Movie Review: Dead Again (1991)

Genre: Supernatural Mystery  

Director: Kenneth Branagh  

Starring: Kenneth Branagh, Emma Thompson, Derek Jacobi, Andy Garcia, Robin Williams, Wayne Knight, Hanna Schygulla  

Running Time: 108 minutes  

Synopsis: In present-day Los Angeles, private detective Mike Church (Kenneth Branagh) stumbles into caring for the mysterious "Grace" (Emma Thomson), a woman suffering from amnesia. Hypnotist Franklyn Madson (Derek Jacobi) unlock her memories, which are intertwined with the 1948 murder of socialite Margaret Strauss (also Thompson). Margaret's husband, celebrated music composer Roman Strauss (also Branagh), was found guilty of her murder. Before his execution, Roman communicated with investigative reporter Gray Baker (Andy Garcia). Now Mike has to solve Grace's mystery and her relationship to past events.

What Works Well: The attempt to create a neo-noir detective thriller crammed with hidden agendas is appreciated. The 1948 scenes are captured in smoky yet alluring black and white, and the mystery elements linking the present to the past are initially compelling. The talented cast ensures quality in every role, with Robin Williams contributing as a burnt out psychiatrist.

What Does Not Work As Well: As the plot reveals its details, the drama unfortunately unravels into ludicrous supernatural territory. The tonal disorientation is compounded by large inconsistencies, including sudden confessions and one character apparently working extra hard to self-incriminate. What starts with promise ends in a mess.

Key Quote:

Baker: You really believe that you're lucky to die?

Roman: What I believe, Mr. Baker, is that this is all far from over.

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Movie Review: Bring Her Back (2025)

Genre: Supernatural Horror  

Director: Danny Philippou, Michael Philippou  

Starring: Sally Hawkins, Billy Barratt, Sora Wong  

Running Time: 104 minutes  

Synopsis: Andy (Billy Barrett) and his blind step-sister Piper (Sora Wong) are placed in the care of foster parent Laura (Sally Hawkins), who is also fostering the incommunicative Oliver. Laura favors Piper and creates a wedge with Andy, who stumbles upon Oliver's violent tendencies and learns about Laura's deceased blind daughter. With Laura watching video tapes featuring demonic rituals, Andy turns to social worker Wendy for help.

What Works Well: Sally Hawkins delivers a suitably unhinged and malevolent performance as Laura, adding to the disturbing milieu at her secluded ramshackle home. A few moments of shock and horror are effectively unsettling, while the bond of trust between step-siblings provides a strong foundation for their ordeal.

What Does Not Work As Well: The good set-up work is undone by a mystery that takes too long to reveal itself, and is then both rickety and convoluted beyond reason. What remains is shock-for-shock's-sake and a third act that flails for resolutions.

Key Quote:

Piper (repeated code word between her and Andy): Grapefruit. 

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Movie Review: Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story (2009)

Genre: Biography  

Director: John Pielmeier  

Starring: Cuba Gooding Jr., Aunjanue Ellis, Kimberly Elise  

Running Time: 90 minutes  

Synopsis: In 1987, Dr. Ben Carson (Cuba Gooding Jr.) of Johns Hopkins Hospital travels to Germany to examine new-born twins conjoined at the head. Flashbacks reveal he was raised in Detroit by his illiterate single mother Sonya (Kimberly Elise), who pushed Ben to excel. He overcomes bullying and a short temper, and at Yale University meets Candy (Aunjanue Ellis), who became his wife. As a doctor Ben encounters racism, demonstrates initiative, and tackles difficult cases, including a patient suffering severe brain convulsions. Back in the present, Ben has to devise a method to operate on the twins before it's too late.

What Works Well: This cable television production is a well-intentioned traditional biography. Dr. Carson is portrayed as a likeable and upright physician, and the vignettes from his childhood uncover a mother's determination to help her son overcome adversity and rise above humble beginnings. The societal pitfalls and personality flaws that could have derailed Ben's life are given due prominence, and the conjoined twins story provides a sturdy framing device.

