The Love Letter (1998) [UR] ****

In this romantic fantasy, Scott Corrigan (Campbell Scott) and his fiancée Debra (Daphne Ashbrook) are preparing for their upcoming wedding. One weekend, while the two are browsing through antique shops, Scott finds an old 1860s period desk, and decides to buy it. After getting it home, while cleaning it he discovers a secret compartment, and inside it he finds writing stationery, as well as a letter written by a young woman named Elizabeth Whitcomb (Jennifer Jason Leigh), who owned the desk in the 1860s. In her letter, Elizabeth expresses her anxiety about her betrothal to a much older man whom she does not love, a sentiment that echoes Scott’s own anxieties about his upcoming wedding. Fascinated by Elizabeth’s letter, Scott decides to write a reply to her. On the suggestion of his aunt Beatrice (Estelle Parsons), he uses the stationery he found in the desk, and specially-formulated ink from the period. Then, he mails the letter with a stamp from the 1860s, at a post office that had been in continual use from that time to the present.

Incredibly, Scott’s letter is delivered to Elizabeth in the 1860s, and she is mystified when she reads it. Then she discovers that her letter is missing from the secret compartment, realizes that the two events are connected, and that the secret compartment is a portal to the future. She pens a reply to Scott, places it in the secret compartment, and, as the two begin to correspond across a century and a half of time, inevitably a romance blossoms between them.

Produced for the television anthology series The Hallmark Hall of Fame, The Love Letter is a hauntingly beautiful and thought-provoking romance about the limitless power of love to transcend time. Scott and Elizabeth find themselves linked by destiny, while separated by a century and a half of time. They fall in love while corresponding, and help each other make decisions about life partners and careers. Poignant, life-affirming and uplifting, this wonderful film is reminiscent of The Lake House and Somewhere in Time. If you enjoy romantic fantasies, don’t miss The Love Letter (1998). 

Labels: fantasy, romance, space-time

Internet Movie Database 7.4/10
RottenTomatoes Averages (critics=NA, viewers=70)
YouTube complete movie

Deep Impact (1998) [PG-13] ***

Jenny Lerner is a TV news reporter in Washington, D.C. While investigating the resignation of the Treasury Secretary, ostensibly due to his wife's illness, Jenny stumbles across evidence that he has a mistress named Ellie, and that the President knows about her. Things quickly become more serious, however, when Jenny finds herself under FBI arrest, and in an unscheduled meeting with the President. She discovers that the resignation story is only a cover for something far more serious... an E.L.E., or Extinction Level Event, in this case a comet the size of Mt. Everest that is headed straight for a collision with Earth, and threatens to wipe out all life on the planet. Jenny agrees to suppress the story, and days later the President addresses the nation, revealing that a spacecraft has been constructed, and a team of astronauts assembled to rendezvous with the comet, and attempt to change its course so it misses Earth.

On the surface, this film is about a global threat from outer space, and how different people deal with it. But the deeper story is about the nobility of self-sacrifice... how loving, compassionate individuals make a conscious decision to sacrifice themselves so others may live. The screenplay is fast-paced and well-written, with attention given to both the impending global catastrophe and how individuals and families are affected. There are a few plot holes and some scientific inaccuracies, but these can be forgiven in the interest of great story-telling.

Direction, editing, special effects and the musical score are excellent, and the acting talent assembled for this film is terrific, including James Cromwell, Robert Duvall, Jon Favreau, Morgan Freeman, Tea Leoni, Vanessa Redgrave, Mary McCormack, Maximilian Schell, Richard Schiff, Charles Martin Smith, Leelee Sobieski, and Elijah Wood. Deep Impact serves as a reminder that this beautiful blue planet is our only home and that we should treat it and all living creatures on it with loving care. If you enjoyed Armageddon and The Day After Tomorrow, you won't want to miss Deep Impact. 

Labels: action, disaster, drama, family, prophetic, sci-fi, thriller, tragedy, wedding       
Internet Movie Database
Metacritic 40/100
RottenTomatoes Averages (critics=58, viewers=58)
Blu-ray

The Circle (2017) [PG-13] ***

A film review by James Berardinelli for ReelViews.net on Apr 29, 2017.

