instruction:
In this task, you must classify if a given review is positive/negative, indicating your answer as P or N.
question:
in some regards , making a movie is like trying to stretch a rubber band as far as you can without breaking it .
try too hard , and it snaps ; but too much reservation means someone else will come along and pull it farther .
in simon birch , director mark steven johnson shows us just how to master the technique
: he takes advantage of caution and poise , but also risks his movie with a few bold steps .
in the end , he 's not only holding an unbroken band , but
he makes the audience appreciate the lengths he went to direct such a fine feature .
there 's no doubt about it : the film that johnson has crafted is rich .
he chooses for his setting the quaint town of gravestown , maine - leaves turn bright orange in the fall , the grass is a lush green , pure white snow falls in the winter , and the sky goes on forever .
the characters continue that turn : our two leads are simon birch ( ian michael smith ) and joe wenteworth ( joseph mazzello ) .
simon is the smallest baby ever born within the records of the local hospital , and by age twelve he 's only two feet tall .
joe is the bastard son of rebecca ( ashley judd ) , and by age twelve he 's ready to know who is father
is .
naturally , the two outcasts become good friends and share many adventures together , from disrupting sunday school to doing community service to playing little league baseball .
in a wonderfully executed performance by ian michael smith , simon birch is convinced that he 's god 's instrument , and there must be a reason he 's so small .
joe does n't quite buy it , but he sticks by simon ; the two tough it out through the worst of times and are each other 's only true friends .
early on , the two meet up with ben goodrich ( oliver platt ) , rebecca 's new boyfriend , and although the bond is n't immediate , ben and the two boys develop a liking for each other . both platt and judd give solid performances that lend their characters a deep likeability
.
the audience cares about them as much as they do about joe and simon , a testament to the acting jobs of both .
finally , jim carrey gives a cameo as the adult joe in the present day , and his few minutes here are relatively more impressive than his entire performance in the truman show .
mark steven johnson 's sense of drama and writing is fantastic
.
the script is loosely based on john irving 's novel , a prayer for owen meany , but it 's so far off the source material that irving actually requested the credits be changed from ' based on ' to ' suggested by . ' along those same lines , it 's almost unfitting to compare the two ; johnson uses tension , humor , atmosphere , and suspense to create an original drama of forrest gumpian proportions .
by no means has he developed a project of similar popularity - gump made over 300 million dollars while birch ought to pass out of sight in a few weeks - but the winning idea remains the same .
simon birch is a different look at a different life , and one that will most likely be studied in film school classes in decades to come
.
in the present , however , it 's an enjoyable little picture that everyone ought to take a look at .
answer:
P


question:
contrary to the title , " the boxer " is not another rocky story only this time spliced with some cold hard politics .
it 's actually three movies in one : a political film , a boxing film , and a love story .
all of these work in their own respects and have some pretty decent balancing betwixt the three elements of the story , but somehow it seems kind of cliched and unoriginal .
we 've seen it all before , and we 're just not blown away with it like we should be .
oh well .
it 's
still an excellent irish story .
"
the boxer " of the title is danny flynn ( jim sheridan staple daniel day - lewis ) , an ex - ira member who gets out of a belfast prison after 14 years , and finds out that his troubles are far from over .
first off , the ira is having a small civil war between its leader joe hamill ( brian cox ) , and one of its sub - leaders , harry ( gerard mcsorley ) , both having opposing views on getting many of their members out of jail .
while this is going on , danny and his old drunkard buddie , ike ( ken stott , who played the chief inspector in danny boyle 's " shallow grave " ) , re - open an old gym which allows the two opposing religios sects , protestant and catholics , to work together .
danny not only begins teaching kids how to box , but has stayed in great shape whilst in prison , and is ready to start boxing real people again .
and danny runs into his ex - love , maggie (
" breaking the waves " 's emily watson ) , who has n't seen him since he went in .
they do n't easily start up their romance again because she 's the wife of a prisoner whom she married during danny 's tenure in prison , and also has a son , liam ( ciaran fitzgerald ) , from him , whom liam is hoping will get out soon .
but the two are slowly re - drawn to eachother again , and this begins to complicate things .
the political story is nothing really special but works in itself .
we 've seen it many a time before , but it 's at least interesting , sometimes emotional , and even riveting at times
.
there 's a big riot towards the middle of the film which is frightening in its brutality and honesty .
the boxing story is very minor to the story , but does represent people coming together to fight eachother fairly , and even with good sportsmanship .
there are only a few boxing scenes , but they 're never like " raging bull "
/let's - strip - down - the - sport - to - its - bones brilliant .
they 're more realistic , and instead of bone crunching , we hear the sound of the gloves hitting eachother , which is slightly unerving at times .
and i did n't know daniel day - lewis was in such good shape .
but the backbone of the story is the love one . because these characters are given such horrible circumstances , and since the two leads have such great chemistry together , we really feel for their plight .
as the film goes on , and circumstances get worse and worse , the characters have to make real human decisions , and we can sympathize with them as humans not characters .
this is how you write a love story - take note , hollywood .
these elements are pretty much equally balanced , with each of the parts of the stories working hand - in - hand with eachother .
i loved how each of the different parts of the plot mattered , and sometimes spilled over into the next .
it made sure that we did n't just care for one of them .
i 'm not saying they 're all equally great , because the love story really carries the film , but at least they all work out respectively .
the acting is amazing , with day - lewis and watson giving excellent performances and showing great chemistry .
i 'm not sure if they 're oscar - nominee bound , but
they 're very good .
in the supporting roles , billy cox is greatly sympathetic as the ira leader losing control of his daughter and his workers .
but the film is stolen acting wise by ken stott as ike , who is just a great scene stealer .
the direction and co - writing by jim sheridan ( with the other co - writing credit going to terry george ) is excellent , rounding out the characters well , but not pacing everything greatly .
i noticed that the first half was very leisurely ( yet fascinating ) , but the second half whirls by at a quick pace , and ends much too quickly .
more time could have been spent thinking up the ending , since it does seem quite sloppy .
though " the boxer " is a good film , it never achieves the greatness that it should .
sure , it 's a masterpiece compared to most of the hollywood drivel we usually get , but on it 's own , it just could have been better .
but it still works out , gives us a great love story combined with a political and boxing drama , and features great acting .
even if it could have been better , this'll do .
answer:
P


