djensen1

Barb Wire looks good. Most of the important roles are acted competently, and its star is luminous. In the hands of someone like Paul Verhoeven, it could have been another Total Recall--silly fun that might have balanced Verhoeven's usual violence with a little T&A.

Instead, the story plods along in drawn-out sequences that drain the life out of what little fun was written into the screenplay or available from the stylish sets and lighting. The kinky prostitution scam, for example, is a grueling, humorless 3+ minute setup for a lackluster action scene that is followed by a grueling, humorless payoff scene that's just as long.

Worse, whole scenes are completely superfluous. The scenes where Axel and Cora get into the city are unnecessary and unexciting. The drunk who is taken care of by Camille is both valueless to the plot and totally unfunny. It's odd that the story was lifted almost entirely from Casablanca and then flubbed so badly by adding such dull scenes.

Not as dull as its title suggests, but still somewhat flat caper flick. It has a consistent string of laughs, but never quite hits the heights. Brockerick's down-and-out businessman is a good start but lands few jokes, and the plotting seems to meander. Stiller is a highlight, and Affleck and Murphy are good solid, but Aldo is a standout.

With that much star power, you'd think the comedy would make itself, but the actors feel confined. Weirdly, I think the movie could have been better if it had foregone the heist and explored the Stiller character and his buttoned-down-but-flexible managerial style. More tower. Less heist.

Odd casting all around, rather poor sound design, and some throwback choices (like fast-motion editing in a few places) make this an odd duck. Nicholas Meyer's Holmes fanaticism shows right from the beginning, as the characters are introduced with footnotes! Even the characters themselves refer directly to previous adventures at every opportunity.

The cast largely pulls it off, tho, with Alan Arkin's German accent probably the weak link. The sets, costumes, and dialog are terrific, but there are some odd directorial choices, and the pacing is off. The first half drags with Victorian drawing room melodrama as Watson pulls Holmes out of his stupor, then the final act lurches to and fro, attempting to become cinematic with action set pieces.

Occasionally inspired, sometimes ridiculous, Meyer's script tries to explain Holmes' psychology and comes off looking a bit like fan fiction rather than the real thing. But it retains its sense of fun, and that makes it pretty watchable.