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

Q: cradle will rock is the latest effort from director / actor tim robbins .
while he may have had an oscar worthy film back in 1995 ( dead man walking ) ,
he gets a little overconfident and sloppy here .
the story is confusing , and filled with many subplots , so i 'll try my best and explain it as simply as possible .
the film is based on a " mostly " true story about a federal theater in the 1930s , that produced a play ( the cradle will rock ) that apparently was offensive to some , so the government shuts it down .
it 's during the time of the depression , and all this theater wants to do is entertain and cheer up those who do not have jobs , or are poor .
between this conflict lies what seems like 10 subplots , about those who work in theater , or those associated .
also along the way are some other messages mashed together to create an even more overwhelming experience .
tim robbin 's just keeps piling on political views , and characters , that we just give up on the film , or in some cases walk out .
for robbin 's it may be a nice achievement , but to me it seemed more like a friendly get together with slightly more sophisticated dialogue , and fancy outfits .
i thought the main reason for seeing the film would be for the outstanding cast ,
unfortunately are all uninteresting , except for a few .
let me recap what each important character does , so please bear with me
( it 's the least you can do , especially if you were considering seeing this ) .
i 'll begin with those involved with the play .
there 's orson welles ( angus macfadyen ) who of course is the director of the play , the producer john houseman ( cary elwes ) , marc blitzstein ( hank azaria ) the writer of the play , emily watson , a woman who gets her break by playing the main part in cradle will rock .
outside the play there 's the : ventriloquist ( bill murray ) who wants a relationship with a federal theater clerk ( joan cusack ) , another subplot involving a painter diego rivera ( ruben blades ) who 's unhappy that his painting is too be destroyed by nelson rockefeller because he feels it to be an outrage ( john cusack ) .
there 's a few other actresses and actors who have their own stories ( susan sarandon , philip baker hall too name a few ) but those that i mentioned , were the most significant to the story .
anyway , most of these talented hollywood stars were completely wasted , except for emily watson , who does another great job , and one of my personal favorite actors john cusack , who always delivers through thick and thin .
now although most of the film was weak to say the least , there were some nice moments and some involving subjects , but all this is overblown
.
sure the free speech segment was a nice feature , but not when it becomes repetitive .
the whole film is like this , and it 's basically nothing but a headache
.
on the brighter side , tim robbin 's direction was masterful .
his camera direction seemed reminiscent to the works of paul thomas anderson 's latest magnolia , only smoother in my opinion , but even that ca n't make a movie that much better .
although it has it 's moments ( not many of them , but they 're there ) , cradle will rock stays true to it 's title , because the cradle rocked too far and tipped over .

A: N
****
Q: there 's no reason to doubt that donnie brasco is based , as its opening credits proclaim , on a true story .
but if it 's an accurate picture of life on america 's mean streets , than cinematic depictions of organised crime have had a much stronger basis in reality than i would have previously thought .
for from the film 's outset , when a group of hoods jocularly trade differing opinions on the merits of various automobiles ( not unlike a number of movie lowlifes who recently gave a madonna song a close reading ) donnie brasco resembles more than passingly a few gangster flicks once believed to be works of fiction .
our eponymous hero ( johnny depp ) is not the cheap crook he first appears to be .
brasco is joseph pistone , an undercover fbi agent who has the task of chumming - up to lefty ( al pacino ) , a seasoned hood who tutors pistone in the art of being a " wiseguy " .
regrettably , pistone learns his lessons all too well .
his concern for lefty , who is burdened with a heroin addicted son , exacerbates his own family troubles : his children resent his lengthy absences and his wife fears that her husband 's gangster persona is becoming a little too convincing .
true , the focus on pistone 's family life does deviate from the typical gangster - flick formula , but this subplot never rises above its television drama origins .
the unhappy couple trade predictable lines and engage in drawn - out domestic squabbles ? including an ill - advised marriage guidance routine ?
that slow the film down unnecessarily . the biggest problem with donnie brasco , however , is that its wiseguy attitude and style lacks the flair of its many predecessors .
the awkward use of an occasional disco tune momentarily reminds us its the 70 's , but not with the consistent and blindingly tacky style ?
i loved those fluoro coloured suits ? of scorces ' costume drama casino .
more importantly , pacino 's presence triggers memories of his earlier movie triumphs in which similar territory was covered far more effectively .
donnie brasco 's take on american values , for instance , is feeble and obvious .
lefty rambles out dreams of material betterment to the accompaniment of grating inspirational music .
inexplicably , lefty 's horatio alger inspired gush is supposed to move us .
it does n't any more than his family troubles do , which are dealt in the same saccharine and obvious manner as pistone 's .
just think a minute on how these themes were explored in the godfather movies and scarface .
in these pictures pacino 's dedication to a peculiar and bloody hyper - capitalism was twisted and confronting , while his dogged application of macho wiseguy procedure meant that his relations to friends and family was intriguingly dark ?
neither were spared bloody retribution for breaching wiseguy regulations .
donnie brasco 's tawdry little crime , therefore is n't so much its repetition of familiar gangster themes , but
the shameless way in which it sanitises them .
( oh and by the way , i forgot to mention that the script also sports a startling subplot : pipstone 's superiors are obstructive incompetents who are infuriated by his constant insubordination ?
is that a " damn you mcbain !
" i hear from springfield way ? )
so
the movie is cliched .
big deal
, what do you expect from a gangster - flick ?
well you expect quality action sequences and bravado performances in abundance if its going to be a decent example of the genre .
donnie brasco fails on both counts .
the action scenes never rise above the ordinary and depp 's woeful performance tends to smother the good - work of his comrades .
admittedly , pacino does nothing new and michael madsen ( sonny ) simply smirks his way through the picture like a slightly subdued mr .
white , but both possess an unmistakable sly charm .
depp usually exhibits a bit of class himself , but regrettably , being in the presence of one of his betters must have left him star - struck , for he is completely hell - bent on mimicking pacino 's well - earned high style .
the consequences are painful to watch .
its no exaggeration to say that the film 's credibility is seriously strained by the sight of the pistone family 's uncanny ability to keep a straight face in front of their breadwinner 's phony brooklyn accent .
perhaps we should take pity on the makers of donnie brasco .
maybe a scrupulous adherence to pinpoint accuracy demanded tiered dialogue and scenarios weakly reminiscent of classic gangster flicks .
if this is indeed the case , surely the makers of donnie brasco could have explored the fascinating possibility that america 's underworld is committed to emulating , albeit in heavily attenuated form , their movie namesakes .
depp could have poignantly played a simple cop who becomes a hideous parody once he is forced to mimic big - screen gangster greats .
who knows what insights into the criminal psyche could have arisen ?
but then again , perhaps donnie brasco is n't so true after all .

