steveressel

What a masterpiece--beautiful film, beautiful acting, incredible characters, strong setting, interesting story...

And ridiculous. A pure piece of political bully-pulpit pounding shame.

When you whittle away the bare bones from the withered flesh of a story, you find a simple message: BIG GOVERNMENT GOOD, STATES & LOCALS BAD. The way they portrayed it was crazy obvious. What I don't understand is why people sympathize with a double murderer, though motivated to such actions. It is a slanted logic that dictated men's lives as worthless where local justice is involved....in America. Never seen a message so ridiculous in film, the opposite being the truth--abuse and lack of justice within centralized government (just read the news).

The question in the beginning of "who is to blame" for taking the farms points to the evil bankers, the evil overlords all up the ladder of capitalism, as if the owners had no rights to their own land, and their own financial mismanagement wasn't the fault of the grassroots- decision-maker. But, never mind that: details get in the way of a good leftist message. By the end it portrays a world that will never change and the people who try will just wither and blow away for the sake of cigar smoking, besuited fellows in brand new cars with extensive peach orchards and businesses.

When I moved to California in the early 90s I met a lot of the old transplants who moved to CA in that time of need. They did pretty well for themselves. Ultimately, a displacement creates need and need is sated by people creating work and making things, people finding their place in the world. Maturity to understand how the world changes and corrects itself is what the story lacks completely. But, it wasn't a film made to reinforce the nature of the world, just to stir up some wrath.

I found the first problem with the movie to be Demi Moore and Tom Cruise. Their acting and characters were just horrid. Almost everyone else surrounding them was quite good to excellent. The two mains were stiff, stilted, unappealing, and illogical. That whole "rich white slacker" thing was so comic-booky it ruined any suspension of disbelief. Overdone. Overacted too often. The only thing it missed was a scene of Cruise dancing by himself in the street with a transistor radio blasting pop music.

Then there was the lack of a good hook in the first half. Every character aside from Jack's was bland or over obvious, obnoxious or pure plot-device. It began to turn a little more appealing as the turgid court scenes began and rolled on.

Next, the lack of logic. Enough threads and reviews here have covered how un-courtly many scenes are, also how it makes little sense how the witnesses were motivated. Most court dramas are pretty sad, because in order to make a good court drama you have to get drama in a court. Courts are orchestrated to present plain testimony and evidence, not to have surprise evidence and emotional outbursts.

Ultimately, the only memorable thing in this movie is Nickolson's riveting acting. The plot wasn't particularly clever, the premise average, the characters forgettable (aside from Jack), and the ending comically convenient. Jack N. made the movie, and thus made Sorkin. Nice.

The Moto films were 'cheaps', made quickly and inexpensively, and also rather short to pack in with other films for a cinema experience packed with a variety of films in a string. Where most other films of the time have either risen to heights through brilliance or, as most have done, fallen from interest completely due to mediocre or lackluster efforts, the Moto films have found quite an enthusiastic audience that still thrills to the honest, entertaining portrayal of an exotic crime fighter.

Mysterious Mr. Moto is the first film in the series where the crew seems to have 'gotten it together'. The acting, acing, story, and film work were all quite a notch above the previous three. Though the stories are always rather linear they keep an audience by balancing thrills, violence, mystery, character and mild romance.

The criticism of racism is odd. Lorre plays the character slightly off Japanese, his accent being obviously Germanic, but his mannerisms are keen. Moto is an American schooled Japanese, which was very typical in those days, and it gives him an obvious bridge in understanding western culture. It is a pity they didn't find more Asians to fill key roles in these films, but generally the American actors used were quite good despite looking too Caucasian. I can forgive authenticity for acting ability, especially in the days when there were few stories written for Asians.

Moto always comes off as a powerhouse. He's an admirable figure for anyone undersized in a brutal world. Kids must have loved Moto in the day as he proved someone tiny could trash giant brutes with guns and ham hock fists. He's a great roll model for more than just Asians or Japanese, he's a hero for everyone. These films are fun, matinée film that portrayed the shrinking world with a metropolitan and international flavor. I think they are admirable. Lorre proved himself adept beyond any doubt with these movies. They are a credit to the entire crew.