellent job in this movie as Father Carillo, playing the role very convincingly, while Hoffman does a convincing job as alcoholic lawyer Danny Snyder, even if he is somewhat underutilized. Overall, the acting is mostly well done, although I will say that I found Pitt's performance as the district attorney/mastermind of the whole plan to be a little flat. Maybe it's just me, but I think the role could have used a little more anger and intensity behind it, and at times I think Pitt was playing it too cool.
- There are a few cinematic themes to this movie, but the main one seems to be revenge. After all, it's hinted at early in the film when Shakes' father tells of King Benny getting revenge on a person that beat him up eight years ago, and the book The Count of Monte Crisco is brought up numerous times. Eventually, the four boys, now men, get the opportunity to take their revenge on Nokes and the rest of the guards, and the whole last half of the film or so is dedicated to that revenge. While it may be satisfying to see those guards get their comeuppance, it's done in such a way that lacks suspense. After all, you see Nokes get what was coming to him early on, and since he's the main guard, the revenge of all the other guards seem to be just icing on the cake. Plus, while the movie established Bacon as the main villian, it did very little to distinguish the other guards as separate villains, so you end up seeing a bunch of guys that you hardly knew about get their comeuppance. Then again, since it's based on a true story, maybe that's how it went down.
- Speaking of which, there has been a lot of controversy surrounding author Lorenzo Carcaterra's (who is called Shakes in the film and in the novel) claim that Sleepers is based on a true story. For one, the state of New York deny there ever being a case anything like the one described in the movie, where a juvenile detention center guard is murdered and the accused are found not guilty. The state also claims that there are no records of juvenile inmates being physically and sexually abused by guards, which would be a hard claim to completely prove, but that's their position. Carcaterra claims that, although the names have been changed, the story is true and he lived through it. From what I can tell by crudely researching the subject, I kind of have my doubts about his claim, and the story as a whole, especially everything that happened after Nokes' murder, seems a bit too clean to have happened in real life. Then again, I could be wrong and Carcaterra's being completly honest.
Whether or not Sleepers is based on a true story, this is a good film that borders on greatness. Levinson does a great job as a director, keeping the viewer interested and the plot fast-paced despite the film being nearly 2 and a half hours long. Williams' score and Michael Ballhaus's cinematography are also top-notch, and the acting is at a high level overall. While the plot had a couple of holes, (for example, the character of Carol Martinez was hardly mentioned in the first hour, but all of a sudden she's playing a major role and being presented as a direct peer to the quartet of boys featured earlier) overall it was a compelling story. The ending seemed kind of 'too perfect', though. Overall, Sleepers is a very good film that will make you think about a variety of subjects, although I would not recommend this film for children. I'd give Sleepers a 7.6 out of 10. Well, thanks for reading, and if you have any thoughts about this or other posts, or ideas for future posts, than let me know about them either by leaving a comment on the blog or sending me an e-mail at kthec2001@gmail.com.
Showing posts with label Brad Pitt. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Brad Pitt. Show all posts
Sunday, May 1, 2011
Monday, January 31, 2011
Canon Movie Review: Ocean's Twelve
This movie review is of the sequel to the 2001 flick Ocean's Eleven (which I thought was a pretty good movie, although it has been a while since I've seen it), the 2004 film appropriately titled Ocean's Twelve. The movie was directed by Steven Soderbough and has an all-star cast including George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Julia Roberts, Andy Garcia, Catherine Zeta-Jones and Carl Reiner. In Ocean's Twelve, Danny Ocean (Clooney) and his gang of eleven are tracked down by Terry Benedict (Garcia), who is asking for the money that Ocean stole from his casino at the end of the first movie, with interest. To further complicate matters, the gang is also being targeted by a master thief known only as The Night Fox, and also by a Europol detective named Isabel Lahiri (Zeta-Jones), who had a previous relationship with Ocean's right hand man Rusty Ryan (Pitt). A few notes about this movie, and there are probably SPOILERS ahead, so read with caution.
- In Ocean's Eleven, it was clear that Clooney was the main star of the film. Well in Ocean's Twelve, the main star seems to be Brad Pitt, as his character is the focal point around which everything revolves. Pitt also got the most screen time, while Clooney almost seemed to be a background character for much of the film. Also, Bernie Mac and Don Cheadle has hardly any time at all on screen, especially Mac, whose character spent most of the movie in an Amsterdam jail cell. At least Matt Damon gets more screen time here, and his performance as the hoplessly naive Linus Caldwell is the highlight of the movie in my opinion.
