Movie Reviews

As promised I have a couple additional movie reviews for your reading pleasures.  Let me begin with a movie titled Knight and Day featuring Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz (One of my favorite leading ladies in Hollywood).  I just had an epiphany: I think I'll do a dual Cameron Diaz review and include Bad Teacher in here.  Ok, so I'll begin with Knight and Day.  For those of you expecting great action, plot, and directing, you'll likely be disappointed here.  I honestly don't know why I expected more from this film but I thought it would be a nice mix of action and comedy.  The plot was mediocre and unoriginal and the acting was bearable, not great.  Throughout the movie Tom Cruise wore that annoying Tom Cruise smile that he can never shake, and after a while you're just thinking, "Dude you're getting shot at 24/7. Stop smiling!"  Diaz was gorgeous as always and of course the director put her in a bikini at one point, but overall this movie fell short of my expectations.  A couple of solid car chases (one in Spain) and one cool fight scene on a train but besides those scenes a lot of lack-luster filler material.  If you thought that these two heavy Hollywood hitters would lead to a solid movie, you'll be sorely disappointed.  Avoid this one if you can.

On to Bad Teacher.  Cameron Diaz was funny throughout the movie, and she actually addressed a real world problem for teachers these days which is being forced to teach their classes so that students will pass the state-mandated standardized tests.  Anyway, she was funny, and her struggles throughout the movie represent what a lot of Americans are currently going through due to the recession.  All good up until now right? So here's what killed this movie for me: Justin Timberlake.  His character was horrendously written and the acting didn't help much.  He was just this super annoying and geeky do-gooder who substituted because he wanted to give back to the community.  I was surprised because I've like JT in other movies like Alpha Dog and The Social Network, but in Bad Teacher his character and acting were just pathetic.  I think the writers are to blame more for this one, but overall his character ruined the movie for me.  I expected a lot more from this one.  I'm starting to think that Cameron Diaz really isn't that talented of an actress or she just had terrible luck in choosing movies.  What happened to the good old days of My Best Friend's Wedding and There's Something About Mary?  I miss you Cameron, come back to us with some better movies.

You're probably thinking that I hate every movie I see right? Wrong! Here's a movie that I really liked and I advise all of you to see: The Adjustment Bureau  starring Matt Damon and Emily Blunt (aka Gorgeous).  The movie features the theme of fate and concludes that we all live our lives according to a plan that most times cannot be changed.  Not only does the movie feature an interesting plot with plenty of twists and turns, but there are great effects with the scene changes and cinematography.  I'm a big Matt Damon fan and I credit his acting ability as the main driving force for my watching this movie.  Some actors rarely make a bad movie and Matt Damon is one of those actors.  As I flipped through the on demand menu for the three premium channels in my cable package I went back and forth on this movie for a while.  I thought it would be a sleeper, but it kept my attention from start to finish and featured scenes and conflicts that many people can relate to.  The only thing this movie didn't have too much of is comedy, but honestly it didn't need it.  Overall this movie was solid all around because it made you think.  As the viewer you were forced to not only guess what would happen in the plot but you're forced to relate the on-screen scenarios to your own life asking yourself "What would I do?"  If you haven't seen it yet I highly recommend The Adjustment Bureau.  I also now have a new crush on Emily Blunt.