I really liked the movie
Reviewed by Jacknwtr for Public Enemies at 2009-07-09 11:37:53
The acting was very good by everyone in the top roles. The violence in the movie isn't sickening, although there is a lot of shooting (I expected). It isn't the best movie ever, but worth seeing.
I disagree. I think that Snyder is in a no-win situation here. As mentioned, to make a film replicating the entire Watchmen series would be 4 hours ? at least. The alternative was to ?interpret? the series and make it more watchable for people who have never read the book. Of course, had he done this, fans would be enraged that he had prostituted Alan Moore?s masterpiece just to make it ?Hollywood?. Instead, he stuck as closely to the story as he could, crammed as much as possible in under 3 hours and produced what I?m sure most fans would agree, is a pretty great homage to one of the best graphic novels written. Seeing almost exact images from the book translated to the big screen was a thrill and I thought they did a great job. I thought the cast portrayed the ?feel? of the book very well. While the sex scene may have been a bit overdone I thought the overall relationship was just as believable in the movie as it was in the book. Haley played Rorchach to perfection and Patrick Wilson made a good Dan Dreiberg.
Having said that, I?m curious to see how people who have never read the book will take this movie. Personally, I think that without the benefit of reading the book and having the entire back story, the movie wouldn?t be nearly as enjoyable. I don?t think this works well as just a standalone movie the way other comic book movies do ? you don?t need to read a Batman comic to enjoy ?The Dark Knight?.
As a big fan of the book and of Alan Moore?s work I thought this was a great movie and I can?t wait to see the longer director?s cut.
http://braidedthreads.blogspot.com/2008/10/sheepish-shepherd.html
It struck me how little the main character (played by Matt
Damon) actually does in this movie. He never makes any active
choices - when he is directing things for the CIA, he announces,
and others carry out his decisions. He is pretty blank as a
character. He does make a couple of choices with regard to his
son, though. But he also doesn't choose to deter his son beyond his vague suggestions about life in the CIA. Most other
decisions are made for him and he follows orders when he is not
giving orders. He does make the choice to turn around in the
hallway and go back to the Skull and Bones innitiation. He
chooses that life. He does what is expected of him. He has sex when he is dragged into it, he gets married when the girl getspregnant, he goes overseas when asked.
Newspaper article from: Entertainment Newsweekly; 3/20/2009; 1028+ words...Thomas Tull are the executive producers, with Wes Coller serving as co-producer. The film stars Malin Akerman, BillyCrudup, Matthew Goode, Carla Gugino, Jackie Earle Haley, Jeffrey Dean Morgan and Patrick Wilson. Warner Bros. Pictures...
Newspaper article from: Entertainment Newsweekly; 1/30/2009; 672 words...Thomas Tull are the executive producers, with Wes Coller serving as co-producer. The film stars Malin Akerman, BillyCrudup, Matthew Goode, Carla Gugino, Jackie Earle Haley, Jeffrey Dean Morgan and Patrick Wilson. Warner Bros. Pictures...
Newspaper article from: Contemporary Theatre, Film and Television; 1/1/2005; 1158+ wordsCRUDUP, Billy 1968 – PERSONAL Surname is pronounced Crew – dup; full name, William Crudup; born July 8, 1968, in Manhasset, Long Island, NY; children...
Newspaper article from: Film Comment; 5/1/2002; Chang, Chris ; 468 wordsBart Freundlich, U.S., 2002 Cal (BillyCrudup) is having a premature midlife crisis. He abandons his beautiful wife and son to hit the road in a station wagon. Although an...
Newspaper article from: Film Comment; 1/1/1999; 4049+ words...crossfire -- without missing a beat in her rant.... * Four bare legs wavering in the air: Steve Prefontaine (BillyCrudup) and friend trying to fuck standing on their heads in Without Limits ... * A token of love. Rushmore: Miss Cross...