- Even though Terry Benedict's demand for his money back is the impetus for getting the group back together, Benedict isn't really a big part of the film after the first few minutes or so, which seems to me to be a waste of Andy Garcia's talents but that's the way they went with the film. Instead, the group now has two adversaries. One is the thief known as The Night Fox, Baron Francois Toluar (Vincent Cassel). While Cassel does a fine job in his role, the reasons behind the Night Fox's involvement in the story seem somewhat convoluted at best. The other adversary is Rusty's old flame Isabel, and her relationship with Rusty becomes the focalpoint of the film at times. While Pitt and Zeta-Jones are capable actors, the two just don't seem to have enough chemistry in this film to carry it, and the script does them no favors, as Isabel is written as too one-dimensional of a character.
- Ocean's Twelve was primarily set in European locales, and Soderbough does an excellent job of shooting the Eurpoean locales such as Rome and Amsterdam. However, his directing of this movie relied on too much gimmicks and too many scenes where the camera was shaking, which I guess is supposed to have a deeper meaning but to me it was just too annoying. I will say that the score provided by David Holmes was excellent and really added a lot to the film as a whole.
- While Ocean's Eleven had a great story that wasn't too confusing and tied together all the loose ends, Ocean's Twelve's scrpit left something to be desired. In some scenes, it seems like there was no script, and Pitt and Clooney were just improving their scenes (which actually wasn't too bad). Overall, the plot was too muddled and relied heavily on moments that seemed way too convenient and unfathomable. the pace is too uneven (as every big event seems to happen in the last 15 minutes, and the movie takes forever to get going after Benedict's scenes) and all the confusing camera tricks make the story harder to follow, adding to the confusion of the movie.
- Ocean's Twelve has a couple of interesting cameos in this film. Bruce Willis plays himself in the film, and inadvertantly plays a role in one of the capers the gang tries. While Willis's cameo is good, Topher Grace's cameo as himself in Rusty's hotel is quite humorous. Also, Julia Roberts plays herself, or plays a character that has to play herself. Trust me, it would make sense if you see the movie.
Overall, Ocean's Twelve is a decent enough film that is plagued by a confusing script, but the acting is good enough in some places to carry this film to a respectable showing. If you're in the mood for a great film, well this probably isn't it. But if you want to see a breezy film with big name actors that passes the time by quickly, then you could do a lot worse then Ocean's Twelve, although Ocean's Eleven would probably be better. Overall, I'd give it a 5.4 out of 10. Well, thanks for reading, and if you have any thoughts about this or other posts, or ideas for future posts, than let me know about them either by leaving a comment or by sending me an e-mail at kthec2001@gmail.com.
- In Ocean's Eleven, it was clear that Clooney was the main star of the film. Well in Ocean's Twelve, the main star seems to be Brad Pitt, as his character is the focal point around which everything revolves. Pitt also got the most screen time, while Clooney almost seemed to be a background character for much of the film. Also, Bernie Mac and Don Cheadle has hardly any time at all on screen, especially Mac, whose character spent most of the movie in an Amsterdam jail cell. At least Matt Damon gets more screen time here, and his performance as the hoplessly naive Linus Caldwell is the highlight of the movie in my opinion.
- Even though Terry Benedict's demand for his money back is the impetus for getting the group back together, Benedict isn't really a big part of the film after the first few minutes or so, which seems to me to be a waste of Andy Garcia's talents but that's the way they went with the film. Instead, the group now has two adversaries. One is the thief known as The Night Fox, Baron Francois Toluar (Vincent Cassel). While Cassel does a fine job in his role, the reasons behind the Night Fox's involvement in the story seem somewhat convoluted at best. The other adversary is Rusty's old flame Isabel, and her relationship with Rusty becomes the focalpoint of the film at times. While Pitt and Zeta-Jones are capable actors, the two just don't seem to have enough chemistry in this film to carry it, and the script does them no favors, as Isabel is written as too one-dimensional of a character.
- Ocean's Twelve was primarily set in European locales, and Soderbough does an excellent job of shooting the Eurpoean locales such as Rome and Amsterdam. However, his directing of this movie relied on too much gimmicks and too many scenes where the camera was shaking, which I guess is supposed to have a deeper meaning but to me it was just too annoying. I will say that the score provided by David Holmes was excellent and really added a lot to the film as a whole.
- While Ocean's Eleven had a great story that wasn't too confusing and tied together all the loose ends, Ocean's Twelve's scrpit left something to be desired. In some scenes, it seems like there was no script, and Pitt and Clooney were just improving their scenes (which actually wasn't too bad). Overall, the plot was too muddled and relied heavily on moments that seemed way too convenient and unfathomable. the pace is too uneven (as every big event seems to happen in the last 15 minutes, and the movie takes forever to get going after Benedict's scenes) and all the confusing camera tricks make the story harder to follow, adding to the confusion of the movie.