A: N
****
Q: "
i know what you did last summer , " the first high - profile slasher thriller to be released after 1996 's " scream , " and written by the same screenwriter , kevin williamson , is a stylish , effective horror film that became 1997 's biggest hit of the fall season .
while " scream " was a more knowing film about the genre , " i know what you did last summer " is more reminiscent of a straight - forward slasher flick , but it is far more intelligent than such bottom - of - the - barrel guilty pleasures as all nine of the " friday the 13th " films ( well , okay ,
" jason goes to hell
" was pure hell to sit through ) .
the film starts off with four talented , aspiring teenage friends who have just graduated from high school in their small boating town of southport , n .
c .
it is the 4th of july , and they will soon be heading their separate ways .
kind - hearted julie ( jennifer love hewitt ) , and outsider ray ( freddie prinze jr . ) will be headed off to college , while helen ( sarah michelle gellar ) , who has just been honored croaker queen in the town , and her ignorant jock boyfriend , barry ( ryan phillippe ) , are going to new york to become an actress and football player .
when the four of them travel to a nearby mountain - side beach for the evening , they are dismayed after hitting a man in the road on their way home .
distraught and confused , they decide they ca n't go to the police because they will be charged with manslaughter ,
so they devise a plan to throw the apparently dead victim off a peer into the ocean , in hopes no one will find him .
julie is apprehensive about it , but is forced into it by barry .
switch to exactly a year later , julie , still unable to come to terms with what she did , reluctantly returns home from college to find that all three of her old friends are still in the town because their career plans did not work out .
almost immediately , julie recieves an ominous letter that simply reads , " i know what you did last summer , " and that is the start of their problems as they find themselves being terrorized by a mysterious figure dressed in fisherman gear and yielding a giant hook .
"
i know what you did last summer , " is a successful horror film for a number of reasons .
the cinematography by denis crossan could very well be described as hitchcockian , as it put shadows , fog , steam , and other clever devices to add atmosphere to the proceedings .
the characters , particularly julie and helen , are realistically written , and the film amazingly deals with their broken relationship in a few scenes , which is largely uncharacteristic in films of this sort .
and last , the film creates a few dazzling and scary set - pieces that are some of the most memorable
i 've seen in a horror movie , particularly the suspenseful , superbly shot sequence involving helen at her family 's store with the killer inside with her .
perhaps the best character is that of missy egan ( anne heche )
, a lonely backwoods woman whose brother was the one julie thinks they hit .
heche 's performance is a standout , as she is able to create a full character in only about ten minutes of screen time .
"
i know what you did last summer , " could have been a great horror movie if not for a few problems .
prinze jr .
gives a performance to be desired here , and much of his dialogue sounds wooden coming out of his mouth .
also , the climax of the film almost completely loses its frightening grip after it unveils the mystery killer , who is a decidedly bad actor and should not have been given any lines .
luckily , the penultimate scene saves the disappointing finale , which includes an expertly crafted " jump - in - your - seat " scare .
in the main roles , hewitt and gellar are highly talented , and hewitt , especially , is one of the best screamers i 've ever heard .
she honestly could give jamie lee curtis a little competition for the best " scream queen . " and gellar is touching as a young woman who , in the course of one year , finds her dream of being an actress ultimately shattered .
although not up to the level of either " scream " movies , or the more recent , " urban legend , " " i know what you did last summer " is a respectable , smartly - scripted slasher film that firmly proved good horror movies were once again being made .

A:
P
****