instruction:
In this task, you must classify if a given review is positive/negative, indicating your answer as P or N.
question:
studio expectations must not have been high for " great expectations " -- the film 's release date was pushed from late december to late january at what appeared to be the last minute , therefore putting any academy awards chances it has off until this time in 1999 .
it 's actually a smart move , because while this updated take on the charles dickens tale is n't quite oscar fodder , it * is * strong enough to be distinguished from the cinematic dumping ground that usually makes up the first five or six weeks of any given year .
" great expectations " also demonstrates how to modernize a classic story right , especially after the excruciatingly wretched excesses of baz luhrmann 's " william shakespeare 's romeo + juliet .
" " great expectations " opens somewhere in 1970s florida ( the original story is set in 19th - century england ) , as eight - year - old finn ( jeremy james kissner ) meets a trio of people who will have a profound effect on his life in the future .
there 's icy , 11-year - old estella ( raquel beaudene ) , a pseudo - playmate of finn 's ; ms .
dinsmoor ( anne bancroft ) , estella 's auntie who 's quite off - kilter over a past romance that never took off ; and a mysterious prisoner ( robert de niro ) whom finn saves the life of .
finn , who lives with his sister 's affable boyfriend ( lone star 's chris cooper ) , fancies himself an aspiring artist , and proves his prowess by whipping up an unusual portrait of estella using only ms .
dinsmoor 's lipstick , eyebrow pencil and the wallpaper from her dilapidating mansion .
flash forward into
the ' 90s ( after a brief stop in the ' 80s ) , and finn ( now played by ethan hawke ) , despondent over a strange hot - and - cold relationship with the elusive estella ( gwyneth paltrow ) , receives quite a bit of money from an unknown benefactor ; it 's enough cash to send him to new york to focus on a career in art .
there , finn seems to gain everything he could ever want -- wealth , prestige and a high place in the glamorous art world .
when estella resurfaces -- albeit with an aloof fianc ?
( hank azaria ) --
finn also sees the chance to renew their mutual attraction .
but she 's not the only ghost from finn 's past that 's going to be paying him a visit .
comparisons with the afore - mentioned " romeo + juliet " seem inevitable since these films are the only ones in recent memory to plop classic drama into a current setting .
" great expectations " is a much better venture , though , because it treats its source with even - handed respect , where " romeo " was never quite sure whether to be a spoof , a homage or both .
the movie is a visual banquet thanks to emmanuel lubezki 's sexy cinematography ; notably , he captures a revisited fountain kiss between the two leads with a luscious , erotic charge that 's steamier than the film 's ( surprisingly muted ) love scenes .
the eclectic rock soundtrack compliments the on - screen action beautifully , especially new songs by tori amos , mono and duncan sheik .
acting credits are first - rate , often hiding the screenplay 's occasional slip - ups .
hawke is sincere and solid as a leading man ( something we also learned from " gattaca " ) , and his finn is quite a likeable guy .
paltrow 's estella , on the other hand , is rather underdeveloped .
while the actress is at her icily seductive best , we 're not told very much about her character , and as a result , it 's often hard to understand why finn would appreciate her beyond a physical level ( but , oh , * what * a physical level ) ; sometimes , we root for finn although we do n't quite understand why she 's fueling his fire .
robert de niro is nice and sophisticated in the benevolent kind of role he rarely gets to play ; on the other end of the acting spectrum is bancroft , a macabre , throaty delight who mambos and sucks down cigarettes with an eerie enthusiasm that would make norma desmond jealous .
alfonso cuaron 's visually elegant direction helps to distract from the dry moments that pop up more frequently around the movie 's climax .
another problem is predictability ; you can guess your way through the plot even if you are n't familiar with the story .
despite its script flaws , though , " great expectations " is undeniably romantic without being corny or gloppy .
and frankly , it 's nice to see a film that embraces softened sensuality other than explicit sexuality .
perhaps that renovated release date , awfully close to valentine 's day , will end up helping " great expectations " ' seemingly average box office chances after all .
answer:
P


question:
"
the deep end " uses a color palette of rich earth tones surrounded by a vast array of blues .
alluring , attractive blues , but also icy and foreboding .
after taking in their beauty , the eye seeks out the reassuring browns and greens , like a tired swimmer searching for the safety of land .
the production works that way as well ?
it pulls you in initially as a crisp , thoroughly - modern thriller , with clipped exchanges between defiantly non - communicative characters .
but the real draw of the film is the submerged humanity of two key players as " the deep end " gradually reveals the melodramatic core beneath its ironic candy coating .
spoiler alert
: the following reveals the basic storyline .
i believe the plot points are incidental , because the real rewards come in exploring the mindset of the main characters , but still , you should proceed at your own risk .
