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Average customer rating:

The Good Shepherd
Confusing film about the CIA and a life filled with righteous deception
Long, slow, boring and unrealistic.
Good acting but dull and uninteresting...
Good spy movie

The Good Shepherd (Widescreen Edition)
Starring: Alec Baldwin , Matt Damon , Robert De Niro , Keir Dullea , and Michael Gambon
Manufacturer: Universal Studios
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ASIN: B000MXPE7O
Release Date: 2007-04-03

Amazon.com

A complicated movie about the Central Intelligence Agency and its agents, The Good Shepherd isn't your typical spy movie. Though it stars Matt Damon (The Bourne Identity films) and Angelina Jolie (Mr. & Mrs. Smith, Lara Croft franchise)--actors with considerable experience in the action-espionage genre--The Good Shepherd requires that they play more subdued and (much less interesting) characters here. The movie focuses on the career or Edward Wilson (Damon), a privileged Yale graduate who goes on to help found the CIA. He is a quiet, serious, and guarded man, even in the most intimate moments with his civilian wife (Jolie, in a role that wastes her talent). Set against a backdrop of real-life events such as the Bay of Pigs, The Good Shepherd is meticulous in creating a realistic timeframe. The film gets a jolt of excitement when Robert DeNiro (in his first directing role since 1993's A Bronx Tale) peppers the screen with appearances by Joe Pesci, Alec Baldwin, and William Hurt. But those moments are too infrequent. At 157 minutes long, the film is crammed with many factual details, but the characters are shortchanged when it comes to development. Viewers have to wonder why anyone, much less someone like Wilson who has everything going for him, would devote his life to a thankless job that brings so little happiness to himself and his family. The Good Shepherd is an ambitious but flawed film. The actors do a formidable job with a well-intentioned but meandering script. However, we meet so many characters and learn so little about each that it's difficult to drum up much empathy for any of them. --Jae-Ha Kim

Description

Matt Damon, Angelina Jolie and Robert De Niro star in this powerful thriller about the birth of the CIA. Edward Wilson (Damon) believes in America, and will sacrifice everything he loves to protect it. But as one of the covert founders of the CIA, Edward's youthful idealism is slowly eroded by his growing suspicion of the people around him. Everybody has secrets…but will Edward's destroy him? With an all-star cast including Alec Baldwin, Billy Crudup, William Hurt, Timothy Hutton and John Turturro, it's the gripping story David Ansen of Newsweek hails as "spellbinding."

Customer Reviews:

The Good Shepherd.......2007-06-25

Some reviewers have complained of lack of action and a dull main character; of a man with no obvious feelings, dedicated only to secrecy in the service of `The Company'. If you want gung-ho, bullet dodging heroes then Tom Clancy and Harrison Ford are the guys for you. If you want to know where the men who are now running the USA (and hence the world) originated, and how they took a stranglehold on power, then watch this film. It is an intelligent account of the early days of the CIA: an extension of a rich old boy's network that may have begun with honourable intentions, but soon became a cabal, protecting vested interests, and now views its purpose solely to nurture the interests of one percent of one country's citizens, at the expense of just about everyone else on the planet. If that takes grey, violent men, obsessively secretive to the point of destroying their own families, then that's a price they willingly pay.

The film succeeds admirably. De Niro maintains intelligence (pun intended) throughout, without pandering to target audiences or oversimplifying in case `they' won't understand it. Two or three viewings may be necessary to absorb everything here. Like Emilio Estevez's Bobby, I think this is a `where it all started to go wrong' film, inviting comparisons with today. As a Russian defector, at the end of his tether under torture says:

`Soviet power is a myth. A great show. But there are no spare parts. Nothing is working. It's nothing but painted rust. But you. You need to keep the Russian myth alive to maintain your military-industrial complex. Your system depends on Russia being perceived as a threat. It is not a threat. It was never a threat. It never will be a threat. It is a rotten, bloated cow.'

Even at two hours and forty minutes, I didn't want the film to end. The action, or conflict is unrelenting. Thought provoking, clever, entertaining, well-acted and genuine. An oddity, in other words.

Confusing film about the CIA and a life filled with righteous deception.......2007-06-16

Directed by Robert DiNiro, this is the fictionalized story of the beginnings of the CIA. Matt Damon is cast as Robert Wilson, a composite character who believed in America and closed his eyes to some of its abuses in the belief that he was doing the best he could for his country. We see him first as a young man joining the Skull and Bones society at Yale, a secret society steeped in tradition which shaped the lives of many of America's leaders. The CIA is a secret society too, and as the film progresses the audience sees how it shapes its members. There's a code of right and wrong here, and Wilson makes choices about what he sees as "right". He marries Angelina Jolie because she is pregnant, but her life is lonely and unfulfilled because he never loves her. His relationship with his son as well as everyone else has a wide variety of strings attached. And, in the, end, Robert Wilson learns the price of a life filled with righteous deception.

Matt Damon's acting ability is flawless in this film. He embodies his character completely. The storyline however, is extremely confusing and I suspect it was by design. The audience often does not know what is happening or why. This soon grows tedious to watch however, especially as the film is more than three hours long and it is impossible to be sure of who the bad guys and the good guys are. As a result, I was bored a lot and even though this is clearly a worthwhile film, there are lots of problems with the fuzzy plot.