- Ocean's Twelve has a couple of interesting cameos in this film. Bruce Willis plays himself in the film, and inadvertantly plays a role in one of the capers the gang tries. While Willis's cameo is good, Topher Grace's cameo as himself in Rusty's hotel is quite humorous. Also, Julia Roberts plays herself, or plays a character that has to play herself. Trust me, it would make sense if you see the movie.
Overall, Ocean's Twelve is a decent enough film that is plagued by a confusing script, but the acting is good enough in some places to carry this film to a respectable showing. If you're in the mood for a great film, well this probably isn't it. But if you want to see a breezy film with big name actors that passes the time by quickly, then you could do a lot worse then Ocean's Twelve, although Ocean's Eleven would probably be better. Overall, I'd give it a 5.4 out of 10. Well, thanks for reading, and if you have any thoughts about this or other posts, or ideas for future posts, than let me know about them either by leaving a comment or by sending me an e-mail at kthec2001@gmail.com.
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
The Canon Review Presents: Commercials with Big-Name Actors Before they were Big
Sorry for the long title, but I'm not very good with titles. Today we look at a few commercial of huge stars before they were too big to star in commercials like these. Well, we've all got to start somewhere. Personally, I'm going to start right about now.
Commercial 1: Steve Carell for Brown's Chicken
In this commercial, Steve Carell plays a manager for a Brown's Chicken fast food restaurant. Brown's Chicken is a buisness primarily located in the Chicago area, and honestly, until now, I had never heard of it. Anyway, Carell is putting up the words "Cholesterol Free Cooking" on a sign and is advertising that Brown's has no extra cholesterol in their cooking oil and batter. Well, the wind starts to pick up and the letters in Cholesterol and Cooking blow away, leaving just the word free on the sign. Naturally, that draws a crowd to the location, which Carell seems not too pleased about. I guess it was supposed to be funny, but it just didn't resonate with me. It is interesting that this commercial is at least 15 years old, and Carell looks like he's hardly aged since then. I'll give it a 2 out of 5, as at least the commercial got its point across and wasn't too annoying.
Commercial 2: Adam Sandler for Mastercard
This looks to be from the late 1980s, but I'm not sure exactly what year it was produced. Anyway, Sandler's character is a young man looking to buy his first apartment. When he sees who his neighbor is, Sandler takes the place and asks the lady to dinner. But before he can set up the dinner, Sandler has to furnish his apartment, so he uses his Mastercard to buy all sorts of crap. The commercial ends with the date and a toast to the new apartment. Sandler's hair is a little longer than what you may be used to seeing, but you can definitely tell it's him. Surprisingly, Sandler is rather low-key in this ad, but I don't think the commercial called for someone to yell and sing songs or anything like that. I'll give it a 2 out of 5, as it was a middle of the road ad that neither offended nor entertained.
Commercial 3: Brad Pitt for Pringles
This commercial was made in 1989 and answers the long-time question, does Brad Pitt like Pringles? Apparently he and his cohorts love the chips because they stop their car when they find out they ran out of Pringles. So, instead of driving to the store and getting more, they decide to seek out other people that have Pringles so they can mooch off of them. Luckily in this parallel universe this commercial seems to take place in, Pringles is the preferred food of hot young women in bikinis, and they seem to have lots of cans available. Everyone eats a bunch of Pringles and live happily ever after, at least until Pitt and his cohorts take off with the Pringles and the hot ladies have to seek out other people driving by with cans of Pringles, which they soon find, by the way. And the cycle continues until the end of time, or at least until Pringles comes out with cheddar flavored Pringles. Also, there's an annoying jingle at the end that calls Pringles the fever reliever. I'll have to remember that the next time I get a fever. What a bunch of tripe this is, and for all you Brad Pitt fans out there, he's in the ad for about 6 or 7 seconds, but you can spot him pretty easily. Still, this sucks, so I'll give it a .9 out of 5.
Commercial 4: Jason Alexander for the McDonalds McBLT
I've talked about this before elsewhere, but dang it, I want to talk about it again. This commercial is definitely from the 1980s, as you have a bunch of people singing nonsense and a burger that comes in a big-ass Styrofoam case. We start with Jason Alexander asking some random people if they want a better lettuce and tomato burger instead of all the crap that don't quite make it. He then asks some other people if they want a burger which is hot but the lettuce and tomato stay cool. Well, McDonalds has the answer for you with the McDLT. It's not really different from any other burger, but it comes in a special two bun carrying case, one side has the meat, while the other side has the lettuce and tomato. All you have to do after that is decide when to put the two buns together and enjoy. This is such a monumentous occasion that Alexander and a bunch of the town people decide to break into song to celebrate this wonder of hamburger science. All the while you can almost see poor Mr. Alexander start to lose his hair during the progression of this commercial. Maybe it's me, but it seems as if he had a little less hair at the end than at the beginning. Well, you can see for yourself soon enough. All I know is that this commercial sucks and the McDLT doesn't exist anymore, because nobody wanted to carry their burgers in a briefcase. I'm giving this a 1 out of 5, because now the jingle's stuck in my head.