with her husband tom , a naval officer , often away at sea , margaret hall ( tilda swinton ) holds down the fort , taking care of the children , beau ( jonathan tucker ) , paige ( tamara hope ) , and dylan ( jordon dorrance ) , while her father - in - law jack ( peter donat ) hovers in the background , always watching .
the story opens with margaret leaving the family home in lake tahoe to storm a male strip club in reno .
it seems that beau , her eldest , is having an affair with darby reese ( josh lucas ) , a disreputable sort 12 years
his senior . margaret demands that darby leave her son alone , only to have the man smirk at her and announce he 'll be glad to steer clear of beau ? for $ 5000 .
back at home , she tries to talk about it all with her son , but the kid wo n't even confirm that he 's gay , let alone discuss the issues she has with his boyfriend .
he does , however , get attentive when she reveals darby 's $ 5 , 000 offer , even as he maintains his sullen demeanor .
late in the evening , darby shows up outside , tossing pebbles at beau 's window like a schoolchild .
the two meet by the water at the boathouse , where something important happens .
i wo n't reveal what ; suffice to say we become aware of a significant fact that margaret does not .
all of this happens in the first few minutes of the movie , by the way .
within a day or so , margaret 's life becomes even more complicated when a suave man named alec goran visnjic ) turns up with an explicit videotape documenting the sex life of beau and darby .
he and his associate are willing to destroy the tape ,
once margaret coughs up $ 50 , 000 .
oh , what 's a mother to do ?
end spoilers written , directed and produced by scott mcgehee and david siegel ( " suture " ) , " the deep end " is based on elisabeth sanxay holding 's 1940 's novel , " the blank wall , " which was also the source of the 1949 film , " the reckless moment .
"
i 've neither read the book nor seen the movie , but i understand that the filmmakers changed some details .
in holding 's story , the " scandalous " relationship is between an older man and margaret 's teen - age daughter .
switching the gender makes the tale seem more contemporary , and it also raises questions about margaret 's motives .
many reviews of " the deep end " describe margaret as a mother ferociously protecting her son , but i wonder .
consider this : margaret lives in a meticulously kept upscale home .
her husband is absent most of the time and seems to be regarded as a larger - than - life figure .
her father - in - law is constantly present , almost as if he is monitoring for his son .
and when her husband does call , margaret is careful not to tell him about anything disturbing that is going on with the family .
so is margaret a mother who accepts her son 's sexual orientation and is simply trying to shield the young man from a lover she fears will take advantage of him ?
or is she caretaker of a museum of upper middle class complacency , desperate to maintain the status quo so that everything will be postcard perfect when the old man returns from the sea ?
you sort it out .
regardless , the resonance of " the deep end " comes from two actors .
goran visnjic , best known from the tv drama " er , " is striking as a blackmailer unlike any you 've seen before .
he engages margaret in a mesmerizing dance of protocol , chivalry and simmering eroticism .
but the star of this show , without a doubt , is the remarkable tilda swinton .
watch the shadings , depth , resource , vitality and understated sexuality she gives margaret and try to imagine the film without her .
days after my second viewing of " the deep end , " i can still vividly picture her negotiating with villains , trying to connect with her son and diving into icy blue water .
"
the deep end " is an exceptional film and tilda swinton is the best part of it .
answer:
P


question:
in the opening shot of midnight cowboy , we see a close - up of a blank movie screen at a drive - in .
we hear in the soundtrack human cries and the stomping of horses ' hooves .
without an image projected onto the screen , the audience unerringly identifies the familiar sound of cowboys chasing indians and can spontaneously fill in the blank screen with images of old westerns in our mind 's eye .
even without having seen a cowboys and indians movie , somehow the cliched images of them seem to have found their way into our mental schema .
but do cowboys really exist , or
are they merely hollywood images personified by john wayne and gary cooper ?
exploring this theme , director john schlesinger uses the idea of the cowboy as a metaphor for the american dream , an equally cliched yet ambiguous concept .
is the ease at which salvation and success can be attained in america a hallmark of its experience or an urban legend ?
midnight cowboy suggests that the american dream , like image of the cowboy , is merely a myth .
as joe buck migrates from place to place , he finds neither redemption nor reward in his attempt to create a life for himself , only further degeneration .
during the opening credits , joe walks past an abandoned theater whose decrepit marquee reads ` john wayne : the alamo . '
as joe is on the bus listening to a radio talk show , a lady on the air describes her ideal man as ` gary cooper ?
but he 's dead . '
a troubled expression comes across joe 's face , as he wonders where have all the cowboys gone .
having adopted the image of a cowboy since youth , joe now finds himself deserted by the persona he tried to embody .
joe 's persistence in playing the act of the cowboy serves as an analogue to his american dream .
