stephen niz
Joined Feb 2000
Welcome to the new profile
Our updates are still in development. While the previous version of the profile is no longer accessible, we're actively working on improvements, and some of the missing features will be returning soon! Stay tuned for their return. In the meantime, the Ratings Analysis is still available on our iOS and Android apps, found on the profile page. To view your Rating Distribution(s) by Year and Genre, please refer to our new Help guide.
Badges2
To learn how to earn badges, go to the badges help page.
Reviews37
stephen niz's rating
AMERICAN BEAUTY
and context plays a huge part in what is defined good or great. Yes: as regards the mainstream studio system, AMERICAN BEAUTY is an earth-shattering revelation. However, after all the excess praise lauded on its shoulders, hindsight suggests the film is far from perfect.
Kevin Spacey is always great, but in jaded pawn Lester Burnham he delivers his finest performance to date. At first he appears to be an impotent protagonist, but by the end of the film, he has made a complete journey from one unfulfilling life to the dawn of another, liberated existence. Unfortunately this journey is hindered by Sam Mendes' kid-gloves direction. He devotes so much screen time to underdeveloped, super-simplistic caricatures and this detracts from the impact of the film.
Good actors deliver stereotype roles with the subtlety of a sledgehammer, such as Chris Carter (the explicitly evil homophobe drill sergeant) or Peter Gallagher (a sleazy salesman). The opportunity to make a sincere statement about small-town homophobia is squandered with a resolution straight out of a Benny Hill sketch. Mendes and writer Alan Ball seem desperate to wrap the viewer in cotton wool, from the revealing opening (not necessarily a bad thing) to the contrived end.
Thankfully, the flaws of plot mechanics are overcome by a great lead performance. It doesn't say as much about suburban discontent as HAPPINESS, or have the same force as the far-superior FIGHT CLUB, but AMERICAN BEAUTY is a challenging example of its own kind, accommodating mainstream fare.
I agree with the user comment about the film being life affirming, not nihilistic. It is just a shame I found it a little too manipulative, dishonest even. But it would be nice to see more films like this in the multiplex. Unfortunately, twelve months down the track it doesn't seem the studios have taken up the challenge.
and context plays a huge part in what is defined good or great. Yes: as regards the mainstream studio system, AMERICAN BEAUTY is an earth-shattering revelation. However, after all the excess praise lauded on its shoulders, hindsight suggests the film is far from perfect.
Kevin Spacey is always great, but in jaded pawn Lester Burnham he delivers his finest performance to date. At first he appears to be an impotent protagonist, but by the end of the film, he has made a complete journey from one unfulfilling life to the dawn of another, liberated existence. Unfortunately this journey is hindered by Sam Mendes' kid-gloves direction. He devotes so much screen time to underdeveloped, super-simplistic caricatures and this detracts from the impact of the film.
Good actors deliver stereotype roles with the subtlety of a sledgehammer, such as Chris Carter (the explicitly evil homophobe drill sergeant) or Peter Gallagher (a sleazy salesman). The opportunity to make a sincere statement about small-town homophobia is squandered with a resolution straight out of a Benny Hill sketch. Mendes and writer Alan Ball seem desperate to wrap the viewer in cotton wool, from the revealing opening (not necessarily a bad thing) to the contrived end.
Thankfully, the flaws of plot mechanics are overcome by a great lead performance. It doesn't say as much about suburban discontent as HAPPINESS, or have the same force as the far-superior FIGHT CLUB, but AMERICAN BEAUTY is a challenging example of its own kind, accommodating mainstream fare.
I agree with the user comment about the film being life affirming, not nihilistic. It is just a shame I found it a little too manipulative, dishonest even. But it would be nice to see more films like this in the multiplex. Unfortunately, twelve months down the track it doesn't seem the studios have taken up the challenge.
I knew HIGH FIDELITY was hitting the mark when I became jealous of Rob Gordon's (John Cusack) knowledge of ultra-obscure rock history. Music appreciation lends itself to snobbery you see, but in the best possible manner. Music is soul, and the characters in the film understand as much. It is surely the sign of a great film when you look at the screen and see people just like yourself up there.
You rarely see films as committed to people as HIGH FIDELITY that are this much fun. It is about men dealing with themselves, with women, and with music, often all at once. After the break-up of a relationship, Rob proceeds to organise his record collection not chronologically or alphabetically, but autobiographically. `Music is the soundtrack to your life' as the tagline tells us.
