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The Barber

We rented The Barber on Saturday. I was looking for something else, but I didn't find it, so I had to improvise. I had never heard of this one, but the cover blurb was interesting enough.

The movie's a story of a serial killer (played by Malcolm McDowell) who lives in a far-away Alaskan village. He has killed a girl, whose body is found earlier than he expected. Police investigation follows and the village is stirred up nicely. The story is told through the serial killer, which is a nice twist.

Sounds good, but the movie's quite bad. The acting is pretty mediocre, nobody really shines. The story is just bad. I just hated most of the characters - watching a movie where you just hope every character would go to hell and die isn't really that interesting. I want to care about someone! Even the main good guy was arrogant, stubborn and just plain stupid.

Next time we rent a movie, it'll better be by someone famous, have some good actors in it or be recommended by someone, somewhere.

25.10.2004 klo 15:18 | Be the first to comment | TrackBack (0)

Weekend movies: In the Cut, Mystic River

I've been writing movie reviews on the Finnish side for a long time now. I thought it would be fun in English, as well, so here we go. Hope you like them. Last weekend we had a plan to go and see a movie, but we couldn't be bothered. Instead, we had a home movie night and watched two movies. Now we have a large widescreen tv, watching movies is even more fun.


We chose two thrillers, but they were very different. Both had notable directors: Jane Campioni and Clint Eastwood - such different reputations, I'd say. I was a bit reserved about Eastwood, actually, since I'm not really a fan of his earlier work.

However, Campioni's In the Cut was actually the worse of the two movies. The user comment at IMDB summarises it neatly: "Heap of shite". It had some artistic value, certainly. There was some neat use of unfocused picture and even the shaking of a handheld camera was used once with good effect (and that's rare!) - however, as entertainment the movie failed completely. Uninspiring acting (Meg Ryan and Mark Ruffalo form the leading couple and neither one of them shines), uncomprehensible and illogical plot, unnecessary sex scenes... In the Cut was a disappointment.

Eastwood's Mystic River, in the other hand, was a pleasant surprise. I had heard lots of good about the movie, but I didn't expect it to be that good. It's a story about three kids, who get separated when they grow up and then meet under dramatic circumstances: Jimmy's (Sean Penn) daughter has been murdered, Sean (Kevin Bacon) is a FBI agent investigating the case and Dave (Tim Robbins), well, Dave's just acting funny - but for a good reason.


The story is strong and haunting. Unlike in In the Cut, the acting is rock solid. The leading trio scored two Oscars - Sean Penn for the best leading role, Tim Robbins for the best supporting role. Robbins deserved his, that's for sure. The others actors do a great work, too. All in all, Mystic River is highly recommended. It is a haunting story well told.

19.10.2004 klo 15:56 | Be the first to comment | TrackBack (0)