GaryWang

I award a ten to any film which is extremely good at what it does, and Rowan Atkinson's comedic brilliance succeeds here on every level. The wry dark humor of Black Adder and even his more broad efforts in the BBC series The Thin Blue Line have been reigned in, and what we have left is something which will please every generation of moviegoer, young and old alike. One sketch leads to another and yet there is a real story here comprising a beginning, middle and one of those old-fashioned endings in which the whole happy cast sings while looking into the camera lens. Atkinson is better than Chaplin at character improvisations--what an amazingly funny, expressive face from this Oxford-educated structural engineer, of all things! The film is brilliantly cast and his two principal co-stars are both headed for bigger things: Emma de Caunes is wholesomely sexy with one of the loveliest new faces to grace the screen in a long time, while Bean's foil, the boy on the train, is played to great effect by Preston Nyman, a young stand-up comic who is conspicuously at ease before the lens. This was my introduction to the Mr. Bean franchise, and I'm delighted with what I know lies in store for me.

Any film about WWII made during WWII by a British production company has no latter-day peer in my opinion, respectfully. The confluence of so many things near and dear to my heart are in At Dawn We Dive: as a descendant of Admiral Horatio Nelson and student of all aspects of World War Two and particularly naval warfare, I favor depictions of subs and action in the North Atlantic and especially those which include the German side of things. For those unacquainted with target priorities, an attack on an enemy warship is the greatest event that a submarine can hope to encounter and such a rare opportunity would develop surprisingly similarly to what we see here. The pacing is deliberate and typical of the works coming out of the Ealing, Rank and British-Gaumont studios back in the day: frankly I prefer its quieter, more cerebral approach for its humanity and realism that engages far better than any over-produced Hollywood movie ever could. This reminds me of Powell and Pressburger's The 49th Parallel thanks to the powerfully persuasive Eric Portman, a favorite of mine. John Mills receives second billing and a smaller font in the titles, so this is clearly meant to be Mr. Portman's film but the whole cast shines. As for the title sequence, am I the only one who is utterly charmed by Gainsborough Production's lovely pre-CGI Gainsborough Girl?

At the risk of seeming antagonistic--and I am here, but that is not a bad thing---my nod for most overrated film goes to THE PHILADELPHIA STORY. The reason is simply that it seems like such a conspicuous showcase for the star. I like Ms.Hepburn very much and was marveling at her beauty in ALICE ADAMS only a few weeks ago, while BRINGING UP BABY is one of my top-ten favorite films (does my guilt show??) but she bought the property for herself (admittedly a wise thing to do, fiscally and career-wise) and for me, the self-aggrandizing screenplay renders the movie a net loss. I just can't buy into all the fuss over what to me is not a real agreeable or affable character until we're eight or ten reels into the story and by then she's lost me.