What Does Not Work As Well: This is straightforward, episodic, and old fashioned storytelling, bordering on a reverential hagiography. In the gap between childhood experiences and confident doctor, the passion and talent for medicine are lost. The production values lack artistry and style, remaining well-entrenched within television confines.

Key Quote:

Sonya (to her son Ben): I always said, you can do anything anyone else can do, only you can do it better.

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Movie Review: Into The Blue (2005)

Genre: Adventure Thriller  

Director: John Stockwell  

Starring: Paul Walker, Jessica Alba, Scott Caan, Josh Brolin  

Running Time: 110 minutes  

Synopsis: In the Bahamas, Jared (Paul Walker) is a penniless treasure hunter living with his girlfriend Sam (Jessica Alba). Jared's childhood friend Bryce (Scott Caan), now a wealthy New York lawyer, comes to visit with his latest trophy girlfriend Amanda (Ashley Scott). During the same dive Jared stumbles upon two adjacent undersea wrecks: a legendary French pirate ship carrying treasure, and a much more recent small plane packed with illegal drugs. With unbelievable riches now within reach, Jared and Sam have to guard against greed, ruthless gangsters, deadly sharks, and rival treasure hunter Bates (Josh Brolin).

What Works Well: The underwater photography is spectacularly crisp, and both Paul Walker and Jessica Alba show off attractive physiques. 

What Does Not Work As Well: The long and silent diving sequences are always captivating, but also the only points of interest. Outside the water, the action is all wet, the dialogue stiff, and the mostly ridiculous plot points seemingly made up on the fly. The sharks switch sides from harmless to lethal at the whims of the script.

Key Quote:

Sam (to Jared): I believe in you more than the prospect of any treasure.

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Movie Review: Jerry & Marge Go Large (2022)

Genre: Biographical Dramedy  

Director: David Frankel  

Starring: Bryan Cranston, Annette Benning, Rainn Wilson  

Running Time: 96 minutes  

Synopsis: In the small town of Evart, Michigan, Jerry (Bryan Cranston) is married to Marge (Annette Bening) and recently retired from a mid-management job. He uses his math talent to spot a statistical loophole in a state lottery game, guaranteeing a windfall if tickets are purchased in bulk on selected weeks. With Marge's support, they prove the concept and the winnings start to flow. Jerry then recruits other town residents to participate, although they eventually face competition from a group of college students.

What Works Well: This is an aw-shucks, amiable true story about a retired couple who discover an unlikely avenue to riches, using their good fortune to spread the wealth and reflect on their life decisions. A craggy Bryan Cranston and a spirited Annette Bening provide star power without overwhelming the laid-back vibe, and director David Frankel surrounds the couple with quirky secondary characters (including Rainn Wilson as a convenience store clerk) who share their unexpected adventure.

What Does Not Work As Well: The basic material and standard storytelling are barely above television movie-of-the-week standards. To secure their winnings, Jerry and Marge invest a mind-numbing amount of time first buying thousands of lottery tickets, then sorting through them for days in a dank motel room, before repeating the whole process a few weeks later.

Key Quote:

Marge (to Jerry, at his retirement dinner): And now you have a boss who will let you sleep in.

Jerry: And won't yell at me.

Marge: Wrong about that.

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Movie Review: Congo Crossing (1956)

Genre: Adventure  

Director: Joseph Pevney  

Starring: Virginia Mayo, George Nader, Peter Lorre, Michael Pate, Rex Ingram  

Running Time: 85 minutes  

Synopsis: The small West African country of Congotanga has no extradition laws, and therefore attracts fugitives from justice. Colonel Arragas (Peter Lorre) is the local law keeping an eye on all the shady characters, David (George Nader) is an honest land surveyor, and Dr. Gorman (Rex Ingram) runs a medical clinic. Into this milieu arrives the stunning Louise Whitman (Virginia Mayo), who is escaping accusations of murder. Her life is soon in danger, as David and slimy hitman Bart (Michael Pate) compete for her attention.

