The World Beyond BetterMost > Anything Goes
Hugh Hugh Hugh!
MaineWriter:
Another ouch. From the New York Post:
IS there anything more boring than watching $20 million being electronically trans ferred to an offshore bank account? Maybe it's someone repeatedly barking "You have no idea what I'm capable of!" into a cellphone.
Tired tropes like these ensure that the aptly named "Deception" - which starts out as a would-be erotic thriller with Ewan McGregor, Hugh Jackman and Michelle Williams - quickly devolves into a nonprescription alternative to Ambien.
Jackman (whose company produced this bomb) and McGregor, whose accents wander over three continents, barely seem interested in what's going on. Nor will those unwise enough to wander into "Deception."
MaineWriter:
This is the whole review from the Chicago Metromix. I couldn't decide on just a quote. LOL!
Deception
A thriller as unpredictable as a Harlem Globetrotters game
By Matt Pais
No one ever pays much attention to geeky, oblivious accountant Jonathan (Ewan McGregor), yet he doesn't think twice when slick attorney Wyatt (Hugh Jackman) befriends him, gives him an expensive suit and lets him take his place in an exclusive, no-strings-attached sex club for the wealthy, overworked and highly attractive. After Jonathan falls for S (Michelle Williams) on one of his trysts and she disappears, he begins to suspect that this, uh, situation may be more complicated than he realizes.
Big question: Is this psychological thriller sexy enough to pull a fast one on us at the office while our attention's in the bedroom?
Skip it: The ulterior motives in "Deception" are so obvious that you'll only miss them if you leave your eyes and ears at home. Onscreen mind games are only fun if you get to play them yourself, and the freaking title already spoils your chance to enjoy thinking anyone's legit.
Catch it: For Jonathan's not-at-all corny response to S when she tells him she doesn't want to complicate his life: "I want all the complications you've got." Smooth, man.
Bottom line: The only elements that ring true are the quick-moving, nameless corporate culture and the hint of mystery that Williams contributes to a conventional role. Otherwise, McGregor's performance turns a goody-goody into a gullible buffoon, and the plot has enough holes to keep Tiger Woods busy for a week.
Bonus: When Jonathan and Wyatt share a joint in a conference room after office hours, Jonathan says that he hasn't felt this good since seeing Van Halen in '87. You decide if that's a commentary on a life lived without fun or a backhanded way of saying VH's current reunion tour is too little, too late!
mariez:
...and frankly there’s nothing sadder in the world than to watch a sex-laden film unable to climax properly.
LOL!!!
Catch it: For Jonathan's not-at-all corny response to S when she tells him she doesn't want to complicate his life: "I want all the complications you've got." Smooth, man.
Wince. That is pretty bad.
Bonus: When Jonathan and Wyatt share a joint in a conference room after office hours, Jonathan says that he hasn't felt this good since seeing Van Halen in '87. You decide if that's a commentary on a life lived without fun or a backhanded way of saying VH's current reunion tour is too little, too late!
LOL again! The movie does sound pretty bad, but these reviews are immensely entertaining! It does make me wonder what the heck Roger Moore is thinking...
Marie
MaineWriter:
I finally got around to watching the Set to Screen video podcast from the movie Australia. Oh my goodness, what beautiful pictures! And I learned something, too...I never thought about the on-set still photographer. Interesting stuff.
Here's the link again:
http://www.apple.com/education/settoscreen/
and the movie has expanded the website with a blog:
http://www.australiamovie.net/
MaineWriter:
So I went and saw Deception. My review? I am not quite sure why the reviewers are being so savage.
It wasn't great but I have sat through movies that are much, much worse. Yes, it had corny dialog, and yes, I could figure things out pretty easily, but it was still entertaining for 108 minutes. The actors are certainly enjoyable to look at, the camera angles interesting, the music appropriate. It could have been much worse. And there was one big surprise I was totally unprepared for so I guess I didn't figure out every single plot twist.
Ewan McGregor did have one strange accent, I have to say. When he hit a US accent, he sounded like he was from Brooklyn (born and bred) but the rest of the time, he was mixing up three accents in one sentence. Weird. It seemed to get better as the movie went on, but maybe he wasn't talking so much, just frowning at the computer screen.
The pot smoking scene (near the beginning) was ridiculous. They share one joint for 35 minutes and inside of that 35 minutes they both (Hugh and Ewan) end up sitting cross-legged on the big, fancy conference room table, Ewan babbling on and on about the "perfect symmetry of numbers" or something equally inane. I thought, stoned out of their minds on one joint in 30 minutes? What is this, Reefer Madness or something?
Hugh fans, keep a close eye for this...Ewan receives a fax from the NYPD with info about who Hugh really is. On the fax are two of our favorite Hugh pictures:
I almost laughed out loud when I saw them!!
While there is more sex with Ewan, we do have one shirtless scene with Hugh. I could have used more. I didn't like Hugh at the beginning, but I liked him better as the movie went on--and he was the bad guy! I guess he was a more convincing bad guy. In fact, everyone got better as the movie went on. It was almost like they were acting at the beginning, then finally got comfortable in their roles. Unfortunately, it seems for alot of reviewers, they lost interest by that part, but I kept watching.
Oh, BTW, Charlotte Rampling as the semi-nude cougar was great.
Navigation
[0] Message Index
[#] Next page
[*] Previous page
Go to full version