richaudFullSail

This film was absolutely phenomenal, and moves on to be twice as good each time I watch it. First, I appreciated the brilliant acting of Tom Cruise. Jason Lee was funny(sometimes: not his typical character) and Penelope Cruz was also very good, but Tom Cruise carried this film in my opinion with his heart felt emotions constantly running wild. It's like they ran right off the screen, touched my soul, and then the visual effects just made me go WOW. If Stanley Kubrick hadn't passed on, I would almost think that he had something to do with this film as the photography, the art, and the demented look of Tom Cruise after his accident were all very Kubrickesque. Even if you have no patience for the story, just watching this will make you admire all of the work that goes into putting a gem, onto the big screen. The art and visuals make this movie worth seeing as many times as it takes you to fully understand it, and once you do, you will be even more amazed.

I have read all 36 reviews posted on this movie. I liked it that much, that i had to see what each person that took time out of their day had to say about it. To my delight, most of the comments were positive, some of them were bad (likely by people who enjoyed "The English Patient" or "Shine" -very good movies by the way), and few were accurate. This film was very much artistic. The camera work was phenomenal. The acting done by Stephen Dorff was down right excellence. The smoking cat scene was a bit silly "IF" you thought it was meant to be a realistic happening. Obviously he was imagining that but if you want to think otherwise, be my guest. The story was very good, and I don't think it could have been brought to the screen any better than it was. I enjoyed the movie very much and gave it a 10 only to bring up the 6.1 rating that I thought should have been higher. I would have otherwise given it a 9. Someone made a very clever comment about the movie being a real life incident in Joanou's life. Think about it. He directed U2 documentaries, and then went on to do movies. It was very realistic as it shows the real world of filmmaking. Producers very strict demands, problems with the cast. There were many things going on in this film and I thought that it was pulled together quite nicely. It gives you everything Hollywood wants, except the happy ending, which goes back to that thing called REALITY. Jake(Dorff) is a mess. You know this from the beginning because he's drinking and he's got a girl in bed that he married just the night before. He takes you through the occurrences that got him where he is. He takes a step into an unfamiliar world of directing with movies instead of his main talent, rock videos. He meets a girl, falls in love, screws the relationship up, quits his job, meets another girl and recklessly marries her, he gets a humiliating "wake up call" by his friend Bono as the other girl comes back for him, she leaves again, he gets divorced after being married for 24 hours to a woman he knew for 12, he tries to get back with the woman he originally fell in love with... need i go on? Realistically, these kind of things would make you go to the lengths that Jake actually does. He is a guy with a very wild mind, if he wasn't, he wouldn't be a great director. That is very important to realize. Normal minds in most cases cannot mastermind a movie. Anyways, i just thought that everything about this movie was great. I will not try and interpret every detail and TELL you what i think. I believe in something Stanley Kubrick once said. "I would not think of quarelling with your interperetations, nor offer any other, as i have always found it the best policy to let the film speak for itself"-Stanley Kubrick If you havent' seen the movie, you should and pull from it what you can. P.S. It's really funny. I thought i was the only person who right off the bat thought, 'Geez, this is kinda like Christian Slater in Kuffs!' Anyways, people copy each others style all the time. It was a good idea originally, and it was used again. No big deal, right?

There are a lot of angry Canadian people expressing hatred for this movie. I can totally understand where they are coming from. I play the game of hockey, and I find it hard to believe that every time a player touches the ice, he's scoring goals. Added to that, how he learns to fight, and works out for a week, and all of a sudden beats up a guy that kicked his butt a couple of weeks before. BUT.... You also have to understand something else. Since Slap Shot, an undoubtedly awesome classic to all hockey fans around the world, there had not been an attempt at a movie that mainly focused on hockey. The makers of this movie had to be creative to attract attention for the sport. For example, the stick fight, the constant beautiful goals, the way he won the fight. It had some reality to it like the jokes played on the rookie in the bar and when they shave him, you know, down there. The way he was put up in someones house. The most impressive thing about the movie, was the beginning and how it set up the rest of the movie. It starts with a home video of Dean(Rob Lowe) when he was very young playing with his older brother and their friends. It shows how clearly dominant he was and that leads into the present time with him saying, "I've been offered a tryout with the Hamilton Mustangs." And to Canadians who feel like this movie disrespected your great sport (yes, i mean GREAT sport), remember this. When they are on their way to Canada, Deans older brother who is driving him says you are gonna have to learn, "Oh, Canada" and also when Dean says, "They'll never catch me" showing cockiness like he's superior to anyone in the league, his brother says, "Oh, they'll catch you." I love hockey, I loved this movie. Did it have it's flaws? Yeah, plenty of them. But if you're looking for an inspiring, action filled drama, give this movie a whirl.