What Works Well: It's impossible not to admire the bravado of Virginia Mayo's Louise Whitman parading in a succession of jungle inappropriate outfits, challenging even the mosquitos to cease biting. Elsewhere Peter Lorre stumbles around reading from a different script, the vague Casablanca vibes spiked by vivid Technicolor and a preposterous plot about an instantaneous international border realignment sparked by a shifting river.

What Does Not Work As Well: This is a B-movie with rudimentary production values, plastic dialogue, overclocked torrid emotions, stock characters, and Miami subbing in for Africa. The action scenes are cheaply directed and edited, including two hilariously awful attacks on a river boat, one by screen dots representing insects and another by a group of mostly undefined gunmen. More bad men with guns appear for the climactic shootout, hiding behind bright red barrels boldly labeled "gasoline".

Key Quote:

Colonel Arragas (addressing newcomers): But alas, I'm also the custodian of the law! You have to behave my children - or I have you shot!

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Movie Review: One From The Heart (1982)

Genre: Romance  

Director: Francis Ford Coppola  

Starring: Frederic Forrest, Teri Garr, Nastassja Kinski, Raul Julia, Harry Dean Stanton  

Running Time: 107 minutes  

Synopsis: In Las Vegas, mechanic Hank and travel agent Frannie (Frederic Forrest and Teri Garr) are a bickering couple in a stagnant relationship. After one argument too many, they go their separate ways for one night, seeking romantic flings. Accompanied by his friend Moe (Harry Dean Stanton), Hank is infatuated by alluring circus acrobat Leila (Nastassja Kinski), while Frannie is pursued by performing pianist and waiter Ray (Raul Julia). The couple's promising affairs may have unexpected consequences.

What Works Well: Director Francis Ford Coppola's passion project reimagines Las Vegas on a studio lot as a pristine, vividly dreamy, and neon-drenched test ground for romantic commitments. Hank and Frannie's adventures over one night are narrated by the music of Tom Waites and Crystal Gale, with an emphasis on surrealistic visuals often superimposing the couple's emotionally attached but physically separated movements. Thematically, the narrative contrasts the thrill of novelty with the unheralded joys of a long-term commitment.

What Does Not Work As Well: The triumphant and audacious style is undermined by minimal content, flat characterizations, and flimsy emotions. The over-reliance on music to tell the story relegates the script to bullet points, exposing Hank and Frannie as uninteresting characters floundering in misguided expectations of change to salvage the relationship. Nastassja Kinski and Raul Julia fare worse as empty impressions of fantasy lovers. 

Key Quote:

Leila (to Hank): If you wanna get rid of a circus girl, all you've gotta do is close your eyes.

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Movie Review: Crossing Over (2009)

Genre: Mosaic Drama  

Director: Wayne Kramer  

Starring: Harrison Ford, Ashley Judd, Ray Liotta, Jim Sturgess, Alice Eve, Mahershala Ali  

Running Time: 113 minutes  

Synopsis: In Los Angeles, illegal immigrants either evade the law or do what they can to obtain legal status: 

• Veteran Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agent Max Brogan (Harrison Ford) reluctantly arrests Mexican factory worker Mireya (Alice Braga), who gets lost in the system while he has to care for her young son.

• Brogan's partner Hamid has a sister Zahra, whose behaviour clashes with her immigrant family's traditional values.

• Australian wannabe actress Claire (Alice Eve) falls into the clutches of corrupt immigration officer Cole (Ray Liotta), whose wife Denise (Ashley Judd) is a well-meaning lawyer trying to find a home for a Nigerian girl held in a detention centre. 

• Claire's notionally Jewish musician friend Gavin (Jim Sturgess) tries to exploit his religion to secure a visa. 

• 15-year-old Taslima is from a Bangladeshi family, and causes a stir at school for an essay about the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. FBI agents descend on her home and identify Taslima's parents as illegal aliens.

