TASK DEFINITION: In this task, you must classify if a given review is positive/negative, indicating your answer as P or N.
PROBLEM: capsule : trippy , hyperspeed action machine from hong kong 's accomplished tsui hark .
van damme and rodman have nice chemistry
, the stunts are eyepopping , and stuff gets blowed up real good ; what more do you want ?
i admit i was all set to loathe double team ; it reeked of cheapjack timing - oriented marketing ( stick dennis rodman in a movie , quick , while he 's hot , and do something about jean - claude van damme 's flagging career while we 're at it ! ) .
surprise -- double team transcends its dumb roots and turns out to be a mess of fun
.
bring some friends , get some pretzels , and have a blast .
van damme is jack quinn , an ex - agent who is brought back in for " one last mission " -- you 'd think any spy worth his shoe phone would run like hell when he hears those words .
but van damme 's character has a pregnant wife who 's also a sculptor , and some unpleasant pressure gets used to get him to come through on this mission .
he 's been assigned to take down an old enemy , a terrorist named stavros ( mickey rourke , looking oddly subdued ) , who may be back up to his old tricks .
in the first showdown between quinn and stavros , the movie wears its ambitions proudly on its sleeve : nonstop action .
an amusement park , a hospital , a private " retired spy " 's retreat , most of rome , various houses , planes , cars and other modes of transport , and the coliseum ( ! )
all become arenas for some of the most bone - rattling shoot - outs and punch - outs filmed .
they are better seen than described and are reason enough to see the film : one jaw - dropping scene has van damme taking on a man who uses a switchblade with his * feet * .
( van damme is a good , dextrous athlete and fighter , but he is often upstaged . )
there are other nice touches .
stavros and quinn both want the same thing : to retire in peace with their families .
that ambition ties them together in various ways , and also humanizes them a bit .
one of the things about hk action movies is that there 's always some form of human element , and that 's carried over into this movie as well .
it gives weight to scenes that would otherwise be forgettable .
also good is dennis rodman , playing a weapons dealer named yaz -- a character who sticks out like a fistful of broken fingers and who is funny just standing there .
rodman is natural on screen ; he 's fun to watch , especially when slinging bad guys like basketballs , and deserves to get a movie of his own , based on what 's seen here : a lightweight , fast - moving entertainment
that showcases all of its pieces excellently .

SOLUTION: P

PROBLEM: stendhal 's syndrome : a condition where , in the presence of art , a person becomes engulfed in a painting and hallucinates and may afterwards suffer symptoms such as depression , suicidal behaviour and personality disorder .
grim stuff , to be sure , but the subject of a remarkable film from italy 's master of the horror thriller dario argento . boasting an unforgettable soundtrack from the grandfather of film music ennio morricone
, the stendhal syndrome is a quite magnificent return to form for argento .
it follows his disappointing american debut trauma ( 1992 ) , the patchy opera ( 1987 ) and several mediocre films he produced for young italian director michele soavi in the late 1980 's .
based on the novel by graziella magherini , the film stars argento 's daughter asia as young roman police inspector anna manni in pursuit of a brutal rapist - killer .
visiting florence to follow up several leads , she is lured by the killer alfredo ( thomas kretschmann ) to an art gallery , a favourite haunt where he hopes to identify exactly who is on his tail .
at the gallery anna is overwhelmed by a painting and faints .
posing as a bystander , alfredo briefly comes to her aid and having now identified his pursuer , a strange game of cat and mouse begins .
a gripping story evolves , and a coherent one , too , which may surprise those familiar with argento 's often lumpy narratives .
the stendhal syndrome is not a simple cop - hunting - killer scenario .
it is a disturbing and often compelling study of the central character 's psychological disintegration .
the script explores its psycho - sexual themes with intelligence and candour , perhaps too much so for more sensitive viewers .
but as dark as its themes are , the stendhal syndrome emerges as one of the most artful and effective european thrillers of the last ten years .
argento is once again working in his native italy , and he fully exploits the opportunities to use art and architecture for both symbolic statements and as departure points for several brilliant hallucinogenic sequences . effects whiz sergio stivaletti serves his director well here , and the cinematography by giuseppe rotunno is consistently excellent .
the film 's opening 20 minutes segues between hallucination , flashback and real - time with tremendous style .
proof that , at his most inspired , argento remains one of the world 's most exhilarating filmmakers .
the cast is generally good , though marred at times by dubbing into english that renders speech all but emotionless .
asia argento 's performance is by turns risky , awkward and fascinating .
it 's a difficult role , and given her relative inexperience on screen
she deserves applause for her efforts .
thomas kretschmann is chillingly effective as alfredo , and marco leonardi ( of cinema paradiso , and possibly the most gorgeous looking man in italy ) does okay as anna 's work colleague and increasingly confused love interest .
but perhaps the stendhal syndrome 's single most striking element is ennio morricone 's soundtrack .
active since the 1960 's
, morricone has scored over 100 films in his career and this must rate as one of his finest efforts .
it 's mostly a variation on the one theme : a slow circular melody for strings and wordless female vocal possessed with an extraordinary , haunting beauty that lingers long afterwards .
it 's been three decades since argento and morricone worked together .
this is a long welcome reunion .
if the film has a fault , it is that the last half hour drags a little and the film does n't quite reach a completely satisfying climax .
but by the closing scenes , the stendhal syndrome has already offered us enough to qualify as one of the very best films of dario argento 's career .
* note : see the uncut print from japanese laserdisc if you can .
dubs of this version are available from various video dealers on the world wide web .

