I decided to watch this from the recommendation of my wife; I was surprised by the outcome of the film. I found it to be quite an entertaining and a thought provoking film. Nicole Kidman delivered a convincing and elegant performance as Nadia a Russian woman who gets involved with Ben Chaplin who hails from the United Kingdom playing the role of John. He was surprisingly good in this role; it is one of his better performances so far in his career.
The main story is about Ben Chaplin’s character John who works on the bank floor as a teller who also has been promoted to some degree recently. He has been frustrated by previous romantic relationships in his life; he then decides to try online dating. To his surprise, he finds a woman who he seemingly connects with even though she doesn’t speak a word of English. This is another mail-order bride type scenario.
There is however more behind this mysterious woman as the film unfolds. She adds excitement to his rather drab and dull lifestyle. You will have to see this to experience the dark humor and thrills which come as the story progresses. Nadia is a beautiful woman and wants things to work between them despite their shortcomings. She in turn, uses her sex appeal to communicate between her and her new husband while maintaining her gestures to capture his attention. Nicole Kidman delivers a convincing Russian dialect and demeanor which adds a certain amount of charm to this film as well.
John seems to live in the suburbs near the countryside in the outskirts of the city where he works; the neighbors are curious to this new lady in his life and seem somewhat nosey. The area seems quite typical for this part of the country.
Jez Butterworth directed this film and did a fantastic job; he also worked on the screenplay for it alongside Tom Butterworth his real life brother. I found the story to be quite interesting, and it certainly holds your interest for the most part. There might have been a few small holes in the story, but it still is worth seeing.
Vincent Cassel plays Alexei and Mathieu Kassovitz plays Yuri, they both did well enough with their parts to keep the questions rising. Kate Lynn Evans plays Clare, Stephen Mangan plays the Bank Manager, Alexander Armstrong plays Robert Moseley, and Sally Phillips plays Karen.
Would I recommend this film to others? Absolutely, it is an unexpected surprise of a film which was well done overall. I thought the ending was fitting also.
I’ve been waiting to see this one for a while now, and it was totally worth the wait. My wife and I both enjoyed this, and really thought it was a better than average film. This is an example of what a suspenseful action thriller should be; full of action while having a backdrop story driving the events to happen in each of the scenes. I think this was Angelina Jolie’s best performance in years. What is interesting is you keep guessing her motives are and what side she really appears to be on. You will have to see this to find out the truth of things.
Director Phillip Noyce had a budget of $110 million dollars to work with on this film, and it seems like they got their money’s worth with all of the crashes, explosions, gadgets and mayhem which flies around on the screen during the length of the film. Phillip Noyce has had success with other hits which include The Bone Collector (1999) when he previously worked with Angelina Jolie and Denzel Washington. Also, he directed Patriot Games (1992), Clear and Present Danger (1994), and The Saint (1997).
It was written by Kurt Wimmer who has also used a strong female lead for one of his past films such as Ultraviolet (2006) who starred Milla Jovovich he also has written the screenplay for The Thomas Crown Affair (1999) which starred Pierce Brosnan and Rene Russo.
The part of Evelyn Salt was re-written with Angelina Jolie in mind, originally the part was going to be played by Tom Cruise. I’m sure Tom could have brought his own thing to this role, but I’m glad Angelina was given the part.
Liev Schreiber also stars as Ted Winter in this alongside Chiwetel Ejiofor as Peabody (whose name is pronounced chew-it-tell edge-oh-for) I think both of these guys are underrated, and this film showcases them on screen. Another nice performance in this was by Polish actor Daniel Olbrychski who plays Orlov. Daniel Pearce plays the younger version of Orlov and did well also. August Diehl plays Mike Krause, Hunt Block plays U.S. President Lewis, Andre Braugher plays Secretary of Defense, Olek Krupa plays Russian President Matveyev, Cassidy Hinkle plays 12-Year-Old Chenkov, and Corey Stoll plays Shnaider.
I think this is one of the best films I’ve seen so far this year, I highly recommend seeing it, the film was full of action, and went by very fast considering it has a runtime of 100 minutes. By the way, SALT is the acronym for the Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty used years ago.
I recommend seeing this one sometime; it was a very good film. The performances by Dustin Hoffman and Emma Thompson are reason enough to see this. But, it has a touching and sediment ally sweet storyline to follow along with. Perhaps this is a bitter sweet comedy type of a film which would best describe it. London native Joel Hopkins directed and also worked on the screenplay for this, he has only a few other films under his belt so far which include Jorge (1998) and Jump Tomorrow (2001). I think he captured something relatively unique with Last Chance Harvey and it turned out to be a gem of a film.
