loz-1

I tried reviewing this before, but for some reason what I said was not accepted. That's probably a good thing as I think I probably wasted far too many words on this utter tripe last time. I can't believe "Best In Show" is so highly regarded because the whole thing is just one long "toilet joke". The characters are totally unlikeable and the gags are so bad (not to mention predictable) that I cringed throughout. I still cannot believe that those who support the film claim it is "subtle" humour, because it is without a doubt the LEAST subtle film I have ever seen. I laughed at maybe two lines in the entire movie and one of THOSE was spoken by someone who wasn't even a main character! A truly appalling film. 3/10 and I'm in a generous mood.

Three tales from the murky world of drug trafficking are sublimely welded together by Steven Soderbergh and a masterful performance by the majority of the cast made this movie well worth the effort. It was encouraging to see Benicio Del Toro pick up his Best Supporting Actor award at the Oscars as I cannot think of anyone who has played such a convincing role since the beginning of the millennium. Erika Christensen too, puts in a powerful show as Michael Douglas's troubled drug addict teenage daughter and there are enough light hearted moments - generally between Don Cheadle and Luis Guzman - to keep proceedings from ever becoming dull. Soderbergh deserves credit too for not coming over all moral on us and leaving the notion of whether "drugs are bad" entirely up to us, the audience. Maybe this film's not one for the popcorn munchers out there, but for those of us who like an intelligent well acted piece of art, this is a must. I'd give it 8.8 out of 10, but Del Toro's performance deserves a 10 no question.

Ok, I admit, since seeing Maggie Gyllenhaal in "Donnie Darko" she has easily flown to the top of my "most desirable" list. Now, due to this, if you had asked me before I saw this film if I would like to see Maggie lying totally nude on a bed, I would have said yes...or rather, I would have said "YES!!". However, this film is so spectacularly acted by both Gyllenhaal and James Spader that the final nude scene seems kind of pointless and just an excuse to get a gorgeous actress's clothes off. Don't get me wrong here, Maggie has a really beautiful body and my eyes just about popped out cartoon style at this point in the film, but that's not the issue. What I'm saying is that the movie held my interest very well anyway up to that point, and was fascinating enough, without really needing to go any further. I actually felt a little sorry for Spader's character, as he is quite obviously totally ashamed of the way he is and can do nothing about it. Lee Holloway is played to perfection by Gyllenhaal as a girl being drawn deeper and deeper into Spader's sexual perversions and the end result is just a great film. 8/10