Assassination of a High School President

Release Date: October 6th, 2009 (DVD)

Genre: Comedy / Crime / Mystery

Stars: Bruce Willis, Mischa Barton, Reece Thompson, Michael Rappaport

Synopsis: A school newspaper reporter gets his big break when he outs the student body president for stealing the SAT tests from the principal's office but further investigation suggests a frame job and a much bigger scandal.

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

Plot:                                           

A well crafted premise and certainly a strength for the film.

Writing / Production:            

At times "Assassination of a High School President" is down right entertaining and others it is completely boring and uninteresting.  The biggest criticism for this film is that it does not harness momentum efficiently and winds up a series of peaks and valleys.

Acting:                                  
          
It is a shame that Michael Rappaport was not used more often as he was absoultely hillarious.  Bruce Willis is very nice in his role as the principal but the rest of the players which include the leads left a bit to be desired.

Originality:                           

"Assassination of a High School President" feels a lot like a bad tribute to classic detective mystery movies and if it had done enough to more closely mimic that genre it would have been a pretty novel concept.

Overall:                                   

This movie put a lot of stock in a fantastic finish and while the ending was pretty good that doesn't quite make up for the fact that the audience has to labor through a painfully hit or miss feature length fare to get there. 

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The Town

Release Date: September 17th, 2010

Genre: Crime / Drama / Thriller

Stars: Ben Affleck, Rebecca Hall, Jon Ham, Jeremy Renner

Synopsis: A career bank robber finds himself involved with a manager taken hostage during one of his heists and fights the strong currents from his life of crime in an attempt to change his life for good.

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

Plot:                                          

                                           
The premise of exploring a love relationship between a criminal and his victim is a strength for this film.

Writing / Production:               

"The Town" has some very nice heist and chase scenes with hit or miss dramatic efforts in between.  While its nothing extremely special, the film is still pretty good and has a lot of entertainment value.

Acting:                                      

Ben Affleck has been responsible for some the worst acted scenes in recent history but he is much better in "The Town" and even shows some signs that he has the ability to be a really good actor at times.  Jon Ham and Jeremy Renner probably turned in the best performances in this effort.

Originality:                                

The fresh and creative feel is why "The Town" has impressed a lot of audiences in my opinion.

Overall:                                   

This movie isn't a masterpiece by any stretch of the imagination but it is a breath of fresh air from the steady diet of cookie cutter big budget and big name films steadily shoved down our throats.

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The Maiden Heist

Release Date: October 27th, 2009

Genre: Comedy / Crime / Drama

Stars: Morgan Freeman, Christopher Walken, William H. Macy, Marcia Gay Harden

Synopsis: Three museum security guards on the brink of retirement plot a heist to save the art they hold most dear from being relocated in Denmark.

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

Plot:                                           

A lovely concept that carries a lot of promise for both comedic and sentimental value.

Writing / Production:           

"The Maiden Heist" is not nearly as funny as most audiences might expect but it does feature a handful of humorous moments.  On the other hand the film packs more heart than expected as well although there is a bit of a void in the back story as to exactly why each man adores the art in question so deeply.

Acting:                                       

The film features three very experienced talents and they are as brilliant as they are different.  Perhaps the most remarkable aspect of the performances was the consistent and steady quality that did not allow any of the leads to upstage the others.

Originality:                          

Caper movies have been done to death but "The Maiden Heist" does a lot to distinguish itself from the crowd by focusing a lot more on the characters and their relationships to the art rather than the heist itself.

Overall:                                  

The one thing that hurts "The Maiden Heist" the most was trying to delicately balance itself between comedy and drama.  Perhaps the film could have been either a great comedy or a fantastic drama but it struggled greatly in trying to be both.  Still the film is not completely devoid of value and a lot of audiences should enjoy it. 

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The Long Kiss Goodnight

Release Date: October 11th, 1996

Genre: Action / Crime / Drama

Stars: Geena Davis, Samuel L. Jackson, Craig Bierko

Synopsis: An amnesia stricken woman is haunted by her past eight years into her new life as a wife, mother, and schoolteacher.

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

Plot:                                          

An extremely entertaining premise for a film even if it was way beyond the realm of believability.

Writing / Production:               

"The Long Kiss Goodnight" is filled with cheesy one liners, over the top stunts, and questionable plot points but is damn entertaining and enjoyable so whatever the filmmakers did was working. 

Acting:                                     

Samuel L. Jackson plays the part of the inept sidekick perfectly and Geena Davis pulls off the difficult task of going from innocent schoolteacher to bad ass assassin pretty well although her performance wasn't a complete homerun.  Craig Bierko was so entertaining as the villain it was hard to hate him.

Originality:                          

It feels alot like many films from this genre and time period but it definitely has a distinct character.

Overall:                                 

This film was flat out fun and easy to watch.  Some audiences will certainly be critical because the film is admittedly an easy target for the "yeah right" crowd but don't let that keep you from having some fun and check out "The Long Kiss Goodnight".

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