Review of Ride with the Devil (1999) by Jennifer A — 01 Sep 2007

Reviews of Ride with the Devil, Brokedown Palace, Pi and Rushmore.

[b]Ride with the Devil (1999) - 5.8/10[/b].

Director - Ang Lee.

Starring - Tobey Maguire, Skeet Ulrich, Jeffrey Wright, Jewel, Jonathan Rhys-Meyers, Simon Baker, James Caviezel, Tom Wilkinson.

A watchable if sometimes over-reaching drama/action directed by Ang Lee. The Missouri/Kansas border is the setting for this Civil War drama where Jake Roedel (Tobey Maguire) joins the Bushwhackers, an independent group of renegades aligned with the Conderate Army. He is joined by Skeet Ulrich, Jonathan Rhys-Meyers, Simon Baker, and Jeffrey Wright, a slave who is actually fighting against the North. Throw in Jewel as Maguire's love interest, and you have a nice cast. The story is a bit muddled (for example more backstory on Wright's character would have been nice) but it's never a complete failure. An average film that could have been much more.

[b]Brokedown Palace (1998) - 4.5/10[/b].

Director - Jonathan Kaplan.

Starring - Clare Danes, Kate Beckinsale, Bill Pullman, Daniel Lapaine, Jacqueline Kim, Lou Diamond Phillips, Tom Amandes.

Aftre graduating high school, best friends Alice and Darlene (Clare Danes & Kate Beckinsale) decide to take a trip to Thailand. Darlene falls for a charming Australian (Daniel Lapaine) who convinces the girls to join him in Hong Kong. Without their knowledge he has hidden heroin in their luggage and the two girls are arrested at the airport. They end up in jail with a 33 year sentence.

The film is strikingly similar to [i]Midnight Express [/i]just not nearly as effective. The script should have been tidied up a bit and I'm not sure Danes or Beckinsale were ready for roles like this.

[b]Pi (1997) - 7/10[/b].

Director - Darren Aronofsky.

Starring - Sean Gullette, Mark Margolis, Ben Shenkman, Pamela Hart, Stephen Pearlman.

Aronofsky's bare budget debut is an experimental film about a reclusive mathamatician (Sean Gullette) whose obsession with humbers fuels headaches and hallucinations. His work has drawn attention from Wall Street as well as a Hasidic group.

Shot in fabulously grainy (and blown out) black and white, the look definitely matches the films hallucinatory feel. It reminded me a lot of David Lynch's "Eraserhead" and is definitely not one for mainstream audiences. Of course Aronofsky would go on to direct the fabulous "Requiem For a Dream" but this is a fascinating start to his career.

[b]Rushmore (1998) - 7.5/10[/b].

Director - Wes Anderson.

Starring - Jason Schwartzman, Bill Murray, Olivia Williams, Seymour Cassel, Brian Cox, Mason Gamble.

Jason Schwartzman plays Max Fischer, an obsessive self-assured nerd attending school at the prestigious Rushmore Academy. Unlike most of his classmates, Max is poor, which helps fuel his compulsive lies. He immerses himself into extracurricular activities ranging from fencing to astronomy to the Chess Club in order to gain attention. He also falls for a teacher (Olivia Williams) who is also fancied by business tycoon Mr. Blume (Bill Murray). The two form an odd friendship as well as becoming rivals. It's an eccentric, oddly moving coming-of-age story that helped put Wes Anderson in the spotlight. It's also his best film.