TASK DEFINITION: In this task, you must classify if a given review is positive/negative, indicating your answer as P or N.
PROBLEM: plot : this movie takes place over one day .
it 's a rookie cop 's narcotics training alongside a seasoned police veteran .
the rookie does n't know much about " street justice " , so the older cop teaches him about the way things work in the " real world " .
how even cops like themselves have to " bend the rules " and " break the law " every now and then , in order to catch the really bad guys .
critique : a pretty intense little movie with solid acting across the board , some ups , some downs and a thrilling ending , despite a couple of small flaws .
i really enjoyed this movie because it followed two extreme characters and put them in situations which had me wondering about what i would do if i were in their place .
the film gets right into the " dirty " side of , well .
..
the dirt on the streets , and proceeds to teach the rookie cop ( and us , the audience ) how things really work down there .
of course , we 're receiving this lesson from a man who has put away a lot of scum in his time , but the things he seems to be doing are n't exactly on the up - and - up either . and therein , lies the fun of the film .
do you agree that you yourself would need to break a few small laws in order to put away the people who break the really big ones ?
well , as the film moves along , we 're given two points of view in respect to this predicament , and to me , both sides made sense at some point or another . and
you got ta give a lot of credit to the screenplay for that , the director , who builds the film up wonderfully ( with the darkness of the day leading to the darkness in the script ) and the two actors who deliver their parts in spades .
hawke , first off , because he rarely plays these " commercial " roles but does so perfectly here , with a vulnerable side which has you feeling for the bastard right off the top .
and denzel , well , what can you say about mr .
washington that has n't already been said before ?
he comes through as per his usual high - level style here , and gives the audience a completely different side to his talent , of which , i personally would like to see more .
he 's nice
, he 's not so nice , he 's smart , he 's not so smart , he 's caring
and he 's a dog all the way .
the few problems that i did have with this film included the redundant nature of the whole thing at some point ( okay , we get it .
..
you have to be nasty in order to deal with these nasty people .
.. move on ) and this one really major " coincidence " which involved a bathtub , that saved the day for one character , but seemed a little too " convenient " for my taste .
i also never really understood how washington 's character got out of a certain dire predicament , only to be seen driving his car in the very next scene .
but obviously these small flaws did n't taint my overall enjoyment of this tense drama , a film that gets you right into the streets , into the nooks and the crannies , and into the moral dilemma which lies between the justice system and the day - to - day drug busts .
see it if you want to wrestle with some of these issues yourself
, see it if you want to see denzel and ethan strike up a palpable chemistry on - screen , and see it if you like holding on to your seat - handles real tight during a movie .
in fact , see it for the scene in which ethan hawke plays cards with a host of gang - bangers alone .
..
dang
, now that 's intense !
where 's joblo coming from ?
the corruptor ( 7/10 ) - crimson tide ( 9/10 ) - l. a.
confidential ( /10 )
- lethal weapon ( 8/10 ) - requiem for a dream ( 8/10 ) - seven ( 10/10 ) - shaft ( 7/10 ) - traffic ( 8/10 )

SOLUTION: P

PROBLEM: jerry springer has got nothing on " wild things .
"
john mcnaughton 's new thriller tackles more tawdry themes in less than two hours than springer 's notoriously sleazy talk show broadcasts in two weeks -- bisexuality
, threesomes , poolside catfights , slutty rich bimbos , even redneck gator - wrestling , they 're all part of the movie 's raucous , complex storyline .
but even trash
tv topicality ca n't drag " wild things " down -- this crazy campfest
plays like something you 'd find late - night on the usa network , only infinitely more palatable and with a solid ensemble cast .
despite a smattering of needless scenes ( most of them sexual in nature ) , there 's wicked fun to be had here .
" wild things " would be a guilty pleasure , only there 's no guilty feeling involved in having a good time with it .
high school guidance counselor sam lombardo ( matt dillon ) is well - liked in the town of blue bay , especially by pretty , popular kelly van ryan ( denise richards ) , whose family name is among the florida yachting enclave 's most financially prominent .
hoping to take her crush to a physical level , kelly seductively slinks into lombardo 's house after washing his jeep for a fundraiser , but , the very next day , tearfully admits to her trollop mother ( theresa russell ) that she was raped .
before long , blue bay detectives ray duquette ( kevin bacon ) and gloria perez ( daphne rubin - vega ) are listening to similar allegations from kelly 's rebel classmate suzie toller ( neve campbell ) .
lombardo , who maintains his innocence , hires neck brace - sporting , opportunistic lawyer ken
bowden ( bill murray ) to defend him in court .
the previews give away the following revelations , so if you have n't seen any of the movie 's spots on the television or in the theater , you might want to skip to the next paragraph .
while cross - examining suzie on the witness stand , bowden gets her to break down and admit that the alleged rapes never took place -- that kelly had concocted this entire scheme because she was angry that lombardo was sleeping with her mother and not with her .
to pay lombardo for the damages , kelly 's mother breaks her daughter 's trust fund and gives him $ 8 . 5 million .
but lombardo , kelly and suzie are actually all working together , and plan to take the money and run as fast as they can .
duquette and perez , however , begin to suspect that there 's more afoot to the case than just false accusations .
if there 's a major drawback to " wild things , " it 's that it 's oversexed to a fault .
the much - talked - about hotel room menage - a - trois between dillon , campbell and richards is a turn - off .
it 's also cut short ( sorry , guys ) , and should have been cut shorter -- the movie grinds to a halt for pure titillation once too often .
what we do n't see is far more effective than what we do .
another example of this is kevin bacon needlessly going the full monty in a shower scene .
er , no thanks .
also , bacon 's duquette feels simultaneously underdeveloped and overwritten .
daphne rubin - vega , from broadway 's " rent , " tries to compensate for a superfluous character .
theresa russell is just plain wooden .
and when , in the end , all is out in the open , ask yourself if certain scenes involving these three were really necessary .
but what keeps the movie from being
throwaway junk is an engaging chain of surprises
( some predictable , some not ) that never seems to end .
" wild things " has more twists than a crate full of corkscrews , and most are so gleefully , over - the - top nasty that you ca n't help but be charmed by their absurd showmanship .
a great deal of amusement also comes from watching bill murray in a supporting part that appears to have been written for his sly comedic talent ;
murray 's a stitch , especially when pulling up beside the van ryan limo after winning lombardo 's case and flipping them off .
and do n't leave when the closing credits hit the screen , or you 'll miss the film 's best part -- four bonus flashbacks that smooth over plot holes while offering a few more tiny turns , plus a final scene that caps everything off with a great stunner of a bombshell .
speaking of bombshells , denise richards , who plays almost every scene in a blue bikini top , does the teen tease thing with a malicious allure that she was never allowed to flaunt in " starship troopers .
"
matt dillon flexes
his sleepy - voiced sex appeal , and pulls off personality changes with chameleonic precision .
neve campbell ,
lovely as ever except when sporting a blond wig , gives suzie a vengeful vulnerability that makes her the most interesting member of the conspiring trio .
re - edited and toned down a bit , the dynamics between these three actors could have carried the film to greater lengths .
but what we 're given works well enough .
" wild things " is highly entertaining and , indeed , very wild .

