Sorry about the delay. I would have done this earlier, but then the Canucks lost the Stanley Cup and I had to go out and everyone started rioting, so I chose to watch stupid people tip over cars and jump onto burning cars. Anyway, this is the last installment of the Ryan Reynolds Extravaganza, and after this I can say to all those that have shunned me before that yes, I have watched Ryan Reynolds movies. The movie featured today is not one that I would say is in my wheelhouse, so to speak, the 2009 romantic comedy The Proposal. Produced by Touchstone Pictures and directed by Anne Fletcher, The Proposal stars Reynolds, Sandra Bullock, Mary Steenburgen, the one and only Craig T. Nelson, Malin Akerman, and Betty White. In The Proposal, a pushy editor at a giant publishing company (Bullock) is shocked to find out that she's about to be deported back to Canada. In order to keep her job and stay in the country, she forces her assistant Andrew (Reynolds) to fake an engagement with her. During this facade, Andrew and his new fiance go back to his home in Alaska, where hijinks ensue. A few notes about this film.
- I'm trying to start this review on a positive note, so I will first mention that I thought the dog was the best part of the film. Kevin, a half Eskimo half Samoyed breed (which was actually played by several dogs), nearly managed to steal the show from his human costars. Heck, if it wasn't for Betty White, Kevin would have provided the few laughs this film had, although I guess I should give credit to Bullock for playing so well off of the dog.
- Now that I've tried to be positive, let's shift to the negative. I'm going to assume that most of you reading this probably have a good idea of what happens at the end, the mystery is just how the ending came about. Well, I'm still trying to figure that out to, because at no point in this movie was there a real turning point between Andrew and Margaret's (Bullock). Oh sure, they might have got to a point where they could stand each other instead of Andrew out and out despising Margaret after a rendition of Rob Base and DJ EZ Rock's "It Takes Two". But still, there was no point in this whole movie where you really saw the two of them connect. Then I guess you're supposed to suspend your disbelief that Andrew would start to fall for the woman he once referred to as "Satan's Mistress" over a wacky weekend. I guess we are left to assume that somewhere along the way, Andrew forgot about all the misdeeds this evil woman performed on him over the years, even holding him back as an editor for her own personal gain, and somehow fall head over heels for her.
- The scriptwriter for The Proposal is a man by the name of Peter Chiarelli. Well, I refuse to believe that he wrote a script as much as borrowed every romantic comedy cliche he could think of and ram it into one movie. Let's see, there's a grandmother who likes to talk about inappropriate subjects for comedic effect (White), there's a doting mother who desperately wants grandchildren (Steenburgen), and there's a gruff father that doesn't agree with his son's career choice and wants him to lead a lifestyle similar to the father's (Craig T. Nelson). The makers of this movie also throw in the old flame that's happy to see Andrew once again (Akerman), but at least her character is mature enough to know that life goes on and she has successfully moved on with her life instead of waiting like an obsessive ex-lover for her beau's return, which some other movies might have done. The most forced of these cliches was definitely the father-son feud between Andrew and Craig T. Nelson, as it seemed to be thrown in there just to introduce another obstacle.
- As far as the acting goes, White is easily the standout of this movie as Gammy, as she brings a few laughs to the table here. Steenburgen and Akerman weren't too bad in supporting roles, although they had little to do, while Craig T. Nelson is still Craig T. Nelson, so your mileage may vary. Meanwhile, the leads in The Proposal weren't able to overcome a shoddy script and a scatter shot premise. Bullock really didn't seem mean enough as the proverbial ice queen, and even though she was nominated for a Golden Globe for this movie, this was not one of her better performances. Meanwhile, Reynolds seemed to fall back to his typical sarcastic wise-ass character a bit too much in this film, and didn't seem to have a whole lot of chemistry with Bullock in the film.
- The town that the movie was set in (Sitka, Alaska) was supposed to be small, but was it so small that one guy has four different jobs? Well, I guess so, as Ramone (Oscar Nunez) is not only serving food at a party for the returning Andrew, he also runs to general store and is the priest at the wedding. Not only that, but he's also the town's lone male exotic dancer. I can honestly say that I could have gone my whole life without seeing Oscar from The Office shaking his ass in a thong in Sandra Bullock's face. Yeesh.
