Did It Suck Movie Reviews

Archive for the ‘Drama’ Category

Review:     3.5 Stars     Rated:     R

Good cops, bad cops, undercover cops, rookie cops, and dead cops.  Director Antoine Fuqua shoots his way through the dark side of police work in Brooklyn’s Finest.  Staring: Richard Gere, Don Cheadle, Ethan Hawke, and Wesley Snipes (who, BTW,  is back after a 5 year break).

Plot: Three New York police officers take us into their lives as we see them struggle against the streets of Brooklyn.  Eddie (Gere) has seven days left until he retires; life and 22 years on the job has already killed him.  Tango (Cheadle) is an undercover cop who wants his life back because he’s forgetting who the enemy is.  Sal (Hawke) is a narcotics officer who needs money and is desperate to support his three kids and sick pregnant wife.  He risks his job and life trying to pocket drug money after police raids.

As expected this was a slow character driven movie.  In saying that, all the actors played their parts incredibly well and this made it easy to connect with each of the different characters.  The story line was a little loose, there wasn’t much of one until the end of  the movie where all three cops end up in the same location.  Not the best cop movie but over all it was a half decent film.  Final verdict …. Not worth spending full price at the theater, Wait For The DVD.

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- Dan Kersey

Review:     3 Stars     Rated:     R

Therapy and medication is not going to help these folks get better.  A remake of the 1973 classic film by George A. Romero finds a way back to infect the big screen again.

Plot: A small farming town’s water supply is contaminated and causes irrational thinking and behavior among the community. We follow Sheriff David Dutton, his wife Judy, and deputy Russell Clank, as they try to escape this plagued town that the military is trying to lock down and contain.  The Crazies stars Timothy Olyphant, Radha Mitchell, and Joe Anderson, and was directed by Breck Eisner.

You are either going to like this film or view it as a waste of time.  It’s a slow paced movie with a few good jump scenes and a little bit of that horror movie gore thrown in.   It wasn’t too bad for a remake, but, the in between scenes really played out the drama role in the movie and it was a little boring.  I think the main problem, for me, while watching this movie was the lack of intensity needed to keep you on the edge of your seat wondering what’s going to happen next.  I did like the film but the big screen offers very little for this movie, Wait For The DVD.

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- Dan Kersey

Review:    4 Stars     Rated:     14A

There’s no shortage of straitjackets on Shutter Island.  It’s a cold, dark, damp tale brought to life based on a 2003 novel by Dennis Lehane, and directed by old timer, Martin C. Scorsese.

Plot: Leonardo DiCaprio is a Federal Marshal named Teddy Daniels, called to investigate a patients disappearance on Shutter Island. Teddy and his partner Chuck Aule (Mark Ruffalo) find out that this hospital for the criminally insane is more than what it appears.

A smart and interesting movie.  I am happy to say that the trailers give nothing away to the mystery of the story.  I was not that interested in going to see this film because DiCaprio is not my favourite actor  but  I was quite surprised at how much I really enjoyed it.  There are good supporting roles by Ben Kingsley and Max von Sydow.  The only critical thing  I would have to say is this;  the ending was drawn out a little too long even though I do understand why.  Definitely Worth a Ticket

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- Dan Kersey

Review:     3 Stars     Rated:     PG-13

Ahhh, love is in the air, especially on Valentine’s Day where a bouquet of  lovely film stars, hand picked, washed, and well dressed, can frolic around in this romantic comedy.  Director Garry Marshall known for comedies and love stories gives us his look into Valentine’s Day.

Break-down: Love, romance, and heartbreak are all a part of this story that focuses on several people and their lives over the course of Valentine’s Day.

This movie has a big cast Including Julia Roberts,  Ashton Kutcher, and Jamie Foxx but is, unfortunately a big let-down.  This is not to say that I didn’t smile or laugh when watching Valentines Day, but it was far from any real comedy.  In fact I’m not exactly sure what the main agenda was, or what the story was trying to bring to the audience.  Take out the Valentine’s theme and the movie was really just a big Moorpark.

I liked the idea of this movie, following the different people around, it wasn’t  hard to follow and worked well.  However, it jumped around so much that you didn’t get to know the characters well enough to feel anything for them.   No doubt it will be a good renter so Wait For The DVD.

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- Dan Kersey

Review:    2 Stars     Rated:   PG-13

Best-selling author Nicholas Sparks and director Lasse Hallström, who is better known for music videos, bring this love story to the big screen

Plot: on leave, John Tyree, a young soldier, meets a girl named Savannah on Spring break and they fall in love.  John’s military career takes him away on many dangerous postings and the two love birds are only able to see each other sporadically.  The two keep in touch by writing passionate letters to each other.