For many, the appeal of excellent acting and a critique of the CIA's role in America since the 1960s will result in a satisfying film experience. It wasn't quite enough for me however.

Long, slow, boring and unrealistic........2007-06-16

I kept waiting to see the good part of this movie and it never happened. Too much time line switching and unrealistic in that nobody has ice water in their veins like Damon did. However he typically crawled into bed with anyone who would go.I love a good spy spoof but this one stunk.

Good acting but dull and uninteresting..........2007-06-15

"Good Shepherd" is an epic story about Edward Wilson (Matt Damon), a CIA agent in the cold war era of the '60s. The movie goes back and forth in time from the 20s to the 60s starting from Wilson's college days at Yale, where he joins the society of Skulls and Bones and then gets mentored to perform counterintelligence tasks. The movie is interwoven with multiple flashbacks, which I didnt like and felt wasnt really necessary. Every director has to follow the nonlinear timeline technique these days just to make it look like an "intelligent" movie. In spite of boasting the best ensemble cast seen in a long time, the movie is very long and will easily put you to sleep after the first hour. The pacing is just too slow and makes it hard to concentrate for almost 3 hours. With better editing, "Shepherd" could have been a front runner at the Oscars.

Good spy movie.......2007-06-12

This is a movie to watch carefully. The plot twists are subtle but if you miss a little you miss a lot. Matt Damon is excellent as the serious young man trying to lead a double life: Family man and CIA agent. I've watched it twice and plan to watch it several more times to pick up all the nuances.

Average customer rating:

[Fart noise]
Riveting!
Fantastic!
A few loose ends, but a great flick
"Goodfellas," some "Kill Bill," with a pinch of "Pulp" and a hint of "Bourne"....

The Departed (Two-Disc Special Edition)
Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio , Matt Damon , Jack Nicholson , Mark Wahlberg , and Martin Sheen
Director: Martin Scorsese , and Richard Schickel
Manufacturer: Warner Home Video
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The Prestige

ASIN: B000M5AJQS
Release Date: 2007-02-13

Amazon.com

Martin Scorsese makes a welcome return to the mean streets (of Boston, in this case) with The Departed, hailed by many as Scorsese's best film since Casino. Since this crackling crime thriller is essentially a Scorsese-stamped remake of the acclaimed 2002 Hong Kong thriller Infernal Affairs, the film was intensely scrutinized by devoted critics and cinephiles, and while Scorsese's intense filmmaking and all-star cast deserve ample acclaim, The Departed is also worthy of serious re-assessment, especially with regard to what some attentive viewers described as sloppy craftsmanship (!), notably in terms of mismatched shots and jagged continuity. But no matter where you fall on the Scorsese appreciation scale, there's no denying that The Departed is a signature piece of work from one of America's finest directors, designed for maximum impact with a breathtaking series of twists, turns, and violent surprises. It's an intricate cat-and-mouse game, but this time the cat and mouse are both moles: Colin Sullivan (Matt Damon) is an ambitious cop on the rise, planted in the Boston police force by criminal kingpin Frank Costello (Jack Nicholson). Billy Costigan (Leonardo DiCaprio) is a hot-tempered police cadet who's been artificially disgraced and then planted into Costello's crime operation as a seemingly trustworthy soldier. As the multilayered plot unfolds (courtesy of a scorching adaptation by Kingdom of Heaven screenwriter William Monahan), Costigan and Sullivan conduct a volatile search for each other (they're essentially looking for "themselves") while simultaneously wooing the psychiatrist (Vera Farmiga) assigned to treat their crime-driven anxieties.

Such convenient coincidences might sink a lesser film, but The Departed is so electrifying that you barely notice the plot-holes. And while Nicholson's profane swagger is too much "Jack" and not enough "Costello," he's still a joy to watch, especially in a film that's additionally energized by memorable (and frequently hilarious) supporting roles for Alec Baldwin, Mark Wahlberg, and a host of other big-name performers. The Departed also makes clever and plot-dependent use of cell-phones, to the extent that it couldn't exist without them. Powered by Scorsese's trademark use of well-chosen soundtrack songs (from vintage rock to Puccini's operas), The Departed may not be perfect, but it's one helluva ride for moviegoers, proving popular enough to become the biggest box-office hit of Scorsese's commercially rocky career. --Jeff Shannon

On the DVD
Introduced by director Martin Scorsese, the nine deleted scenes from The Departed are all interesting to watch, though not a significant loss from the picture. The other bonus features are very good as well. "Stranger Than Fiction: The True Story of Whitey Bulger, Southie, and The Departed" is a 21-minute history of the real-life Boston gangster Jack Nicholson's character was based on. Scorsese, screenwriter William Monahan, and a number of journalists are among those interviewed. In "Crossing Criminal Cultures" (24 minutes), Scorsese and the cast discuss gangster pictures and specifically Scorsese's. Consider that a warm-up for Scorsese on Scorsese, an 86-minute documentary from 2004. (It's the only bonus feature not available on the HD DVD or Blu-ray versions.) There's no narrator or interviewer: it's just Scorsese talking about his upbringing and influences. There's a generous use of clips through The Aviator and even his American Express commercial. --David Horiuchi

