Review of Tom Jones (1963) by Anthony S — 14 Mar 2005

Sorry for not updating sooner: my life has been mostly humdrum lately. Even my spring break was uneventful. Most of my friends went home for break and my roommate went to Las Vegas and the Grand Canyon, so I was left to amuse myself in my room. In other words, I watched [i]a lot[/i] of movies.

And now, the first installment of my reviews:

[b]*Constantine[/b] -- This was offered as a free Midnight Movie a couple of weeks ago, and I was convinced to see it because it might be funny in an unintentional sort of way, much like the trailer. Imagine my surprise when it turned out to be OK. Once again, Keanu Reeves was miscast -- he had all the look of a cynical badass, but his typically flat acting made one yearn for someone, [i]anyone[/i], who could give the role even a little bit more depth. Thankfully, the supporting cast was rather good, especially Peter Stormaire as Satan and Tilda Swanton as Gabriel, which is absolutely perfect casting IMO. Against all expectations, it turned out to be a solid little thriller.

[b]*De-Lovely[/b] -- The main reason I watched this was because of my admiration of Kevin Kline, and his performance as Cole Porter did not disappoint. This biopic has the interesting structure of a "this is your life" musical, and not even Ashley Judd could prevent me from enjoying it. Some of the performers in the film are well chosen (Robbie Williams, Sheryl Crow, Natalie Cole, and the forever criminally underrated Jonathan Pryce), others...not so much (Elvis Costello sounded like a drunken nightclub singer performing "Let's Misbehave"; Alanis Morrisette's voice, which makes her sound like she is constantly yodeling, just doesn't quite sound right doing "Let's Fall In Love").

[b]*Something's Gotta Give[/b] -- Wow, Jack Nicholson playing a dirty old man -- how shocking. :rolleyes: Sarcasm aside, this is an OK rom-com, but the ending bothered me.

[SPOILER]The movie is promoted as having this great "age doesn't matter" message, but in the end the old people are paired off with each other, the young folk with each other, and the other man -- who is perfectly sweet and noble -- is left with nothing. Why couldn't Harry learn from his experiences and Erica stay with Julian, thereby getting over [i]her[/i] issues with age differences. It would seem a more realistic ending, since in reality not everybody ends up paired off and happy. But then, this is a rom-com -- when has reality ever entered the picture? [/SPOILER].

The real surprise of the film was Keanu Reeves, who managed not only to not suck, but to be rather charming and even attractive, something I do not normally think of him.

[b]*Tom Jones[/b] -- Who knew that 17th century novels could be so full of sex? This lighthearted adaptation of the Henry Fielding novel centers on the title character, a bastard child adopted by a kindly country gentlemen who grows up to be a charming womanizer. He loves the sweet neighbor girl Sophie, but their fathers want to unite their properties through her and Tom's adoptive brother, an odious cleric. Soon he is banished, and this leads to a surprisingly funny adventure as the two try to get back together. The main reason the film is so enjoyable is the wonderful performance by Albert Finney, who with his ready charm, golden hair, and infectious smile kept making me think of Ewan McGregor (who knew the casting for [b]Big Fish[/b] was so spot-on?). I highly recommend this film.