gijane71

I don't know what movie the one reviewer saw, but it is clear from this that Ms. Styler is NO actress. Maybe the work she has done in other films is decent, but I have yet to see it or find the other films.

This one, on the other hand is awful: weak plot, weak characters, bad cinematography, and horrible dialogue. Not worth the price of the rental no matter HOW tempting the 99 cent rack may be....."Return of the Killer Tomatoes" was money better spent than this.

The gist of the story: Video game inventor takes revenge out on girlfriend who left him by trapping her in her loft/building/house with a deadly mamba.

Parts of this are so ridiculous that I find it difficult to type them: this guy (Greg Henry) injects the snake with it's own hormones to make it produce more venom. This apparently will make the snake more aggressive and therefore, more willing to hunt for a victim to drain the poison into......uh.....yeah, sure......what EVER! I guess the moron writing the script couldn't be bothered to pick up the "Idiot's guide to basic knowledge of herpetology" or even turn on the t.v. to catch a couple of Steve Irwin's misadventures into the snake world to know that this cannot happen.....but I digress. When Trudie's character does realize she has a cold blooded guest in the house, her methods of protecting herself look like slap-stick - and one need not look too deep to see that the homely Mrs. Sting seems a little TOO enthused about her self (i.e. - conceited - I understand that as an actor one must pose, preen and emote to the lens, but Jeez lady, get over yourself!).

Another factoid that is laughable in this disaster and poor excuse of a movie is the way she affords her rather spacious and expensive looking digs: she makes Play-Dough sculptures - that's right, boys and girls: PLAY-DOUGH SCULPTURES - for kids. And her work is anything but inspiring, let me tell ya'.

Her running around the loft/house/warehouse home of hers, running from the snake as if it were a machete wielding Jason has it's hilarious moments, all unintentional by the way, but the ending is a real screamer....check this out only when you hate yourself, but not enough to commit Hari-Kari.

I read the book long time ago, if you read my comments here on the board, I was concerned and didn't have a lot of hope for this - but I made the trip with a friend to see it and I am here to tell you: it was even WORSE than I thought. So much left out, the only thing is this: Yes Zhan and MMC have chemistry - more than MMC and Cruz (who should take more acting lessons - GOD !!! where is Salma Hayek when you need her!!!!) Z and MMC did the buddy thing very well, not a stretch - they are real life friends - this is formulaic film making at its worst - Eisner should not have been trusted with home movies let alone a film that is supposed to be the first blockbuster of the summer. No, MMC is not a believable Pitt - again too much of the Texas Hippie attitude: during some tense scenes he appears to be on a steady lithium drip. Z is funny but no way is he Al - they should have just renamed the movie and the characters and THEN the film might have had a chance. I should have seen this coming when the only person promoting the film so far is MMC ON HIS OWN WITH NO STUDIO REP WITH HIM going to these screenings (usually looking like hell) and hocking the film himself passing out hats and t-shirts I know this is supposed to be like a 'grass roots' thing but it comes across as a "white-trash-trailer-park" tour. And I don't mean to offend, but my goodness: It looks cool on the MTV blog he has - but it looks SO trashy in person. Save your hard earned cash, see something else.

This is the mini series version of Alex Haley's paternal side to his family (ROOTS covered the maternal side). The trials and tribulations this woman goes through are cringe inducing - racism from both her blood lines, sexism from practically every male with a pulse. Not an easy sit through - it is long and tedious and the leading lady's performance and horrible makeup really tried my nerves.

I tried to sit through this, really it did - but Berry's performance left much to be desired. Jasmine Guy was better than anticipated and well, it's Danny Glover who is consistently strong in every performance. The big question I have is this: why didn't they get Jennifer Beals for this? Queen was supposed to be so fair complected and Caucasian featured that she passed for white - what the heck is Halle Berry doing here? It is ridiculous to see her normally beautiful complexion covered in Kabuki like make-up and everyone walking around like this is normal and the cast really look strained trying to act like Halle Berry looks like a believable white woman. This leaves the credibility of the production in serious question.

I give it marks for trying, most of the stars are for Danny Glover, but overall - see it only if you have to for school but I recommend reading the book