David Weisberg

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Criminal Review

Excellent

Almost criminally entertaining, this preposterous thriller mixes buckets of humour and emotion into the violent, twisty action. And Kevin Costner gets his best role in years, a remarkably complex character who's unpredictable and thoroughly engaging. So even as the story grows increasingly ridiculous, the film remains both gripping and a lot of fun.

It's set in London, where hot CIA operative Bill (Ryan Reynolds) is on the trail of an evil anarchist (Jordi Molla) when he's captured, tortured and killed. To stop an imminent attack, the CIA chief Wells (Gary Oldman) needs to know what Bill was working on. So he calls in scientist Franks (Tommy Lee Jones), who has been experimenting with transferring memories from brain to brain in animals. For his first human trial, he copies Bill's dying memories into the only suitable brain available on such short notice: psycho killer Jericho (Kevin Costner), who's serving a death sentence in prison. And now Jericho is desperate to sort out the chaos in his head.

Director Ariel Vromen (The Iceman) keeps everything moving so briskly that there isn't time to stop and think about how silly the premise is. All of these characters act on their basest impulses, never thinking through anything before they charge into the next situation. Viewers who try to make sense of the plot, or of London's geography, will find their brains aching like Jericho's. So it's better to just hang on and enjoy the ride. The film's edgy, urgent tone adds the illusion of depth amid the mindlessly brutal violence, while the formidable cast adds weight to a variety of rather thinly drawn characters, from Oldman's bluster to Jones' wry wit. Only Costner gets some real depth to play with, and Jericho is constantly surprising, mixing a killer instinct with brainy invention and some properly dark emotions. His scenes with Gal Gadot (as Bill's wife) are unnervingly tense and moving.

Continue reading: Criminal Review

The Rock Review


Excellent
Long touted as the low-budget (in action movie terms) alternative to this summer's Hollywood blockbusters, The Rock has been something of a question mark among movie forecasters. It doesn't have any real special effects like Twister or Independence Day. It doesn't build on a 40 year-old history like Mission: Impossible. It doesn't even have any big name action stars.

What it does have is some of the best actors working in film today (Nicolas Cage, Sean Connery, and Ed Harris), seasoned producers Jerry Bruckheimer and the late Don Simpson (Top Gun, for starters), Bad Boys director Michael Bay, and some relatively unknown screenwriters (David Weisberg, Douglas S. Cook, and Mark Rosner), who all pull together to tell one hell of a story -- and hands-down the best action flick of the year-to-date.

Continue reading: The Rock Review

David Weisberg

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David Weisberg Movies

Criminal Movie Review

Criminal Movie Review

Almost criminally entertaining, this preposterous thriller mixes buckets of humour and emotion into the violent,...

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