Where the Heart Is (2000)
DIRECTOR: Matt Williams
CAST: Natalie Portman, Ashley Judd, Stockard Channing, James Frain, Dylan Bruno, Keith David, Joan Cusack, Sally Field
REVIEW:
Based on the novel by Billie Letts, Where the Heart Is is as unabashed a “chick flick” as they come, but while at times a little too contrived and saccharine, it manages to be a pleasant and enjoyable “feel good” experience almost in spite of its own narrative contortions. Viewers of both genders should walk away with a smile on their face, even if they admit it grudgingly.
Continue readingKiss the Girls (1997)
DIRECTOR: Gary Fleder
CAST:
Morgan Freeman, Ashley Judd, Cary Elwes, Tony Goldwyn, Alex McArthur, Bill Nunn, Jay O. Sanders, William Converse-Roberts, Brian Cox, Jeremy Piven, Gina Ravera, Richard T. Jones, Roma Maffia
REVIEW:
WARNING: THIS REVIEW WILL CONTAIN “SPOILERS”
Crime author James Patterson is a bit like the dime novels you might snatch up at the airport; he doesn’t churn out the stuff of Shakespeare, but it’s a quick, easy read, brisk and compulsively page-turning. Likewise, Kiss the Girls is such a film, a decent little mystery thriller that provides a brisk couple of hours when looking for something reasonably diverting. It’s bolstered by a couple of strong lead performances, but one feels a more stylish, atmospheric director like David Fincher (who helmed the darker and more disturbing Se7en, also starring Morgan Freeman) could have done more with the material than the TV-movie look and feel of the comparatively nondescript Gary Fleder. Continue reading