Beyond The Departed <table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="4" cellpadding="4"> <tr align="center" valign="top" class="tiny"> <td width="33%"> <img src="http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B0000DI87S.01.TZZZZZZZ.jpg" border="0">
More gangster movies</td> <td width="33%"> <img src="http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B000286RKW.01.TZZZZZZZ.jpg" border="0">
Amazon.com's Martin Scorsese Essentials</td> <td width="33%"> <img src="http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B000LXS6H0.01.TZZZZZZZ.jpg" border="0">
The original inspiration: Infernal Affairs</td> </tr> </table>

Description

Rookie cop Billy Costigan (Leonardo DiCaprio) grew up in crime. That makes him the perfect mole, the man on the inside of the mob run by boss Frank Costello (Jack Nicholson). It's his job to win Costello's trust and help his detective handlers (Mark Wahlberg and Martin Sheen) bring Costello down. Meanwhile, SIU officer Colin Sullivan (Matt Damon) has everyone's trust. No one suspects he's Costello's mole. How these covert lives cross, double-cross and collide is at the ferocious core of the widely acclaimed The Departed. Martin Scorsese directs, guiding a cast for the ages in a visceral tale of crime and consequences. This is searing, can't-look-away filmmaking: like staring into the eyes of a con - or a cop - with a gun.

Customer Reviews:

[Fart noise].......2007-06-23

I have just never responded to Scorsese [okay, I liked Kundun]. I just don't find much meaning in all that macho blustering, and I find his movies very unemotional and cold. I also just don't respond to gangster movies. I don't find them compelling at all. So this may account for my feeling of intense annoyance when walking out of The Departed.

The first 20 minutes are fantastic. Scorsese lays out the histories of Damon as Sullivan, being a good boy and rising up the police ranks while all the time beholden to Nicholson's Boston crime boss Costello. DiCaprio has a more troubled history [during which I was never convinced WHY he wanted to be a cop], but both of their stories are laid out in a very quick and energetic way. The friend I went with was talking about the quick, staccato editing here that "is almost like the intro to a TV show where they tell you what happened last week," but for me it really worked.

So Damon goes on this elite police force and DiCaprio is asked to go undercover with Costello. From there it's all Donnie Brasco, Donnie Brasco, Donnie Brasco [okay, there's one gangster movie I responded to], with the additional wrinkle of that both guys need to discover the identity of the other one. There are lots of near-misses, lots of one-person-relaying-information-while-the-other-is-too, and gallons of macho bluster and OTT mugging from Nicholson [who wasn't quite as bad with that as I expected]. There is funny faux-Mamet patter like Alec Baldwin quickly saying "I'm gonna go outside and get a smoke. You want a smoke? No? What are you, some kind of fitness freak? Go f*** yourself," or a guy, after being shot in the knee. Whining "I thought I was supposed to go into shock. I'm not in shock. It hurts!" that are amusing, but that's when you still believe that this story is going to come to something.

I can't even be bothered to talk about the many twists and turns, because in the end they turn out mostly to be just time-wasters, and as we headed into the last hour I started thinking "Why do we need this scene? This scene could go. And what about that scene before? That was just another version of the many scenes we've seen before" which is not something I think any filmmaker wants the audience to be concerned with while they're watching a film.

And finally, it just doesn't come to much. Maybe it's a case of my expectations; I thought we were building toward a big showdown between Damon and DiCaprio where they would really have at it, and then it's getting to be 30 minutes `til the end [I was definitely waiting], then 15 minutes `til the end.... And that's when I really started to turn against the movie. Which is not even to mention the overall dissatisfaction of the ending. I want to avoid giving anything away, but suffice to say that the thing I wanted to see, we did not see. And we saw a whole lot of something else that, yeah, I guess it's one worldview, but it's not a worldview I find particularly compelling or interesting. And it's kind of a worldview that you don't need two-and-a-half hours to express, and is probably why I was so bitter that I felt this movie wasted so much of my time... for that. But Scorsese seems to be unable to make a movie that is less than two-and-a-half hours, and if he did, well, how would we know that it's an important film?

My friend [who liked it a little more than I did] asked me "well, how is this different from De Palma?" [And I was indeed sitting there wishing De Palma had directed it instead.] My answer was, well, in De Palma there is emotional content that gives me something to get involved with, whereas with Scorsese it's all tough guy blather with a little emotional stuff [here, the psychologist] thrown in for a little color, but the focus is on the guns and the cell phones and the tension and just how very hard these guys are. Wow, they sure are hard, tough guys, Marty. Wow.

Secondly, when De Palma enters into a set-piece, the sense I get from what's on screen [and this is highly subjective, just my feeling] is that he's inviting you, the audience, to play along and he wants you to enjoy it. The sense I get with Scorsese is that he wants you to passively sit back and admire his skill. Add that to how cold I find his films, and the sense I get is of Scorsese casting himself as the tough guy through his show-offy-yet-stand-offish technique, just as his films are filled with tough guys that he is unable to be. Yeah, yeah, Marty, you're the man, okay? Now go be the man over there.

The final shot is a somewhat sledgehammer-subtle message that there will always be corruption in the highest offices of power. Is this a statement? Well, obviously it's a statement, but is it an interesting statement? Did we need a 150 minutes to tell us this? Especially given the current state of Congress?

