Reviews (3)

sweeping epic
Based on Danielle Steel's bestseller, NO GREATER LOVE is a dramatic, often heart rending story of those left behind after the tragic sinking of the Titanic.

Edwina Winfield (Kelly Rutherford), the eldest daughter of a wealthy newspaper dynasty, is travelling home on the Titanic with her family and her fiancee.

The Winfields toast her engagement and the sixth birthday of her sister Alexis. But fate deals Edwina a horrible blow when her parents and fiancee go down with the ship.

Edwina tries to re-build her life and the lives of her younger siblings, while Alexis turns against the family and becomes a teenage delinquint.

For 12 years Edwina puts her romantic life on hold, while she raises her siblings, but on a trip across the Atlantic to rescue a wayward Alexis, she discovers she cannot keep romance at bay, and has an affair with a dashing Englishman, Patrick (Simon MacCorkindale). When Alexis is found, Edwina returns home to marry theatrical producer Sam Horowitz (Chris Sarandon).

At last, Edwina is free from the ghosts of that fateful night on the Titanic.

Romantic, dramatic and very well played out, NO GREATER LOVE is one of the best Danielle Steel movies ever made.

A wonderful movie
I really enjoy this movie, I watch it quite often, as I am a devoted Titanic fan. What I especially enjoy about this movie is the after math of the Tragedy, It shows how Edwina and her siblings cope after such a terrible disaster, and they all finally find the happiness they're so deserving of. I find this movie to be a refreshing change from my other Titanic movies, I view them all very often. One thing I would like to say, is Kelly Rutherford, Looks so much like a Harrison Fisher Lady,She is a very talented actress.If you read the book I believe you will enjoy this movie very much.

Very touching and entertaining film
I've seen this film a couple of times and I really enjoy it. The story is great and easy to follow, as most of Danielle Steel films are. Kelly Rutherford (those who are Melrose Place buffs know that she plays Megan Lewis, Michael's ex)is so great that she really takes care of her brother and sisters when her parents died on that Titanic disaster and sacrifices her life. This story really portrays LOVE, CARING, and UNSELFISNESS towards other people's happiness. This is a must-see film for people of all ages. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

nothing's black or white when you're fighting for your life
This film directed by Stephen Gyllenhaal is only interesting in that it presents two female protagonists, pre-empting his later preference for female actors, eg Barbara Hershey. There is enough rough housing - beatings, rape, fire, flood, rats, drugs, chase, guns - for action fans and the dramatic plot doesn't slow things down too much. However given that the main characters are female, screenwriter Michael Jacobs unfortunately subjects them both to extended humiliations.
The incident which sets Irene Cara and Tatum O'Neal on the lam is poorly if campily staged, a courtroom gunbattle where the police are exposed as clods, and the idea that they have no reason to run since they are not responsible for the gunfire is soon dubiously rationalised by the death of a pursuing policeman.
Jacobs idea of social commentary is having Moses Gunn as Cara's doctor father pontificating "I can go into an operating room, take out the bad part, and it's healed. How do you cut this off?". There is also a laugh line in response to his tale of Cara retreating to her room upon her mother's death with "You probably didn't realise how serious it was". Plus having two women trying to survive in the sleazy underworld, it's no surprise how many times they are referred to as "witch".
The inverted casting of O'Neal as a streetkid and Cara as a middle class student is unexpected, though O'Neal is hardly convincing, given her face and pedigree. Her slumming only extends to having dyed her hair red to go with her name Scarlett, and swearing. Cara is the stronger performer though has little material to shine with - the best she can do is sing the title song over the credits, which she co-wrote. Peter Fonda has one scene with O'Neal, where he calls her a "spoilt little girl", and which ends in disfigurement.
We aren't told about O'Neal's past, how long she has been on the street, and this then makes us question the glamour photo of her that appears in the newspaper. However Gyllenhaal creates an atmospheric candle-lit drug palace, even if we are told it's a place where guns are prohibited, and where someone who has molested one of the heroines and tried to kill the other is suddenly shown concern for a hot predicament.

Irene and Tatum pair well as first adversaries then friends.
The first film that Irene did after "Fame", being a fan of both stars, you will enjoy this film. Despite holes in the plot, the two stars give good performances. Irene as rich daddy's girl looking for attention and Tatum as poor girl looking to survive they make you believe in both of their struggles. ... Read more

Reviews (20)

The Good Mother
Director David Cronenberg is known for bieng a bit of a maverick behind the camera. His films run the spectrum of either being really good, like the remake of The Fly and Dead Ringers, to the really awful Naked Lunch. Fotrunately, 1979's The Brood, comes in at the upper end of my scale. Unlike most of Cronenberg's other horror flicks, this film has a bit more of an emotional subtext, to go along with its scares.

The stress of a child custody battle between Nola (Samantha Eggar) and Frank Carveth, (Art Hindle) forces Nola to seek treatment from contoversial Dr. Hal Raglan (Oliver Reed). Thanks to regression therapy and other "treatments", his patient soon discovers that a hidden childhood trauma, forces all of her inner conflicts to take the form of a group of murderous child-humanoids. These children will do anything to protect their "Mother".

The film boasts great prefomances by Reed, who's effective at making Raglan-not a typical villian-and Eggar, who really is convincing as Nola-a woman on the edge of insanity. A metaphor for family dynamics, The Brood, has enough psychological and real scares to keep you on edge the entire time. Composer Howard Shore's underscore puts the icing on the cake.

The theatrcal trailer is the only extra on the DVD. Here's hoping that the powers that be release a special edition someday. As one of Cronenberg's best from early on in his career, it deserves it. For now--this version will have to do. Recommended

Rage Made Manifest...
David Cronenberg is one of the most under-rated horror directors of all time. This is one of his forgotten movies. People remember The Fly, Scanners, etc. But THE BROOD gets lost in the terror-shuffle. This is a scary movie! Written and directed by Cronenberg, THE BROOD is a tale of disturbing psychological forces unleashed. Dr. Raglan (Oliver Reed) is using his faddish "psychoplasmics" techniques to "help" a compound full of nuerotics. Among them is Nola (Samantha Eggar), the estranged wife of the skeptical Frank (Art Hindle). When their daughter Candice returns from a visit with mom, Frank finds her back covered in bruises, bite-marks,and scratches. Infuriated by this, he seeks to keep Candice away from Nola and Dr. Raglan. Meanwhile, Raglan's methods of role-playing are bearing strange fruit, as Nola releases her rage toward her mother and father who abused / neglected her as a child. Her rage is somehow made tangible in the form of a "brood" of murderous, mutant children! This results in the bludgeoning deaths of both her mom and pop. Frank and the police are baffled when one of the creatures is autopsied and found to be lacking a navel. The dread mounts when Candice is snatched from her school classroom, leaving her teacher dead on the floor. Where is Candice? What will Frank do to get her back? What is the dark secret of THE BROOD? Highly recommended...

cronenberg; hollywood's challenging pair of brass knuckles
in the midst of a countless crop of directors lacking in personality or vision, there is david cronenberg.
he has, to this day, remained obsessivley true to a relentless, aesthetic vision.
this film and rabid are the two early masterpieces.
brood is gruesome and unsetletting, about as subtle as a pair of brass knuckles, but it is a highly personal film with many layered messages and, like all great art, it challenges you.
rise to the occasion.

