The second part of my Clint-Eastwood-directing-himself-and-Morgan-Freeman-in-a-supporting-role double bill see Clint take on a genre he's never really (that I know of) looked at before, the sports movie (please feel free to let me know if he has, I'm often wrong about these things and he's been working for an awfully long time).
If there's two criticisms that can be lauded onto Eastwood, it's that he doesn't direct happy stories or portray more than one character. He's not renowned for making lighter films with happy endings or playing people who aren't grumpy, stoic curmudgeons with their trousers too high, and his streak continues here. I know he's made a few lighter films (Paint Your Wagon, Every Which Way But Loose) but I haven't seen them, and I'm guessing he plays the grumpy, stoic, possibly singing straightman to a comically messy primate who never stops annoying him. Again, please let me know if I'm wrong and recommend any films where he flashes a smile, once.
For every good film, there must be an equally bad film (Newton's Third Law of Motion Pictures). Like most people, I tend to not watch a film if I hear that it's bad, even more so if this opinion comes from a review. But a review is merely one person's opinion, and I'm not going to agree with them all the time, surely? So in this column I'll be providing badly reviewed films with a second chance, seeing if they are as bad as everyone seems to think.
Total Film: 3/5
Empire: 2/5
IMDb rating: 6.8/10
Rotten Tomatoes: 23%
Before even watching P.S. I Love You, I got the feeling I'm not going to like it, as it's a modern rom-com featuring Gerard Butler, which trailer-wise are generally terrible (The Ugly Truth, The Bounty Hunter), but the whole point of this is to give film's the benefit of the doubt. So, even though my girlfriend likes it (generally a sign that I won't) I sat down and gave it a try.
It started off well enough, and my spirits were lifted by the depiction of a fairly realistic couple (Butler and Hilary Swank, dabbling in light material for a change), living in a cramped apartment, not knowing where they're going in life or what they want out of it. Even the realisation that relationships don't always work out is relatively original in cinema, with Butler's Gerry passing away from a brain tumour early in the film. After this though, the film follows standard romantic comedy guidelines: the holiday to the idyllic country, the various eligible bachelors in Swank's life, even the bossy sister and sassy friend (Lisa Kudrow having fun with this).
All in all, it wasn't a terrible film, better than expected, and there were times when I actually laughed, but there's not a lot new here, and the only thing I took away from the film was that, comparatively to Butler's note-leaving, holiday-planning, life-improving Irishman, I am a terrible boyfriend.
4/10 Choose Life
The second part of my Clint-Eastwood-directing-himself-and-Morgan-Freeman-in-a-supporting-role double bill see Clint take on a genre he's never really (that I know of) looked at before, the sports movie (please feel free to let me know if he has, I'm often wrong about these things and he's been working for an awfully long time).
