Conflict is the source of any good story. But is it sometimes enough to keep the audience/reader interested in the tale?
In the 2010 romantic comedy, Love & Other Drugs, Jamie (Jake Gyllenhaal) makes his living by selling medicine in 1990s Pittsburgh. He is not in want of partners. Then his head is turned by an unlikely woman. Maggie (Anne Hathaway) is living with Parkinsons disease. Though it starts as out as friends with benefits, their relationship turns into an unlikely love match. Will they listen to their hearts or turn away?
As clever as this film portends to be, it is pretty much paint by numbers. Despite the solid chemistry between the lead actors, it was not enough to keep me watching.
As usual, the ratio of male characters to female characters that are more than one note is lacking.
Stories of political intrigue have existed since the dawn of human history. The question is, is the story unique or done to death?
Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time hit theaters in 2010. Based on the video game of the same name, the movie tells the story of Dastan (Jake Gyllenhaal), a prince who must save the world from the evil lord Nizam (Ben Kingsley). Assisting Dastan is Tamina, (Gemma Arterton), a princess in her own right. Together they must prevent Nizam from getting his hands on a dagger that will allow him to rule the world.
In an essence, this movie is a low rent Aladdin. It tries, but whatever elements Aladdin had that made it successful, this movie has none of it. In addition, this film reinforces the idea that only Caucasian actors can play ethnic roles. Among the three lead actors, the two actors playing the heroes are definitely not of Middle Eastern descent. Of course, the villain is a person of color, additionally reinforcing the idea about first and second class citizenship in this world.
The critics on Rotten Tomatoes gave this movie a 37% rating and frankly, I can’t disagree with that.
Director Roland Emmerich likes to destroy the world, at least on screen.
In Independence Day (1996), it is two days before July 4th. Communication systems around the world are failing for what seems to be no reason. At first, the reason is though to be meteors. Then David Levinson (Jeff Goldblum) discovers that Earth is about to destroyed by an alien race. The day before July 4th, many of major cities around the world are destroyed by the aliens. The survivors have one more chance to save Earth. Can David and Captain Steven Hiller (Will Smith) save the world on July 4th?
For a movie that is more science fiction than fact and more action than plot, it’s not bad. Considering that it was made in 1996, the special effects are also pretty decent.
In The Day After Tomorrow (2004), Jack Hall (Dennis Quaid) is a paleoclimatologist. He discovers that a rather large ice sheet has separated from a glacier and could potentially affect climates around the world. At the same time his son, Sam, (Jake Gyllenhaal) is in New York City for a school trip. When the upper part of the United States is hit by a giant wave and then frozen over, Jack will go on a daring and dangerous mission to rescue his son.
Before I go any further, I will warn that anyone who sees this movie for the first time, must watch on a large screen. Watching this movie on a small television, the impact is lost. This movie hit’s home for me, especially with the idea of climate change. Now granted, this is a movie and I am sure that some liberties were taken with the plot. After Hurricane Sandy hit two years ago, this movie had elements that were very real. Especially the large wave hitting downtown Manhattan (I see that view nearly every day).
Writergurlny 