Overall, while I'm willing to admit that this film isn't exactly catered to people like me, there's not a lot in The Proposal that I would consider good or even average. Not to mention that I talked to other people who are big Ryan Reynolds fans about this movie, and they weren't very high on it either. The Proposal is a cliche ridden film where the two leads in the film show very little romantic spark and seem to fall for each other for no reason other than it was called for in the script. Even with Kevin the dog, I'd give this a 2.3 out of 10. Well, thanks for reading, and if you have thoughts about this movie or feedback on The Canon Review in general, then share those thoughts either by leaving a comment or by sending me an e-mail at kthec2001@gmail.com.
Showing posts with label Ryan Reynolds. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ryan Reynolds. Show all posts
Friday, June 17, 2011
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
Canon Movie Review: The Nines
The next movie featured in the Canon Review Ryan Reynolds movie extravaganza is the 2007 British film The Nines. Distributed by Newmarket Films and directed by John August, The Nines stars Reynolds, Hope Davis, Melissa McCarthy, Elle Fanning, and David Denman (Roy from The Office). The story of The Nines follows three different people, Gary, a troubled actor under house arrest, Gavin, a television show producer starring in his own reality show, and Gabriel, an accomplished video game designer. Somehow, these seemingly three different lifestyles are connected. A few notes about this film:
- The movie is basically split up into three parts. The first part is called The Prisoner and has television actor Gary (Reynolds) under house arrest after going on a crack binge and burning his house down. At first, this seems like a slightly humorous tale of a down-and-out actor trying to adjust to life confined in someone else's house 24/7. Then he meets one of his neighbors, a sultry housewife named Sara (Davis) comes around and the two make out. For some reason, Sara does a musical number during the middle of the scene, but whatever. However, Gary starts hearing noises around the house, and one day he gets so freaked out that he takes a walk outside, only to get arrested. After the arrest, Gary's publicist (McCarthy) moves in. The two seem to become close friends, which concerns Sara more than it should. Also, the number nine appears a lot in this part, as Gary keeps seeing it in the local paper and in a game of backgammon, he rolls nothing but nines, which I imagine would start to become inconvenient after a while.
- The second part of the movie is titled "Reality Television" and features Reynolds as a showrunner named Gavin who is trying to get his show 'Knowing' put on by a network. Also returning are Davis, this time as a cut throat executive producer named Susan, and Melissa McCarthy as herself. Gavin has cast his good friend McCarthy as the lead actress in his show, a choice that doesn't seem to sit well with Susan. After Gavin finishes shooting his pilot, he returns to his home, which just happens to be the same house Gary was holed up in (and just happens to be the actual home of the director John August). I must say that I have mixed feelings about this segment. Sure, the acting was fine, and it was compelling to see Gavin fight for his friend Melissa before ultimately choosing to save his own show. However, the segment was so focused on the backdoor shenanigans behind a television show that it kind of pushed aside the main storyline for a while. Also, there were some points where it seemed like August was more interested in letting off steam (he had a TV show cancelled a few years prior to the film) then advancing the story or the characters in any way.
- The third scene is titled "Knowing", and this time Reynolds plays a video game designer named Gabriel whose car dies in the middle of nowhere. Having to leave his wife Mary (McCarthy) and daughter Noelle (Fanning) behind, Gabriel runs into a mysterious stranger named Sierra (Davis) who offers to help but sure has an odd way of going about it. That's really all I can say about this part of the film without ruining the whole plot for you. As far as the connection between the three and the twists in the storyline go, I will say that the writers and August attempt to make everything perfectly clear, so even idiots like myself can figure out what's going on as long as you pay attention throughout the film. Actually, I wonder if August made it too easy to figure things out, although I'm sure that viewers still had a few questions about the movie and the 'nines' at the end of the film.
- With three different actors playing three different parts, the whole movie could fall apart if just one of these actors were unconvincing in their roles. Fortunately, this does not happen here, as all three main actors do rather well in this film. Reynolds was good in this movie, although oddly enough I felt his weakest acting came when he played the actor in the first part of the movie. But overall, I can't really complain about his performance. Davis turns in the best performance here, at least in my opinion, but McCarthy wasn't too far off either. I found it interesting that the film painted both Davis and McCarthy as a contrast of the other, each one fighting for what they believe is best for Reynolds's various characters.