question:
if there were a subject just screaming to be made into a film , it was studio 54 , the late steve rubell 's infamous new york discotheque , which came to symbolize the taboo - smashing excesses of the disco era 's heyday : easy drugs and even easier sex between everyone , all set to a thumping dance beat .
so when miramax started production on _ 54 _ last year , the buzz of hype and resulting anticipation began : an edgy film as down - and - dirty as the club itself , written and directed by a promising first - timer ( mark christopher ) and starring some hot young talent ( salma hayek , neve campbell , newcomer ryan phillippe , and
mike myers in his dramatic debut ) .
my , how easily does the worm turn .
hype turned into damage control when word got out about 11th - hour reshoots
( wrapped only a month ago ) , a rash of studio - imposed edits that left virtually the entire cast and crew ( especially christopher )
unhappy , and the very likely possibility that miramax would not screen the finished film for critics .
at the last minute , though , miramax did decide to screen the film ( so hastily scheduled was the screening that myers 's last name was misspelled on the invitation , not to mention the numerous typos in the press notes ) for a media audience that came away noticeably less than impressed
, myself included .
and with good reason -- somehow , some way , the supremely disappointing
_
54 _ has made the historically hip haven of hedonism . . .
boring .
although christopher has distanced himself from the finished film , he still must shoulder some of the blame for _
54 _ 's lifelessness .
_
54 _ focuses , for the most part , on a tight - knit trio of employees at the club : coat check girl / aspiring disco diva anita ( a wasted hayek ) ; her busboy husband , greg ( breckin meyer ) ; and , most prominently , the fresh - from - jersey shane o'shea ( phillippe ) , who enjoys a quick rise from busboy to head bartender .
these characters are about as generic as those descriptions .
in focusing on the hired help , christopher really missed the boat .
with the exception of the flamboyant , always - woozy rubell ( myers , in a well - modulated turn ) , the meaty stories to be told at studio 54 are not the workers ' but those of the people who went there to party ; not necessarily the numerous vip guests , but the wild eccentrics who managed to be picked from the crowd by the club 's famously hard - ass doormen and dance ( among other things ) the night away with the rich , famous , and infamous ( the only taste of the crowd comes by way of ellen dow 's feisty dottie , a disco- and drug - crazed granny , but she 's a peripheral character at best ) . as such , aside from the expected overhead crowd shots , there is precious little actual _ dancing _ in _
54 _ .
what is a disco film -- especially one about the pinnacle of the movement -- without the dancing ?
even whit stillman 's _ the_last_days_of_disco _ , which was n't so much concerned with disco as it was witty dialogue within a group of hip - to - only - themselves club - hopping preppies , featured at least one extended dance scene .
dancing is n't the only thing glazed over in _ 54_--so
is the sex , but that may not be entirely christopher 's fault .
from what i 've heard , his original vision was something considerably more dark and daring , starting with the shane character : he was conceived ( and actually filmed ) as a wild , morally ambiguous bisexual , which would have made an efficient springboard to cover the pansexual pleasure palace aspect of studio 54 's legend .
but somewhere between principal photography and the final cut , shane was defanged and quite literally straightened out ; consequently , so was the film .
aside from a brief glimpse of erotic encounters toward the beginning of the film , shane 's fleeting dalliance with seductive socialite billie ( sela ward ) , and an abbreviated bedhopping montage , the sexual dimension is just about ignored .
shane , in this incarnation , is sanitized to the point of blandness ,
an idealistic do - gooder who pines for a frequent guest at the club , julie black ( campbell ) , a worldly soap star with , yes , a heart of gold .
this tacked - on " romance " would have been slightly less tedious if either campbell or phillippe made some connection with each other or the audience .
they fail on both counts .
ultimately , _ 54
_ 's failure comes down to three letters : f - u - n . as in , there is n't any to be had for the audience .
too much time is spent with the boring shane , and too little is spent on the club floor , where all the action took place .
anyhow , though , whatever time is spent on the 54 floor is not used very effectively .
when anita finally gets her big break and perform onstage at the club , it should be a euphoric height , for her , the crowd , and the audience ; however , the moment does n't get a chance to reach that level , for it is cut short by a moment of forced sentimentality , which also mars the film 's conclusion
( one of the last - minute reshoots ) . strangely upbeat and wistful , the resolution is wholly unconvincing and unsatisfying .
there is an interesting portrait of studio 54 out there -- two of them , in fact --
but _ 54 _ is not one of them .
they 're on cable tv :
a couple of documentaries produced by e ! and vh1 . these two fascinating looks at the club and all the sordid goings - on within it show that there 's still a great disco movie to be made .
the problem is , after the critical and certain box office failure of _ 54 _ , the subject may have run its hollywood course .
answer:

N