The Saint (1997)
DIRECTOR: Philip Noyce
CAST: Val Kilmer, Elisabeth Shue, Rade Sherbedgia, Valery Nikolaev, Michael Byrne, Henry Goodman, Alun Armstrong, Charlotte Cornwell
REVIEW:
An adaptation of the 1960s television series, which was itself an adaptation of Leslie Charteris’ series of novels, The Saint is a fairly lightweight and insubstantial international spy caper that comes off a bit like second-rate James Bond (an irony on multiple levels, as Ian Fleming’s James Bond novels were in part inspired by Charteris’ Saint novels, and the television series starred future 007 Roger Moore). The Saint is an enjoyable enough diversion, but doesn’t make much of an impression alongside higher-level spy thrillers. Continue reading
The Scarlet Letter (1995)
DIRECTOR: Roland Joffe
CAST: Demi Moore, Gary Oldman, Robert Duvall, Joan Plowright, Robert Prosky, Dana Ivey, Edward Hardwicke
REVIEW:
That Roland Joffe’s film is “freely adapted”, as it puts it, from Nathaniel Hawthorne’s 1850 novel isn’t necessarily an inherent problem. Book purists would grumble, for sure, but a movie adaptation of a book taking significant liberties is nothing new. The problem isn’t necessarily that The Scarlet Letter has been freely adapted into a movie, it’s that it’s been freely adapted into this movie, which cheerfully throws Hawthorne’s themes to the wind and turns his Puritan morality play into a feminist treatsie on sexual and religious liberation. Those themes are all well and good, but they’re not The Scarlet Letter, and what’s worse, it’s all wrapped up in a sudsy, overwrought romantic soap opera.
Continue readingCircle of Friends (1995)
DIRECTOR: Pat O’Connor
CAST: Minnie Driver, Chris O’Donnell, Saffron Burrows, Geraldine O’Rawe, Colin Firth, Alan Cumming, Aidan Gillen
REVIEW:
An adaptation by Irish filmmaker Pat O’Connor of Maeve Binchy’s novel, Circle of Friends isn’t anything hugely ambitious or original, but it’s a charming, delightful romantic comedy/drama, heartwarming and a little nostalgic and poignant, anchored by an effervescent debut by lead actress Minnie Driver. Continue reading
Little Women (1994)
DIRECTOR: Gillian Armstrong
CAST: Winona Ryder, Claire Danes, Trini Alvarado, Kirsten Dunst, Samantha Mathis, Christian Bale, Gabriel Byrne, Eric Stoltz, Susan Sarandon
REVIEW:
Little Women is both an unabashedly “feel good” family film and what could be considered a “chick flick”, but the latest onscreen rendition of Louisa May Alcott’s 1868 novel is a handsome and enjoyable production that goes down easily with simple charms bolstered by strong production values and a capable cast. As “girl movies” go, it’s of sufficient quality level that it can be enjoyed by viewers of both genders.
Continue readingThe Shawshank Redemption (1994)
DIRECTOR: Frank Darabont
CAST: Tim Robbins, Morgan Freeman, Bob Gunton, Clancy Brown, Gil Bellows, James Whitmore, William Sadler, Mark Rolston
REVIEW:
Among the film adaptations of Stephen King’s written work, pickings are slim for cinematic quality. Apart from The Shining (which King himself disliked), Stand By Me, and Misery, most of the rest runs the gamut from mediocre to bottom of the barrel. The Shawshank Redemption, a product of first-time director Frank Darabont in an impressive debut and Castle Rock Pictures—the company of producer Rob Reiner, who directed Stand By Me and Misery—and an adaptation of King’s novella Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption, is a notable exception. In fact, The Shawshank Redemption is not only possibly the best film adaptation of a Stephen King work, it’s a great film period, telling a powerful and compelling story that involves wrongful imprisonment, prison abuse and corruption, but despite its grim subject matter ultimately manages to be both uplifting and cathartic.
