As a fan of mysteries (Sherlock Holmes, Poirot, Columbo, Monk, Psych.etc.) I was thrilled to see someone making a classic style whodunnit...and the cast! Figure you can't go wrong. Well I enjoyed it & while the cast all have time to shine it is Daniel Craig with his Southern drawl & especially Ana de Armas that steal the show. For anyone keeping away because they hated The Last Jedi...I agree, it was my least favourite of all the Star Wars films, but this is a well written film that was well acted and I can only hope this will inspire others to reinvigorate the murder mystery genre.
Reviews
7 Reviews
The Equalizer
(2014)
Not quite The Equalizer I remember
31 July 2018
As a fan of the TV series I was disappointed that this bears little resemblance to it's source material. That isn't to say this is a bad film. In the series Edward Woodward fed up working as an agent gave it up, but wasn't willing to let his expertise go wasted. He took out an ad to help those in need. He occasionally had help for former colleagues. He lived in a nice apartment. Drove a Jag. The very city of New York was almost a character unto itself. The Robert McCall Denzel plays him more like Liam Neeson in the Taken series.
I guess my big problem is once again Hollywood has taken a property with name recognition. I enjoy this film for what it is, but I would still love to see a faithful adaptation of The Equalizer.
The Equalizer
(2014)
Why the Equalizer?
19 February 2015
I guess the real reason why is the studio still thinks the name "The Equalizer" still is a draw. While I thought this film was OK. A fairly mediocre action film my real problem with it is its title. As a fan of the show in the 80's I was eagerly looking forward to seeing this. It bares very little resemblance to the show on which it is based. Not that I don't like Denzel, but I personally was hoping for someone that audiences have seen in a role similar to the TV show. In that respect I was hoping for Timothy Dalton. Regardless this film is as I said neither great nor horrible. If you like action films it is worth seeing, but as a fan of the show I just wish they had called it something else rather than getting my expectations up there with what was a fine show for its time period.
The Odessa File
(1974)
Nowhere near as good as the book
24 October 2010
Where as the film of Forsyth's Day of the Jackal remains relatively close to the source material, this one fails to get close. I am a HUGE fan of the novel & keep thinking to myself that it is a perfect choice for a remake. Part of what is missing for me is the Jaguar. It is almost a character unto itself in the book, yet not even mentioned in the film. The book has so much more to offer than the film. Now I realize that films tend to gloss over a few details from time to time in order to shorten the length of a film. The DaVinci Code & Angels & Demons both were missing HUGE portions of what made the books so enjoyable & thus reviews suffered. I pray that a decent director reads this & gives the world a proper interpretation of this as this story could still be made into a GREAT film in the right hands. If you excuse me now I am going to dust off my copy & start reading...again!
Roommates
(1995)
I like, but then again I love Peter Falk
25 August 2010
I find it hard to believe that there are only 16 reviews of this film & that of those 16 all but one is positive, yet this film has such a low rating. I like a lot of Peter Falk's work. I truly LOVE Columbo. It was a great show that is still watchable due to the acting of Falk & the stories. I think the reason I love this film so much is that the character of Rocky somehow reminds me of my own father (who is old enough to be my grandfather) Like Rocky, my father is gruff, stubborn, snores incessantly, & loves his family albeit rarely says it. He shows his love with his actions not his words. Now that I have a son of my own & have my father living with me I hope that one day my son will be able to appreciate this film as I do.
Prefer 70's version to this. Major disappointment.
2 August 2010
I have become a fan of the fine series over the last few years, but my 1st exposure to Poirot is the Albert Finney MotOE film. Now I still find that very well done & exactly what Lumet describes as pure glamour. I enjoy Suchet & not having read any of the books I take it from other that he IS Poirot, but after watching this I read the book in question & found the 1973 film infinitely better than this. The inclusion of religion, lack of humour, almost ZERO mystery. Perhaps this is yet another case of over-hyping before having seen it. I have been waiting ages to see what Suchet could do to improve upon Finney's version. In this instance however I prefer Albert Finney. Go rent Sidney Lumet's film as it is much better than this.
Flawed, but still good
14 May 2010
Warning: Spoilers
I LOVE the character of Ambrose. John Turturro is fantastic in the Mycroft Holmes (Sherlock's smarter brother) character. However despite the fact that the mystery in this episode is great. I noticed a goof in this story. (SPOILER) Before the credits we see an armored truck driver paying for groceries & chatting it up with the cashier. Over his shoulder we see the murderer. Later in the episode Stollemeyer & Disher are questioning the armored truck drivers cashier they mention she rang in the murderer, but you can clearly see him being rung in by a different woman at the beginning of the show.
Other than that Monk is as always great. I wish they had used Ambrose at least a couple more times in the series. And while I knew it wasn't feasible my biggest wish was some type of crossover or at the very least a cameo for Peter Falk. He could have been on vacation & be the retired Lt. Columbo & helped out with a case.
Other than that Monk is as always great. I wish they had used Ambrose at least a couple more times in the series. And while I knew it wasn't feasible my biggest wish was some type of crossover or at the very least a cameo for Peter Falk. He could have been on vacation & be the retired Lt. Columbo & helped out with a case.
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