Everyone else loves this film, so take that as you may. As I said, I just don't respond to gangster movies and I just don't respond to Scorsese movies. The performances here are all very good and it's certainly well made but... take a half hour off and I'd be fine. And change the ending.

Riveting!.......2007-06-21

This is one of those movies that you have to watch two or three times to make sense of all the intense action. It is riveting and you can't take your eyes off the screen!

I have been waiting for Leo Di Caprio to do a truly "manly" and tough role in a believable way, and this is the role. He is convincingly tough and does an incredible job in this movie. In my opinion Leo has been miscast in a number of films as a tough guy, most notably in Gangs of New York. He seems truly grown up in this movie.
Matt Damon is excellent, although as one of my favorite actors I hated to "love to hate" him in this morally degenerate role.
Jack Nicholson annoyed me. He does a great job, but I just found myself thinking that Daniel Day Lewis or Byrne, or someone of that ilk would have been a better choice for the role of Costello.
I did not understand the ending. Maybe after viewing several more times?...

Fantastic!.......2007-06-18

What a great cast--- Leo DiCaprio, Matt Damon, Martin Sheen, Alec Baldwin, Mark Wahlberg, Jack Nicholson....they are all just awesome and give superior performances. It's a thriller, a game of cat and mouse in which a Boston mob moss is trying to use his infiltrator on the police force to find out the identity of the officer who has gone undercover and infiltrated the mafia. It is a thriller that keeps you going till the very end and I did NOT expect the ending.

You must see this movie. I've seen Martin Scorsese's other films but this one triumphs as the best one so far. Thank goodness he won an Oscar for it, it deserved it!!

A few loose ends, but a great flick.......2007-06-15

Like most people, I watched this movie mainly just because of the impressive star power of the cast. (Which, in our celebrity obsessed culture, is probably just as good a reason to watch a movie as any). And it is quite an impressive cast: Leonardo Dicaprio, Matt Damon, Jack Nicholson, Mark Wahlberg, Martin Sheen, Alec Baldwin, and directed by Martin Scorese....Now is that a cast or what? And I know that usually in movies with too many big names somebody ends up being under-utilized, but I thought all the main actors in this movie were given at least a couple great scenes to chew the screen up.

Some researching on the internet reveals that this movie is an American remake of the Hong Kong flick "Infernal Affairs". (I've not seen "Infernal Affairs", but I've seen the previous at least. It always looked kind of interesting.)

"The Departed" is set in Boston and revolves around the Irish-American culture and the Irish mafia. It doesn't come close to the level of pyscho-analysis that "The Godfather" did for the Italian mafia, but there are various throw away lines referencing the Irish-American experience: "Twenty years after an Irishman could't get a job, we had the presidency. May he rest in peace."

The plot gets a little complicated but basically Jack Nicholson is a Irish Mafia boss. Leonardo DiCaprio is an undercover cop infiltrating the mafia. Matt Damon is an undercover mafia who has infiltrated the police department. As the movie progresses various betrayals and changes of allegiance follow.

I don't want to give away too much to anyone who hasn't seen this movie, but at various points I thought it should have been obvious who the respective moles were. And it seemed like everyone was getting pretty sloppy and getting away with it. But that's Hollywood for you I guess.

Also (and again, I hope I'm not giving too much away here. Spolier alert) the climax of the movie revolves around a taped conversation. You know, it turns out that something one of the characters said was being tape recorded and he didn't know it, and he said a lot of self-implicating things. Like we've seen a million other times in a million other movies and TV shows.

I suppose this is the most obvious way to end a story like this (which is why it's been used so many times before), but perhaps because it is the most obvious it is also the laziest. For my two cents I would liked to have seen a more interesting ending.

But the movie definately held my attention for the time I was watching it.

"Goodfellas," some "Kill Bill," with a pinch of "Pulp" and a hint of "Bourne"...........2007-06-15

Once again, Scorcese proves he is the master of blood spatter, body count, gratuitious volence, and signing big Hollywood stars. But departed didn't seem to offer much of anything new.

The stories of the respective "rats" run absolutely parallel (including the same love interest), so the plot sounded interesting to me.

But not even 1/3 into the movie you find yourself wondering how can the cops AND the bad guys be so unbelievably stupid, and then you begin to associate that sentiment to the movie.

The Special Investigation cops know they have a spy in their midst, but they never suspect the guy who grew up with the crime boss and who always makes a cell phone call to "Dad" just before the raid! The criminals know they have a spy in their midst, but they never suspect the former cop who just recently joined their gang, and who has never really proven his loyalty.

The behavior of most of the characters never seems to make much sense (including the women, who seek out unpredictable, ugly and violent men), thus the touch of the surreal/fantasy akin to "Bill." Then at the end, it turns out that nearly every character is actually a spy for some organization other than the one they're currently with.

And what happened to the envelope, or the girl? Most of the time, particularly during the second half of the movie, everything just seemed silly, a la "Pulp."

Two stars - one for the panty sex scene, and one for the rat (one of only a few mammals to avoid the spray of bullets) that artfully scurries away (did you notice it on the balcony railing?) at the very end.

