Saw a preview screening of it tonight. It opens next week. Pretty damned entertaining. In tone, it's a lot like 'True Lies.' Tom Cruise is Roy Miller, a rogue CIA operative whose mission to protect a revolutionary piece of technology and its inventor has everyone from arms dealers to the agency chasing him. When unsuspecting June (Cameron Diaz) meets Roy on a doomed flight, she becomes wanted as well, forcing Roy to bring her along on the adventure. Tom Cruise plays offbeat well, something that is funnier given public perceptions about his real-life personality. I even liked Cameron Diaz, who usually does little for me. I'm not sure the plot makes all that much sense, but things roll along so well that you don't mind. Watch for some truly great, seamless visual effects involving cars and motorcycles. The trailer for this film looked promising; the movie delivered. 7.5/10 A few annoyances (with minor spoilers)... [?=Annoyance #1]As with so many modern thrillers, the screenwriter clearly has no idea how cellular telephones actually work. If someone has access to the cellular network routing information, they don't need for you to ANSWER the phone to locate the cell you're in. Also, cell phones rely on nearby base stations to receive signals from; you won't get a signal (even a weak one) in the middle of the ocean.[/?] [?=Annoyance #2]At one point, an Austrian assassin under cover speaks perfect English. Once he is outed, he speaks "vit zee typikal German akzent." Why wouldn't he continue to speak his perfect English?[/?] [?=Annoyance #3]The same guy also calls Cameron Diaz "fraülein," a term which is not only a little outdated, but which he also mispronounces as FRAW-line instead of the correct FROY-line.[/?]
Saw the trailer the other night at the A-Team movie. Looked funny - and I love most action adventures. I thought it had more of a Borne Identity feel to it, rather than True Lies, but ... Oh, and, wish I hadn't clicked on your little nitpicks. I would never have noticed them, probably still won't with two of them, but the third ... I'll probably still like the movie anyway.
I've seen a few trailers for it. It just looked like an extremely expensive publicity stunt for both Cruise and Diaz. The world of movie-goers tends to consider the both of them to be bat shit crazy, and Cruise has certainly not helped his case with his scientology antics and short fuse. I dunno. I'd like to think that I wouldn't out a movie because of the personal lives of actors, and I generally don't, but this particular movie just seemed like a throw-away fortune that landed in Cruise and Diaz's pockets.
I agree, whole-heartedly. Collateral, A Few Good Men, Born On The Fourth Of July, Rain Man, Risky Business, Magnolia, Interview With A Vampire, The Last Samurai... all great movies.
On the other hand, I can no longer see him as whatever character he's trying to portray. All I see is "Oh look, there's Tom Cruise."
It sucked because it was improbable, not very funny, and a farce of itself. For instance, every time they had to make a dramatic escape the main character would get knocked out, you don't see the escape, and the next thing you know you're in another Bond locale. How did I get in the Bahamas? On an Austrian train? Oh never mind.
Well, with out giving away the whole plot... Cruise came off like a kooky wacky group seminar guy. Diaz was a typical air head who constantly made dumb decisions who then suddenly became a super spy. Typical bad guys who have the aim of stormtroopers, even when the target stands up in the middle of the firefight for all the world to see! There were a couple good actions scenes but it wasn't enough to hold the movie together.
Talk about taking it too seriously... Dude it was a comedy not an action movie. They made fun of their own ridiculousness over and over. The movie was great. I highly recommend it. It's just a fun movie. Don't go in there expecting a realistic depiction of the life of a spy because that's not the point. Paladin, about your gripes:
Hey, they were just minor things that bugged me, nothing that kept me from enjoying the movie. On the whole, I really liked the film.
