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jtimmerman327
Reviews
Sex Drive (2008)
Well worn material, but not without its charm
All in all, SexDrive wasn't a bad film. It obviously isn't Oscar-worthy, nor does it even stand out amongst its peers (while far stronger than College, it is on the same plain or perhaps a bit lower than Nick and Norah's). I entered this film with high hopes for it had a very strong trailer as witnessed before Tropic Thunder.
Unfortunately, this film did not meet all expectations. The strongest performance was had by James Marsden, who continues his meteoric rise through the annals of Hollywood. The former X-Men, Enchanted and 27 Dresses man showed versatility as the bad-ass big brother of the main protagonist Ian.
Ian himself was an unbelievably stereotyped character who was not at all realistic. I happen to be a sensitive, and in fact was involved in a relationship very similar to the friendship portrayed between the two main characters, however I can let you know that no one is that lame, and at no point did Ian seem real to me.
The character development was extremely spotty. The audience never really was able to connect with any of the characters, and the story line was only engaging about half the time.
The actual funny jokes were there though, and i guess that is the entire purpose of this film, therefore I guess it is more success than failure. I wish that they didn't focus so much on teenage stereotype and worked more into Amanda Crew's character because she is a beautiful young actress who could've used some more context.
The Da Vinci Code (2006)
Still don't know what to think
Like the majority of the world, I read the book, and loved it. The beauty of the book was contained in the shock of discovering things as Langdon did. Heading into the movie, I knew all of these things and knew all the secrets of The Da Vinci code. For example, I knew Teabing was the teacher and I knew that Sophie was the blood line of Christ and all that. It's impossible for me to review a suspense story such as this because the shocking revelations that occurred in the book simply weren't shocking in the film.
That being said, I also don't think some things were presented to be as shocking as they were in the book. Especially the opening sequence in the Louvre. When Langdon cracks the codes in the beginning of the book, it is one of the most exciting points of the story. However the movie takes a while to get into its stride, a Ron Howard trait. Once it gets going, it is a decent film, nothing remarkable, but not terrible.
The casting was okay. Jean Reno, Paul Bettany, Ian McKellan, and Audrey Tattou are great in their roles. And Tom Hanks is great too, I mean he's Tom Hanks, he's never bad. I just didn't like the choice of him for Langdon when I heard it, and Hanks simply isn't what I feel that most people had in mind when they pictured the professor in their head. This is obviously opinion, but with such a STORY-based film, it seems to help when there are no huge name actors involved (Star Wars is prime example) and having perhaps the biggest actor in Hollywood in this film brings the viewer away from the story somewhat.
And finally, it is sadly a Ron Howard film. He's not really great at suspense. Good director, works well with high priced actors and big budgets, I guess that's why he was chosen, but I would have liked to see a director with a talent for suspense and darkness take this on, it would have made it much more enjoyable.