Pucki

I did not intent to see Showtime in the first place, but when a friend of mine and myself walked into the theatre of choice, it was the only movie that would start soon and interested us both. So we went in. We weren't disappointed - if you keep in mind that we didn't expect something special.

It's a done-by-the-numbers buddy-action-flick we're all used to for about twenty years now, slightly updated with the reality TV angle, and quite competently made.

It was good to see that Eddie Murphy still can pull off his shtick like he did in the original Beverly Hills Cop, De Niro has a couple of funny scenes, although he's completely underused as actor, and the William Shatner cameo is a hoot.

So, if you're in the mood for a quite old-fashioned buddy-movie without any special merits except for a couple of decent action scenes and a good laugh every now and then, Showtime may be your movie. Nothing to tell your ancestors about, but there are more unpleasant ways to kill an hour and a half. 6/10

Err... whoever told Frank Zagarino that he's the up-and-coming new action hero - time for a job change, pal!

Okay, most "modern age" action heroes have no acting talent, no screen charisma, but Zagarino beats them all (although it was sort of nice to see him playing the good guy for a change).

Pair that with an idiotic script, absolutely ridiculous action scenes and generally annoying (and stupid - take the "ambush" on the bridge as a shining example - if I hadn't sent my suspension of disbelief out to get some air before starting the movie it probably would have killed itself trying to grasp the concept of these guys being an elite special unit) behaviour of each and every character in the film and you'll end with an unwatchable mess (although it's sort of fascinating in a trainwreck-way of things... you just can't keep from looking at it).

Highlight of on-screen idiocy is the "hacking battle" between Evans and his daughter... hey, they could have padded the running time by expanding this exchange of "activate warhead" and "disarm warhead" up to three hours (be thankful they didn't...).

It's a movie that's even too idiotic to be bad in a funny way like so many others - it's just a real real real stupid movie. 1/10

I didn't expect this to be "Run Lola Run Part 2" or something like that. What I expected was a movie that would go somewhere. "Heaven" may be called by some viewers a masterpiece about guilt, innocence and punishment, but it loses track the longer it goes. Tykwer sure is a master of style and photography, and some of the shots are breathtaking, but the story itself (although interesting enough to start with) builds no momentum, has very little chemistry between the lead characters, the dialogue is often pointless. Furthermore, the movie is sooo predictable (it telegraphs its ending before the opening credits!). About midway the movie loses steam completely and resolves into a exercise of boredom, which has very little redeeming value provided by Cate Blanchett's fine acting. Even if "Heaven" is by no means near to the visual narrative of "Run Lola Run" or (the underrated) "Princess and the Warrior", "Heaven" seems to me to be victory of style over content (sometimes I was about to yell "I know you do amazing photography, but get on with the story, Tom!"). In Tykwer's previous movies the visuals propelled the story, here they just slow it down (as if the story would not move slow enough by itself). It sure didn't help that the movie has a bilingual approach, meaning most of the dialogue was Italian with German subtitles, the rest German (and speaking of that, some of the subtitles were unreadable - please note: white subtitles on a bright background won't work!). I'd rather had it subtitled completely for a more "complete mood". I seldom wish a movie would finally end, but with "Heaven", I checked my watch about every five minutes towards the finale. I don't think Kieslowski would totally approve of Tykwer's adaption of his screenplay, as the Polish director usually did more with his characters. Here, Tykwer wastes a potent story for a showcase of his moviemaking skills, as if to prove that he can direct a heart-moving drama as well as fast-paced videoclip-like movies. I'd rate it a 4/10 because of some nice photography work and Cate Blanchett, who does her best, but compared to his previous efforts, Tykwer's first non-German production lacks most of that what made "Run Lola Run" and "The Princess and the Warrior" so entertaining and intelligent.