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Rating: Q=7, P=6 / Can't Get Enough
Scale 1=4, Scale 2=3, Scale 3=3, Scale 4=3
1960s, Civil Rights, Women, Complex Relationships, Based on Novel
I try not to read reviews and critiques to influence my viewing of a film. And I'm a firm believer in never expecting a film based on a book to be anything like the book. Why should it be? I've heard snippets from many that this film is too feel-good, not edgy enough for the subject matter, not true to the novel. That may be true. Racism is a serious issue and one that has been tackled far better in other films. Roger Ebert writes that Civil Rights and the maid/employer relationship was better shown in The Long Walk Home. Perhaps. But The Help does do something quite important: it engages the viewer supremely well. Octavia Spencer and Viola Davis give amazing performances: hardened and hopeful and completely inviting. In my opinion, we can't make every important film one that is extremely dramatic or depressing. Some of them have to be lighter to reach more people and to remind us that our difficult world does have some goodness and humor in it.
The Rum Diary (Bruce Robinson, 2011)
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Rating: Q=6, P=5 / Average OJ
Scale 1=3, Scale 2=3, Scale 3=3, Scale 4=2
1960s, Puerto Rico, Hunter S. Thompson, Binge, Writing, Travel
As I expected, this film is hilarious and insane. From paddling on the ocean in the dark to receiving inspiration from a lobster in a tank, Johnny Depp is perfect. I laughed heartily on more than one occasion and somehow got lost while watching. It works. Not nearly as trippy and Salvador Dali-esque as Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, The Rum Diary is still a great escape film with edgy dialogue and wacky antics.
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