Um Novo Olhar

Go in with no preconceptions, and it's a pleasant way to spend a couple of hours. Is it a great movie? Well, no. But there were definitely some moments where I thought just a nip here, and a tuck there, and it could've been a contender, you know? The script (judging by what I saw on the screen, anyway) could've used a firmer hand. It got so close, but just didn't quite clear the bar. The acting was good. It was nice to see Demi do her thing. I don't think I've seen her in anything in ten years. On an unrelated side note...wow...either she has the most skilled and restrained surgeon/aesthetician on the planet, or this woman just doesn't age! Amazing. And it was nice to see Alec Baldwin doing something other than Trump. I usually feel like he's always just playing himself in every role (which isn't necessarily bad), but I felt a little differently about this one. They both did the best they could with the material, and they had some genuine moments. It was sweet. That was my overall feeling, in fact...the movie was sweet. The music really helped with that, too. Beautiful music! I got something out of it, and I didn't feel like it was a waste of time, so I'm happy.

First, Alec Baldwin can no longer be taken seriously because of his politics. His choice has been to malign (not satirize) his president. Second, Dermott Mulroney or Mullet McDermott or whoever he is phones in his performance as a one dimensional douche. The guy who plays Gavin is forgettable, as is Do-me More, a willing acolyte for Hollyweird society.

Plot: Douche Bag gets caught breaking the law. Douche Bag's wife has to perform commie service to atone for being married to said Douche: shoe-horned into reading for Scum Bag blind guy, after forgettable Petty Thief gets tossed by Scum Bag. Everyone is all part of the same problem, that is, they are all unlikeable as "people".

Eventual betrayal, murder and escape. But, we don't get what we really want: to see them destroy themselves and the film stock go up in flames.

Set your DVR to ERASE.

This movie doesn't fit neatly into a category. Parts of it seem like a middle age rom com with the music and wooing. Then part of it seems more dramatic.

Demi Moore plays a wife of a finance guy who gets in trouble with the law. She has to do some community service and reads to a blind writer/teacher played by Alec Baldwin.

The main fault is Alec Baldwin although he tries to act charming is a too overweight and unattractive to be the romantic lead. Demi Moore is still striking if a little scary looking. But not in a horror story way. Dylan McDermott is good as the menacing hedge fund husband who gets in trouble.

Worth a watch

I have never been a fan of Demi Moore - I didn't get her appeal and was never impressed with her acting, but interestingly she was the thing I liked best about this movie. She is quite lovely, and her voice has lost that husky quality that I used to find so grating. Her acting was natural and subtle yet effective. Unfortunately, I don't have similar positive things to say about this movie. Baldwin is his typical blow-hard self, and his transformation from a frustrated, angry, and damaged tortured writer is not believable. He is also not believable as a romantic lead. Maybe he has done one too many Trump impressions, because his appeal at this point is just - "yuck".

The plot is schlocky and predictable, and the addition of the young man who initially volunteered to assist Baldwin's character only later to become his house boy/protégé was weak.

Over all a pretty bad B movie with A movie pretensions. The writing was weak and the plot was often silly and superficial.

Alec Baldwin and Demi Moore are a good pairing because they are two very attractive people, Though Dylan McDermott is no slouch in the looks department either.

Baldwin plays a blind writer, (The stereotypical writer that's brilliant cause he wrote two great books but only published one, and he's half a bottle away from being a mean drunk). He had an encounter with Demi Moore who plays the wife of a business man who used her name to commit white collar crimes and now she's force to do community service to pay for those crimes (She too is a stereotype of being rich and white and use to getting whatever she wants but now she gets a little taste of life without the silver spoon).

McDermott's character is not as stereotyped, playing one of these wall street guys who was from the streets, but his story arch as the husband (Of Demi Moore's character) is very cliché (He treats her like she's property, and is very possessive). Though, I'm not sure if the amount of screen time McDermott got in the film was truly needed for the story, he was the most interesting character in the movie and it made the movie more interesting.

So they definitely needed him. The movie is not bad. It works best the more you like watching Alec Baldwin and Demi Moore (Who I rarely see in films today so it was a pleasure), but it's not a film that I would brag about. You watch it once, you'll like it and from there it's pretty forgettable.

It'll entertaining you for a few hours but leave no long lasting impression.

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