kwa1063

Okay, first of all, I am amazed at the posts that either A:complain that people gave away the ending; or B:say they don't want to give away the ending. This was a very famous, very publicized TRUE story that was in every magazine and had a best-selling book written about it. Does everyone not know how it ends to begin with?? That's like being upset when Lou Gehrig dies at the end of his life story. With that off my chest, I can continue. I too read the book, and it was excellent. I watched the HBO First Look special about the movie, and couldn't wait to see it. I was highly disappointed. I realize that with any "based on a true story" film, certain dramatic liscense has to be taken. Every conversation between characters cannot be remembered verbatim. And all the main characters died, so no one knows what went on on the ship. I know the special effects were great, blah blah blah (although my 9-year-old daughter even noticed several times, "Gosh, that looks fake."). But couldn't they have spent more time fleshing out the characters and their relationships, and not have relied so much on the made-up goings-on on the Andrea Gail during the storm? (I totally disagree with Roger Ebert's review in which he says that more character development was not needed). That is what made the book so good--by the end, you really cared about these people and what happened to them--even though you knew in advance that it didn't have a happy ending. Not so in the movie, I thought. Billy Tyne (George Clooney) was portrayed as so gruff and unpleasant (and senseless) that I expected him to break out in an "ARRRRRGH" and perch a parrot on his shoulder any minute. It was difficult to like him--in real life, he didn't have nearly the callous disregard for his crew that this guy in the movie did. The Sully-Murph brouhaha went on and on and was never clearly explained--a mention of Murph's wife was made, but that very thin plot line was never fleshed out. They acted like two silly teenage boys. So write them off too (although I love John C. Reilly; I think he is a wonderful actor and was given no chance to shine in this film). Bobby Shatford (Mark Wahlberg) was little more than a tormented guy pining for his girlfriend (they weren't married, contrary to other posts) and playing yes-man to Billy Tyne. Alfred Pierre and Bugsy were the only ones who were likeable out of the whole crew. (But what was up with Bugsy and the woman he had JUST met before he went out on his doomed voyage? You would've thought they had been together for years. What an odd relationship). Another thing, Chris (Diane Lane)supposedly had lost her kids--why was that not explained? They were so many hanging threads that were never pulled on that could have made a much better movie. All that was cared about here, it seems, was the storm. A storm alone does not a movie make. I thought it was long, slow, and b-o-r-i-n-g. The acting was poor--actually, the lines they were given were poor, since most of them are skilled actors. (Although am I the only woman in the world who thinks George's appeal is overrated?) You could hardly tell that the book and the movie were related. I had heard that one of the families of the crew sued the filmmakers for portraying the character in a poor light--I can't remember who. At first I thought, oh, what a poor sport--supposedly at first the town welcomed the film crew with open arms. Now, I understand. And if I was Sebastian Junger, the author of the book, I'd sue too. If you must rent this, skip ahead to the last third of the movie just to see the storm. BUT--turn it off before the scene where Bobby is floating in the vast, storm-tossed ocean, trying to send telepathic messages to his girlfriend Chris. (And he stayed afloat amazingly easily, considering the elements. He barely had to put forth any effort to tread water, although those churning waves had just sunk the entire SHIP).Then--miraculously, later Chris tells the others at the bar that--gasp--she had had a dream about Bobby talking to her, replete with the SAME words we, the audience, had heard him say before he drowned. Isn't that amazing? I wanted to gag. I mean, there is dramatic liscense, and then there is crap. I was very disappointed by this movie. I give it a 4/10, and the 4 is only for the special effects, and the fact that Mark Wahlberg was in it at all.

One would think, with the caliber of actors in this movie, that it would at least be okay. One would be wrong! Liam Neeson and Lili Taylor are both excellent actors, and Catherine Zeta-Jones is fairly good also. (Owen Wilson is the only one I haven't particularly been impressed with in his past endeavors). But in this film, I couldn't believe I was watching the same actors. Especially Lili Taylor! All of the fault is not hers--the dialogue was atrocious--but her acting was so wooden it made me squirm. I actually laughed many times--when I was not supposed to! If she went running thru the house in her flowing white nightgown one more time saying, "Oh no" (like she has just dropped something instead of screaming it in terror about the things that she was seeing) I was going to scream. I couldn't believe at the end when Owen Wilson's character got beheaded--she just said, "oh no" the same way! The special effects were good but I thought there were way too many of them. It got a little ridiculous. I think more could've been gained from some creepy shadows and things like that instead of these over-the-top things like everything in the house coming to life. There is something to be said for being understated! Liam Neeson also sleepwalked thru his performance. Catherine Zeta-Jones had a completely useless role but I guess she did the best she could. The original is so frightening and so much more could've been done with this movie. Jan DeBont needs to stick to action films, definitely. The plot was totally confusing, with Lili Taylor being part of the family that had lived in the house. The dialogue, like I said before, was awful. The acting was pathetic. I was embarrassed for everyone in the movie. I am not one who thinks horror movies have to be full of gore. I just thought this was an incredibly bad movie. I would not recommend this to anyone. I give it a 1/10.

I just finished watching the first episode of "Soul Food" and was blown away. The movie is one of my top 5 favorites and I wondered if the Showtime series could do it justice. Well, I wasn't disappointed. Even though the characters were played by lesser-known actors, they were all excellent. I look forward to the next episode. (Although I am worried about scheduling conflicts when "Oz" comes back on in a few weeks! I guess I will have to put the VCR to use then.)