These two characters Harvey Shine (Dustin Hoffman) and Kate Walker (Emma Thompson) are attracted to one another yet they both seem to have previously failed at relationships in the past. Harvey is a divorced man who happens to write jingles for television commercials by trade. He meets up with a single woman named Kate Walker who gathers information about passengers at airline terminals.
Together, there is a certain amount of chemistry between them; however their relationships with family and friends have seriously put a burden on their dating lives. You will have to watch this to see how things play out, but it has a lot of solid scenes between both of the leading characters and a good supporting cast to boot.
What was rather brilliant was seeing these two interact with one another, it takes special talent to pull off performances like this and this certainly added quite a bit to this film and bringing the story out making it a better film overall. Emma Thompson’s character seems to bring out the best in Harvey, and she reads him like a book it seems.
The main story is about Harvey going to London, England for his daughter’s wedding while trying to get away from his job. He has a lot of pressure on him. A much younger upcoming employee is closing in on him threatening to take his job away from him. His ex-wife has since remarried and he has lost touch with his daughter somewhere along the way of things in his life.
It helped to have some other talents in there which include veteran actress Eileen Atkins as Maggie Walker, Kathy Baker as Jean, Liane Balaban plays Susan, James Brolin plays Brian, Richard Schiff plays Marvin, Tim Howar plays Johnnie, Wendy Mae Brown plays Aggie, Bronagh Gallagher plays Oonagh, Jeremy Sheffield plays Matt, Daniel Lapaine plays Scott, Patrick Baladi plays Simon, Adam James plays Josh Hillman, and Michael Landes plays Peter Turner.
Catch this film when you can, you won’t be disappointed at these fine performances wrapped inside of a fairly uniquely played out storyline. Two thumbs up for Harvey and his last chance.
I recall seeing the trailer for this, and thought it was a typical thriller killer flick. And this is exactly what it turned out to be. Some parts of it were pretty predictable, but regardless of this, it still was good enough to watch I thought. It certainly helped that Amber Heard who plays Kelly Porter in this was wandering around in a bikini and underwear most of the time while she was on screen.
For the ladies, Penn Badgley plays Michael Harding and is the central focus of this bizarre scenario which he and his family get involved in. Sela Ward plays Susan Harding his mother who gets romantically involved with Dylan Walsh who plays David Harris. He is a serial killer, and likes to role-play as a family with his victims before killing them. David using many alias names has previously killed a number of people before he meets up with the Harding family.
Michael suspects that something isn’t right with his mother’s new found love, and from his suspicions it leads him to clues. The storyline is pretty straightforward, but has a few moments of suspense in it. I think the cast made this film better than it was and carried the film for the most part. This is actually a remake of the original release using the same title released in 1997 starring Terry O’Quinn, Jill Schoelen and Shelley Hack.
This seems to be director Nelson McCormick’s first featured film theatrically released, he has an extensive television resume and gained his experience there. I think many would consider this to be a mystery thriller with a few moments of comedy thrown in here and there. Perhaps the melodramatic moments were comical, but it was fitting enough for this PG-13 story. The screenplay for the film was written by J.S. Cardone and Donald E. Westlake who contributed the earlier screenplay. The story was written by Carolyn Lefcourt, Brian Garfield, and Donald E. Westlake.
More of the cast includes: Sherry Stringfield playing Leah, Paige Turco who plays Jackie Kerns, Jon Tenney as Jay Harding, Nancy Linehan Charles as Mrs. Cutter, Marcuis Harris as Detective Shay, Braeden Lemasters as Sean Harding, Deirdre Lovejoy as Detective Tylar, Skyler Samuels as Beth Harding, Blue Deckert as Captain Mackie, Jason Wiles as Dylan Bennet and Kara Ortiz as Kara Briola the Real Estate Assistant.
There are a few goofy moments in the film, such as the freezer scene and a few horror type cliché’s as well. Some of the things added in this film were kind of unrealistic in the real world and this guy would have been caught however, if you enjoyed this, you might also like Disturbia starring Shia LaBeouf released a few years back in 2007. I think it is safe to say The Stepfather is a jazzed up modern day killer thriller toned down to get more ticket sales.
