Giovanni-Ribisi Movie Reviews

But for the cacophonous soundtrack, it would have been a nice nap on a rainy day. Mr. Dylan should really offer refunds for those who were kept awake. Any attempt to discern a story line, or heaven forbid a plot, was constantly thwarted by inconsequential retrospective music bites. Much more than merely a major disappointment, did I ever owe my lover big time for getting him to go with me !!

This film is nothing short of brilliant. The script reads like the best poem or song ever written, each line more insightful than the one preceding it. If you do not like this film, then I pity you because you are simply not keen enough to understand it. My only complaint is that it ended too soon and did not contain a love scene involving Bob Dylan.

In whole, Masked is very well done. The movie was perfectly cast to the tee. Yes, a little off beat but very funny and raw. One of the best parts of Masked is the flash back to the early 60's with the president and his mistress. Very good stunt driving with the 60's Cadillac Limo.

Juliette Lewis stars in this movie about a very wealthy (don't forget that, it's important to the story) mentally handicapped young woman, named Carla Tate, who returns home after spending eight years in a special school. Carla is very strong minded and wants to take classes at a local vocational school, move into her own apartment, and live a life of her own away from her family. She gets along with most of her family really well but is often in conflict with her controlling and demanding mother (Diane Keaton). While taking classes Carla meets a mentally challenged young man, Daniel (Giovani Ribisi) and the two quickly become good friends and eventually become romantic, a relationship which Carla's mother does not approve.

I was pleasantly surprised by THE OTHER SISTER. I knew before hand that it was a "chick flick" and was directed by Garry Marshall. However, for the most part the movie worked. The acting was wonderful. The family struggles were lifelike. The simple adventures of Carla and Danny were rather believable, but Danny's more so because not many mentally handicapped people come from wealthy families like Carla's. Some of the scenes were quite humorous and some were rather touching, evoking real emotion.

There are only two major complaints about the film. One, it was incredibly long (about 135 minutes). At points the movie was dragged out much too long and in those places the film lost some of it's poignancy. My only other complaint is that the film used THE GRADUATE throughout as a prop. I realize that often movies are influenced by other films and sometimes those films are even referenced and parts of them copied in another movie. However, the overemphasis of that movie in the film detracted from much of the movies' action. Other than that, not too bad.

This movie made me feel GOOD. I watched it 3 times and now after i returned it to the video store i miss it like hell... I gotta buy it! This is the best movie i've seen in my life! On the first time i watched it it looked like another kitsch romantic comedy to me, but i found out that this is the kind of movies that you only really appreciate after the 2nd or 3rd time. I cried, i laughed, this movie touched me so bad i decided to totally change my point of view about mentally challenged people, and i htink i may even go and volunteer in the Israeli retard organisation... This movie totally changed my point of view about these special people, and even about myself- it showed me they and WE can do anything we like if we really want to. Juliette Lewis was not bad as Carla, the main character, but she focused on the verbal espect of retardness and her movements staied pretty much like a regular girl's, so lots of time she just looked kind of pathetic, like a normal actress trying too hard to look like a retard... But if you want an example for a realistic, excellent, outstanding performance- put your eye on Giovanni Ribisi (Daniel). He gave one of the best performances i've ever seen in this movie. As a beginning actress i know how hard it is to play mentally handicaped peoples' roles, and he did it just perfectly! He had it all: the talking, stummering, walking, eye movements, facial expressions, even the way he laughed was a little innocent child's laughter. His whole body says innocense and vulnerability, and he's just so sweet and tender you just want to take him home with ya... (: He's just amazing, he even talks about sex and his sexual experiences- and it still sounds innocent and childish. You can see exactly what he feels and thinks on his face, and in my opinion he's the real star of the movie. His roll may not be as big as Lewis', but he makes it million times bigger! He deserves and Oscar, and the guys who sit up there and give this award to all thouse boring actors and movies- you better open your eyes, because i've followed Giovanni Riisi for a LOOONG time now, and i'm talking about an actor who never gave a performance that was less then excellent, so come on!!! For once in you life give this Oscar to someone who really deserves it!!!

But don't let that scare you away if you think it's a "chick flick". It really makes you think about just how hard it would be to be "mentaly different", and what a mirical love is.

Cold Mountain, directed by Academy Award winning director, Anthony Minghella (The English Patient, The Talented Mr. Ripley) brings together an excellent cast including, Jude Law, Nicole Kidman, Renee Zellwegger, Donald Sutherland, Natalie Portman, Kathy Baker, and Philip Seymor Hoffman. Adapted from the book Cold Mountain by Charles Frazier, is a great story. Jude Law leaves his family and friends behind to go to war. With his family's doubts of him coming back of hearing about him on his "death bed" from wounded from the war. On his journey back to North Carolina's Cold Mountain, he comes accross different people who want to aid and destroy his journey. This is a great film. Jude Law is fantastic in this drama.