An unsettling but thoroughly moving piece from Cronenberg
It is said by the great man himself that this is the closest he has ever got to making a sort of autobiographical film " and I don't want to come any closer " he feels. And in some respects you have to agree with him. The acting all round is superb and unlike in many of Cronenberg's films where the actors are almost wooden in their performance, none of them here are wooden in their performances. There's a sense of realism in this which you won't get from any other Cronenberg film. There's always a creepy sense " of what might happen " than the " wham bam you're dead " sort of horror movie

You don't really need me to tell you the story of the film since many others have commented on it. But I will say this is that Oliver Reed plays his part well. There's always an underlying threat of menace in his voice even when he's trying to convince Frank that he's on his side ( although you probably wouldn't think it at the time )

And as for those side effects that these people have while in his therapy are truly one of the most revolting things you'll ever see. Even though this film is menacingly restrained yet emotional, it'll take a strong stomach to see one of the more gruesome scenes of the film ( although it ain't as gruesome as Scanners or Videodrome )

However this is a film that has to be watched purely being for the reason that this maybe the only time that Cronenberg makes a highly personal movie.

An abused girl's traumatic experiences...
When a man picks up his daughter from a weekend visits with her mother who is institutionalized in a private clinic he notices bruises and bite marks on her back. This is seems to be linked to the psychiatrist at the mother's clinic, who opposes the idea of removing the daughter from the visits. The father then attempts to prevent the mother from seeing the daughter, but finds out that he will most likely lose custody of the daughter if he continues to press the issue into court. Squeezed in between a rock and hard place the father begins to gather evidence that could aid him in a possible custody battle in court. However, this is interrupted by the mysterious murder of the daughter's grandmother. The Brood has an interesting idea, but the story falls flat as the characters make dim and predictable choices. In the end, Cronenberg does not create a story of disturbing suspense as he did in Dead Ringers (1988) and Spider (2002), but he does create a story that equals many other poor horror films. ... Read more

Reviews (66)

The PRINCE of KING'S Cinema translations!
First-off: I'm not a fan, but acknowledge Stephen King's preeminence among horror writers. Of half-dozen horror novels I've read, my favorite is NEEDFUL THINGS, a wicked Americanization of FAUST's legend. I've more enjoyed...because of eclecticism manifested....straying-off the path with THE RUNNING MAN onto THE GREEN MILE. King could use an editor however; his books aren't sold by the pound.

THE DEAD ZONE, in my estimate, is singular as King's movie masterpiece. Characterization carries the story from tragic beginning to sad, evocative climax. Phasers-not-on-stun master, David Croenberg...SCANNERS; VIDEODROME; THE FLY... deserves plaudits for restraining usual, often grotesque flamboyance. But the show "goes" with Chistopher Walken, playing JOHNNY SMITH. The "Dead Zone" refers to a faculty of Smith's brain...jolted into function by a near fatal car crash...that makes him CLAIRVOYANT.

The excellent cast includes Brooke Adams (as "lost" sweetheart);
Herbert Lom (as psychiatric mentor); Anthony Zerbe (as concerned parent of a reclusive son...Simon Craig...whom Johnny saves from drowning; Colleen Dewhurst (as devoted mother to the town's sexual predator and serial killer);
and Martin Sheen (as Greg Stillson: would-be President of the United States who...in perverse moment of ebulience in power... will start WW III in Nero-like act of self-glorification).

A complicated plot focuses on "blessing"/curse of psychic powers on Johnny. It approaches tragedy (DZ is not a "horror" story") because Walken is superb in refusing to "melodramatize" his most unwanted "celebrity" status as "Who wants to be Psychic?" hero. He hates the "freak quality" it confers; as well as having cost TRUE LOVE.
Again, I think the book was too long; King telegraphed Johnny's heroic confrontation with the American Anti-Christ. However
the film's pacing...particularly pursuing the serial killer...jolts. All...(sometimes Sheen is overly DEMON-strative as Prime Candidate of the Demagogue Community)...actors contribute qualities of NORMALCY King as writer so magnificently exploits to HORRIFY. Perhaps THE DEAD ZONE is really our USA still(son) pretending to be NORMAL when it isn't; with "President Greg" waiting (in THE WEST WING?) to prove it. Again: this is MOVIE KING...or at least crowned PRINCE of cinema efforts...

Intriguing Character-Driven Film
Johnny Smith (Christopher Walken), a young teacher, has been in a coma for the last five years as a result of a car accident. When he suddenly awakens, he finds that the world around him has completely changed. The love of his life, Sarah Bracknell (Brooke Adams) has married another and he has received the dubious gift of second sight. Johnny finds that when he touches another person, he can see their future. Distraught and unable to bear the ramifications of his gift, Johnny retreats into himself and lives alone in a small town in the country. He tutors children in his home to make ends meet and tries to avoid physical contact when at all possible. However, as opportunities to use his gift come up, Johnny finds that he cannot resist. First there is the rapist/murderer, then there is the young boys' hockey team falling through thin ice, and finally there is an obsessed politician (Martin Sheen). In the end, Johnny must make the choice between doing what is right or continuing to endure his bleak, loveless life...

Director David Cronenberg did a wonderful job adapting this Stephen King novel. It is not a horror story like many of King's books are, but a wonderful story about a man's inner landscape. Christopher Walken was fabulous as the self-tortured lead character and I felt that I knew exactly what he was going through, even though he never said anything. He was also ably supported by other actors, including a conflicted Brooke Adams as his love interest and Martin Sheen as a characteture of a smarmy politician who takes kissing babies to a whole new level. Shot almost entirely in a bleak, gray, cold winter, the settings were perfect for this film and really let you focus on the characters. A wonderful movie to curl up at night with.

The Best King Adaption!
John Smith (Walken) leads a humble, but fulfilling life as a teacher, has a sweet girlfriend and an all around normal life until, in his words: "God through and 18-wheeler at me." After a 5 year coma Johnny wakes up to find he knew is a different place and that he is a different person.

I've seen The Dead Zone in bits and pieces many MANY times on TV, but surprisingly never sat down and watched it from beginning to end. Well, one night I popped this baby in and realized what a dumbass I had been. The Dead Zone is simply an unforgettable thriller and quite possibly the best film based on a Stephen King novel. Our hero in this film is the everyman, a man who lives humbly and happily. A man with a lovely girlfriend and would-be wife who is respected in his community. Everything is good in his little world until one rainy night when he has a run in with a big truck that puts him in a coma for 5 years. When Johnny wakes up he finds the world has changed. His girlfriend is now married with child, his job is gone, and his body is shot. AND on top of that he can predict the future of those he touches. Mostly predicting death and destruction, but occasionally seeing the past. This new ability is considered a curse at first. As though God played a cruel trick on him, but after saving a little girl's life, solving a series of brutal murders, and saving a boy from drowning, Johnny considers his gift a blessing.

