There were a lot of people in this film that were very recognizable and of name in Hollywood film, and yet I never remember hearing about it.
This film paints a very dark picture of the LAPD. So few of the officers aren’t corrupt that you actually feel for the officer that kills all the bad guys without following the rules. I can say after watching this film, I wouldn’t want to be a resident of LA if even a quarter of this film was base on fact. But it wasn’t, it was based on a novel.
Pretty good, longer than it had to be, an ok watch just to see all the people playing complete dirt bags.
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Tom Ludlow is a veteran LAPD cop who finds life difficult to navigate after the death of his wife. When evidence implicates him in the execution of a fellow officer, he is forced to go up against the cop culture he’s been a part of his entire career, ultimately leading him to question the loyalties of everyone around him.
An okay film with great actors and an amazing soundtrack. Who knew the lives of NYC jazz studio musicians were so interesting and full of sex, drugs and parties? And the occasional brain tumor and remarkable friendship.
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Superb drama about two best friends who play jazz in night clubs.
This was the third movie we had watched in a row set in the 1930′s. It was amazing how different the three experiences of the characters were. This film having the most depressing yet inspirational of the stories. The film was also based on a true story.
I am lucky enough to have grown up after the Civil Rights Movement. Though I lived in Detroit for most of my childhood, I was shielded from the most ugly of the riots until I started my Master’s Degree at the University surrounded by the aftermath of the Riots. I always went to mixed race schools. I knew some people didn’t, but it never occurred to me that at one point it was so segregated when I was a child.
This film shows amazingly brilliant students that are scorned outside their college for nothing more than their skin color. To see them break barriers, prove themselves over and over in the educational system and still almost be lynched is heartbreaking.
The fact that they persevere is inspirational. Take advantage of what you do have instead of whining about what you don’t.
A little long, but never slow moving. If you are looking for a film that takes you through the ups and downs, losses and victories of black American youth in the 1930s, watch this.
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A drama based on the true story of Melvin B. Tolson, a professor at Wiley College Texas. In 1935, he inspired students to form the school’s first debate team, which went on to challenge Harvard in the national championship.
This was an interesting technique — very Rashomon. Going back to a specific time to tell the story from different points of view to get to the end, but towards the 6th person, I sort of wanted the story to move forward. And it finally did and moved well.
Enough suspense, intrigue and human stories to make you care about the charcters throughout the entire film. And you knew Dennis Quaid was going to play a hero.
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The attempted assassination of the American President is told and re-told from several different perspectives.
Is it a requirement that Andy Garcia play someone associated with Gambling at this point in his career. He plays a guy named Fingers (various reasons given for the name) who has a psychic enforcer. Everyone in the film is connected by these two guys.
The film was ok. I sort of found it bothersome that the characters were named after feelings (pleasure, love, sorrow, etc.). It may have worked if they actually were the personification of that feeling, but the film sort of failed on that.
Forest Whitaker was underused in the film. Sarah Michelle Gellar was whiney. Brendan Frasier was wooden. Kevin Bacon was unexplainable. Julie Delpy played a doctor doing research that takes no precautions when working with poisons.
The film wasn’t a bad film, it wasn’t a good film. It was an ok watch. Not necessarily a recommend unless you have run out of most other options.
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A drama based on an ancient Chinese proverb that breaks life down into four emotional cornerstones: happiness, pleasure, sorrow and love. A businessman bets his life on a horse race; a gangster sees the future; a pop star (Gellar) falls prey to a crime boss; a doctor must save the love of his life.
Fish out of water, buddy cop film. The gun fight scenes would have been very over the top if this was not a 20 year old film. The car chases were sort of fun keeping in mind that actual people were doing the stunts. just seems like an odd film for Forest Whitaker to have been in, but I guess we all have to start somewhere.
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Police Officer Alex Kearney works in a rich plush suburb of Philadelphia. (The police station looks like it came from Beverly Hills) When he stops an important businessman and his story of the incident is not believed, he is sent to work Downtown. The most dangerous, crime filled precinct in the city.
Forrest Whitaker does a Minnesota accent. Quite convincingly.
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A husband and wife tangle with an investigator over her dead brother’s million-dollar insurance policy.
No one could have done that part like Forrest Whitaker. He was almost too committed.
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In the early 1970s, Nicholas Garrigan, a young semi-idealistic Scottish doctor, comes to Uganda to assist in a rural hospital. Once there, he soon meets up with the new President, Idi Amin, who promises a golden age for the African nation.
