Ed's Review Dot Com

Saban Films, Code Entertainment, Freedom Media,

John Travolta, Christopher Plummer, Tye Sheridan, Jennifer Ehle, Marcus Thomas, Anson Mount, Abigail Spencer, Travis Aaron Wade

Raymond Cutter (John Travolta) is the worlds best art forger, but he’s been in prison away from his father Joseph (Christopher Plummer) and his son Will (Tye Sheridan). But his son is not well and Ray would do anything to get back home to spend some time with him. So he makes an impossible deal with a big time gangster to paint of forgery of a Monet painting, then break into the museum and steal the original, and replace it with the forgery in return for buying his way out of prison.

This crime story jumped out of the screen and captured my attention. Truthfully I have never been a huge Travolta fan, and he has made some rather bad movies over the years, but he did a really good job in this one. He is an art forger, and a criminal, but still cares about his son and he pulls this off very well. The two have a tight bond by the end of the film. These three together is actually a pleasure to watch. Typical scam and heist films like this one have a lot of twists and turns, and this one is no different, and it was pretty interesting all the way through. I found the story fresh and fun to follow. The script was well done, and the actual heist was really suspenseful. All in all I found this a good film. and if you enjoy a good robbery, mixed with a story of three generations trying to find their common ground, give this one a try.

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog

Millennium Films, Corsan, Nu Image Films,

Robert De Niro, John Travolta, Milo Ventimiglia, Elizabeth Olin

Ford (Robert DeNiro) is an American soldier who served on the front lines in Bosnia. He’s had his fill of war, and is disgusted with the things he saw and did and decided to get away from it all. He is staying alone in a cabin in the Appalachian mountains to just be left alone. But he is a bit lonely, and along comes Kovac, a Serbian soldier who bumps into Ford (later we find out not by accident) and the two start out an apparent friendship which turns into a resumption of the war as both guys are deeply troubled, yet trying to extract revenge on each other.

This is a thought provoking film. It should not really be categorized as an “action” film, as the dialog and discussion fills most of it. There is a bit of a chase and certainly one or the other getting the drop on each other over and over again, but the whole thing is really to show the pain the two are in, even though they were on opposite sides. This is not a great movie, nor is it a bad movie. It is, as I said before, a thought provoking movie though.

DeNiro does DeNiro, and it’s a typical performance from him, although I hate to see him so sad, as he does play a very dark and troubled guy. Likewise, we get from Travolta what we would expect from him too. He’s pretty good, although those people who are really familiar with the area will find lots of things to complain about his performance, appearance, and accent which I’m told is all off. But that’s not really relevant to enjoying the film, unless, as I said, you’re really familiar with the area. It’s kind of like someone playing a southerner with a Boston accent. Still, the horrors of war are presented to us first hand, and no matter which way either of these guys turns, we know they’re both losing. After it’s over, we just want to say “Can’t we all just get along?”

This is a dark film, and certainly not a pleasure to watch, as it’s very sad and troubling, but it is a very cerebral film and if you’re a fan of that type of movie, this is ok. I don’t highly recommend this, and it’s certainly not for everyone, but it’s really not deserving of the criticism being heaped on it. It’s somewhere in the middle.

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog

Ixtlan, Onda Entertainment, Relativity Media,

Blake Lively, Taylor Kitsch, Trevor Donovan, Aaron Johnson, Salma Hayek, John Travolta, Benicio Del Toro, Emile Hirsch, Joel David Moore , Shea Whigham, Joaquín Cosio, Diego Cataño, Demián Bichir, Antonio Jaramillo, Jake McLaughlin, Alexander Wraith, Anthony Cutolo, Ali Wong, Sandra Echeverria

Three friends live in Laguna Beach and are living the life rolling in dough by growing and selling a particularly extraordinary strain of cannabis that was developed one one of the friends. Ben (Aaron Johnson) is the brains of the outfit and Chon (Taylor Kitsch) is the brawn. Chon is a former Navy Seal and a real bad ass. Ben is much quieter and wants to avoid trouble. Ophelia (Blake Lively) who calls herself “O” is the beauty and the lover of both boys. They think they lead the perfect life until a huge Mexican cartel led by Elena (Selma Hayek) and her thugs decide that the company has gotten big enough to take over and she decides to move North to take over the trio’s business. Trouble is bad cop Dennis (John Travolta) is on the take from both groups and figures there must be a big win for him either way. A huge drug war erupts and people are dropping like flies. Everyone has to determine what’s the most important thing for the other, and try to take it away in this violent and bloody R rated drug war!

This isn’t such a terrible story but director Oliver Stone surely managed to tear most of it out by the roots. There is so much bad acting in this film that’s it quickly turns absurd. This could have been done better in 1968 by Sergio Leone, I swear! This had the acting and script level of one of those Terrance Hill / Bud Spencer Trinity films (which I loved) without any of the humor.

First I’ll start with Blake Lively. She is lovely to look at, but she’s the narrator who starts off the film with a line something along the lines of “Just because I’m telling the story doesn’t mean I’m alive at the end of it.” The relationship of the 3 of them is also absurd. She needs one cause he’s gentle and one cause he’s rough, but what’s in it for the guys? Why not just admit from the start that they’re gay and it’s a better story. John Travolta as the dirty cop? Well, I like ole John Boy, but this was a farce of a performance in my opinion. Not bad, not good, and he yells his lines out like a kid in one of those acting classes their parents pay the big bucks for. The bad guys are cartoons. But they aren’t funny. Then they have to tack on a stupid ending that made me think I was watching the VHS version of the Clue movie with the 4 different endings. “This is what could have happened, but…..” It’s not exactly like that, but you get the drift. She has to redo the line about just because I’m telling the story doesn’t mean that I’m alive in the end…. Let’s hope not, ok?

All in all, they had a decent story to work with, and blew it all to hell with the melodramatic cardboard and cartoony acting that ruined it for me. I went in with high hopes and came out really disappointed with a “Is that all there is?” look on my face. Too bad it just didn’t work for me in the least.

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog

John Travolta, Jonathan Rhys-Meyers, Kasia Smutniak

“From Paris with Love” is an action, buddy flick with John Travolta as the “bad” good guy and his buddy – unsuspecting, embassy aid turned hit man – Jonathan Rhys Meyers. Rhy Meyers starts receiving phone calls from a caller, telling him to do things, and next thing you know he is hooked up with John Travolta’s character, Wax. Bloodshed and mayhem ensure – big guns, good car chases – until the pivotal moment when Rhy Meyers proves he is a confident man instead of a sniveling office worker.

Now that the iron curtain countries are no longer a threat seems like every action movie has terrorists as bad guys; this time it is Pakistanis. There are some good twists related to a girlfriend, but that was the biggest surprise in this movie. Some of the car scenes were really well done and engaging plus the dialog was good.

I tried, but just can’t buy John Travolta as a bad guy in “With Love from Paris.” He is much better in movies like Michael or even remotely believable in Wild Hogs, but in this movie and Swordfish he just tries too try hard to be bad. I think I would have enjoyed seeing Rhy Meyers are the bad guy. The movie would have been more believable for me.

Overall I enjoyed this movie and am glad I watched it based on Ed’s recommendation.

Tiffany – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog