zaitsev_2007

I'm impressed by Jodie Foster's career. Taxi Driver, Silence of the Lambs, Panic Room, that flick where she loses her brat on the plane... all good films. This unfortunately does not make the list of her good films. I simply couldn't shake the feeling that she was trying too hard. It was a painful case of overacting drifting dangerously close to gaudy melodrama. The simple truth is Jodie Foster is not suited to this role. My personal choice would have been Theron or better yet, Julia Stiles.

Terrence Howard is remarkably good and is the only saving grace to this whole film. The theme is unoriginal, the ending unrealistic, and the plot full of holes. All in all, a huge disappointment.

Now for the controversy. Jodie Foster attempts to play a straight woman and fails miserably. She looks like a lesbian. She talks like a lesbian. She walks like a lesbian. She can roll around in the sheets with that dude from LOST all she wants but Jodie Foster is not going to convince anyone that her character is hetero. The role of an actor is to convince the viewer to a point where the viewer doesn't even think about it anymore and simply believes. There were moments in this film where Foster would speak or move and it screamed the L word.

Never mind that Jodie has unavoidably become a middle aged woman and is looking like one. She needs to reconsider the roles she wants to take. Her age did not work for the character she played in the film.

This is the worst film of 2007. A whole lot of hype and then a whole lot of nothing. The acting was terrible. The screenplay was abysmal. The action alone could not have saved this film. It was a complete and utter disaster. Do not go to it. Do not rent it. Do not buy the DVD. If you do, you will only encourage Hollywood to do this to us again. With all the people involved in the making of a film, you would think someone, and editor, a sound guy, one of the cast, anybody, might pipe up at some point and say, "Hey, this movie is bloody terrible! We can't allow this top happen. Let's rethink this." But no, we are once again fooled into going to the worst piece of film making ever conceived by a group of human minds.

The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou is a beautiful film. I'm ashamed to say that the first time I rented it I popped it out of the player after only a couple of minutes. I must have been in the mood for an action flick at the time. I gave the movie a second chance recently and was impressed by this film.

The actors are at the top of their form. Cate Blanchett's character is beautiful, pregnant, fiercely independent, and yet vulnerable. Murray is revealing how broad his range is once again. He shocked me with his talent in the remake of Hamlet, impressed me with Lost in Translation, and now somehow has combined the putz he often plays with an extremely complicated character that few other actors could manage.

The comedy is fantastically funny and is a fresh change from the 'Oh no, I plugged up the toilet' humor that has been so prevalent recently. It's still ludicrous at times and yet the viewer welcomes it and enjoys it.

Overall, I gave it a 9 out of 10. I highly recommend it and wait to see how Bill Murray will impress us in the future.

Billy Mintsopoulos