Amazon.com

Book of Love takes what could be a trashy premise and turns it into a strikingly honest examination of human messiness. Elaine (Frances O'Connor, Mansfield Park) and David (Simon Baker, The Ring Two) are a happy, successful couple who befriend a clever, athletic, but lonely 16 year-old boy named Chet (Gregory Smith, Everwood).But when Chet falls in love with Elaine, she responds and sleeps with him out of a mix of sympathy and desire. From here the story could have become overwrought melodrama, but the subtle script, perfectly-pitched performances, and lucid direction make Book of Love a portrait of smart, articulate people at the mercy of their least articulate emotions:lust, jealousy, anger, fear. Writer/director Alan Brown, making his debut feature film, even manages to weave in issues of goodness and the history of Cambodia without the movie ever feeling academic or didactic--on the contrary, the movie feels intimate and physical throughout, as concerned with the character's animal responses as with their struggle to remain rational. Also featuring Bryce Dallas Howard (The Village) and music from indie bands The Magnetic Fields and Clem Snide. --Bret Fetzer ... Read more

Reviews (5)

More a teaser than a pleaser
Man and wife meet lad; wife seduces lad; husband gets jealous; ugly scene; the end. Not much nudity, if any. If you have a particular attraction to one of the cast, it might be worth a viewing. Predictable. No surprises.

Desires beneath the Surface
"Book of Love" is a moderately engaging tale of the effects of adultery on the three principal characters.

Elaine Walker (played by Frances O'Connor) is a 27-year old event planner who likes her yoga and wants to be child-free for another ten years.Her husband, David (played by Simon Baker), a history teacher at a girls' school, has slowly been gaining weight and wants a family.Getting ice cream cones, they are served by Chet, an almost-16-year old high school swimmer working part-time (played by Gregory Smith).Incidentally Elaine gets a look at Chet's tight abs and is impressed.Another visit for ice cream leads to a dinner invitation. Chet hasn't traveled much; so the couple takes him to New York City and promise to take him to Disneyworld.Elaine shortly gives into Chet's desire, after which Elaine tells her husband.

David, though visibly upset, tries to rise above the situation and says he wants to fulfill his promise for the couple to take Chet to Disneyworld.Although both Elaine and Chet have deep misgivings, the three fly down to Orlando and check into a motel with pool.There the anger of David and the wishful thinking of Chet make an appearance, with maybe some other undercurrents. Seeing this, Elaine freezes up.The film heads toward its conclusions.

There are two useful subplots, one involving a student with a crush on David and the other with a lesbian couple wanting David to be a sperm donor.Both subplots give insight on David's character.

None of the three principal characters is forthright in expressing feelings or wants to discuss issues.The dialogue is directed at surface events and is meant to convey an acceptable social exterior.This means the viewer has to watch the body language carefully and has to create theories for the motivations of the characters.There is room for interpretation and for feeling some answers are missing.

All three main actors do a fine job.Chet and David provide frequent skin scenes.The story makes sense on an emotional level.

The main annoyance is ongoing conversation and short scenes on Cambodia and the Khmer Rouge.This does not propel the story.Also, Chet's resolution feels too arty and forced.

Other than the trailer, the DVD extras are especially poor. Director Alan Brown gives two mini-interviews in which the take-home content is that stuff happens to people beyond their control and that actor Baker gained weight for the role of David and would be taking it off.

A pretty good film, high 3 or low 4.I gave the 4 because I liked Gregory Smith as Chet.

"She doesn't want you anymore!"
When does one know when a marriage is over? Can a relationship survive the murky waters of infidelity? When do two people release that they're no longer in love? These are questions posed in Book of Love, a smart, perceptive, and engrossing domestic drama that features three of the most astonishingly naturalistic and nuanced performances in recent years.

Book of Love focuses on the tiny stories, the little moments in life where an expression or an action can have enormous and profound significance, whether it's a sight of a fifteen-year-old's swim-toned abs as he pulls of a sweatshirt, a young, impressionable student staring wide-eyed at her teacher, or the look of longing on a woman's face as ponders committing adultery while her husband sleeps in a hammock in the back yard.

High-school history teacher David Walker (Simon Baker) and his events-planner wife Elaine (Frances O'Connor) appear to have the perfect life - a lovely house, good jobs, and a close marriage. We first meet them when they are participating in the intimate routines of every day life - he is going to the toilet, and she is checking out her figure in the mirror. They're an attractive couple, but while she's kept a hard body through yoga, he's gone a little soft around the middle-too little exercise and too much ice cream. Their lives have reached that point where passion is slowly being replaced by contentment; they're still in love but their marriage has shifted and they now know each other so well that a slight touch or look will suffice.