he romanticizes about making it in the big city , but his dreams will desert him as he is forced to compromise his ideals for sustenance .
by the end of midnight cowboy , joe buck loses everything and gains nothing .
just as the audience can picture cowboys chasing indians on a blank screen , we can also conjure up scenes from pretty woman as paradigms of american redemption and success .
but how realistic are these ideals ?
joe had raped and been raped in texas .
the scars of his troubled past prompt him to migrate to new york , but he does not know that his aspirations to be a cowboy hero will fail him there just as they had in texas .
alongside the dream of success is the dream of salvation .
the ability to pack up one 's belongings and start anew seems to be an exclusive american convention .
schlesinger provides us with strong hints as to joe 's abusive and abused past with flashbacks of improper relationships with crazy anne and granny .
we understand that joe adopts the fa ?
ade of a cowboy , a symbol of virility and gallantry , as an attempt to neutralize his shame .
he runs from his past only to be sexually defiled this time by his homosexual experiences in new york .
in the scene at the diner which foreshadows joe 's encounter with the gay student , joe buck spills ketchup on himself .
standing up , we see the ketchup has made a red stain running from the crotch of his pants down his thigh .
schlesinger visually depicts the degeneration of joe 's virility by eliciting an image of bleeding genitals , signifying emasculation .
beyond the symbol of castration , the scene may also connote the bleeding of a virgin 's first sexual encounter , a reference to joe 's first homosexual liaison .
the fact that the idea of a bleeding virgin is relegated only to females furthers the imagery of joe 's emasculation .
it is ironic that joe has trouble prospecting for female clients , but effortlessly attracts men .
joe believes his broncobuster getup is emblematic of his masculinity ; new yorkers see his ensemble as camp and ` faggot stuff . '
there are two predominant images of new york .
the first is that new york is the rich , cosmopolitan city where hope and opportunity are symbolized by the tall skyscrapers and the statue of liberty .
the other new york is travis bickle 's new york , a seedy , corruptive hell on earth .
joe envisions new york as the former , but is presented with the latter .
mirroring the irony in which joe envisions his cowboy attire as masculine , he mistakenly buys into the fable that new york is filled with lonely women neglected by gay men .
joe thinks he is performing a great service for new york , but the city rapes him of his pride and possessions .
the people steal joe 's money , the landlord confiscates his luggage , and the homosexuals rob him of his dignity .
what has become of joe 's american dream ?
schlesinger responds to this question with the scene at the party .
joe gets invited to a shindig of sorts and at the gathering is exposed to a dizzying array of food , drugs , and sex .
at the party , all of joe and ratzo 's desires are made flesh ; joe flirts successfully with women and ratzo loads up on free salami .
contrasting joe 's daily struggles , shots of warhol 's crew display wanton indulgence .
there is an irreverence in the partygoers ' attitude ; we see a shot of a woman kowtowing to nothing in particular , orgies breaking out in the periphery , and drugs passed around like party favors .
the party makes a mockery of joe ' s ideals .
joe believed that hard work and persistence were the elements for success in america ; scenes of the party and his rendezvous with shirley suggest that it is the idle who profit from joe 's toils .
the american dream , schlesinger suggests , is merely a proletarian fantasy , for those who are content no longer dream , but become indolent .
as joe heads to miami , all that was significant of the cowboy image has left him .
his masculinity is compromised and his morality is relinquished .
for joe , nothing is left of the cowboy hero and commensurately , he surrenders the identity .
tossing his boots into the garbage , he returns to the bus for the last leg of his journey to miami .
the final shot of midnight cowboy shows joe inside the bus , more introspective , taking only a few glances outside the window .
instead of the frequent pov shots of joe excitedly looking out of the bus on his way to new york , schlesinger sets up this final shot from the exterior of the bus looking in through the window at joe .
reflections of the palm trees ratzo so raved about run across the bus ' window with joe hardly taking notice .
the scenery of miami no longer exacts the same excitement from joe as before .
the world seems smaller to joe now ; the termination of his journey coincides with the termination of his american dream .
no longer does joe aspire to be the enterprising gigolo ; he resolves to return to a normal job and resign to basic means .
midnight cowboy presents two familiar incarnations of the american dream .
there is the frontier fantasy that if you are brave enough to repel a few indians , you can set up a ranch out west and raise a beautiful family .
then there is the jay gatsby dream that a man of humble stock , with perseverance , can make a fortune in the big city .
joe 's attempt to realize these dreams robs him of his innocence in texas and morality in new york .
during his search for an intangible paradise , joe ends up raping a girl and killing a man .
an allegory of chasing the promise of the american dream , joe
buck 's progressive
moral atrophy is a warning against the pursuit of illusory icons .
answer:

P