Average customer rating:

[Fart noise]
Riveting!
Fantastic!
A few loose ends, but a great flick
"Goodfellas," some "Kill Bill," with a pinch of "Pulp" and a hint of "Bourne"....

The Departed (Widescreen Edition)
Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio , Matt Damon , Jack Nicholson , Mark Wahlberg , and Martin Sheen
Director: Martin Scorsese
Manufacturer: Warner Home Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video

General | Indie & Art House | Stores | DVD | Video

DVDs Under $7.49 | Today's Deals in DVD | Special Features | DVD | Video

( D ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
Similar Items:

Casino Royale (2-Disc Widescreen Edition) [Region 99]
Babel
Flags of Our Fathers (Widescreen Edition)
Borat - Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan (Widescreen Edition)
The Prestige

ASIN: B000M341QE
Release Date: 2007-02-13

Amazon.com

Martin Scorsese makes a welcome return to the mean streets (of Boston, in this case) with The Departed, hailed by many as Scorsese's best film since Casino. Since this crackling crime thriller is essentially a Scorsese-stamped remake of the acclaimed 2002 Hong Kong thriller Infernal Affairs, the film was intensely scrutinized by devoted critics and cinephiles, and while Scorsese's intense filmmaking and all-star cast deserve ample acclaim, The Departed is also worthy of serious re-assessment, especially with regard to what some attentive viewers described as sloppy craftsmanship (!), notably in terms of mismatched shots and jagged continuity. But no matter where you fall on the Scorsese appreciation scale, there's no denying that The Departed is a signature piece of work from one of America's finest directors, designed for maximum impact with a breathtaking series of twists, turns, and violent surprises. It's an intricate cat-and-mouse game, but this time the cat and mouse are both moles: Colin Sullivan (Matt Damon) is an ambitious cop on the rise, planted in the Boston police force by criminal kingpin Frank Costello (Jack Nicholson). Billy Costigan (Leonardo DiCaprio) is a hot-tempered police cadet who's been artificially disgraced and then planted into Costello's crime operation as a seemingly trustworthy soldier. As the multilayered plot unfolds (courtesy of a scorching adaptation by Kingdom of Heaven screenwriter William Monahan), Costigan and Sullivan conduct a volatile search for each other (they're essentially looking for "themselves") while simultaneously wooing the psychiatrist (Vera Farmiga) assigned to treat their crime-driven anxieties.

Such convenient coincidences might sink a lesser film, but The Departed is so electrifying that you barely notice the plot-holes. And while Nicholson's profane swagger is too much "Jack" and not enough "Costello," he's still a joy to watch, especially in a film that's additionally energized by memorable (and frequently hilarious) supporting roles for Alec Baldwin, Mark Wahlberg, and a host of other big-name performers. The Departed also makes clever and plot-dependent use of cell-phones, to the extent that it couldn't exist without them. Powered by Scorsese's trademark use of well-chosen soundtrack songs (from vintage rock to Puccini's operas), The Departed may not be perfect, but it's one helluva ride for moviegoers, proving popular enough to become the biggest box-office hit of Scorsese's commercially rocky career. --Jeff Shannon

Description

Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon, Jack Nicholson and Mark Wahlberg star in Martin Scorsese's new crime drama "The Departed." "The Departed" is set in South Boston where the state police force is waging an all-out war to take down the city's top organized crime ring. The key is to end the reign of powerful mob boss Frank Costello (Jack Nicholson) from the inside. A young rookie, Billy Costigan (Leonardo DiCaprio) is assigned to infiltrate Costello's mob. While Billy is working to gain Costello's trust, another young cop, Colin Sullivan (Matt Damon) is among a handful of elite officers whose mission is to bring Costello down. But what his superiors don't know is that Colin is working for Costello, keeping the crime boss one step ahead of the police. Each man becomes deeply consumed by his double life, gathering information about the plans and counter-plans of the operation he has penetrated. But when it becomes clear to both the gangsters and the police that they have a mole in their midst, Billy and Colin find themselves in constant danger of being caught-and each must race to uncover the identity of the other man in time to save himself.

Customer Reviews:

[Fart noise].......2007-06-23

Riveting!.......2007-06-21

Fantastic!.......2007-06-18

A few loose ends, but a great flick.......2007-06-15

"Goodfellas," some "Kill Bill," with a pinch of "Pulp" and a hint of "Bourne"...........2007-06-15

Average customer rating:

Glengarry review
Sheer genius
Salesmen acting badly very well....
Classic Sales Movie
An instant classic set in the Real Estate market

Glengarry Glen Ross
Starring: Jack Lemmon , Al Pacino , Ed Harris , Alan Arkin , and Kevin Spacey
Director: James Foley
Manufacturer: Lions Gate
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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Boiler Room
Wall Street
Tin Men
Barbarians at the Gate
Rogue Trader

