Film Reviews by DR

A disappointing sequel, it lost the charm of the original. The plot was largely given away, spoiling the suspense. The characters were unremarkable lacking any magic quality. The sound track retained some of the original music, but was generally inferior, the additions being out of place.

The action sequences were unconvincing. Drunken US war correspondent thrust into heroic role. A tired theme. Also, the sound track was not good.

A delightful film with convincing characters showing the dilemma of a woman forced to find a solution to her feckless husband's money problems. Working as a primary school teacher, she is at the same time trying to instil moral standards into an unruly class. There is much humour, realism and cynicism in this story.

This film could have been made as a B-movie to some other production.

Nicole Kidman and Julia Roberts have a poor dialogue to work with. Their cardboard-like characters gesticulate repetitively but add little of interest. The story is quite improbable. A contrived plot with much emotion but little else.

This is a distressing film to watch, where a wife and mother with a mortgage contribution to make is threatened with dismissal from her employment. She is in a vulnerable psychological state. Selected for dismissal for having a poor attendance record, she must petition her fellow workers to forego the pay increase which, it has been promised, will accompany her departure. She seems quite unfit to work or fight for her job, but her husband is clearly going to put some backbone into her or else they will have to return to social housing.

The film is in French, and appears to be sited in Belgium, where unless things have changed in employment law and trade unionism, none of this could happen. So the plot seems contrived, but designed to show a heartening development.

The plot comes from a novel by Cormac McCarthy and in essence it should have been a good production, but it wasn't.

In the film, the story line is quite hard to follow. There is no sensible introduction, other than a lewd sex scene with no context or relevance. There is a denouement at which certain things become clear, but in the highjack of the drugs shipment it is difficult to understand whose operatives are at work, and what is the arrangement if any between the character played by Brad Pitt and anybody else.

To interpret this film would be to spoil the enjoyment of the viewer, who will make his own interpretation.

The events comprise the common experiences of women. Trouble with their former partners, hope for a different future.

Yella seems to find a role where her knowledge of company accounts is only surpassed by her unsuspected interpersonal skills : a role bordering on the illegal. The film describes what happens when hope in general, e.g. for a worthwhile employment, or for worthwhile small business projects, is confronted with cynicism.

With AI expected to take on growing importance, I decided to view this film.

I had found Alex Garland's novels more suited to an under-35 age group.

This however, is a serious film, with an unfolding narrative.

Anthropomorphic robots are what this is about, their possible thoughts, their possible motives, their possible pretexts, their possible ethics, their possible superiority to flawed human masters.

To what extent are female emotions merely calculation? One might well ask in a general context.

The ending of the film is not the ending of events. Anthropomorphic robots like these will need to socialize with each other.