Just as Johnny begins coming to grips with his abilities he meets Greg Stillson (Sheen), a candidate for a senator and very dangerous man who dreams of becoming president. After seeing some kind of Hitler-esque prophecy Smith sets out to change the future, even if he has to sacrifice himself.

The Dead Zone is of course based on the book by Stephen King and is directed by David Cronenberg who's best known for making sexually surreal thrillers. This is definitely Cronenberg's most straight forward and best film. Shot in the fall, covered in bleak gray skies, and snow, the atmosphere of The Dead Zone couldn't be more perfect. The small town adds a sense of isolation that forces Smith to take digs at a new location at the half way point of the film to get his back together. Cronenberg's usual bleakness is here, but in this film is means something is crucially needed not just for the sake of atmosphere.

Christpher Walken is riveting as Smith, one of his best performances. The tragic everyman, who didn't ask to be anything special, but when it came down to crunch time the guy wagered it all to save the many. A truly powerful exercise in selflessness. Brooke Adams is great as Smith's would-be wife, now torn between her feeling for him and her new love. Great performance! Martin Sheen is a good villain, but takes his character a bit over the top at times. Herbert Lom is good as Johnny's friend/slash doctor as well.

The Dead Zone can be looked upon as a depressing tragedy, but I don't consider it to be that way. The finale speaks volumes about selflessness, seizing your potential and not pissing away your true gifts. The finale while sad is more chilling and unforgettable, not a tragic fate, but a product of ultimate sacrifice.

The Dead Zone is simply a brilliant film, an unforgettable journey, and one of the most fulfilling films I've seen. A true classic and one film that deserves it's place in cinema history. Check it out!

Cronenberg in his best movie!
Exciting adaptation of the Stephen King novel . It turns around a man who uses physic powers to solve multiple murderers and perhaps avoiding the end of the world. Christopher Walken as always , perfect for the role. Cronenberg once more in one of his most challenging works, but he wins all the way. Notice this is a little crossroad of The Green Mile fifteen years after.

OH JOHNNY WHERE HAVE YE GONE?
David Cronenberg took a definite twist from his usual shock-laden films when he helmed THE DEAD ZONE. One of King's best books, this is also one of the best adaptations of his books. Beautifully filmed with an expert talented cast, THE DEAD ZONE is a heartbreaking look at Johnny Smith, a young man who loses five years of his life lying in a coma. When he awakens, the girl he planned to marry has already wed, and has a young son. He is physically handicapped and sentenced to a world he doesn't know or understand. Christopher Walken gives one of his finest performances as Johnny. Beautifully understated and poignantly touching, Walken creates a Johnny you will never forget. And what a fine cast he has to support him: Brooke Adams as his love Sarah who still loves Johnny but knows there is no hope for a future together with him; Martin Sheen as the preening, dangerous Senatorial candidate with a predicted itchy finger; Tom Skerritt as the frustrated sheriff who seeks Johnny's help; Colleen Dewhurst as the mother of a serial killer who knew his crimes; Herbert Lom as Walken's doctor and mentor, who tries to help Johnny adjust; Anthony Zerbe as the father who wants so much for his son to function normally in his world; and Nicholas Campbell as a deputy hiding a horrifying secret.
The stark winter landscapes add to the chill and there are horrors here, but they are the horrors of not belonging, of loving someone you can never have.
A brilliant film and a must for King affecionados and lovers of compelling psychological thrillers. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

nothing's black or white when you're fighting for your life
This film directed by Stephen Gyllenhaal is only interesting in that it presents two female protagonists, pre-empting his later preference for female actors, eg Barbara Hershey. There is enough rough housing - beatings, rape, fire, flood, rats, drugs, chase, guns - for action fans and the dramatic plot doesn't slow things down too much. However given that the main characters are female, screenwriter Michael Jacobs unfortunately subjects them both to extended humiliations.
The incident which sets Irene Cara and Tatum O'Neal on the lam is poorly if campily staged, a courtroom gunbattle where the police are exposed as clods, and the idea that they have no reason to run since they are not responsible for the gunfire is soon dubiously rationalised by the death of a pursuing policeman.
Jacobs idea of social commentary is having Moses Gunn as Cara's doctor father pontificating "I can go into an operating room, take out the bad part, and it's healed. How do you cut this off?". There is also a laugh line in response to his tale of Cara retreating to her room upon her mother's death with "You probably didn't realise how serious it was". Plus having two women trying to survive in the sleazy underworld, it's no surprise how many times they are referred to as "witch".
The inverted casting of O'Neal as a streetkid and Cara as a middle class student is unexpected, though O'Neal is hardly convincing, given her face and pedigree. Her slumming only extends to having dyed her hair red to go with her name Scarlett, and swearing. Cara is the stronger performer though has little material to shine with - the best she can do is sing the title song over the credits, which she co-wrote. Peter Fonda has one scene with O'Neal, where he calls her a "spoilt little girl", and which ends in disfigurement.
We aren't told about O'Neal's past, how long she has been on the street, and this then makes us question the glamour photo of her that appears in the newspaper. However Gyllenhaal creates an atmospheric candle-lit drug palace, even if we are told it's a place where guns are prohibited, and where someone who has molested one of the heroines and tried to kill the other is suddenly shown concern for a hot predicament.

Irene and Tatum pair well as first adversaries then friends.
The first film that Irene did after "Fame", being a fan of both stars, you will enjoy this film. Despite holes in the plot, the two stars give good performances. Irene as rich daddy's girl looking for attention and Tatum as poor girl looking to survive they make you believe in both of their struggles. ... Read more

Amazon.com essential video

You are now entering Interzone, William S. Burroughs's phantasmagorical land of junk, paranoia, and crawly things. Best travel advice:"Exterminate all rational thought." In David Cronenberg's superbly shot, unnerving warp on the Burroughs novel, the novelist himself becomes a main character (played in an implacable monotone by Peter Weller), with elements from Burroughs' life--including the shooting of his wife during a "William Tell" game, and bohemian friends Kerouac and Ginsberg--added to frame the book's wild visions. This is, ironically, a somewhat rational approach to an unfilmable book (and it makes a hair-curling double bill with Barton Fink, another look at writerly madness, with both films sharing Judy Davis). Cronenberg is a natural for oozing mugwumps and typewriters that turn into giant bugs, of course. But in the end, this is really his own vision of the artistic process, rather than Burroughs's hallucinatory descent into hell. --Robert Horton ... Read more

Reviews (62)

It's a literary high
Cronenberg's version of Naked Lunch is a brilliant combination of Burroughs' novel and Burroughs' life. He blends the true story of Burroughs life (and his reason for writing) with the surreal dark-comedy 'routines' of the novel until they become one story. The story is a quiet hallucination featuring exterminators, addiction, typewriters in the form of insects, typewriters that grow genitals, a global conspiracy of intelligence agents, the drug trade, homosexual ambiguity, writer's block, accidental murder, and literary paranoia. None of these elements is explored completely. Instead, Cronenberg touches on each one until they form some strange, underlying logic.

