NMR: Double Feature

Greetings from Rochester!! If you're unaware, I'm up here for a conference this weekend. As April continues to be a hectic month for me, it appears the 'double feature' aspect of my Netflix reviews is here to stay for a while. So let's take a look at what I've caught recently in my limited spare time.

The Terminal: This is one of those movies that just kind of slipped through the cracks with me when it initially came out. The fact that a summer movie with Tom Hanks and directed by Steven Spielberg slipped through the cracks, just goes to show you what an awesome crop of movies there was in the summer of '04. Given that this underperformed at the box office indicates I wasn't the only one who let this slide. Now having seen it, I see why it didn't do as well. While it's a pleasant film, it's also kind of meaningless. A simple (albeit unconventional) story that you'll easily forget the next day.

Initially, I thought Hanks' non-descript foreign accent would be grating to hear for an entire movie, but his 'man without a country' grows on you throughout the film and you do want to see him have a happy ending. Most of the other characters are find additions that provide some flavor to the mix, although I felt Hanks' companionship with some of the airport employees could have been developed further. The weak spot is probably Catherine Zeta Jones character, who has no chemistry with Hanks. I felt he actually had more of a connection with Zoe Saldana, who played an airport cop. In the end, there's little to complain about this movie except for the fact that it's utterly forgettable, which should never happen when Hanks and Spielberg team up.

Glengarry Glen Ross: I've heard it argued that this is a classic film that does not get enough recognition. After seeing so many references/parodies of the film (the Alec Baldwin elves skit on SNL, the Gil character on the Simpsons, etc.), I felt I needed to check out the actual movie. This film boasts one of the most impressive casts ever, even if they weren't all big names when the film was made. You have Al Pacino, Jack Lemmon, Kevin Spacey, Ed Harris, Alan Arkin, Alec Baldwin, and Jonathan Pryce. In a word, wow. Netflix rating: ***

So now that I've built it up, how is it. Oh so close to being perfect. On top of that great cast given great performances, it has a unique story about struggling, sleezeball real estate agents who are put into a sales content where the man who sells the least will be fired. There are two flaws that I see with the film, however. At times, the David Mamet dialogue can get a little annoying (rapid fire conversations where no one ever completes a sentence). Also, the ending is a little frustrating. While the events do make sense, I felt there could have been one or two scenes added in, to make it more logical. As it is, the film expects you to fill in too many gaps to figure out how it reached its conclusion. Despite these flaws, this is a powerkeg of a movie filled with tenion and drama that is very entertaining. Check it out if you haven't done so already. Netflix rating: ****