TASK DEFINITION: In this task, you must classify if a given review is positive/negative, indicating your answer as P or N.
PROBLEM: did claus von bulow try to kill his wife sunny in their newport mansion ?
that is the question reversal of fortune asks you to consider as it opens in a hospital ward , with a comatose sunny von bulow .
she is the main narrator of the film , in a narrative trick that was extraordinarily risky for schroeder .
the dramatic trick works , as sunny von bulow narrates a compelling story of murder , sex , unhappiness , and a lawyer 's moral dilemma
as he takes a case he thinks he can not win .
jeremy irons is claus von bulow , in what is his finest role , and one of the most devastingly evil performances in history .
he is as hated as any man alive , as cold as a cucumber .
his remorse for his wife 's comatose condition is nonexistant , and it is no wonder that even his children have difficulty accepting his version of what happened during christmas , 1980 .
the background to the case is such .
during christmas of 1979 , sunny von bulow fell into a deep coma from which she recovered and awoke .
the same situation occured in 1980 , only sunny never woke , and probably never will .
when examined , it was found that she had 14 times the normal amount of insulin within her blood .
claus von bulow is then accused of attempted murder by his stepson , convicted , and freed on bail .
he immediately hires alan dershowitz , the renowed harvard law professor , to acquit him .
ron silver is magnificent as a moral lawyer who can not stand what has happened to him .
we follow him through two very different cases ; the case of the johnson case , where two innocent kids are standing on death row for a crime they did n't commit , and von bulow , who he still has n't figured out .
dershowitz does n't know what happened to sunny , and he is extremely hesitant to take the case .
nevertheless , he does , based on certain things which happen during the investigative process that deeply upset him .
together with a group of law students , dershowitz concocts a defense and ultimately get the verdict reversed .
silver 's performance is one of a handful of solid roles in this deep film .
schroeder directs on many different levels , with multiple plot lines which blend in wonderfully in the mind of alan dershowitz .
there are flaws ; at times , the film gets overly theatrical .
yet , due to glenn close 's troubled and brutally honest performance as sunny von bulow , the use of her comatose body as a narrator works here fairly well .
the flashbacks are good , but at times schroeder does n't fill in the blanks .
the movie could have benefited with the increased attention of certain developments during the film , and it could have used a better ending .
the film progressed wonderfully before ending suddenly , without any intelligent conclusion .
the supporting characters are often neglected , and dershowitz 's team should have been allowed to grow character wise , but schroeder over - simplifies the story and the characters .
yet , for all these flaws , the film is deeply engrossing because of irons .
as von bulow , he is brutally evil .
anti - semitic , prejudiced , arrogant , protective , he is a rotten , lying monster , whose conviction may have been wrong legally , but morally he was to blame .
irons plays him to a cold perfection , with pathetic attempts to gain moral support for his claims to innocence .
he is an adulterous liar and a cheat who in all likelihood committed the murder .
however , the genius of reversal of fortune comes in its distinction between moral culpability and legal responsibility .
there is no doubt von bulow is responsible for his wife 's death by years of neglect and coldness .
however , legally , did he do the murder ?
schroeder dares the viewer to make up his own mind .
with all the character flaws , reversal of fortune is an engrossing puzzle because it is intelligent ; he wants the viewer to make up his own mind .
schroeder taunts the viewer with contradictory revelations , and then mentions that the answer to this compelling puzzle shall be revealed when we join sunny von bulow , in death .
for all the failed dramatic theatrics , this is one that works beautifully .
we do n't know what happened .
that sense of legal ambiguousness , along with von bulow 's obvious moral guilt , is why reversalf fortune works .
in the end , von bulow is as sadistic as ever .
irons is haunting , and that is why reversal of fortune is so good .

