Nacho Libre

Nacho Libre is all about Jack Black. Black plays Nacho, an overweight orphanage cook who moonlights as a luchador to supplement the grocery bills for the kids and earn some personal respect and glory. To have an out-of-shape friar aspire to become a luchador is clearly a hilarious premise, but the best decision director Jared Hess made is to pick Black to play that fat friar (even though native Mexicans may find his phony accent offensive). And Black is pretty much THE movie, everything else has become completely secondary.

If you are an American wrestling fan, it may also be interesting to get a peek into Mexican Lucha Libre tournament. At least based on this movie, it is even wilder and more outrageous than its American counterparts.

Whether you will enjoy this movie will largely depend on whether you are a Jack Black fan or not. I happen to be one that finds Jack Black unbelievably funny. Jim Carrey and Robin Williams’ physical comedy always strikes me as trying too hard. Black, on the other hand, could make me laugh by merely standing there and looking seriously into the camera. He has a unique self-deprecating sense of humor that tickles my funny bone. In Nacho Libre, Black carries the entire movie. As long as you enjoy him, you can forget all the other flaws in the script and have a good time. If you are not his fan, then don’t waste your time.

The Grudge (on DVD)

2004’s The Grudge is not for the faint-hearted. Writer/director Takashi Shimizu remade his Japanese original into this “Americans in Tokyo” version. Shimizu does not give the audience much breathing room. The scare goes on from the beginning till the end while the body count increases. Sarah Michelle Gellar is the female lead, but it really doesn’t matter who is in this movie. The main attraction of The Grudge is the spookiness and the gore. I basically had to close my eyes 60% of the time, but I did enjoy one single detail in the movie. While Gellar’s character tries to figure out which train to take, a Japanese man quickly cuts in front of her and buys a ticket. While Gellar is saying “Excuse me” to apologize, the man has already walked away without any acknowledgment of his own truly rude behavior. It definitely reminds me of my time in Tokyo. I am also curious where Shimizu finds all those empty and quiet places in Tokyo for his characters. I guess it must be movie “magic”. If looks can kill, the creepy creatures in this movie definitely prove it.

The Sentinel

The Sentinel is a thriller with some promise in the beginning, but eventually falls flat on its storyline.

The movie tries to show us those secret service men and women behind their dark sunglasses and crisp suits – the side the public has rarely seen before; however, director Clark Johnson and screenwriter George Nolfi are too mired in action to pay much attention to character development. In The Sentinel, secret service agent Pete Garrison (played by Michael Douglas) is framed by international terrorists while trying to foil a conspiracy to assassinate the U.S. President. In the middle of the movie, when Pete is on the run from the law, there are about 20 minutes of interesting screen time, in which Pete and his pursuer, former best friend, David (played by Kiefer Sutherland) battle their wits. David tries to anticipate Pete’s every move and Pete has to move one step ahead of David. Unfortunately, their move/countermove moments are over too fast and we soon fall into a big implausible plot hole. I have to admit that I had a hard time following the plot, either because there are too many inconsistencies or because the filmmakers are too quick showing the clues and explanations for me to catch them all. Maybe I ought to advice anyone who will go see the movie: keep your eyes open at all times and don’t let any small detail escape your attention, then maybe you will have a more satisfactory time at this movie.

There are many familiar faces in the movie. Everyone plays his/her part professionally, but no one really stands out. I don’t quite understand the purpose of Eva Longoria’s role in the movie, except to attract some young males and Desperate Housewives fans to the movie. It is also hard for me to take the President seriously when he is played by Jack Trenton in the sitcom Nurses. (To actor David Rasche’s credit, he has done his best to play a straight role. It is simply that his Jack Trenton character is too memorable from that mediocre sitcom.) We also haven’t seen a first Lady as glamorous as Kim Basinger for a long time.

It is a pity that The Sentinel has wasted its potential to become a fascinating, smart and character-driven suspense movie; instead it just becomes another trigger happy slugfest.

A Love Song for Bobby Long (on DVD)

2004’s A Love Song for Bobby Long is a dull movie with a drab script. I don’t know if the problem lies in the original material Off Magazine Street, a novel by Ronald Everett Capps, or Shainee Gabel’s adaptation and direction, but it is simply a drag to watch. The movie centers on a young woman’s relationship with two strangers who live in her estranged mother’s house after her death. Scarlett Johansson is the young woman Pursy and John Travolta with a full head of white hair is the title character Bobby Long. From early on, experienced moviegoers may guess one of the two secrets revealed near the end of the movie. The other secret that is constantly hinted at throughout the movie is also very anticlimactic and once it is revealed, one may feel that he has been waiting so long for nothing. Once again Johansson is overrated and Travolta just recycles his old cynical roles. It is hard for the audience to accept Travolta as some kind of literary genius, but the movie does explore Travolta’s dancing talents a couple times. Overall, one is better off to skip this little shallow character study in the rental aisle.