He huffs, and he puffs, but he can't even make his own role
interesting,and for twenty million dollars, that's not a good thing. He
does yell some bizarre words every once in a while, as he is wont to do,
but it all adds up to not much. The plot is a rip off of many other
movies, not even worth mentioning, although Don Cheadle as 'the ghost of
Christmas past' crossed with the drunken angel from that Jimmy Stewart
movie is pretty good. Tea Leoni is kind of a hoot sometimes too, but
poor Nicolas Cage really is at sea. At one point he has a scene with
Jeremy Piven that looks like battle of the Network Toupees, which is
odd- why was I noticing that? These two actors are usually interesting
at the least, but they both couldn't do much of anything with this glop.
The whole movie felt like a paint by the numbers set- you knew EXACTLY
what was going to happen right before it did, and there were no
surprises. I guess some folks find that comforting and safe, I found it
tedious and boring, pre-fab, like a Howard Johnsons hotel or restaurant-
it's exactly the same no matter what city you're in. ****SPOILERS
AHEAD*** And of course, the ending is as conventional as you'd imagine, which is
a shame- I was hoping the woman would blow him off just like he blew her
off, but no- they end happily ever after. This movie could have been
really interesting, and perhaps it was at one point, although I find it
hard to believe that the script could be any better than the film turned
out. It's a Christmas movie that you don't really need to see, and
actually I've spent too much of my time writing about it. It's just not
worth it.
interesting,and for twenty million dollars, that's not a good thing. He
does yell some bizarre words every once in a while, as he is wont to do,
but it all adds up to not much. The plot is a rip off of many other
movies, not even worth mentioning, although Don Cheadle as 'the ghost of
Christmas past' crossed with the drunken angel from that Jimmy Stewart
movie is pretty good. Tea Leoni is kind of a hoot sometimes too, but
poor Nicolas Cage really is at sea. At one point he has a scene with
Jeremy Piven that looks like battle of the Network Toupees, which is
odd- why was I noticing that? These two actors are usually interesting
at the least, but they both couldn't do much of anything with this glop.
The whole movie felt like a paint by the numbers set- you knew EXACTLY
what was going to happen right before it did, and there were no
surprises. I guess some folks find that comforting and safe, I found it
tedious and boring, pre-fab, like a Howard Johnsons hotel or restaurant-
it's exactly the same no matter what city you're in. ****SPOILERS
AHEAD*** And of course, the ending is as conventional as you'd imagine, which is
a shame- I was hoping the woman would blow him off just like he blew her
off, but no- they end happily ever after. This movie could have been
really interesting, and perhaps it was at one point, although I find it
hard to believe that the script could be any better than the film turned
out. It's a Christmas movie that you don't really need to see, and
actually I've spent too much of my time writing about it. It's just not
worth it.
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