Reviews

Too bad about this production. It's probably the best looking film version yet, but unfortunately it's directed with no attention to flow and development. One scene follows the next with no rhythm at all. This is what happens when the director has no idea what the story is really all about.

The casting is terrific, notably Miranda Richardson as the queen of hearts (who played "queenie" Elizabeth I in Black Adder II in almost exactly the same way) Gene Wilder, Robbie Coltrane etc.

As far as bastardizing the original text, this version doesn't do that badly; many scenes from the book remain pretty much intact, but in an adaptation as lifeless as this, it still falls pretty flat. Some scenes, on the other hand, are mercilessly altered. Take, for example, the encounter with the hookah-smoking caterpillar in the garden. In the book, the caterpillar is three inches tall (just like Alice) and sits on a mushroom. They have a short exchange and he crawls away. In this version, god knows why, the caterpillar (a very uncomfortable Ben Kingsley) is about the size of a bus, sits on top of a small forest of mushrooms of various sizes, is a "Major" who served in India (!), the buttons on his uniform act like little spotlights, and at the end of the scene he inexplicably explodes into a cloud of tiny butterflies (obviously because there's no way that ill-conceived special effects behemoth could ever be made to "crawl away" without the use of a crane). And by the way, Alice's recitation of "You Are Old, Father William" is shortened to just one verse.

In summary, this version is not really for children (they'd fall asleep) or for anyone else who isn't very familiar with the original text and curious to see what they've done with it.

why? why are people impressed with this movie? i honestly can't say.

what i do know is that this movie has been carefully engineered to seem like it's making some smart critique of american life, when in fact it's really really careful not to offend even the most conservative viewers.

kevin spacey commences an amazing rebellion. he quits his job! he smokes a joint! he buys an old car! he even - be still my heart - gets a job flipping burgers. basically his rebellion is to turn into a junior high student.

at least he gets to have some fun with his character. the wife, annette bening, is nothing but a caricature. and i do mean nothing - except a few minutes in the end when she's worked into the contrived "surprise ending", which also amounts to nothing.

to make a long story short, this really is a waste of money. the people who were impressed with this should rent some GOOD movies to remind them that just because it has good actors in it, and no fart jokes, that doesn't make it a "classic". and the first movie those people should see is "sunset boulevard".

in my book, the number of good movies from dreamworks so far stays at zero. all of their productions have been either spielberg movies or box-office wannabes. now they're branching out into oscar wannabes as well. i think they should start making movies instead of god damned products.

this pleasant-enough comedy is mostly an excuse for a detailed glimpse into the world of gourmet cooking. the formulaic plot concerns an aspiring american who goes to work for a famous temperamental french chef. he ends up loved by the chef and marrying the chef's daughter. nothing special here. however, if you're interested in becoming a chef de cuisine or just curious about what goes on in the kitchens of the world's best restaurants, you'll find it fascinating. plus, there's a lot of gourmet food to drool over. especially memorable is one shot: the chef prepares to release onto the world the first dish that he invented and added to the menu himself. the camera takes the dish's pov, as the waiter carries the plate out of the kitchen, the proud cook & his loving spouse hold hands and gaze like two parents sending their only son into battle!

the last film from robert aldrich, a great director who didn't let political incorrectness stop him from making really enjoyable drive-in type exploitation movies. this movie, which was apparently produced independently by aldrich and many members of his family, drags on and on with a very slight plot. but it ends with a very suspenseful climax, a trick aldrich tried before (and more successfully) with "the longest yard". not for feminists!