Reviews by doudouce55

Bruno Davert (Jose Garcia) plays a chemist who loses his job. A few years later, still without a job, he decides to get a job by killing his competition.

A hilarious script, very well adapted from Donald Westlake's novel "The Ax". And superbly directed by Costa-Gavras.

Jose Garcia usually plays in comedies; this film gives him a chance to show a more dramatic and suspense role (the film is nevertheless a comedy), and he does it well.

Fun to watch once.

The year is 1917, during the last months of legal prostitution in New Orleans. Hattie (Susan Sarandon) is a prostitute at the home of Madame Nell. Hattie has just given birth to a boy, and already has a 12-year-old daughter Violet (Brooke Shields). Photographer Ernest Bellocq (Keith Carradine) visits them one day, takes pictures of Hattie and fascinates Violet. Nell arranges for Violet’s virginity. Hattie goes off to Missouri to marry and leaves Violet at Nell’s. Alone, Violet is uninterested by everything except Bellocq; before long, she seeks refuge at his home and they marry.

I can’t picture any other director than Louis Malle for this movie. Brilliantly directed and acted by a superb cast, this is a lovely film. I can only imagine how much more beautiful the motion picture might have been if the original choice for Director of Photography, Tonino Delli Colli, had accepted to go to America to work with Malle on this picture. Sven Nyquist did a great job though.

Brooke Shields was simply (and is still to this day) gorgeous. Her emotions are developed all through the film and appear to be genuine. Carradine is a bit weak and unemotional at times. Sarandon is perfect for the role of Hattie.

A simple masterpiece that shows the world of a mother and her daughter as prostitutes, this film does not show useless nudity and Malle rather gives a fine representation of it.

This is a work of art, recommended for mature viewers.

This is an epic, episodic tale of the lives of a small group of New York City Jewish gangsters spanning over 40 years. The movie centers on David 'Noodles' Aaronson (Robert De Niro) and his lifelong partners in crime, Max (James Woods), Cockeye (William Forsythe) and Patsy (James Hayden) and their friends, who all grew up in New York's Lower East Side in the 1920s-1930s. In the late 1960s, an elderly Noodles returns to New York after many years in hiding to look into the past.

Told mostly in flashbacks and flash-forwards, this film is a classic that has us discover great actors, including Jennifer Connelly and Brian Bloom. It features a great cast, like Danny Aiello and Joe Pesci.

One of the masterpieces in film history worth watching.
If you have 4 hours to spare, take your time to watch it. It’s worth it – at least once in your lifetime – for the cinematography, the acting, the music, and the directing.

One of the most famous members of German World War II's anti-Nazi resistance movement, The White Rose, is Sophie Scholl (Julia Jentsch). This is her story.
Sophie and her brother Hanz (Fabian Hinrichs) distribute leaflets in the university and get caught. Their fate is decided quickly.

I found all actors to be convincing, and their performances actually made me feel "there". Excellent cast. And the directing was superb.

I was just reading that the February 1943 weather report was dugged up, so that the filming of Sophie's last six days would be accurate. Brilliant idea.

The film shows Sophie Scholl as a person who loved life very much but was ready to die for what she had done. This was brilliantly portrayed by Jentsch.

I consider this a *must* if you're into World War II films, and I highly recommend watching it.

Bruno Bonomo (Silvio Orlando), a famous film producer in the 1970s, is about to produce a movie about Christopher Columbus, with the help of the RAI (Italian television network). After director Franco Caspio (Giuliano Montaldo) quits the project, Bonomo offers another screenplay, "Il Caimano", a screenplay, written by young director Teresa (Jasmine Trinca). Soon, Bruno discovers that the Caimano is none other than Berlusconi, Italy's prime minister and media tycoon – and a subject so controversial that even the public television refuses to produce it.
Meanwhile, Bonomo's private life collapses piece by piece; plans to separate from wife Paola (Margherita Buy) come to terms, and the bank is pressing him hard to pay back his debts.
Getting the Caimano movie filmed is the only thing that is keeping him alive and he intends to go through it, even if his main actor also leaves him.

If you are familiar with Moretti’s movies, this should come as no surprise. When Moretti decides to engage political issues in a movie, he does so completely. This film is a bitter and intense presentation of Silvio Berlusconi, Italy’s prime minister. Moretti shows Berlusconi as both a businessman and a politician, a man who claimed for years that he was providing the public what it wanted so much.
Moretti used some real footage of Berlusconi and the scenes shown were very useful in understanding the circumstances leading to the end of Berlusconi.

As for the actors, Moretti as Berlusconi is great; and Silvio Orlando is magnificent as the sad, unattractive producer. Montaldo is a surprise since he is a director himself! He is excellent as an actor.

Part divorce drama, part political satire and part film-within-a-film, IL CAIMANO is an excellent, but tough and thought-provoking movie.

A MUST to understand Italy.