Overall, The Nines is a good thriller mystery that sometimes seems to get in the way of itself by veering off into different subjects, such as the evils of television producers. Still, there's enough here so that most people will end up at least enjoying the film. Overall, I'd give The Nines a 6.45 out of 10. Well, thanks for reading, and remember that if you have a comment or a future idea for a post, then send those along to me either by reading a comment or by sending me an e-mail at kthec2001@gmail.com.
- The movie is basically split up into three parts. The first part is called The Prisoner and has television actor Gary (Reynolds) under house arrest after going on a crack binge and burning his house down. At first, this seems like a slightly humorous tale of a down-and-out actor trying to adjust to life confined in someone else's house 24/7. Then he meets one of his neighbors, a sultry housewife named Sara (Davis) comes around and the two make out. For some reason, Sara does a musical number during the middle of the scene, but whatever. However, Gary starts hearing noises around the house, and one day he gets so freaked out that he takes a walk outside, only to get arrested. After the arrest, Gary's publicist (McCarthy) moves in. The two seem to become close friends, which concerns Sara more than it should. Also, the number nine appears a lot in this part, as Gary keeps seeing it in the local paper and in a game of backgammon, he rolls nothing but nines, which I imagine would start to become inconvenient after a while.
- The second part of the movie is titled "Reality Television" and features Reynolds as a showrunner named Gavin who is trying to get his show 'Knowing' put on by a network. Also returning are Davis, this time as a cut throat executive producer named Susan, and Melissa McCarthy as herself. Gavin has cast his good friend McCarthy as the lead actress in his show, a choice that doesn't seem to sit well with Susan. After Gavin finishes shooting his pilot, he returns to his home, which just happens to be the same house Gary was holed up in (and just happens to be the actual home of the director John August). I must say that I have mixed feelings about this segment. Sure, the acting was fine, and it was compelling to see Gavin fight for his friend Melissa before ultimately choosing to save his own show. However, the segment was so focused on the backdoor shenanigans behind a television show that it kind of pushed aside the main storyline for a while. Also, there were some points where it seemed like August was more interested in letting off steam (he had a TV show cancelled a few years prior to the film) then advancing the story or the characters in any way.
- The third scene is titled "Knowing", and this time Reynolds plays a video game designer named Gabriel whose car dies in the middle of nowhere. Having to leave his wife Mary (McCarthy) and daughter Noelle (Fanning) behind, Gabriel runs into a mysterious stranger named Sierra (Davis) who offers to help but sure has an odd way of going about it. That's really all I can say about this part of the film without ruining the whole plot for you. As far as the connection between the three and the twists in the storyline go, I will say that the writers and August attempt to make everything perfectly clear, so even idiots like myself can figure out what's going on as long as you pay attention throughout the film. Actually, I wonder if August made it too easy to figure things out, although I'm sure that viewers still had a few questions about the movie and the 'nines' at the end of the film.
- With three different actors playing three different parts, the whole movie could fall apart if just one of these actors were unconvincing in their roles. Fortunately, this does not happen here, as all three main actors do rather well in this film. Reynolds was good in this movie, although oddly enough I felt his weakest acting came when he played the actor in the first part of the movie. But overall, I can't really complain about his performance. Davis turns in the best performance here, at least in my opinion, but McCarthy wasn't too far off either. I found it interesting that the film painted both Davis and McCarthy as a contrast of the other, each one fighting for what they believe is best for Reynolds's various characters.
Overall, The Nines is a good thriller mystery that sometimes seems to get in the way of itself by veering off into different subjects, such as the evils of television producers. Still, there's enough here so that most people will end up at least enjoying the film. Overall, I'd give The Nines a 6.45 out of 10. Well, thanks for reading, and remember that if you have a comment or a future idea for a post, then send those along to me either by reading a comment or by sending me an e-mail at kthec2001@gmail.com.
