Bovie Movie

Temporarily shelved after the events of 9/11 because of its subject matter and the public’s supposed decreased appetite for destruction, this film was lucky to eventually see the light of day a mere six months later. Arnold Schwarzenegger plays a vengeful firefighter hunting the Colombian terrorists who’ve blown up an embassy building, killing his wife and child. The film’s start and finish are pure Arnie — with plenty of bang for your buck — but the flabby middle section sees Schwarzenegger’s one-man army collecting a woman and child to protect which muddles both the action and the revenge theme. There are also inconsistencies in the portrayal of the baddies — the film-makers can’t seem to decide whether they are passionate freedom fighters or sadistic torturers. Competently directed by Andrew Davis, but with none of the flair he brought to The Fugitive, this movie is for hardcore Schwarzenegger fans only. 

Watching this messy comedy drama, you may well wonder if director Spike Lee has totally lost the plot. Not only is this film audaciously offbeat, but it’s also excruciatingly clichéd and so unconventionally constructed that it plays like a handful of genre movies all competing for supremacy. Jaws will certainly drop, as suave Anthony Mackie goes into unofficial business by impregnating rich lesbians — including Monica Bellucci’s Mob princess — after being sacked as a whistle-blower from a corporation pushing a defective Aids vaccine. Following the internalised emotion of 25th Hour, Lee is back on his socio-political hobby horse, attacking corporate culture, greed and preconceptions about black men. Unfortunately, the feature’s increasing ludicrousness and his insistence on pandering to crude male fantasies ultimately undermine any serious messages. Still, there are some very funny moments, not least John Turturro as a Godfather-quoting Mafia don. Consequently, the overall effect is like a car crash — a tragic waste, yet impossibly riveting. 

Comedian Adam Sandler apparently made this comedy for his late grandmother, because his father told him she “would’ve liked it”. Indeed, what better way to honour granny than to remake her favourite film, Frank Capra’s Mr Deeds Goes to Town? Well, the moral of this short story is that good intentions don’t make good films. Sandler takes on the Gary Cooper role of the country bumpkin who inherits a business empire, goes to the big city and becomes the unwitting target of a scandal-seeking reporter (Winona Ryder) trying to get the goods on him, as well as a scheming executive (Peter Gallagher) who’s just trying to get the goods. Whereas Cooper was an everyman, Sandler is just the man in the street, and director Steven Brill is no Capra — he has replaced wit with smut and sentiment with saccharin. Even the most indulgent grandmother would have to pass on this travesty of an American classic. 

Hasbro’s ever-popular toy franchise takes centre stage in Armageddon director Michael Bay’s super-sized sci-fi action adventure. When teenager Sam Witwicky (Shia LaBeouf) buys a second-hand car, he soon finds out that it has a life of its own. As well as helping him get close to the girl of his dreams (Megan Fox), it draws him into the long-running war between the alien Autobots and their evil nemeses the Decepticons, which is now taking place on Earth. The film may be a robotic replay of (executive producer) Steven Spielberg’s ET with elements from other popular fantasies grafted on, but the humorous high-octane thrills are never less than astonishing. Most impressive is the seamless integration of CGI animation into live action — and the sheer scope of its ambition. The conversion from cars and helicopters into enormously detailed iron giants in seconds is breathtaking. Despite a finale overloaded with spectacle and massive explosions, Transformers is that rare thing — a truly innovative blockbuster. 

Spike Lee suffers under the weight of his own ambition here, trying to cram his film with so many ideas (the nature of obsession, the avoidance of reality, the conflict between art and life) that it comes unglued at an early stage, especially as there’s not enough plot to shore it up. Yet Denzel Washington, as a single-minded trumpeter, gingerly steps over the cracks to provide plenty of powerful scenes. He is helped by Wesley Snipes and Lee himself, who have their own striking moments, and the lack of coherence is offset by vigorous, stylish camerawork and a killer jazz score. 

Isabel and Clara are growing up in a time of terror. It is 1492, and Spain has decreed that all Jews must either convert to Catholicism, go into exile or face trial and execution. Although forcibly baptized, the sisters are chased through Christendom until they arrive in Venice. It is in this great maritime empire, where opulence rhymes with tolerance, that Isabel organizes secret passages for refugees fleeing the Inquisition while Clara falls in love with a Venetian noble, Paolo Zane. Isabel intends for her family to go to Istanbul, the only place where Jews can live freely, but Clara is reluctant to leave. She challenges Isabel’s authority and is prepared to break her family ties and sacrifice her faith for love. Caught in this battle of wills is Clara’s daughter, Victoria, who finds she is about to be married into the same faith that murdered her father.

A plodding and sententious account of the postwar Sicilian rebel Salvatore Giuliano, whose mania for independence from Italy inspired him to a career of murder and pillage. Christopher Lambert stars as a remarkably uncharismatic Giuliano, who nonetheless charms his way into the hearts of the Sicilian people and even the Mafia (in the person of the sinister Joss Ackland). Director Michael Cimino, who will for ever be remembered for the magnificent failure of Heaven’s Gate, lets the action swing between huge messy gunfights and tedious moralising from Lambert. It’s not a total disaster: there’s a good supporting cast (including Terence Stamp and John Turturro) and moments of real excitement, hinting at what The Sicilian might have been. But botched editing (Cimino later sued the production company) and leaden acting win the day. 

While not in the same class as the Coen brothers’ previous film, Fargo, this goofy tribute to Raymond Chandler and film noir still comes gift-wrapped with enough good lines, ingenious plot twists and eccentric characters to satisfy their dedicated army of fans. There are, in fact, two Lebowskis: one is Jeff Bridges, who calls himself “the Dude”, an ageing hippy who becomes embroiled in the kidnapping of the other Lebowski’s wife, aided and abetted by tenpin bowling chum John Goodman. What follows is an insane labyrinth of plot and counterplot that encompasses the drug and porn underworlds, Busby Berkeley fantasies and bath time with a savage marmot. It’s a distinctive, crazy treat, decked out with a trademark film noir narration and marvellous performances from Bridges, the toothsome and taciturn Steve Buscemi and Coen regular Goodman, who based his Vietnam-veteran character on the bear-like writer/director John Milius. 

Given his sound treatment of novelist Richard Matheson’s chiller Stir of Echoes, you’d have thought director David Koepp would have been more than qualified to create a decent Stephen King adaptation. However, movie history is littered with poor attempts to exploit literary cash cow King, and this lacklustre psychological thriller unfortunately joins them. In another of his eccentric performances, Johnny Depp stars as a successful author whose writer’s block is nothing compared to the hell that he encounters when psychotic stranger John Turturro accuses him of plagiarism. Ironically, given its storyline, the film unfolds just like another King book, The Dark Half, a weakness that isn’t helped by Koepp’s heavy signposting of twists. While Depp’s emotional seesawing and Turturro’s furrow-browed intensity are entertaining in themselves, you can’t help wondering what two fine actors are doing in something that feels made for a small-screen audience.