Critics Consensus: Side Effects is Certified Fresh
Plus, Identity Thief is criminally short on laughs.
This week at the movies, we've got a woman on the edge (Side Effects, starring Rooney Mara and Channing Tatum); a shameless fraudster (Identity Thief, starring Melissa McCarthy and Jason Bateman), and some hotshot pilots (Top Gun, starring Tom Cruise and Val Kilmer). What do the critics have to say?
Side Effects
85%
Steven Soderbergh claims that Side Effects will be the last theatrical film he directs. Critics say that if that's the case, he's crafted a heck of a swan song in this sleek, mysterious thriller. Rooney Mara stars as a young woman suffering from depression after her husband (Channing Tatum) is released from prison. She turns to a psychiatrist (Jude Law) who prescribes her an antidepressant that he's being paid to pitch, but soon she's reeling from the drug's adverse effects. The pundits say the Certified Fresh Side Effects is twisty, elegantly shot, and suspenseful, one that offers further proof of Soderbergh's ability to elevate genre material to new heights. (Check out this week's Total Recall, in which we count down Law's best-reviewed movies.)
Identity Thief
20%
Melissa McCarthy has established herself as a scene-stealing supporting player, and critics say in Identity Thief she proves she has the goods to be a leading lady. Unfortunately, they also say she and co-star Jason Bateman can't save the film from its rambling, aimless script. McCarthy stars as an identity thief whose posh lifestyle is being financed by a financial services drone (Bateman), who tracks her down but soon finds himself in over his head. The pundits say Identity Thief's laughs are attributable to McCarthy and Bateman, who labor mightily to create a framework for the movie's undisciplined plotline. (Check out this week's 24 Frames for a gallery of impostors and identity thieves.)
Top Gun: An IMAX 3D Experience
55%
Upon its release in 1986, Top Gun was a massive success, one that made Tom Cruise a superstar, spawned a hit soundtrack, and inspired an uptick in enlistments into the Navy. It's getting an IMAX 3D rerelease this week, so a new generation can see what all the fuss was about. Suffice to say, the critics were largely split, with many praising the film's aerial footage while finding its characters to be pretty one-dimensional.
Also opening this week in limited release:
- The Taviani brothers' Caesar Must Die, a documentary about a group of prison inmates staging a production of Julius Caesar, is at 90 percent.
- Raul Ruiz' Night Across the Street, a drama about an elderly man both reflecting on his life and delving into his imagination, is at 89 percent.
- Lore, a drama about a group of German children who undertake a perilous escape after their Nazi-affiliated parents are arrested by Allied troops, is at 85 percent.
- Ferlinghetti: A Rebirth of Wonder, a doc about the legendary beat poet, is at 50 percent.
- The Playroom, starring John Hawkes and Molly Parker in a drama about a group of siblings who seem to exist in a separate world from their hard-partying parents, is at 50 percent.
- A Glimpse Inside the Mind of Charles Swan III, starring Charlie Sheen and Bill Murray in a comedy about a man whose fantasies spiral out of control after his girlfriend leaves him, is at 18 percent.
- The Sorcerer and the White Snake, starring Jet Li as a sorcerer who attempts to save a man who has fallen in love with a snake disguised as a woman, is at 18 percent.
Janson Jinnistan
Critics are bitches, by nature.
That's why the best films this week are way down at the bottom of the page. I'm glad that "Charles Swan III" is pissing off such lazy intellects. Mary Pols: "Sitting through The Mind of Charles Swan III does not lead to a deeper understanding of Charlie Sheen. It does, however, demonstrate his compulsion for poor judgment and bad choices." Clearly, she has no sense of humor. And, like most of its critics, she is confusing the film as some kind of statement on Charlie Sheen himself.
I also have very little respect for the culturally ignorant reviews behind "Sorcerer and the White Snake". Director Ching Siu-tung (who RT seems to have some confusion on either spelling his name or including virtually any reviews from his films) is an acclaimed Hong Kong filmmaker of many years, including the brilliant "An Empress and the Warriors". What the reviews show is typical back-handed spite for fantasy and martial arts.
But, yes, I'm looking forward to Soderbergh's last (until his Liberace film airs on HBO), and seemingly intriguing film. It reminds me of the recent Intermezzo drug ads on TV, with warnings of somnambulistic suicides and such. And I'm also excited for the Taviani doc and Ruiz's follow-up to "Mysteries of Lisbon", but I'll have to wait for video for both of those.
Feb 7 - 04:54 PM
King Simba
Yeah, critics hate martial arts films. I mean just look at those reviews for Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Hero and House of Flying Daggers.
Feb 7 - 11:25 PM
Janson Jinnistan
Wow. That's like, three whole movies. There's been a renaissance of Asian historical epics in recent years, and beyond the traditional Tokyo/Hong Kong markets. These films, numbering several dozen, have been routinely ignored by the American critical press. Even the reviews for "Socerer and the White Snake", you see only 12 reviews, most not by major critics. Even well reviewed films are neglected. "Ip Man" only has 5 "top critic" reviews, "Bodyguards and Assassins" only 3 reviews total.
Feb 8 - 02:32 PM
King Simba
Isn't that the fault of the guys behind these films for not screening them for critics? Critics review what's given to them. Even major movies can arrive with only a handful of reviews. I think these martial arts epics are in a similair case to Bollywood films. They appeal to a select group of audience stateside that will show up to see them no matter what, while they'll have little appeal outside that audience (unless they're the level of quality of the film's I previously mentioned), so they figure there's no point in screening them for critics.
Feb 8 - 10:56 PM
Daniel Cole
Blah blah blah, my opinion is the only one that matters, blah blah everyone else that likes things I don't or doesn't like things I do can suck my balls, blah blah. Blah.
Janson Jinnistan is a bitch, by nature.
Feb 8 - 05:47 PM
Janson Jinnistan
Honestly, your mouth is a little too small for me.
Feb 8 - 06:05 PM
Daniel Cole
Good one! That's a good girl, yes, just so good! Yes, yes you are! Who's a good girl? Who's a good girl?
Like I said, a bitch by nature.
Feb 8 - 06:13 PM
Janson Jinnistan
I'm not the one with my britches open trying to get attention.
Feb 8 - 06:30 PM
Infernal Dude
Cutler? Is..that..you? Noooooooo!
Feb 8 - 08:22 PM
Daniel Cole
"I'm not the one with my britches open trying to get attention."
I'd say your original post fits that description fairly well.
Feb 9 - 03:59 PM
Janson Jinnistan
Keep shaking that ass.
Feb 9 - 04:57 PM
Ezra Hsieh
Sorcerer and the White Snake is also poorly reviewed in China and Hong Kong, so you are the ignorant one, not the critics.
Feb 9 - 05:35 PM
Janson Jinnistan
I've read positive reviews from Asian critics, as well as mediocre reviews. It was well recieved at the Venice Film Festival.
Feb 10 - 04:05 PM