Saturday, June 11, 2011
Canon Movie Review: Buried
The second movie to be featured in The Canon Review's Ryan Reynolds week is the 2010 picture, Buried. Distributed by Lions Gate and directed by Rodrigo Cortes, Buried stars Ryan Reynolds, Samantha Mathis, Stephen Tobolowsky, and Erik Palladino. In Buried, Reynolds plays Paul Conroy, an American truck driver working in Iraq in 2006. One day, Conroy has the great misfortune of waking up in a coffin, with nothing but a cigarette lighter and a cell phone. While the cell phone gives him contact to the outside world, it doesn't help Conroy too much, as it proves to be hard to find a coffin buried in an Iraqi desert. So Conroy must find some way to get out of the coffin and emerge from the ground or else, he dies. A few notes about this film:
- Cortes, inspired by Alfred Hitchcock films, made the interesting decision of having every shot of the film take place in the coffin, with Reynolds being the only actor we see throughout the whole movie. So, throughout the entire movie, the audience is basically stuck in the coffin with Paul Conroy, adding more suspense to the film and a sense of frustration and powerlessness when it looks impossible for Conroy to get out. What also helps is that as a director, Cortes is talented enough to use what little light there is to work with in the coffin to add different emotions to each scene. Also, Cortes uses various camera angles to both show the isolation of Conroy and the claustrophobic, closed-off atmosphere in which Conroy is struggling to deal with. All in all, Cortes proves to be quite a talented director, getting every bit out of the limited scenery provided.
- Coming into this movie, I was skeptical about Reynolds's chances to pull off a role such as this one. After all, he's mainly been in comedy movies or flashy action features. However, Reynolds proves to be more than capable of playing the role of Conroy, delivering a gripping performance with great emotional range that makes the audience root for Conroy to eventually be rescued. Even though I must admit that I haven't seen a lot of Reynolds' work (which is the main reason I watched this film in the first place), I will say that this is easily the best work that I've ever seen him in. In a very demanding role, Reynolds pulls it off with aplomb.
- Luckily for Conroy, he was provided a cell phone, not only for his captors to reach him, but he can also call for help as well. This seems like a bit of a misstep for the kidnappers, but the main reason they leave the phone in there is so Conroy can make a hostage video to be sent out across the airwaves. I've got to say, even though Conroy is buried in a coffin, the cell phone gets some great coverage. I mean, I can't even pick up reception on my cell phone in my own house, and Conroy's able to call anywhere in the world with service only dropping out one time. I wonder what his cell phone carrier is?
- Not only does Buried attempt to recreate the experience of being buried alive, it also seems to be making a point about how frustrating it must be to be buried alive and having to rely on others to get you out. The first few minutes of the film is dedicated to Conroy trying to find someone, anyone, to believe his story and report it to the proper authorities. However, not everybody is so willing to believe that somebody could be buried in a coffin in Iraq. Conroy also has a frustrating conversation with a friend of his wife, who actually hangs up on him because she felt Conroy was a bit rude before finally giving him the number to the state department a second time. When Conroy finally reaches the proper authorities, he gets frustrated that they seem to be more interested in not letting the story leak to the press then rescuing Conroy or finding his captors. To make matters worse, Conroy actually gets fired by his employers for some violation of his contract in order to get out of paying his insurance. Now, I know that the writers were trying to display the greed of corporate America and the modern practice of companies covering their own butts instead of caring about their employees, but come on, this was a little too far. Imagine the PR nightmare that would take place after an employee got out of a terrorist situation and it comes out that he was fired by his contractor before hand for a petty and unrelated reason. That company would have employees quit on them left and right. I get what the filmmakers were going for, but for me, it felt like they were just piling on.
Overall, this is a movie that could have been an experimental disaster, but Cortes and Reynolds are able to pull it off and make Buried a compelling film. Buried is a film full of suspense and will tug at the audience's heart strings while making them think "what would I do in this situation" Overall, I'd give Buried a 7.6 out of 10. Well, thanks for reading, and if you have any thoughts about this movie, or future ideas for this blog, then send those along either by leaving a comment or by sending me an e-mail at kthec2001@gmail.com.
- Cortes, inspired by Alfred Hitchcock films, made the interesting decision of having every shot of the film take place in the coffin, with Reynolds being the only actor we see throughout the whole movie. So, throughout the entire movie, the audience is basically stuck in the coffin with Paul Conroy, adding more suspense to the film and a sense of frustration and powerlessness when it looks impossible for Conroy to get out. What also helps is that as a director, Cortes is talented enough to use what little light there is to work with in the coffin to add different emotions to each scene. Also, Cortes uses various camera angles to both show the isolation of Conroy and the claustrophobic, closed-off atmosphere in which Conroy is struggling to deal with. All in all, Cortes proves to be quite a talented director, getting every bit out of the limited scenery provided.
