Movie Reviews by Paul Preston
THE RECRUIT (***)
Welcome, Colin Ferrell. I always question a big star’s “arrival” as to whether it’s worthy or not. Gwyneth Paltrow was on the cover of every glamour mag in the world while in the midst of a 10 crap film run. Finally, her hype was justified with “Shakespeare in Love”. When Gretchen Mol was in “Rounders”, she was splashed all over the place. Yet, I’m still waiting for her to really impress. Colin Ferrell couldn’t be a hotter topic right now, but the good news is that his performance is worth the hype. He’s a solid leading man with a good look, sense of humor and brimming with confidence. Teamed with a non-constantly-screaming Al Pacino (that’s certainly the better of the two Pacino's currently getting cast in films). The plot is a bit too cool for its own good, so constantly reminding you that “nothing is what it seems” that you don’t extend your belief for shit half way through the movie. That doesn’t mean the script is lame. There are smart spy twists all over, and it remains a fairly plausible adventure throughout. It’s just a shame that it’s hell bent on reminding you to be skeptical. Technically, “The Recruit” is slick and fun, with high-tech gadgetry, shiny, metallic production design, and hip dialogue. I found it exciting and well-paced. I hope future Colin Ferrell projects don’t suck.
SHANGHAI KNIGHTS (**1/2)
The charm in this Owen Wilson/Jackie Chan sequel doesn’t come as easily as it did in “Shanghai Noon”. In “Knights”, Wilson and Chan travel to England to avenge the death of Jackie’s father and retrieve one of China’s precious jewels. More culture-clash jokes abound, but many of Wilson’s lines fall flat, and there are many references to our heroes bumping into famous people and events that seem forced. It seems as if the writer and director were nervous in the face of recapturing the magic of the original film. That being said, I would certainly go to “Shanghai Dusk” or “Shanghai Times” or whatever movie they put out next, ‘cause I did enjoy watching these two and their crazy adventures. As with every Jackie Chan movie, the bad plotting is saved by incredible fight scenes. Jackie floats through four or five major brawls that are as inventive as ever, with Jackie making weaponry out of umbrellas, and ladder and a revolving door. But even the umbrella fight is accompanied by Gene Kelly’s “Singin’ in the Rain” as if we wouldn’t see that it resembled Kelly’s famous dance on our own. Again, I think the filmmakers were more nervous than they needed to be. More confidence seemed to be behind the first film. To sum up, it’s enjoyable, but like most sequels, suffers inevitable comparison to the first, and hits below the sweet spot just a touch.