Every Sunday, Gill delves into his archive of over 800 movie reviews and randomly selects three for your enjoyment! Here are this week’s…
Red Eye
A campy but thankfully not brainless claustrophobic thriller from Wes Craven, which proves that, when given the right material, Craven can truly be a master of suspense. The script for Red Eye is tight, the performances by the leads (Rachel McAdams and Cillian Murphy) are both excellent, and the film pays off everything it sets up with perfect timing. It may play out like the plot of an airport bookstore novel, but Red Eye still manages to keep you on the edge of your seat from start to finish. Engrossing, occasionally creepy, and altogether entertaining.
4 out of 5
Limitless
A film with a cool premise, Limitless fails to live up to expectations because this is clearly a case of the screenwriter not being as smart as the character he’s trying to write. Bradley Cooper plays a smirking douchebag really well, but at no point did I buy that he was a super-genius. On top of that, the film never satisfactorily explains why, if Cooper’s character is so smart as the result of his taking this miracle drug, can’t he just make more of the drug when he starts running out. Limitless isn’t a bad movie, though, and there are certain touches of visual flair that make it fun to watch.
3.25 out of 5
The Adjustment Bureau
A love story with a dash of the surreal and supernatural, The Adjustment Bureau falls apart in its third act by revealing that the villains have incredibly dumb weaknesses. I’m not kidding: you can evade them by standing in the rain and knocking off their hats. That’s not a joke. Unfortunately, the movie rapidly becomes a joke when people start trying to explain the weirdness that’s going on. The first two thirds of The Adjustment Bureau are engaging, and the dialogue is actually pretty good. John Slattery, in particular, is a cool character. But once the curtain starts getting pulled back on the Twilight Zone-like plot developments, the film falls apart and spends the last half hour of its running time wallowing in idiocy, to the point where it leaves a bad taste in your mouth afterwards. Not a total loss, but there are much better supernatural romances out there. It’s fun to pretend that the suited villains in this are the same suited villains in The Box, though.
2.5 out of 5
See you next Sunday for three more thrilling short reviews!