instruction:
In this task, you must classify if a given review is positive/negative, indicating your answer as P or N.
question:
plot : good ol' texan kid suddenly gets to play first - string quarterback on his high school team 's football team , in a town where football is considered religion .
the coach is just about the biggest a - hole you 'd ever want to meet , who will do practically anything to win .
the good ol' texan boy does not approve of said man 's methods .
critique :
a fun football movie .
this film was obviously geared towards the teen market , with mtv behind its production , a big tv star actor in the lead role , rockin ' hip music galore , and plenty of t&a .
having said that , i enjoyed the look and feel of the movie
, thought james van der beek gave a solid performance , loved the slick sounds , and yup , loved that t&a !
i actually thought this was a comedy going in , but overall , it plays more towards the dramatic , than a comedy .
i also enjoyed jon voight 's performance as the stubborn dick coach , as well as many of the other character players on the team .
this is not a classic film by any stretch of the imagination , but it might teach some kids the hard lessons behind the " fun " game of football , or just allow them to have a good time for about an hour and forty - five minutes in the movie theatre ( or in the comfort of their own home , depending on where you watch this stuff . )
all in all , i would definitely watch this movie if you like football , play football or want your kid to succeed in high school football .
you could also watch it if you like teen flicks with a lot of cute guys and girls running around doing their stuff .
and did i mention the t&a ? : ) little known facts about this film and its stars : james van der beek actually started acting after a concussion stopped him from playing football in real life .
he is the oldest of three children , and his father is a cellular phone salesman while his mom runs a gymnastics studio .
he 's born in connecticut and received $ 200 , 000 for his role in this film .
actor scott caan , who plays football player " tweeder " in this film , is the son of famed actor james caan in real life .
that 's right
, he 's sonny 's son !
actress amy smart , who plays van der beek 's girlfriend in this movie , also played the main star 's girl in the 1999 film outside providence ( 6 . 5/10 ) .
screenwriter w .
peter iliff also had a part in writing the screenplays for the 1992 harrison ford film , patriot games , and the keanu reeves surfing flick , point break .
director brian robbins might be best remembered as the " cool dude " from the tv series " head of the class " .
his name was eric mandrian and he generally wore a long , black trench coat on the show .
the book mox ( james van der beek ) is reading on the sidelines in this movie , hidden inside the team 's playbook , is " slaughterhouse - five " by kurt vonnegut , jr .
the high school fight song played at the pep rally is the texas a&m war hymn .
answer:
P


question:
jonathan demme 's _ beloved _ , based on the book toni morrison , is a study in skillful literary adaptation .
on the one hand , the film manages to recreate key moments from the novel , evoking morrison 's pragmatic narrative style without using her authorial voice .
on the other hand , beloved omits the some of the finer details of the book , favoring an ambiguously defined back story upon which to build the story 's main events .
this choice is a smartly made one , for it creates an open space in which the story 's wide range of emotions can gestate and grow
.
indeed , the impact of the film is so protracted that much of it can not be felt until long after the end credits have rolled .
_ beloved _ takes place in the second half of the 19th century , during the so - called reconstruction era after the civil war .
for newly - freed slaves , it is a time of confusion and turmoil .
oprah winfrey is sethe , a slave who escaped a kentucky plantation and took her children to an ohio farmhouse , where she hoped the terror would end .
what she did not know was that it would follow her there , and remain with her long after the physical threat had vanished .
_ beloved _ ultimately tells the story of sethe 's search for forgiveness , one long - hampered by an unforgettable sin .
the film starts off on a dreary day ten years after sethe 's escape , as a violent , unseen energy rocks her dilapidated farmhouse .
invisible hands terrorize her family , flinging objects across rooms , shaking tables , rattling floorboards .
sethe 's sons run away , perhaps for good , leaving sethe and her daughter denver to fend for themselves .
demme 's matter - of - fact handling of this supernatural element is just one of _ beloved _ 's intriguing aspects .
all of the characters take for granted that ghosts are real .
when paul d ( danny glover ) -- a former slave who escaped kentucky along with sethe -- arrives at the house eight years later and is confronted with the ghost 's hellish visions , he does n't run in terror .
instead , he asks who the ghost is .
as in morrison 's novel , demme quickly establishes that the horror of the story will not come from the fact of the ghost itself , but from the terrifying past in which the ghost was created .
