A couple of movie thrillers to scare the blues away
JAKARTA (JP): There is no escaping the "crisis hits this and crisis hits that" talk on everybody's lips.
Those reports make one consider it unwise, even unthinkable, to spend too much money for a few moments of fun.
But we still need to refresh ourselves after a stressful workweek and hearing all the sad tales. As always, a visit to movie theaters will not take a big bite out of the sagging wallet and, at the very least, you will have a different topic to discuss with friends than you-know-what.
Devil's Advocate and Kiss The Girls, both boasting excellent casts, have opened in local theaters.
Devil's Advocate. Cast: Keanu Reeves, Al Pacino. Director: Taylor Hackford.
Most courtroom dramas nowadays seem to be taken from John Grisham novels, but not Devil, which offers instead the dream pairing of Pacino and Reeves.
Following his huge popularity in the first Speed, Reeves continues to be a favorite of moviegoers, witnessed by his honor as most desirable male in MTV's Movie Awards.
And Pacino is known not only for his typical Italian looks, but for a stellar acting reputation.
Roles as blind police lieutenant Frank Slade in Scent of Woman and Don Michael Corleone in Godfather: Part III are only two among a long list of movie characters adored by fans and critics alike.
In Devil, Reeves is Kevin Lomax, a young and successful Florida defense attorney who has never lost a case due to his remarkable ability to convince juries, even when his client is guilty.
Lomax and his wife leave the Sunshine State for a better life in New York after a lucrative offer from a powerful law firm headed by John Milton (Pacino).
Lomax soon gets to understand a different meaning of the term "power of attorney" as he lives the high life.
Before long, however, he finds himself challenged in defending a wealthy developer accused of three brutal murders.
He gradually comes to believe his client is guilty of an even bigger crime. After one of his colleagues dies a horrible death, Lomax is afraid and wants out.
Kiss The Girls. Cast: Morgan Freeman, Ashley Judd, Carey Elwes. Director: Gary Fleder.
After playing abolitionist Theodore Joadson in Steven Spielberg's slavery and civil rights chronicle, Amistad, Freeman stars as cool forensic detective and best-selling crime author Alex Cross, who gets involved in the hunt to save his niece after she is abducted from her college campus by a psychopathic killer.
As the psychological thriller unfolds, Cross must use all his investigative skills not only to save the niece but also seven other missing women, all distinguished by their exceptional talents.
The effort comes too late for two of the women, found murdered and tied to trees.
This is not Freeman's first outing as detective; in Seven, he was cast as weary and retiring cop William Somerset, out to catch serial killer John Doe.
In Kiss, Freeman faces hostility from the police chief and detectives, who consider his investigation an unwelcome intrusion. Cross plods on with his search for the killer, who tantalizingly calls himself Casanova after the great lover.
In his investigation, Cross uses all the help he can get, including from his niece's boyfriend and Dr. Kate McTiernan (Judd), who escaped from Casanova's clutches. She is out to get even with her kidnapper by helping Cross to track down the culprit.
If these thrills are not to your liking, other flicks still playing are Tomorrow Never Dies, Titanic, Touch Me and Most Wanted. (ste)