Continue readingThe Client (1994)
DIRECTOR: Joel Schumacher
CAST:
Brad Renfro, Susan Sarandon, Tommy Lee Jones, Mary-Louise Parker, Anthony LaPaglia, Ossie Davis, J.T. Walsh, Bradley Whitford, Anthony Heald, William Sanderson, Kim Coates, Will Patton, Anthony Edwards, Micole Mercurio, William H. Macy, Ron Dean, Walter Olkewicz, David Speck
REVIEW:
The Client is a slickly-crafted thriller that is almost- but not quite- saved from its own accelerating plot unlikelihoods by a competent production and capable performances. Continue reading
Jurassic Park (1993)
DIRECTOR: Steven Spielberg
CAST: Sam Neill, Laura Dern, Jeff Goldblum, Richard Attenborough, Ariana Richards, Joseph Mazzello, Martin Ferrero, Bob Peck, Wayne Knight, Samuel L. Jackson
REVIEW:
Steven Spielberg’s Jurassic Park, adapted from the book by Michael Crichton, is a tremendous special effects landmark, throwing up dinosaurs onscreen that are so realistic that at times it’s hard to believe they’re special effects creations. In fact, so impressive is the film on a technical level that it’s easy to forgive the serviceable but unspectacular narrative and thinly-drawn characters. At the bottom line, the story is just a vehicle to string dinosaur scenes together, and does an effective job of serving its purpose. Jurassic Park succeeds because it promises dinosaurs, and it delivers dinosaurs beyond anything ever before seen onscreen.
Continue readingThe Last of the Mohicans (1992)
DIRECTOR: Michael Mann
CAST:
Daniel Day-Lewis, Madeleine Stowe, Russell Means, Wes Studi, Eric Schweig, Jodhi May, Steven Waddington, Maurice Roëves, Patrice Chéreau
REVIEW:
Based loosely on James Fenimore Cooper’s novel, Michael Mann’s (Manhunter, Heat, Public Enemies) The Last of the Mohicans is a sumptuous and stirring adventure, an enthralling viewing experience that should appeal to anyone who enjoys Braveheart or Rob Roy. By every conceivable standard, The Last of the Mohicans is in the same league, and it’s a grand, passionate, rousing adventure on its own merits. Continue reading
The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
DIRECTOR: Jonathan Demme
CAST:
Jodie Foster, Anthony Hopkins, Scott Glenn, Ted Levine, Anthony Heald, Diane Baker, Brooke Smith, Chris Isaak, Charles Napier, Daniel von Bargen
REVIEW:
Few cinematic villains are a source of as much morbid fascination as Hannibal Lecter. Like the heroine Clarice Starling, we are frightened and disturbed by him, and yet we are too intrigued to turn our eyes away. Dr. Lecter is undoubtebly the character best-remembered from the psychological thriller The Silence of the Lambs, and the acclaim showered on Anthony Hopkins for his Oscar-winning performance sometimes threatens to overshadow Jodie Foster’s also Oscar-winning lead role as FBI trainee Clarice Starling, a fine performance and a well-developed character in her own right. Clarice and Hannibal are two of the strongest characters ever written and acted in a horror movie, and they are given a script that does them justice, a dark, intelligent thriller that relies much less on blood and guts than on well-honed characterizations, a few scenes of indelible purely verbal interactions, and a vivid sense of atmosphere. All of these elements combined to make The Silence of the Lambs a classic of the thriller genre and earned it five Academy Awards in 1991. Continue reading
Misery (1990)
DIRECTOR: Rob Reiner
CAST: James Caan, Kathy Bates, Richard Farnsworth, Frances Sternhagen, Lauren Bacall
REVIEW:
Following 1986’s Stand By Me, Rob Reiner has now chosen to bring another one of Stephen King’s stories to the screen, this time Misery, an adaptation of King’s same-named 1987 novel. Misery delves further into the horror genre—well-traversed territory for King—than the coming-of-age story Stand By Me but avoids any supernatural elements. The horror here is of the comparatively banal variety but one suspects may be a fear sprung from Stephen King’s own imagination: the obsessed fan.
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