Maisie winds up at a boxing camp where the boxer's manager George Murphy assumes she's a tramp which is fun, as is Maisie jitterbugging at the top.
I liked the third act melodrama and Maise having more of a sex drive. Maybe the presence of Robert Sterling, Ann Sothern's husband as the boxer?
Murphy is a prat for forcing Sterling to box and the film doesn't redeem him - it sets up a Southern /Sterling clinch at the end which would've worked. Still, this was strong.
Written a few weeks before filming and you can tell. No characters are intresting. No relationships. Sam Neill is professional but his relationship with Alessandra Nivola is dull, as is Nivola (with a backpack, come on). Tea Leoni and William H Macy never seem like they were married or parents, the kid is dull, no support characters. Why no decent villains?
They could've just had Laura Dern looking for Sam Neill or vice versa.
Decent effects. You can see the money on screen.
Lovely movie. Made with heart. Excellent effects and acting. Everyone seems like a nice person - Emma Thompson, Molly Gordon, Hugh Jackman, the sheep.
Almost a caricature of Gen X indie cinema - genius auteur, gangsters, Scorcese, misogyny, characters talkin tough and hard to differentiate. Mira Sorvino is sweet. I liked the tubby guys. But I wanted the film to end sooner than it did.
A better movie would be the story of the making of this and Rob Weiss going full Hollywood - but I guess they did that with the Billy Flynn arc on Entourage.
Starts strong - I loved the filmmaking stuff. Doesn't quite manage the shift to killer monster movie. It's no Piranha, say. Paul Rudd and Jack Black have a high old time. Thandie Newton and Steve Kahn feel underserviced as do the baddies.
Balls to the wall insanity with Isabelle Adjani and Sam Neill going toe to toe. He's a spy, she's his wife, she leaves him for another guy, he goes nuts, she goes nuts. Hard to follow. Mostly interesting.