SOLUTION: P

PROBLEM: " dangerous beauty " is a really nothing more than a grandiose soap opera set in venice circa 1583 .
it is beautifully filmed , wonderfully acted , and certainly nothing short of entertaining
,
but it lacks any true fundamental seriousness .
dealing with themes of forbidden love , religious intolerance , subordination of women , sexual freedom , and the roles of pleasure and sin in a high - cultured society , it still feels like brightly lit fluff .
the director , marshall herskovitz , does n't want to follow the dark and dangerous trail this story could lead down , so he opts for a more genial , livelier , and relatively shallow interpretation .
the film takes place during the renaissance , a time when venice was the pleasure capital of europe .
at this time , venice was its own republic , and it thrived on being the central juncture of east - west commerce .
the film is told almost entirely through the viewpoint of the aristocracy and the bourgeoisie of venice , so we rarely get to see how the rest of the society lived .
however , there is an abundance of detail concerning the lives and livelihoods of the upper classes , their hedonistic lifestyles and constant merriment .
the story centers on veronica franco ( catherine mccormack ) , a lower class woman who falls in love with marco venier ( rufus sewell ) , the son of wealthy aristocratic parents ( jeroen krabb ? and joanna cassidy ) .
unfortunately , the culture of that time period did not view marriage as an act of love -- rather , it was more like a business transaction , where rich families married their sons and daughters to each other in order to secure power , wealth , and ensure that outsiders could n't get in .
veronica , despite her charm and good looks , is certainly an outsider .
after a short love affair , marco breaks her heart with the news that he can not marry her . however , because she is beautiful and intelligent , veronica has a chance to enter marco 's world , albeit not as his wife .
she decides to become a courtesan -- a class of women who were as well - educated as they were ravishing , and sold their sexuality to wealthy men for the privilege of wining and dining with the elite .
a courtesan was not a mere prostitute ; they were afforded a special place in society , and they were greatly revered , respected , and often envied .
at one point , a character mentions that some rulers obtain more political advice from their courtesans than from their lieutenants .
veronica goes through the transformation with the help of her mother , paola ( jacqueline bisset ) , who was once a famed courtesan herself .
once she enters the lifestyle , veronica finds that it suits her quite well .
she is allowed to read all the books she wants , she is given the opportunity to publish her poetry , and she has the richest and most powerful men in the republic throwing themselves at her feet , including the awestruck marco .
their relationship develops into a playful bantering , with veronica utilizing her newfound power by constantly rejecting marco 's advances .
in many ways , their relationship is sad because marco is married to a women he is unable to love , and veronica is consumed by multiple relationships with men she is unwilling to love .
" love the love , not the man , " as her mother told her . " dangerous beauty , " which was based on a factual book by margaret rosenthal ,
flows along as smoothly and serenely
as the grand canal running through the heart of venice .
it has multiple plot lines -- including veronica 's adversarial relationship with a court poet ( oliver platt ) , her role in obtaining france 's military assistance in venice 's battle against the turks , and even the dreaded shadow of the plague and the encroachment of the spanish inquisition -- yet it is never confusing or overbearing .
much of the film 's success is due to the glowing performance by catherine mccormack in the lead role .
known chiefly for the small part she played as the lover whose murder raised mel gibson 's ire in " braveheart " ( 1995 )
, mccormack shows the true gifts and inarguable talent of a leading lady .
she has the kind of exquisite classical beauty that would be treasured in a courtesan ; her character is intelligent , witty , and both sensual and vulnerable , all of which mccormack easily transmits with a single flash of her eyes .
the rest of the roles are also filled well , including rufus sewell whose performance here and earlier this month in " dark city " have assured him a solid place in hollywood .
he has the same kind of unusual good looks and charm of ray liotta , and he seems perfectly at home in period dramas .
oliver platt plays a variation of the comic relief role that he has come to inhabit like a second skin , although the film deals his character a cheap blow at the end by having him improbably join the inquisition and turn into the bad guy .
platt is a good actor , but he 's just too hard to hate .
jacqueline bisset proves that she is every bit as stirring as she ever was , and even fred ward turns up in a small , but moving performance as marco 's uncle .
" dangerous beauty " is marshall herskovitz 's sophomore directorial effort , after the overlooked 1993 film " jack the bear .
" partnered with edward zwick , herskovitz has spent most of his time as a producer on television ( " thirtysomething , " " my so - called life " ) and in the movies ( " legends of the fall " ) .
his directing style can be best described as transparent -- it never gets in the way of the story , yet it has no discernible flourish or particular distinctions .
he could have approached the film in any number of ways , including overdosing on the sexual aspect , which he wisely avoids .
" dangerous beauty " contains just enough bare flesh and ribald sex to make it appropriately erotic , but not so much that it seems exploitative .
herskovitz is also aided by a strong supporting crew , including the luscious photography by bojan bazelli , whose previous efforts include the highly - stylized thriller " kalifornia " ( 1993 ) and abel ferrara 's dark sci - fi film " body snatchers " ( 1994 ) .
bazelli captures the film in strong , bold colors , and be brings sixteenth - century venice to life in wide , panoramic shots that are often enhanced with digital imagery .
however , the real details are found in the production design by norman garwood ( " brazil , " " the princess bride " ) and the costumes by gabriella pescucci ( " the age of innocence " ) .
the only problem with " dangerous beauty " is that it does n't stick with you .
it 's a good story well - told with interesting characters , but it 's easy to shrug off once you 've left the theater .
the only sequence that has the chance to be truly indelible is veronica being pulled in front of the hypocrisy of the inquisition and threatened with the death penalty for her transgressions , but it never quite comes off because it 's simply too melodramatic and conventional .
herskovitz tries with all his might to make it a nailbiter , but somehow its outcome is a foregone conclusion , and like the rest of the film , it carries no real weight , despite the potential severity of the subject matter .

