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

Q: " 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 .

A: P
****
Q: plot : this movie takes place over one day .
it 's a rookie cop 's narcotics training alongside a seasoned police veteran .
the rookie does n't know much about " street justice " , so the older cop teaches him about the way things work in the " real world " .
how even cops like themselves have to " bend the rules " and " break the law " every now and then , in order to catch the really bad guys .
critique : a pretty intense little movie with solid acting across the board , some ups , some downs and a thrilling ending , despite a couple of small flaws .
i really enjoyed this movie because it followed two extreme characters and put them in situations which had me wondering about what i would do if i were in their place .
the film gets right into the " dirty " side of , well .
..
the dirt on the streets , and proceeds to teach the rookie cop ( and us , the audience ) how things really work down there .
of course , we 're receiving this lesson from a man who has put away a lot of scum in his time , but the things he seems to be doing are n't exactly on the up - and - up either . and therein , lies the fun of the film .
do you agree that you yourself would need to break a few small laws in order to put away the people who break the really big ones ?
well , as the film moves along , we 're given two points of view in respect to this predicament , and to me , both sides made sense at some point or another . and
you got ta give a lot of credit to the screenplay for that , the director , who builds the film up wonderfully ( with the darkness of the day leading to the darkness in the script ) and the two actors who deliver their parts in spades .
hawke , first off , because he rarely plays these " commercial " roles but does so perfectly here , with a vulnerable side which has you feeling for the bastard right off the top .
and denzel , well , what can you say about mr .
washington that has n't already been said before ?
he comes through as per his usual high - level style here , and gives the audience a completely different side to his talent , of which , i personally would like to see more .
he 's nice
, he 's not so nice , he 's smart , he 's not so smart , he 's caring
and he 's a dog all the way .
the few problems that i did have with this film included the redundant nature of the whole thing at some point ( okay , we get it .
..
you have to be nasty in order to deal with these nasty people .
.. move on ) and this one really major " coincidence " which involved a bathtub , that saved the day for one character , but seemed a little too " convenient " for my taste .
i also never really understood how washington 's character got out of a certain dire predicament , only to be seen driving his car in the very next scene .
but obviously these small flaws did n't taint my overall enjoyment of this tense drama , a film that gets you right into the streets , into the nooks and the crannies , and into the moral dilemma which lies between the justice system and the day - to - day drug busts .
see it if you want to wrestle with some of these issues yourself
, see it if you want to see denzel and ethan strike up a palpable chemistry on - screen , and see it if you like holding on to your seat - handles real tight during a movie .
in fact , see it for the scene in which ethan hawke plays cards with a host of gang - bangers alone .
..
dang
, now that 's intense !
where 's joblo coming from ?
the corruptor ( 7/10 ) - crimson tide ( 9/10 ) - l. a.
confidential ( /10 )
- lethal weapon ( 8/10 ) - requiem for a dream ( 8/10 ) - seven ( 10/10 ) - shaft ( 7/10 ) - traffic ( 8/10 )