One hot summer day they decide to drop into the local ice cream shop where they meet the 15-year-old Chet (Gregory Smith). Chet, a champion swimmer, possesses a hormone driven sexually aggressive worldliness that seems to capture them both. It doesn't take long for the couple to take an instant liking to him. Elaine initially feels sorry for the boy, his mother is dead, his father works all the time and he is somewhat isolated at school. But Elaine is also subliminally attracted to him, and she underhandedly decides to take him under her wing.

Discovering that he's never been out of New Jersey - he's never even been on a plane - the couple asks him to a Manhattan nightclub to watch a friend sing, and then invite him to dinner at their home. After making some tentative plans to take him to Disney world, the three settle down to a candle lit dinner. Despite his age, Elaine serves the boy several glasses of wine. While David is in a drunken asleep, Chet tries to kiss Elaine.

At first she rebuffs him but he comes by the next day and she immediately gives into the passions that have so sadly begun to dwindle in her marriage. David is shattered when he finds about the indiscretion, his reaction a strange mixture of part titillation and part anger. However, he manages to pull it all together and decides to keep his promise to Chet by paying for them all to go to Disney World.

The pleasure of this film is watching the subtle changes that take place between Elaine and David. The affair precipitates many hidden agendas and ultimately rocks the already deceptively fragile marriage: David wants to start a family with Elaine, but Elaine is far more concerned with maintaining her girlish, trim figure; one night she even tells David "lets have children in about ten years time." But David's paternal instincts are unleashed when he is asked by a lesbian friend to become her sperm donor. He's initially hesitant, but later on in the movie, he seems to warm to the idea.

The problem is that Elaine views Chet, as some kind of equal when in actuality he's not. He may be rapaciously horny, but he has no real life experience behind him. He's eager to be initiated into the world of adults, but Elaine makes a grave miscalculation when she decides to sleep with him. Not only is she in danger of being arrested, but also she's remarkably naïve to think that the dalliance won't have devastating emotional consequences for her marriage.

Writer director Alan Brown makes some sharp observations about married life, human relationships, and how seemingly well-ordered lives can quietly implode almost over night. The three central performances are terrific, and it's interesting to see Australians Simon Baker and Francis O'Connor taking on such emotionally complex roles in the USA. The attractive Baker is terrific as Dave, an affable, likeable and perceptive man who tries drastically to repress the hurt, bitterness, and ugly emotions that lurk beneath his placid exterior.

Dave is worried about his entry into middle age, constantly checking his love handles out in the mirror and trying to control his surroundings with little habits like correcting the grammar of those around him. O'Connor realistically portrays a woman who is 28 and is in no hurry to give up her youth; she's remarkably honest about her desires, and has the courage to actually "own" her indiscretions. And Gregory Smith as Chet does a great job of showing how far a hormonally driven teenager will go to satisfy his desires.

The film opens and closes with a Cambodian girl working on a loom. Perhaps this symbolizes how our lives are intertwined and entangled, and although it's a nice touch it comes across as a bit too conceptual and self-consciously arty. However, Book of Love has a subtle emotional impact that gradually creeps up on you, and stays long after the movie has finished. Viewers, will for sometime, probably find themselves questioning the motivations of the various characters and pondering the unhappy and rather bittersweet resolution to the story. Mike Leonard April 05.

Ménage a Trois, but on whose terms?
If three can play at love, and if that love is an equilateral triangle, then each of the three is equally responsible for the ramifications.Were that the case in this little low budget Indie film BOOK OF LOVE the story would have more resonance. But art imitates life and life is full of contradictions and double standards and that is what seems to writer/director Alan Brown seems out to show us.

David (Simon Baker) is a popular history teacher in a private girl's school in New Jersey and is blissfully married to Elaine (Frances O'Connor) who is an Events Planner and thrives on her time with her husband, wanting to delay having children for 'at least ten years' in lieu of an exciting marital sex life.Into this radiantly alive couple's life enters a young fifteen-year-old highschool student and swimmer Chet (Gregory Smith) who happens to meet them in an ice cream parlour and immediately feels a warmth for the two of them.The feeling is mutual, especially and David and Elaine learn that Chet has no strong family ties, has never even been into Manhattan much less to Disney World, a place Chet covets.

David and Elaine invite Chet into their home and lives, dining with him, taking him to a club in Manhattan (a place where Elaine takes the stage to sing with her lesbian friend entertainer), involving him in talks about Cambodian history and philosophy, etc.As an aside, their lesbian couple friends approach David to be the sperm donor for a child and Elaine and David agree to their request.David, Elaine and Chet appear to be a most happy trio until Chet makes physical advancesto Elaine, advances which Elaine initially gently rebuffs but simultaneously feels awakened sensual responses to this young virginal lad.Chet finds it difficult to separate his love for the couple and his corporeal desires and ultimately Chet and Elaine have a sexual encounter.

Elaine confesses her indiscretion to David, allows him his initial pain, and then is surprised at David's forgiveness and immediate physical response to her.Chet comes to David's office, apologizes for the event, and David again surprises Chet with his forgiveness and his suggestion that the trio continue with David's promised trip for the three of them to Disney World.

