Reviews for a pair of 2009 films starring George Clooney coming at ya...
Up in the Air: A best picture nominee and deservedly so. Jason Reitman, who directed this, showed once again why he is one of the premiere young directors in Hollywood. I felt this had a great, timely storyline coupled with some great acting. The one thing that bugs me though is that while I can't find any flaws with it, I didn't necessarily fall in love with the movie while watching it. I wish I could understand what prevented this, but I'm at a loss. While the film is sad at times, it is not a completely depressing film, so don't let that deter anyone from checking this out. In fact, I wholeheartedly encourage others to check it out, maybe someone else can put their finger on what's missing here or at least tell me that nothing is wrong and convince me that this is a film classic. For now, I'll settle on a grade of B+, which allows it to barely get on to my Top Ten list of 2009.
The Men Who Stare At Goats: No mystery here, I definitely know I didn't like this one. That is a real shame too, because this one had so much promise. With a cast that included Clooney, Jeff Bridges, Kevin Spacey, and Ewan McGregor, I felt this was a can't miss. They certainly proved me wrong. The story, about a group of allegedly real soliders who were trained to be Jedi-like warriors, is pretty absurd and needed a more skilled director to handle it. First time director, and frequent Clooney collaborator, Grant Heslov, fails to find the right mix of drama and humor here. The film is too silly to be taken seriously and not silly enough to be funny. When a film thinks having a character tell Ewan McGregor he can't be a Jedi is a great joke, you know you're in trouble. A major disappointment here and not worth the rental. Grade: C-
No comments:
Post a Comment