- Coming into this movie, I was skeptical about Reynolds's chances to pull off a role such as this one. After all, he's mainly been in comedy movies or flashy action features. However, Reynolds proves to be more than capable of playing the role of Conroy, delivering a gripping performance with great emotional range that makes the audience root for Conroy to eventually be rescued. Even though I must admit that I haven't seen a lot of Reynolds' work (which is the main reason I watched this film in the first place), I will say that this is easily the best work that I've ever seen him in. In a very demanding role, Reynolds pulls it off with aplomb.
- Luckily for Conroy, he was provided a cell phone, not only for his captors to reach him, but he can also call for help as well. This seems like a bit of a misstep for the kidnappers, but the main reason they leave the phone in there is so Conroy can make a hostage video to be sent out across the airwaves. I've got to say, even though Conroy is buried in a coffin, the cell phone gets some great coverage. I mean, I can't even pick up reception on my cell phone in my own house, and Conroy's able to call anywhere in the world with service only dropping out one time. I wonder what his cell phone carrier is?
- Not only does Buried attempt to recreate the experience of being buried alive, it also seems to be making a point about how frustrating it must be to be buried alive and having to rely on others to get you out. The first few minutes of the film is dedicated to Conroy trying to find someone, anyone, to believe his story and report it to the proper authorities. However, not everybody is so willing to believe that somebody could be buried in a coffin in Iraq. Conroy also has a frustrating conversation with a friend of his wife, who actually hangs up on him because she felt Conroy was a bit rude before finally giving him the number to the state department a second time. When Conroy finally reaches the proper authorities, he gets frustrated that they seem to be more interested in not letting the story leak to the press then rescuing Conroy or finding his captors. To make matters worse, Conroy actually gets fired by his employers for some violation of his contract in order to get out of paying his insurance. Now, I know that the writers were trying to display the greed of corporate America and the modern practice of companies covering their own butts instead of caring about their employees, but come on, this was a little too far. Imagine the PR nightmare that would take place after an employee got out of a terrorist situation and it comes out that he was fired by his contractor before hand for a petty and unrelated reason. That company would have employees quit on them left and right. I get what the filmmakers were going for, but for me, it felt like they were just piling on.
Overall, this is a movie that could have been an experimental disaster, but Cortes and Reynolds are able to pull it off and make Buried a compelling film. Buried is a film full of suspense and will tug at the audience's heart strings while making them think "what would I do in this situation" Overall, I'd give Buried a 7.6 out of 10. Well, thanks for reading, and if you have any thoughts about this movie, or future ideas for this blog, then send those along either by leaving a comment or by sending me an e-mail at kthec2001@gmail.com.
Thursday, June 9, 2011
Canon Movie Review: The Amityville Horror (2005)
This movie review is actually the start of a mini Ryan Reynolds marathon here at The Canon Review. See, the other day I was chilling in the pool with a few peeps, and when the topic of Ryan Reynolds came up, I mentioned that I had not seen many of his movies at all. Well, they laughed at me and called me names, and vowed to never speak to me again unless I watched at least four of his movies and wrote up a review on each one. So, in an effort to win back the respect I have lost, here is the first of four Ryan Reynolds movies to be reviewed this week, the 2005 remake The Amityville Horror. Distributed by MGM and Dimension Films, and directed by Andrew Douglas (a first time director who hasn't directed another film since), The Amityville Horror stars Reynolds, Melissa George, Phillip Baker Hall, Jesse James, Chloe Moretz, and Rachel Nichols. In The Amityville Horror, the Lutz family (with Reynolds as George Lutz and George as Kathy) stumble across what they consider to be their dream house. Despite hearing that a brutal murder took place in the same house years ago, the Lutzes decide to buy the house anyway, figuring what's the worse that can happen? Well, as the movie illustrates, a lot can happen. A few notes about this film:
- Although the book 'The Amityville Horror' is supposedly based on a true story, this version bears little resemblence to the original source material. Yes, the characters are still named the Lutzes and they live in a haunted house in Long Island, but this version has the father go crazy a la Jack Torrance in The Shining, to the point where I kind of expected Reynolds to chop through the door with an ax and yell "Here's Johnny!" The actual George Lutz wasn't really pleased with Reynolds' portrayal of him, so he decided to sue the makers of the movie. I don't really know what the result of the lawsuit was, but Lutz passed away not long after filing suit.
