Shanghai Knights - (2003) Sigh. I tried. Knowing full well that one must NEVER over think any movie where Owen Wilson stars I figured I'd sit back and enjoy some light hearted silliness. My real hope was that Jackie Chan, an actor I really enjoy, would make up for Wilson. It wasn't to be. Just mindless and stupid and pointless with no particularly appealing characters. Wilson character is completely anachronistic in dialogue and the soundtrack makes no sense whatsoever. As the approach Buckingham Palace they're playing "Winchester Cathedral". Seriously?
Rating - unless you're capable of completely shutting down you higher brain functions - Forget it.
Leatherheads (2008) - George Clooney takes a shot at a screwball comedy and comes up just short. Not sure I buy the chemistry between he and Renee Zellweger and the dialogue doesn't quite crackle the way it should. Not a great movie about the earliest days of pro football. Movie was a box office bomb but I'd say it was worth a look on a lazy afternoon with nothing better to do.
The Bucket List - (2007) -Take Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman as your stars with Rob Reiner behind the camera and you're fairly assured of getting something fun to watch. The two veteran actors play men dying of cancer who decide to live it up during their last months. Freeman's character has the dreams and Nicholson's has the cash. It's a strange and slightly silly buddy picture. In the end it's the chemistry between the actors that pulls it off. Definitely see.
American Beauty -(1999) - What's the song from Sesame Street? One of these things is not like the others, one of these things is not the same. This is the story of a middle aged man whose mid-life crisis is a sexual obsession with a teen age friend of his daughter. Kevin Spacey takes you to someplace that is especially uncomfortable for those of us who work with youth. His obsession will tqke him right to the edge of an unforgivable decision. Meanwhile the rest of the world is collapsing around him. I'm a huge Spacey fan. At the same time I can't say I "enjoyed" the movie. It's very good. Call it worth a look but be forewarned.
I Spy - (2002) - Stopped watching this box office stinker 45 minutes in. Owen Wilson as a secret agent? I knew in the first five minutes this movie had no chance. They open the action in Uzbekistan, except that it's obvious all the scenes with Wilson in it are done in studio. And I mean OBVIOUS. Awful. Don't waste your time unless you're a drooling Wilson fanboy/girl.
Clearly I need to clean out my Netflix queue and get a better crop of movies lined up for the new year. Top of the list now is Cinema Paradiso, Hereafter and The Man Who Knew Too Much. Gotta be better than some of what I've been watching. No more Owen Wilson vehicles certainly.
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