handcrafted film criticism by maryann johanson | since 1997
Yes, it’s a romance, like all the ads are saying: a rapturous one, a glorious one, the best since *The English Patient* or *Gone With the Wind* or whatever classic the TV commercials are likening *Atonement* to in tones of hushed, awed respect.
I was *not* crying, I tell you, *not* crying by the end of *The Bucket List.* It’s just that the screening room was hot and dry and my eyes were itchy.
There are enough tender and nicely realized touches in this family drama to make you wish the overall effect was more, well, affecting.
*There Will Be Blood* slaps you in the face. It’s Joe Pesci in *Goodfellas* raging, “Do I amuse you? Do I entertain you?” in that way that suggests that it could not give two figs what you think of it.
Maybe this is funny if you’re actually stoned. When taken sober, not so much.
Genuinely and cheerfully uplifting…
Triumphs over other similar movies with its dedication to authenticity and its refusal to accede to sentimentality…
Think *Free Willy* meets director Jay Russell’s own *My Dog Skip*…
John Sayles’ latest movie, his 16th, is another wonder of beautifully observant cinema, a sneakily magical immersion in a lost place and time…
Denzel Washington has done it before, so why wouldn’t he do it again?
