reccepatrol

When I first saw the comercial for this new TV show, I though it might be interesting. At the very least, it would provide a relief from all the reality-television crap. The concept seemed rather interesting, a crime that is seen from different characters' point of view. Unfortunately, the writers rely too much on this all in all only half original idea. The stories are too obviously crafted to fit this style. The storylines of the few episodes that I did watch reminded me of those of first year film students. All they needed was for everyone to commit suicide and they'd be good (oh, wait, I think they did that). All in all, I found it very difficult to get into and stay in the stories, so I give it a sad 6/10. Still not a terrible grade, I gave them extra points for at least trying something different.

I was a bit unsure of whether or not I was going to like this film. I had hopes that I would, being a big fan of most of Clooney's work (i.e. Out of Sight, Three Kings). I was rooting for him to succeed with his directorial debut. However, I was afraid that Steven Sodderbergh's influence might have stained him with unnecessarily artsy styles and plot developments. We all know he has a knack for adding in filters and using jump cuts for no particular reason (at least in his more recent work, his earlier films are great). However, I'm happy to say, Clooney seems to have a developed a very interesting and all around original style (although it does seem to stem at least in part from Sodderbergh). I was rather impressed at some of the techniques Clooney used in this film. Some of his framing broke every rule in the book and would have had any film teacher screaming, but it fit very nicely into the style of the production. His use of interchangeable TV sets to combine two places into one (as you see in the trailer, when Chuck Barris is on the phone with a representative of NBC) allowed for an added aspect to the storyline that is rare in films nowadays. Some could say it throws the audience out of the story, but I appreciated the originality of it. Though I've been told that many people could not stand this film (I work at a movie theatre and I was surprised to see how many people walked out), I had no trouble getting into the movie. The overall storyline does seem a bit thin when you look back on what actually happened, but its still more then enough to keep the audience entertained. My only real negative comment would have to be Clooney's overexposure of the interview footage he had sprinkled throughout the film. Personally, I didn't see the point to doing this. I can understand that he wanted to separate the apparently real-life interviews from the general storyline, but this seemed to be an excessive attempt at being artsy (Sodderbergh must have tricked him into doing it). All in all, a very good film that I recommend to anyone who likes slightly offbeat films. I give it a good 7.5/10.

It's refreshing to see a film like this after such a disappointing year in movies. An excellent, involving plot, superb acting on the part of the entire cast and an all-around impressive production, Charlie Kaufman's screenplay "Adaptation" is, by far, one of, if not the best film of 2002.

I was a tad skeptical when I went to see this movie, unsure of what Nicholas Cage would do with the leading role of Charlie Kauffman. God knows he's given us reason to doubt him in the past with films like "Gone in 60 seconds" and "Con Air", but he has redeemed himself in my book. It's hard to believe it's actually him at some points, which is fairly rare nowadays.

The screenplay is one of the most impressively crafted works I have ever seen. It is pretty much beyond explanation. If I had to compare it to something, I'd have to say an onion. This film has so many layers, from the basic story and development of the characters, the influences of the book, "The Orchid Thief", the script that Charlie Kauffman (N. Cage Kauffman) is writing, the script the real Charlie Kauffman is writing and all of the plot twists added in to give you a sense of Kauffman as the puppeteer of the entire production. Fantastic. I strongly recommend it to any avid movie fans. In my book, an easy 8.5/10.