Walls Of Jericho

I have no doubt the guys who made this film had some semblance of creating a complex character study of the post 9/11 political world, but somebody prodded them that drug use by teen hotties and sado-masochistic sex thrown in for good measure might help things along. Everyone in this film is fairly loathsome, with the Muslim extremist possibly coming off as the most sympathetic of the ensemble until the end. There is nothing special about the performances, mostly by b-movie actors. Lauren Holly as a hard line Republican US Senator maybe the most ridiculous bit of casting since Denise Richards was made a nuclear scientist in "The World Is Not Enough".

I really wish they'd put this on around midnight or 11PM instead of regulating it to 2 in the morning. It's a great throwback to the old late night movie creature double feature shows, and it's clear Rob Zombie knows what he's talking about and giving great facts about these cult films. The wide variety of films they show from the old poverty row productions to the blacksploitation movie and Russ Meyer films really adds to TCM programming as a whole. I hope they keep the show around, because not only do I enjoy the films, but the wraparound segments giving the information about the film, stars and directors, as well as some of the clips and interviews they show during the previews.

Aside from Uma Thurman in a skin tight leather suit, there is no reason to watch this film. Sadly, Miss Thurman didn't learn from the "Batman and Robin" debacle as she continues where her Poison Ivy character left off to ham it up here as Miss Peel. Ralph Finnes goes along for the ride, but most distressing is Sean Connery's embarrassing performance. I heard rumors that Connery was offered the part of Morphius in "The Matrix", but turned it down because he felt it would be another "Avengers". Just as well, but Connery here is cringe-worthy. The plot itself is okay for an action adventure spy fantasy, but merely serves as a background for 90 minutes of cheeky British double-entendres (Or what an American thinks British double-entendres are) between the main players. A waste of time.