Love & Distrust

Release Date: November 2nd, 2010

Genre: Drama / Romance

Stars: James Franco, Amy Adams, Robert Downey, Jr.

Synopsis: A collection of five short films connected only by their themes revolving around love.

AltAss Ratings (On a scale of 1 to 5 asses)

Plot:                                   

Three out of five of the plot lines were solid.  One didn't seem to have enough going on and the other did not make sense.

Writing / Production:    

Most of the short films were written well enough but the fact that there were no concrete connections between them was somewhat discomforting.  Also the opening titles, closing titles, and the titles between the short films were incredibly hokie and a thirteen year old could produce something more professional on a laptop in half an hour.

Acting:                               

The acting was pretty decent throughout but the names on the cover of the DVD misrepresent the contributions of the players to the film.  Robert Pattinson and Robert Downey Jr. are on the screen for a very small amount of time yet recieve big bold recognition on the case.

Originality:                         

It is definitely unique but not in a good way.

Overall:                              

There are some nice scenes in "Love & Distrust" but it feels like a movie that never finished shooting and was thrown together quickly and sloppily.  To top it off it is then shamelessly marketed as something that it is not.  Even though it is not total crap I highly discourage rewarding this film with your time and money.

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My Name Is Khan

Release Date: February 12th, 2010

Genre: Drama / Romance

Stars: Shahrukh Khan, Kajol, Sheetal Menon

Synopsis: A Muslim man with Asperger's syndrome falls in love and marries a Hindu beautician in San Francisco but post 9/11 profiling and tragedy test the bonds of their love.

AltAss Ratings (On a scale of 1 to 5 asses)

Plot:                                   

A very beautiful premise that finds strength in its reflection of reality but is weakened by going over the top with its fantasy.

Writing / Production:      

There is a lot of beautiful work that will connect emotionally to most audiences but it is a shame that more cuts weren't made in the editing room because the film goes from moving to draining as it blows by the two hour mark.

Acting:                              

Shahrukh Khan gives as fine a performance as I've seen this year as the Aspergers afflicted protagonist and the rest of the cast was very capable if not quite memorable.

Originality:                   

Strangely enough it felt a lot like Forrest Gump.

Overall:                          

An hour into the movie I felt like I had discovered a remarkable contribution to cinema but in the end it went to the well a few too many times causing the film to fall somewhat short of its potential.  "My Name Is Khan" is still entertaining and important despite the aforementioned shortcomings.

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Multiple Sarcasms

Release Date: May 7th, 2010

Genre: Drama

Stars: Timothy Hutton, Mira Sorvino, Dana Delany

Synopsis: A successful architect with a normal family suffers from unhappiness and decides to write a play drawing from all his personal relationships for inspiration.

AltAss Ratings (On a scale of 1 to 5 asses)

Plot:                             

A really good subject gets lost as the characters are clamoring for interesting things to do.

Writing:                         

I liked some of the dry smart humor in the film but the dialogue was still not strong enough to carry a film that really needed it to pick up the slack.

Acting:                             

Mario Van Peebles stands out from the crowd as the protagonist's co-worker and I think it would be fair to label the other performances, at least the leads, very average.

Originality:                    

There are certainly other films that feature depressive in spite of success characters but none of them have been inspired to write a play about their feelings.  (Thank God!)

Overall:                         

I appreciate the theraputic message of this film that happiness is relative, and we should not feel guilty about being unhappy.  This doesn't change the fact that the film was very mediocre and uninteresting. 

What did you think?  Leave a comment below to tell us how you'd rate this film!

The Experiment

Release Date: September 21st, 2010 (DVD)

Genre: Drama / Thriller

Stars: Adrien Brody, Forest Whitaker, Cam Gigandet

Synopsis: A group of men respond to a newspaper ad for a research project that involves simulating the conditions of a prison in which most will be prisoners and some will be guards.

AltAss Ratings (On a scale of 1 to 5 asses)

Plot:                                  

A great overall idea that is hurt a little bit by the vagueness of the conclusion.

Writing:                      

In conjunction with the editing and directing it greatly devalued the picture.  The opening is sporadic and the introduction of the characters seems uneven and forced.  The ending does not make sense and is inconclusive.  There are moments in between that provide a teaser at how brilliant the film could have been.

Acting:                              

Adrien Brody and Forest Whitaker are undoubtedly very special talents.  Whitaker's character transformation alone may warrant watching this film despite its shortcomings.

Originality:                      

A prison movie without real prisoners and guards?  I love it.

Overall:                          

Just picking up the box and discovering the plot and cast will raise most people's expectations.  Unfortunately, they will undoubtedly feel let down and a little upset because this film had the potential to be so much better. 

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What did you think?  Leave a comment below to tell us how you'd rate this film!