While on the outing to Disney World David invites Chet into the hotel room for a drink and a demonstration of Chet's diving skills, a set up for a physical encounter on the floor.Elaine enters the room, sees the encounter as a sexual one, frightens Chet who stabs David in a scuffle, and the Disney World trip ends in disaster.It is the working out of the new twist on the triangle that furnishes the rest of the film and the final results of the trio's relationship is surprising and stretches the limits of credibility.

The problem member of this ménage a trois is Elaine, a woman who allows herself to become sexually involved with Chet, but when she believes David is likewise sexually involved with the lad she is unable to cope.It seems like the woman of the triangle determines the rules and that is where many will feel this story is more tragic.

O'Connor is a fine English/Australian actress and gives a top-flight performance.Simon Baker is another Australian (Tasmanian) actor who has a great deal of depth and strong screen presence.Gregory Smith is a young Canadian actor who shows tremendous promise.Together the three give fine ensemble acting that makes this unlikely trio credibility and engages our empathy.There is a lot of talent in this little film and for a first movie writer/director Alan Brown gives notice of a talent to watch.In time some of the side indulgences included in this film will be less intrusive and more insightfully utilized.But on the whole this is a successful film worth watching.Grady Harp, April 05

Good Movie
Good movie at first then starts to get weird between a student and two teachers otherwise then that good movie. ... Read more

Amazon.com

Great period pictures make you feel as if you've stepped into anotherera, heard its language, breathed its spirit, and come away with a freshperspective on that time as well as your own. Ride with the Devil is oneof those special films--why wasn't it more widely embraced by reviewers andfilmgoers? Did it rely too much on our patience for slow accumulation ofunforced rhythms and meanings (as opposed to The Patriot, which "moved"audiences with cattle-prod simplicity and manipulation)? Ride with theDevil--smart, handsome, tenderly awed by how individual lives get ambushedby history--is ripe for rediscovery.

The Civil War of battlefields and plantation houses is nowhere to be seenhere. Instead we see the war as an improvised and largely blundering but verybloody feud among neighbors in the border state of Missouri. In this bucolic warzone--more than a little reminiscent of the Balkans in the late 1990s--theTaiwanese-born director Ang Lee (Sense and Sensibility) traces thedestinies of several young Southern bushwhackers (guerrilla fighters) as theyexperience violence, the seasons, and different kinds of love. Skeet Ulrichdraws the aristocratic glamour role (and top billing), but he's overshadowed byTobey Maguire as a first-generation American, the magnificent Jeffrey Wright (ashameful oversight at Oscar time) as a freed slave fighting beside his formermaster, and singer Jewel in a very natural acting debut as the young widow whograces all their lives. The title The Birth of a Nation was alreadytaken, but by the end of this movie you feel it would have applied here. -- Richard T. Jameson ... Read more

Reviews (62)

An Astounding movie wich was shamfully overlooked!
Ride with the Devil is a civil war drama about the kansas/Missuori buskwackers. It is one of the few movies which takes you into its period world so effortlessly. It shows the true violence of the time and yet shows how that violence affected people and changed their lives. Ride with the Devil was directed by Ang Lee, who brought us the brilliant Sense and Sensibility, this is his best work since Sense and Sensibility. Lee knows how to make a period drama come alive to the viewer in a way that few directors can do. Maybe its because he usually does projects he really feels for. The acting in Ride with the Devil was supuerb. Tobey Maguire again proves that he is the most talented young actor in Hollywood, today. He protrays a a first generation american,Jake Rodell, with such heart and sincerity, very few actors could have done that. Skeet Ulrich delivers his best and most seriuos performance to date, as Jack Bull. Singer, Jewel, gives a suprisingly good and nuanced performance as Sue Lee Shelley. Jefferey Wright, protrays a freed black with real integrity and authority. Wright and Maguire were horrible oversights at the Oscars. Actually, i thought the whole movie was a horrible oversight. They brought a whole differnet level to this movie with their performances. they made you see their characters in a way that few could have done. You truely cared what happened to them as if they were a close freind. Wright and Maguire made you see the Civil War not as north and south but as people defending the only life they had ever known. Ride with the Devil is a captivating movie that goes right to your heart and helps you to understand a time in America's history, when nothing was simple and everything was a battle--Freedom, your way of life and survival. it puts a new persepective on a war with split our nation in two and hurt everyone it touched. this movie will probably never get a big following but for those of you reading this you will not be disapointed. so go rent this movie or be like me and buy it. thank you Ang lee and everyone how helped make this magnificent movie!