Fabrice (Fabrice Luchini) is Johnny Hallyday's biggest fan (Johnny being *the* French rock star) and avidly collects everything about Johnny. One day, Fabrice wakes up in a parallel world where Johnny does not exist; there he will have to find Jean-Philippe Smet (Johnny's real name) and in just a few days, convince him to become Johnny, something he accomplished in 30-40 years time in the "real" world.

The ending was very predictable, I still won't spoil it! (There simply was no other way to end this film anyway.)

It's not so much a comedy, as an obvious promotion plug for Johnny, his albums, his tours, his memorabilia, etc. There are some jokes, but the best parts remain when Fabrice attempts to sing like Johnny, that is truly hilarious.

I've personally always preferred Johnny Hallyday as an actor than a singer, and here is no exception. Luchini on the other hand was always an overactor to my eyes, so I was surprised to see his acting was perfect for this part.

If you don't like Johnny or don't know his songs, stay away as this is all about him and the "what if" he hadn't become Johnny. (It's quite like the USA without Elvis or England without the Beatles.)

If you do like Johnny and his songs, you should enjoy this film. Fans should love this as the movie is filled with anecdotes, dates and facts about Johnny.

My recommendation:
This is a very light comedy for fans only.

Childhood friends Alex and Margot (Francois Cluzet and Marie-Josee Croze) are happily married. One day, she is found dead; her father (Andre Dussolier) identifies her. The mutilations on her body leave no doubt that she was killed by a serial killer who confessed to eight murders, but always denied having killed Margot. Soon, the case is closed.
Eight years later, two bodies are found near the place where Margot's body was and the case is re-opened. At the same time, Alex, a pediatrician, receives an email in which he recognizes Margot. He will investigate the matter further and find out why she was murdered, that is, IF she was killed.

While the book was absolutely fantastic, gave a great atmosphere and actually gave me shivers, this movie failed. It was too slow, too weak and some of the characters' responses were somewhat not credible.

The actors gave a good performance. The only deception is Dussolier, Margot's father, who slightly overacts, especially in the scene where he confronts Alex. Kristin Scott Thomas is quite a surprise, I never realized how good her French was!

As a second film for actor-now-director Guillaume Canet, this wasn't too bad. (Canet even has a small part in this film.) He shows potential as a director.

The music of this film is horrible. The sound quality was rather lousy and the music was much too loud compared to the actors' voices. It made the film very hard to follow.

Still not a bad thriller.
Yet certainly not the best French film ever done, but still enjoyable.

Nathalie Dagenais is a 19 year old girl studying to be a lawyer. New to the city of Montreal, she will soon discover the world of porn. One day, her father (Michel Côté) comes across her picture on the Internet and wants to find her before it's too late, and before she makes what he thinks is a mistake.
The story goes from past to present, when a police officer (Christian Bégin) investigates the death of Max Bissonnette, a man Nathalie knew.

Michel Côté gives an excellent performance as usual. Karine Vanasse is well cast. Bégin is surprisingly good.

The story unfortunately is a little predictable, as the movie nears the end. And the ending itself is a little too "happy" for the context.

Still a decent thriller, especially for a Quebec production. Worth watching once.

Farm boy Eragon (Edward Speelers) comes upon a dragon's egg, sent by Princess Arya. One day, the dragon, Saphira, is born, and Eragon becomes the dragon rider who will set his people free from a tyrant, Galbatorix (John Malkovich).

I found the actors bland, weak, lacking in interpretation. I don't care for Malkovich usually, but even in this film, his acting wasn't what it could have been. Jeremy Irons' character on the other hand was quite despicable! and his acting was right on for the part.

The storyline was also pretty basic, and because the opening credits mentioned this was an adaptation of a book, I realized many situations might be missing from the screen.

Also, I didn't find the dragon Saphira, feminine enough. However, the special effects in general were well done, certainly not extraordinary but well done.

I'm giving it a 5, and I'm probably being generous, considering I haven't read the book. If I had, I probably would have given it a 3 or 4.

Not a bad choice for an action/sci-fi film, if you have nothing else to watch.

Animal control officer Walter Sparrow (Jim Carrey) is obsessed by a novel, The Number 23, which his girlfriend (Virginia Madsen) offers him for his birthday. Soon Walter believes the book was written about him, and his fascination increases.

The story was all right, although in the end, it was somewhat predictable.

While this was a highly recommended movie by many people who know my love for thrillers, I am disappointed in this recommendation. The ending is one of the stupidest, most "Hollywoodian" ending I've ever seen (so far). It's not worth spoiling, but let's just say I've seen better thrillers.

Jim Carrey doesn't show his best side in this movie, he sometimes looks as if he's about to laugh or do one of his comedy faces... (He IS NOT just a comedian, I do agree that his performances in Eternal Sunshine, and Man in the Moon, were great. I just feel that Number 23's performance was not as great as expected.)

Director Joel Schumacher on the other hand clearly shows his ability to still direct! (Incidentally Number 23 is ... his 23rd film, that is, if you count his TV productions, not just the movies.)

Love thrillers? Find something else. That's my opinion.
If you're watching just for entertainment, I suppose this is as good as anything else worth watching.