This edition of the DVD has enough extras to make it the only version of Naked Lunch you'll ever have to buy. (They won't release a bigger, better edition later.) The BBC documentary is okay. It's about 45 minutes long, giving Cronenberg and William Burroughs a lot of time to speak. (Burroughs is particularly good, with a dry sense of humor and a habit of saying obvious truths that make people uneasy.) The second disc also has stills from the special effects team, showing how the various creatures and organic typewriters were developed.

But it's the first disc --- the movie itself --- that makes it worth buying and watching. The special audio track, shared by Peter Weller and Cronenberg, adds a lot of useful background information. The film itself is bright and sharp, a perfect example of DVD clarity. I highly recommend this DVD to anyone who is interested in the best films of the 1990s. Naked Lunch didn't make as big an impact in theaters as it did in book stores, but it should have.

"It's time to do our Wiiliam Tell Act"
Talking slithering strangely sexual typewriters, addicts of cockroach-exterminating pyretheum powder (who like to breath on cbugs and watch them die while on it), thick-fluid sipping mugwhump creatures, an assortment of strange parasitic characters to represent the sinister parts of you you never knew ere there, and a high as a kite protagonist to narrate it all. What more can I say? This is both a brilliant representation of William S. Burrough's no-holds-barred dark imagination and director Cronenburg's as well, both with the twisted audascity to take all these horrific atroscities of reality and fantasy and breath eroticism & mystery into them...

Impossible to describe or even explain (almost but not quite as incomprehensible as FEAR AND LOATHING IN LAS VEGAS), the movie is not exactly a telling of the book Naked Lunch (even though some characters, namely the vile mugwhumps, show up) as it is a telling of Burroughs writing the book and what he may have imagined while writing it.

THe film starts out with the main character William Lee and his even more "creepy" (if anyone in the Burroughs line ever wanted to label what's inside themselves) wife, Joan, are addicted to the roach powder pyretheum, which Lee obtains thru his job as an exterminator. After playing a drunken William Tell act with his wife and blowing her head off so to say (which actually happened to Burroughs and his wife, and is said to have sparked the writing of Naked Lunch), he escapes to Tangiers, Mexico (with a "ticket" which actually appears to be a syringe). There he flows into a seemingly hallucinatory Interzone--a place populated by all the things mentioned above and tons more weirdness. He also meets the wife of a bisexual author who looks almost identical to his wife...and they engage in a particularly freaky sexual practice in which a typewriter tries to join in. If I say any more, the plot will be totally given away, so just watch, and compared to all the elaborate twists and turns on this unreal path to hell, I've said very little.

Great performances from Roy Sheider (who plays Dr. Benway, another character direct from the book), Paul Weller as Lee, Judy Davis as Joan and the other Joan, and Robert A. Silverman as a truly unique black centipede meat salesman with a disquieting manor (the black centipede meat, as well as Burroughs' thoughts on how centipedes controlled many Interzone lives, were from the novel). You'll either be completely confused or completely tripped out of yr. mind, but you won't leave the film unchanged...just like Burroughs' writings.

welcome to interzone!
In my opinion, Cronenburgs best film, or at least that i've seen. Amazing movie, Peter Weller (robocop) does an awesome job too. One of those joints you pop in the player and are thinking about it a week after you've viewed it. Runaway to Interzone with talking typewriters, giant sea centipedes, and the innermost sanctum of paranoia, bizarre eroticism, delusion, hallucination, and beautifully depressing schizophrenia. It's something else. Tough movie to describe, definitely required viewing for anyone with oddball tastes like mine and a good respect for a true artists unique vision (in this case two artists, Cronenberg and Burroughs). p.s. (just don't ever try the William Tell party trick)

Out to Lunch
If you're going to watch this film then you pretty much already know what you're in for. Take Cronenberg and Burroughs, mix them together and you've got yourself a pretty weird film. And it is weird, but it's also so much more. It deals with addiction like no other film has. Specifically how addiction effects the creative process. This is far from youre average nice Saturday night film viewing, but it's a real treat nontheless. Criterion has once again done an amazing job. I'd be surprised if there's ever a better release of the film.

David Cronenberg's Very Best
Before you even try to watch this movie, realize that David Cronenberg's films are among the most bizarre and perplexing films you will ever see. If you like your films to stick to traditional narratives and standard plot devices you will probably hate 'Naked Lunch' (and any other David Cronenberg film you chance to come across). If, however, you are extremely open minded (as in, "I'm open to watching a movie where people have sex with typewriters that turn into giant insects") you may find yourself addicted to Cronenberg's surreal style of film making.

'Naked Lunch' follows the story of a bug-exterminator-cum-secret-agent who...you know what, forget it...because the plot in 'Naked Lunch' isn't really what this movie is about. I'm not going to say that the movie is plot-less (it's not), but the story (an insane organic blend of sections from Burroughs's novel and episodes from his life) exists mainly as an alibi for Cronenberg's signature style of subconscious imagery; more specifically, for his metaphoric exploration of writing as an erotic addictive binge to "exterminate all rational thought." If that doesn't make a whole lot of sense, don't blame me. The fantastic thing about this movie is that it has a twisted logic that is entirely of its own making, and it sits with you. 'Naked Lunch' is a film that is difficult to deal with. It's a movie that I love, and I don't know if that's going to come across in this review. But, 'Naked Lunch' is nothing if not ambiguous, and that's what makes it great art. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

