Reviews

why did i go watching a Mel Gibson movie again! i wanted to see it because of this famous yet still mysterious culture and i really thought Gibson would tell us something about it. instead, he prefers to show us various kinds of death again. two hours of violence...there s nothing, nothing interesting in it.

at least there were some really impressing shots. but that does nt make up wasting your time by watching a guy running from the villains for more than half of the movie, all done better in Papillon before. but after Gibsons last two MASTERPIECES i can not blame him, i just should have known better.

i've been waiting for this movie for almost one and a half years now. as an admirer of ray liotta i have been searching the web weekly for new information, and when i saw the possibility to purchase it by a Scandinavian DVD online store, i almost freaked out.

so i finally saw it yesterday evening. luckily i saw the weak action filled trailer recently and did not expect too much. i truly enjoyed the first 30 minutes, following the convicts (liotta) fake death and his introduction to the doctors medical experience program. the beginning creates a very creepy atmosphere, liotta and dafoe play awesome as they always do (despite the boring lighting there are some great close ups of them) and the quick story telling made me hope for a decent thriller like narc or phoenix.

but then the movie turns simply into the wrong direction. the ultimate killer gets unleashed to society after changing to a normal person suddenly. the story focuses on his regrets of his past and his love to theresa (rodriguez), giving the horrible b-movie cast more screen time.

the ending is simply not satisfying and leaves you begging for more. what could have been a deeply psychological thriller which deals about the unique of a mans mind or the value of human live turns out to a everyday thriller.

because of my hero and the terrific beginning i gave it a 7 out of 10, which is more than it deserves

either you hate or you love helge schneider. for those who like his humour, this movie is his best in my opinion. one strange gag(?) after another. what can i write about this movie? maybe that you don´t have to have a clear story, good actors or good cinematography to make people laugh!

the picture was shown on the sundance film festival on january the 11th, 2002. the story is about two narcotic agents, investigating the murder of an undercover cop. from ray liotta´s first moment on the screen on, you are pressed in your seat, following his arresting performance as his hard-on-the-edge police officer. liotta(who also produced the picture) proves once again his good nose for small but excellent movies. with pictures like unforgettable, pilgrim, a rumor of angels or phoenix, he didn´t make it to a box-office hero, but show us that the best movies are not the ones which get an oskar nomination and cannot be found at the top of the box-office, but at little excellent film festivals like sundance.