pianogyrl

I've only known one other person who has even heard of this movie(also the only other one who's heard of and liked Mel Brooks' the Twelve Chairs). This is certainly one of the most bizarre and unique movies I've ever seen but the more times I see it, the more I like it. Robin Williams and Eric Idle are great of course, but Neville does a good job too. The story is truly unique, leaving you wondering where fiction ends and reality begins. In fact, it's much like "Adaptation" in that respect, come to think of it. While not on par with Monty Python and the Holy Grail, this is a good piece of work. My advice: let your brain take a vacation for a couple of hours and just absorb it. You'll appreciate it better if you try not to make too much sense of it. If it really confuses you, read the book. Yes, there is a book and there really was a man who called himself Baron Munchausen. The book is called <u>The Adventures of Baron Munchausen</u> and the edition I had explained his whole story. Terry Gilliam did a great job of bringing this man to screen and I highly recommend it if you're tired of the usual Hollywood fluff.

My boyfriend and I rented this when we were able to spend some time together. I had to leave, so I couldn't play as much as I wanted to; even if I had the time, however, I don't think I would have played much. The graphics and voices are astounding; I assume it has a good storyline as well. The beginning is great; you're thrown right into the action, it has a Bond beginning that beats some of the movies, and the training is comprehensive. One problem: even the training counts for nothing. My boyfriend and I played co-op(two players playing together on the same screen) and it seemed like the creators couldn't decide between a stealth game or a third-person shooter, so they did both. There are plenty of objects to hide behind, but often enemies would jump out from behind you (sometimes at a spawn point) and could shoot through walls, literally. The AI is omnipotent, knowing where you are before they can see you, and has perfect aim. The computer gives you an aiming system and teaches you how to use it in training, but this does not work in the actual game. Often, we found ourselves targeting the wrong enemies, or unable to target the single enemy standing right next to us. The best approach is to go in guns blazing, though this often results in a "Butch Cassidy..." ending thanks to the fact that you are quickly outnumbered. Also, the convenient "Bond-sense", which enables you to pause the game to find targets, does not work in co-op. You can't pause for anything, even to switch weapons. My boyfriend played a little in single-player mode after I left, but told me that he was experiencing many of the same problems. This is not Time-Splitters(first-person shooter) or Tenchu(stealth-based), but the worst of both. It sounds as if it would have made a better movie than a game. If you want to spend hours trying to get through one or two missions and probably end up very frustrated by the end, then the storyline and the acting sounds like it might be worth it. Otherwise, don't waste your time.

I'm always intrigued by small titles, because sometimes they're better than the big moneymakers. This one failed to disappoint, especially because of the superb acting and camera shots. Vincent D'Onofrio(still "the bug" from "Men in Black" in my mind) did a wonderful job of stepping out of that role and into one that's believable, despite Sam's odd story. The first time I watched this, I was intrigued by the possibility that Sam may be telling the truth. Fortunately, K-Pax hadn't managed to ruin that scenario completely for me. The ending was a complete surprise and there were some nice twists.

I picked this up again to see if it was still as intriguing and to my surprise, it was. Even knowing Sam's true identity takes none of the emotion out of the film. I saw that this movie is not just the audience deciding whether or not to believe Sam, but Ruby deciding as well. It's a terrific inner conflict for her, as she struggles in the face of love and honesty after a string of horrible men. Haven't we all met someone that we loved and wanted to trust, but we didn't know we could? The time travel aspect makes this movie impossible but the characters are so real and deep, then the movie feels real and you find yourself thinking if only for a moment that it is perfectly possible. That's why I say that even if you know the ending, watch this movie for the quality that it is.