One of the best films of 1999
In Missouri, in the early years of the Civil War there isn't yet a proper Confederate army, so pro-Confederate folks are pretty much left to defend themselves against the Union Army. Jake "Dutchie" Roedel (Maguire) and childhood friend Jackbull Chiles (Ulrich) become Bushwhackers: roaming, non-regular Confederates who sabotage, attack and kill Union regiments wherever they find them. This film is meandering, giving it an epic quality even though the time covered is only several years. Dutchie and Jackbull join up with other Bushwhackers, including gentleman George Clyde (Simon Baker) and his wry, freed-slave companion Holt (Jeffrey Wright). Led by the grim Black John (Jim Caviezel), these fellows and others fight for their families, revenge, and the thrill of it. The movie gives a thoughtful and not often seen perspective of the Civil War. Like LAST OF THE MOHICANS, it doesn't try to be politically correct or take sides; it concerns itself more with showing how the war the people fight can bear little resemblance to the one the politicians have waged.

RIDE WITH THE DEVIL was one of the most satisfying movies of 1999, featuring one of the strongest ensemble casts I've seen in a long, long time. Highly recommend!

Ang Lee's meditation on friendship during the Civil War
Missouri was one of the slave states that was kept in the Union during the Civil War and since it was on the far side of the Mississippi River it was not really part of the Western Theater of the war. As the critical part of the Anaconda Plan the Union armies were seeking control of the Mississippi, which explained why Grant was fighting his way from Tennessee to Vicksburg while Farragut took New Orleans. In fact, there really was not an organized Confederate army in Missouri, which explains why the young Southern men in "Ride with the Devil" join the Irregulars, who waged guerrilla warfare against Union loyalists. In this part of the war we do not talk about great battles, but rather the infamous raid that torched Lawrence, Kansas on August 21, 1863 as Quantrill's raiders murdered the pro-Union jayhawks.

The story here focus on six young men who join the bushwackers: Jake Roedel (Tobey Maguire), a first generation American who wants to be considered as much a Southerner as any one else even though his father can from Germany (which means he is called "Dutchy"); Jack Bull Chiles (Skeet Ulrich), who hates the Yankees and has seen his family killed; George Clyde (Simon Baker-Denny), a gentleman fighting to preserve a way of life that is going to be gone with the wind; Daniel Holt (Jeffrey Wright), an ex-slave who fights besides Clyde because the man freed him; Pitt Mackeson (Jonathan Rhys Meyers), who is a sadist who glories in killing; and Black John (James Caviezel), almost as brutal but more driven by anger and revenge.

The idea in "Ride with the Devil" is that when America went to war with itself in 1861 the young boys growing up in Missouri and Kansas were suddenly forced into a less than honorable manhood overnight. Consequently, one of the first casualties of the war was their innocence. In 1987 Missouri-born author Daniel Woodrell wrote his Civil War-era novel "Woe to Live On." For Ang Lee the appeal was the drama of young people coming of age in the worst possible time in American history and the theme of self-emancipation. The principal actors were put through three weeks of "boot camp" to capture the way the war dehumanized the young men forced to fight it.

This film start out focusing on the friendship between Jake and Bull as much as it is on anything else, but then while hiding out from the Yankees during the winter Bull takes a liking to Sue Lee Shelly (Jewel), a young widow woman who is helping to provide them with food. Having lost both his father and his best friend, Jake continues to fight because that is what he is supposed to be doing and starts to connect with two other characters in ways that will eventually change his life. After the Lawrence Raid it is clear that the war is going to be lost and a young man who has not even seen twenty years realizes he is lost as well.

Certainly "Ride with the Devil" is a beautiful film with the sense of period authenticity you would expect from Lee. It is not really a movie about the Civil War any more than "Cold Mountain" is (an obvious comparison), but more about the friendships that take place during a war. It is just not clear that this is the central theme because our expectations are raised by more standard plot considerations (love and revenge) that do not get played out the way you would think. There is also a sense in which Roedel is the least interesting character of the bunch, yet he emerges as the central figure and the most important gun in the film is perhaps the one that is not fired.

Excellent and underrated
Apparently, USA, which produced this film, was going under at the time of its release and it was show in only 14 theaters. This is a beautiful, emotionally engaging and entertaining film capturing a period and part of the civil war not often depicted.

Skeet Ulrich and Tobey Maguire play two Missouri teens who join a rebel group of Bushwackers (Confederate sympathizers). But this isn't a film that promotes one side or the other. Rather, it shows the similarity and familiarity between both sides.

The acting is wonderful and the story sensitive.