"Cold Mountain" was a fine, albeit slow, drama of a man returning home from the blooded widowing fields of the Civil War. The film version promises to offer a good story, and loads of action. I cannot wait to see the battle of the Crater, which I am told is going to make the opening Omaha Beach sequence of "Saving Private Ryan" look tame! I don't expect it to be as good as Ron Maxwell's critically maligned but superb historical epic "Gods and Generals," but I know it will at least be a movie worth going to see. Let's see who wins the box-office showdown between "Cold Mountain" and "the Alamo."

Although there were some slow moments and seconds (of what seemed forever) of blank shots where the character would just be sitting down and staring out a window, I still enjoyed this film. It was nice to see Bill Murray on the big screen once again. His scenes with the Japanese were hilarious, and the lost and confused looks on his face were priceless. Scarlett Johansson is such a great actress compared to other young (and even older) actresses these days. The two play Americans, both in somewhat troubled marriages, and both sleepless in Japan who meet up one night (and the nights after) and establish a close, intimate relationship, minus the sex--so are they having an affair? Don't know. It shows how two people can be so close yet not have sex involved to make the "relationship" work. However, the ending is pretty sad. Murray and Johansson make a good on screen team and their actions toward each other seem so natural.

"Lost In Translation" is a movie that you can relate to if you have travelled to a foreign country where everything around you was totally different from your usual lifestyle. I'd recommend this movie if you want to get away from those high budget movies that aren't even doing that well anyway, but don't expect too much cuz there are a couple parts where you will be "lost in translation"... But hey, maybe that's the purpose?

Bill Murray is Bob Harris, a once popular American actor who now, in his middle-age, has found more acceptance and money from the people of Japan than from his own country. He arrives at a prestigious hotel in Tokyo and is given a royal treatment by his greeters and hosts. He is by himself in the land of the rising sun, his wife and kids having stayed behing in the US while he travels across the globe to do some liquor commercials. This Tokyo excursion will take about a week, and the monetary reward will be quite handsome. Contrast this with Charlotte (Scarlett Johansson), who is at the same hotel tagging along with her photographer husband, John (Giovanni Ribisi), as he does a multiple-day photo shoot. John is at work most of the time, and so Charlotte is by herself at the hotel, her attempts to keep from being bored proving fruitless. Both Bob and Charlotte are married people, but they are also very lonely people, and that is what "Lost In Translation" is all about.

Bob and Charlotte catch glimpses of one another at different places in the hotel, and finally decide to converse in earnest at the hotel bar. The entire plot of the film is about these two people getting to know each other. The story revolves around them. In fact, the story *is* them. Bob, in his early-fifties, is old enough to be Charlotte's dad, but that doesn't matter here. It's not about age. It's about the place, and the points that each of these people are at in their lives. Bob loves his children very much, but we do not sense he feels the same for his wife. We hear her on the phone when she calls him, and the same weary sentiment seems to flow from her voice. They are becoming a couple in name only. Then there's Charlotte & John. Both are young, and both are self-possessed. John is into his photography to the point of neglecting Charlotte. But we get the idea that even if gave her more attention, Charlotte might not really warm up to him. She has issues of her own. If Bob is going through a mid-life crisis, then Charlotte seems to be going through a young-life crisis.

"Lost In Translation" is about being alone. Loneliness doesn't always mean that someone is physically separated from loved ones or from people in general. One can be alone in the middle of a crowded room. Such is the case with Bob & Charlotte. They're in Japan for a week. They don't really speak the language. Bob's wife is in the US, and Charlotte's husband is always at a photo shoot. The two lost souls find each other at the hotel, spend time with one another, and even sleep in the same bed together. But we know that while this is providing a small comfort for the time being, it is not a lasting solution to their problems. And we also understand that both Bob and Charlotte -- even if Bob's wife were in Tokyo with him, and John was by Charlotte's side all the time -- would still be lonely. Their life struggles lie deeper than what one person can provide, especially the persons they have chosen to settle down with.

This is probably Bill Murray's most understated performance, and it works brilliantly. He lets you in on Bob's emotions without betraying too much sentimentality. He conveys so much with just a smile, a frown, his body language, or simply the look in his eyes. He should get an Oscar nomination for this. Scarlett Johansson, who left me unimpressed in the movie "Ghost World" a few years ago, is excellent in her role here. She portrays Charlotte as a deep, troubled, yet intelligent young woman and, like her co-star, does it without overstating it. She spends much of her screen time walking around a hotel room in her pink panties, and does it so simply and matter-of-factly that it becomes both vulnerable and sexy at the same time. Johansson is definitely an actress to watch for in the coming years.

