instruction:
In this task, you must classify if a given review is positive/negative, indicating your answer as P or N.
question:
apparently , when crap calls , jim carrey answers .
here he is , mugging it up in countless unfunny ways for the fifth time , his second go - around in the role of pet detective ace ventura .
that means more talking ass - cracks , penis jokes and cries of " al - l - l - l - l - l - l - l - l - l - lrighty then .
"
it all adds up to a sequel that makes the original resemble schindler 's list in terms of dramatic merit , or lack of .
granted , there are a few laughs amid the constant barrage of pre - school humor , but anyone who appreciates good comedy will bang their head against the wall ten times for every minor chuckle .
it 's a painful experience for anyone with a brain .
ace is distraught after accidentally dropping a racoon into a canyon ( in a parody of the opening scene of sylvester stallone 's cliffhanger , jim carrey being the only person who can make stallone look like a college professor in terms of intellect , or lack of ) and decides to retire to the mountains of tibet to gain a higher level of consciousness ( or , in his case , a level of consciousness ) .
but he is pulled out of retirement to the tune of $ 20 , 000 to retrieve a sacred white bat for an african tribe .
why africa ?
so carrey can disguise himself nude inside a fake rhino and later climb out the rear end as a tourist family watches ( " look , the rhino 's about to give birth ! " ) .
if that seems like hee - haw humor to you , by all means , see the movie .
if not , claim your place in human civilization with the rest of us .
obviously , there are quite a few nonmembers of civilization who made this movie , like the first ace ventura film ( i use the word " film " only because it was filmed ,
not because there 's any level of artistic merit . ) , a huge success .
in fact , carrey only has a career because of the decline of intelligence in our culture .
you may say to me , " but andrew , look at jerry lewis .
he was born with a negative i .
q . and look how popular he was thirty years ago .
"
maybe , but i still say jerry lewis is a notch or two up on the comedic ladder because he never actually did an impression in a movie of a rabid bulldog biting off a man 's testicles . . .
lewis at least had the dignity to save that performance for when company came over .
answer:
N