There are much, much more commercials featuring celebrities before they were famous, but I think it's best that I stop here for now, so thanks for reading. Remember, if you have any thoughts about this or other posts, or ideas for future posts, than you can let me hear about them either by leaving a comment or by sending me an e-mail at kthec2001@gmail.com.
Commercial 1: Steve Carell for Brown's Chicken
In this commercial, Steve Carell plays a manager for a Brown's Chicken fast food restaurant. Brown's Chicken is a buisness primarily located in the Chicago area, and honestly, until now, I had never heard of it. Anyway, Carell is putting up the words "Cholesterol Free Cooking" on a sign and is advertising that Brown's has no extra cholesterol in their cooking oil and batter. Well, the wind starts to pick up and the letters in Cholesterol and Cooking blow away, leaving just the word free on the sign. Naturally, that draws a crowd to the location, which Carell seems not too pleased about. I guess it was supposed to be funny, but it just didn't resonate with me. It is interesting that this commercial is at least 15 years old, and Carell looks like he's hardly aged since then. I'll give it a 2 out of 5, as at least the commercial got its point across and wasn't too annoying.
Commercial 2: Adam Sandler for Mastercard
This looks to be from the late 1980s, but I'm not sure exactly what year it was produced. Anyway, Sandler's character is a young man looking to buy his first apartment. When he sees who his neighbor is, Sandler takes the place and asks the lady to dinner. But before he can set up the dinner, Sandler has to furnish his apartment, so he uses his Mastercard to buy all sorts of crap. The commercial ends with the date and a toast to the new apartment. Sandler's hair is a little longer than what you may be used to seeing, but you can definitely tell it's him. Surprisingly, Sandler is rather low-key in this ad, but I don't think the commercial called for someone to yell and sing songs or anything like that. I'll give it a 2 out of 5, as it was a middle of the road ad that neither offended nor entertained.
Commercial 3: Brad Pitt for Pringles
This commercial was made in 1989 and answers the long-time question, does Brad Pitt like Pringles? Apparently he and his cohorts love the chips because they stop their car when they find out they ran out of Pringles. So, instead of driving to the store and getting more, they decide to seek out other people that have Pringles so they can mooch off of them. Luckily in this parallel universe this commercial seems to take place in, Pringles is the preferred food of hot young women in bikinis, and they seem to have lots of cans available. Everyone eats a bunch of Pringles and live happily ever after, at least until Pitt and his cohorts take off with the Pringles and the hot ladies have to seek out other people driving by with cans of Pringles, which they soon find, by the way. And the cycle continues until the end of time, or at least until Pringles comes out with cheddar flavored Pringles. Also, there's an annoying jingle at the end that calls Pringles the fever reliever. I'll have to remember that the next time I get a fever. What a bunch of tripe this is, and for all you Brad Pitt fans out there, he's in the ad for about 6 or 7 seconds, but you can spot him pretty easily. Still, this sucks, so I'll give it a .9 out of 5.
Commercial 4: Jason Alexander for the McDonalds McBLT
I've talked about this before elsewhere, but dang it, I want to talk about it again. This commercial is definitely from the 1980s, as you have a bunch of people singing nonsense and a burger that comes in a big-ass Styrofoam case. We start with Jason Alexander asking some random people if they want a better lettuce and tomato burger instead of all the crap that don't quite make it. He then asks some other people if they want a burger which is hot but the lettuce and tomato stay cool. Well, McDonalds has the answer for you with the McDLT. It's not really different from any other burger, but it comes in a special two bun carrying case, one side has the meat, while the other side has the lettuce and tomato. All you have to do after that is decide when to put the two buns together and enjoy. This is such a monumentous occasion that Alexander and a bunch of the town people decide to break into song to celebrate this wonder of hamburger science. All the while you can almost see poor Mr. Alexander start to lose his hair during the progression of this commercial. Maybe it's me, but it seems as if he had a little less hair at the end than at the beginning. Well, you can see for yourself soon enough. All I know is that this commercial sucks and the McDLT doesn't exist anymore, because nobody wanted to carry their burgers in a briefcase. I'm giving this a 1 out of 5, because now the jingle's stuck in my head.
There are much, much more commercials featuring celebrities before they were famous, but I think it's best that I stop here for now, so thanks for reading. Remember, if you have any thoughts about this or other posts, or ideas for future posts, than you can let me hear about them either by leaving a comment or by sending me an e-mail at kthec2001@gmail.com.
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