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Reviews
Win Win (2011)
A fine movie - in context
After reading the reviews of this movie, it struck me that most reviewers tend not to contextualize their criticism or praise and that is left in the hands of the reader to sort out, if possible. This could be true of almost any movie, but the reason I am writing this here is because I think "Win Win" is a very good movie if taken in context, but can easily prove to be a disappointment if viewed with the wrong expectations.
Win Win is a slice-of-life movie that wavers between a family-oriented Disney drama and a light-hearted adult time-filler. I went to see this movie with my 12-year old daughter with the expectation of the former and despite some rather rough language and story concepts a bit beyond a 12-year old's comprehension, it pretty much hit the mark. It was not the best movie even of its genre, but if looking for something beyond Pixar or Hannah Montana for depth, Win Win is well-worth the admission price. There are few surprises here, but the acting and strong characters more than compensate for any script shortcomings or challenging story lines.
If your expectation is to be dazzled or have your heart-strings played, well, you probably will be disappointed, but if you are looking for a decent movie to share with teenage kids, this will work quite well.
Young Black Stallion (2003)
Ugh! Bad on so many levels.
I understand that this movie is made for kids and as a parent I have sat through many movies that don't particularly hold my interest, but I can appreciate from a constructive point of view in how it is being received by my children. Parents are supposed to be encouraged after all to take part in their children's activities and to monitor the quality of the entertainment that they view so there should be something that appeals to an adult audience on some level even in children's movies. Disney has always understood this which is why it is so hard to fathom how it could allow such a complete piece of drek to bear their name.
Technically, the sound editing is horrible and all dialog sounds over-dubbed and unnatural. Personally I hate that, but it was doubly awful considering the dialog itself seemed as though it was written by a 12 year old for a school project. The "acting" reminded me of a school play and none of the child actors had any range of emotion in their voices. Thankfully it was a very short movie.
Now, before I come off like a video-geek measuring a kids movie with an adult yard stick, the one thing that can save even the worst children's movie is a positive message. Far be it from me to determine how a message has to be delivered so long as the right one is. Let us take a walk through this film to see what messages are given:
If you are lost, don't worry, you will inevitably find your way home.
Approach wild animals without any fear.
You can win any competition just because you "know" you can.
and my favorite, the final message left in the film:
It's okay to disobey authority figures and do what you think is right.
The Da Vinci Code (2006)
Put yourself in the reviewer's shoes
As a Ron Howard fan, I knew that I would have to see this movie at some point and I do make a point often to read the reviews of viewers beforehand and after. This movie has received a lot of negative reviews, but from what I can decipher, the majority of them come from those who entered the theatre with preconceived notions.
One must remember that almost every movie adapted from a book will always be measured against the book and therefore any negative criticism has to be mitigated by the fact that those having first read the book see the movie with certain prejudices. Whether or not Tom Hanks makes a "good" Robert Langdon is irrelevant to the movie; it is only a personal observation based on the mental image of the character created by the reader while reading the novel. The same is true of the other characters and for what bits of the story included or omitted in the final cut in comparison to the book.
A movie with the pre-publicity that The Da Vinci Code had (based on the legal battle and the subject matter) also will prejudice many against it. There are those, insecure in their faith, who will always speak out vehemently at the slightest questioning of religion, God or our moral code and, as usual, they are best left ignored. There are those also who will take a negative bias simply as a result of the publicity, sort of a that same sense of non-conformity and rebelliousness that leads teenagers to smoke.
My point here is that you, as a viewer, have to ask yourself what it is that you want from a movie such as The Da Vinci Code. Having not read the novel or followed the trial and looking to appreciate a decent thriller without having to question my spiritual and/or religious opinions, The Da Vinci code was a decent movie. Not great, not bad. It certainly isn't the best work that Ron Howard or Tom Hanks has done and it could stand to shed a good 15 to 20 minutes, but that's all it is. It isn't going to shake the foundations of Christianity; it has a plausible plot, some of the escape stunts are a bit far-fetched, some characters are over used or underused, the police are essentially bumbling idiots...hey, it's just standard Hollywood fare, but with somewhat more weighty subject matter. Enjoy it for what it is.
Billy Madison (1995)
It's hard to imagine a worse movie
Let me say before anything else that I like Adam Sandler and I like goofy comedies. There is however a difference between a goofy comedy and 90 minutes of letting the kids run loose. This movie is so bad on every level, the script, the lame humour, the bad acting and horrible cinematography that it is hard to fathom how anyone over the age of 10 walked away from the final cut thinking they had accomplished something. Clearly based on some of the other reviews this movie more than found an audience, so anything I might say will only appeal to certain movie goers.
Lesson 1 in any movie is that the viewer has to identify with at least some of the characters, most importantly the lead character. Unfortunately, there is nothing interesting, redeeming or funny about the character of Billy Madison so there was no desire to watch him succeed. Unlike the Happy Gilmore character, Billy Madison is nothing more than a driveling idiot from the start of the movie to the end.
I had avoided watching this movie for years because I figured it would be rather bad, but I figured that my kids, after watching and liking Happy Gilmore, would get a kick out of it. After 30 minutes, my 6 year old leaned over and said "I think this must be his first movie". 'Nuff said.
A Simple Twist of Fate (1994)
A well-intentioned movie suffering from an identity crisis
Let me start by saying that I am a Steve Martin fan and anyone who questions his ability to do serious work has never seen Grand Canyon. I picked up this movie with the intent of watching it with my kids, aged 12 and 6. About 15 minutes or so into the movie, after witnessing shot-drinking, a heroin needle and two people sharing a joint, I seriously considered turning the movie off. The fact is that once past these moments, the movie does begin to work as a more heart-warming family tale. What irks me however is that I don't understand why people making a movie that kids can watch have to resort to adult imagery in some feeble attempt to generate adult interest. If one wishes to make a grown-up movie with adult images, then by all means do so, but this movie simply does not work on that level; it maintains too much of a superficial and sweet flavor to be considered as such. So, why then, if I am watching a family movie, should I be forced to lie to my children about some of the imagery they are seeing? I certainly don't want to explain to them what heroin or marijuana is and the truth is that none of these images were necessary to the telling of the story.
Therein lies my biggest problem with this movie as a whole. There are simply too many small scenes and images that are forcibly interjected into the story without necessity. The baseball scene, the scene by the edge of the quarry as well as many other smaller moments almost seem randomly inserted into the movie as though after the final cut the producers felt they need 20 minutes more to fill.
My kids, fortunately, asked no questions, but did ask to watch the movie again the next day (a practice they inherited from their father), so I would honestly say that the movie does function on their level and I would recommend it to any parent who doesn't feel uncomfortable by the occasional adult imagery passing before their child's eyes.