Tuesday, March 8, 2011

Movie Theater Round-Up

So I have actually seen a few films in theaters over the past week or so, believe it or not. 
-
First up was Jaume Collet-Serra's authorless thriller, "Unknown", which was exactly what you would expect it to be - breathless, tricky, illogical. It's basically a cheap pastiche of every European identity thriller from "Frantic" to "The Bourne Identity" yet it lacks the direction and smarts of both. 
-
In short, it moves and it's fun to piece together, if only fleetingly so and eventually the film's junky and uncouth demeanor envelopes the proceedings. [C]
-
Next was Don Roos' "The Other Woman", which is only marginally distinguishable from the Hallmark movie of the week. IFC Films bought the rights recently and planned an early 2011 release to capitalize on the Natalie Portman coattails, but I can't imagine anyone other than 20-60 year-old women being able to stomach this hoary material. 
-
Dealing with her perception as a home-wrecker and a healing mother (she loses her newborn baby at just three days old), Portman's performance is tetchy, but not altogether winning. After "Rabbit Hole", which offered a stark, honest viewpoint on grieving and marital irritability, "The Other Woman" feels belated and phony. [D+]

No comments:

Post a Comment