Reviews

What can one say about Kevin Smith's Dogma? This film has it all: pubescent `dime-store' philosophy, inane and obscene dialog and, incessant sex and bathroom `humor'. A fun-for-the-whole-family epic deftly (or is that deafly) assembled with Smith's `if it worked in Mall Rats, it will work for the rest of my life' style of direction.

Of course in such capable hands and with such memorable lines to work with, the actors performances matched the rest of this amazing effort in cinematic history. Who will ever forget Alanis Morissette's memorable portrayal of God? Or, Chris Rock and Salma Hayek finding their moments of movie Zen. And, it's impossible to overlook the stellar contributions of Ben `I'll-never-be-too-big-to-do-one-for-Kevin' Affleck and Matt `talks-incredibly-fast-while-looking-incredibly-smug' Damon in this sure-to-be Oscar contender.

Although Dogma isn't particularly anti-Catholic, it is anti-intelligence, offensive and an utter waste of time.

Sadly, The Talented Mr. Ripley is one of those films endowed with all the elements necessary for greatness but manages to be painfully mediocre in spite of them. Juicy plot, a great cast and absolutely beautiful Italian locations, couldn't stop a room full of people viewing Mr Ripley from becoming increasingly impatient with director Anthony Minghellas squandering of these resources. Instead of being on the edge of their seats, the last half hour had us squirming and begging for a merciful end to the film. For some reason, Mr Minghella forgets one of the most important elements of good film-making: pace. Throughout Mr Ripley, the pace never picks-up and stays at a steady slow drag. For a `thriller' this can only prove fatal.

Although Matt Damon physically overplays his `deep intensity' so it borders on laughable, it should be noted that Cate Blanchett, Gwyneth Paltrow, Jude Law and Jack Davenport give particularly good performances in this wasted effort.

For me, Dancing at Lughnasa is a thoroughly depressing and pointless film. Populated by unsympathetic, morose and flat characters, this story starts to develop, sputters and then utterly falls apart. You are left wondering what Pat O'Connor could have possibly been thinking. No matter how good the acting, how fantastic the locations or how great your desire to connect to the film or its basic premise: if a film has an undeveloped or unintelligible story, it just doesn't work! Never will. Be forewarned if you are considering this for a rental: unless you're into despair and depression you might want to consider something else.