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

based on the novel set in 1914 by joseph conrad , victory spins a tale of a pair of lovers , heyst ( william dafoe ) and alma ( irene jacob ) , who seek refuge on heyst 's isolated island .
however , their idyllic world begins to crumble upon the arrival of mr jones ( sam neil ) , martin ricardo ( rufus sewell ) and their servant , pedro ( graziano marcelli ) , who have come to steal heyst 's rumoured plunder .
while the novel is largely complex in characterization , the film sadly transposes conrad 's characters into lacklustre leads , the most disappointing being heyst himself .
conrad 's heyst adheres religiously to his late father 's ways of detachment and isolation .
his ascetic lifestyle is thrown into question when he meets alma , a helpless orchestra girl who charms him with her voice .
the struggle to embrace the arrival of alma into his solitude , however , is lost in mark peploe 's ( director and writer ) diluted version of heyst . without properly establishing the crucial details of heyst 's character , all that is left of conrad 's main character is a very shallow treatment of his internal conflict between detachment and human involvement .
on the one hand , actualizing the subtext is a mammoth task ( though not impossible ) , but on the other hand , dafoe 's flat acting can not be excused as an attempt at stoicism .
in the end , we are supposed to witness heyst renounce his philosophy and finally come to an understanding of what it is to love another .
the final transformation , while perceptible , lacks the cathartic revelation which is undeniable in conrad 's novel .
its absence in the film is unforgivable .
the film seems more concerned about moving the plot along when so much has yet to be said about the relationship between the two complete strangers .
alma is supposed to have overcome great emotional barriers in the relationship , namely heyst 's underlying philosophy of detachment , which heyst himself grapples with .
the struggle against heyst 's ignorance of true human involvement accounts for much of the greatness of alma 's love for him .
jacob , fair - skinned , gentle and yet passionate , handles the role with precision , detailing nuances where possible .
unfortunately , she is let down by a superficial script .
the couple 's relationship develops too hastily , leaving all subtlety effaced and replaced with a blatant show - and - tell approach .
all we know of the characters are mostly explained by their lines alone .
this is unsatisfactory when so much of the turmoil experienced by the two stem from their buried thoughts and emotions .
the sketchy handling of their relationship stands out as sorely as dafoe 's american accent ( an inappropriate one since heyst spent most of his life in london ) .
the other characters such as schomberg ( jean yanne ) , the owner of a hotel , and mr jones ( sam neill ) , also fall short of conrad 's meticulous characterization .
while schomberg should have been more menacing and vindictive , mr jones should have been portrayed as something more of an enigma .
sam neil 's caricature of a slightly stout , effeminate and soft - spoken gentleman - at - large nullifies the effect intended by conrad who describes mr jones as " an insolent spectre on leave from hades , endowed with skin and bones and a subtle power of terror " .
poor characterization aside
, kudos goes to rufus sewell for his excellent portrayal of ricardo , secretary to mr jones , a reckless ruffian capable of murder .
sewell , with his cockney accent and large expressive green eyes , becomes the true terror of the unholy trinity , masterminding deceitful plans behind jones ' back .
at the same time , we are entertained by the foolhardiness of his plans .
despite the authentic setting and marvellous cinematography by bruno de keyzer ,
very few images are left behind for us to savour after the film has ended
. sourabaya and its surrounding islands and volcanoes may have their charm , but mean nothing once the film fails to capture the essence of an epic , which is what victory deserves to be .
the delicately inter - woven complexities in the love story are lost to an inadequate production .
at the end of the film , we are told that perhaps alma 's victory was in teaching heyst how to love .
a hollow victory indeed .
the flying inkpot 's rating system :
* wait for the video .
*
* a little creaky , but still better than staying at home with gotcha !
*
* * pretty good , bring a friend .
*
*
* * amazing , potent stuff .
*
*
*
* * perfection . see it twice .
