Hello, World!!! If you're planning to go out this week, you're in luck. I just saw 3 great but completely different movies, all of which take tired formulas and flip them into so much more. Let's start with my favorite of the three, Martin Scorsese's Gothic-like thriller SHUTTER ISLAND. This movie stars Leonardo DiCaprio as Teddy Daniels, a US Marshall sent to investigate a missing person from a mental hospital on Shutter Island (didn't see that coming did you?). He is assisted on this investigation by Us Marshall Chuck Aule, played by rising actor Mark Ruffalo. From the beginning it seems our two Marshalls are in over their heads, getting no answers and more questions than they care to admit. The head runarounder (yall know I make up words I go along), Dr Cawley is played by that great actor Sir Ben Kingsley in his usually "Stop calling me Ghandi" malice. it worked great in that crime thriller SEXY BEAST but it works better here. This movie starts off in standard enough procedure that you can almost see where it goes until the second act when....no more information will be given on this here. What info I can give up is this movie will demand a second viewing, possibly a third, and no matter how many times you view it, the ending is so up in the air you may not want to figure out what it all means. Leo is Leo of course, but Mark Ruffalo paces the action as well with his loyal sidekick role and you already know how great an actor Sir Ben is. I'm mostly impressed with how Mr Scorsese takes a tire genre and breathes a new life into it to the point that although there is minimum violence in this movie, it still will haunt you. This is DEFINITELY worth a few viewings(4.5)
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Next, I saw BROOKLYN's FINEST. Man, was I going to light into this movie!! It start's off as a rip off of damn near EVERY police flick cliche you can think of, from DEEP COVER to DONNIE BRASCO. Let's see, you got a suicide cop (Richard Gere ala LETHAL WEAPONS Marty Riggs) who just happen to be nearing his retirement (ala LETHAL WEAPONS Roger Murtaugh). You got "Tango" (played by Don Cheadle), an undercover cop who is starting to become to entranced with his undercover side ala DEEP COVER & IN 2 DEEP for that matter. We got a druggie cop ala BAD LIEUTENANT played by Ethan Hawke as crooked as if he was going for the Denzel role from TRAINING DAY. Wesley Snipes gangsta Caz switches between a Nino Brown type to CARLITO's WAY trying to reform type gangsta with a scary ease. You know, I can keep going with the cliches but thankfully I don't have to. Once this movie set up the cliches, it does it's best to break them down and by the end of the movie, the cliches have been smashed and mashed together. What the torn undercover cop does at the end I haven't seen before. Ditto for the retiring cop. This movie does start slow but if you invest the time in it, you'll be rewarded with a new experience at the end. At the end is the main point here; I'm not sure a lot of people will sit through til then. Worth at least one viewing. (3.0)******************************
Lastly, I saw THE BOUNTY HUNTER. World, you gotta know before I continue this review that I NEVER been a fan of "romantic comedies". Even the term "romantic comedy" makes me wanna run out of the theater. I mean think about it; any time a couple falls in love, isn't that romance? Isn't a comedy a movie where you probably laughed at some point during viewing? You know how many movies can fit this criteria? Movies ranging from THE WATERBOY to MENACE II SOCIETY all fit the bill. Anyway, that's just my take. Now moving on to the review, I liked this movie. Surprise. Trust me, nobody is more surprised than ME! Between Gerald Butler and Jennifer Anniston, I think I only liked maybe 4 out of their dozen or so movies (off the top, I'd mention DERAILED, THE GOOD GIRL, 300, & I'm reaching for a forth movie... ROCK N ROLLA, maybe? IDK!) I just KNEW I would hated this movie but I didn't. But Instead of dumbing down the plot, the plot got more interesting to the point it kept me interested. Maybe this is because the plot isn't one of the mindless plots most comedies get stuck with in today's movies. BTW: If one more homeowner falls head over hills for his maid, I'm screaming like a newborn baby. The premise of this movie started simple enough and there isn't much I'll say after this: Gerald Butler is Milo Boyd, THE BOUNTY HUNTER and his target is Nicole Hurley, who just happens to be THE BOUNTY HUNTER's ex wife. That's all I need top tell ya about this movie. Thsi is one of those movies that either you like or you don't. I thought I wouldn't like it and I was pleasantly surprised that I did. It has been one of the few times I was glad I was wrong all year. Still giving it just a 2.5, because I can't stand romantic comedies, whatever that phrase means.***********************************************************************
SHUTTER ISLAND (4.5)
BROOKLYN's FINEST (3.0)
THE BOUNTY HUNTER (2.5)
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