seekrmk4

Casino Royale is the product of many people, at a turbulent time in our history: the late 1960's: Vietnam, Cold War, Civil Rights, etc...all of the other (previous) Bond films were essentially following with the signs of the times...the makers of this film decided that instead of a

dramatic BOND film, make a campy fun satirical film about the ORIGINAL James Bond (the Book BOND of course...)coming out of retirement to fight evil.

This is an all-star cast of Cameos and Some of Hollywood's Greatest Directors, John Huston for one; AL Guest, et.al....If you can enjoy satire, this film is jam packed with it...and very very pretty girls, including an up and coming "Jacky" Bisset. (The Deep, Scenes From the Class Struggles of Beverly Hills, etc.) Some Hollywood Heavyweights too, (no pun intended...well, maybe) in the form of Orson Welles, George Raft, Jean Paul Bellemondo, William Holden, John Huston (as actor), David Niven, and some great comedic work from two masters: Peter Sellers (a member of the GOONs, [spike milligan]; Pink Panther Fame) and Woody

Allen.

This film was made during the "hippie era" so there are lots of Psychedelic References made during the film. I would recommend this film to any "Boomer" and "kids" who like satire.

Seekrmk4

"...I hate you, you hate me, we're a dysfunctional fa-mi-ly.." [my favorite parody of Barney the Dinosaur] accurately describes the angst that permeates within this film. Kevin Spacey, hands-down the Best Dramatic Actor of the 1990's in my humble opinion, portrays the character of Lester Burnham, in the same fashion that he did in THE REF (also starring Dennis Leary) and DEATH OF A SALESMAN (theatre). Spacey brings this middle-aged Rip Van Winkle out of his suburban coma, to re-experience/re-examine that part of him that was lost to the "coma". American Beauty is much more than that...many of us can understand, identify and even admire the distinct qualities in the man. As the narrator of his existence within the lives of his family, we see the conflicts and subemotions that have created this situation: Anger, Jealousy, Curiousity, Passion and finally, Fulfillment. But as we all play our parts in the great stage of life, this is an ensemble work....

Annette Benning, the Long-suffering breadwinner, whose betrayals cost her everything that she has fought to protect; Thora Birch, the self-tormented teenager, whose character-type is a standard in the industry, adds additional dimensions to it; Mena Suvali, the aptly named American Beauty...and Wes Bentley, brilliant persona within the minds eye....his presence is second only in importance to Kevin Spacey's....there is quite a magnetic quality to his charms, and forthright soul that is both believable and desirable.

Well scripted, superb homespun-tradition modern American settings and locations, excellent direction make American Beauty a MUST SEE. Capture the moment that defines this life for you, and it will live in your soul forever.....

WHAT A COSMIC LETDOWN! This movie TANKED. All hype, all filler....this wasn't MI2, this was "Tom Cruise wants to be James Bond, or Matt Helm or Derek Flint, but not Ethan Hunt.."

The first movie, ostensibly was centered around Cruise as his team was annihilated and he was the fall guy for the bad guy (Jon Voight). His team before the "hit" and the disavowed one after, had some decent plot complications and character interactions...

This Turkey (and I do Mean TURKEY..dont bother to stick a fork in it, cuz its been burned) was so OVER THE TOP it was unbelievable...change that to "non-believable"....John Woo ought to stick to making movies with Jackie Chan and other "Pacific Rim talent" than trying to reinvent the wheel on this one. And a royal raspberry to Tom Cruise for helping produce this one too...you can tell what parts he wanted to go into the film, if you have seen a decent number of Woo's films....the sequences with the Girl (Nyah?) useless slow motion shots...reminded me of bad arthouse TV Advertising for the Infinti Automobiles in the 90's.... The supporting cast, is unnecessary and wasted. Considering the gratuitous gunshots, martial baloney and hooey, Who needs a IMF force, with Tom? You could probably drop him on the Moon in his Birthday suit, and he would eventually make his way back to earth..... Folks, this is not Titanic. This is RAMBO 3....without the supporting characters. It a "ME" film...Mr. Cruise is a narcissist, plain and simple, and this is the action film that he wanted to play with Mission Impossible. This time he got his wish. There are so many gaffs and goofs (the motorcycle sequence goes from knobby to street to knobby to street tires over and over again...fight scenes last far too long, etc. The packed house that was with me groaned in nearly every scene.

Don't get me wrong. I am a TOM CRUISE fan. I own most of his films, all the way back to TAPS. I want him to continue the Lestat series...if he is willing to do a sequel to that....he can go over the top in that one...Lestat did it in the book....But Mission Impossible is an Ensemble Cast effort, that was completely overlooked and wasted in this movie. See it, only if you love Woo's OVER THE TOP style....cuz this is a signature moment for that classification.

Sorry, Tom....you should have skipped the sequel curse on this film....