A Great Discovery
I bought this movie blind. I enjoy period flicks and, while seeing what was out there in Amazon.com land, I came across Ride With The Devil. I must admit, I know little about the stars in this movie (I did recognize MacGuire from Spiderman, and I've heard of - but not heard - Jewel), so it was a chance to spend my hard earned cash on it.
I'm glad I did.
Engulfing, exciting, suspenceful, and, most importantly, realistic. Not politically correct. Maybe that's why it didn't do well at the box office and critics panned it. But, it IS true to its time.
The border wars was a part of the Civil War that has hardly (if ever) been touched upon - that boundary where one straddles the fence. The problem was that one couldn't straddle the fence in a state like Missouri. They had to choose Yankee or Rebel. Jayhawk or Bushwack. And you feel clearly, while watching this movie, the turmoil that must have been raging in these citizen's minds and stomachs when they chose one side and a close friend or family member chose the other.
You also feel the deep sorrow and sympathy for ALL involved - North and South - no matter what side you stand for - when Jake reads the touching letter from a mother to her son, showing that these were people who had lives and loved ones waiting for them at home.
It's movies like this that brings these mid 19th century people to life, showing us that they're not just flat black and white pictures in a history book. And that is why this movie stands above so many other historical films.
I must warn you, however, that there is quite a bit of graphic violence. Believe me, you'll feel their pain! ... Read more

Reviews (143)

THE BEST MARS MOVIE
A lot of people are confusing this very satisfying sci-fi action adventure with the laughably pretentious, boring, goofy, message-laden atrocity MISSION TO MARS! The two mars-themed films couldn't be further apart.

It's the middle of the 21st century and a dying earth reaches out to colonize Mars as a last hope. Val Kilmer, Carrie-Anne Moss (The Matrix), Benjamin Bratt, Tom Sizemore and Terrence Stamp represent all humankind in the first landing on the mysterious red planet. Also on board is the extraordinary, multifunctional robo-assistant AMEE.

But, wouldn't you know it, a malfunction has forced her into a relentless killing-machine mode hell-bent on destroying the crew. And that's not all the crew must deal with; barren Mars has breathable oxygen and -- other inhabitants. Like the poster says: "They didn't find life on mars. It found them."

This somewhat by-the-numbers adventure is saved because it's looks great (the sets, locations and props are always credible) and the action never lets up. The striking Martian landscape is rendered vast and real and, yes, red. Recommended. (Color, Widescreen, Dolby Surround, 107 Minutes, Rated PG-13)

A golden opportunity wasted.
I'm a huge science fiction fan. Always have been. And I've always loved stories set on Mars, for some reason.

So why can't Hollywood make a decent movie about Mars?

The latest flaccid attempt, "Red Planet", is a joyless ride through outer space that brings out every cliche in the book and pastes them together with little coherence or seeming forethought. Characters get into fights for no reason; the plot is told through flashbacks and voiceovers (the lazy man's way to make a film--why bother having people act when you can simply TELL the audience what's going on?); and the most basic laws of science are simply ignored.

Here's a note to the director and screenwriters: flashbacks are not necessary to tell a good story. If you'd simply shown the scenes in order, you'd have made the characters ten times more interesting.

The story, such as it is, goes like this: In the year 2057, humanity has at last overtaxed the natural resources on Earth. Desperate for a solution, we seed Mars with genetically taiored algae to generate oxygen so we can colonize the planet. Suddenly, our remote monitoring of Mars goes quiet, so a manned mission has to be assembled to check it out.

Commanded by Navy Commander Kate Bowman (Carrie-Anne Moss), things go wrong for the crew of Mars-1 almost as soon as they enter Mars orbit. A freakish solar flare fries the ship's electronics, forcing an emergency evacuation to the surface of Mars. This sequence is terrific and exciting, especially the crash landing, which had members of the audience gasping for breath. Things get worse for Our Heroes, though; the ship's self-directed robot navigator, AMEE, has gone into lethal "military mode" and begins stalking the stranded astronauts, picking them off one by one.

Unfortunately, this movie goes straight downhill from there. Despite the presence of stars like Val Kilmer (as self-described "space janitor" Robby Gallagher and Terence Stamp as scientist-cum-philospher Dr. Chantilas, "Red Planet" goes nowhere fast. When one of the astronauts is critically injured during the landing and insists on being left behind, do any of the others try to talk him out of it? Do they even stand around and say goodbye to him? With the exception of Val Kilmer's Gallagher, the answer is nope--they just take off. Yeah, right--you just spent the last six months with this guy and you're just going to bail on him. Some friends.

By the time the final credits rolled, I found myself just not caring about the stupid, cliched plot or the stock characters or the numbskull "science" that a fifth-grader could refute. As an example, the film's explanation for what happened to the algae is in direct contradiction with even basic biochemistry.

Didn't the filmmakers care? 'Cause it sure looks like they didn't even try. As Andy Griffith used to say, "I'm mighty disappointed."

-terry-

MAROONED AND MAUDLIN
RED PLANET has some visually stunning effects, and that's about it. The plot is so contrived and incoherent, one wonders what the movie is all about. The bookend narration by Carrie Ann Moss sounds like something a high schooler would write in a creative writing class, and the performances are all average. Not one performance stands out, and that's a shame with such a great cast, although I've failed to see how Val Kilmer has even sustained a career. Benjamin Bratt is annoying; Terence Stamp is like Peter Cushing on Valium, and the usually impressive Simon Baker (TV's Guardian) is saddled with a thankless role as a "traitor" without any underlying premise.
RED PLANET is ultimately a yawner. It seems like it takes forever to get to the movie's point, and the Martian bugs are neat, but what in the heck are they doing?
Visual eye candy but a lightweight concoction otherwise.