- The Amityville Horror was directed by Andrew Douglas, but it was also produced by Michael Bay, and this film has Bay's influence all over it. As such, the film looks sharp and there are lots of special effects thrown in there seemingly just to throw them in there. Since the movie's script was kind of thin, Douglas decided to compensate by throwing nearly every horror movie cliche in that he could think of. From maggots on the wall, to visions of blood spewing everywhere, to an attack by a bunch of flies, to George nearly being drowned in the bathtub for whatever reason, this film tries hard to fit in as much cliches as possible. Also, the script writers decided that a ghost of one of the murder victims, a little girl named Jodi, would make a great addition to the story, so they threw her in there so she could torture a mean babysitter from her life. What fun!
- As far as the acting goes, I'll be kind and say that it wasn't too bad. Reynolds was decent as George Lutz. Yes, he was basically doing an impression of Jack Nicholson in The Shining, but at least he was halfway convincing as a man that had lost his mind. Although I get the feeling that he was cast not only because of his acting talents, but because of his abs, as he is shirtless for almost half the movie. Also, for some reason, George begins to have an obsession with chopping firewood, which I guess is meant to be a sign that a man is losing his mind. As Kathy Lutz, Melissa George was competent enough, although the script mainly portrayed her as little more than a hapless victim throughout the majority of the film. The child actors (James, Moretz, and Jimmy Bennett), aren't too bad, I suppose.
- However, if I was George Lutz and I had inherited a brood like that after marrying Kathy, I might go insane after a while myself. Michael (Bennett) is a strange little kid, but he's the least of George's problems. The oldest one, Billy, is not very fond of George and spends most of the movie whining about how he's old enough to do this or that or whatever, while the daughter Chelsea is seemingly possessed by a dead girl to the point where she nearly jumps off the damn roof, and then screams at her mother after she denies the existence of the dead girl. Worse yet, the dang dog won't stop barking and somehow finds his way into the boathouse every night. Yeah, the house being haunted may not have helped George's state of mind, but the kids and the dog did him no favors either.
- One of the more ridiculous sideplots of the movie involved the babysitter (Nichols). It starts will Billy quibbling about not needing a babysitter to the point where you want George to send Billy out to cut some more firewood so he can get the hell off the screen, and then here comes the babysitter, looking as if she came out of the pages of Young Hooker Monthly. Instead of sending this girl away, George makes some crack to Billy about wanting a sitter now and the couple goes on their merry way. While at the house, the babysitter smokes some pot, hangs out on Billy's bed and seems to want to jump the little tyke's bones before telling Billy about the murders that took place here. She then goes up to Chelsea's room, and she's saying something about Jodi not liking her or something, and eventually Billy makes a dare with the sitter to go into the closet where Jodi was murdered. Well, she goes in there, and here's Jodi. Naturally, the door will not open, so the sitter's in there with a crazed Jodi, whom for some reason makes the sitter feel her bullet hole and causes all sort of fast-cut chaos before the sitter is wheeled out shaking on a stretcher. You know what? Describing it isn't enough, so WHO WANTS TO SEE IT?
Overall, I'm not a fan of this movie. At times, the movie jumped around at a breakneck pace, so you never got any real sense of what George and Kathy were like before all the craziness started happening. The movie relied way too much on special effects and horror cliches, and the actors had little to do but just react to whatever CGI madness they were supposed to react to. Also, for what is supposed to be a 'true story', there are way too many elements of the story that are too remarkable to be true. At the end of the day, what you get is a mediocre at best horror film that is short on story and horror, but not short of special effects. I'd give it a 3 out of 10. Well, thanks for reading, and if you have any ideas for future posts on this blog, or thoughts about this movie, then share those either by leaving a comment or by sending me an e-mail at kthec2001@gmail.com.
