21 Review

After being recommended this movie from some family members, we finally got around to seeing this 2 hour movie based on the book "Bringing Down The House". I own the book, but have never read the whole thing through, and although I liked this movie a lot, I have a feeling that it is VERY loosely based on the book (which is a true story). Basically it is the story of a M.I.T. student who learns to count cards in order to earn money to go to medical school. He hangs out with a professor at MIT and a team of students that work together in order to count cards and make thousands at the Vegas casinos. While some of this movie really seems unbelievable, it does make for a very interesting plot and Chrystal and I both really liked it. The soundtrack throughout the movie was very well put-together in my humble opinion, and I liked the way that it showed the corruption that money and greed can cause a young man. This movie illustrates the dangers of pride and greed and what that can cause in relationships and in life choices. It really did a good job illustrating the truth of Proverbs 16:18 (NKJV):
"Pride goes before destruction, And a haughty spirit before a fall."
Although some of it was predictable, we both really enjoyed it and thought it was very entertaining. There were a few scenes that in my opinion would have been better left out, but overall I highly recommend this movie. Two thumbs up.

Collateral Review

I rented this movie from Netflix and was actually pretty surprised at how well-acted it was. It also had a fantastic script. Without great acting and a great script I would consider this movie a flop, yet it had enough good parts to get a decent rating in my opinion. Tom Cruise is a hitman in this movie, and Jamie Foxx is the taxi driver that gets pulled into helping him. At first I thought this movie would be on the slow side, due to the whole movie happening in one night with most of the movie being in the taxi cab. However, that is where this movie surprised me. The writer takes the movie in directions I would never have guessed would happen out of this movie. The taxi cab driver's mother gets involved in the storyline, and they even throw in some romance which is impressive considering the short amount of time that the movie takes place over. I thought it was a good movie overall and would give it 4 out of 5 stars for quality. The ending left me a little disappointed (not bad, just not great), but overall a decent movie that really had clever dialog and great acting.

Regarding Henry Review

I actually have seen this movie several times, yet I don't think I have written a review of it yet. To me, this is one of Harrison Ford's best movies. He isn't an action hero, but this movie really shows some good acting and character development, without always being about special effects. The basic plot is a self-centered lawyer ends up getting shot in a robbery, and has to relearn who he is. He must learn to talk again, walk again, and love again and discover who he was before the shooting. As he discovers what his life and friends were like before the shooting, he really begins to hate who he was and this realization changes him for the better. Although this movie isn't perfect (there are a couple scenes that could have been edited out in my opinion), I do think it does a great job showing that sometimes the most important parts of our life get the least attention. As stated before, Harrison Ford does a wonderful job portraying not only an arrogant lawyer, but also a changed man who learns the true value of good family and faithful friends. This movie is a rare movie for hollywood. It is heart-warming and well done in my opinion, and if you haven't watched it yet - I recommend you check it out. 4.5 stars out of 5 in my opinion.

The Bucket List Review

This movie was directed by one of my favorite directors: Rob Reiner, who also directed classics like The Princess Bride, and A Few Good Men. The story is about two men who have both been diagnosed with cancer. One is a rich businessman who doesn't have much close family and thinks the world revolves around him (more or less), and the other one (Morgan Freeman's character) is a humble mechanic who has a large family who loves him, yet who feels like he never got to do everything he was hoping to before getting the tragic news of terminal cancer. The two characters end up sharing a hospital room and throughout getting to know one another, they decide to write a bucket list of all the things they want to do before they kick the bucket. These things include driving fast cars, skydiving, and few other things. Throughout this journey, they grow closer together and find more to life than they originally thought they possessed. Unfortunately, they really leave the question of where they will spend eternity out of the equation. To Rob Reiner's credit he does include a dialog between the characters about faith, yet the end result was kind of a "believe what works for you" outcome. Nothing about repentance, nothing about living for eternity rather than for the moment, and no mention of Jesus(unless used in blasphemy). On a positive note, the movie did show the value of staying close to your family and making an effort to restore broken relationships. All in all, it was a fairly good movie, yet it was sad due to not offering much hope of eternal life. I would give 2.5-3 stars out of 5.