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Love is a many-splintered thing in Gone Girl, a gleefully snarky satire disguised as a thriller directed by David Fincher and adapted by Gillian Flynn from her own best-selling novel. It’s likely to do for prenuptial agreements what The Bucket List did for, well, bucket lists. This is one of those instances of a review having … Continue reading
It’s tempting to dismiss director Wes Ball’s adaptation of James Dashner’s young adult novel as a Hunger Games knock-off, but to do so would be unfair. A breath of fresh air into what is rapidly becoming a crowded sub-genre, The Maze Runner is a slickly plot-driven flick that delivers the basic sense of adventure that is sometimes missing from its relentlessly brooding cinematic progenitor. The premise is … Continue reading
The break-out success of the jukebox musical Jersey Boys pretty much guaranteed the inevitable film adaptation; however, said spin-off not only fails to adequately compensate for the schmaltz, it exacerbates it with some truly bland, derivative film-making. It’s as if director Clint Eastwood set out to dramatize the most boring episode of VH1’s Behind the Music … Continue reading
Though it may not seem like it at first glance (check out the trailer below), John Wells’ screen adaptation of Tracy Letts’ Pulitzer Prize-winning play is ideal viewing for anyone dreading a family get-together this week, or any other. Letts’ parade of thoroughly damaged people makes even the Manson Family seem like the Brady Bunch. … Continue reading
An underwhelming adaptation of Orson Scott Card’s cult science fiction novel, Ender’s Game is a shiny spectacle with a hollow center, a missed opportunity that makes a half-hearted statement. Ender Wiggin (Asa Butterfield, Hugo) is an introverted child gifted with a strategic mind that makes him an ideal candidate for training in the International Fleet, … Continue reading
When one of Shakespeare’s plays is done right, it reminds you why his works have survived four centuries and counting. When done wrong — or indifferently, as with Joss Whedon’s self-consciously twee take on Much Ado About Nothing — you feel every tedious second of it. On the surface it seems like a good fit … Continue reading
Baz Luhrmann and Craig Pearce’s gaudy adaptation of The Great Gatsby hits all the high points but plumbs few of the depths of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s great American novel. It’s a cartoon take on the classic novel of one man’s collision with the American dream during the Roaring Twenties, and much like its characters it … Continue reading
Charming but toothless, Quartet is genteel light dramedy marking the directorial debut of Dustin Hoffman. “I like to see what I can get away with,” the actor, 75, recently said in an interview with the Toronto Globe and Mail. You’d never guess it from his film’s overwhelming desire to play it safe. While it isn’t … Continue reading
Tom Hooper’s (The King’s Speech) extravagant movie adaptation of the long-running musical version of Victor Hugo’s tale of the haves and the have-nots, is systematically big, loud, splashy, and melodramatic — exactly what it should be, all things considered. Boasting big-budget opulence and a star-studded cast, it doesn’t radically re-interpret Les Misérables, but it does … Continue reading
There’s half of a good movie scattered throughout Jack Reacher; unfortunately, it’s overwhelmed by the half that’s not so great. Produced with the intent to kick-start a franchise, it’s so workmanlike and dull that it’s likely to amount to little more than a one-off. That dullness is particularly off-putting, considering it is written and directed … Continue reading
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