Reviews

I saw this movie about 10 years ago when it came out in the cinema. None of my friends wanted to see it so I went on my own and I remember sitting there when it ended, and thinking about what just happened. And it lasted for days. This movie is one of the very few that changed the way I think of cinema, cinematography and the role of music. Ed Norton plays Derek, the right hand of a nazi leader and Ed Furlong is his little brother, who follows him whatever he does. When Derek kills a black guy trying to steal his car, he goes to prison for 3 years and there he faces the fact that everything he believed in was built on lies and deception, and belief can be twisted for the sake of convenience. He comes out as a changed man and the movie is the story of the next 24 hours, what Derek does next, as well as flashbacks to the reasons why he became a racist. Edward Norton is as brilliant as it gets. This is one of his major roles in his career. He leaves a deep impression and his change for the role, putting on 30 pounds of muscle and shaving his head, is jaw-droppingly convincing, considering his slim build and intellectual aura. Furlong is as memorable as in Terminator 2 - even though he is a sidekick, he plays the disturbed and dependent little bro perfectly well. Thinking he is a rebel, he is eating every misplaced ideology that he is given, without ever freely making choices for himself. Some of the shots stay with the viewer a long time after standing up from the chair, and the music is dripping with emotion. This is a gorgeous movie, a must see for anyone who appreciates quality cinema. Only criticism is about the ending of the movie that did not convince me, however, I do not feel strongly enough about it to take points off the perfect 10.

I saw this movie a few years ago and revisited it last week. The one thing I remembered about it was Ralph Fiennes and after watching it again, it is still only Ralph Fiennes standing out about it. First of all, the choice of Edward Norton as the empathyically supercharged cop was a complete nonsense. As much as I love Ed Norton, it was like using a Ferrari to nip out for a pint of milk to the corner shop. He is way too good for a minor role like this. The story revolved around him, but the script was just too strict for him to build any kind of connection with the viewers; we never get to care about him too much, neutral is the most I feel about his character. Except for the scene where he finally meets his arch enemy, he had no opportunity to expand his role and show off his considerable acting skills. What a waste of talent... Fiennes, on the other hand, shines as the unsociable, delusional serial killer. He steals every frame, and oozes masculinity and craziness. We get to know him so deeply that we even root for him to have a little romance with Emily Watson. Anthony Hopkins as Hannibal is fab as always. I love the fact that this is the second movie that Ed Norton and Philip Seymour Hoffman do together; it made me smile. Hoffman made even a small role like his so clear-cut and individual that looking it, no one could have made such a good job with it. The cinematography is really spot on, dark, recognisable and memorable. The story, along with the director's work, is very good, although I would not put this on my all time favourite's list.

I'm not into French cinema because I don't usually understand the jokes in them, but I went to see Heartbreaker last night for a special preview. I was completely surprised because it charmed me in the first five minutes and from then on it was an almost non-stop laughing, chuckling, cackling audience around me. I loved the storyline and the characters. Alex Lippi is a guy hired to seduce women and break up couples. When he is hired to sort out Juliette (Vanessa Paradis) 10 days before her wedding, he pulls out all the tricks from the hat but she doesn't fall for anything. Interestingly, the thing that it was in French made this movie work much better than a Hollywood version. I thoroughly enjoyed it because it was funny, witty, fresh, minus the clichés and cheap jokes.

I was looking forward to this one because the trailer appeared to be of a low-budget B-category comedy. However, it was a little misleading because what I saw in the movie was a mess to say the least. It all starts off perfectly well - we get to know the characters, then the twins meet and there's an awful lot of ground for situation comedy. I don't think they were all properly used. Some scenes are too long whereas others are cut too short. These are directorial mistakes. Tim Blake Nelson makes a better sidekick than director in Leaves of Grass and Susan Sarandon hardly even speaks in it. What a shame - the woman is a real talent! Edward Norton (playing the twins) is hilarious with the stupid hair and imbecile gestures as the hillbilly drug dealer but his counterpart professor is less entertaining. The real problem with this film is that halfway through the comedy stops and a completely new style emerges that doesn't suit the anticipation that was built up. I felt really cheated and disappointed that one of the major characters meets their early end and cannot be fulfilled in their aspirations. What was all that talk about their talent etc if they are not even given a chance to show it? Norton gives some good dramatic performance near the end but the ending itself is so strangely put that I couldn't help asking: "is that it?" This is a very confused movie with a seemingly random storyline. It could have been much much better. I am hoping to see Norton in a better movie next time, this one certainly doesn't live up to the expectations.

When I first watched this movie, I was not bowled over with the outcome and could not really place this into any kind of box. But it's one of those films that you actually think about later on and try to make sense of it. The characters are so well built up that they leave a very clear impression, even though the storyline goes a different direction than expected. I had to re-watch it though to be able to fully appreciate this movie and by the second time around I found little gems that I hadn't noticed. It has beautiful cinematography, a clear direction in what atmosphere it wants to create and some very memorable shots throughout. The music is absolutely spot on, melancholic, slow, conveys a lot of emotions. First I didn't understand why Edward Norton had to play Harlan, it seemed like such a waste of talent. Then I realised that he was needed to carry us through the range of moods and a troubled soul that Harlan represents, to be played by someone who can so perfectly be sensitive and tough at the same time. I did not pay much attention to Evan Rachel Wood in the first instance; but later I realised she actually put in a really good performance. The end of the movie is a bit too long but it all comes together. It is hard to define what kind of movie this is -it's a Western, a family drama, the story of a doomed romance, a very pretty and melancholic tale of tortured souls and unsaid secrets.

I have just seen the 25th hour as an item on my "Ed Norton filmography" list and boy, how could I not have heard of it before? It's absolutely brilliant. Barry Pepper has long been a favourite of mine, as well as Brian Cox, so I was delighted that they are both in this movie. The story seems quite simple but what the actors put in makes it really really special. At the bar scene with Rosario Dawson and Barry Pepper, I almost felt as if I was watching a stage play - it was just raw and passion and anger was tangible around them. Ed Norton is brilliant as always throughout the movie, I feel that Spike Lee brought out the very best of him. The "f..ck you" scene in the toilet is so good, I had to watch it three times just to be able to absorb everything he says and his mannerisms - I read in other reviews that it's a Spike Lee trademark scene. The characters are really alive and thankfully there are not too many so the focus is on their motivations and emotions. As I said, this is stage play material good! The only criticism is that I was not always aware when the flashbacks happened. Facial hair and costumes helped a little in some of them, but there were a few scenes where I thought it was real time and it turned out it wasn't. Otherwise, this is a monumentally great movie and I shall keep it on my desk to re-watch in the near future.

I have been updating my movie knowledge of Ed Norton movies and came across this film that I'd never even heard of. Then I read some of the reviews and thought "aah, this might be one of those really bad B-category craps" but I watched it anyway. Well, first of all, this movie really is funny! Totally over the top, colourful, cheesy, sticky sweet mess of fun, black comedy and drama. I loved the characters, and Smoochy (Edward Norton) is absolutely adorable. He looks like he really enjoyed being this goofy guy in a rhino costume and he's having fun with it. The medical centre scene is so hilarious I had to watch it again and again, as well as the scene when he has to improvise in front of the kids. Brilliant. Hysterical. I loved every minute of this movie. Of course, it's just a sidelined little project, never became a blockbuster, and it does need a certain mood to be enjoyable, but it still got on my ultimate funny-movie top list. De Vito did a good job directing it, so well done!