loui-in-stlouis

Arian Waring Ash looks pretty fantastic in this flick. It's sort of beneath Keri Russell to do this movie, but at least the director seems to understand that if Keri is looking good, it's not a waste of anyone's time. And indeed, she is looking good here. I'm not even a Keri Russell fan. I found the comment about the dog doing the best acting amusing, but it's not true. Keri's acting is good. Even Keri's kid brother turns in a respectable performance, and he has what, ten lines? If you didn't like Phylicia/Mrs. Cosby's performance, you might ask yourself why so much of her energy and style here is duplicated by Khandi/Ms. Talk Radio six years later in CSI Miami. It's actually too bad that there isn't a longer theater-cut of this thing, because it does capture Ms. Russell in what must be her peak bloom, and that's not at all a bad thing. Shame shame shame on casting directors for failing to see this as an audition for the sidekick, Arian Ash, and not turning her into a big star. But who knows? maybe she was beaten out by Love Hewitt for all the subsequent roles, and that's not a bad thing either. This movie probably got pitched as a "let's take all that sexual energy from the Yale babysitter in Mystic Pizza and take it to its logical conclusion" and hey, that's a pretty good idea. At least i don't feel as dirty at the end as I do whenever I see Blame It On Rio. Incidentally, Demi Moore was the sidekick in that one, and someone DID see that and turn her into a star.

i applaud anyone who puts jessica alba on screen. at least the film captures her walking toward us in several scenes. the movie would have been better if it simply videotaped her walking for an hour. what kind of director decides to photograph her in poor light, limit her time on screen, and make her invisible? the only thing we could figure is that it was in her contract that she be invisible during the romance scenes, specifically so she could get out of the on-screen kisses with her co-star: they of no good chemistry. her alleged brother (do these two look like siblings?) is also trying to save this shipwreck, but the result is inevitable: the writing and dialogue make you cringe and make you wonder what age group was being targeted. we were thinking 12-year old boys. FF2 could work as a sequel, but i just hope that some casting director sees jessica alba walking and puts her in a movie where we can just watch her walk. (maybe it is time to rent honey again.) we really wanted to know who made this movie so we could avoid them in the future. amazingly, i really liked mr. and mrs. smith, and i think that THAT director knew what to do with angelina jolie's beauty. if i were the production company, i would get the mr. and mrs. smith director to teach the FF2 director how to light his star and how to luxuriate over her.

i think this movie rocks -- it is the best place to watch Mira Sorvino be entertaining and hot.

i just bought the DVD in a bargain bin and i can't stop watching it. OK it's a bit of a TV movie script. but it's a year ahead of the matrix, and i dare you to watch it without making production comparisons. in fact, i can't watch the matrix any more. so much for movies with great scripts.

so much of the goodness of this movie relies on Mira Sorvino's screen presence that it plays a bit like a bit music video -- it's just plain fun to see her on screen. Chow Yun Fat is good, and this American Chinese boy (me) likes seeing a hybrid movie like this... well, it's fun to see the Chinese guy wear nice suits and kick some a$$ too. i can't watch any of the crappy hong kong stuff that the other users seem to think is superior to this. i can see how HK martial arts lovers wouldn't like this -- it's a very different, very American movie. personally, i'd rather see more clones of this movie than more jackie chan.

hey, did i mention Mira Sorvino is hot? i even like the relationship chemistry that develops here -- sort of like the David Carradine character wandering the desert in the Kung Fu TV shows -- he never even gets to kiss the pretty girl who falls for his decency, but the mutual respect is better that way. more movies need to take this route.

i'm not a Mira watcher -- i've only seen her aphrodite and some awful film school $hit i'm sure she wishes she never made, and her happy day on the Oscar alumni stage. as a Harvard guy, i'm not sure i want to see her in romy and michelle. this was simply a great role for a very underutilized actress at the right time in her life during the era of east-west action fusion. if i were producing movies, i'd kick myself for not watching this movie sooner and taking advantage of Mira Sorvino in her prime. it's not too late -- check our her recent IMDb pics. papa sorvino was right -- his daughter is great, and anyone who says otherwise should get a cap in his knee. this movie is the proof.