Brennan's Weblog

Reviews: Dangerous Mind, Punch-Drunk Love, Translation

I use the Netflix service to order 3 DVD movies in an endless cycle and up this weekend I had "Confessions of a Dangerous Mind," "Punch-Drunk Love," and "Lost in Translation." Fortunately one of the three was worth the time to watch...

Due to the horrible condition of the DVD for "Confessions of a Dangerous Mind" I had to remove the disk many times to clean it as it would stall and skip. Netflix needs to check their disks! I stopped the movie before it was over, but it is just as well. The movie was little more than a crappy documentary with a lame wannabe James Bond plot. I did not like the characters much either. They were all pretty hollow and offensive.

I had anticipated "Punch-Drunk Love" to be a very good movie, but the neurotic behavior of Adam Sandler's character, Barry Eagan, is just something I cannot stand. It was a series of out of control sequences which made me uncomfortable. Barry had many sisters who would constantly prod into his life and interfere which ensured he could never carry out a normal life. I can understand why he behaved the way he did, but it does not mean I would ever enjoy watching it. But at least Emily Watson was a pleasant aspect of the movie. She was also a bit neurotic, but at least her character would calm down Barry.

Finally, "Lost in Translation," with it's highly odd set of characters presented something worth watching. Each of the characters were interesting and the main characters were very endearing. Bill Murray did really well with Scarlett Johansson to create great on screen chemistry. I would recommend this movie to everyone. It is very odd and not a traditional movie by any means, but it is a very touching view into a human situation between two people who are stuck by find a way to get through it together.