Yawn...how many more times can they make the same movie?
If you've seen any of the following films, then don't waste your time with "Red Planet":

1. Armageddon
2. The Core
3. Apollo 13
4. Independence Day
5. Any "beat the clock & save the planet/city" sci-fi flick made since 1990 that I didn't bother watching.

Out of all of these, "Apollo 13" is the best, simply because it's a true story that was made with emotional honesty and a compelling narrative.

Here's everything you need to know about "Red Planet":

-the best actor (Terrence Stamp) the dies first
-Val Kilmer and Carrie-Ann Moss are in it
-plot of "Apollo 13" + wonky environmental pop-science + visuals from "2001" + Mars + a funky robot who goes all "HAL" = "Red Planet"

Plot synopsis: In an attempt to terraform Mars because Earth is so polluted, the "international community" has been seeding Mars with large algae mats to make its atmosphere more human-friendly. Something goes wrong, and a team is dispatched to Mars to investigate. As they enter Mars' orbit, the ship is exposed to a large solar flare, which fries much of its circuitry. Most of the crew go to the Mars surface, with the pilot staying on-board to try to save the ship. The crew jettisons the landing gear and lands, fatally injuring the surgeon/philosopher. The survivors march to a nearby base previously set up by un-manned missions. The base is kaput. One survivor kills another without the others knowing it. They discover that they can breathe the air. The pilot tells them that if they can get to an old unmanned rover several hours away, they can make it back to the ship. Along the way, one survivor goes nuts and is killed by a damaged robot navigator (jettisoned with the landing gear) and some bugs. The biogeneticist figures out why the air is breathable and kills himself before the bugs can eat him. Meanwhile, the pilot has repaired the ship. The lone survivor gets to the rover, fights the robot, steals its battery, and makes it back to the ship. End of story.

There. In 15 sentences (including "end of story"), I have told you THE WHOLE STUPID MOVIE. That's it. There's nothing else to know about this movie.

The premise of the conflict is wholly absurd and serves as the engine of a barely-mediocre flick. In order to make near-future sci-fi compelling. the science must be relatively sound. So here are the two big science stinkers (leaving aside the whole atmosphere issue) that make this movie wholly implausible:

1. There are things called circuit breakers and other safety devices to prevent power surges from frying stuff. All satellites and space equipment using solar panels have these devices and have survived many many solar flares. Why would they build a ship without these precautions?

2. None of the Mars survivors consumed water once they reached the surface. With demanding physical activity and little-to-no atmospheric moisture, they would have died of dehydration sometime during the second march, if not on the first day.

Don't waste your time with this movie. Rent something good. Heck, if you just have to see bad sci-fi, watch "Jason X" - the visuals are just as good, and you'll be much more entertained.

This movie gets 2 stars for graphical competence and having Terence Stamp utter a few lines.

Can I have my money back?

Good flick, just needs some characters
I am a SF junkie and will watch just about anything - even if I don't like it. Red Planet - With Carrie Moss, Val Kilmer, Tom Sizemore and Terrance Stamp - isn't in that category but it teeters at times.

The special effects are not bad.

The science IS bad, and inconsistant, but since this is a movie and not a documentary, so I suppose that's allowable.

I would have loved to see more Terrance Stamp.

The relationships between the crew are not well explained and take unexpected turns here and there. The flashback- oh yeah - this happened - scene to explain the Kilmer-Moss relationship irritated me. Why on earth (or Mars) not show it as it happened - then we might all understand the situation. At times, I was wondering "Why are they acting like this?"

Not bad - SF fans will still like it - keep expectations low.

Mike ... Read more

Reviews (40)

Someone, please strangle her with that necklace
What a wretched piece of cinema. I mean, truly wretched. And the fault lies almost totally with Hillary Swank. She plays Jeanne de la Motte with such-over-the top mellodrama. She never seems to totally connect with the character, giving us this wide-eyed, fast-talking character that is neither compelling nor sympathetic.

What an utter shame. For she was surrounded by some true talent. The actor who plays Cardinal de Rohan is fantastic. In fact, all of the secondary actors and actresses do a decent job.

There's also the matter of the wildly inaccurate retelling of history. Clearly the writers and director wanted viewers to feel terribly sorry for poor little Jeanne. They perverted history in the telling of the story, casting Jeanne in the role of the poor, innocent, misused and discarded aristocrat who is justified in her actions. The truth was, Jeanne de la Motte was a whore and a thief, a con-woman who helped topple the monarchy and murder a queen. For more information on the affair of the necklace, read Simon Schama's book Citizens, or visit the award-winning website, Let Them Eat Cake.

