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Reviews
Made in America (1993)
Watchable and sometimes charming comedy
The movie seems to work better than the premise might suggest. The three leads - Goldberg, Danson and Nia Long, have a nice chemistry between them. Nia Long being particularly lovable as 'their' daughter. There are some good gags in it, although the movie is not overstuffed with them. The decent, heartwarming plot (just the right amount of twists) handles the race aspects with an exemplary ease.
Jennifer Tilly's bit-part was funnier and more successful than Will Smith's.
Made in America is hardly a classic but is worth watching if you like a little maturity in your comedy.
K-PAX (2001)
Pleasant thought-provoking entertainment
This film suffers a little from being neither action, comedy, romance or a tear-jerker. It has some nice dialogue and moves towards its conclusion as surely as a movie about this subject matter can do. I loved the scene where the sceptical psychiatrist says something like "But you would have had to travel 1000's of years at the speed of light to get here", Prot laughs at this primitive suggestion as if he'd just been told he came by a london double-decker bus! It had me thinking about the size of the universe for many days afterwards.
The director Ian Softley also made the excellent "The Wings of the Dove" and is proving to be a director of thoughtful adult oriented films.
The English Patient (1996)
Pay attention, and it's magical
Few films seem to divide opinion like this one. Disappointingly the reviews often seem to be an indication of the reviewer's attention span more than a fair critique.
I don't care much about cinematography, art direction, lighting etc. all I know is that this movie looks beautiful, has many scenes that stay etched in the memory and has an elegant pacing to do justice to the book. The central scenes in the abandoned church while the nurse takes care of the dying man are really fine. There is a wonderful stillness that is rare in western filmmaking. I'm sorry people are offended at the (obvious) immorality of some of the characters but I don't think anyone claims that these guys are heroic, only human. I guess I can relate better to humans than heroes.
If you didn't enjoy this movie last time, or haven't seen it yet then wait till it is on TV on a quiet afternoon or evening, put other things out of your mind, sit back and soak up this great movie. 10/10
The Jerk (1979)
Pure Comedy Shinola
I first saw this when it was released at the movies. It was one of those you could happily go to see again with somebody else the following night. It's on TV right now as I write this, 23 years later and it's difficult to finish the review with all the great dialogue in the background. The purpose of a comedy movie (apart from making money!) is to make people laugh. This one does it constantly. I've got to give it a 10.