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Close Encounters of the Third Kind
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Under discussion:
Close Encounters of the Third Kind
(1978)
I watched
Close Encounters of the Third Kind
again after many years and was thoroughly disappointed. Everything was belaboured in an amateurish way. For example, the guy who had indirect contact with the aliens is slowly going nuts, getting stranger, embarrassing his kids, ruining his marriage, and on and on. Similarly, the climactic scene were the aliens make contact lasts forever: the advance ships arrive and the humans are awed, the ship arrives and the humans are awed, humans come out of the ship and the waiting scientists are awed, the aliens come out of the ship and everyone is awed, and on and on.
Posted
Saturday, June 09, 2007 11:21 PM
by
JimBell
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Erin Brockovich
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Under discussion:
Erin Brockovich
(2000)
Erin Brockovich
(2000) tells a compelling story and features some strong—and relatively weak—acting. As an “unskilled” single mother with three kids,
Erin
gets a job at a law firm and begins investigating a
pro bono
case about a utilities company poisoning citizens with hexavalent chromium. As
Erin
, Julia Roberts does a fabulous acting job. I don’t usually comment on acting, for it is one of the aspects of movie making that I know little about. But as a viewer, I’ve seen hundreds of plays and watched hundreds of movies, and have a sense when an actor “inhabits” a role. Roberts and the screenplay bring out the complexity of Ms Brockovich—crusading, looking out for number one, sexually confident, sexually manipulative, hardworking, bull-headed, personable, obnoxious—quite a character. Unfortunately—and maybe by comparison—some of the other actors have weak moments. Marg Helgenberger, now famous from
CSI
, initially plays the downtrodden victim of chemical poisoning with far too much excitement in her eyes, as if she’s enjoying playing opposite Julia Roberts. Albert Finney, who plays Erin’s lawyer boss, does a credible job but sometimes doesn’t bring his lines to life, as when he says, “I hate you sometimes”—he’s unsure exactly what tone he should say that in. I’d suggest “joking but conveying an underlying truth.” Fortunately, Aaron Eckhart, as
Erin
’s biker lover and babysitter, does hold his own with the incandescent Ms. Roberts. Scene after scene, he gets it just right—playful with the kids, wistful when the choppers roar by as he holds the baby, and necessarily resolute when he explains that he is leaving
Erin
because he is a nanny with no rewards.
Posted
Saturday, June 09, 2007 10:41 AM
by
JimBell
| with
0 comments
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