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Reviews
Novocaine (2001)
Painful disappointment
Most stars have made a film they regret. I fear this will be the one for Steve Martin, Laura Dern & Helena Bonham Carter. Martin stars as a popular dentist, engaged to his office manager (Dern). One evening when he's alone in the office a mysterious young woman (Carter) comes in and convinces him to give her a prescription for pain killers, promising to come back for treatment the next morning. This one mistake of his sets off a series of intrigues and doublecrosses with a satisfying ending. So why am I so disappointed in the movie? For one thing, the story has holes that no amount of dental work can fill. And the movie is filled with gratuitously painful-to-watch scenes of dental work... starting right from the beginning. This is definitely not a movie to eat popcorn by and, in spite of the satisfying ending, everyone at my screening left the theater feeling sickened and extremely disappointed in Steve Martin.
Greenfingers (2000)
Overly romanticized true story
GREENFINGERS
An overly romanticized story about redemption, hope, and prejudice, GREENFINGERS is nevertheless based on a true story. The setting is one of Britain's alternative prisons, which houses men who have committed violent crimes but are still considered redeemable. One of them, Colin Briggs (Clive Owens), cannot forgive himself for his crime... the accidental murder of his brother, who was caught by Colin in bed with Colin's fiancee. He has spent half his life in prison and believes he belongs there. One day he begrudgingly plants some violet seeds given to him by his terminally ill roommate, Fergus (the incomparable David Kelly). When the seeds actually produce flowers, Colin discovers that he enjoys creating bits of beauty and life. Seeing the promise of redemption in the sullen inmate, the prison warden gives Colin and a motley group of fellow inmates the job of creating a prison garden. They study garden books and scratch at the ground until finally a beautiful garden appears. They soon catch the attention of their favorite horticulturist, the stuffy Georgina Woodhouse (Helen Mirren), who of course has a comely but shy daughter, Primrose (Natasha Little).
Georgina encourages the men to enter their garden in the annual Hampton Court Palace Flower Show and even sponsors them when `society' doesn't want them to enter. In the meantime, Colin and Primrose fall in love (you did see this coming, didn't you?) and start planning a life together since Colin will be paroled soon.
Will their love prevail? Will the men enter the Flower Show? Will they win? Does it matter? No. Since this is based on a true story I felt pretty certain, while watching the movie, that the prison garden would make it to the show (why else would the story have caught anyone's attention). I wasn't sure whether or not they won any ribbons (and I'm not telling), but the story of how this group of murderers came together to create beauty in the dark dismal setting of a prison is interesting and inspiring enough without ribbons. And the writers and actors bring enough humanity, humor and conflict to make the film move fairly quickly.
Men and cynics will probably find the movie too cloying and trite, but women and romantics will get caught up in the story, the beautiful cinematography and the lively soundtrack.
Jump Tomorrow (2001)
Delightful first feature
"Jump Tomorrow", writer/director Joel Hopkins' first full-length movie, is a delightfully sweet movie about a Nigerian named George, living in the U.S., who is getting married in Niagara Falls in 3 days. All he has to do is pick up his bride from the airport and fall in love with her... it's an arranged marriage and he hasn't seen his bride since they were children. He misses her at the airport and hits the road to meet her at Niagara Falls, which sets off a series of hilarious adventures involving a suicidal Frenchman named Gerard and a gorgeous, vivacious Spanish woman named Alicia, whom George immediately falls in love with.
The movie title is inspired by George talking Gerard off a ledge by inviting him to do something and telling him "You can always jump tomorrow". Tunde Adebimpe (George) is a newcomer to movies, but the other actors are fairly well-known (at least internationally). Don't miss this movie... it was my favorite at the Dallas Film Festival. Everything, right down to the music, is an absolute delight.
Frequency (2000)
Astonished by movie
FREQUENCY is an astonishing accomplishment on every level... writing, acting, directing, cinematography. I didn't have many expectations going in because the work of director Gregory Hoblit has been so disappointing in the past (FALLEN, PRIMAL FEAR), but he scores a winner here. Dennis Quaid's usual boyish charm, which can be irritating, is perfect for the character of Frank Sullivan, a firefighter who hasn't really grown up. James Caviezel provides the right combination of soulfulness and enthusiasm as a homicide detective who can't seem to get his life together.
Quaid plays a heroic firefighter who lost his life in a warehouse fire during the 1969 Mets' World series win. Caviezel plays his grown son in 1999. Through a quirk of physics the two men make contact across the 30-year span over a ham radio. Their talks lead to changes in history that make the movie fascinating on that level alone. But they also work together to solve a 30-year-old serial murder case. One of the greatest strengths of the movie is the way Caviezel is able to show the slight changes in his personality as he and his father change history... both their own and that of the city around them.
The movie slides effortlessly between suspense, humor and sentimentality... imagine being able to talk to someone close to you who died a long time ago. Imagine talking to yourself as a young child. This is the type of movie I like best.... I was enormously entertained while watching it, and I haven't been able to stop thinking about the `what ifs.' I strongly recommend this movie.