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jonathanfdaly
Reviews
Intermission (2003)
Average at best. By no means a classic.
I'm Irish and I've been living in Denmark for a while so I was looking forward to going home last week so I could see Intermission. And I will go on record as saying:
THIS FILM IS AWFUL.
It is not quite as bad a something like "The Most Fertile Man in Ireland" but it definitely does not stand up there with other Irish films such as The Commitments, I Went Down or Michael Collins.
Some aspects of the film are actually quite funny, such as Colm Meaneys American-style garda. But the film itself is shot completely wrong. The bouncing around of the camera and the constant zoom-in, zoom-out tries to give the film an edgy look as if it were a gritty drama. But it isn't. This is an Irish Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels and it should be shot like this. It should have smooth movement from one shot to the next. The film just looks sloppy and thrown together.
The performances are okay, given the awful script. A friend of mine said to me like it was like they just followed Colin Farrell around Dublin for a week. He gives a decent display as a Dublin Dirtbag, but it no way compares to his performances in Minority Report, Tigerland or Phone Booth. The best performance was from Dierdre O'Kane who plays a sexually frustrated middle-aged woman who has just been dumped by her bank manager husband for a younger woman. I think she should leave her god-awful stand-up and focus more on her acting.
All in all, its does in no way live up to the expectations put on it by the Irish press or deserve to be even considered as one of the best Irish films ever.
I'm expecting a backlash from these comments because most people I have spoken to have said it was great. But before you reply, ask yourself: Would think so highly of this movie if it was set in England or America?
Dumb and Dumberer: When Harry Met Lloyd (2003)
What was I thinking?
What on earth was I thinking when I willingly purchased a ticket for this abysmal attempt at a prequel? I know that prequels/sequels generally never live up to the expectations of the original, but I feel I must applaud Troy Miller on setting a new benchmark that sequels must stay well clear of.
The movie starts off by showing us a little bit of Harry's (Derek Richardson) childhood and a 'hilarious' experience with his imaginary friend. And take it from me folks, it gets worse. What follows is 90 minutes of pure cinematic dung. From the distasteful (a scene in which Harry appears to smear faeces on a bathroom wall) to the downright confusing (a not so funny `your it' sequence in a convenience store).
My view after watching the 1994 original was that Lloyd and Harry were just two buddies that were caught up a world that was just moving too fast for them. However, in this movie, Miller puts them across as being mentally disabled and so incompetent that they may not even develop into the people they are in the 1994.
The film takes every single hilarious scene from the original and milks it relentlessly, so much so that you may find yourself cringing when a line from the first is said. Don't get me wrong, I LOVED the original, it is one of my favourite comedies but this shoddy knock-off has the ability to discourage a person from watching the original.
The cast list looks attractive on paper. Eugene Levy, Luis Guzman, Mimi Rogers and Cheri Oteri have all starred in fine comedies over the past few years but this movie is one I think that would be better left off the résumé. Eric-Christian Olsen on the other hand may be one of the lucky ones, and this may actually benefit his career. His perfect take-off of Jim Carrey is flawless in both mannerisms and accent. He even managed to get a chuckle out of me in a scene involving him using a floor buffer on a sidewalk.
All in all, this movie is a complete waste of time and money for the cinema patron. If you want a laugh, rent the original. Its jokes are still as funny as they were in 1994, however, I can't see us looking back in 2012 in reminisce this movie.
1 out of 10