Reviews

It is apparent that a great number of the reviewers of this movie, on this website, have not actually seen the movie.

This movie is less of an explanation/promotion of Intelligent Design than it is a movie about going against the grain of the P.C. establishment intelligentsia.

It starts by reviewing the case of a half of dozen or so academics who lost their positions after publishing research which mentioned I.D. Ben Stein then has series interviews with people in the academic community about I.D, research.

The movie is fairly slowly paced. Ben Stein is respectful and patient in each interview (despite what you may read in other reviews). The general slant of Ben Stein's presentation isn't so much that Darwin had it all wrong, and the I.D. people have it all correct, but rather there are people that have scientific criticisms of Darwin's work, and there are people that have scientific peer reviewed research on I.D. and, there is little tolerance of either in the scientific community.

The movie is a little longer than it had to have been. There are a lot of little scene transition graphics, and songs, and jokes, that I guess are there to fill out the movie and maybe add a chuckle or two, but I could have done with out them and gone with a shorter movie.

I was entertained. It isn't a subject that I typically spend much time thinking about one way or the other.

It is very stylish to sit around and have long discussions with someone you are about to try and kill... not very practical, but stylish. It is very stylish to research what kind of snake to use to kill someone with, and then to sit down calmly and explain to the dying victim why you chose that particular kind of snake... not very practical, not very believable, but very very stylish. It is not very practical to bury someone alive, and quite impossible to dig yourself out once buried... but, very very very stylish. Of course master Pai teaches no one the secret 5 pressure point punch... was there anyone watching the movie that didn't know exactly how Bill was going to die at that point? I could have wrote the last scene right then, right down to him dropping on his fifth step. How nice they had a few moments to express their admiration for one another before Bill took his last walk.

I guess QT is an acquired taste, and I haven't got it yet. How wonderful for those fans of his that can be entertained by virtually no plot, and no drama. Even after he splits one movie into two movies and uses the clips off the cutting room floor. Maybe for his next movie, he won't have any plot at all. Just some random scenes of people being really cool... yeah... I smell an Oscar!

I will qualify my review by saying I'm in my 40's, lived in the suburbs my whole life, and I tend to avoid rap music. However, I have heard a few Eminem songs that I like, and I had heard the movie wasn't really featuring a lot of rap music. So, I had an expectation of a movie about a guy using his talent to pursue his music career. And, that is kind of what the movie was about... kind of.

The movie certainly portrays people in dire circumstances. They drive cars that barely run. they live in places that are barely inhabitable. I don't know how realistic it is, but it is certainly gritty. "Bunny" (Eminem) is seeking a better life through his music career. He has an interesting band of friends that all seem close, and supportive. One character was impossibly dim-witted. But, the others came across as decent people, with distinct personalities and life goals. They are are depending on Bunny to be a big hit as a rapper.

The acting was varied. I thought Eminem was a little wooden, he would go from very kind and sensitive, to quite hostile and violent with not too much in between. His gang of friends were all good, with Mekhi Phifer's character being the most interesting. Brittany Murphy's character Alex seemed kind of out of place. I'm not sure that the "love interest" really did much for the story. The rival "rap gang", were kind of one dimensional also, but they weren't given a lot to do.

As Bunny pursues his rap career we see a dismal failure early in the movie when he "chokes" and has to walk off stage. He seems to now have a stage fright, and he is determined to purse a rap career, without rapping in public. It would seem like there would be a chance for a big climatic conclusion in the movie with with him making a triumphant return to the stage, and winning over the crowd...

*** spoilers follow ***

This does kind of happen. However, the big rap contest at the end turns out to be a "rapping out insults" contest. So, rather than get Eminim's big smash hit song for the movie, you get a couple of episodes of him insulting people better than they insulted him. With each witty zinger, the crowd ooo's and aaah's its approval. But, while mildly entertaining, it wasn't as much fun as listening to one of his real songs, and the conclusion was no more dramatic than the ending of Sly Stalone's "Over the Top" movie where he tried to make arm wrestling even less interesting than it already is. The conclusion wasn't particularly satisfying for me. The story was a little slow with out too much really happening.

The movie shows a struggle over the nomination for a vice-president to replace one who has past-away while in office. The nomination means different things to people in the movie, a chance for a legacy for the president, retribution for a senator who wants to deny the nomination to get back at the president, career advancement for others, etc.

I thought the acting was good, I particularly liked Bridges as the president, who had kind of a running gag in the movie of trying to order something for lunch the white house kitchen couldn't prepare.

** spoilers **

There is something of a twist in the movie as it is winding down. However, I thought it was well telegraphed in advanced. I didn't find the twist to be much of a surprise.

Also, since I do follow US politics, I found the political rants to be unrealistic. The President's nomination is getting charged with some sexual misconduct from her college days. She refuses to discuss that matter at all. Later on in the movie we learn she could have easily proved the charges false, but chose not to. Yikes. That won't happen in reality.

The vp candidate had supposedly once been a Republican, but gives her positions on several issues, and they were so wildly liberal they would have caused Democrats to blush. Her positions were farther left than would be tolerated from a vp. She called her self a atheist who considered government her church. Yikes. Don't see too many candidates running on that. I don't know if there has ever been a movie made that shows Republicans in a more favorable light than Democrats. I imagine the liberal actors in CA would have their tongues leaping out of their heads and running away if they tried.

This movie advertises itself as not being based on the gospels, and I had expected it to a fictionalized account of Jesus's life in events that weren't dealt with in the gospels, (which could have been interesting). However, this isn't the case. The movie covers the span of Jesus' life from just before his baptism, to his crucifixion. The movie deals with several well known events from the gospels, and kind of knits together a story that is partially from the gospels and partially not. Clearly the story is "based" on the gospels.

The film plods along at a snails pace (you'll want to keep your finger on the fast forward button). Some have commented on the nice score in the film. I would recommend hitting the fast forward button when the music is playing. With about 30 minutes of interesting content packed into 2 1/2 hours, you aren't going to want to spend any more time watching this than you have to.

A weak, and tormented Jesus unsure of seemingly everything he is doing, manages to work himself through the events of the new testament. *Yawn* I think I have seen that story told about a dozen different ways now, all of the others have been better than this one.