More worthy for its intentions than its execution
William Friedkin's little seen "Rampage" is a disturbing film that doesn't quite work but still deserves some credit for being one of the few films to actually try to seriously examine the actual real life issues of evil, murder, and justice in this country. Alex McArthur plays a blank-faced serial killer that Friedkin apparently based on Richard Ramirez, the infamous night stalker. The always underappreciated Michael Beihn plays the district attorney who prosecutes McArthur and seeks the death penalty despite his own personal opposition. During the trial, Beihn is himself haunted by memories of the death of his own daughter who we learn was being kept alive by machines until Beihn ordered her to be taken off life support. If all of this sounds a bit heavy handed, well, it is. After years of making films that, at times, seemed to define "style over substance," Friedkin attempted to make a film that was all substance but stacks the deck so in favor of the death penalty that the film's attempts to provide a serious debate of the issue ends up falling somewhat flat. (I should note that I support the death penalty so I didn't have any trouble with the politics of the film. My objections, instead, rest with the heavy handed way those politics were presented.) However, that said, it should also be said that this is still a powerful, if flawed, film. Friedkin's direction is grimly realistic and, admirably, he tones down the hyper kinetic, "look-at-me-ma-I'm-an-auteur" flashiness that had marred most of his films since 1980's unfortunate Cruising. Uniquely and admirably amongst films of the serial killer genre, Alex McArthur's killer isn't turned into some sort of wanna-be Hannibal Lecter, dispatching nameless victims with a quirky one liner. This is the rare film that has more sympathy for the victims than the killer and as a result, the viewer never forgets the true horror that madmen like McArthur's killer bring ino the world. The film's initial murders are devastating and rather hard to stomach (as real-life murder is). This realistic quality, the feel of real life being played out before our eyes, was what made Friedkin's earlier films like the French Connection and the Exorcist so memorable. However, at the same time, he also fails to give us anything as captivating as Gene Hackman chasing the subway or Linda Blair's head doing a 180 degree turn and, as a result, Rampage at times gets a little too talky for its own good. (Even the one action/suspense sequence towards the end of the film feels rather tacked on as if Friedkin's heart wasn't really in it and he was simply making a sop to commercial conventions.) The two leads, who have never become stars though both have strong and loyal followings, also do wonderful work. With his pleasant but off-looks, McArthur is terrifying as the emotionless killer -- all the more so because both he and Friedkin never resort to any easy answers to explain his madness. Michael Biehn plays an essentially introspective role and manages to pull it off with a skill that bigger stars should envy. Wisely, Biehn plays up the very ordinary, almost bland qualities of his character, creating a human being as opposed to just another character in a film. Whatever depth that film's ethical debate carries belongs not to the heavy handed script but to Biehn's totally convincing performance. As well, though she doesn't get to do much, Deborah Van Valkenburgh (cursed to be remembered primarily as McLean Stevenson's brunette daughter in that most banal of all sitcoms, Hello Larry) is sympathetic and likeable as Biehn's wife. Most importantly, when this was first made in 1986, Rampage was one of the few films to actually attempt to intelligently examine the issues involving the death penalty. Certainly, its no where close to the standard for such films, Tim Robbins' Dead Man Walking, which, despite the fact that Robbins has always been far more outspoken politically than Friedkin ever was, managed to avoid this film's heavy handedness -- i.e., while it was obvious that Robbins didn't support the death penalty, his film still can be seen as a persuasive argument for both sides of the issue. One wishes that Rampage had managed to pull off the same trick because, when combined with the performances and Freidkin's direction, one can't help but feel the film could have then been truly great instead of just being a noble misfire. Rampage, itself, wasn't released until several years after it was first filmed. By that time, most of the country was firmly pro-death penalty and the film's attempts to spur debate seemed rather dated. Now, with Bill Clinton's 1992 execution of Ricky Ray Rector and the more recent spate of executions in Texas under then-Gov. Bush, the issue has come back and even supporters like myself have somewhat ambigous feelings towards the death penalty. As well, recent years have seen an increase of films like Natural Born Killers, Hannibal, and the whole slahser film genre; films that have created a cult of celebrity around the characters of brutal murderers and that often present brutality as the modern equivalent of slapstick comedy (all trends that Rampage very much did not embrace). Now is a perhaps a good time to rediscover Rampage, admired it's succesful moments, and regret it's noble failures.

Better Late Than Never
This film was panned by the reviewers when it was came out because it was released many years after the key subject matter had changed in the publics mind. The era in which this film was intended was a time when the options for sentencing a convicted murderer were limited to a life sentence, which would allow some killers to be back on the streets in as few as twelve years or the death penalty.

In that time period William Friedkin started researching material for a film that was supposed to show how the death penalty was too extreme for some cases. As he studied the case in which the filmscript was based he became convinced that the death penalty was needed and that some killers really deserved to die for their crimes. The tone of both the script and the film that would follow then started to change dramatically.

I suspect one of the reasons the film remained in the can (completed but not released) as long as it did in no small way had to do with Hollywood's political leaning away from the death penalty. It was also a time when Chief Justice Rose Bird of the California Supreme Court granted every death penalty appeal that went before her court.

Freidken's depiction of the killer in this film leaves the viewer with no doubt the world would be a better and safer place if the death penalty was applied. His story also gives the viewer some insight into how the outcome of the trial could be changed by some small details.

Now that the courts recognise the concept of a life sentence without posibility of parole some of the passions in opposition to the death penalty have cooled off because the juries now have the ability to keep a killer out of circulation forever. Just remember the characters in this film did not have that option. And it was not going to happen for at least another ten years.

It's Unique!
Reviewer is the author of NOT GUILTY BY REASON OF INSANITY (which is also on Amazon.com).

Okay! Okay! THE EXORIST,it's not! It does, however, give a unique twist to an otherwise well-worn subject---The demented killer, and should he be executed, sent to prison or, perhaps, found to be Not Guilty by Reason of Insanity? Certainly, the theme at hand isn't pro-NGRI. But, isn't it good to get contrasting perspectives on this complex topic? Is he psychotic? Is he merely psychopathic? Or, perhaps, he's a mixture of these two "psycho-babble" DSM IV categories! Michael Biehn shines brightly as the relentless D.A. Perhaps, however, he could have played the BAD GUY all the better! ... Read more

Reviews (9)

A very, very bad movie
This has to be one of the all-time worst movies ever made. I mean, come on! Lou Diamond Philips and Jennifer Tilly as Inuits? The whole movie is a shameless distortion of Inuit life and culture, the type of portrayal one would have expected from a movie made in the 1930s. Worst of all, though, is the fact that Toshiro Mifune somehow felt compelled to become involved with this movie. Why, man? Why? You were such a grea actor and certainly didn't need something like this to besmirch your great reputation.

Definetaly one of the best
Wow, this tape absolutely blew me away! This is by far my most favorite tape out of this whole series. I love the scene with the fireflies! It brings a tear to my eye every time I watch it. A very touching and shocking tape. It might be easier to understand it if you've seen Samurai X Trust and Betrayal, since that tells the story of Kenshin when he was the Hitokiri Battousai, that way you would know more about his past and some of the characters that show up in these episodes.

I don't quite agree to this movie as a great one
Yes, the toughness of shooting this serious movie is praiseful, but what I'd like to ask is "what is the purpos of shooting this movie". The young role played by Lou Diamond is a warrior but also a heartless brute and savage, sometimes smart and sometimes stupid, beating up his woman with every right he thinks entitled. This young man didn't evolve himself to become a deeper and greater warrior with righteousness or higher calling in his mind. The whole movie is just like a documentary trying to show you how tough the life could be in the so-called Far North. What I've seen are bunch animal-like human beings, injuns or white men, they are basically a bunch of crooks, lowlives, trying very hard to rob, cheat one another to make the survival bit easier or more profitable. The role Lou Diamond played didn't and had not develop into a more respectful, standing tall man, just a get-by survivor. Of course, any production that had the heart to shoot in the cold wildness is a serious movie, but a deeper passion to give to the viewers to pay their respect first is working the script with better purpose and thoughtfulness, subtlely educate the viewers with more powerful senses is what that lacked of in this movie.

A Must See
Rurouni Kenshin: Shadow of the Wolf is probably one of the best episodes I have ever seen in an anime. SOTW begins the Legend of Kyoto storyarc where Kenshin Himura's relatively peaceful life at the Kamiya dojo is shattered when a visitor from the past appears, and now Kenshin must become a wanderer once again, to save all of Japan from the clutches of Mokoto Shishio - a former manslayer with aspirations of ruling Japan in his own manner "If you are strong you live, if you are weak you die."

The animation is very well done and the music is simply awesome. A quiet, whimsical melody for the brief interludes of peacefulness and then interrupted by tense sounds of impending violence.

If you liked Ninja Scroll, then you'll love Rurouni Kenshin. A must see for any anime fan.