Dear John: The Notebook it is not.   This film is an attempt to pull at your heart strings where the chemistry of the characters in the Notebook left you needing more.  Unfortunately it fails.  It leaves you feeling cold and confused, and was extremely typical.  This movie also became overly sugar coated quickly so you’re better off to Wait for the DVD, it will make a suitable breakup movie to watch with your girlfriends !!!

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-Nicole West-Blanchard

Review:     3 Stars     Rated:     PG-13

The Lovely Bones, don’t let the strange name or the previews fool you in thinking this movie is a typical stalker/killer film.  Peter Jackson directs this film based from the original novle by Alice Sebold

Take a trip beyond an ordinary murder movie into a story thats narrated by the murdered Suzy Salmon (Saoirse Ronan).  Suzy is in the afterlife, somewhere between heaven and earth,  she watches her family and her killer continue on with life.  She is a restless spirit not ready to let go until she’s ready.

Visually stunning with incredible sound and camera artistry. Unfortunately I found the story lacking the intensity needed to balance it out.  Most of the supporting characters including the killer had very little depth in which to feel anything for them.  I did enjoy the film, though please note, I never read the book. The beautiful visual effects were well worth seeing on the big screen, but the rest was not enough to justify a ticket, Wait For The DVD , or maybe Don’t Bother seeing it at all.

- Dan Kersey

Review:     2.5 Stars     Rated:     R

30 years of walking through the sands of an aftermath is going to make your lips a little chapped.  The Book of Eli takes us on an adventure into a desolate post war future.

Eli (Denzel Washington), is carrying a book that holds great value to the post war survivors.  Most of them can’t read but for those who can, they want this book for reasons of their own; to them its worth more than its weight in water.  Eli is on a mission to take this book west to an unknown destination, but he’ll know it when he gets there.  On his little quest he picks up an unwanted tag-along,  Solara (Mila Kunis), who proves to be somewhat useful along the way.

Incredible post apocalyptic scenery and some cool action sequences; and, thats all I can say I liked about this film. Slow and dragged-out and the story had a lot of loose-ends, so needless to say, I was quite disappointed.  Defiantly Wait For the DVD, but its bordering on almost not worth renting.

- Dan Kersey

Review:     4 Stars     Rated:     R

Up In The Air is a character fueled film with  George Clooney leading the way.  Canadian film director Jason Reitman seems to fly this one home with very little turbulence from critics.  Supporting cast members included: Jason Bateman, Vera Farmiga, and Anna Kendrick.

Ryan Bingham (Clooney) flies the globe as a hired terminator, in a matter of speaking, his job is to fire people in the most decent way possible.  Ryan lives his job in somewhat of a religious fashion and loves his self isolation with nothing to weigh him down.  As the story progresses Ryan starts to come out of his isolated life, relationships and family events are things that he has always avoided until he meets a woman that completely captures him, Alex.  He then finds himself  inviting Alex, (Vera Farmiga),  to his sisters wedding.  In the midst of all this, Ryan’s company is making changes in the way they operate, leaving him grounded and more-so with a chip on his shoulder about the new change.

Clooney plays his roll exceptionally well and at the same time is perfect for the character.  As much as I enjoyed this film, even with all the critics raving about it,  it doesn’t meet up to the Did It Suck standers and quite frankly was a little long winded.  Wait For The DVD, but only if theres nothing else to rent.

Review:     3.5 Stars     Rated:     R

Tobey Maguire (Spider-Man) plays a roll that I would have never pictured him doing so well in.  At first it was hard to get past that cute and nerdy persona, but, he finds the inner beast that was needed to play an emotionally tormented  man.

Capitan Sam Cahill, a Marine,  leaves for his Afghanistan tour and  gets captured  after his chopper goes down.  His Family;  Wife and daughters, brother and father have been told that Sam has been killed.  A bit of  time passes and Sam’s older brother steps-up and fills his younger brothers place as the man of the house when…. Sam’s wife gets a call, Sam’s alive.

An emotionally driven movie with a simple storyline.  Tobey Maguire pulls off a pretty good post traumatic stress disorder roll in this movie, Brothers.  The movie is quite slow and really never speeds up, a good movie but Wait For The DVD.  I tip my hat to you Maguire, good job.

- Dan Kersey

Review:     3.5 Stars     Rated:     PG-13

A much better movie than I anticipated going in.   It has a good cast playing their parts in a fairly well writing story.

