Susan Hated Literature

Dir: Wolfgang Petersen
Writ: Mark Protosevich & novel by Paul Gallico

• Kurt Russell - Robert Ramsey
• Josh Lucas - Dylan Johns
• Richard Dreyfuss - Richard Nelson
• Jacinda Barrett - Maggie James

You know this was a surprisingly entertaining film. Okay, so the plot was wafer-thin, and the characters not so defined, and the opening shot of the boat incredibly boring, but ignore all that and instead enjoy the multiple deaths, the explosions, and possibly the world’s worst actor. Well maybe in other roles Andre Braugher isn’t too bad, I don’t know, I haven’t seen him in anything, but in his role as Captain he is totally unbelievable and deserves his fate for his lack of ability to deliver a line.

But back to the fun nonsense, because that is what this film is all about. Wondering who will make it, and who won’t. And more importantly how won’t they. Now the death count of the “core group” isn’t as high as a horror film, because this isn’t horror, it is a disaster movie, but there is still plenty of stunts and death along the way.

You know the plot right? Big ship, starts to sink, small band determined to fight their way out. A task made more difficult because the boat has been turned upside down by the rogue wave that hit them.

Fun, pointless and funny, although I’m not sure if they meant to be, I’d recommend this film for some totally mindless entertainment.

IMDb | Film School Rejects | The Man Blog | Samizdisandat

Tags: 4 Stars, action, based on book, based on previous film, crap, disaster, Freddy Rodríguez, Jacinda Barrett, Josh Lucas, Kurt Russell, Mark Protosevich, mindless fun, Paul Gallico, Poseidon, Richard Dreyfuss, special effects, Wolfgang Petersen

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Dir: Jay Russell
* Joaquin Phoenix
* John Travolta
* Jacinda Barrett
* Robert Patrick

So you see firemen and Joaquin Phoenix and you think, hmmm, that’ll be fun. (Or you do if you’re me). Well it wasn’t. Honestly, yet another crappy film. 2005 has been very mixed so far.

Ladder 49 starts with Phoenix as an experienced firefighter who, in rescuing a worker from a burning building, get trapped inside. The rest of the film tells hs story in flashback, with bits in between detailing his attempts, and those of the other firefighters, to free him.

I guess it isn’t totally rubbish. The scenes in the firehouse, especially the tricks they play on one another are great fun, and never overly predictable. It is just a pity that the rest of the film is so obvious. I mean he meets a girl, falls in love, marries, has kids, fights fires, worries, has friends dies, worries some more. But all in all there is nothing to this film.

And there is a terrible feeling that this film was made because of the attacks on the world trade centre, and because firefighters were such heroes that day. This is especially true of the final scene and the absolutely dire song that is used. It is really horrendous.

Yawning even through fires, not a good sign.

Tags: 3 Stars, Bored Now!, crap, firemen, Jacinda Barrett, Jay Russell, Joaquin Phoenix, John Travolta, Ladder 49, Robert Patrick

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