I enjoyed the book more, yet the film version of the initial Stephanie Plum adventure is not bad. Katherine Heigl quickly becomes comfortable in the role and isn’t hesitant to allow Plum to act foolishly or talk too much. Plum […]
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Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (2011) ✰ ✰ ½
I have liked many of John le Carré’s espionage novels, which chronicle in exhaustive detail the intricacies of how international spycraft is truly manifested. Le Carré’s books are long, and somewhat difficult to initially penetrate, because they are so filled […]
Continue reading »The Iron Lady (2011) ✰ ✰
Other than the performance of Meryl Streep as former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, the “Iron Lady” of the title, and a superb makeup job in getting Streep to look gentrified, this apologetic look at Thatcher’s rise to power in […]
Continue reading »Carnage (2011) ✰ ✰ ✰
Some movies are essentially plays staged on film, and Roman Polanski’s version of Carnage certainly qualifies. Its story concerns two pairs of parents who meet to discuss one child’s bullying of another. The drama (and some comedy) plays out in a […]
Continue reading »Contraband (2012) ✰ ✰ ½
Mark Wahlberg has impressively progressed from a teenaged troublemaker to a polished actor. He’ll never be an Olivier, but Wahlberg possesses the intensity and sincerity to put across tough, physical roles that also require streetwise smarts. He is a perfect […]
Continue reading »The Snake Pit (1948) ✰ ✰ ½
The Snake Pit is one of the best-known cinematic portrayals of a psychiatric ward. Based on a novel written by former patient Mary Jane Ward, The Snake Pit charts the hospital course of Virginia Cunningham, (Olivia de Havilland), and the […]
Continue reading »The Big Fix (1978) ✰ ✰ ✰
In the mid- to late 1970s, Richard Dreyfuss was among the hottest — if unlikeliest — actors in Hollywood. He had co-starred in the blockbuster Jaws (1975), become the youngest recipient of the Best Actor Oscar for the comedy The Goodbye […]
Continue reading »The Last Voyage (1960) ✰ ✰ ✰
Filmmakers often strive for realism when they make thrillers to provide a believable foundation for their heroics. Few producer-directors have, however, ever gone to the trouble that Andrew and Virginia Stone did when they made The Last Voyage (1960), for they […]
Continue reading »The Private War of Major Benson (1955) ✰ ✰ ✰
Charlton Heston is an actor usually cast in very serious roles, and it’s because he pokes fun at his commanding, stoic persona in the comedy The Private War of Major Benson (1955) that the film works so well. It’s not that […]
Continue reading »Brute Force (1947) ✰ ✰ ✰ ½
There are lots of terrific prison movies and Jules Dassin’s Brute Force (1947) is near the top of the list. It seems best known today for soft-spoken Hume Cronyn’s startlingly nasty turn as a sadistic prison guard, yet the film has […]
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