Poor Little Kiwi Bird Gets Her Fix
Despite the expense this was to me -- hey, I live in New Zealand -- this tape was well worth what I had to fork out for it. I've been waiting to see this for a while, and I was suitably impressed; the animation is very clean and beautiful, and the music is stunning. Of course, this is all augmented by having a powerful storyline behind it all; this was an incredible introduction to the new story arc. The climatic battle between Kenshin and Saitou took my breath away, and even though the overall tone is very serious I was actually stunned by the humour that was inherent in the four episodes as well. But really, that's the tone of "Rurouni Kenshin;" it's life, and you just have to take the good with the bad. That's definitely what's going on here, and it's all the better for it. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Flat
"Flat" is the only term I can think of to explain why the potential interweaving of two intriguing stories and so many characters simply does not satisfy the viewer. Essentially, this is the largely factual story of a serial killer who is not identified as such until persons involved in more mundane forms of violence become involved in his escapades. Veteran actress Ann-Margaret plays a 58-year-old nursing assistant at a mental institution who becomes infatuated with one of her charges, a man nearly 20 years her junior, and takes him into her life and home. She explains along the way that he filled the emotional gap left by the deaths of her husband and her son. However, he is a violent, verbally abusive, antisocial drunk who seems to take more delight in tormenting the woman than he does even in drinking and chasing prostitutes.

A local prostitute is found bludgeoned and strangled. She is a sad story in herself--marginally retarded but savy enough to go seeking cheap thrills in bars. Her mother describes her as "retarded, not so's you'd notice, but just enough to get her into trouble." Ann-Margaret sees the perfect way to get rid of her long unwanted boyfriend--frame him for the murder.

But it doesn't work out exactly as planned. As her story unravels under questioning, she adds details, finally desperately "confessing" that she took part in the murder and helped hide the body. Ultimately she gets a life sentence in prison, and her boyfriend gets 20 years in a plea bargaining arrangement.

Then and only then does the real killer, a boyish-looking long-distance truck driver with a fetish for the "happy face" motif, begin to send the female detective assigned to the case letters in which he admits killing not only the local prostitute but four other women, as well. His buttons seem to get pushed each time a woman does something that reminds him of his ex-wife. The detective finally confronts the man who invites her to sit in the cab of his truck after telling her that his wife smiles like she does. The detective wisely declines the invitation.

She then tries to get the two convicted "killers" freed. But wouldn't you know, it's election year, and the powers that be want to stay right where they are. Risking looking stupid by convicting the wrong two people may send votes right out the window. So even after the serial killer is arrested and gives an undeniable confession to the detective and her tag-along college student assistant, the mayor and prosecutor of Larwin, Michigan refuse to re-open the case, claiming that a confession is not proof of anything--a total departure of their mindset when the Ann-Margaret and her boyfriend were convicted. Only when the detective produces the one piece of physical evidence of the crime is the case re-opened and the people originally convicted of the crime set free.

It is hard to say why this film wasn't more appealing. Many appealing elements were there. Ann-Margaret should have had enormous appeal to opponents of domestic violence. The detective should have cut quite a figure as a hard-fighting career woman whose own community service consisted of taking in homeless dogs until owners could be found for them (and naming them for politiians in the meantime). The serial killer could have been made a far more interesting character than he was.

Perhaps this film sought realism. Battered women are often maddening in their refusal to change their lives and by their insistence that their lives cannot be changed. Alcoholic sociopaths seem to be hateful people with no redeeming qualities to those forced to deal with them for the long haul. Detective work is often not glamorous, and politicians tend to do only what keeps them in office. As for serial killers, more often than not, they are dull and stupid sorts whom the world would not notice but for the magnitude of their crimes.

In this film, however, the realism definitely goes flat. It is impossible to feel any sympathy or very much scorn for the characters, who all come across pretty much as two-dimensional. Consequently, you end up not really caring what happens to any of them. And that makes it impossible to care very much about this film. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

An Heartbreaking Story of Explotation!! !!
In this film Kathleen Quinlan is a sociology graduate working with teen prostitutes in Hollywood and how to get them off the streets.It's heartbreaking to see these children being exploited,a very interesting and imformative movie!! ... Read more

Reviews (4)

Now Isn't This A Questionable Message?
In this film, a young CIA employee (John Savage) sees on television his wife murdered by a terrorist. He then stalks the terrorist and kills him.

But what message does this send? Think of this situation in these terms: John Savage and his wife are a nation. A terrorist attacks that nation and inflicts horrendous damage. The remaining countrymen mount an attack against that terrorist, and simply wipe him out. He is no longer a threat to anyone else, never will be again.

Shouldn't the husband have stopped to be compassionate? Shouldn't he have asked, "Why do they hate us?" His act of simply hunting down the criminal and killing him showed absolutely no compassion, tolerance, inclusion or diversity. At no point did he consult others, such as the United Nations -- he merely acted unilaterally to punish the offender and remove all future threat of recurring terrorism by that offender. He did not dispatch inspectors to examine the guy (and later, give the inspectors more time) -- he simply wanted to erase the terrorist, so that individual would do no harm to anyone else in the future. So killing a terrorist prevents further damage by that terrorist? What sort of message is that?

Suspenseful
This is one of those movies that won't allow you to run to the bathroom or kitchen. It holds your attention for the entire film. John Savage is the perfect actor for the part that he plays. His demeanor and attitude in this film are essential to the part. He did a superb job.

I don't know how I missed this at the box office, but I'm certainly glad I discovered it later. This will be a good movie to watch on a cold winter's night.

ENJOY!!

An intelligent movie with suspense and a true underdog
Though this movie is now nearly 20 years old, it is still extremely watchable. It does not rely on special effects. It, rather, relies on the development of Hitchcock-like suspense.

In the movie, the magazine reporter fiance of a CIA computer specialist is executed by terrorists via random drawing while she is on assignment in europe. This infuriates the main protagonist of the movie -- the CIA employee. He collects enough information on CIA sensitive activities to blackmail the agency into allowing him to go into eastern europe so he can locate and eliminate the terrorists that killed his fiance himself.

He is the amateur in a professional's game. The plot is believable, the suspense is tangeable, and the story line not predictable.

I promise that if you like suspense movies, you will love this one! The acting, from main and supporting characters, is good. I particularly enjoyed the character who played the father of the murdered fiance. CIA officers and execs also play their roles (though perhaps a bit stereotyped) quite well.

5 stars.

one not to miss
if you want a great movie some night get this one. kind of lost in the shuffle, its a dramatic movie with john savage going after the killers of his girlfriend. one of those sleepers. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

The only reason to buy this is for the music!
This is a very bad video. A weak plot about hospitals and machines trying to kill patients and a lack of sympathetic characters explains why this was not given a theatrical release and went straight to video. David McCallum turns in a good performance, but he is wasted on a weak script. The best thing about this is the music, by Shadows drummer Brian Bennett, which heightens suspense where applicable and keeps well into the background at other times. There is also a quiet, romantic theme. The score was re-worked as a Shadows track for album release, but the better version is on this video. one for collectors only! ... Read more

Reviews (27)

Great Movie! :-)
I saw this movie three times, and each time I found something else that I liked about it. I have only seen Vince Vaughn in "Swingers" and "Psycho" and I must say that his performance in this movie was wonderful. All of the roles I have seen in him are so completely different, and his ability to portray such different characters shows his talent.