SOLUTION: P

PROBLEM: best remembered for his understated performance as dr .
hannibal lecter in michael mann 's forensics thriller , manhunter , scottish character actor brian cox brings something special to every movie he works on .
usually playing a bit role in some studio schlock ( he dies halfway through the long kiss goodnight ) , he 's only occasionally given something meaty and substantial to do .
if you want to see some brilliant acting , check out his work as a dogged police inspector opposite frances mcdormand in ken loach 's hidden agenda .
cox plays the role of big john harrigan in the disturbing new indie flick l .
i .
e . , which lot 47 picked up at sundance when other distributors were scared to budge .
big john feels the love that dares not speak its name , but he expresses it through seeking out adolescents and bringing them back to his pad .
what bothered some audience members was the presentation of big john in an oddly empathetic light .
he 's an even - tempered , funny , robust old man who actually listens to the kids ' problems ( as opposed to their parents and friends , both caught up in the high - wire act of their own confused lives . )
he 'll have sex - for - pay with them only after an elaborate courtship , charming them with temptations from the grown - up world .
l .
i .
e . stands for long island expressway , which slices through the strip malls and middle - class homes of suburbia .
filmmaker michael cuesta uses it as a ( pretty transparent ) metaphor of dangerous escape for his 15-year old protagonist , howie ( paul franklin dano ) .
in his opening voice - over , howie reveals a morbid preoccupation with death on the road , citing the l .
i .
e .
highway deaths of filmmaker alan
j .
pakula , songwriter harry chapin , and his own mother on exit 52 .
he 's both fascinated and disturbed by the l .
i .
e . , and those feelings are projected onto big john ( who follows howie around in his bright red car , but never makes a move to force the boy to do something he does n't want to do .
this makes him much more complex than the usual child molesters seen in movies -- he 's a beast , but ashamed of it . )
l .
i .
e . would have worked best as a half - hour short film about howie 's ill - advised foray into big john 's haven .
there is unnecessary padding with howie 's miserable dad ( bruce altman ) in the hot seat for a white - collar crime , degenerate youngsters who get their kicks from robbing middle - class houses , and some homoerotic shenanigans with wise - ass gary terrio ( billy kay ) , a handsome artful dodger . rather than add to the themes of suburban ennui ( not that we needed another movie on that subject ) , these awkward subplots pad out the running time to adequate feature length .
concurrently , the relationship between howie and big john is evenly paced and exceptionally well acted .
cox , sporting a baseball cap and a faded marine tattoo , is all bluff and bluster .
dano is quiet and at first glance seems so withdrawn as to be transparent .
we 're so used to child actors whose dramatic choices are broad and obvious ( calling haley joel ! ) , it 's surprising to see one who actually listens throughout any given scene .
the restraint is admirable .
but l . i .
e . 's
screenplay does n't always give them the best material .
when howie reads big john a walt whitman poem , the moment feels a bit too precious .
director michael cuesta lingers on an ecstatic reaction shot of big john , who may as well be hearing glenn gould performing bach 's goldberg variations .
it 's too much .
there are also some obvious dramatic contrivances involving big john 's other boy toy ( walter masterson ) , jealous over the newbie .
this plot thread predictably leads to violence .
not content to be a haunting , observational portrait of teen alienation in a royally screwed up world ( like terry zwigoff 's superb ghost world ) , cuesta lacks the confidence in his own work to end on an ambivalent note .
it 's typical of unimaginative cinema to wrap things up with a bullet , sparing the writers from actually having to come up with a complex , philosophical note .
in this regard
, l . i .
e .
( and countless other indie films ) share something in common with blockbuster action films : problems are solved when the obstacle is removed .
how often does real life work this way ? to extend the question : if a movie is striving for realism , do dramatic contrivances destroy the illusion ?

SOLUTION:
N