FeldBum

In recent years, "Spielbergian" has become a complaint about movies--movies that end too happily; films that focus only on the positive. But Spielberg has begun to change that, from Schindler's List to Minority Report to War of the Worlds, the director has gone darker than ever before, and we are the better for it.

Munich is the epitome of the new Spielberg. The movie pulls no punches--or explosion. It is at once a taut, exciting thriller, and an emotional, probing film that asks questions about the nature of violence, and the violent.

Historical accuracy aside, the story is mesmerizing. Tony Kushner's script is expectedly excellent, and he and Spielberg manage to create a convincing 1970's Israel and Europe.

Eric Bana gives a breakthrough performance in the movie, and he is well supported as well.

A somewhat heavy hand in the ending of the film detracts slightly from the excellent build-up to that point. In all, definitely worth seeing--and discussing afterward.

John McTiernan is slowly becoming my least favorite director (see Thomas Crown Affair), but I think he may just be a decent director with the worst taste in screenplays ever. The script really kills the movie here. Its "twists" leave gaping plot holes so big a Humvee could fall though one. And the dialogue and "sexual tension" between Osborne and Hardy is laughable but never humorous. The acting is either over-the-top (Jackson) or non-existent (Travlota, Neilsen). Travlota and Jackson were great in Pulp Fiction, but both men have real trouble saying no to terrible movies (Deep Blue Sea, SWAT, Swordfish, etc...). In its defense, you won't guess the ending--primarily because it makes no sense. Stay away.

I came into this film with high expectations, as relayed by friends who had seen this movie. Perhaps, if you have never before seen a movie, this hackneyed, over-exposed, 4th-grade plot would amuse you. Each character is about as believable as cardboard cut-outs, the dialogue seems so bad ("Do you want to dance or do you want to DANCE?") that it's painful to realize that Dixon also wrote Mrs. Doubtfire and Pay it Forward. The plot is immensely and inexcusable predictable. So much so, that because you can't imagine that you've guessed the ending within 15 minutes, you'll invent a better and more original movie.

The acting is decent, but can Pierce play anything but an exciting, older white male? The only thing he ever seems to do in movies is not react to things. If you always play it cool, is that even acting? Rene Russo gets out of acting by continuously taking off her top, apparently to prove that "older women still got it." This was a big deal when the movie came out, but now it seems distracting, unnecessary and forced.

Unless you've never guessed the end to a movie before in your life, stay away from this horrid "Affair."