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Reviews
Lawless Heart (2001)
Pulp Fiction meets The Big Chill
A young Englishman has drowned, and his friends and family are coming to grips with his death and other events in their lives. The story is told from the perspectives of three characters, one after the other, and as their stories overlap we see different portrayals of the same event, a la Pulp Fiction. The writing, acting, and directing are first rate. The plot is simple -- regular people dealing with regular issues, mostly about relationships. But the film is so well executed that every moment is intensely interesting.
Mulholland Dr. (2001)
Wait for the DVD
This movie begins as an intriguing but somewhat slowly developing noir piece. The last act is a confusing mess. It's as if someone sold you a 10,000 piece jigsaw puzzle where the last 500 pieces don't fit. When you complain, they say "maybe that's part of the puzzle ... maybe not every puzzle has a clear solution." I had the good fortune to see this film at a special screening with two film critics present. They had both seen it twice and even then they weren't sure exactly what had happened or what the point was. Wait for it to come out on DVD so you can watch it multiple times ... perhaps even with the director's commentary.
The Night of the Hunter (1955)
Dated, Hated
At one point the villain yells to his intended victims "I'll be back ... when it's dark!" So much for the element of surprise. But do the victims call the cops and get the hell out of there? No, they go to bed. That sums up the level of intelligence among the characters in this movie. This film has garnered a lot of praise, but to me it was a dated, unsuspenseful, unrealistic, jumbled, and at times laughably campy mess. Rent Cape Fear instead.