A: P
****
Q: i was pleasantly surprised by this film .
with a budget topping $ 200 million , i was quite skeptical about whether throwing all that money toward one of the twentieth century 's greatest tragedies would make a film exciting enough to see .
how much could you dress up the sets ?
how many models and computer effects could you use ? how much more action could you pack into a ship that sinks ?
oh , if i 've just given away part of the plot for you , go back to school .
after having viewed titanic , however , i found it to be a well - paced , well - designed , and overall well - made movie .
there have been many films made about the maiden and final voyage of the ocean liner titanic , but this latest offering from director james cameron is the best i 've seen .
titanic tells its story in two time periods .
it starts out in the present , when ocean explorer brock lovett ( bill paxton ) and his team are exploring the wreckage of the titanic on the floor of the atlantic , searching for a priceless diamond necklace which supposedly went down with the ship .
what they find instead is a drawing of a woman wearing the necklace , which is broadcast on the news .
the woman in the picture recognizes herself and phones lovett , who has her flown out to his exploration vessel on the high seas .
there she tells her story to lovett and his team .
in 1912 , rose dewitt bukater ( kate winslett ) , a young lady belonging to society 's upper class , boards the titanic for the ship 's first atlantic crossing , from southampton , england to new york .
she is engaged to cal hockley ( billy zane ) , an heir to old money , and a snob in every sense of the word .
on board , rose feels the stifling trappings of high - society 's expectations , and resolves to escape from it all by throwing herself off the titanic 's stern , but is saved from her self - proclaimed fate by jack dawson ( leonardo dicaprio ) , a passenger in third - class ( " steerage " , as it 's referred to ) , who talks her out of jumping .
although for rose the attraction is not immediate , a love affair soon develops between the two , which endangers rose 's social standing as well as her engagement to the jealous cal .
the story sounds very simple , and perhaps even unexciting , but through solid performances by the leads and good direction by cameron , a good movie comes through .
dicaprio is marvelous as the young , but worldly - wise jack , playing the role with the confidence usually found in older actors .
his is a character that is immediately likable , as he knows what he wants out of life and is charmingly able to handle a variety of situations .
girls are going to swoon over him .
winslet also proves herself a good actress , delivering her lines convincingly , and the quality of performances between winslet and dicaprio makes the relationship believable .
the only problem with winslet is that she does not carry herself in accordance with her character 's upbringing .
simply by judgment of her gait , i was distracted from the fact that she was supposed to be an upper - crust debutante .
rather than demonstrate the poise one would expect her character to possess , she sometimes looks positively clumsy , and it unfortunately detracts from her
otherwise great acting .
billy zane is cast well as the aristocratic snob cal , since he has a certain look that immediately makes you want to hate him .
his features are such that even when he smiles , there 's something mistrustful about him , and when he scowls , he is evil incarnate .
he 's something like a porcelain version of peter gallagher , but a cheaper model .
like dicaprio and winslet , zane slips comfortably into his role and plays it well
.
backing up zane is david warner as lovejoy , cal 's personal assistant ( or " man " as they said at the turn of the century ) .
no matter who else is in the cast , you can always count on a good performance by warner , who seems to be made to play the distinguished gentleman with a gaze of steel and will to match .
additionally , there are a number of smaller fictional and non - fictional roles thrown in for color , such as kathy bates as " the unsinkable " molly brown , danny nucci as jack 's friend fabrizio de rossi , eric braeden as john jacob astor , and even bernard fox as colonel archibald gracie .
nice to see dr .
bombay getting work .
also scattered about are some of the other steerage passengers who are basically in the movie so you can feel sorry for them when they die .
this by itself may have been largely compulsory in a film about the titanic , but it transcends this status by putting these characters in direct conflict with the ship 's crewmembers who strive to maintain order and assure that the first - class passengers are placed aboard the lifeboats before anyone else .
in this way , titanic possesses a depth not usually found in action pictures .
you do n't just get a love story with a tragedy as a backdrop , but a very real account of class struggle as well .
as i mentioned before , the budget for this film was tremendous , and it certainly showed in the set dressing and special effects .
the interiors of the titanic are nearly breathtaking with their elaborate trimmings and intricate detail , and one has very little doubt that the layouts are authentic .
with regard to the exteriors , i would dare anyone to point out a film in which a vessel has been recreated with such meticulousness or on such a scale .
cameron actually built a scale model of the titanic in a water tank , but only had room for 90 % , and therefore had to computer - generate the remaining 40 feet .
could 've fooled me and everyone else in the theater , as the splicing is seamless .
also of note in this film is the way the audience is presented with the anatomy of the disaster right at the beginning .
we are told of where the iceberg struck the ship , how the flooding occurred , the way the ship sank , and why it did so in that manner .
these technical details serve as a guide for later on when the action starts happening , and allow us to view the sinking with informed analytic detraction , in addition to the more conventional placement in the midst of mayhem and confusion .
in all , james cameron 's titanic is a good blend of love story , history , and action .
the fact that the film runs longer than most at about three hours is almost unnoticed as the viewer 's attention is held alternately by those three main elements , from the movie 's intriguing beginning to it 's satisfactory ending .
in box office receipts , titanic the movie will undoubtedly live up to the unsinkable expectations of titanic the ship .

A:
P
****