SOLUTION: P

PROBLEM: mr .
nice guy is the latest jackie chan film , so you should know what to expect .
a weak plot , terrible dialogue , very little acting ability , but some jaw - dropping action sequences that nearly make the rest of it worthwhile .
however , mr . nice guy lacks the sparkle of jackie 's best efforts , and its weaknesses are more glaring than ever .
jackie chan plays , who else , jackie .
this time out , he 's a famous chef who hosts an australian cooking show .
not that it ever makes a difference in the plot .
there are only two scenes of him cooking .
for the rest of the film , somehow he mutates into jackie chan , supercop .
it never does explain why his character has such superb martial arts skills .
. .
perhaps he was in the same cooking class as steven seagal in under siege ?
a tv newswoman , diana ( gabrielle fitzpatrick ) , covertly tapes a drug deal involving kingpin giancarlo ( richard norton ) and a local gang of toughs , the demons .
although she only has one camcorder , somehow the result is full of close - ups and multiple angles . . .
hmmm , shades of broadcast news ? ?
?
anyway , the goons discover diana , and will do anything to recover the tape .
here lies another crucial flaw in the story : does n't anyone realize you can copy a tape ?
oh well , no one ever said jackie chan movies had to make sense .
as luck would have it , diana runs across jackie , and , would n't you know it , jackie accidentally ends up with the tape .
this leads to countless chase and/or fight scenes which look like they could have been lifted from rumble in the bronx or nearly any other jackie chan movie .
in a move apparently designed to woo american ( and other english - speaking ) audiences , the film uses english as its primary language .
however , that does n't mean an end to the atrocious dubbing that has afflicted jackie 's recent americanized releases .
strangely , many of the characters speaking english are overdubbed with english , and poorly too . whether this is just a very bad case of looping , an effort to minimize accents , or a simple case of nostalgia , it does achieve the same level of distraction present in all of jackie 's dubbed films .
the plot in mr .
nice guy is negligible
, merely an excuse to have jackie on the run from various goons .
but even though plots have always been second to the action in jackie 's films
, it seems odd that the filmmakers have stuck us with this tired retread .
look , if you have jackie chan playing a chef , why not use that to your advantage ?
watching jackie doing his stuff in a kitchen , beating the bad guys with foodstuffs sounds like the perfect setup for innumerable comic stunts .
the action is a mixed bag here .
there 's really only one no holds barred fight scenes that have become the trademark of jackie 's films .
it takes place in the arbitrary location of a construction site , apparently for the sole reason that there are lots of nifty things lying around that can be useful ala jackie chan .
the action in the film is neither jackie 's best nor worst , but you long for some more inspiration in the scenes .
the film 's gratuitous use of slow motion is distracting .
once or twice , it may be useful to highlight a spectacular stunt sequence .
but to slo - mo jackie running ?
either this is a nod to the six - million dollar man , or a pathetic attempt to disguise the fact that jackie may be slowing down . if you 've seen all of jackie 's films and are in need of another fix , go ahead and see mr .
nice guy .
however , if you 're just in the mood for some good action , you 'd be better off hitting the video store for some of his better work , such as supercop .

SOLUTION:
N