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Bowfinger (1999)
Legendary comedy duo, and I laughed at everything else.
To fans of both Steve Martin and Eddie Murphy, this movie promised to be the pinnacle of comedy entertainment, and fell short. Although both actors are very funny in the film, they're rarely funny together.
Despite what the previews allow you to believe, Murphy spends much more time in the movie playing Kit Ramsey (the actor) than Jiff Ramsey (the oafish brother). This is good in many respects. I found Kit, who is on the verge of breakdown, much funnier than his simpleton substitute. However, since the whole movie is about Bobby Bowfinger's inability to get Kit in his film without covert filming, this denies any opportunity for those two characters to meet. As for scenes with Bowfinger and Jiff, you'll probably find the scenes with Daisy (Heater Graham) funnier, even without the added sex appeal.
The movie is still extremely funny, especially if you enjoy the occasional silly humor. The entire cast, not just the two poster-boys, set up hilarious situation after hilarious situation.
Low point: the second-to-last scene with the Fed-Ex delivery. It seemed to set up for a joke that never came; the humor was apparently supposed to be in the over-dramatization. I'll never know how much Fed-Ex paid the filmmakers, but I had never been so put-off by movie commercialism since Bond turned down Aston-Martin for BMW.
High point: the final scene. If you enjoy a little silliness to go with your movie, then this should redeem most of the low-points.
Overall, this movie is more like watching two screens, one with a Steve Martin movie and one with Eddie Murphy. But both movies will be hilarious. (7/10)
Telling You (1998)
Haven't heard of it? No surprise.
Watch this movie, and you'll see why it didn't go nationwide. It just can't hold it's own.
Like most movies with young actors, yet no aliens or psychopaths, it was labeled a comedy. (Using stars from "Can't Hardly Wait" and "She's All That" doesn't help.) It's not. If you laugh aloud more than three times, you're probably drunk. I do agree with other reviewers that this movie would make an okay stage play, but as a movie, it's not targeting its ideal audience, assuming there IS one.
This movie looks as if it was being written as they filmed. How else would you explain their top billed stars, Jennifer Love Hewitt and Peter Facinelli, starting as main characters, then switching to comic relief. Meanwhile, the unknown Dash Mihok becomes the main character.
Not that he's a bad actor; his performance surpasses that of many of the others. Sadly, his character is so serious compared to the others that no chemistry exists to link them. Still, I wouldn't be surprised if we see him again soon.
As for the others, Hewitt and Matthew Lillard are the only ones cast in outright "bad" roles (and should be more worried about "The Audrey Hepburn Story" and "Wing Commander," respectively). This movie is too unknown to effectively damage any careers, anyway.
There were two things I did enjoy about this film. The first was how Mr. P (the hobo) turns out to be the hero from "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner." Unfortunately, not all viewers of teen movies share my interest in literary allusion. The second was the song, Soccer Ball, written by the director. I am, of course referring to when it's played during the closing credits by professionals, not when Facinelli "sings" it during the rave scene.
Overall, the video is good for insomniacs, provided they can find it.
My rating: 3.
Carpool (1996)
Better than you think, which doesn't help much.
This is your common family comedy: a lack of realism, fart jokes, kids and dopey adults taking control, more bad jokes, and a busy parent with a struggling relationship with his/her child.
What is with the last item on that list? All these family movies have the boilerplate `'I hate you, Dad/Mom'
'save me, Dad/Mom'
'I love you, Dad/Mom'' subplots, as if they're required by law. I thought such subplots were dumb when I was young enough to appreciate family movies. As an 18-year-old, they look even stupider. I don't think anyone truly gets anything from them. Even the dumbest jokes were a better investment of time.
Still, it's not all bad. Silly movies like this can be much worse. The acting was decent, assuming that several actors were still kids. It's sad that they did a career-crushing film like this. Of the five kids, only Rachael Leigh Cook has had a remotely notable role since (`She's All That,' almost three years later). As for the adults, I was impressed with Rod Steiger and David Paymer, but couldn't they find something better?
Most would be horrified to think about a sequel, but with so much to improve, I doubt it could be worse. (Maybe Kayla, now in her late teens, fills in for the carpool and Chelsea and Travis are now teens, with new little kids to take their place. The hijacker could be an early-20's guy so he can have a love/hate relationship with Kayla. You groan, but would you rather a cheesy parent/child relationship?) These are just my ravings: even if you could get the actors to return, the reputation of the original would still be there. Then again, maybe the public has forgotten after four years.
My overall impression: this movie is as mediocre as it gets; just how so depends on your age group. Kids will enjoy the bad jokes. Adolescent boys will enjoy Kayla's outfit. Everyone else: it won't kill you, but there has to be at least one better tape in the store.
Parents: be advised that family movies are not the best way to spend time with your kids; this one is no exception.
My rating: 5.
Payback (1999)
Just turn off your morals for 1.5 hours...
I'm an Eagle Scout, a weekly churchgoer, and a resident of a town called Friendswood.
And I loved this movie from the surgery scene to the last line.
This movie proves that any character can appear heroic; it just depends on the film's point of view. Sure, no one in this movie should be allowed to exist in the real world, but as for fiction, this is action-violence at it' s finest.
Only Mel Gibson could take a despicable character like Porter and make us root for him, although a great supporting cast (playing characters even more despicable) certainly doesn't hurt.
This movie has enough violence to make the Gestapo wince, so die-hard pacifists should beware. Go rent a Disney movie. As for us armchair action-junkies, however, this is one of the best. (Just get rid of any kids. Letting them stay even within hearing range should entitle a call from social services.)
That done, get your other usually-good-natured friends together and pretend, for just an hour and a half, that right and wrong have absolutely no effect on you.
Just don't kill anyone.
My rating: 8