All articles by Tim Grierson, Senior US critic – Page 77
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Reviews
The Brothers Solomon
Dir: Bob Odenkirk. US. 2007. 94mins.Coming only three months after another mainstream R-rated comedy revolving around an impending birth, The Brothers Solomon will likely enjoy neither the critical accolades nor the bountiful box-office that greeted the arrival of this summer's Knocked Up. Though not without its screwball charm and occasionally ...
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Reviews
Gone Baby Gone
Dir: Ben Affleck. US. 2007. 114mins.In Gone Baby Gone, an earnest but inexperienced young man plunges headfirst into deep waters, only to discover how much he still has to learn. That description could apply to the film's main character, a headstrong private detective hunting for a missing child, but it ...
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Reviews
Shoot 'Em Up
Dir: Michael Davis. US. 2007. 87mins.Merrily amoral, shamelessly watchable and outlandishly funny, Shoot 'Em Up is not for all tastes, but those with a dark sense of humour and a penchant for knowingly excessive violence will have a ball. Short enough so that its thin premise doesn't run out of ...
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Reviews
War
Dir: Philip G. Atwell. US. 2007. 103mins.A sturdy B-movie thriller with enough style to overcome its formulaic trappings, War finds mid-level action stars Jet Li and Jason Statham riffing on their already established personas to winning effect. A needlessly elaborate plot somewhat spoils the pairing of these martial-arts icons, but ...
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Reviews
War
Dir: Philip G. Atwell. US. 2007. 103mins.A sturdy B-movie thriller with enough style to overcome its formulaic trappings, War finds mid-level action stars Jet Li and Jason Statham riffing on their already established personas to winning effect. A needlessly elaborate plot somewhat spoils the pairing of these martial-arts icons, but ...
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Reviews
Underdog
Dir: Frederik Du Chau. US. 2007. 83mins.With one paw in the comic-book action genre and one in the mawkish family arena, Underdog is a lovable mutt that could have benefited from better breeding. This live-action reinvention of the 1960s cartoon works best when lightly spoofing the conventions of superhero cinema, ...
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Reviews
Rush Hour 3
Dir: Brett Ratner. US. 2007. 91mins.No matter how fast Chris Tucker shoots his mouth or Jackie Chan flashes his fists, they can't recapture the charm of the original Rush Hour in this third installment. Almost 10 years removed from the first pairing of these mismatched cop partners, Rush Hour 3's ...
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Reviews
Rocket Science
Dir: Jeffrey Blitz. US. 2007. 98mins.After the success of his Oscar-nominated documentary Spellbound, writer-director Jeffrey Blitz takes a shaky first step into features with Rocket Science. A deadpan high-school comedy about a misfit trying fruitlessly to court the object of his affection, this indie-minded effort suggests a film-maker too enamored ...
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Reviews
Licence To Wed
Dir: Ken Kwapis. US. 2007. 90mins.Two up-and-coming stars get left at the cinematic altar in License To Wed, a badly strained romantic comedy with enough plot contrivances to fill a reception hall. In a supporting role, Robin Williams delivers a (relatively) toned-down performance, but this bit of summer counter-programming lacks ...
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Reviews
Evan Almighty
Dir: Tom Shadyac. US. 2007. 96mins.Borrowing liberally from Field Of Dreams in addition to its previous swipes from Oh, God!, Evan Almighty is an ungainly melding of religious paean, big-budget studio comedy, and summer-blockbuster spectacle. Taking over for Bruce Almighty star Jim Carrey, Steve Carell proves to be a difficult ...
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Reviews
Hostel: Part II
Dir: Eli Roth. US. 2007. 94mins. Two significant story changes notwithstanding, Hostel: Part II stays close to the first film's successful strategy of mixing unsuspecting American tourists with sadistic Eastern Europeans. Writer-director Eli Roth tries to enliven the formula by switching the genders of his victims and by offering an ...
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Reviews
The Condemned
Dir: Scott Wiper. US. 2007. 113mins.Criticising the dumbing-down of entertainment culture while shamelessly catering to the lowest-common denominator, The Condemned gets points for chutzpah but little else. The result, an action film about a hyper-violent reality contest, quickly devolves into a series of hand-to-hand combat scenes that become monotonous since ...
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Reviews
Disturbia
Dir: DJ Caruso. US. 2007. 105mins. A smart teen thriller that ably mixes suspense and adolescent melodrama, Disturbia boasts an articulate script and nuanced performances. Though Rear Window's voyeuristic premise provides the inspiration, this Paramount/DreamWorks release adds hints of Kubrick-ian chills and nicely understated insights into the tumultuous lives of ...
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Reviews
The Hills Have Eyes 2
Dir: Martin Weisz. US. 2007. 89mins. Hoping to wring more money from humans-vs-mutants battles to the death, The Hills Have Eyes 2 offers another round of dull gory fright scenes that neither push the horror envelope nor exhibit any noticeable ingenuity. Borrowing liberally from fear classics like Aliens and The ...
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Reviews
TMNT (TMNT)
Dir: Kevin Munroe. US. 2007. 87mins.Seventeen years after their cinematic debut, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles return with their sweetness and boyish tomfoolery intact. TMNT may substitute CG animation for the earlier films' live-action treatment, but the strongest ingredient remains the four reptiles' incorrigible charm, which easily outclasses a muddled ...
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Reviews
Wild Hogs
Dir: Walt Becker. US. 2007. 99mins. Four suburban buddies confront their mid-life crisis by hitting the highway in Wild Hogs, an extremely pedestrian road movie that sputters along in search of laughs. With much of the comedy coming from failed homo-erotic digs at male bonding, this ensemble piece features several ...
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Reviews
Epic Movie
Dir: Jason Friedberg, Aaron Seltzer. US. 2007. 86mins. A painful regurgitation of memorable moments from recent Hollywood blockbusters, the spoof film Epic Movie is almost entirely devoid of laughs. No matter your opinion of hits such as Pirates Of The Caribbean or The Chronicles Of Narnia, most will agree that ...
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Reviews
Catch And Release
Dir: Susannah Grant. US. 2007. 110mins.An ambitious romantic comedy-drama that tries to find love and humor amidst the tragedy of death, Catch And Release is a jumble of tones searching for a consistent rhythm. In her directorial debut, Oscar-nominated screenwriter Susannah Grant touches on sombre subject matter rarely addressed in ...
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Reviews
The Hitcher
Dir: Dave Meyers. US. 2007. 84mins.The recent assembly-line remaking of recognisable horror titles continues with The Hitcher, a dreary updating of the 1986 Rutger Hauer serial-killer hitchhiker thriller, which disregards character empathy in the pursuit of perfunctory scares. Produced by (among others) Michael Bay, this new version of The Hitcher ...
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Reviews
The Pursuit of Happyness
Dir: Gabriele Muccino. US. 2006. 117mins.Playing against type, Will Smith finds a role wellsuited to his talents in the true-life drama The Pursuit Of Happyness.Though a conventional "inspirational" tale of a saintly underdog findinghard-earned success through sheer will, it stays afloat thanks largely toSmith's effortless charm.In a crowded holidayfilm season, ...