N

ever feel you 're spending your whole life on the net ( ouch ! ) , eating , breathing and excreting web sites ? that your most meaningful relationships are being formed on the net ? that you get your best sex on the net ?
if first - time director hal salwen could shoot an entire movie of characters typing at their computers , he would .
as it is , he settles for characters talking on the phone .
denise calls up is a movie for and about the electronic generation , where characters are too caught up with their work and insecurities prefer to live out their relationships and fantasies on the phone .
it 's a satire - and
a sometimes funny one - about how we let handphones , call - waiting and answering machines run our lives .
the problem : denise calls up is a movie about an idea .
a darn good one , but still an 80 minute - long idea .
and despite salwen 's attempt at plots and sub - plots , despite some genuinely funny moments , you can predict the movie 's outcome within the first fifteen minutes .
you get the drift after a series of shots of characters explaining over the phone why they all could n't make it for a party - nobody is going to be meeting anybody in this film , they would rather be talking on the phone .
here 's salwen 's plot
: while all the characters are in a dysfunctional , telefixated limbo , loud quirky stranger denise calls up martin to announce that she is pregnant with his child , courtesy of the sperm he donated to the local bank . as martin progresses from slamming the phone on her to long phone conversations over the baby 's name , his friends - and his friends ' friends - get involved , courtesy of call - waiting and double - lines .
in the tigher and more tantalizing sub - plot , barbara and jerry are set up on a blind date that neither turns up for .
both profess to have too complicated schedules to ever meet , but they get it going over the phone .
with repeated phone sex comes a glitch ; what if the other person is simply faking it ?
denise calls up scores with some inspired moments .
mousy barbara metamorphoses into a vamp over her cordless , everyone shares the excitement of denise 's delivery through a conference call to her handphone , and barbara 's best friend gale is killed in a car accident while taling animatedly into another friend 's answering machine .
( as gale 's overly - chatty aunt recounts , her cordless was knicked into her ear and lodged in her brain . )
but these moments are not enough to sustain the movie .
the pace sags , the dialogue drags and not much acting appears to be required of the telephone - touters .
and the ending is literally a non - event as expected , everyone is too chicken to turn up for the party frank throws in gale 's memory despite promising over the phone that they will .
we get the point .
the movie appears to be intent on flogging its terribly-'90s statement until they have it coming out of your ears .
pun intended .
there 's even a on the movie 's web site where you can win cellular phones ( as if we have n't had enough of these things already ) .
watch the movie only if you find it philosophy
compelling enough for a earful .
the flying inkpot 's rating system :
* wait for the video .
*
* a little creaky , but still better than staying at home with gotcha !
*
* * pretty good , bring a friend .
*
*
* * amazing , potent stuff .
*
*
*
* * perfection . see it twice .
N

dreamworks pictures presents a jinks/ cohen company production kevin spacey annette bening " american beauty " thora birch allison janney peter gallagher mena suvari wes bentley and chris cooper co - producers stan wlodkowski alan ball music by thomas newman costume designer julie weiss
film editor tariq anway chris greenbury production designer naomi shohan director of photography conrad
l . hall , a .
s .
c .
produced by bruce cohen & dan jinks written by alan ball directed by sam mendes
" both my wife and daughter think i 'm this gigantic loser .
and they 're right .
i have lost something .
i did n't always feel this sedated .
" with that piece of dialogue , we are fully introduced to lester burnham ( kevin spacey ) , a 42 year old man trapped within his own life .
lester works for an advertising agency .
his growing dissatisfaction with his job is only one of the mid - life crisis he is suffering .
estranged from both his wife and his daughter , lester starts to crack under the stress .
his life becomes nothing more than a series of mastubatory fantasies , and sullen apathy .
carolyn burnham ( annette bening ) , is the prototypical career woman/ homemaker .
she carefully tends her rose garden , decorates her home with the best furnishings .
but inside she is desperate .
unsuccessful at her profession as a real estate agent , she drives herself into states of denial and self loathing that only feed her growing resentment towards her family .