HIGH FIDELITY is about so much more than music. It handles relationships sincerely, not sentimentally. When issues like infidelity and abortion arise, director Stephen Frears avoids making it feel like these are merely plot devices or sympathy plays. In fact, the characters make little effort to be liked. It is credit to the ego-less performance of Cusack that Rob's story is so affecting.
But apparently there were creative differences between director and star over editing, Cusack wanting the music to play a more significant role in the film. This is intriguing because the ultra-cool soundtrack is relegated to the background throughout. It is annoying that while the songs represent such a strong emotional significance to the character, they're little more than hipster muzak to the audience.
Struggling with an unconvincing pledge of male sensitivity, the film loses its legs a little towards the end. That said, HIGH FIDELITY is a grand achievement. From the first scene until the killer Stevie Wonder/Love 1-2 over the closing credits, it preaches genuine cool all the way, something films are always trying to force, but rarely achieve.
You rarely see films as committed to people as HIGH FIDELITY that are this much fun. It is about men dealing with themselves, with women, and with music, often all at once. After the break-up of a relationship, Rob proceeds to organise his record collection not chronologically or alphabetically, but autobiographically. `Music is the soundtrack to your life' as the tagline tells us.
HIGH FIDELITY is about so much more than music. It handles relationships sincerely, not sentimentally. When issues like infidelity and abortion arise, director Stephen Frears avoids making it feel like these are merely plot devices or sympathy plays. In fact, the characters make little effort to be liked. It is credit to the ego-less performance of Cusack that Rob's story is so affecting.
But apparently there were creative differences between director and star over editing, Cusack wanting the music to play a more significant role in the film. This is intriguing because the ultra-cool soundtrack is relegated to the background throughout. It is annoying that while the songs represent such a strong emotional significance to the character, they're little more than hipster muzak to the audience.
Struggling with an unconvincing pledge of male sensitivity, the film loses its legs a little towards the end. That said, HIGH FIDELITY is a grand achievement. From the first scene until the killer Stevie Wonder/Love 1-2 over the closing credits, it preaches genuine cool all the way, something films are always trying to force, but rarely achieve.
A film with the history of AMERICAN PSYCHO behind it hardly needs a plot summary but it's still likely a lot of audiences will be surprised by what greets them. The film comes to the cinema with an almost unqualified endorsement from its creator, Brett Easton Ellis. Ellis, whose 1991 novel divided and disturbed audiences, has called Mary Harron's film 95 per cent faithful to the source material.
This is surprising because AMERICAN PSYCHO is a few novels at once: a black comedy about soulless eighties culture; a feminist tome about `crazy insane sexism and misogyny' (the authors words); a trip inside the head of a serial killer. The word `unfilmable' comes to mind, a tired phrase that has been proven wrong too many times before.
To Harron's credit, the film has captured the attention of a strong, rational audience base while avoiding the expected media hoopla. There is no grey area this time around. AMERICAN PSYCHO is played as black comedy and it hits the mark most of the time.
Beginning with a crafty credit sequence that teases the audience, Harron and star Christian Bale proceed to subvert their expectations. Bale hits the perfect note of satire, ridiculing and patronising the idiot Bateman. In a recent interview, Bale said he hung out with yuppies to get a feel for the character and they told him to watch WALL STREET. Life imitates art imitating shallow, empty lives. Forgive the terribly mishandled twist late on (a costly lapse in directorial judgement) and AMERICAN PSYCHO rewards handsomely. One of the best films of 2000.
This is surprising because AMERICAN PSYCHO is a few novels at once: a black comedy about soulless eighties culture; a feminist tome about `crazy insane sexism and misogyny' (the authors words); a trip inside the head of a serial killer. The word `unfilmable' comes to mind, a tired phrase that has been proven wrong too many times before.
To Harron's credit, the film has captured the attention of a strong, rational audience base while avoiding the expected media hoopla. There is no grey area this time around. AMERICAN PSYCHO is played as black comedy and it hits the mark most of the time.
Beginning with a crafty credit sequence that teases the audience, Harron and star Christian Bale proceed to subvert their expectations. Bale hits the perfect note of satire, ridiculing and patronising the idiot Bateman. In a recent interview, Bale said he hung out with yuppies to get a feel for the character and they told him to watch WALL STREET. Life imitates art imitating shallow, empty lives. Forgive the terribly mishandled twist late on (a costly lapse in directorial judgement) and AMERICAN PSYCHO rewards handsomely. One of the best films of 2000.