ASIN: B00005JKG9
Release Date: 2002-11-19

Amazon.com essential video

Like moths to a flame, great actors gravitate to the singular genius of playwright-screenwriter David Mamet, who updated his Pulitzer Prize-winning play for this all-star screen adaptation. The material is not inherently cinematic, so the movie's greatest asset is Mamet's peerless dialogue and the assembly of a once-in-a-lifetime cast led by Al Pacino, Jack Lemmon, and Alec Baldwin (the last in a role Mamet created especially for the film). Often regarded as a critique of the Reagan administration's impact on the American economy, the play and film focus on a competitive group of real estate salesmen who've gone from feast to famine in a market gone cold. When an executive "motivator" (Alec Baldwin) demands a sales contest among the agents in the cramped office, the stakes are critically high: any agent who fails to meet his quota of sales "leads" (i.e., potential buyers) will lose his job. This intense ultimatum is a boon for the office superstar (Pacino), but a once-successful salesman (Lemmon) now finds himself clinging nervously to faded glory. Political and personal rivalries erupt under pressure when the other agents (Alan Arkin, Ed Harris) suspect the office manager (Kevin Spacey) of foul play. This cauldron of anxiety, tension, and sheer desperation provides fertile soil for Mamet's scathingly rich dialogue, which is like rocket fuel for some of the greatest actors of our time. Pacino won an Oscar nomination for his volatile performance, but it's Lemmon who's the standout, doing some of the best work of his distinguished career. Director James Foley shapes Mamet's play into a stylish, intensely focused film that will stand for decades as a testament to its brilliant writer and cast. --Jeff Shannon

Customer Reviews:

Glengarry review.......2007-06-22

I am a huge Al Pacino fan, but honestly, this film bored me.
I did not enjoy any aspect of it and would not recommend it
to anyone. I am surprised so many others enjoyed it.
This is the only Al Pacino film I did not enjoy.

Sheer genius.......2007-06-17

If you've ever worked in sales then this movie will be instantly recognizable to you. Sales, especially commission-based sales, with all of it's epic highs and crushing lows, are the stuff of dreams. Anyone who's worked in any type of sales will recognize the characters portrayed in this movie; one day you're on a hot streak, master of your universe, and management can't stop telling you how great you are...then before you know it you're in a cold streak where you can't give product away and you stink so bad of failure that no one wants to be around you. It's no wonder that the highest paid people in the world are people who are really good at sales. It's also no wonder that this script drew such an all-star cast of actors; the dialogue is undeniably real because of the mix of desperation and cockiness. Buy it, live it, sell it...and always be closing.

Salesmen acting badly very well...........2007-06-10

Pretty powerful stuff here. Picks apart flaws in middle management, and
demonstrates the frustration rampant in any similar business situation. And
plenty of bad language which helps to underscore how the pressure sends
one into a tailspin almost instantly, with sometimes irretrievable damage
done in the process. A very good viewing experience, and not a job I'd
want to do.

Classic Sales Movie.......2007-06-08

This is one of few great Sales movies. This movie ranks right up there with Wall Street and more recent Boiler Room. This movie employs an entourage of big name actors. This is a must see for any person in the Sales Industry.

An instant classic set in the Real Estate market.......2007-04-27

What is there to say about a film where you have Al Pacino, Jack Lemmon, Ed Harris, Alan Arkin, Alec Baldwin, and Kevin Spacey all in the same room at one time? Oh, and it's written and directed by David Mamet.

I'd heard of this film but didn't know much about it. After watching it, I'm surprised I waited so long. Glengarry Glen Ross is the kind of film that actors both love and dread to work on. As Alan Arkin says in the special features, it was the most exacting work any of the actors had ever done. The Mamet script comes through a bit intensely sometimes when you can hear the repetitiveness in the language, but with actors like these, it all feels natural, even when it seems a bit written.

The story is engaging, and the transfer from stage to film is of the highest quality. Set in the Real Estate industry, Glenngarry Glen Ross is the story of four salesman and the stringent new guidelines they are put under in order to keep their jobs. Lemmon and Pacino shine especially brightly in this film, but the rest of the cast handle their characters with the superb skill we've all seen in their other films.

This is a classic in every sense of the word.

I'm not sure why this is a 2-disc set. Disc 1 just has the widescreen presentation of the film, while Disc 2 has the fullscreen presentation as well as a ton of special features... but I think being able to buy the fullscreen OR the widescreen would be good enough.

Average customer rating:

[Fart noise]
Riveting!
Fantastic!
A few loose ends, but a great flick
"Goodfellas," some "Kill Bill," with a pinch of "Pulp" and a hint of "Bourne"....

The Departed (Full Screen Edition)
Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio , Matt Damon , Jack Nicholson , Mark Wahlberg , and Martin Sheen
Director: Martin Scorsese
Manufacturer: Warner Home Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video

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Casino Royale (2-Disc Widescreen Edition) [Region 99]
Babel
Flags of Our Fathers (Widescreen Edition)
Borat - Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan (Widescreen Edition)
The Prestige

ASIN: B000M341QO
Release Date: 2007-02-13

Amazon.com

Description

Customer Reviews:

[Fart noise].......2007-06-23

Riveting!.......2007-06-21

Fantastic!.......2007-06-18

A few loose ends, but a great flick.......2007-06-15

"Goodfellas," some "Kill Bill," with a pinch of "Pulp" and a hint of "Bourne"...........2007-06-15

The Hunt for Red October (Special Collector's Edition)

Average customer rating:

Like, so 80's
The hunt for Red October
Excellent Movie
Cold war movie
The Hunt is OVER ... for a great Submarine Thriller!

