Review of Fierce People (2006) by David H — 23 Mar 2005

FIERCE PEOPLE- An upcoming film starring Diane Lane and Donald Sutherland about a working class woman (Lane) and her son who move to live in a guesthouse of one of the mother?s wealthy clients (Sutherland). While the mother works, her teenage son explores his sexuality with some of the kids around. FIERCE PEOPLE seems like one of those films that?s trying desperately hard to be something it?s not. It really doesn?t know what it wants to be. A teen angst film? A social class film? Everything in the film seems forced, from the sexuality, to the violence. It just didn?t work to well for me.

SAHARA- Reminds me a lot of NATIONAL TREASURE, and I think it?s supposed to, since NATIONAL TREASURE was so successful. But Matthew McConaughey is no Nic Cage. Not even close. But SAHARA is a fun ride, up until the end. The characters in the film, played by McConaughey, Steve Zahn, and Penelope Cruz seem to be way smarter than the impression they give off, figuring things out of pretty much nothing. I didn?t buy their intelligence, like I did with Nic Cage in NATIONAL TREASURE. Chances are if you liked NATIONAL TREASURE, you?ll like SAHARA, just not as much, and if you didn?t like NATIONAL TREASURE, you?re not going to like SAHARA. If you?re able to go into films, and watch them for pure entertainment and not invest much thought into it, SAHARA is for you.

THE SKELETON KEY- Another THE RING wannabe. I?m sick of films like this. They?re all not very good, and, from the films like it I?ve seen, THE SKELETON KEY is one of the worst. The concept is interesting, I guess. Well, not really. Kate Hudson is Caroline, sort of a private nurse to a dying man (John Hurt) in the swamps of Louisiana. She cares of the man under the supervision of his wife (Gena Rowlands), and learns about the past of the house while doing different chores for them. The man, who can?t talk or move much, pleas for help to Caroline, so she becomes a detective, trying to solve the mystery behind the horrors of the house. It?s one of those ?huge surprise endings? that doesn?t really work with the rest of the film. When wrapping the film up, it goes over some of the details about how it could actually happen (in context), but really, it doesn?t work, although it?s fairly interesting. And I didn?t see it coming. Actually, I guess it's not as bad as I thought, looking back at it, but anyway, it's still not that great.