Sofia Coppola has succeeded in creating a sliver of time & place with "Lost In Translation". It creates two of the most realistic characters to ever grace the cinema. You forget this is a movie, and start to really care for these people as though they really exist. And you get the feeling that this is a single, solitary moment that will be over with and then fondly remembered by the characters for a long time to come. This sweeps over you before the film is even over, much like when you are in the middle of a special occurence or event in your own life, and you stop and think about the fact that at one point - very soon - it will cease to be the present, and will instead become only a nostalgic memory.

And there you have "Lost In Translation"

Sophia Coppola's Lost in Translation is incredible from start to end. Every scene in the film seems to be perfect and one cannot help but to fully empathize with both Mr. Murray and Ms. Johansson. Mr. Murray, always wonderful to watch, turns in his best preformence since Groundhog's Day, and Ms. Johansson has signalled her arrival as an incredible actress, even while so young, with her perfect portrayal of lost Charlotte.
I have been watching and studying movies for 40 years, and I can honestly say that this is the best movie I have ever seen.

This could have been, should have been, a terrific thriller. The acting by all is definitely first rate, the direction tight, the setting perfect and creepy. The problem is, it's ultimately formulaic and you can predict the murderer - and ending - from a very, very long way off. The main problem is a tiny cast, so too small a pool of potential killers to choose from. I don't know why, but I expected a more original story from writer Billy Bob Thornton. Really a shame and just too bad, because it's otherwise a great film with captivating performances, especially from the marvelous Cate Blanchett and Giovanni Ribisi, and surprisingly enough, Keanu Reeves is believably menacing as the wife beating redneck.

I recommend this as a rental only, because one viewing is enough.

Cate Blanchett gives a strong, nuanced performance as Annie Wilson, an impoverished widow with three children trying to make a living reading the tarot in a lush, southern town of secrets, mysteries and rednecks. The cast of hot young actors is strong. Giovanni Ribisi plays a very damaged and rage filled, but sensitive, garage mechanic. His scene with his father is almost unwatchable in it's intensity. Hilary Swank is perfect as an abused co-dependant wife who can't leave her awful, violent husband played by Keanu Reeves. Greg Kinnear does his usual sweet guy character that he does so well.
The direction of Sam Raimi is very stylized and dream like. This film has the same brooding intensity of his previous effort A Perfect Plan.
The story by Billy Bob Thornton has a few predictable twists and plot turns, but the message of the film feels new and is ultimately very uplifting. It's a dark, Gothic journey to redemption similiar to the one that is explored in the movie Magnolia.

"The Gift"'s biggest gift is Cate Blanchett, who expertly carries the entire plotline as a tarot-card reader in the deep South. This film suffers from one or two problematic actors and some cheesy visuals, but it's otherwise very creepy.

Annie Wilson (Cate Blanchett) lost her husband in an explosion, and now supports her three sons on her tarot-card readings, which use her psychic "gift." Among the people who seek her help are Buddy (Giovanni Ribisi), a young man scarred by childhood molestation, and Valerie (Hilary Swank), a weak young woman who lives in terror of her violent redneck husband Donnie (Keanu Reeves). Worse, Donnie is threatening both Annie and her children, claiming that she's a Satan-worshipper and a witch because of her tarot readings.

When Jessica (Katie Holmes), the seductive fiancee of a friend vanishes, Annie begins to have visions of what may have happened. The visions of white flowers, fences, and pondwater lead Annie and the skeptical police chief to Donnie's land, where the girl's body is found in the pond. Though at first Annie is convinced that Donnie is the one who murdered Jessica, her gift leads her to believe otherwise.

This movie just brims over with "Southernness," with lots of moss, mist, bigoted rednecks, swampy forests and dirty little secrets. It's not an amazing movie, despite the good actors and good direction, partly because many parts of it are a bit cliched. But it's haunting and creepy, and those who enjoyed "The Sixth Sense" may also enjoy "The Gift." (Annie sees dead people too!)

Cate Blanchett is, as always, stunning in whatever role she plays. This time it's a sort of tarot-reading madonna, and her expressive eyes and face can instantly flip from one emotion to another. Greg Kinnear plays Jessica's haunted fiancee, who has an eye for Annie; Hilary Swank is also very good as Valerie, as are the three boys who play Annie's children. Keanu Reeves was a problem, though. He's supposed to be a violent, cheating, raging redneck, but he wasn't very convincing.

