Loved It!
Added 9/16/2009
A great movie! Joins Match Point and Crimes and Misdemeanors as one of my favorite Woody Allen movies that don't have him in it. (Ones in which he stars are in a whole other category!) Like the other two, this one does a fantastic job of portraying characters who are facing moral dilemmas, a favorite theme of WA. Great casting, great sets, and great direction. Highly recommend this one.
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Probably should get a 5 star rating.
Added 8/7/2009
The acting was great, the direction was great & the story was excellent. But there just wasn't enough shallow senseless violence & action.
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rent it only
Added 7/14/2009
Lot of people seem to argue for or against this movie based on it being another Woody Allen movie. If you were to show this movie to a person without telling who the director is, I would venture that almost no one will guess the director. There's nothing about this movie to distinguish it. Ewan and Colin does ok work (Colin is definitely better) but Tom Wilkinson is totally wasted. Ewan will never be a great actor (name one outstanding performance) and Colin Farrell is way better in "In Bruges" besides that being a much better movie. For supposedly a family tragedy film, the movie lacks any real tension and feels strained in it's attempt to convey any melodrama. You may be mildly amused but don't waste your time and money buying it.
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Woody Fans: Better than Scoop; Not Quite Match Point
Added 7/13/2009
It's London...there's murder in the air and it's Woody Allen!
Cassandra's Dream features a nice pairing of Ewan Macgregor and Colin Farrell (Who doesn't want to act with Woody?) but the Master himself is average on this outing. His London trilogy which started out brilliantly with Match Point and degenerated with Scoop ends here with Cassandra's Dream, which averages out the two.
The movie unfolds like a play, much like Scoop, and from the start, you feel that both our leads feel like (gasp) actors. The self conscious nuances that Woody brings to his characters sometimes creates a sharp contrast from the flat, ordinary style of filming. There's nothing fancy in terms of Woody's camerawork (often times, it felt like watching an older BBC tv drama) and he relies completely on the actors and the script to drive the story.
The story of two brothers and confidantes and their inevitable moral dilemma of how to pursue a better destiny echoes Match Point, so much so that you wonder why Woody is revisiting the same riff. Cassandra's Dream could well play on stage - I imagine somehow that Woody was inspired by visiting the theatre in the West End when he conceived this.
Collin Farrell provides the more interesting and tortured character, but somehow the usual ironies and humour of Allen's wit are missing in Cassandra's Dream and in the end we get a not quite thriller / drama, devoid of the usual quirks we've come to love of this director.
Certainly watchable but those interested in this vein of Woody may want to check out Crimes and Misdemeanours or even Manhatten Murder Mystery. Or simply fast forward to Vicky Christina Barcelona.
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Sorry Woody, Sidney Lumet Did It Better
Added 7/3/2009
What happens when two veteran directors make two similarly themed movies, each focusing on two brothers planning the perfect crime? Predictably, in each case, it all goes horribly wrong. However, only in Sidney Lumet's "Before the Devil Knows Your Dead," is that a good thing. Philip Seymour Hoffman and Ethan Hawke (along with Albert Finney and Marisa Tomei) make Lumet's botched robbery caper consistently intriguing and suspenseful. In the case of Woody Allen's "Cassandra's Dream," the brothers-in-crime story is botched in every way imaginable -- with a disastrous script and wooden performances by Ewan McGregor and Colin Farrell. The plots and the packaging are similar. But one you will remember. The other you'll want to forget.
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Excellent Modern Drama
Added 11/15/2009
"In Bruges" was an unexpectedly pleasurable film. Its title really gives nothing away as to the film's contents. Bruges, a wonderfully maintained medieval town in Belgium, serves as the backdrop for European gangster genre film with a slowly moving but compelling pace and an exciting denouement.
The essence of the story is that two Irish hired killers are sent to Bruges by their English boss to "lie low" after a botched killing in England. The killing of a priest has also caused the inadvertent death of a child. To the boss, this is unforgivable. Indeed, it is revealed that the only reason for sending his underlings to Bruges is that so they can have a pleasant holiday before the bungling killer is, himself, killed. When this task is also bungled, the boss, played by Ralph Fiennes, comes to Bruges to do the task himself. No more failures by incompetent staff.
I'll say no more about the plot for fear of giving away too much. However, there are fine acting performances by Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson as the killers. There is also a captivating role played by newcomer Clemence Poesy as the love interest to Colin Farrell. This girl is beautiful and excellent in her role.
