iamyuno2

I haven't reviewed a film in awhile but I was so appalled and insulted by this worthless, childishly written and ill-conceived film that I had to warn you not to see it! You're going to wish you'd spent your time more wisely!

The writers, the Cuaróns, don't seem to understand an awful lot, namely: space, technology, people, NASA, reentry realities, how people speak, philosophy (their attempts at philosophical statements are so corny and vacuous they sound like cheesy coffee cup sayings from the 1960s), and more. The writing is vapid, empty, unbelievable, the comments at times of crisis incredibly cheerful and unreal...

Example: the character played by George Clooney (whom I admire and is the one shining light in this dreadful film, which he couldn't save in spite of his efforts) asks the character played by Sandra Bullock what town she's from, to get her mind off a crisis in space. Come on, guys! These astronauts would already know what towns they're from by this time in their lives! The writers are just...dopes! (Sorry!)

Another example: Bullock's oxygen is low yet Clooney has her talk to him incessantly (and it's all stupid small talk that makes you want to puke) to stay focused - notwithstanding that this very activity (in real life) would cause her to use up her oxygen all the faster!

This movie is an insult to the viewer's intelligence. It plays out like those childhood games we used to play on the playground - you know, hey, push this button, see if that one works! Hey - it does! No need for training, eh? Dumb, dumb, dumb - and you're going to feel stupid if you watch this flick.

The only thing good are the visuals but those don't sustain a movie and they're not exactly the most state-of-the-art stunning displays of creativity ever. In fact, you don't feel you've seen anything new at all.

I'm just really angry that Hollywood felt audiences would be so uninformed and unsophisticated that they would think this movie was anything other than what it is, namely, space trash!

Want another example of how very stupid this is? Sandra Bullock spends much time in space, bare-legged and barefoot and actually returns home from space bare-legged and barefoot and essentially wearing underwear! Come on!

The ending, too - without being a spoiler - is just so fantastically unreal as to make you shake your head. What was the studio that put out this hopelessly clueless movie thinking? Did anyone at all research what real space flight was like? Doubtful.

Regardless - this movie's ignorance of its own subject is one thing. Its dialog is another. It's so amateurish to make one wonder what made these guys think they could get away with their incompetence.

I usually avoid watching movies that get less than a 3-star rating on the Turner Classic Movies channel but maybe I should reevaluate that policy because - being a big William Powell fan and an admirer of Hedy Lamarr - I decided to watch this movie, having never seen it. Glad I did. Yes, it's got its silly side - but so do many comedies. What's really significant is that it features William Powell at his comedic best, with many brilliant creative and hilarious scenes you just have to see and enjoy. Though this is a flawed movie, it is nonetheless engaging and highly entertaining due to Powell's ability to conjure up some of the most ingenious funny scenes ever. Though Hedy Lamarr is a ditz here and not necessarily the kind of character most men would want as a wife (being quixotic and ruled by astrologers), there are in fact women like this (I was married to one) and so even her part rings true to those of us who've "been there." So...silly but not so silly. Yet...really really funny! And you don't have to be a William Powell fan to like this one. Enjoy! (You will!)

The Hurricane is a movie all movie buffs need to see. It's great on so many levels that its minor drawbacks or imperfections are entirely forgivable. First of all, you have one of the best hurricane scenes in any film, ever. This is so realistic, intense and prolonged that, even today, you keep wondering: how did they do this? This is what hurricanes do - to people's lives and to the topography of our world. But then you look at the cast. Jon Hall was just OK yet we have Thomas Mitchell, John Carradine, Mary Astor and Raymond Massey - four movie heavyweights who infuse this with its near-greatness, putting in performances that fans of great acting need to see. These are actors who usually have a supporting role, yet when given the chance, they bring a gravitas and realism that rivets the viewer and draws one into the story such that you're bonded to it...entirely invested in the story's outcome, rooting for the much-maligned good characters to "win" in the end, your emotions going up and down with their fortunes. That's the sign of a really really good film. The story, too, speaks of universal truths and injustices done in the name of imperialistic governments, wrongs done native islanders, laws applied unbendingly and cruelly, and the bitter ends that come of political power struggles - all of this plays out along with the more immediate story, the plight of a young couple with a child, victims of circumstance, struggling to find happiness in a mad political situation that's become of their prior idyllic world. So if you don't pick up on the greater picture or care about it, you still care deeply about the lives of these young lovers and their child - as well as their people, the native islanders (played in some instances by real Polynesians). You have to have patience to get beyond the first few moments in the film, where the writing and the acting (primarily because of Jon Hall) was not as great as the rest of the film, because then brilliance takes over as Hall's role greatly diminishes and the story unfolds in all of its horror and wonder, and you'll be hooked...on the edge of your seat to the end. Finally...there's some redemption at the end. This is key to a great film and it happens. Not easy to pull off - in a way that moves you. Here, it's real, and it affects you, rewards you - even though, as in life, the redemption isn't complete or perfect. Like life, lives are ruined in the process - which is a credit to this film. It scrupulously avoids the hackneyed and sugar coats nothing. Dorothy Lamour...fine actress, beautiful as a saronged islander...has a somewhat limited role, though key because she is the angel that makes us really care about the plight of the young family. Her performance, though spare, is, to her credit, always believable and full of appropriate intense emotion. No shallow beauty here. In sum...this is a must-see film!!!!