Probably to call this a horror film isn't quite accurate. Though it's very creepy and horrific, it isn't gory or truly horrific. (The most horrifying scene doesn't involve dead people or visions, but the sexually-abused Buddy crying, shrieking and attacking his father) Actually, it sags when we get things like visions of Jessica, or rolling stormclouds -- these are a little too obvious for the otherwise eerie movie. And I was able to guess quite quickly who the murderer was, simply by considering who it would be too easy to think it was.

"The Gift" isn't an astounding movie, but quite a watchable one. Part Southern Gothic, part murder mystery, part horror/ghost flick, this is not something to watch with the lights off. Definitely nowhere near a pond.

This could have been, should have been, a terrific thriller. The acting by all is definitely first rate, the direction tight, the setting perfect and creepy. The problem is, it's ultimately formulaic and you can predict the murderer - and ending - from a very, very long way off. The main problem is a tiny cast, so too small a pool of potential killers to choose from. I don't know why, but I expected a more original story from writer Billy Bob Thornton. Really a shame and just too bad, because it's otherwise a great film with captivating performances, especially from the marvelous Cate Blanchett and Giovanni Ribisi, and surprisingly enough, Keanu Reeves is believably menacing as the wife beating redneck.

I recommend this as a rental only, because one viewing is enough.

Cate Blanchett gives a strong, nuanced performance as Annie Wilson, an impoverished widow with three children trying to make a living reading the tarot in a lush, southern town of secrets, mysteries and rednecks. The cast of hot young actors is strong. Giovanni Ribisi plays a very damaged and rage filled, but sensitive, garage mechanic. His scene with his father is almost unwatchable in it's intensity. Hilary Swank is perfect as an abused co-dependant wife who can't leave her awful, violent husband played by Keanu Reeves. Greg Kinnear does his usual sweet guy character that he does so well.
The direction of Sam Raimi is very stylized and dream like. This film has the same brooding intensity of his previous effort A Perfect Plan.
The story by Billy Bob Thornton has a few predictable twists and plot turns, but the message of the film feels new and is ultimately very uplifting. It's a dark, Gothic journey to redemption similiar to the one that is explored in the movie Magnolia.

"The Gift"'s biggest gift is Cate Blanchett, who expertly carries the entire plotline as a tarot-card reader in the deep South. This film suffers from one or two problematic actors and some cheesy visuals, but it's otherwise very creepy.

Annie Wilson (Cate Blanchett) lost her husband in an explosion, and now supports her three sons on her tarot-card readings, which use her psychic "gift." Among the people who seek her help are Buddy (Giovanni Ribisi), a young man scarred by childhood molestation, and Valerie (Hilary Swank), a weak young woman who lives in terror of her violent redneck husband Donnie (Keanu Reeves). Worse, Donnie is threatening both Annie and her children, claiming that she's a Satan-worshipper and a witch because of her tarot readings.

When Jessica (Katie Holmes), the seductive fiancee of a friend vanishes, Annie begins to have visions of what may have happened. The visions of white flowers, fences, and pondwater lead Annie and the skeptical police chief to Donnie's land, where the girl's body is found in the pond. Though at first Annie is convinced that Donnie is the one who murdered Jessica, her gift leads her to believe otherwise.

This movie just brims over with "Southernness," with lots of moss, mist, bigoted rednecks, swampy forests and dirty little secrets. It's not an amazing movie, despite the good actors and good direction, partly because many parts of it are a bit cliched. But it's haunting and creepy, and those who enjoyed "The Sixth Sense" may also enjoy "The Gift." (Annie sees dead people too!)

Cate Blanchett is, as always, stunning in whatever role she plays. This time it's a sort of tarot-reading madonna, and her expressive eyes and face can instantly flip from one emotion to another. Greg Kinnear plays Jessica's haunted fiancee, who has an eye for Annie; Hilary Swank is also very good as Valerie, as are the three boys who play Annie's children. Keanu Reeves was a problem, though. He's supposed to be a violent, cheating, raging redneck, but he wasn't very convincing.

Probably to call this a horror film isn't quite accurate. Though it's very creepy and horrific, it isn't gory or truly horrific. (The most horrifying scene doesn't involve dead people or visions, but the sexually-abused Buddy crying, shrieking and attacking his father) Actually, it sags when we get things like visions of Jessica, or rolling stormclouds -- these are a little too obvious for the otherwise eerie movie. And I was able to guess quite quickly who the murderer was, simply by considering who it would be too easy to think it was.

"The Gift" isn't an astounding movie, but quite a watchable one. Part Southern Gothic, part murder mystery, part horror/ghost flick, this is not something to watch with the lights off. Definitely nowhere near a pond.

