There can be various reasons for the romantic comedies to fail at the box office; few of the plausible explanation can be like, lack of chemistry between the two leads or the story itself. From the start Leap Year seemed to be too bland & half way through made it quite predictable, which is usually not a bad thing but here it just did not add up to render satisfaction.
Anna (Amy Adams) happens to be good at helping people in selling their houses; living a fast life in the suburbs of Boston she hopes to marry her long time boyfriend Jeremy (Adam Scott). When finally Jeremy gifts Anna a pair of diamond earrings instead of a ring she gets anxious. Before she can talk over the issue, he gets off to Ireland for attending a doctor’s conference. On discussion with her father she comes to know about an old Irish custom where a man has to accept proposal made by woman made on a leap day of the year. Armed with this information she decides to fly to Dublin, however bad whether causes her to land at Wales. After various hindrances she finally makes it to the shore of town Dingle. On arrival she gets acquainted with an inn keeper named Declan (Matthew Goode) who agrees to taxi her to Dublin on the payment of €500. Though in the start there happens to be lots of friction with Declan, on their way Anna develops second thoughts which questions her intensions on marrying Jeremy.
Instead of developing the relation between Amy & Declan, too much time is spent on throwing tantrums on each other. So when both of them actually hit the cupid’s chord it really doesn’t look convincing. This is not the kind of movie which will make your heart leap out of exhilaration. As a romantic comedy this movie carries way too surreal plot, which will not work with most of the regular viewers.
My Rating : 4.5/10
After series of failure from M. Night Shyamalan, 'Devil' looms in with some hope but with few thrills this too fades without providing much shock value to its fans.
The movie starts with a person’s suicide from a high rising building which brings in detective Bowden for further inquisition. Bowden seems to be recuperating from alcoholism after getting devastated with the death of his family in a hit & run case, few years back. The scene shortly pans to one of the elevator of that same high rise, on move with its five occupants. The elevator unexpectedly breaks down followed by some inexplicable incidents which gradually makes us believe that one of the occupants might be possessed by a devil. While trying to figure out this chain of events, Bowden discovers that there is much bigger mystery surrounding the trapped occupants.
Even though the movie kicks in with a good start, it fails to keep the same tempo throughout. Except for a few buzz the climax was a kind of downer considering the genre this movie got carted out. The weak plot did not add up to the overall efforts of the casts who tried to give this a credible shot. Short length however saved this movie from complete ruin. Though not repulsive still the hardcore fans of this genre will feel discontented. This is believed to be a part of ‘The Night Chronicles’ trilogy, so hope to see something similar in near future.
Although the movie has been directed by John Erick Dowdle, Shyamalan’s presence in the production shoes was implicit from its production design. Give this a try but don’t expect it to be yet another 'The Omen'.
My Rating : 5/10
Very few movies are there which influences us in a very intense way. Saving Private Ryan is one of its kinds. Steven Spielberg has redefined the genre of war movies; perhaps no one can ever precede his masterpiece. Watching this movie is worth a lifetime experience. The opening scene pertaining to the Normandy’s beach assault on D-Day 1944 is one of the gruesome footage ever put up on the big screen. No war movies have ever been so accurate to show the mayhem in a discrete style.
The story begins with Second World War’s momentous D-Day invasion, then moves beyond the brutal beach assault & introduces us to a squad of American soldiers under the command of Captain John Miller. This squad of eight embarks into a dangerous mission where they must find a paratrooper named Private James Ryan, whose three brothers were killed in combat. Faced with impossible odds, these men question their orders & try to figure out whether it’s really worth to risk the lives of eight for saving one. Eventually these men seek for their own answers & hope to feat over an uncertain future.
Tom Hanks as Captain John Miller immortalized the character of a rational officer caught under extraordinary circumstances. This was one of his best screen performances since Forrest Gump. Each casts were able to stretch out the characters in a very plausible way, undeniably noteworthy.
It really doesn’t matter the legitimacy of the plot; what really matters is how well it stood in the final act. Armed with John Williams’s poignant tune, this movie serves as a memoir for all those lives lost in the tragic war. This is an epic tale which should be cherished by every movie aficionados.
My Rating : 10/10