Thematically, James Ponsoldt’s The Circle (based on the novel by Dave Eggers) takes its cues from George Orwell’s 1984 and Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World. Grand aspirations, to be sure, and ones that are never truly met. From its beginning, the movie has difficulty wedding its collage of ideas with a compelling narrative. The end result is a meandering story featuring shallow, unconvincing characters attempting to illustrate the evils of technology in its undermining of individual liberties. The Circle offers a lot of good bullet arguments but this is a movie not a Powerpoint presentation.

Many of the movie’s ruminations focus on the yin and yang of technology to improve the everyday experience of living. What some view as beneficial, however, others see as intrusive. The Circle attempts to present both sides but the dice are loaded. Frustratingly, the movie never delves beneath surface arguments so there’s little here we haven’t heard or seen before. Yes, omnipresent cameras can aid law enforcement officers. Yes, constant surveillance can make us safer from crime. Yes, detailed medical information might make treatment more effective. But there’s a price for all this. When Big Brother is watching, what happens to privacy? Can a person stay sane if his/her every movement is scrutinized? Unfortunately, although The Circle touches on these issues, it never scratches any itch long enough to satisfy. Instead, it moves on, making a compelling argument that this would have been better as a long-form limited TV series than a less-than-two hour motion picture.

In the late 1990s, two movies explored the growing fascination people at the time had with a new wave of online voyeurism – watching exhibitionists display chunks of their lives to a worldwide audience. Since then, the practice has grown more prevalent and what we considered extreme has become commonplace. Nevertheless, The Circle owes a debt to both Peter Weir’s The Truman Show and Ron Howard’s EDtv in the way it offers up the possibility of watching the life of a subject 24/7. Ponsoldt’s depiction of this is more in keeping with how things are in 2017, folding in a strong social media aspect, but the issues remain the same: Can a person thrive under a microscope when privacy is limited to bathroom breaks and the lines between reality and performance have become blurred. Once again, however, The Circle is content to present the points without digging deeper.

The movie gets its title from the name of the mega tech corporation where most of the action takes place. The Circle has been modeled after Google with a little Apple thrown in for dessert. Working at The Circle is a dream job for Mae (Emma Watson) so when her friend Annie (Karen Gillan) promises to get her an interview, she’s thrilled. Soon, she’s learning the ropes in Customer Experience, where a 100% result on satisfaction surveys is all that matters. Mae loves the whole Circle experience – the living arrangements, the open-floor work space, the health benefits, and the atmosphere of positive reinforcement. Presiding over it all is CEO Eamon Bailey (Tom Hanks), a Steve Jobs clone who gathers his troops weekly to give them combination pep talks/product updates.

The Circle’s latest brainchild is SeeChange - inexpensive, portable cameras about the size of a quarter that can provide sophisticated streaming video with minimal effort. Bailey envisions them being everywhere, increasing transparency and enhancing safety. Privacy issues are a secondary concern and those drawbacks are almost never mentioned at The Circle. If Mae is uncomfortable about this aspect of her workplace, she doesn’t show it and her enthusiasm for the project makes her the perfect spokesperson. She agrees to allow herself to be on camera 24/7 and becomes an immediate social media sensation. But fame of this sort has its price, as she soon learns.

Narratively the film is uneven, often rushed. Several big scenes (like the one in which Mae’s ex-boyfriend makes a run for it while being pursued by camera-toting people and drones) feel forced and artificial. The best moments in The Circle are the cerebral ones: Bailey’s pep talks and the inner circle’s brainstorming sessions. Mae’s on-line odyssey – from obscurity to fame to desirous of a moment’s solitude – might have been more interesting if it had been given time to develop.

The character of Mae is the movie’s most glaring flaw. She’s reactive, inconsistent, and not interesting. Part of the problem may be Emma Watson’s one-note performance but she’s not given smart dialogue or a credible story arc. She’s simply there – someone who provides a convenient portal into The Circle. The screenplay radically alters the book’s ending, rendering moot some of the points it tries to make in its quest for an audience-pleasing denouement. Never has producer interference been more evident. But it’s hard to absolve Eggers of blame for the wholesale mangling of his novel since his name is on the screenplay.

Tom Hanks brings some laid-back energy to his role and makes us wish the movie had been about Bailey rather than Mae. This is, however, a supporting role for the veteran actor and, although one would technically categorize his character as a villain, Hanks succeeds in making Bailey likeable. He’s the kind of boss we’d all like to have. Sadly wasted are the talents of John Boyega (playing a semi-retired genius who no longer trusts The Circle) and Bill Paxton in his final performance (as Mae’s MS-stricken father).