This could have been, should have been, a terrific thriller. The acting by all is definitely first rate, the direction tight, the setting perfect and creepy. The problem is, it's ultimately formulaic and you can predict the murderer - and ending - from a very, very long way off. The main problem is a tiny cast, so too small a pool of potential killers to choose from. I don't know why, but I expected a more original story from writer Billy Bob Thornton. Really a shame and just too bad, because it's otherwise a great film with captivating performances, especially from the marvelous Cate Blanchett and Giovanni Ribisi, and surprisingly enough, Keanu Reeves is believably menacing as the wife beating redneck.

I recommend this as a rental only, because one viewing is enough.

Cate Blanchett gives a strong, nuanced performance as Annie Wilson, an impoverished widow with three children trying to make a living reading the tarot in a lush, southern town of secrets, mysteries and rednecks. The cast of hot young actors is strong. Giovanni Ribisi plays a very damaged and rage filled, but sensitive, garage mechanic. His scene with his father is almost unwatchable in it's intensity. Hilary Swank is perfect as an abused co-dependant wife who can't leave her awful, violent husband played by Keanu Reeves. Greg Kinnear does his usual sweet guy character that he does so well.
The direction of Sam Raimi is very stylized and dream like. This film has the same brooding intensity of his previous effort A Perfect Plan.
The story by Billy Bob Thornton has a few predictable twists and plot turns, but the message of the film feels new and is ultimately very uplifting. It's a dark, Gothic journey to redemption similiar to the one that is explored in the movie Magnolia.

"The Gift"'s biggest gift is Cate Blanchett, who expertly carries the entire plotline as a tarot-card reader in the deep South. This film suffers from one or two problematic actors and some cheesy visuals, but it's otherwise very creepy.

Annie Wilson (Cate Blanchett) lost her husband in an explosion, and now supports her three sons on her tarot-card readings, which use her psychic "gift." Among the people who seek her help are Buddy (Giovanni Ribisi), a young man scarred by childhood molestation, and Valerie (Hilary Swank), a weak young woman who lives in terror of her violent redneck husband Donnie (Keanu Reeves). Worse, Donnie is threatening both Annie and her children, claiming that she's a Satan-worshipper and a witch because of her tarot readings.

When Jessica (Katie Holmes), the seductive fiancee of a friend vanishes, Annie begins to have visions of what may have happened. The visions of white flowers, fences, and pondwater lead Annie and the skeptical police chief to Donnie's land, where the girl's body is found in the pond. Though at first Annie is convinced that Donnie is the one who murdered Jessica, her gift leads her to believe otherwise.

This movie just brims over with "Southernness," with lots of moss, mist, bigoted rednecks, swampy forests and dirty little secrets. It's not an amazing movie, despite the good actors and good direction, partly because many parts of it are a bit cliched. But it's haunting and creepy, and those who enjoyed "The Sixth Sense" may also enjoy "The Gift." (Annie sees dead people too!)

Cate Blanchett is, as always, stunning in whatever role she plays. This time it's a sort of tarot-reading madonna, and her expressive eyes and face can instantly flip from one emotion to another. Greg Kinnear plays Jessica's haunted fiancee, who has an eye for Annie; Hilary Swank is also very good as Valerie, as are the three boys who play Annie's children. Keanu Reeves was a problem, though. He's supposed to be a violent, cheating, raging redneck, but he wasn't very convincing.

Probably to call this a horror film isn't quite accurate. Though it's very creepy and horrific, it isn't gory or truly horrific. (The most horrifying scene doesn't involve dead people or visions, but the sexually-abused Buddy crying, shrieking and attacking his father) Actually, it sags when we get things like visions of Jessica, or rolling stormclouds -- these are a little too obvious for the otherwise eerie movie. And I was able to guess quite quickly who the murderer was, simply by considering who it would be too easy to think it was.

"The Gift" isn't an astounding movie, but quite a watchable one. Part Southern Gothic, part murder mystery, part horror/ghost flick, this is not something to watch with the lights off. Definitely nowhere near a pond.

It begins as what feels like a routine crime film, but gradually morphs into a poetic thriller. Heaven's storyline never rises above the level of a sketch, and the revelations of its central characters' motives are superficial. Nevertheless, it hits psychological and emotional notes that will resonate for most viewers.

Cate Blanchett is Philippa, an Englishwoman who teaches in an unnamed Italian city (the exteriors were apparently shot in Turin). As we are introduced to her she is attempting to plant a bomb in the office of a powerful industrialist. What happens next results in her being jailed and interrogated by the Carabinieri (Italy's most hard-boiled police).

Fillippo (Giovanni Ribisi) - yes, the characters have the same name in the feminine and masculine forms - is a young policeman, perhaps in his first day on the job, who is serving as a scribe during the interrogation. When Philippa asks to be allowed to speak in her native English language, Fillippo bashfully offers to act as interpreter.