- Although the book 'The Amityville Horror' is supposedly based on a true story, this version bears little resemblence to the original source material. Yes, the characters are still named the Lutzes and they live in a haunted house in Long Island, but this version has the father go crazy a la Jack Torrance in The Shining, to the point where I kind of expected Reynolds to chop through the door with an ax and yell "Here's Johnny!" The actual George Lutz wasn't really pleased with Reynolds' portrayal of him, so he decided to sue the makers of the movie. I don't really know what the result of the lawsuit was, but Lutz passed away not long after filing suit.
- The Amityville Horror was directed by Andrew Douglas, but it was also produced by Michael Bay, and this film has Bay's influence all over it. As such, the film looks sharp and there are lots of special effects thrown in there seemingly just to throw them in there. Since the movie's script was kind of thin, Douglas decided to compensate by throwing nearly every horror movie cliche in that he could think of. From maggots on the wall, to visions of blood spewing everywhere, to an attack by a bunch of flies, to George nearly being drowned in the bathtub for whatever reason, this film tries hard to fit in as much cliches as possible. Also, the script writers decided that a ghost of one of the murder victims, a little girl named Jodi, would make a great addition to the story, so they threw her in there so she could torture a mean babysitter from her life. What fun!
- As far as the acting goes, I'll be kind and say that it wasn't too bad. Reynolds was decent as George Lutz. Yes, he was basically doing an impression of Jack Nicholson in The Shining, but at least he was halfway convincing as a man that had lost his mind. Although I get the feeling that he was cast not only because of his acting talents, but because of his abs, as he is shirtless for almost half the movie. Also, for some reason, George begins to have an obsession with chopping firewood, which I guess is meant to be a sign that a man is losing his mind. As Kathy Lutz, Melissa George was competent enough, although the script mainly portrayed her as little more than a hapless victim throughout the majority of the film. The child actors (James, Moretz, and Jimmy Bennett), aren't too bad, I suppose.
- However, if I was George Lutz and I had inherited a brood like that after marrying Kathy, I might go insane after a while myself. Michael (Bennett) is a strange little kid, but he's the least of George's problems. The oldest one, Billy, is not very fond of George and spends most of the movie whining about how he's old enough to do this or that or whatever, while the daughter Chelsea is seemingly possessed by a dead girl to the point where she nearly jumps off the damn roof, and then screams at her mother after she denies the existence of the dead girl. Worse yet, the dang dog won't stop barking and somehow finds his way into the boathouse every night. Yeah, the house being haunted may not have helped George's state of mind, but the kids and the dog did him no favors either.
- One of the more ridiculous sideplots of the movie involved the babysitter (Nichols). It starts will Billy quibbling about not needing a babysitter to the point where you want George to send Billy out to cut some more firewood so he can get the hell off the screen, and then here comes the babysitter, looking as if she came out of the pages of Young Hooker Monthly. Instead of sending this girl away, George makes some crack to Billy about wanting a sitter now and the couple goes on their merry way. While at the house, the babysitter smokes some pot, hangs out on Billy's bed and seems to want to jump the little tyke's bones before telling Billy about the murders that took place here. She then goes up to Chelsea's room, and she's saying something about Jodi not liking her or something, and eventually Billy makes a dare with the sitter to go into the closet where Jodi was murdered. Well, she goes in there, and here's Jodi. Naturally, the door will not open, so the sitter's in there with a crazed Jodi, whom for some reason makes the sitter feel her bullet hole and causes all sort of fast-cut chaos before the sitter is wheeled out shaking on a stretcher. You know what? Describing it isn't enough, so WHO WANTS TO SEE IT?
Overall, I'm not a fan of this movie. At times, the movie jumped around at a breakneck pace, so you never got any real sense of what George and Kathy were like before all the craziness started happening. The movie relied way too much on special effects and horror cliches, and the actors had little to do but just react to whatever CGI madness they were supposed to react to. Also, for what is supposed to be a 'true story', there are way too many elements of the story that are too remarkable to be true. At the end of the day, what you get is a mediocre at best horror film that is short on story and horror, but not short of special effects. I'd give it a 3 out of 10. Well, thanks for reading, and if you have any ideas for future posts on this blog, or thoughts about this movie, then share those either by leaving a comment or by sending me an e-mail at kthec2001@gmail.com.
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