Welshrogue

A Army criminal investigator is called in to investigate an apparent rape and murder. It becomes more complicated when it is discovered that the victim is the daughter of a high placed general who is looking to go into politics.

Based on the excellent book of the same by Nelson DeMille, The Generals Daughter is a tight military drama where the obvious answers aren’t usually the right ones. John Travolta plays Paul Brennan and pretty much acts it as with all other roles he takes, ie, I am John Travolta and today I will be playing a military investigator. It can be annoying but once you get over that he is John Travolta rather than the actual role he isn’t too bad, although his accent is a bit grating.

The generals daughter is a good movie for several reasons. It has excellent source material. It has a solid cast, and it doesn’t forget its a tense military drama.

When a US Marine is charged with defending an American embassy from violent protesteres, things end badly and the Marine is court martialed. He calls on his friend, who he fought with in Vietnam to defend him, even though his friend doesn;t believe he can win.

Samuel L Jackson and Tommy Lee Jones star in this tight military drama about a soldier court martialed for doing what he believed was right. Its a good story let down but a script that seems to deal only lightly with the court room scenes. The build up and the action scenes are realistic and enjoyable but once the pace slows down to the court room the movie loses its way slightly.

A good supporting cast are underused and various plot points that could have been used are either ignored or briefly dealt with. When it was over I felt that this movie is a good example of a good movie that could have been much better. It is not in the same league as A Few Good Men or Word of Honour but still a good military court room drama.

A female author from New England travels to New York to get her book, Down With Love, published. In order to get the book publicized, the author and her editor try to get the most famous journalist and world renowned playboy to interview the author but things don’t go as planned.

While Down With Love was released in 2003, this is a movie very much in the style of Rock Hudson/Doris Day romantic comedies of the early sixties.  Apart from actually being set in the 1960s, Down With Love seems to capture the filmatic style of those earlier movies. Car scenes with poor back projection seems intentional rather the accidental.

Down With Love stars Renee Zellweger and Ewan McGregor, abley supported by Sarah Paulson and David Hyde Pierce as his neaurotic best. The acting is wonderful and fun to watch. Obviously this being a movie made in 2003, it is not as innocent as a Hudson/Day movie but they keep it in the same style and for children watching, most if not all the innuendo will be above their heads. The clever script keeps the movie sexy without being rude or obvious.

Technically not a chick flick, this is a movie that can be appreciated by either gender and should be viewed at least once a year, if only to counter balance all the juvenile sex comedies that are released all the time.

When a secret NSA base is taken out, Augustas Gibbons can only turn to one man to find out who is behind the attack, Darius Stone. After escaping prison, Stone tracks down who is responsible and finds the clues pointing to someone in the Whitehouse.

The first XXX was innovative, clever and enjoyable, partly because of Vin Diesel and partly because it was action packed and fun. This XXX is none of that. Ice Cube as Darius Stone is permanently scowling and has none of the charisma that the Vin possessed. Its not really his fault though as the material he has to work with is poor at best. Lines that would make the cheesiest actor blush and scenarios that are just plain silly make this perhaps one of the worst movies I have ever managed to sit though.

Its not just the script, the special effects appear to have been bought on the cheap as several “stunts” were as realistic as Jordans boobs. At every turn, the movie managed to amazing and surprise me, but never in a good way. Just when you thought it couldn’t get any worse, it does. Logic appeared to fly out of the window as soon as the title credits appeared.

I wanted to watch and enjoy this movie because I loved the first one. I liked Vin Diesel and I loved Sam the Man, but in State of the Union, Sam the Man has drank the Kool-Aid and bought into this poor movie, which is a huge shame. At the end of the movie, my face hurt from cringing so much. I am not a person who cringes, after all Amazon Women on The Moon is one of my favourite movies but this was a painful movie to endure.