If you are looking for a heart-felt dramatic film, this is one to see. It is a Disney release, but one of their better ones. Incredibly it is based upon a true story that happened. The film stars the lovely Gabrielle Anwar portraying Sonora Webster; she a dare devil and wild spirit of sorts who jumps horses off of towers into water as a circus high diving act. She is a young teen who is a runaway and the film takes place during the depression years. Everyone is enjoying her new found fame and success as a diving girl act, however times are tough and not many are spending on leisure entertainment.
Sonora (Gabrielle Anwar) struggles to overcome different things which have happened to her, she is stubborn and head-strong overcoming different obstacles in her life. Things dramatically changes for her after she answers a newspaper advertisement by Doctor Carver played by actor Cliff Robertson who delivers a great performance in this.
Atlantic City is where Sonora’s heart lies, there she will find out how the real world works, but she also believes this is where all your dreams can come true. Nothing seemingly can stop her from her ambitions and dreams.
There are a few very dramatic things which happen in this story, as you will see. The film has a nice flow about it and doesn’t really drag along for a period type piece. It was also amazing to see these horses jump off such high platforms. It is something you will remember, and was popular from early carnival and circus acts.
More of the cast includes: Michael Schoeffling playing Al Carver, Dylan Kussman plays Clifford Henderson, Kathleen York plays Marie, Frank Renzulli plays Mr. Slater, Nancy Moore Atchison plays Arnette Webster, Lisa Norman plays Aunt Helen, Lorianne Collins plays Clarabelle, Elizabeth Hayes plays Miss Simpson, and Laura Lee Norton plays Mrs. Ellis.
This inspirational tale is both entertaining and an all around solid story, with a good cast who do their best to bring this one to your living room. I can only recommend seeing this, as it is a good family film for everyone to see. This film may tug on your heart strings; it is a pretty powerful story with a lot to say. It was directed by Steve Miner who has found notoriety as a television director mostly with some producing credits to boot.
I give this film the cheesy award prize because that is what it is. It is loaded with lots of cheesy lines and loads of patriotic hype, giving it a comical overall feel. Perhaps this is why actor Will Smith was chosen for his role as Captain Steven Hiller. For a comic relief type of a character, I guess it was one of this films high points it also helped establish Will Smith as a leading action type of a guy.
I watched this in the theater on its premiere during the 4th of July weekend on the 2nd of July back in 1996. There were large amounts of people piled in to see this. I laughed out loud during some of the serious scenes and had a few people who looked over at me. I couldn’t help myself, there is something about this film that was just plain goofy.
However, after watching it again years later recently, I think it holds up enough to appeal to a number of people. It does provide some merit for entertainment but it has an extremely plot-holed storyline about aliens invading Earth and exterminating the human race.
This seems to be a fascination for German director Roland Emmerich who has done several other disaster type films as well. Apparently, there are plans for two sequels to Independence Day due sometime in 2013 and 2014. Dean Devlin collaborated with Roland Emmerich on the screenplay and together they came up with this plot.
One of the silliest things is Jeff Goldblum and his character David Levinson being able to hack into alien technology extremely far advanced beyond anything known on Earth. However, he is a brainy character, and a television repairman. Those guys are pretty savvy.
This films strength is its ability to play upon American Patriotism and quite often throughout the story. For people who enjoy this, I’m sure they would rate this film higher. Many people praised Bill Pullman for his performance as President Thomas J. Whitmore and his well delivered speech.
The first lady is played by Mary McDonnell who is a talented actress, although her part seemed pretty one dimensional. Vivica A. Fox also appears in this as Jasmine Dubrow portraying a strong female lead that is romantically involved with Captain Steven Hiller aka Will Smith. I thought Robert Loggia delivered a good performance as General William Grey. He is an established actor who has many performances under his belt.
You might also recognize Judd Hirsch as Julius Levinson father of Jeff Goldblum and his character David Levinson. Margaret Colin plays Constance Spano, and James Rebhorn plays Albert Nimzick the secretary of defense. Brent Spiner plays Dr. Brackish Okun and Adam Baldwin who plays Major Mitchell. James Duval plays Miguel Casse and Lisa Jakub plays Alicia Casse. I think many will remember Harvey Fierstein for his over the top performance as Marty Gilbert in this towards the first part of the picture. Also keep your eyes open for Harry Connick Jr. who plays Captain Jimmy Wilder.
If you enjoyed this film, you might enjoy The Day After Tomorrow (2004), and 2012 (2009). Independence Day was quite successful at the box office reeling in $817,400,891 gross profit and with production costs coming in around $75 million which were good numbers. I think it is worth at least one watch if you haven’t seen it before.
