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LapinKulta
Reviews
Away We Go (2009)
Happy not to hear Newman´s score with this awfulness
Burt and Verona, a couple in their mid thirties, are looking for a city where Verona would give birth to their child and they would start to make a living. Does it make any sense? No! Anyhow, Burt and Verona seem to believe that the perfect city is defined by the presence of their family members and friends, because that would make perfect condition for their child to grow. Does that make sense? Definitely not! Burt is jobless, but he does not seem to care if there is a job for him in the cities they are considering. Rather, they care how well they get along with their friends. How much sense does this make? Very little. And, it always takes them one evening out to realize they do not get with their friends well enough to settle there. How much sense does it make? Are cities like Phoenix, Tucson, Montreal and Miami (which they visit) really too small for two families?
Maybe the movie is supposed to be a comedy, so one should not look for a logical plot, but the movie fails on other accounts as well. Besides the absurdity of the plot, acting is rather bad. Particularly that of Maya Rudolph. She reads her lines without any emotions, without any change of tonality of her voice. Her bad acting is followed closely by John Krasinski who keeps one single expression throughout the movie, hidden behind thick glasses and beard. On top of bad acting, the two make a very awkward couple. She is seven years older than him in real life, but looks like his mother in the movie. The age difference was emphasized even more by his childish dressing style. He dresses like a high-school kid, for a reason which remains obscured.
I stopped watching the movie when Burt was making phone calls in the hope to find his brother´s wife – while jumping on a trampoline!!! How could Sand Mendes, the maker of "American Beauty" (one of my favorite movies), make this disaster is beyond me.
The movie deserves one star because the music was not done by Thomas Newman. At least Newman´s talent was not wasted on this awfulness.
Breathless (1983)
There is nothing in this movie
I started to watch this movie open-minded, without any expectations, not even knowing it scored a very modest 5.5 on IMDb.
The movie proved to be utter disappointment for me. I like Gere, and I think he gave a reasonable performance, but there was simply nothing to the story which could touch me, or motivate me to watch through. He steals cars, reads comic books (Silver Surfer), he is in love with an art student, and longs to go to Mexico. Even if Silver Surfer or the the main character's wish to reach Mexico have hidden meaning, the symbols are rather lame.
I have the impression the movie is built only on popularity Gere enjoyed in early eighties. His role in American Gigolo made him the sex symbol of the era, presumably rightly so, but you can not make a movie only from it.
Der Himmel über Berlin (1987)
Pure horror
Before I begin, allow me to say that I am not some blockbuster-movie junkie who only watches action movies with a lot of special effects, where the main character beats all his enemies, manages to win one million bucks and a beautiful lady by the end of the movie. I am no stranger to long and slow-paced movies. My favorite directors include Andrej Tarkovski, Luis Bunuel, Aki Kaurismaki, to name a few.
But "Der Himmel über Berlin" is a pure horror. As you probably learned by now, the movie is about two angels wandering the streets of Berlin and listening to people's thoughts. This is amusing for few minutes, all right, but goes on for more than 90 minutes. And the thoughts the angels are listening to are pointless, hold no message whatsoever. One of the angels falls in love with a mortal woman and wants to become a mortal himself and spend a life with her. Clearly, the main message of the movie is: spiritual love alone can not fully satisfy even an angel.
In a desperate effort to add a dramatic character to this movie, director places it in Berlin; a city torn in two pieces with the wall and city which suffered great destruction and tragedy by the end of WWII. OK, the history of Berlin and Berliners is dramatic, but it should not be present in this movie, where central point is supposed to be the internal conflict in one of the angels, caused by feelings toward a mortal woman. To my mind, placing this movie in Berlin only proves that director was aware that his main story is to weak on its own.
I really had to put a big effort to last through this movie. But I said to myself: "Don't give up, wait and see what will happen when the angel finally becomes mortal and meets the love for which he gave his eternity. But even that was pathetic. He met her 8 (eight) minutes before the movie ended, and it was one of the most pathetic and naive love scenes ever filmed.
The only good point in the movie are the main actress' legs. That is the reason why I give this movie two stars: one for each of her legs.
Wings of desire leaves certainly a lot to be desired for.