Armored is in-cased around a group of Armored Car Security Workers that have been planing an inside heist for quite some time.  It all goes wrong when a homeless person is caught watching the crew carry out there scheme.

I enjoyed this film due to the fact it didn’t need  anything spectacular to get the job done.  In short, a good movie with a simple plot wrapped up in a half decent story.  The downside is that this movie is more of a renter as it lacks the Big Screen need.

- Dan Kersey

Review:     3.5 Stars

From the man who loves his CGI, Roland Emmerich, puts on a show for the eye candy enthusiasts that will have them pausing their Blu-ray over and over so they can catch all the amazing work.   A disaster movie like no other takes the earth and and everything on it to its final moments.  2012 is the year that the planets line-up and as we are apparently going to witness some huge changes on earth. (more here).

The movie 2012 takes you for a ride from one disaster to another which was done quite tastefully as the gore factor was quite low.   Other than the fantastic disaster scenes this movie was pretty plain, although  still entertaining through the 2.5 hrs, even amongst the slow portions of the film.

If you’re looking to see a great movie, don’t see 2012.  If your looking for an amazing disaster movie, than 2012 is your ticket to the end of the world done in CGI art form.  Worth a Ticket is my final say on this movie, I will probably rent it once it comes out on DVD to watch all the cool effects again in slow motion.

-Dan Kersey

Review:     4 Stars

A refreshing film from the norm and retro perfect.  The Coen brothers do an amazing job on this film but No Country For Old Men is still my Fav’.  Larry Gopnik (Michael Stuhlbarg) is an average working man in the 60’s with a wife, two kids, a simple house and a neighbour he finds annoying.  His life starts to fall apart around him and gets kicked, a few times, while he’s down.  Not really a LMAO comedy but it does have its moments.

Little warring:  Quite a few ‘F’ Bombs in this movie, mainly done by the kid actors as part of their rebellious characters.  This being said,  the fowl mouth kids have some of the funniest parts in the movie.

If your a Coen brothers fan then you won’t want to miss this movie while its in theaters;  for the rest,  It’s a a great movie but, Wait For The DVD.

Recommend The Informant as a better pick for your money.

-Dan Kersey

Review:     3 Stars

Right from the start you know that David Harris (The Killer) starring Dylan Walsh is not a man to be trusted or even shake hands with.  As the movie gets deeper you come to realize that David is not just a killer but also suffers from various mental issues.  The Stepfather is a remake of the original 1987 film which stared Terry O’ Quinn.

Much smarter than I expected but lacked suspense and had very few ‘Jump’ scenes.  The characters were portrayed as (mostly) true to life,  smart and good realistic thinking when trying to rationalize their suspicions around David.  As a thriller it’s a bit on the dull side, I did however love the ending of this movie, it’s not what you’d expect.

Despite the great ending, the movie desperately needed some good scare scenes and the suspenses was like riding a roller-coaster at 1/2 speed. It was an OK film but  defiantly a renter.

-Dan Kersey

Review:     4 Stars

As an anticipated movie, Law Abiding Citizen got the job done without the letdown.  Gerard Butler who recently stared in Gamer, has a much better movie roll in this drama/thriller. Gerard’s character, (Clyde Shelton), is a man that has lost his family to murder only to watch the killers make a deal with the Judicial system that didn’t meet up with Clyde’s expectations of real justice; heads roll from there.

Smart and well thought through movie,  unfortunately the trailers give a lot of the suspense away to the anticipation of Clyde’s next move.  Never-the-less,  this movie has its wow and ‘OMG’ moments.

Final thoughts … It was a tough decision on this review because there wasn’t much that I didn’t like in this film and I didn’t feel too bad paying to see this movie, but even with ‘all’ the ‘excellentness‘ this film has to offer, there’s really nothing anyone’s going to miss on a smaller screen if they wait for the DVD.

-Dan Kersey

Review:     4.5 Stars

This movie is really out there in a good way, a strange bizarre fun ride.  The ride never lets up,  it twists and turns leaving you guessing and anticipating to what comes next.  Funny and brilliant, goofy and classy.  The game show type music, the bad hair and clothing fit the look and feel of the movie perfectly.

Matt Damon is great in this film as he plays one of the most interesting characters I’ve seen in quite some time; and he does it beautifully.  I believe its best not to elaborate on his character do to the fact that it really needs to be discovered  for yourself.  Definitely worth a ticket to see this one.  I will probably rent it once its out on DVD just to see it again.

-Dan Kersey