Movie Review Report

My Dad gave me this movie a long time ago and told me to watch it and I kinda forgot about it. I finally popped it in the other day when I was bored and there was nothing to watch and I was very pleasantly surprised.

Plot summary from Netflix:

Bernie Lootz (William H. Macy) is the unluckiest man in Las Vegas. Looking to knock out their highest rollers, one of the last mob-run casinos in town uses Bernie as a “cooler” to defuse lucky streaks. The scheme goes along just fine until Bernie falls in love with a cocktail waitress, Natalie, (Maria Bello) who becomes his “lady luck,” much to the chagrin of the casino’s crooked director (Alec Baldwin).

Unlike the last movie I reviewed, Pride and Glory, this movie had great characters and was well executed. Bernie, played by William H. Macy, was such an interesting character. Everyone can relate to the kind of character who has everything go wrong and it makes you really feel for them. And the acting was great too, especially Alec Baldwin and William H. Macy. It had an interesting story, it was entertaining to watch. I really liked this movie.

I was very surprised to see my middle school crush, Joey Fatone from *NSYNC was in the movie! Haha! He played a lounge singer and I couldn’t believe he was in it. My teen heart was a-flutter when I saw him on screen… ahh the memories.

Anyways, back to the movie, there was something very special about the relationship between Bernie and Natalie that was very touching. It should have been a completely unrealistic match, but for some reason it worked so well and they really had a lot of chemistry. I really enjoyed watching this movie and I’m glad I finally decided to give it a chance. It’s worth watching if only to see William H. Macy, he is such a captivating actor.

My Rating:

Really Like it

The Cooler, Alec Baldwin, William H. Macy, Maria Bello, Joey Fatone, movie review

OK, so I am a HUGE fan of cop dramas for some reason. I don’t really know what the attraction is but if there are cops, I’m there. So as soon as I saw the badge in the previews for this movie I knew I had to see it. I ended up just renting it because I didn’t hear anything about it after I saw that one preview… now I know why.

Plot summary from Netflix:

A corruption scandal fractures a family of New York City cops in this generational drama about homicide detective Ray Tierney (Edward Norton), who’s tasked with investigating a precinct run by his brother (Noah Emmerich). As if that weren’t enough, Ray’s fellow officer and best friend (Colin Farrell) may turn out to be dirty.

The movie was just OK, but it should have been great. The storyline had great potential but for some reason it was just not properly executed.

First of all, I did not connect with any of the characters and that is a biggie for me. I love when movies have great character development so you really feel for them and this movie had absolutely none. I didn’t even know who some of the main characters were and how they were all related until half way through the movie which is ridiculous.

I thought it had some pretty good acting but I did not like Edward Norton for the character he played… that was a strange casting choice. He doesn’t scream “rough street cop” to me, he seems too small and scrawny. I don’t know.

In the end I’m glad I watched it but it reminded me a lot of We Own the Night. They had a lot of similarities and they both should have been a great cop movies and they both fell short. I can’t exactly pinpoint what was wrong with this movie but the biggest thing that sticks out is the lack of character development which led to me not really caring about what was going on as much as I could have.

My Rating:

Just So-So

Review: We Own the Night

Pride and Glory, movie review, Edward Norton, Colin Farrell, Jon Voight, cop drama

Honestly, I went into this movie thinking I wasn’t going to like it but I HAD to see it because two of my favorite actors are in it: Russell Crowe and Leonardo DiCaprio. But I have to say, I was pleasantly surprised.

Plot summary from Netflix:

Newly stationed in Jordan, idealistic CIA agent Roger Ferris (Leonardo DiCaprio) teams up with veteran operative Ed Hoffman (Russell Crowe) and the head of Jordanian intelligence (Mark Strong) to infiltrate an underground network of terrorists and locate a criminal mastermind. Based on the best-selling novel by David Ignatius and directed by Ridley Scott, this suspenseful spy thriller features top-rate performances and explosive action sequences.

I usually don’t like movies that take place in the Middle East and have to do with terrorism because that’s what you hear about so much in the news the last thing you wanna do it go to the movies when you want to relax and hear about it again. Plus, usually I find them to be boring, confusing, too political and just… blah. But I ended up liking this movie and I felt it had a strong plot to keep my interest throughout the whole movie and entertain me even though it was such an involved and sometimes confusing storyline. (At least to me, I try not to think too much during movies if I don’t have to, but this time I didn’t mind thinking so much because it was interesting and suspenseful.)

Needless to say, the acting was great. With Russell Crowe and Leonardo DiCaprio you are rarely disappointed in their performances. Although since I have seen every single movie both of them have ever been in I can tell you there have been a few duds between them. Wow, that sounds very pathetic that I’ve stalked them like that but… that’s what obsession will do to you and they have both been victims of my obsessions at some point.

My Rating:

I Liked it

Body of Lies, Russell Crowe, Leonardo DiCaprio, movie review