The costumes in this movie are phenomenal. Truly eye candy. If it weren't for the wonderful sets and splendid costumes, this movie would have rated a ZERO.

Make it a Blockbuster night
There is an old saying in theater that instructs you not to "put a gun onstage in the first act if it is not going to go off in the second". By the same turn, do not introduce Christopher Walken into your movie unless you are going to send your script up on itself a little. Jonathan Pryce, Adrien Brody, and Walken all hit the right demi-tragic, mostly comic, tone, as do the minor characters. Everyone else, though, seems to have shown up thinking that they had been cast in "The Hours."

"The Affair of the Necklace" has to be viewed with a generous suspension of disbelief, or with one's forehead protected for a lot of flat-palming. Ninette's final, "If I reached for anything that shown brightly..." speech- which is a bit too Shirley Temple for the rest of the movie- actually diminishes our sympathies for her and cuts the film's last thread of realism. Marie Antoinette's sub-guillotine, "well, maybe I was a bit excessive," flashback, is also a little inexplicable given the modern frame of the movie. Only on Google groups does one still find such negative and simplistic representations of her. And Louis XVI was more fully encompassed in "Start the Revolution Without Me".

The scenery, however, especially at Versailles, is fantastic and- though I have doubts about the wisdom of Swank's "Annie"-style hair on the cover (given her character's orphaned status)- the movie generally fits in well with other flawless, high-end costume dramas. If it hadn't been "based on true events," a tag which subjects a movie to a greater deal of scrutiny than most can stand, I would have thought this one much stronger than it was.

In the end, Pryce, Brody, and Walken do save the movie from itself, and generally make it an entertaining, if not accurate, weekend rental. As an addition to one's video library, however, it is best passed on.

A Masterpiece
This is one of the most historically accurate movies that I have ever seen. This movie is about the scandal that rocked the French monarchy during the late 1780's and helped set the stage for the French Revolution that overthrew the monarchy.

Hilary Swank delivers a superb performance as the scheming Jeanne de la Motte-Valois. Jonathan Pryce and Christopher Walken also shine in this well executed movie.

The Affair of the Necklace is a movie that combines greed, lust, corruption and sexuality in a most beguiling mix. This movie is the end result of a rare combination of quality acting, distinguished directing, skillful script writing, a large budget and careful attention to historical accuracy in every detail.

The Affair of the Necklace is a masterpiece.

Not too bad
She's in court after the strong murdered her father for the loud thoughts he had about poor people and now the only thing she cares about is to get a good name for her family back. The Queen should be the only person who would have helped her but how is she going to eliminate all the obstacles in order to get her to the queen.

An interesting (extremely boring for some) drama.

A true art of intrigue
Despite the mixed reviews, after about 20 minutes, I began to enjoy this movie. It is more than it appears at first. It truly is an affair, because people are getting tricked and maneuvered, it has intrigue that unfolded lovely, having been placed right before the French Revolution.

Hilary Swank, although not my top choice for a costume drama, does a good job of playing Jeanne de la Motte-Valois, a woman who lost her parents and her title at a young age. With the help of a court women-chaser, Baker, she uses the Cardinal's desire for Marie Antoinette, and the luxurious diamond necklace that comes into place, to get what she wants.

As lies are told, and people pretending to be someone else, the grand plot begins to resemble a tower of playing cards that can topple at any moment.

It was a wonderful movie, that felt cozy, and it was almost like a mystery drama, in beautiful lavish costumes. The ending is great, and unexpected for some characters. ... Read more

Amazon.com

Comic actor Keenen Ivory Wayans made a creditable effort to expand hiscareerhorizons by writing the script for this action thriller, in which he alsostars. Wayans plays U.S. Marine Sgt. James Dunn, a military hero who refusesan order to shoot a young shepherd during the Gulf War. His insubordinationleads to a lethal struggle with a superior officer and a subsequent murderconviction against Dunn.

Plucked from his death sentence by a covert unit of Marines, however, Dunnsoon finds himself in a shadowy world of undercover wars under the command ofone Lt. Col. Grant Casey (Jon Voight). Offered freedom in exchange for aidinga mission against a corrupt industrialist (Robert Culp), Dunn agrees and thendiscovers he's actually been set up to take the fall for an assassination.Suddenly, he's the most wanted man in the world, with police, the military,the Secret Service, and legions of reward seekers chasing him around LosAngeles. Jill Hennessy stars as an eyewitness who happened to catch thekilling on videotape and can clear Dunn if she would only cooperate withhim--a problem, since he has kidnapped her.