SOLUTION: P

PROBLEM: in a flashback , the teenage girl in the eccentric family in the canadian film , the hanging garden , tells her senile grandmother that she is going to a school dance .
horrified , the grandmother wants to know if her granddaughter knows " the rule of 6 .
" if you do n't break off a kiss by the count of 6 , then you committed a sin with the boy .
and most of all , the grandmother wants to know if she has " protection ?
"
she must carry a rosary in her pocket at all times .
the richly acted film is written and directed by thom fitzgerald in a quirky but loving style .
although some may refer to the film as yet another dysfunctional family picture , that moniker misses the mark .
yes , every member of the household has their own special problems , but the writer did n't choose to name so many characters for various flowers by accident .
this delightful little picture mixes love , tragedy and pathos , resulting in a hopeful and almost magical concoction .
during the opening credits we observe the boy , sweet william , at the center of the story .
first , he 's an average sized young lad who is slapped off - screen by his father .
next , he 's 300 pound teenager , played with hopelessness and depression by troy veinotte .
when the opening credits end , we cut to 10 years later .
william is now an average - sized , reasonably happy adult , played with love and compassion by chris leavins .
william has returned after 10 years absence to attend the marriage of his free - spirited and foul - mouthed sister rosemary to his first childhood lover , fletcher ( joe s .
keller ) .
kerry fox from an angel at my table and shallow grave plays rosemary with a compelling joy .
nicole burnell , who gave such a devastating performance in the sweet hereafter , plays the teenage rosemary .
the father of the family , whiskey mac ( peter macneill ) , is an alcoholic autocrat who is more obnoxious than harmful .
his wife , iris ( seana mckenna ) , says that she would have left him years ago to at least go to some place warm were it not for her lack of money and her obligations to the kids . rounding out the family is christine dunsworth as nine - year - old violet , the sister whom william meets for the first time .
as the exuberant irish music fills the air at the wedding in the family home , william wanders off to try on one of his old coats , which causes him to laugh at the size of his former self .
the director manages to stage simple scenes in wonderfully imaginative ways .
he takes a common wedding dress train and uses it to set up scenes in fresh and fascinating ways .
rosmary 's trip to the bathroom after drinking too much beer is beautifully orchestrated , and kerry fox is at her hilarious best trying to cope with the long train in a small bath , all while talking to her brother . as much as anything , the film is a series of character sketches .
in one of the strongest we watch william in a flashback as he has his first sexual encounter , a homosexual one . although he is perfectly happy liking the same sex , his mother is aghast .
a woman friend of hers suggests she take william to a local housewife , dusty miller ( martha irving ) , who , for a fee , will have heterosexual sex with william .
with absolute finesse the director crafts a subtle scene that manages to yield significant emotional punch without being sensational .
dusty , after asking iris to watch her daughter , takes william and gently introduces him to the joys of sex with the opposite sex .
all of this notwithstanding
, he still prefers males .
the film is at its most poignant in several sequences in which the grown william comes face - to - face with himself when younger .
this causes his ugly old memories to be reignited .
in the most devastating , he has to come to grips with his former self who was so overwhelmed with the stress that he tried to hang himself .
even here , the director touches your heart without ever letting the story dissolve into anything approaching a tearjerker .
the ultimate result is an uplifting story that has more hope that one would ever expect from the outline of its plot .
the hanging garden runs 1 : 31 .
it is rated r for strong sexuality , language , violence and some teen drug use and would be acceptable for teenagers only if they are quite old and mature .

SOLUTION:
P