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

Q: in brief : best bleak comedy film
since heathers . full of wonderful swipes at the fifteen minutes of fame mentality that feeds so much of modern american pop culture .
go see it !
so , i prepared for this film by watching a moving interview on " hard copy " with pam smart , the new hampshire media teacher who was convicted of engineering the death of her husband back in the 1980 's .
" hard copy " 's diane diamond asked smart what she thought about nicole kidman 's fictionalized portrayal of her in the new film to die for .
smart replied that she thought kidman 's character came off as a dumb , vicious tramp
and she thought that the publicity the new movie generates might just hurt her chances in her latest court appeal .
( smart was convicted and given a life sentence for her part in the murder of her husband . )
smart 's got a point .
it would n't be the first time that the public took the better scripted and well - acted movie version of an event as the absolute truth over the duller and far less artistic real life version .
however , given a choice between the mass media ' happening ' of the real event and the fictionalized movie , i would definitely opt for the later .
real murderers rarely have dialogue as witty as what buck henry has written for this movie and smart , while pretty and alluring , is no match for the cinematic charms of nicole kidman .
to die for begins in a town called little hope , new hampshire , the archetypal dry and intellectually barren american suburb .
the story concerns the ambitious suzanne stone and how she tackles the obstacles between her and her life long ambition of being ' on tv . '
of course , one of those little obstacles turns out to be her dull and unambitious husband larry , played by matt dillon .
but , with a little imagination , some charm and raw sex appeal and a rather novel approach to junior achievement , our heroine manages to overcome the nay - sayers in her life , at least temporarily .
kidman triumphs in the trashy role of suzanne .
i have never really been all that fond of this actress but
she shows a wonderful flair for comedy in this picture .
her portrayal of the incredibly shallow and dumb femme fatale resonates .
kidman knows a star - making role when she sees it
and she plays the conscience - deprived suzanne as the ultimate career driven , post - feminist uber - temptress from hell .
she is ably abetted by wonderfully demented comic dialogue , which kidman delivers in a unselfconsciously funny way .
at one point suzanne is expounding on her knowledge of world events to her future husband and sister - in - law .
"
you know , " she knowingly exclaims , " gorbachev would still be the leader of russia or whatever , if he had just had that ugly purplish thing removed from his head .
"
her husband beams at suzanne 's profound knowledge of world politics and then proudly proclaims that this qualifies her to be the next barbara walters .
this is very close to pop culture bashing heaven , folks .
the other standout performance in the film is delivered by joaquin phoenix .
he plays jimmy , a burned out teenager who becomes addicted to suzanne 's sexual favors .
kidman 's character , vapid though she is , is a sort of suave beacon of success to jimmy and his lost friends russell and lydia , winningly portrayed by casey affleck and alison folland .
phoenix looks like the very embodiment of gen - x slackerhood ( as envisioned by tabloid tv , of course ) .
his jimmy has the dead eyes and demeanor of a kid who knows that he ai n't going anywhere , ever .
phoenix reacts to the sexy suzanne with a sort of obsessed amazement
and he makes us believe that a loser character like jimmy really would be willing to kill for someone like suzanne , someone who actually noticed him .
gus van sant ( drugstore cowboy ,
my own private idaho )
direction is first - rate .
he keeps the pacing in this not - quite - thriller snapping along .
van sant rightly keeps the focus of this movie on the amoral suzanne and does n't stop to proselytize the audience about the rightness or wrongness of her actions .
van sant trusts his material and trusts his audience to ' get it ' without stopping to explain what is funny about this all - american story .
the screenplay , by buck henry , is absolutely great and includes some of the best bleakly comic lines i 've heard since heathers .
henry 's story is a blast against the shallowness of the american media and the mindlessness of fame , yet the screenplay delivers this sharp message by focusing on just a few characters .
henry
ably manages to avoid diluting his story by aiming at too many targets and the result is a crisp and funny mini - classic .
danny elfman did the original music for this movie and he delivers another eccentric , loopy score that strongly echoes his themes for edward scissorhands .
either film score would make wonderful background music for halloween trick - or - treat parties .
all - in - all , a wonderful production , well worth your seven bucks ! to die for : a columbia pictures release directed by gus van sant .
written by buck henry score by danny elfman starring nicole kidman , matt dillon , joachin phoenix based on the book by joyce maynard .
rated r - for language and mature themes .
( respect the r , not for under 14 's ) rating ----- stars .
go see it .

