No Thank You

Rating: 6/10 (4 April 2001)

There really isn't anything wrong with the writing, and ESPECIALLY nothing wrong with the acting, as the ever-talented Depp is surrounded by a wealth of talent, with the possible exception of the extremely confused Penelope Cruz, the only actor in the film with no character depth at all, nor any attempt to even find any.
The direction is of course extremely mediocre, except for the very beginning, and the very end. But the two bookends of the movie are so unlike each other I think Mr. Demme just got lucky. If he wants to direct amusing romps like "The Ref," then more power to him, but the guy just doesn't have a mastery of the art form needed to make this movie interesting all the way through-- he doesn't make art, or even film, he makes "movies," and we've seen that all before. Something really cool every 15-20 minutes isn't enough to make me thank the guy for taking my seven bucks. And I'm pretty sure that was the talent of the actors outshining his sorry skills anyway. Back to the drawing board, Ted.
6/10