Review of Made (2001) by David K — 11 Jul 2004

[b]Spartan [/b](Mamet).

David Mamet's new thriller contains the key ingredient that seems to be missing from most Hollywood thrillers as of late. [i]The Thrills! [/i]Mamet's film moves at the pace of a race car. The film leaves you confused enough to want to know more, but doesn't confuse to the point of frustration. Although they at times can seem a bit forced, the twists in the film are effective, and I defy anyone to be bored or disinterested while watching the film. Sounds pretty great, doesn't it? Well, hold on a minute.

Although the film works as a thriller and succeeds in holding the viewer's attention, it is still a deeply flawed film. Too many of the situations and events in the film felt unrealistic. Even the interactions between characters did not feel realistic. Although some may claim that this how Mamet writes and directs his films, I felt it to be a flaw. There are many things in the film that I felt should have happened but didn't, not because it was in the Mamet style, but simply to move the story forward. I'm also not sure if Val Kilmer was the right casting choice for the lead role. I've always felt Kilmer's lead characters always tend to be bland. I thought the character of Scott should have had several complexities that Kilmer was simply unable to convey in his performance.

Overall: A solid thriller that will get your heart racing, but don't expect realism or good acting.

***/****.

[b]Ed Wood [/b](Burton).

Although I enjoyed it, I have to say I was a little dissapointed. I guess, I let the hype I've read about at RT get to me a little. I went into this expecting something pretty great. But Tim [color=#ff0000]Burton[/color] has a tendency to dissapoint me, so I should have figured.

I loved Johnny Depp's performance, and honestly I don't think I would have enjoyed this film at all without his presence. This is definitely some of the best work I've ever seen him do, and he has certainly done a lot of good work. I was okay with the overall cheesiness through the beginning of the film, and it was a cool homage to the films of that era. But for a film that went over 2 hours, this got old real fast. For a film that was going to play it so silly, I would have expected it to be a lot funnier. Unfortunately, I can't say that I really laughed at any point in this film. There was definitely potential there to be a strong comedy. Had they played it straight, there would have been potential for a pretty moving story about a man that went to all lengths to make movies. Unfortunately, I got neither out of [i]Ed [b][color=#ff0000]Wood[/color][/b]. [/i].

[i]**[/i]1/2/****.