A: P
****
Q: " living out loud , " is the type of motion picture we do n't often see : it is a film about mature , intelligent adults , instead of the usual american film , in which children basically dress up in grown - up clothing and parade around acting like immature seven - year - olds .
judith ( holly hunter ) , a fortysomething living in new york city , has been having a difficult time with life lately .
she is extremely depressed about her recent divorce to her husband ( martin donovan ) , who had been cheating on her .
she can not sleep , haunted by terrible memories , often imagines off - the - wall things to try and make the world seem like a better place , and
the only place she can really go to feel happy is to hear one of her favorite singers , liz bailey ( queen latifah ) , perform at a local club .
judith 's life does start to brighten a little when , one night when she gets home to her apartment late , strikes up a conversation with the elevator operator , pat ( danny devito ) , a lonely man in his fifties whom has lost his daughter recently .
both of them create a sort of emotional connection with each other , seeking comfort with the other person , but while pat starts to form a deep love for her , judith only wants to remain friends . " living out loud , " which was written by richard lagravenese ( " the bridges of madison county " ) , who is also making his directing debut here , is a wonderful film from beginning to end , one that is honest , genuinely funny , and poignant .
the three central characters , that of judith , pat , and liz , are all written to be free - thinking , complex human beings , and are all likable , but flawed , people who are constantly interesting , as is the film itself .
one highly original element of the film is that judith occasionally imagines things occuring in her mind in the way she wishes they would happen .
sometimes it results in comedy , and sometimes it turns out to be subtle and truly touching .
one sequence that stands out is when judith is at a restaurant by herself , reading a novel .
an older woman comes over to her , mentions that that is a great book she is reading , and then goes over to join her own friends .
as the woman sits down , she looks over to see judith by herself , and motions for her to come join them .
instantly , we realize this was simply in judith 's mind , as we see the same woman just sit down at the table and begin talking to her friends .
holly hunter and danny devito
both give the performances of their careers here .
hunter , of course , was brilliant in 1993 's " the piano , " for which she won an academy award , but in this film she is even better
, i think .
she finds the right note for each scene and holds it . and devito has never had such a humanistic role before , which i was surprised about
.
usually he is used as the butt of a joke , or as a caricature , but in this film , has a living - and - breathing , sympathetic person to play .
topping it all off is latifah , also a singer , who is quickly turning into a respectable actress herself , and has a juicy , natural supporting role
as , in some ways , judith 's role model .
another joy of the film is that it does not somehow form a contrived , " happy " ending , but , in staying with its realistic tone , manages to be upbeat , but truthful .
the last shot is an especially powerful image .
nothing is said , but just the image of someone walking down a sidewalk says it all .
the relationship that results between judith and pat is true - to - life and sincere .
as we watch these two people talk , and get to know each other , all that we wish for them both is to be happy , even if that does not include for them to become romantically involved .
and as , " living out loud , " which is one of the best films of the year , proves ,
sometimes a friendship is the strongest bond anyone could possibly ask for .

A: P
****
Q: even the best comic actor is at the mercy of his or her material , as this subpar submarine comedy proves .
down periscope stars kelsey " frasier " grammer as an inept navy captain who is given command of his own ship as part of a corrupt officer 's ( james coburn ) plan to get him out of the navy .
like any lame emsemble comedy , the officer assigns him to a group of misfits like the guy who wants to be kicked out , the fat guy who eats all the time , the beautiful woman who does n't belong there ( lauren holly ) , the second - in - command who does everything by the book ( rob schneider ) , the crazy old guy who freaks everyone out ( harry dean stanton ) and so on .
then comes the transparent plotline .
first grammer has to fix up the delapidated korean war ship the navy has given him , and that comes courtesy a sad sight gag montage
that includes a guy with a mop knocking schneider overboard .
after the ship is fixed up come the early drills , where everyone seems completely inept , like the electrician who ca n't connect wires so instead lets the current run through himself every time grammer gets on the phone .
finally , and this covers the final hour of the movie , grammer has to lead his men ( and holly ) to overcome the other ships in a wargames exercise .
and he has to be a clever rebel to do it ,
in scenes that stretch all levels of believability .
first they 're singing " louie louie " like a bunch of drunk sailors to throw the radar of the other ship off , then thirty minutes later , they 're making whale mating noises to throw the radar of the other ship off .
the whole while , evil captain coburn is overacting underwater , cursing grammer ( as most people watching the movie probably are too ) .
it 's all predictable without any original humor to redeem it .
the jokes are right out of " mchale 's navy " and other cut - rate sitcoms of the past .
there 's one scene where schneider looks through the ship 's pantry in disgust , holds one food can up and announces , " this expired in 1966 !
" i yelled back at the screen , " so did these jokes .
"
i watched this movie with the whole family and everyone hated it
.
my mom was so bored
she brought out the coupon book midway through and , around the start of the second hour ,
i started writing my will .
the blame ca n't really be placed on the stars , though .
kelsey grammer is good in this , he just does n't have anything to work with .
his character is said to have gotten so drunk one night that he had " welcome aboard " tatooed on his penis .
grammer probably did something even worse -- got really drunk and agreed to appear in a movie he knew nothing about .
same for holley ( save the penis part )
, who is likeable in down periscope just because she 's so gorgeous .
as for schneider ( whose character is downright annoying ) , there was nowhere to go but up after surf ninjas , although he 's still in the depths of the comedy ocean after jumping the " snl " ship .
my theory is that down periscope is one of those movies that got the green light before the script was even written as a formula comedy ( " okay , it 's police academy in the navy with frasier at the helm and the chick from dumb and dumber . " )
and after everyone was signed on turned into a disaster .
judging from the video box , most other movie critics agree with me .
the only quote the down periscope copy writers could dig up came from the prevue channel 's jim ferguson .
i guess even jeff craig from " 60 second preview " ( who said tank girl " kicks butt ! " without ever seeing it ) did n't like this .

A:
N
****