• South Korean teenager Yong Kim comes from an immigrant family, but falls in with gang members and jeopardizes his future.

What Works Well: This brisk and engaging multi-story drama tackles the desperate plight of illegal immigrants from various corners of the globe, living at society's margins and unified by the desire to make the United States their new home. Without sacrificing emotional depth, writer and director Wayne Kramer's excels in keeping the wide-ranging and cross-cutting plot lines coherent. Families at risk of being torn apart and individuals willing to sell their soul all interact (reluctantly) with an imperfect, strained, and at times exploitative system, as the mini-stories work their way to a satisfying range of resolutions.

What Does Not Work As Well: With six worthwhile stories unfolding simultaneously and within a relatively short running time, it is understandable that most of the characters are drawn quickly and remain confined to limited arcs. 

Key Quote:

Claire (to Gavin): We can't make a go of it without status. I've got to get legal and so do you.

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Movie Review: To The Devil A Daughter (1976)

Genre: Occult Horror  

Director: Peter Sykes  

Starring: Richard Widmark, Christopher Lee, Denholm Elliott, Nastassja Kinski, Honor Blackman  

Running Time: 92 minutes  

Synopsis: In London, occult author John Verney (Richard Widmark) accepts a request from Henry Beddows (Denholm Elliott) to hide Henry's daughter Catherine (Nastassja Kinski). She was raised as a nun in seclusion by excommunicated priest Father Rayner (Christopher Lee), who has plans to unleash a version of Satan with a ceremonial baptism on Catherine's 18th birthday. John has to protect Catherine and find a way to stop Rayner's plot.

What Works Well: This low-budget Anglo-German Hammer adaptation of Dennis Wheatley's book benefits from a high caliber cast. A beady-eyed Christopher Lee revels as a dark side priest, Denholm Elliott is sweaty and flustered as a father trapped in a Faustian pact, Richard Widmark is serviceable, and Nastassja Kinski suitably mysterious. Director Peter Sykes conjures up some effective moments of sexualized suspenseful disgust. 

What Does Not Work As Well: Some plot details appear to be either incoherent or made up on the fly, the sinister conspiracy is barely explained, and after 20 years of plotting and with apparent supernatural powers at their disposal, the evil doers are all too easily stumped by a stuffy author. The budget limitations are exposed by choppy or inconsistent audio, editing, and cinematography.

Key Quote:

Verney: 98 percent of so-called Satanists are nothing but pathetic freaks who get their kicks by dancing naked in freezing church yards. They use the Devil as an excuse for getting some sex. But then there's that other two percent. I'm not so sure about them.

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Movie Review: Stanley & Iris (1990)

Genre: Romance  

Director: Martin Ritt  

Starring: Robert De Niro, Jane Fonda, Swoosie Kurtz, Martha Plimpton, Stephen Root  

Running Time: 104 minutes  

Synopsis: In suburban New England, widow Iris (Jane Fonda) works at a large baking factory. She meets Stanley (Robert De Niro), who works as a cook at the same facility, after he helps her scare off a purse snatcher. They strike up a friendship that evolves into a romance, until Iris discovers that Stanley does not know how to read or write. He is nevertheless helping his father through old age, while Iris is raising her teenaged daughter (Martha Plimpton), and housing her unemployed sister (Swoosie Kurtz).

What Works Well: This low key romance benefits from two reliable stars and a ramshackle small town blue collar milieu. With both Iris and Stanley dealing with economic strains and personal stresses, their romance is tentative, the plot progress taking time to uncover the hidden struggles of broken dreams, less than ideal childhoods, and pay cheque to pay cheque existence.

What Does Not Work As Well: Although Jane Fonda and Robert De Niro are watchable reading the phone book, this is almost what happens here as Iris decides to help Stanley read and write. The pacing is almost painfully slow, the secondary characters fail to register as meaningful, and after all the investment in the granular details of imperfect lives, the final act rushes towards a windfall resolution of all issues. 

Key Quote:

Stanley: I like you, Iris, just about as much as I love you.

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