As for this movie, I loved it. Very rarely do you see a movie about a single father. This movie shows that fathers love and care about their children too and that it is not just the mother who can do those things. The child who played Calvin, Bobby Moat, is absolutely adorable and he and Vaughn had a great chemistry in the film.

I highly recommend this movie. I only wish I could afford to buy it! :-(

ENGAGING!
From beginning to end, "A Cool Dry Place" genuinely entices the viewer. My 20-year old son introduced Vince Vaughn's acting versatility to me when he rented "Clay Pigeons"; his cool, suave manner could "best" James Bond's attitude anyday - and you have to love that "unique" laughter! "Psycho", "Swingers" and "The Lost World:Jurassic Park" are GREAT movies (between my son and I, we own them all), but Vince Vaughn's performance in "A Cool Dry Place" is charming and attractive! Any actor who can portray a "cold, deadly" killer in one movie, but yet portray a loving, but firm, Father in this movie has "Oscar" written into his future.

Joey Lauren Adams was well cast for this film. I bought "Dazed and Confused" last year because I also suffered from the "screwed-up" seventies and graduated from high school in May 1976. I completely related to that movie! I thought Joey Lauren Adams was "Renee Zellweger" - Sorry Joey! After watching "Big Daddy", I had no doubt that there is a BIG difference between the two actresses. Her throaty, sometimes high-pitched, sexy voice is enough to drive Vince Vaughn WILD! She may be a "Veterinarian's assistant", but she HAS MORE CLASS than the woman, Monica Potter, who portrays the "truant" wife. Even though she is "just" the girl friend, she has more wisdom when it comes to "rearing" children and "what is best for the child" and her acting is SUPERB!

Bobby Moat as Calvin is EXCELLENT! A beautiful child and an impressive actor!

Like Samantha K. (Gainesville,FL), I wish I could afford to buy this movie NOW!

One thing leads to another
This is the film that sparked my interest in Vince Vaughan. His performance in this film is so sweet and well done that I just had to have more. Imoved on to Swingers, the Locusts, and another favorite, Clay Pigeons. He doesn't seem to do films like these anymore, so this is definately a great place to start your Vince Vaughan collection.

The Movie is absolutely amazing!!
There are a couple reasons why I highly recommend this movie. One of the most compelling reasons is found in the caliber of the cast involved. The acting job is quite spectacular, very realistic, and the story is very vivid and at the same time rough. Many times a director can't capture the audience's attention on "Every day life" type movies. In this movie, the director hit the nail right on the head! I would stack this movie up against "Lord of the Rings", "The Matrix series", "Fast and the Furious", etc any day. Bottom Line- This movie is genuine and a real piece of art work.

this is a WONDERFUL movie!...
The only reason I heard of this movie was because of Joey Lauren Adams, but I am SO GLAD I hunted it down! It's such a sweet tale, but most importantly, it is REALISTIC. There is no pure evil or pure good in this movie. I found myself sympathizing with each character. The casting is unbelievable. Vince Vaughn and Joey Adams are so convincing and were cast perfectly. The little boy is adorable, i hope to see more of him! I bought this when I was single and childless, and now that i have a 16 month old and husband, it hits me twice as hard. Definitely a tearjerker towards the end. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

Roddy Piper + an outstanding villain = A great movie
All Detective Jake Cornel (Piper) wants is to ask his artist girlfriend Sami to marry him, but just as he's about to pop the question, duty calls. Jake has to go down to Jungleground, an area so filled with drugs, gangs, and mayhem that the police refuse to patrol there. Jake is captured by the Ragnarockers, a Norse mythology loving gang led by Odin, a techno-punk psychotic with a warped sense of humor. Odin decides to play a game with Jake. If Jake can make it home through Jungleground by dawn, he will be free. To further handicap things, Odin sends a team of "soldiers" after Jake, and dispatches two goons to kill Sami at dawn should Jake fail to return home. JR Bourne stands out as Odin--what a great villain!! Check this movie out. Joe Bob Briggs even chose it as one of his year's best!!

Futuristic Thriller with a Standout Villain!
All Detective Jake Cornel (Roddy Piper) wants is to ask his artist girlfriend Sami to marry him, but just as he's about to pop the question, duty calls. Jake has to go down to Jungleground, an area so filled with drugs, gangs, and mayhem that the police refuse to patrol there. Jake is captured by the Ragnarockers, a Norse mythology loving gang led by Odin, a techno-punk psychotic with a warped sense of humor. Odin decides to play a game with Jake. If Jake can make it home through Jungleground by dawn, he will be free. To further handicap things, Odin sends a team of "soldiers" after Jake, and dispatches two goons to kill Sami at dawn should Jake fail to return home.

This is one of my very favorite Roddy Piper movies, mainly because of the outstanding performance of JR Bourne, who plays the villainous Odin with charisma and style. Check this movie out!

Surprisingly enjoyable
This movie was surprisingly enjoyable. Just let your brain relax and sit back and enjoy. ... Read more

Reviews (15)

Fady Ghaly's reviews
(. . .)Coming-of-age sagas are frequently burdened with threat, especially because the genre has been so overworked and even pulverized into cliché. Yet young filmmaker, John Fawcett, pulls off a coup with this hip and arresting drama that's full of spit and attitude, and is relentlessly in your face, whether you like it or not. The Genie-nominated, first-time Toronto director, working from Genie-nominated writer, Peter Wellington's edgy, intellectual script, re-invigorates the genre with panache.

He does so by balancing climactic suspenseful elements with authentic human insights. He does it with a first-rate cast, led by Chris Penn as a psychotic cop killer badly affected by a grim childhood who, when he had reached his breaking point, I guess you could say in a sense, had me on the edge of my seat till I was fully assured that he was conquered-such riveting performance was that compelling. A performance so compelling, it earned him a nomination as Best Actor at the 1996 Genie Awards. Here, Penn really delivers his finest since co-starring in Abel Ferrara's elegiac gangster film, The Funeral. (Even the title itself screams of great mourning for that which is irrecoverably past.)

The three youths played by our rising young stars are at loose ends during a teachers' strike that has closed down their small Ontario town's high school. The three friends, who dispute because their social and intellectual instincts tug in three dramatically different directions, find themselves in a quandary one afternoon as they head toward their secluded shack deep into the wilderness where the pressures of growing up do not have to be faced; however, that severely wounded and yet armed stranger in whom they discover hiding out inside may just be their ticket to real adventure. Overriding common sense, they decide to help the stranger, who we find out is named Luke, rather than report the incident to the police.

"If you want something, you just take it, and then it's yours," Luke says, and they do, and they love it. They get themselves into trouble and the thought of getting themselves in insubordinate acts excites them. They're loving it. They feel alive. (Luke even builds courage in one of the boys who was dealing with girl trouble, named Kyle, but ultimately had girl trouble no more, for he got that girl, impressed her by filling her in with his knowledge in air crafting as Luke wisely told him to, and his dream was finally fulfilled as he got to show how great his "affection" was upon her as they had sexual intercourse together.)

