thekarmicnomad

This is a simple but interesting little film about some people trapped in an apartment building by an ominous steel wall.

The people inside all have their own issues and emotional baggage that spills out as it becomes clear that escape is not easy.

This has some nice characters, and the actors do a pretty good job.

Of course, with any bunch of survivors there is one or two who can't keep it together or have their own ideas and clash with the group.

There is nothing particularly new here, but the setup and execution is well done.

The film doesn't overstay its welcome and you actually get an ending - no one of those ambiguous cop-outs where you are never sue if it was real or a dream or a metaphor or whatever.

This is a good fun movie with a twist on the "10 Things I hate about you" premise.

The hot girl gets paid to take out the nerdy guy.

Jennifer is very good here and is the butt of most of the jokes.

Her naked fight scene was very unexpected and energetic.

On top of this her character is actually quite well developed, interesting and endearing .

Andrew Barth Feldman does a great job as her counter, adding some heart to what could have been a tragic character.

Unfortunatley this isn't half as good as it should have been.

The direction and writing has some real slumps in it.

A lot of the jokes feel a bit clumsy and often happend too quickly to really register.

This is too long and it is clear to see where the cuts should be made.

The parents (Broderick and Benanti) add nothing to this and their scenes are mostly just dead time.

In "Failure to Launch" you get to know and sympathise with the parents, here they are just bland and cycnical plot devices.

Which is fine, but don't spend so much time with them.

This is good and fun and with a reedit this could be a classic.

This is set in post war London where a strange part-time detective does the odd bit of detection, I think?

I was looking forward to this with it's lavish production and cast but it really is the most boring thing I have watched for a long time.

There is lots of dull dialogue that labour to sew the seeds of upcoming mysteries that I just couldn't bring myself to care about.

The biggest problem is that the characters are so dull and unlikeable.

The titular character is just unpleasant to spend time with.

Monk, Miss Scarlett, Colombo, Ms Cupp, and Creek all have their quirks but Books is just weird.

After an hour of people chatting in darkened rooms and strolls around bombsites there was no real sign of a mystery to be solved.

It feels like this is going to weave a tapestry of complicated back stories that go on for years until culminating in some anticlimactic event.

Well made but not got me.