Month: December 2004

Veronica Guerin

Watched “Veronica Guerin” on DVD.

This is an excellent criminal drama about drug business in Ireland. Main character – Veronica Guerin (excellently performed by Cate Blanchett) is a journalist who investigates the junkie lords and gets killed in the end. The film is based on a true story it seems.

It was a bit slow and boring at places, but overall very dramatic and poweful. It had excellent character development and dialogues. Great soundtrack too.

This film also provokes some thinking on the subject of “Is it worth it?”. Some people would say that what she did was plain stupid. Others would call it courageous. I guess there is no one without another as it has been displayed in many other movies, books, and real life stories. In case of Veronica it was probably worth it – laws changed, many guilty charged, crime levels dropped, many lives saved. And that is probably what she was aiming for and that is what she succeeded with. Same situation applied to another person could have ended with different results. You never know…

Anyway, 8 out of 10. Rent it, it’s worth the time and money. The scene of her walking down the neighborhood was worth the whole movie on its own. Very strong.

Shallow Hal

Vladimir, Olga, and I just watched “Shallow Hal” on DVD. It is a really nice and relaxing movie to enjoy after Friday evening dinner and few pints.

I like this kind of movies. Romance makes it very easy to watch. Comedy makes it even more relaxing and enjoyable while in the company of good friends. Drama adds few points and raises few issues to think about. All of these are nicely combined, wrapped in a good soundtrack, and stuffed with a few interesting details (puppy tail, eh?).

7 out of 10. Rent it some time for some easy relaxation.

The Art of War

Watched “The Art of War” on DVD. This is the regular Wesley Snipes action with some gun fights, some martial arts, some car chases, some politics, and some thinkg by main characters trying to figure out things. Nothing more, nothing less.

It is not by any means a bad movie. Neither it is a good one. Just a regular average action. It was so average that they even used Japanese actors (Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa) to play Chinese ambassador. How much more average can it get?

Average film begs for an average rating. 5 out of 10.