"In Bruges" will probably fail to gain a wider audience as it is deemed to be "art house". So often, this is the kiss of death for a film. It seems to imply no action and, therefore, no interest. This is not the case with "In Bruges". Guns and death form part of the story. However, this is not to suggest that the film is a Hollywood action film. Far from it. "In Bruges" is simply a very good modern drama with a number of fine individual performances.
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Dark Humour, Violence & Gore, Self-Sacrifice & Freindship All In One Very Original Movie!!
Added 11/14/2009
I first saw this movie late one night/early morning on HBO
and was enthralled in it the entire time!
I love a good independent film which strays off the beaten path,
yet in it's originality, doesn't lose or alienate with it's desire to be different.
A lot of times, indies rely too much on trying to shock and be esoteric that they
loose focus and just run haywire!---Well, this wasn't the case with "IN BRUGES"!
The one thing you may or may not have a problem with is the very thick irish brogue
that both Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson speak in during this film, but then they
are playing very working class lower level irish hitmen who work for the London syndicate.
Alot of the humour is very british and irish, but still translates well I think.
Gleeson plays a more seasoned, world-weary hitman who has a no miss/no mess reputation
in his dubious line of work. Farrell plays a gruff, hot-headed, quicksilver younger hitman
who does things more off the cuff than Gleeson's more methodical and through character does!
This dynamic adds to the friction and alot of the darkly comic moments in this film.
The two are an odd couple of sorts who constantly bicker & banter, but respect each
other as much as two murderous criminals can.
They have an older brother/younger brother relationship.
Well, the two are comissioned to a "job" that goes horribly wrong and
starts a chain of unfortunate events that takes place in the unlikely
city of Bruges, Belgium. Bruges is known as a beautiful bohemian type city
in Belgium, which prides itself on being one of the most intact (architecturally)
european cities dating back to the dark ages.
Gleeson and Farrell find themselves reluctantly exiled there after the fouled hit,
awaiting further instructions from their BOSS, ruthlessly and cunningly
played by the great Ralph Fiennes, who gives a darkly chilling yet funny
(in some parts) performance in this ensemble film.
While they wait to hear further instructions, Gleeson and Farrell encounter the
very friendly but quirky townsfolk of Bruges, which add moments
of levity to offset the graphic violence in some places throughout the film.
Anyway, the order comes down from THE BOSS and it's not an easy pill to swallow
for Gleeson, and from there the film takes on a poignant, tragic, yet ultimately
triumphant turn that will have you clapping at the end, I promise.
Even though it will be an ending that you don't expect. (-:
I give this movie 5 stars for it's originality, great writing,
believable acting, dark humour and overall entertainment value!
A worthwhile addition to your DVD collection!
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Quirky, dark satire
Added 10/16/2009
I enjoyed this movie and thought it was excellent, although it's not without its flaws. But then, how many movies are perfect? I didn't mind the violence some have objected to or the frequent use of the "f" word; after all, as someone pointed out, these are hit men and not choir boys. If that sort of profanity offends you then you probably need to stick to "I Love Lucy" and "Nancy Drew" reruns.
I found the movie quirky, funny, and even clever--perhaps a bit too self-consciousnessly clever in its attempt to knit so many diverse story threads into one cloth. The movie occasionally gets bogged down as a result in some side stories that could have been omitted, but I didn't mind that. There's enough entertainment between the quirky cast of oddball characters (which, besides the two hit men, include a racist dwarf), the fine acting by the two leads, the beautiful setting of Bruges (which I've visited and can vouch for as to its beauty), and the semi-demented dialog, that you're usually not bored.
The story line has been told so many times that I won't reprise it here, except to say that although the two hit men characters have been compared to the famous Travolta and Jackson duo in "Pulp Fiction," in fact they couldn't be more different. In contrast to the super cool, slick hit guys in that movie, these are a couple of quirky, neurotic, bumbling, sort of lovable thugs with enough weighty existential angst for a post-modern novel. The one similarity is the verbose dialog between the two main characters.
The movie is a bit schizoid in that the last half gets ever more surrealistic and fantastic, especially in regard to the final scene, whose outcome as shown is very unlikely (I won't say anymore so as not to provide any spoilers). But then, I saw the movie as a purely entertaining dark satire about two hit men whose lives go completely to sh_t in a matter of minutes during a botched job and then are left flapping trying to pick up the pieces, rather than a realistic portrayal of how such a situation would probably turn out.
The negative reviews here often panned the movie because of its lack of realism; but, and I could be wrong, I think the movie is really a more than competent satire and send up of what has come to be called the "hit man comedy." If you keep that in mind and don't take it too seriously you might enjoy the movie's many strengths and not get too bent about its flaws, which aren't that serious and can be overlooked since the rest of the movie is strong.
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