question:
way of the gun is brimming with surprises , some good , most bad .
one of the good ones is ryan phillippe 's surprisingly halfway decent performance .
after the actor gained much attention by posing and preening through teen swill like i know what you did last summer , he hinted at a bit growth in last year 's cruel intentions with his amusingly contemptuous john malkovich meets james spader performance , though his acting in that film faltered around the third act mark , precisely when the screenplay made his character grow a heart ( presumably to appeal to his training bra wearing fans ) and start bellyaching about how he 'd fallen for his " target " .
it was a dramatic shift that neither phillippe nor the film 's director could negotiate .
but he seems to be trying and that should n't be overlooked ( or probably over praised ) seeing as how , at this point , he really is n't required to do much but look pretty .
here , phillippe has procured a five day growth of beard , his hair askew and his affect altered to sound something like james cagney in all his " look here , see " glory .
it 's tough to believe a pretty boy like phillippe as a hard ass , but his performance actually helps with the illusion .
unlike ben affleck 's puppy dog approach in reindeer games , phillippe is believable and not too bad at that .
as for the plot , well , that 's one of the bad surprises ; phillippe and the great benicio del torro play two moronic ( and not even remotely likeable ) criminals ( introduced to us in the parking lot of a rave where they stupidly pick a fight with about twenty people ) who hatch a scheme to kidnap a surrogate mother ( juliette lewis ) after overhearing that she 's carrying the baby of painter ( scott wilson ) , a very well connected wealthy man .
the kidnapping devolves into a laborious shoot out where much damage is done and many are killed .
but the anti - heroes escape with the woman while an aging hit man ( james caan ) and two scheming bodyguards ( taye diggs and nicky katt ) remain in pursuit .
directed by christopher mcquarrie , the screenwriter who won an oscar for his work on usual suspects , an overrated piece of crime noir in many circles ( this one included ) , way of the gun is a hodgepodge of crime thriller motifs that just oozes eye rolling familiarity .
unlike phillipe , mcquarrie does n't seem to be growing at all ; he fills his flick with a sprawling labyrinth of plot all snatched from movies
i know i 've seen before and worse , it feels like it .
the film lacks even a fresh approach ( like what soderbergh did out of sight or the limey ) to its clich ?
s , all of which are spewed before us in a picture that tries so desperately to be hip and gritty without bothering to notice how common it is
.
it features characters living by a code they seemed to have picked up in sam peckinpah 101 rather than any thing resembling life .
even attempts at emotional weight feel strained like in preposterous scene where enemies james caan and benicio del torro stop in their tracks to have a cup of coffee and pontificate on life , philosophy , etc .
i did n't like the bit much when it first appeared in heat ,
here , it 's even more self consciously " dramatic " .
usual suspects , which also featured a bunch of low lives that seemed to live by a code they learned from the movies , worked to some degree because of that astonishing twist ending .
nowadays an astonishing twist per ending is de rigeur , never mind if it deems all that transpired before it completely inconsequential .
thus , nearly every character in way comes with at least one dirty little secret ( most amateurishly projected before they appear ) and it too has an ironic little twist at the end ( nothing earth shattering , like in the usual suspects ) but i admit , i did n't see it coming , and i smiled .
however most of the movie feels exactly like the interrogation scenes between palminteri and spacey in usual suspects : a lot of faux huffing and puffing with no rhythm or reason .
or substance .
it 's just as overplotted as suspects , and often dull as any overplotted movie without interesting characters , a distinctive style , or a good script would be .
even the good stuff , most of which involves james caan ( doing a fine job ) , feels odd and out of place in a movie that thinks lines like " karma is only justice with out the satisfaction " are clever .
at one point caan laments " need is the ultimate monkey " a line so inexplicable he might as well have said " love is like hippo ass " .
i 've seen porno with better dialogue .
and some with better plot lines too .
but rarely has porn offered up such a talented cast ( i mean , can you even compare james caan to ron jeremy ) .
caan slips into this role with seeming ease , he could do this kind of soft - spoken tough guy in a coma , but he manages to give his character depth and weariness .
benicio del torro is always welcome , though here he plays it fairly straight ( rather than another oddball character creation like the ones the actor gave us in usual suspects and excess baggage ) , adopting a brad pitt - esque quizzical pout to go along with his heavy swaggering .
speaking of pitt , his ex , juliette lewis , is a weak link , either shouting her lines with ear shattering shrillness , or waddling about like a silly goose .
nicky katt was brilliant in a brief role in the limey , here his role is just as brief only
he seems wasted ; he 's only kept around for his cold presence .
taye diggs has a similar function , cool as ever , but never a character , though the guy has one helluva death scene .
for the most part way is incessantly talky with no reason to give a hippo 's ass about any thing that transpires since its characters are never more than simplistic pawns .
it 's vaguely tarantino - ish , but in a bad truth and consequences nm way , with phillippe , in one scene , leaping into a stupid rant about " faggots " migrating to los angeles .
you know the routine .
the final shoot out is pure bargain basement john woo ( who himself seems to be doing bargain basement john woo ) with interchangeable bad guys lining up to be shot at .
but those gun shots sure crack like thunder .
just the other day i was watching an old dirty harry movie on cable and was stunned to hear the weak elephant grunt - like sound that emanated from harry 's fetishized smith and wesson .
oh how far we 've come .
answer:
N


question:
for timing reasons having to do with baby sitters , we recently went to a multiplex and saw undercover blues .
i would give it one half of a star for guts .
anyone in a movie this bad would have to have guts .
i later read a ny times review that said kathleen turner and dennis quaid had gotten so plump
they looked like they had the mumps in the show .
the script was the worst part .
they had characters who talked with funny accents in an attempt to make you laugh .
they had lots of " great " sight gags
like two people trying to go in a door together and therefore bumping shoulders against the door .
turner and quaid both kept smiling like some idiots on a game show .
the good news is that we were smart enough to vote with our feet and left . buy some tickets and give them to your worst enemies .
tell them the show is great and smile a lot .
*
*
* * = one of the top few films of this or any year .
a must see film .
*
* * = excellent show .
look for it .
*
* = average movie .
kind of enjoyable .
* = poor show .
do n't waste your money . 0
= one of the worst films of this or any year .
totally unbearable .
review written on : september 29 , 1993 opinions expressed are mine and not meant to reflect my employer 's .
answer:

N