mjukr

Commonly tossed aside as a predictable, poorly plotted film with few laughs, "The 'Burbs" has more to offer than most critics are willing to admit.

This film is not so much about the plot(which is admittedly thin and which the critics are too concerned with) as it is about the characters who become entangled within it. Included in this terrific cast are Tom Hanks, who plays the skeptical neighbor of the new family on the block (a bunch of oddballs who never leave the house); Rick Ducommun, who plays the gluttonous friend of Hanks, who is convinced that the new neighbors are brain sucking murderers; Bruce Dern, the ex-soldier who hasn't quite left his miilitary roots behind him; and last, but not least, Corey Feldman, who plays the dopey teenage neighbor who basically watches the events of the movie unfold from the comfort of his front porch. These characters are so well-acted and so downright wacky that you just have to believe there is a neighborhood somewhere with people like this. The chemistry between everyone of the characters is simply impressive, and much of the humor of the film can be found in the often ludicrous way the director portrays their interactions.

I urge anyone who has seen this film before to watch it again, this time paying little attention to the story and focusing on the superbly acted characters.

Yes, I had a hard time holding back the tears. But, when I left the theater I though to myself, "what the heck were you getting all choked up about?".

The film purposely raises one's spirits to the max in one scene, and in the next beats the audience mercilessly with misty drama. In fact, the entire movie consisted of this exhausting pattern of lift-you-up-then-beat-you-down techniques, and after reflecting back on the film, I felt very manipulated, almost cheated out of my tears. There was no compelling character depth or sincerity of events that could be perceived as genuinely touching (and deserving of tears), only highly contrived sequences in which the film doesn't compel your emotions, it forces it out of you, even though there is no real substance under the surface melodrama.

It's even more of a surprise that in a THREE HOUR film we learn so very, very little about any of the characters. Even Hanks' character is given very little motivation (why did he become a guard, why did he marry his wife, why is he so kind to the prisoners, and on). And the supporting characters are given one-dimensional, cliched roles (the brute, the old-timer, the rookie, the sadist).

Accordingly, the supposed center of this spiritual, modern Biblical tale, John Coffey, remains completely in the dark. If the four guards are as compassionate as the film would have us believe, then why do none of the guards ever actually TALK to Coffey? No one asks where he is from, or how he grew up, or how he found the girls--they just sort of talk about him while reveling in his miracles; how compassionate is that?

The focus on the sadistic guard and the lunatic inmate were to heavy--the bonding between Edgecombe and Coffey needed more fleshing out. It would seem that the mouse (a much overused metaphor in a film very, very concerned about contrasts) received more screen time than Coffey himself; and although this may parallel a certain theme within the picture, it works too harshly against the much needed character development.

This movie yearns to be exhalted as a rich, spiritual journey, but in the end, after all the tears had been shed (or pummeled out), I felt empty and cheated.

Tim Burton's latest is a highly polished film visually, with very convincing gloomy sets awash in fog and shallow lighting. The audience certainly never needs to question believability of the dreary setting.

Both music and sound effects are put to good use in this, as well as a couple of highly effective implemenations of off-screen space to terrify without explicitly smacking one in the face with an image (although the film certainly has its fair share of decapitations). Be sure to look for the color red as a free visual motif...

Although the film looks terrific, the narrative is weak at points. In particular, Burton's choice of falling back on the annoying situation in which the antagonist proceeds into a five minute monologue near the end of the film in which all of the prior plot events are reviewed and all of the ambiguities are cleared up, is unfortunate and really ruins the pace of the film. On top of that, the love story between Depp and Ricci was thin and unconvincing.

However, Burton's macabre sense of humor really shines in this film, and much of the dialogue involving Depp is very tongue-in-cheek and very amusing (unfortunately, I think many people mistook Burton's sense of humor as either bad scripting or bad acting).

In all, I found this film to be both frightening and humorous, and all-around entertaining. I just wish it would have been released around Halloween... Oh, and Christopher Walken is absolutely terrifying as the headless horseman!