I won't describe what happens next, for fear of giving spoilers, except to say that Fillippo falls instantly for Philippa, seeing a lost and hurting soul in her, despite the beastly crime she is accused of. He helps her to escape from her cell in the building where the interrogation is being performed and goes on the run with her, throwing away his law-enforcement career almost before it has started.

Blanchett is, as usual, riveting. This fine actress isn't, thank goodness, content to rely on her ethereal beauty. She allows us to experience Philippa from the inside. Ribisi isn't in the same class, and the film at times feels unbalanced. Yet his is not a bad performance; it just lacks Blanchett's finesse. The supporting actors are well cast, particularly the one who plays Ribisi's father, a Carabinieri officer whose pride in his son's following in his footsteps is shattered.

The screenplay was co-authored by director Krzysztof Kieslowski, the critics' darling famed for his Red, Blue and White trilogy. I haven't seen any of his films, but on the basis of this script, I doubt that whatever merits those films can boast are owing to the dialogue.

I almost didn't rent this DVD when I saw that it was made by Tom Tykwer, who directed the popular but slipshod Run, Lola, Run. (What persuaded me to watch it was seeing Sidney Pollack and Anthony Minghella credited as producers.) It would seem that, having gotten Lola out of his system, Tykwer has calmed down. Once Philippa and Fillippo have escaped from the city, the film takes on an agreeably lyrical tone without abandoning the suspenseful undercurrents. Tykwer has even managed in places an expressive understatement that is far more involving than the tweaked-up kineticism of Run, Lola, Run.

There is, for instance, a beautiful scene in which the lovers wake up side by side in the room where they have hidden for the night just after Philippa's escape. He opens his eyes to look at her; she opens hers to gaze on him. No words are said. None are necessary.

Estonian composer Arvo Part's moody, reticent musical score is another plus. The slightly over-ripe cinematography is generally well transmitted by the DVD authoring, although there is a touch of pixel freezing and thawing in the static backgrounds.

The movie's last shot is unbelievable and aerodynamically impossible - but it's so memorable that it may haunt you long afterward.

Be sure to watch the first of the deleted scenes, which should have been left in. It clarifies the relationship between Fillippo and his father. (In fact, I recommend you watch it before the movie.) Did Tykwer really think that those extra two minutes would send his audience into spasms of boredom?

What is especially remarkable about this film is how "un-Hollywood" it is. In Hollywood hands this would have been a breathless chase flick, and it would have completely lost what is special about it.
Which is very deficult to define, but it something moody and timeless.

Visuals and acting is excellent. Giovanni Ribisi always continue to amaze me. If you remember what he put into the part of Frank Jr. in the otherwise lightweight comedy Friends, you know what I mean. (He is also great in The Gift.)

HEAVEN opens to the unrolling, virtual landscape as "seen" in a helicopter flight simulator with the voice-over of the trainer and trainee as the latter navigates the computer-generated topography close to the "ground". The sequence ends as the student pilot climbs his "craft" higher, and higher, and higher until the instructor terminates the session with the caution that one can't keep climbing forever, and turns off the visual display. The last words come from the trainee on a darkened screen in the form of a question. The sequence doesn't make much sense at the moment, but does hint that there's perhaps more to the upcoming plot than the obvious.

Cate Blanchett is Philippa, a British-born English teacher in Turin, Italy, who's lost her husband and at least one student to the ravages of illegal drugs. The narcotics' source, a powerful business executive, is known to the tutor. Not having gotten any help from the police after repeated entreaties, Philippa plants a bomb in the waste can of the dealer's high rise office, and then calls the authorities to take responsibility for the imminent assassination. Unfortunately, the trash is emptied by a cleaning lady before it detonates, and she and three other innocents are ultimately killed in the blast. Philippa is arrested as a terrorist and interrogated, during which time the young police translator, a raw recruit named Filippo (Giovanni Ribisi), falls in love with her and engineers her escape. Philippa declares she has no wish to avoid responsibility for her deadly mistake, but needs the opportunity to balance the scales by finishing the rough justice she intended.

It's a good thing that the director had in mind something more profound than the face-value of the storyline because the latter is occasionally wildly improbable or leaves questions unanswered. If Philippa was the only occupant of her cell, why did the police bug it? How could Filippo, basically just a kid, have the informed smarts to pull off a sophisticated jail break? (The fact that his Dad used to be the local head of the carabinieri isn't enough.) Where did Philippa learn how to construct a bomb? (Her explanation that it was just left in her apartment doesn't cut it, especially since the audience sees her making it.) At the finale, how did the storm troopers and the police helicopter know where to go?

I consider Cate Blanchett to be one of the finest actresses in the business. She doesn't just act a role, she becomes the character. At one point in HEAVEN, her tresses are shorn down to stubble on-screen. How many actors today would have such dedication to a role to do that?