The reworking of the original storyline gives The Circle a schizophrenic feel. In the end, it’s difficult to decode what the precise message is beyond the rather boring refrain of loss of freedom is the price we pay for greater connectivity. Is the movie pro-tech or anti-tech or tech neutral? Damned if I know. I suspect the filmmakers aren’t sure, either. The cop-out ending is awkward but that comment can be made about far too much of a film that could have and should have been more thought-provoking and less obvious in its observations. [Berardinelli’s rating: ** out of 4 stars = 50%]

Labels: drama, sci-fi, thriller, Tom Hanks, tragedy
IMDb 53/100
MetaScore (critics=43, viewers=50)
RottenTomatoes Averages (critics=42, viewers=46)
Blu-ray 

 

Kissing A Fool (1998) [R] ***

It's been over a year since Jay (Jason Lee) was dumped by his girlfriend Natasha. He's writing a book about the breakup, and his publisher has assigned Samantha (Mili Avital) as his editor. Jay and Samantha have a great working relationship; they have similar tastes, they love to read, they have a fondness for Florence, Italy, and they've each had their heart broken. Then Jay introduces Samantha to his buddy Max (David Schwimmer), a swinging-single TV sports broadcaster.

Although Max and Samantha have nothing in common, they fall for each other. Max proposes marriage, and they move in together. Then, after an evening of great sex, Max panics; he's afraid Samantha won't be faithful to him. He needs a test to see if she'll cheat on him, so he asks Jay to seduce her. If Samantha falls for Jay, she fails the test, and the wedding is off. But what Max is really hiding are his doubts about his own ability to be faithful. Jay understands this; while he's repelled by Max's plan, his problem is that writing the book has served its purpose; he's gotten over Natasha and fallen for Samantha. And so Jay is torn between his new love for Samantha and his old loyalty to Max.

In the film's pivotal scene, as they recognize their growing affection for one another, Jay asks Samantha: How do you know beforehand that you're with the wrong person, so you can avoid having them wreak havoc on a large portion of your life? And Samantha replies: I don't think you do know until you meet the right person. Because then you feel something you know you've never felt before.

Jason Lee and Mili Avital have great romantic chemistry, and Jason Lee brings the same intensity to this role that he did in Chasing Amy. There's a terrific romantic soundtrack, and Max sums up the film's philosophy in the final scene, when he paraphrases the famous quote from La Rochefoucald: True love cannot be found where it does not truly exist. Nor can it be hidden where it truly does.

Labels: comedy, romance
Internet Movie Database
Tomatometer (critics=27, viewers=46)

Six Days Seven Nights (1998) [PG-13] ***

Robin (Anne Heche) is a New York editor for DAZZLE, a women's magazine. Her boyfriend Frank (David Schwimmer) is always surprising her with romantic gestures, but now he's outdone himself... he's taking her to the French Polynesian island of Makatea for a week-long getaway, and to propose to her.

Soon after Robin and Frank arrive on Makatea, however, Robin's boss Marjorie (Allison Janney) calls Robin and asks her to fly back to Papeete for one day to supervise a photo shoot. Since the regular aircraft is laid up for maintenance, Robin is forced to fly with the gruff, heavy-drinking Quinn (Harrison Ford) in his vintage DeHavilland Beaver. And when a storm comes up and lightning hits the plane knocking out the radios, Quinn and Robin are forced to crash-land on an uninhabited tropical island. Most of their time on the island is made up of light, sitcom moments, but the mood briefly turns dark when the pair must outwit and escape from a band of murderous pirates.

Filmed on the Hawaiian island of Kaua'i, there's beautiful costumes and scenery, the soundtrack is lovely, Jacqueline Obradors is perfect in a supporting role as Quinn's voluptuous girlfriend Angelica, and there's genuine romantic chemistry between Harrison Ford and Anne Heche.

Labels: action, adventure, comedy, flying, rom-com-faves, romance
Internet Movie Database 5.8/10
Metacritic 51/100
RottenTomatoes Averages (critics=54, viewers=54)
Blu-ray
Wikipedia (caution: spoilers)
The real island of Makatea

The DeHavilland Beaver used in the film, tail number F-0318, crashed in August, 2003 on take-off from the Penticton, British Columbia airport, killing all three onboard. Here is the link to the aircraft accident report.