Review Roundup: EAGLE EYE, MIRACLE AT ST. ANNA
By Norm Schrager at September 28, 2008 | 9:07 pm | Print
There’s one advantage to submitting the Roundup late this week: We know Eagle Eye had a dominating box-office weekend — which means Shia LaBeouf has yet another hit. The 22-year-old self-proclaimed “little Jewish guy” is on an impressive streak: Disturbia ($80 million), Transformers ($319 M) and Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull ($317 M).
Consider LaBeouf’s smaller choices – like his great performance in A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints — and the guy (and his agent) can pick ‘em. Next year will bring the massive Transfomers sequel, as well as participation in the multi-story New York, I Love You. That’s superstar balance. On we go.
:: EAGLE EYE
Rotten Tomatoes: 25 / 100
Metacritic: 43 / 100
filmcritic.com: 3 / 5
“Um, what young man, I don’t see a young man anywhere…”
See, sometimes a mysterious high-octane trailer can override poor reviews. LaBeouf frazzled, on the run, in trouble. Michelle Monaghan frazzled, on the run, in trouble. Combine the paranoia of Disturbia (directed by Eagle Eye helmer D.J. Caruso), Enemy of the State and The Game… and then suspend all levels of disbelief. To like this one, you need to play along and ignore the lack of originality.
:: MIRACLE AT ST. ANNA
Rotten Tomatoes: 28 / 100
Metacritic: 37 / 100
filmcritic.com: 2.5 / 5
WWII, and kids all over Italy learned a cool new handshake…
Everyone and his mother (me too) loved Spike Lee’s Inside Man, the director’s last theatrical feature. No such response for Lee’s WWII drama, about an incident that occurred in Italy involving a group of black soldiers. Whether the blame is Lee’s direction or James McBride’s screen adaptation of his own novel, critics say this one’s too plodding, too long and occasionally unfocused. But if you gotta have the latest Lee commentary on race and politics, this is it. Inside Man 2 is on the way anyhow…
:: NIGHTS IN RODANTHE
Rotten Tomatoes: 25 / 100
Metacritic: 39 / 100
filmcritic.com: 3.5 / 5
“I like sunsets, long walks on the beach…”
At first I read this title wrong and thought I saw “Rodan” and said “whoo, another Godzilla movie!” Yeah, I’m wrong, it’s a melodrama. Sniff. Sniff. Two middle-aged folks — Richard Gere and Diane Lane, far more physically attractive than any middle-agers you know — find one another (sniff) in another adaptation of a Nicholas Sparks novel (Message in a Bottle, The Notebook). Critics say the film’s goal is simple: make you cry like a tired toddler. Success varies, depending on who you read.
Like this post? DIGG IT