The Hunt for Red October (Special Collector's Edition)
Starring: Sean Connery , Alec Baldwin , Scott Glenn , Sam Neill , and James Earl Jones
Director: John McTiernan
Manufacturer: Paramount
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Action & Adventure | Genres | DVD | Video

Thrillers | Action & Adventure | Genres | DVD | Video

Espionage | Action & Adventure | Genres | DVD | Video

General | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video

Thrillers | Mystery & Suspense | Genres | DVD | Video

General | Mystery & Suspense | Genres | DVD | Video

Adventure | Kids & Family | Genres | DVD | Video

DTS | Fully Loaded DVDs | Features | DVD | Video

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( H ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video

Mystery & Suspense | Today's Deals in DVD | Special Features | DVD | Video

DVDs Under $7.49 | Today's Deals in DVD | Special Features | DVD | Video

Clear and Present Danger (Special Collector's Edition)
The Fugitive
U-571 (Collector's Edition)
Apollo 13 (Widescreen 2-Disc Anniversary Edition)
K-19: The Widowmaker

ASIN: B00008K76U
Release Date: 2003-05-06

Amazon.com essential video

Before Harrison Ford assumed the mantle of playing Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan hero in Patriot Games, Alec Baldwin took a swing at the character in this John McTiernan film and hit one to the fence. If less instantly sympathetic than Ford, Baldwin is in some respects more interesting and nuanced as Ryan, and drawing comparisons between both actors' performances can make for some interesting postmovie discussion. That aside, The Hunt for Red October stands alone as a uniquely exciting adventure with a fantastic costar: Sean Connery as a Russian nuclear submarine captain attempting to defect to the West on his ship. Ryan must figure out his true motives for approaching the U.S. McTiernan (Predator, Die Hard) made an exceptionally handsome movie here with action sequences that really do take one's breath away. --Tom Keogh

Description

Based on Tom Clancy's bestseller, directed by John McTiernan (Die Hard) and starring Sean Connery and Alec Baldwin, THE HUNT FOR RED OCTOBER sweats with high-tech anxiety and the tension of men who hold Doomsday in their hands. A new technologically-superior Soviet nuclear sub, the Red October, is heading for the U.S. coast under the command of Captain Marko Ramius (Connery). The American government thinks Ramius is planning to attack. A lone CIA analyst (Baldwin) has a different idea: he thinks Ramius is planning to defect, but he has only a few hours to find him and prove it - because the entire Russian naval and air commands are trying to find him, too. The hunt is on!

Customer Reviews:

Like, so 80's.......2007-06-24

This is a really good yarn, but the film adaptation is marginal - Connery and Baldwin are real, compelling, and entertaining, but the other actors leave much to be desired. Some really good shots of underwater scenes, and a good suspense level, but the acting could add a lot to this film.

The hunt for Red October.......2007-05-27

Connery at his best. A fantastic film. Definitely an owner movie.

Excellent Movie.......2007-05-02

I can't stand Alec Baldwin, but he did well in his first major motion picture. Sean Connery was good as he always is. I liked everything about it. The music is good. The special effects don't match these days, but I can live with it. A very dramatic, well acted movie I think.

Cold war movie.......2007-02-18

This is a great movie about the cold war with excellent casting and directing. I had read the book so when I first saw the movie I was a bit dissapointed from the fact that some of the important factors were underplayed in the movie. However this movie really grew on me and it is really entertaining.

The Hunt is OVER ... for a great Submarine Thriller!.......2007-01-21

I just finished watching the Hunt for Red October for the jilienth time... It had occurred to me that I never have written a review for this great movie here at amazon.com... I have reviewed the great WWII movie Das Boot, the hilarious Operation Petticoat, I have even put together two different lists about submarine books and submarine movies but incredibly I have not written a review about this great movie! I remember the first time I saw this movie when it came out in movie theaters and thinking, "Wow! How did Clancy know that, I thought that was classified?" I served on submarines in the `70s and considered myself very informed about submarines. This is a great Cold War yarn that will keep you on the edge of your seat - If you want to see a first rate submarine thriller then Hunt for Red October is a sure bet!

Pearl Harbor (Two-Disc Collector's Edition)

Average customer rating:

A failure!
Failure upon failure
Pearl Harbor
Why Bother?
I tried to watch it with my daughter and best friend.

Pearl Harbor (Two-Disc Collector's Edition)
Starring: Ben Affleck , Alec Baldwin , Kate Beckinsale , Colm Feore , and William Fichtner
Director: Michael Bay
Manufacturer: Touchstone / Disney
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Action & Adventure | Genres | DVD | Video

General | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video

World War II | Military & War | Genres | DVD | Video

War Epics | Military & War | Genres | DVD | Video

DVDs Under $7.49 | Today's Deals in DVD | Special Features | DVD | Video

( P ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video

Armageddon
Black Hawk Down [Region 99]
Saving Private Ryan (Special Limited Edition)
Titanic (Three-Disc Special Collector's Edition)
We Were Soldiers (Widescreen Edition)

ASIN: B00003CXTG
Release Date: 2001-12-04

Amazon.com

To call Pearl Harbor a throwback to old-time war movies is something of an understatement. Director Michael Bay's epic take on the bombing that brought the United States into World War II hijacks every war movie situation and cliché (some affectionate, some stale) you've ever seen and gives them a shiny, glossy spin until the whole movie practically gleams. Planes glisten, water sparkles, trees beckon--and Bay's re-creation of the bombing itself, a 30-minute sequence that's tightly choreographed and amazingly photographed, sets the action movie bar up quite a few notches. And in updating the classic war film, Bay and screenwriter Randall Wallace (Braveheart) use that old plot standby, the love triangle--this time, it's between two pilots (Ben Affleck and Josh Hartnett) and a nurse (Kate Beckinsale) who find themselves stationed at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, during what they thought would be a nice, sunny tour of duty. Then, of course, history intervened.

