LVJeff Reviews: After the Fact 2001


	After the Fact 2001 Capsule reviews for movies released in 2001 viewed after 2001. Audition (Released in U.S. in 2001) Director: Takashi Miike Rating: 9/10 OUCH!!! Japanese horror movie starts out like a harmless romantic comedy, then sneaks up on you with some of the most squirm-inducing scenes ever filmed! No movie before this one literally made me quake. When it's over, its message about the insidious oppressiveness of seemingly innocent male chivalry has been delivered with extreme effectiveness. Great movie, but hard to recommend to anyone outside of those with stomachs of steel. Bridget Jones's Diary Director: Sharon Maguire Rating: 5/10 What audiences found so endearing about this movie escapes me. The protagonist (Renée Zellweger) does little to initiate much of the action in her life, of which finding love seems to be the most important element. Little did I know that the secret for a woman to find Mr. Right was for her to sit around and embarrass herself while Mr. Right, without any kind of encouragement, thinks about her, deciding first that he hates her and then changing his mind to say that he loves her. The movie has some genuinely funny moments and Hugh Grant is watchable as a cad, but, outside of that, this woe-is-me-fest presents little to enjoy. Don't Say a Word Director: Gary Fleder Rating: 6/10 Generic thriller about a New York psychiatrist (Michael Douglas) whose daughter is kidnapped. It can be surprisingly diverting on a mundane weeknight. The girl is being held in order to force Douglas's character to extract a secret number from one of his patients (Brittany Murphy). Naturally, the patient is cuckoo and stubborn, so getting that number is unreasonably challenging. The finale is fun if only because you get to watch Douglas and bad guy Sean Bean try to out-scowl each other. From Hell Director: Albert Hughes and Allen Hughes Rating: 5/10 This Jack the Ripper mystery from the Hughes Brothers is loaded with appealing gothic style and dread-laden atmosphere, but the story is incredibly dull. Johnny Depp plays a detective with clairvoyant powers, and you might think those powers would come in handy when looking for Jack the Ripper, but you'd be wrong. Heather Graham is gratingly out of place as a prostitute -- her colleagues all look like hags while she looks like a model. Also, her British accent keeps dropping in and out. Together, Depp and Graham form a couple that's hard to become concerned about; too bad, because their story wastes a good visual production. Ichi the Killer Director: Takashi Miike Rating: 6/10 Watching Ichi the Killer should be a form of initiation akin to hazing. It's over two hours of sharp objects slicing, stabbing, and dismembering people, an orgy of violence that's at once over-the-top, blatantly graphic, and blackly humorous. One can't take it seriously, but one can't help reacting viscerally to it either. Yet, despite the grinding of a machinery for what is clearly a hip exploitation film, one can also detect a smirking critique of humanity hovering over the gore -- it's an acknowledgment of the male impulse that equates violent and sexual tendencies, a dirty admission that watching others experience pain (or even experiencing it one's self) can get some people off. The main characters juxtapose two extreme sides of this -- the villain is an outward sicko, a sadomasochist who tortures others as he would fantasize torturing himself, and the "protagonist," if he can be called that, is a simpering crybaby whose guilt in being aroused by rape scenarios can cause him to lash out murderously, only to regret the consequences (there's a funny visual joke, though, in how "Ichi," which is Japanese for "one," wears a costume with a phallic "1" on its back). People like these are forced to live marginally in civilization, and whether or not Takashi Miike is trying to take this idea anywhere gets lost in the perverse glee with which the blood-spraying scenes are presented. It practically becomes numbing due to overkill; Miike totally ignores the rule of "less is more" here, deadening the movie's impact as it progresses. It could have been more deeply disturbing; instead, it's just shocking, shaping its spot in cinematic history as a sideshow curiosity rather than a main attraction. (added 8/25/2005) Joy Ride Director: John Dahl Rating: 5/10 Pretty much a mildly effective thriller exercise. It's a scare machine strictly adhering to its premise -- two brothers on a cross-country road trip are hounded by an unseen truck driver hell-bent on teaching them a lesson after they pull a cb-radio prank on him. Paul Walker is a sympathetic hero, but Steve Zahn's character seems to be illustrating a case of "stupid people get what they deserve." In the end, the movie's nothing special -- it just devotedly does its job to give the audience a string of suspense scenarios. Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham... Director: Karan Johar Rating: 8/10 Among Bollywood afficianados, this was reportedly one of the most anticipated and subsequently successful releases of 2001, and perhaps this is because of how it plays up a very traditional storyline with some old-fashioned star power. In all ways, it neither disappoints nor particularly impresses -- it just gives 'em what they want with gusto. It features B'wood veterans and real-life married couple Amitabh and Jaya Bachchan as the head of wealthy family whose eldest son (Shahrukh Khan) falls for a lower-class girl (Kajol), thus greatly disappointing the proud and stern dad and causing a rift in the family that the younger son (Hrithik Roshan) sets out to repair. The movie is nicely divided into two distinct halves, with the first wringing in some melodrama with the love story, and the second featuring more laughs as the younger son is able to work some mischief thanks to an amazing case of mistaken identity. Overall, you get the expected mix of earnest drama, comedic tonal shifts, corny turns of events, and, of course, lots of boppin' musical numbers. This is a well-packed concoction that sets out to entertain, and does. (added 7/22/2005) Lagaan: Once Upon a Time in India Director: Ashutosh Gowariker Rating: 8/10 Lives up to its billing as the first big Bollywood breakthrough movie for western audiences by offering the most accessible of cliche storylines -- the sports drama. For a three-hour-and-forty-minute musical, though, using a simple plot may just be the best strategy. The sport in question is cricket, the European precursor to baseball; the featured game is between British colonists and Indian villagers for, effectively, the economic control of a section of Indian territory. Naturally, we root for the plucky Indian misfit underdogs. Yes, it's corny, but this movie is light on its feet, with easily identifiable situations and characters, including a strong lead in Aamir Khan. Plus, the event details and the length onscreen of the climactic big game itself is worth checking out on its own. The film's got a big scope and a big heart, even taking time to decry class, social, and racial discrimination, seamlessly fitting it all in with a love story, musical numbers, and jeer-worthy villains. (added 7/22/2004) Not Another Teen Movie Director: Joel Gallen Rating: 4/10 A premise with decent potential is executed with the touch of a meat tenderizer. Uses the unwelcome Scary Movie method of spoof comedy, in which timing is ignored and jokes are prolonged and beaten to the point where they're just obvious, not funny; failing that, the movie resorts to extreme gross-outs, crude sex gags, and nonsensical violence. Its juxtaposition of John Hughes references and parodies of the current crop of teenage movies is clumsy and forced at best. It has its moments, but far too many of them elicit their laughs from just the references themselves (many of which are dead-on) -- we stop laughing once the movie tries to work those references into tiresome, belaboured gags. Session 9 Director: Brad Anderson Rating: 4/10 Horror movie that lets its location do all the work. It takes place in an old, abandoned asylum and wants you to be scared of all of its dark empty rooms and the medieval-style torture devices they contain. The victims of this race to see who freaks out last are a dislikeable hazmat crew with lots of personal issues. An attempt to shoehorn a supernatural mystery into the movie doesn't cover for the characters' lack of substantive fear or despair. Features an over-the-top David Caruso performance that's entertaining for all the wrong reasons. Shallow Hal Director: Bobby Farrelly and Peter Farrelly Rating: 7/10 For a Farrelly Brothers' movie, Shallow Hal is surprisingly tame. Its premise -- about a man (Jack Black) who only cares about women's looks until a curse causes him to see inner beauty as outer beauty -- has potential for a lot of cheap jokes, especially since the girl (Gwyneth Paltrow) he consequently falls for has her obesity maximized for all kinds of fat gags. But Paltrow earns buckets of audience sympathy with her performance, and the movie comes off more as sweet than crudely funny. In delivering their message, the Farrelly Brothers seem to have compromised their nothing-is-sacred comedy spirit, but at least their hearts are in the right place. Spy Kids Director: Robert Rodriguez Rating: 7/10 Reviews of this movie convinced me I missed out on something great. Actually, the movie isn't especially impressive, but it is lively and high-spirited. The kids (Alexa Vega and Daryl Sabara) are entirely engaging -- a good thing, because it balances out the freaky weirdness of the bad guys and their lair, which is occupied by walking blobs and thumbs. That the family of heroic spies is of Spanish origin is an added bonus -- what better place is there for positive ethnic diversity than in a fun kids' movie? Tortilla Soup Director: María Ripoll Rating: 6/10 English-language Mexican-family version of Ang Lee's Eat Drink Man Woman doesn't duplicate the subtleties of the original, which was about the inevitability and unpredictability of the winds of change. Tortilla Soup is about as deep as a tv-movie -- three daughters (Elizabeth Peña, Jacqueline Obradors, Tamara Mello) and their single father (Hector Elizondo) have a passionate, if not always agreeable, family dynamic, and the movie is only concerned about how each of these characters turn out in their search for a few happy endings. The film shares one thing in common with Lee's film -- they both make you hungry with their sumptuous displays of food. (Not quite) Updated Top 10 list for 2001: 1. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (10/10) 2. Memento (10/10) 3. Donnie Darko (10/10) 4. In the Bedroom (10/10) 5. Monsters, Inc. (10/10) 6. Moulin Rouge (9/10) 7*. Audition (9/10) - if counted on a list of 2001 movies 7. The Royal Tenenbaums (9/10) 8. Black Hawk Down (9/10) 9. Waking Life (9/10) 10. Ghost World (9/10) ©Jeffrey Chen, 2003 Home \| Feedback welcome