the third member of this anti - family is jane burnham ( thora birch ) , lester and carolyn 's daughter .
a young girl going through the typical stages of adolescence , but having to also come to terms with her families growing dysfunction .
this funny ( and frightening ) slice of life is refreshingly simple .
not one character is given less than is needed to identify him or her .
some of the most telling characters are those that serve to highlight other characters .
most notably is barbara fitts ( allison janney ) , the almost catatonic wife of retired marine colonel fitts .
she has almost no dialogue , and seems to be either recovering from a stroke or suffering from one .
colonel fitts ( chris cooper ) is an angry and frightened man .
his rage directed almost singularly at his son , ricky ( wes bentley ) who has just moved with his family to the same neighborhood as the burnham 's .
in fact they are the next door neighbors .
anymore detail into the personalities of these marvelously diverse characters would deprive one of the many pleasures and surprises to be had in " american beauty " .
alan ball , who was the co - executive producer of the hit tv series " cybil " and creator of the new sitcom
" oh grow up " , has fashioned one of the most insightful and expertly tuned screenplays to have hit the screen in the past ten years . not one character in this film rings falsely .
and the depth of personality in each , is achingly honest and insightful .
the plot detailing the last year in the life of a man as he tries to find his own self worth is so resoundingly cliched and at the same time original as to bring to mind such marvelous film work as " the graduate " or " lolita " .
kevin spacey turns in one of this years most pragmatic performances .
his lester burnham is an everyman caught up in the middle of a life that is spiraling into old age .
finally unable to deal with the lost soul that he has become , lester tries to return to his youth .
he quits his job ( actually blackmailing his employer for one year 's salary ) , starts smoking pot , fantasizes about his daughter 's girlfriend angela ( mena suvari , in a marvelous performance here ) , starts working out , and finally takes a job at the local fast food outlet .
mr .
spacey 's performance is so remarkably subtle and ingenuous , that we can be certain that come oscar ? time ,
we can be assured to see him name among the five nominees .
annette bening also turns in what may be the best performance of her career .
carolyn burnham is a woman who has become so insecure as to be caught up in maintaining the facade of normalcy . unable to cope with her growing disillusionment , she forces herself to maintain her demeanor , driving her further and further into desperation , adultery and possibly murder .
ms .
bening makes the character of carolyn so compelling as to be identifiable to almost anyone .
the slow and methodical turn from happy home maker to charnel house martha stewart is too frightening to express in words .
thora birch holds her own against the talents cast with her .
jane burnham is both an innocent girl caught up in what is a dysfunctional family , and a rebellious child ready to abandon them at any moment .
her growing distrust and isolation from her family is something that many parents should view as a warning .
she is the prototypical trophy child .
when carolyn praises her daughter after a performance by her cheerleading team ( " i 'm so proud of you , honey .
you did n't screw up once ! " ) , the bitterness and resentment are palpable .
thora birch is a young actress to watch
. praise must also go to chris cooper who brings yet another angry father role to life with depth and resonance .
colonel finn is a man in complete denial .
his military upbringing masking a desire he is too repulsed to even comprehend .
wes bentley as ricky finn is fine as the enigma .
the boy next door who may be more foe than friend .
a deceitful and calculating young man , whose voyeuristic proclivities mask a deeper and more profound understanding of life than any of the adults around him .
mr .
bentley 's performance is the one troublesome note in the film .
that is simply because the character is such a grand and complete liar , that one almost faults the performance for it .
director sam mendes handles all of the particulars of the cast and the settings with a sure and composed style that is neither intrusive nor subtle .
scenes of carolyn walking through the rain , carry an ominous fission that calls attention to the emotions of the character .
the subtle cinematography by conrad hall is wonderful , capturing the season in all of it 's harsh beauty
( fall has never looked so inviting , yet depressing ) .
every nuance of " american beauty " begs it 's audience to think and examine .
it is a film that will be discussed and debated for years to come .
and well it should , as
it is simply one of this years best .

P