Review of Curly Sue (1991) by Megan O — 16 Jul 2005

Director: Alexander Payne.

Starring: Laura Dern, Swoosie Kurtz, Kurtwood Smith, Mary Kay Place.

3.5 stars out of 4.

Although Todd Solondz' [i]Palindromes[/i] did the same exact story a hell of a lot better, [i]Citizen Ruth[/i] still stands on its own as an intelligent farce regarding the "war" between left and right wing activists, and the ironic similarities between them. Alexander Payne (who truly perfected his style with such masterpieces as [i]About Schmidt[/i] and [i]Sideways[/i]) beautifully depicts the story/tragedy of Ruth Stoops, a homeless, but pregnant, junkie who finds herself in the middle of a nationwide battle over the fate of her unborn child. The beauty of the film really emerges when we start to realize that Ruth is actually inconsequential in the midst of this frenzy.

One peeve: Why must "pro-life" activists [i]always[/i] be painted as nutty Christians? Where the hell are the people who just don't support sanctioned murder? Regardless, the film does an excellent job of showing the problems with each side, even if it does obviously lean a bit more one way than the other (but how can it not, when the correct side is so painfully clear?)... In an attempt to avoid too much controversy, I will stop here.

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Also viewed recently (but I just can't stand being burdened with "catch-up"):

[b]Curly Sue[/b]: 3.5 stars out of 4 - An excellent family film that reminds me of the "good ol' days".

[size=1][size=2][b]Dodgeball[/b]: 2.5 stars out of 4 - It's no[i] Zoolander[/i], but at least it was better than the wretched [i]Starsky and Hutch[/i]... Its not exactly funny, but it [i]is[/i] somewhat entertaining. I wish that they would just stop now.[/size].

[/size][b]Be Cool[/b]: 1 star out of 4 - I only saw 14 minutes and 47 seconds. That was quite enough. The whole thing is just one huge "in-joke"; and not a very good one, at that.

[b]Cruel Intentions[/b]: 2.5 stars out of 4 - Entertaining but preposterous! Disgustingly ridiculous! A horrible remake, fitting characters into implausible situations, only to "update" the original masterpiece, [i]Dangerous Liasons[/i]. The tragic flaw is that its predecessor actually made SENSE! The story cannot be taken out of its period setting, otherwise you would have... well...[i]Cruel Intentions[/i].