Directed by David Glenn Hogan, Most Wanted works just fine as awell-oiled action piece with a capable star and competent action sequences.The story ideas (especially Dunn's Rambo-esque flight through the city andhis reliance on esoteric survival skills) feel overly familiar, but that onlymakes Most Wanted all the more enjoyable as a potboiler instead of aserious original. --Tom Keogh ... Read more

Amazon.com

Chris (Adrien Brody), an aspiring playwright, pays the bills as a bartender at an upscale New York restaurant and pours his frustrations into his work. Jeanine (Elise Neal), an aspiring singer from a musical family, is the newest waitress on the staff. He's Italian American and she's African American, but the chemistry is there. All that stands between them is Chris's unresolved feelings for his ex (pop star Lauryn Hill in a cameo), the reverberations of his blue-collar father's dinner-table racism, and the unspoken and usually ignored but unavoidable issue of race. Eric Bross (Ten Benny, also with Brody) has a light touch with his ensemble cast--which also features Malcolm-Jamal Warner as a well-spoken law student and Jesse L. Martin of TV's Law and Order as a philosophical line cook--and the thoughtful script. The issues simmer below the surface of the individual dramas, romantic complications, and personal struggles with self-esteem and responsibility that buzz through the restaurant, finally boiling over in a raw but dramatically restrained finale. Much of the drama floats between clear-eyed honesty and hip glibness, but Bross and his cast anchor the drama in vivid, complicated characters who bring the film to life. Restaurant, which sat on the shelf before receiving a short theatrical run, is no Do The Right Thing, but in its own respectful way manages to cast a fresh look at race relations. --Sean Axmaker ... Read more

Reviews (7)

Restaurant
This heart-wrenching drama focuses on aspiring writer Chris Calloway, played soulfully by Adrien Brody. His past love with an African-American women, played by the exquisitely beautiful Lauryn Hill, haunts his present life, interfering with his artistic creativity, friendships, and current lover. Shadows of racism hinder his ability to truthfully love, truthfully write, and truthfully live.

As we watch Chris and his friends pinball between the things they want to do, and the things they need to do, we begin to relive our own painful experiences in the field of love.

Tensions rise as Chris grasps to make decisions that will forever affect his happiness, for better, and for worse.

Adrien Brody, Elise Neal, Simon Baker, & Lauryn Hill give memorable performances.

Great Movie----- A Must See!!!!
I would have given it five stars, but in some spots the movie went off base. It is generally an excellent film. The entire cast fit their roles perfectly. Elise Neal and Adrien Brody were the perfect couple. Malcolm Jamal Warner was pretty impressive himself. This film was humorous, charming and sensuous. The director did an excellent job. At times I felt like I was actually in the restaurant with the cast. Rarely do you see a film that incoporates real life situations with a flawless script. One of the most believable films I've ever seen. A great cast, excellent script, and pleasing acting. You can't get better than Restaurant these days.

Hit&Miss Film
this film dealt with alot of Social Issues&while it has some solid Acting it leaves some spots in between.still it's a interesting film when all things are clicking.

Pretty good!
I'm not big on indie film but for some reason i notice this one when it was avalaible to rent through pay-per-view. it is a movie i really took time to understand the characters i thought the story was engaging..and of course the racial issIt was one ues was handle i guess the best way they could considering that it was shot back in 1998. The movie is full with fresh talent. I got to give it up to Adrian Brody an excellent actor i've seen him briefly in a movie called Liberty Heights but didn't think much about it until i saw his face. Elise Neal was pretty good along with Simon Baker. My only regret about this film is i wished they had elaborate the relationship with Brody character(Chris) and Lauryn Hill(Leslie) more in depth i felt there was so much to this story and can i say even though Hill wasn't there as much as i wish her charisma was bursting out all over the screen for the moments she shared with Brody character. Not too mention she was absoulutely glowing... Overal it is a great film one that i don't mine adding in my DVD collection.

Disappointing. Wasted Potential.
I love Indy films and try to support them whenever I can. I heard about this film after it showed at an Indy fest in New York. The reviews I read were good, so when it was released on DVD I bought it. Now, I am selling it. This film was very disappointing as it raised provocative issues, but basically glossed over them. The racial issues in the restaurant weren't thoroughly explored. Also, the character development of the workers was lacking. Interesting characters were introduced but never fully developed. The director and writer seemed to be going for the sappy, PC slant and that ruined what could have been a thought provoking, honest view of the complexity of racial issues in modern society. Another thing worth noting is that several scenes and lines of dialogue were edited out [deleted] from the DVD version of this film. The extras include deleted scenes but not the specific scenes of which I am speaking. One of the main reasons I purchased the DVD was because of the scene between Chris [Brody] and Leslie [Hill], but several lines of that scene were deleted. The director's commentary even states that they wanted to make the theme more human and less black and white or racial. It is obvious that this was their intent and it ruined the film. The final scene is just plain lame. The director stated that ending a film is the hardest thing to do and he proved it! There were some scenes/lines, but too few to recommend this film. ... Read more