In this task, you must classify if a given review is positive/negative, indicating your answer as P or N.

[Q]: it is always refreshing to see a superstar actor who gets paid more than enough to forget about working for a living to want to take a chance and play a less - than - savoury character as mel gibson does in payback .
of course , if i was being paid $ 25 million for one month 's work , i 'd probably be willing to take risks as well , but that 's neither here nor there .
payback is based on a novel by richard stark ( apparently actually donald e. westlake , author of the grifters , itself a fine crime film ) which was also filmed in the 1960s as point blank starring one of the toughest of tough guys , lee marvin .
the film opens with gibson having recovered from being shot several times in the back , by whom we do n't know yet .
all we know is that gibson , as porter , is n't a happy chappy and is hellbent on getting the money stolen from him back , and getting even in the process , no matter what the consequences .
it turns out that the man he 's after is val ( gregg henry ) , his sometime partner with whom he stole a briefcase full of cash from a gang of chinese mobsters .
obviously not having much of a crisis of the soul , val figures porter is dead and goes about using his share of the money to pay off a debt to his employers .
porter , however , is the sort of man who holds a grudge and once on his feet , goes about exacting revenge on the double - crossing val .
gibson gives a terrific performance in the sort of role which he was born to play , that of a slightly unhinged guy who does n't mind beating up or shooting people to get what he wants .
you probably would n't see other actors in his salary range take such an offbeat , out - of - character role such as porter ( jim carrey wo n't be doing anything like this in a hurry after what happened the last time he tried - the cable guy , anyone ? ) .
harrison ford 's idea of playing an unsympathetic character is presumed innocent ; the last time schwarzenegger played a villain was batman and robin , which we wo n't mention further ; and has stallone ever really played a villain at all ?
this is not to say that porter is a villain , per se .
while he is n't the sort of character you would n't want to get on the wrong side of , he 's nothing compared to some of the ones we are forced to watch in countless bad thrillers and action films where they kill innocent people in the blink of an eye or execute their right - hand men just to prove how mean they are .
porter is only trying to get back what is not - so - rightfully his , which in a way is almost understandable .
payback is an enjoyable dramatic black comedy - thriller which wo n't be remembered as being among gibson 's most important work , but is still one of the finer films he 's done .
the only real problem with it is that , while everything seems to work out in the end , i was left feeling something was lacking ; was that all ?
the ending looks as if it was tacked on at the last minute , and the final voice - over does n't ring true , even though it was used to good effect elsewhere in the film - noir style the rest of the film embodies .
the film just ends far too suddenly , after a huge build - up in the penultimate scenes .
a fine film , even though it needs just a little something more to be the kind of a film that can be recommended without hesitation .
just be ready for a possible letdown of an ending .
[A]: P


[Q]: this is crap , but , honestly , what older american audience is going to be able to resist seeing jack lemmon and james garner as bicker- ing ex - presidents ?
especially when their supporting players in- clude dan aykroyd as the current commander in chief , lauren bacall as a former first lady , and john heard as the dan quayle - ish vice president .
yup , you 're talkin ' pre - sold property here and , for warner brothers , the perfect fit into their now - ritual grumpy old men holiday slot .
for the non - discriminating viewer , my fellow americans is fine .
the raw star power alone will have audiences applauding this atrocious political- thriller road - comedy .
( they did in mine , heaven help us . )
for the rest of us , the movie is immediately tiresome .
the tone is terrible and the banter is worse .
forget
wit-- lemmon and garner merely exchange profanities through most of the movie .
( has anyone counted the number of first penis references ? )
sure , some of the bits are absurdly funny , including a men 's room macarena joke , the appearance of an elvis impersonator on a trainload of tarheels , and an all dorothy marching band performing " over the rainbow " at a gay men 's march .
the get there from here , though , you have to submit to one of the most offensively overbearing musical scores of all time .
judas priest , is there a single moment of silence in this film ?
even the dialogue gets drowned out .
what a waste .
[A]: N


[Q]: okay , bear with me y' all , cause first off i have to get this off my chest : what the hell is up with that damn crab ? ? ?
whew .
okay .
cause that same clip shown over and over again was beginning to get on my nerves towards the end , as cute as the crab maybe .
even i know that you need more footage than * that * .
and that was n't the only thing getting on my nerves .
the cutesy gimmicks , saccharine sweet score / soundtrack and the pretty young faces of sarah michelle gellar ( as amanda ) and sean patrick flannery ( as tom )
might have held some appeal during , oh
, say the first 10 minutes of the movie .
at first the movie moves along at a quick , interesting pace .
it is speedily established that something magical is about to happen to amanda when she encounters a totally random fairy godfather type person on the street , whose aforementioned crab follows her everywhere and just * does n't * die .
a ridiculous concept , yes , but at this point i 'm willing to accept it because i 'm willing to accept that this is how amanda 's life is changed , how her powers are received .
later on , the movie ca n't seem to decide whether these powers come from this fairy godfather or from amanda falling in with tom .
and this is why the clips of the crab were annoying ; they were n't just repetitive , they were out of place and unnecessary .
the plot stumbles along at an uneven speed , sometimes dwelling too long on a particular development ( amanda suddenly becoming a great chef , her falling in love with tom , etc . ) , sometimes moving on too quickly for its own good .
some places the plot just does n't make sense , sometimes it 's way too contrived
( the crab bit , for example ) , and sometimes too corny
( peaches emitting dry ice .
ca n't beat that ) .
all in all the plot seemed fragmented , unconnected .
not romantic at all , and only funny in some places .
so , okay , do the magic powers come from the crab ? or the fairy godfather ?
she can * float * now too ?
and all of a sudden , instead of just making dry ice come out of peaches , she can put her emotions into her food ?
tom all of a sudden just accepts amanda 's " witchcraft " in the end ?
would people really dine in a restaurant that resembles life after death in tupac 's video ?
what the hell is up with that damn crab ?
it is unfortunate , because i liked the basic premise of the movie , until it became too fantastical and tiresome
.
the film seemed to skirt around a serious theme or at least * a * theme for a while , but towards the end it resolved to show us long flashback clips and 5 minutes of people crying at their tables .
the humor was good in some places ( nolan gets the funniest bits , including that incomprehensible , totally random thing with the dolls ) .
gellar and flannery are qualified actors , and gellar has a particular charm , but i much prefer her playing the saucy buffy ( or even annette in the upcoming " cruel intentions " ) than this sorry excuse for a character .
it 's almost funny sometimes to see these two trying so hard to make the dialogue sound better than it is , or trying to make the relationship seem more plausible .
the supporting character nolan was a highlight , though he reminded me a bit of kevin in " you 've got mail " ( see footnotes ) .
and , as always , typical of a chick flick / romantic comedy , there 's a seemingly endless romantic soundtrack in the background , cued up at all the right places .
this sort of got on the nerves after a while , too .
"
simply irresistible " is not hard to understand , light , funny in some places , and generally disappointing because it ca n't draw the line between romance and protracted sap , between humor and tired slapstick .
and how could i refrain from making a pun ? . . .
"
simply irresistible " is all too easy to resist .
( first viewing , 2/6/99 )
* did anyone else think this was a tad bit similar to " you 've got mail " ( or " the shop around the corner " ) ?
business rivals fall in love .
female counterpart 's business is in danger of being shut down .
female as mother-
like figure guiding her .
the annoying , hysterical ex - girlfriends .
*
i
_ really _
like sarah michelle gellar 's wardrobe .
[A]:
N