felsner Reviews

Beverly Hills Cop (1984)

Terrific

[9/10 · 10 January 2007]

Terrific vehicle for Murphy, who gives a tour-de-force performance as a cheeky, foul-mouthed cop who goes from Detroit to Beverly Hills to track down an old friend's murderers - off the record.

A sleek, tight script and a genre-defining mixture of action and comedy never slow down for a second. Add to that a wonderful music score, a great supporting cast, and irresistible dialogue, and you have a true winner.

Beverly Hills Cop is a basic, old-fashioned fish-out-of-water tale, but the film delivers the goods in high style; its fast pace isn't an excuse for lack of invention, and the many funny moments are well-integrated in an appealing story that never falls flat.

The Sure Thing (1985)

Lovely!

[8/10 · 6 January 2007]

Director Rob Reiner showcases yet another facet of his talent with this most delightful romantic comedy about two terminally opposite college students who share a cross-country ride in order to meet up with their respective love interests.

Predictable and old-fashioned in extremis, the film never appears goofy, mean-spirited, or pretentious, as was the case with many of its contemporary competitors. In fact, its few flaws are easily overlooked by its sure-footed direction, wonderful cast - and two of movie history's funniest oxymorons: 1) 'Sponatiety has its time and place' 2) 'I'm intellectual and stuff'

A Room with a View (1985)

Most enjoyable!

[8/10 · 6 January 2007]

Stylish, witty, and faithful adaption of E.M. Forster classic about a young woman's encounter with a free-spirited man in Italy - and the subsequent dilemma that arises back in her native, post-Victorian England.

Sometimes (unfairly) flawed for its overlength, the film's deliberate slow pace reveals all the nuances and makes the characters appear truly three-dimensional.

Both leads and supporting cast are utterly hard to resist, and the film features the Merchant/Ivory trademark production values and attention to detail.

The Karate Kid Part II (1986)

God-awful

[2/10 · 4 January 2007]

You know you're in for something bad when the opening of a sequel is one, long montage of highlights from its predecessor! It only gets worse.

Starting of with a series of contrivances that are extremely hard to swallow, the film takes the leading duo back to Miyagi's native Japan, where our two heroes must face each their challenges. From thence, everything is practically a string of events with no real story and plot development, leading to a ludicrous climax.

Morita and Macchio do what they can with this thoughtless script, but their characters have lost all their charm from the original film (they are practically caricatures of themselves), and the story gives us nothing to opt for.

Karate Kid, Part II might have been a wanted sequel, but it's an unnecessary sequel – and a god-awful one at that.