Double order of Bruce Willis movies<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): This week, moviegoers will be seeing double:
\nthere's Bruce Willis the unhappily married man and there's Bruce
\nWillis the mob hit man.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, a Hong Kong martial artist wreaks havoc in
\nunderworld America. The following reviews and grades are by Oren
\nMurphy (OM) and Tam Notosusanto (TN).<\/p>\n
The Bachelor. Romantic comedy, 101 minutes; starring Chris
\nO'Donnell, Renee Zellweger, James Cromwell, Artie Lange, and
\nBrooke Shields. Directed by Gary Sinyor.<\/p>\n
Jimmie Shannon (O'Donnell) has twenty-four hours to get
\nmarried or lose his US$100 million inheritance. He botched the
\njob with the woman he loves (Zellweger) and so desperately
\nsearches for an alternative. The film heaps cliche upon
\nstereotype about what men are like (mustangs ever looking for a
\nnew \"succulent patch of grass\") and what women are like (looking
\nfor romance and marriage). Flat acting, dumb script, and utterly
\npredictable ending are just a few reasons not to see this film.
\nGraded C- (OM)<\/p>\n
Bicentennial Man. Drama, 130 minutes; starring Robin Williams,
\nEmbeth Davidtz, Sam Neill, Wendy Crewson and Oliver Platt.
\nDirected by Chris Columbus.<\/p>\n
Whatever the poster tells you, this is definitely not a
\ncomedy. It's an overlong tale of a robot (Williams) who spends
\ntwo centuries of his lifespan to learn how it is to be human. It
\nwas written by the late, great Isaac Asimov and is turned into
\ndull, uninspiring stuff by Columbus, who should just go back to
\nmaking slapstick movies about kids being left alone in the house.
\nOnly the title is appropriate: the movie feels like it runs two
\nhundred years. Graded C (TN)<\/p>\n
Boys Don't Cry. Drama, 118 minutes; starring Hilary Swank,
\nChloe Sevigny, Peter Sarsgaard and Jeanetta Arnette. Directed by
\nKimberly Peirce.<\/p>\n
It is a misguided assumption that Swank easily won an Oscar
\nthanks to her gender-bending role. She practically slips under
\nthe skin of Brandon Teena, the real-life Nebraskan youngster who
\nsuccessfully convinces everybody, including herself, that she is
\na man. When her object of desire (Sevigny) falls for her, Teena
\nbecomes even more steadfast in denying her actual identity and
\nfollows her impulses instead, all the way to her tragic end.<\/p>\n
Director\/co-writer Peirce manages to mold this fact-based
\nstory into a powerful human drama, even though we wish she had
\ngone deeper into Teena's soul. Graded B+ (TN)<\/p>\n
Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo. Slapstick comedy, 90 minutes;
\nstarring Rob Schneider, Eddie Griffin, Oded Fehr and William
\nForsythe. Directed by Mike Mitchell.<\/p>\n
A fish tank cleaner, Deuce (Schneider), becomes a gigolo (or
\nman-whore as they refer to themselves in the film) to pay off
\ndamage to an acquaintance's apartment. In the process of dating
\nall kinds of eccentrics, he meets the love of his life, but has
\nto struggle to show he really loves her. Mishaps and capers
\nensue. It's stupid, but you'll probably find yourself laughing
\nanyway. Graded C (OM)<\/p>\n
Romeo Must Die. Action, 100 minutes ; starring Jet Li,
\nAaliyah, Isaiah Washington, Russell Wong and Delroy Lindo.
\nDirected by Andrzej Bartkowiak.<\/p>\n
No, this is not the latest adaptation of the Shakespeare
\ntragedy, although the story has two warring families and two
\nyoungsters from each clan who seem to be smitten by each other.
\nThat's as far as they would go, because this movie is mainly a
\nshowcase for Li's martial arts talent in his first English-
\nspeaking starring role, not for him as a romantic leading man.<\/p>\n
Nonetheless, the movie has great, elaborately choreographed
\nfight scenes. And the suspenseful, at times humorous script makes
\nit the more enjoyable. Graded B (TN)<\/p>\n
Sleepy Hollow. Gothic horror, 100 minutes; starring Johnny
\nDepp, Christina Ricci, Jeffrey Jones, Christopher Lee and
\nChristopher Walken. Directed by Tim Burton.<\/p>\n
Not much in the film resembles Washington Irving's classic,
\nThe Legend of Sleepy Hollow, but it is an enjoyable film
\nnonetheless. Pathologist\/detective Ichabod Crane (Depp) is sent
\nup the Hudson to investigate a series of decapitations by a
\nheadless horseman in the small town of Sleepy Hollow.<\/p>\n
Burton's film focuses on atmospherics over content, and
\ncreates a landscape as stunning as it is creepy. Depp is
\nexcellent as the faint-hearted detective. An often gruesome, but
\nvery entertaining film. Graded B (OM)<\/p>\n
The Story of Us. Drama, 94 minutes; starring Bruce Willis,
\nMichelle Pfeiffer, Tim Matheson, Rita Wilson and Rob Reiner.
\nDirected by Rob Reiner.<\/p>\n
Ten years after When Harry Met Sally..., Reiner gives us this
\nbleaker glimpse of a relationship, which shows a marriage
\nbreaking off at the seams.<\/p>\n
Apparently wanting to mimic Ingmar Bergman's Scenes of a
\nMarriage, the movie is never even half as intelligent or
\ninsightful. Rather, it teaches us that inappropriate happy
\nendings could really ruin an already problematic film. And with
\nhis real-life break-up with Demi, you'd think Bruce could get
\nsome real juice into his acting here. What high hopes we have.
\nGraded C (TN)<\/p>\n
The Whole Nine Yards. Comedy, 100 minutes; starring Bruce
\nWillis, Matthew Perry, Natasha Henstridge, Michael Clarke Duncan
\nand Rosanna Arquette. Directed by Jonathan Lynn.<\/p>\n
Analyze This begets a copycat with this story of a Canadian
\ndentist (Perry) who gets all jittery when he realizes his new
\nnext-door neighbor (Willis) is a mob contract killer hiding from
\nhis former employers. The strange script, wooden acting and
\nPerry's overblown schtick makes this movie a sore. But Arquette
\nshows a hilarious Quebecois accent as Perry's gold-digging wife.
\nGraded C (TN)<\/p>",
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