The film is stylishly photographed. The perspective is often above the action, as when the camera is shooting straight down as it passes high across Turin's streetscape, as if the director wants to make the point that the film's message is above the mundane cares of the human ants below. And what is that message? Without sounding to corny, perhaps it's that the sublime event of a lifetime must be grasped at any cost, even if it leads to morally ambiguous actions. The similarity of the names "Philippa" and "Filippo" isn't accidental.

The film's conclusion is perhaps too symbolic. It's unsatisfying in that it skirts the issue of ownership of one's actions, something which Philippa made clear early on she was willing to assume. There's no Bonnie and Clyde denouement here. However, the final screen shot does tie in with the question posed at the end of the opening sequence. HEAVEN.

It begins as what feels like a routine crime film, but gradually morphs into a poetic thriller. Heaven's storyline never rises above the level of a sketch, and the revelations of its central characters' motives are superficial. Nevertheless, it hits psychological and emotional notes that will resonate for most viewers.

Cate Blanchett is Philippa, an Englishwoman who teaches in an unnamed Italian city (the exteriors were apparently shot in Turin). As we are introduced to her she is attempting to plant a bomb in the office of a powerful industrialist. What happens next results in her being jailed and interrogated by the Carabinieri (Italy's most hard-boiled police).

Fillippo (Giovanni Ribisi) - yes, the characters have the same name in the feminine and masculine forms - is a young policeman, perhaps in his first day on the job, who is serving as a scribe during the interrogation. When Philippa asks to be allowed to speak in her native English language, Fillippo bashfully offers to act as interpreter.

I won't describe what happens next, for fear of giving spoilers, except to say that Fillippo falls instantly for Philippa, seeing a lost and hurting soul in her, despite the beastly crime she is accused of. He helps her to escape from her cell in the building where the interrogation is being performed and goes on the run with her, throwing away his law-enforcement career almost before it has started.

Blanchett is, as usual, riveting. This fine actress isn't, thank goodness, content to rely on her ethereal beauty. She allows us to experience Philippa from the inside. Ribisi isn't in the same class, and the film at times feels unbalanced. Yet his is not a bad performance; it just lacks Blanchett's finesse. The supporting actors are well cast, particularly the one who plays Ribisi's father, a Carabinieri officer whose pride in his son's following in his footsteps is shattered.

The screenplay was co-authored by director Krzysztof Kieslowski, the critics' darling famed for his Red, Blue and White trilogy. I haven't seen any of his films, but on the basis of this script, I doubt that whatever merits those films can boast are owing to the dialogue.

I almost didn't rent this DVD when I saw that it was made by Tom Tykwer, who directed the popular but slipshod Run, Lola, Run. (What persuaded me to watch it was seeing Sidney Pollack and Anthony Minghella credited as producers.) It would seem that, having gotten Lola out of his system, Tykwer has calmed down. Once Philippa and Fillippo have escaped from the city, the film takes on an agreeably lyrical tone without abandoning the suspenseful undercurrents. Tykwer has even managed in places an expressive understatement that is far more involving than the tweaked-up kineticism of Run, Lola, Run.

There is, for instance, a beautiful scene in which the lovers wake up side by side in the room where they have hidden for the night just after Philippa's escape. He opens his eyes to look at her; she opens hers to gaze on him. No words are said. None are necessary.

Estonian composer Arvo Part's moody, reticent musical score is another plus. The slightly over-ripe cinematography is generally well transmitted by the DVD authoring, although there is a touch of pixel freezing and thawing in the static backgrounds.

The movie's last shot is unbelievable and aerodynamically impossible - but it's so memorable that it may haunt you long afterward.

Be sure to watch the first of the deleted scenes, which should have been left in. It clarifies the relationship between Fillippo and his father. (In fact, I recommend you watch it before the movie.) Did Tykwer really think that those extra two minutes would send his audience into spasms of boredom?

Cate Blanchett has shown her enormous talent in this film as Philippa, English teacher who is arrested for murder in Italy. In more than one sense, however, this is a difficult role, for she finds herself in a strange position -- she is loved by an Italian cadet at Carabinieri (The National Guard), Filippo (played by Giovanni Ribisi).

The film starts like a well-crafted crime thriller. Philippa sets an explosive device in an office, but her plan to kill the target misfires, killing innocent people. After being arrested as a terrorist, she learns it, and collapses.

One guy was watching it; a rookie guard Filippa. Helping her, he falls in love with her, and decides to save her no matter what it takes. But you will learn soon, like these two characters -- save from what?