Over the ensuing days, the adventure escalates gradually into a full-blown moral, ethical and physical crisis. What is so clever with regards to this piece is that, even when, through the audiences' eyes, we want to wail out the words: Wake up, stupid! when one of our teen heroes is about to make a mistake in judgment, the Fawcett-Wellington team make those mistakes understandable. We sympathize. We comprehend. We're involved.

The ambivalence and complexity of the struggle are why The Boys Club has accurately been called a cross between Stand By Me and River's Edge, two landmark films that explored teen anguish with a piercing intelligence, never pandering to the youths or condescending them.

Fawcett walks the same wobbly tightrope, even if The Boys Club remains as a modest film, at least, in scale, that will not gain the notoriety of either Stand By Me or River's Edge.

On the other hand, Penn is a towering force, a raging bull-of-a-catalyst in our teen protagonists' lives. Dominic Zomprogna-being the one to play the part of Kyle-perfectly essays the confused youth torn between intellect and impulse; Stuart Stone, who plays the part of Brad, is a terrific counterbalance as the practical one, while the charismatic Devon Sawa-a dead ringer for Leonardo DiCaprio-is pure feral instinct. (According to Sawa, his character in the film, whose name is Eric, is so unlike himself that it really puts his acting skills to the test. The Boys Club has generally been his most challenging film yet, and yet he passes with flying colors.) Nicholas Campbell provides a compellingly sad-sophisticated portrayal of Kyle's father.

Their personalities mix, the deeming of both their feud and friendship bond and the palpable danger of the narrative ups the emotional stakes. Even Eric, the tough-talking, badly-behaved kid who pushed others such as Brad around and talked about how ineffectual and cowardly they were, becomes nothing more but an ineffectual and cowardly kid himself, while Brad, one who was perpetually antagonized by him, became the brave one who was willing to risk his own life in order to prevent Kyle from losing his, and, most vitally, Kyle's bother's, who was shot earlier on in the dorsum and left to bleed to death inside their shack.
"Kyle, he's getting beaten around. We have to do something. We have to do something," Brad urgently pleads.
"What? No wait...you know what, we'll just call the cops, huh?" the apprehensive Eric says.
"No, it's too late-"
"We'll call the cops-"
"It's too late," Brad continues, and they ultimately find a way to enter their shack without Luke indicating any signs of their existence, a time when even greater heat was summoned.
The Boys Club is not at all just kids' play. It is an inexorable and deeply powerful film that tests friendships and human insight, and yet it doesn't ever overdraw upon a single factor that would diminish it from being the masterpiece that is, because that's precisely what it is despite of the fact that it was shot as a Canadian film on a skin-and-bones budget, will not be released in most countries-which is a shame-and was shown at only a few theaters in Canada. (Mind you, it, however, is available on VHS and DVD in, aside from Canada, Australia and the U.S. as well.)

The Boys Club, although the affect it has upon me isn't quite as great as it once was-for I have now watched it so many times, that it has reached an extent where the amount can no longer be counted anymore-it, nonetheless, is a film that will forever be special to me. Not only because the tension that was generated by these kids in danger influenced me to become a writer, an interest that has drastically altered me as a person, for I now I'm capable of expressing my feelings in a way I never thought possible; but, in addition, because, after having stepped inside a video store one glorious day, it instantaneously drew me to purchase a copy of it on DVD despite of the fact that I merely had a VCR-a machine that was left setting alone no longer, for I the following day ended up purchasing the player itself, a highly sophisticated machine in technology that has forever altered both my experience and outlook upon movie-viewing.

Fady Ghaly's reviews
Coming-of-age sagas are frequently burdened with threat, especially because the genre has been so overworked and even pulverized into cliché. Yet young filmmaker, John Fawcett, pulls off a coup with this hip and arresting drama that's full of spit and attitude, and is relentlessly in your face, whether you like it or not. The Genie-nominated, first-time Toronto director, working from Genie-nominated writer, Peter Wellington's edgy, intellectual script, re-invigorates the genre with panache. He does so by balancing climactic suspenseful elements with authentic human insights. He does it with a first-rate cast, led by Chris Penn as a psychotic cop killer badly affected by a dreadful childhood, who, when he had reached his breaking point, I guess you could say in a sense, had me on the edge of my seat till I was fully assured that he was conquered, such riveting performance was that compelling. A performance so compelling, it earned him a nomination as Best Actor. Here, Penn really delivers his finest since co-starring in Abel Ferrara's elegiac gangster film, The Funeral.
The three youths played by our rising young stars are at loose ends during a teachers' strike that has closed down their small Ontario town's high school. The three friends, who dispute because their social and intellectual instincts tug in three dramatically different directions, find themselves in a quandary; however, that severely wounded and yet armed stranger in whom they discovered hiding out in their shack deep into the wilderness might just be their ticket to real adventure. Overriding common sense, they of course decide to help him rather than report the incident to the police.
Over the ensuing days, the adventure escalates gradually into a full-blown moral, ethical and physical crisis. What is so clever with regards to this piece is that, even when, through the audiences' eyes, we want to wail out the words: Wake up, stupid! when one of our teen heroes is about to make a mistake in judgement, the Fawcett-Wellington team make those mistakes understandable. We sympathize. We comprehend. We're involved.
The ambivalence and complexity of the struggle are why The Boys Club has accurately been called a cross between Stand By Me and River's Edge, two landmark films that explored teen anguish with a piercing intelligence, never pandering to the youths or condescending them.
Fawcett walks the same wobbly tightrope, even if The Boys Club remains as a modest film, at least in scale, that will not gain the notoriety of either Stand By Be or River's Edge.
On the other hand, Penn is a towering force, a raging bull-of-a-catalyst in our teen protagonists' lives. Dominic Zamprogna perfectly essays the confused youth torn between intellect and impulse; Stuart Stone is a terrific counterbalance as the practical one, while the charismatic Devon Sawa-a dead ringer for Leonardo DiCaprio-is pure feral instinct. Nicholas Campbell provides a compellingly sad-sophisticated portrayal of Kyle 's (Zamprogna) father.
Their personalities mix, the deeming of both their feud and friendship bond and the palpable danger of the synopsis ups the emotional stakes. The Boys Club is not at all just kids' play. It is a stern and powerful film that tests friendships and yet doesn't ever overdraw upon a single factor that would diminish it from being the masterpiece that it is.

The Boys Club, though the affect it has upon me isn't quite as great as it once was, it, nonetheless, is a film that will forever be special to me. Not only because the tension that was generated by these kids in danger influenced me to become a writer, an interest that has drastically altered me as a person, for I now I'm capable of expressing my feelings in a way I never thought possible; in addition, because it, after having stepped inside a video store one glorious day, drew me to purchase a copy of it on DVD despite of the fact that I only had a VCR, a machine that was left setting alone no longer, for I the following day ended up purchasing the player itself, a highly sophisticated machine in technology that has forever altered my outlook upon movie-viewing.

Fady Ghaly's reviews

My remarks toward this picture
Coming-of-age sagas are frequently burdened with threat, especially because the genre has been so overworked and even pulverized into cliché. Yet young filmmaker, John Fawcett, pulls of