sethe is the one being haunted , but the ghost in the house is the least of her fears .
in fact , the ghost is one of the reasons she chooses to stay .
the story takes an bizarre turn with the appearance of beloved ( thandie newton ) , a young black - clad woman who appears on sethe 's front lawn , leaned christ - like against a tree stump .
sethe and denver immediately take to the rasping woman and try to nurse her to health .
they know not who she is , but that does n't matter .
only paul d is suspicious of the stranger .
little does the family know that beloved will bring about many changes , and force sethe to release a guilt she has held onto so urgently for eighteen years .
winfrey is arguably beloved 's greatest asset .
she inhabits the role of sethe
so convincingly it is hard to believe this is the same woman who shines brightly on a tv talk show .
lisa gay hamilton does an impressive job in the emotionally demanding role
as the younger sethe , whose appalling actions make her the disturbed woman we see eighteen years later .
danny glover is affable
as the sympathetic paul d , as is kimberly elise as denver , sethe 's wanderlusting daughter .
as sethe 's sage - like mother - in - law old baby suggs , beah richards
authoritatively commands every scene in which she appears .
the film 's least palatable choice of casting is unfortunately that of the role of beloved herself .
thandie newton plays the glassy - eyed girl with a demented fervor which is endearing at first , but which becomes off - putting and unintentionally laughable by the end .
departing from the honed aesthetic he used in such films as _ the silence of the lambs
_ and _ melvin & howard
_
, director demme has used a bit of dramatic overstatement to get across the vivid descriptions in morrison 's novel .
totemic camera shots and color - saturated scenery are decidedly uncommon in demme 's films , but the few he uses here work to the film 's benefit .
_ beloved _ 's most memorable scenes are those of baby suggs ' gatherings in a forest clearing , where the bright yellow - greens of nature entrance the viewer as much as suggs ' words do .
for the most part , though , demme maintains his trademark directorial neutrality .
this , combined with morrison 's equally frugal method of storytelling , may make _ beloved _ somewhat of a challenge to watch , even to those familiar with the book .
though the film compliments the book extraordinarily well
, it falls short in allowing the sort of accessibility one usually expects from a film .
nothing is spoon - fed to the viewer .
morrison 's novel is just as enigmatic , but unlike a movie , a book can be put down to allow the various undercurrents and themes to churn and absorb .
the movie begins like _ poltergeist _ , and ends like _ the color purple _ , with shades of _ the scarlet letter _ and _ little women
_ somewhere in the middle .
taken as a whole
, beloved is a disquieting , one - of - a - kind experience , one to be viewed with guards down and spirits in abeyance .
answer:
P


question:
note : some may consider portions of the following text to be spoilers . be forewarned .
james toback 's return to directing after a eight - year layoff , two girls and a guy , is a film which is comprised , more or less , of just that : one guy , blake ( robert downey jr . ) ; two girls , carla ( heather graham ) and lou ( natasha gregson wagner ) ; one primary setting ( blake 's absurdly spacious bachelor apartment ) , and a great deal of dialogue . embracing a near real - time approach , this is a highly theatrical feature that completely hangs upon the performances of its three actors and the quality of the dialogue written by mr . toback for his bantering characters .
fortunately , the film 's cast is up to the challenge , and the wordy exchanges between the triad of characters , while admittedly variable , are occasionally wickedly amusing .
the film 's setup is fairly generic in nature , and opens rather unpromisingly .
we meet self - possessed blonde carla and feisty brunette lou , both waiting outside a soho loft .
as they engage in idle chatter , it is revealed that they 're both waiting for their respective boyfriends to return from the airport , and it does n't take long for them to come to the realisation that they 're being two - timed by the same guy .
more indignant with him than catty with each other , the duo break into blake 's loft and await his arrival for a confrontation .
it 's when blake returns to his abode where the film hits its stride .
played with magnificent bombast by mr .
downey jr .