For the first 90 minutes of the movie, Affleck and Beckinsale find a nice, appealing chemistry that plays on his strengths as a movie star and hers as a serious actress--he gives her glamour, she gives him smarts. Their truncated romance--the beginning of which is told in flashback so we can get right to the point where he has to leave her to go to England--works, thanks to their charm. They're no Kate and Leo from Titanic (a strategy the film strives hard toward), but they're pretty darn adorable in their own right. Hartnett, as the not entirely unwelcome third wheel, squints bravely but makes only a slight dent in the film. Everyone else in Pearl Harbor--from Cuba Gooding Jr.'s brave navy seaman to Jon Voight's able impersonation of FDR--is pretty much a glorified walk-on, taking a backseat to the pyrotechnics and action sequences that keep the three-hour film in fairly constant motion. But when that action does take hold, Pearl Harbor is quite a thrilling ride. --Mark Englehart

Description

History comes alive in the unforgettable epic motion picture PEARL HARBOR, the spectacular blockbuster brought to the screen by Jerry Bruckheimer and Michael Bay. Astounding visual and audio effects put you at the center of the event that changed the world -- that early Sunday morning in paradise when warplanes screamed across the peaceful skies of Pearl Harbor and jolted America into World War II. This real-life tale of catastrophic defeat, heroic victory, and personal courage focuses on the war's devastating impact on two daring young pilots, Ben Affleck (ARMAGEDDON) and Josh Hartnet (BLACK HAWK DOWN), and a beautiful, dedicated nurse, Kate Beckinsale (SERENDIPITY). PEARL HARBOR is extraordinary moviemaking -- a breathtaking reenactment of the "date which will live in infamy" and a heartfelt tribute to the men and women who lived it.

Customer Reviews:

A failure!.......2007-06-12

When you think about how much money they put into this movie ... and this is what they came up with??? Wow! What a failure.

Failure upon failure.......2007-05-22

It has Ben Aflac (quack) and Alec Baldwin in it. Minus two stars for each of those.

Pearl Harbor.......2007-05-14

Pearl Harbor is one of my favorite movies and I was thrilled with the way I could come to Amazon, order it and have it in my hands in a few days. Great movie and great service. Thanks Amazon.com

Why Bother?.......2007-05-10

"Pearl Harbour" could have been one of the great movies that stick with you for ages after the final credits were run. Although there were some excellent points, the overall movie failed to live up to that potential.

The plot follows to aeroplane-obsessed friends, Rafe McCawley and Danny Walker. Rafe falls in love with a girl Evelyn Johnson, but soon joins the Air Force, where he goes missing. Walker and Johnson end up in Pearl Harbour, start falling in love and then things get more complicated by not only the Japanese military, but also Rafe.

The story rather descends into the mediocre with its amateurish mingling of romance with war. Rather than do one or the other well, it does both appallingly. Unlike other movies that mix genres well, (such as the horror/romantic comedy in Shaun of the Dead), "Pearl Harbour" fails to inspire.

The action scenes were fairly well executed, the CGI being of an excellent quality that enhanced the movie. Cuba Gooding Jnr was also another highlight in his role as Petty Officer Doris Miller. He really was a rare high point in this movie.

For war movie lovers, avoid this one. For romance movie buffs, avoid this one. It was a tragic movie, and not in the good sense.

I tried to watch it with my daughter and best friend........2007-05-01

I honestly did try to watch this movie at one point and just couldn't. It seemed like it dragged on forever and ever. I don't do the long synopsis of movies but I will say this. The story was supposed to revolve around these characters during the attack on Pearl Harbor. That much they got. But I didn't care about the characters, the development really stunk. I found myself rooting for the Japanese pilots, a la MST3K. Drivel doesn't even begin to cover it. The costuming was done well, and the props in the sets well selected, but that's about the only good thing I can say for this movie. Watch it once. This is a movie you'll either love or hate.

The Royal Tenenbaums (The Criterion Collection)

Average customer rating:

What is it with these movies?
oh criterion
Too Sad To Be Funny, Too Funny To Be Sad
Hillarious, Intelligent, Quirky
Straight to the point

The Royal Tenenbaums (The Criterion Collection)
Starring: Aram Aslanian-Persico , Alec Baldwin , Seymour Cassel , James Fitzgerald (II) , and Danny Glover
Manufacturer: Walt Disney Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Comedy | Genres | DVD | Video

DTS | Fully Loaded DVDs | Features | DVD | Video

( R ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video

Comedy | Criterion Collection | Stores | DVD | Video

All | Criterion Collection | Stores | DVD | Video