The first half of "Heaven" is just rivetting, tightly constructed with skillful editing. The acting is always convincing, even while they speak in Italian (Ribisi's character is an Italain, a brave step, indeed), and the cold, artificial look of the city of Turin (northern Italain city) has a curious quality of beauty.

As other reviewers say, the second half is rather weak, being a little allegorical. Philippa and Filippo, it is suggested, know their fate, and are ready to accept it. The way the film describes it, however, is too slow and predictable for some viewers even though the film does not lose its beauty all through the story. Let me say only this; the latter half, set in the beautiful scenery of warm country of Tuscany, is slightly disappointing for all its beauty and thought-provoking finale.

It might be surprising to see director Tom Tykwer, famous for "Run Lola Run," can make this poetic film with measured pace. But he did it, it is true, and for those fans of Ms. Blanchett whose works should not be missed, it is another gift sent from "Heaven" ... literally.

The script has a unique history of its own; it is part of trilogy written by two men from Poland, late Krzysztof Kielowski and Krzysztof Piesiewicz, writers duo for director Kielowski's "Three Colors Trilogy" and "La Double vie de Veronique." After the death of Kielowski, the script is left, seeking for the right person to direct it. I wonder what is the original ending, if any, or what happened (if happened) to other two parts of the trilogy.

With Heaven, director Tom Tykwer (Run Lola Run) directs the final script of Polish writer-director Krzyzstof Kieslowski and comes up with a combination of their contrasting styles that somehow manage to work well together.

Cate Blanchett stars as Phillipa Paccard, an English amateur terrorist living in Italy whose one attempt at assassination goes horribly wrong. She meant to kill the local drug kingpin with a bomb in his trashcan. He had been selling to school kids and was responsible for the death of her husband. Instead she inadvertently became responsible for the deaths of four innocents--a cleaning woman (who naively emptied the wastebasket) and a father and his two daughters--when the elevator they were riding in was blown off the building by the bomb.

Since she is already in trouble for the crime, she sets out to complete her original task. A local policeman, Fillipo (Giovanni Ribisi), who has a school-age brother, decides to risk his job and life in order to assist her in her attempt on the kingpin's life.

Kieslowski's screenplay uses the masculine and feminine counterparts of the name "Phillip," letting us know from the beginning (in cinema language) that these two are inextricably intertwined, two halves of the same whole. As the film progresses, they slowly take on each other's appearance in their styles of dress and hair.

Heaven is probably not a film for fans of Tykwer's frenetic Run Lola Run, as its slow--almost hypnotic--pacing contrasts greatly with Lola's. But for those willing to take the risk, Heaven is very rewarding. It is wonderful to see Blanchett and Ribisi together again after previously displaying their terrific chemistry in The Gift, another great film. Their performances alone are worth the viewing, but even so the setup at the beginning of the film pays off beautifully at the perfect, if inevitable, ending.

SHOT IN THE HEART is based on the true story of murderer Gary Gilmore (well played buy Elias Koteas) who was the first prisoner to be sentenced to death in a decade. Set in the year 1977, the film revolves around the efforts of his younger brother Mikal (Giovanni Ribisi) to stop the execution, even against his brothers wishes; because Gilmore sees himself gaining permanent notoriety, he even has t-shirts with GILMORE printed on them. While well acted, the film's pace is rather stodgy and interesting only occasionally. That same year a punk song by The Adverts called GARY GILMORE'S EYES was released. The song is only a couple of minutes long. This movie is over 90 minutes. Download the song and try and find it in your heart to forgive screenwriter Frank Pugliese for making such a snoozer out of potentially interesting material. The film is based on the book by Mikal Gilmore.

I watched this movie over and over and over again. It is amazing - especially because it's true. The allusions and foreshadowing are so well done, and the references to blood atonement made my jaw drop. I had no clue this even happened until I watched this movie, but I'm glad I have an idea now. I know what "Looking Through Gary Gilmore's Eyes" is about now! But besides that, Elias Kotes is amazing as Gary, especially during the shoelace scene. And Giovanni Ribisi - I won't even begin to describe how wonderful he was. His character portrayed that of a man still growing up, and it was really cool to watch.
I seriously would have given this movie 5 stars, except that I'm a really weird person and not many people have the ability to sit and watch movies like this - it's a slow drama, and I can understand why others might click it off before giving it a chance. I'm going to buy the book soon. ;-)

I can't say enough about this film. It is a very touching film with some great acting from the two leads. Giovanni Ribisi is one of the best young actors around now and Elias Koteas should really get more leading parts cause he's a wonderful actor, he reminds me of Robert Deniro a bit. After seeing this film I am dying to read the book that the film was based on. You have to feel sorry for Gary Gilmore when you see what kind of environment he grew up in. I'm glad his brother didn't end up going down the same road. A MUST SEE!