, blake is a cad , all right , but a captivatingly dynamic , blusterous , and stealthy piece of work that bursts onto the scene and raises the stakes to new heights .
it 's fascinating to watch this character in his natural habitat ,
and perhaps the film 's best choice was to have his two girlfriends scamper off into hiding upon his return , allowing us to size up blake not with his interactions with others , but by his own innate behaviour .
whether he 's flamboyantly behind his piano in a rollicking rendition of vivaldi , or on the phone leaving messages to his beloveds ( carla , lou , and his unseen sickly mother )
, it 's never less than wildly entertaining and insightful .
though at this point i almost hoped the film would transform into a one - man show -- a typical afternoon in the life of blake , if you will -- carla , and then lou , reveal themselves , and the sparks begin to fly .
( one of the great touches in the film is how blake , when startled by carla 's unannounced appearance , begins to both verbally and physically backpedal even before he realizes that the cat 's out of the bag . ) double - teamed by the understandably aggrieved women ( who are more smirkingly inquisitive than ferociously vengeful -- they want a justification for his ongoing hypocrisy ) , an increasingly - flustered blake weakly defends himself with apologetic and even self - righteous declarations against their verbal jabs .
surprisingly delightful in the waltz of scathing witty banter
shared by its trio of characters , two girls and a guy concludes its first sequence with an unexpected apoplectic act of such outrageous audacity that it seemed nothing was off - limits for this film .
however , it 'd be unfeasible to attempt to string along carla and lou 's outrage to full feature - length , and it 's as the movie gradually transforms into the sharing of exploratory profundities on the nature of fidelity and relationships that it slowly but surely begins to unravel .
the dialogue becomes less and less engaging and clever , the film 's tempo loses its liveliness , the dynamic between the characters evolves in unconvincing fashion , and several sequences fall flat .
subtle and not - quite - subtle allusions are made (
a poster of jules et jim hangs prominently on the wall ) , and secrets are revealed which barrel the film toward an uncompelling weepy finale .
one key turning point in the film is the kinky sex scene between blake and carla .
two girls and a guy was embroiled in a bitter , long - running dispute with the mpaa with regards to this scene -- contractually - obligated to deliver an r - rated film , mr .
toback was forced to resubmit fourteen scaled - down versions of the steamy interlude before the mpaa withdrew their nc-17 rating in favour of an r -- and while admittedly titillating , the net effect of the vignette on the film 's thematic narrative is rather dubious .
if anything , two girls and a guy serves as a showcase for the phenomenal talents of mr .
downey jr . , whose versatility is put to the test in this film .
he plays the gamut from indignant to humbled , from self - assured to disconcerted , yet his acting gears shift so smoothly as to not be registered .
it 's a wonderful performance in a role custom - tailored for him ;
mr .
toback wrote the screenplay in four days shortly after mr .
downey jr . was arrested on drug charges , and it 's hard not to see echoes of reality seeping into his character -- in a monologue to his mirrored reflection ,
blake 's self - chiding to " get [ his ] shit together " is disquieting in its resonance .
while
mr .
downey jr .
's
showstopping performance is undoubtedly the primary strength of the film , both actresses are solid in more broadly - observed roles .
ms .
graham is quickly becoming one of america 's more daring actresses , involving herself in three successive risky projects -- two girls and a guy and boogie nights are both quite sexually frank , while lost in space has a screenplay penned by akiva goldsman .
she 's quite appealing here , playing a character at once both dainty and sultry .
meanwhile , ms .
gregson wagner initially portrays lou with such an unwarranted spunk that audiences are likely to find it either annoying , or , like me , endearing .
she tones it down substantially as the film progresses , but i found her more fun to watch as the artificially excitable chatterbox .
the film was reportedly shot in eleven days , filmed mostly in sequence , and the resultant artifacts of this rapid shoot are evident throughout .
two girls and a guy has an agile , spontaneous sort of feel , and one senses that mr .
toback encouraged a good deal of improvisation from his three actors .
while the film could be transposed directly to the stage more or less intact , it does n't feel constricted ; the expansive apartment setting is well - used to vary the background , and mr .
toback allows his camera to wander and linger on his characters in an effective manner .
two girls and a guy falls short of its potential ,
but thanks to some stellar work by mr . downey jr .
, it 's still often an enjoyable , bitingly funny romp , particularly as we watch the surprisingly - resilient blake evasively try to rationalize his behaviour and even turn the tables on his girlfriends .
"
i 'm an actor , " he tells them at one point , using the ol' tried - and - tested occupational - hazard defense .
" actors lie .
"
but not , they all seem to agree , denzel washington .
answer:

P