Con Air Review

I DVRed this movie the other day and finally had a chance to watch it from one end to the other. I found it pretty enjoyable for an action flick. Not that many people look to this blog for recommendations or anything, but I thought I would post what I thought of this movie. First of all, great all-star cast that play their parts reasonably well. You have Nick Cage, John Malkovich, and John Cusack to name a few. Nick Cage is the star of the story who gets sent to federal prison for killing someone in a bar fight. The movie does a good job showing how he is really a nice guy deep down and showing the admirable qualities of loyalty and care for others that are present in his character. Although this is an action movie, I liked the fact that it had plenty of humor throughout so that I won't blame this movie for taking itself too seriously. There are some pretty graphic violent scenes in this movie, but you generally don't pop in a movie with the name "CON AIR" on it expecting a movie that will make you and your family feel good before you fall asleep. It is a movie about cons, so in that sense, I can say it may not be entirely uplifting to watch, yet in another sense it still shows that even in bad situations (like Nick found himself in), things can work out OK (with God's help of course). It almost reminds me of the Joseph story. Joseph got thrown into prison, yet he still didn't let that make him a prisoner in the way he acted. He kept believing God and trusting that God would get him out eventually, and as the Bible says, he ends up becoming second in command to the king of Egypt, and God uses it to reunite him with his family. Well I won't say too much more about the "Con Air" or the way it ends, but if you want plenty of action and a fairly redemptive ending, I recommend that you check it out.

Reign Over Me Review

I watched this movie a few weekends ago, and actually liked it more than I thought. The story line is complex and the character development was really good (in my opinion) in this movie about college buddies that get reaquainted with one another after one of them goes through the horrible loss of his wife and children when they die in a 9/11 airplane. Adam Sandler portrays the withdrawn widower who lives a lonely life in the city trying to deny what happened in his life, and live a life of no responsibility. Don Cheadle does a superb job of playing his friend who isn't content to let Adam Sandler's character live a life disconnected and tries to genuinely get involved in his life by spending time with him and encouraging him to get professional help. What this movie does so well in my opinion is show how badly we all need people in our lives to help us see who we really are, and to grow through the life trial and temptations that we all face. I believe a church is probably the best instrument for that to happen in, yet in this movie, it was an old college buddy who wasn't content to mind his own business, but instead wanted to genuinely help his friend get through the grieving process. Throughout the story, Don Cheadle's character ends up learning a thing or two about his own life and marriage as a result of spending so much time investing his life in the life of his widower friend. I believe over all that this story shows the power of community to help us to grow and develop, and the only sad part about this movie, is that it didn't really show that the Author of Life, Jesus Christ, is the one who really offers genuine help and comfort in the midst of trials and pain. 4 out of 5 stars in my book.

Invincible Review

This movie Invincible is the inspiring true story of a bar tender who wants to play pro football after the Philly Eagles got desperate enough to hold an all open try-out session for the whole city of Philadelphia. I rented this one expecting a traditional sports story of the underdog that ends up achieving great things, and for the most part this story delivered. It had a few slow parts in it, but for the most part it kept the story moving, and also the content is very clean (probably due to being Disney) which is a definite plus in movies today. The challenge today I think is being able to create a movie that goes where no prior sports movie has gone. This movie doesn't quite do it in my opinion. Granted it is a true story and true stories don't always seem as exciting, but with movies like Rocky, Remember the Titans, and others already giving you the classic recipe for an emotionally moving story of the underdog that rises to the top, this story kind of left you feeling like something was missing. Mark Whalberg did a decent job, but in my opinion the writers made his character a little too one-dimensional . I'm sure the real person he was trying to portray was a lot more 3-dimensional and real, and sadly this movie didn't quite show that. It showed a quiet humble guy but someone who wasn't quite developed enough that you wanted to stand up and cheer in the end. I did find the story good, just not a spectacular must-see. 3 out of 5 stars in my humble opinion.