TASK DEFINITION: In this task, you must classify if a given review is positive/negative, indicating your answer as P or N.
PROBLEM: if he does n't watch out , mel gibson is in danger of being known as someone other than mad max .
of course there are still a few big guns in this film , but there 's some accomplished acting too .
although gibson continues to shed his rough and gritty anti - hero skin as his career progresses , here he explores a new genre : the businessman as action hero .
in ron howard 's latest film , gibson plays tom mullen , a gazillionaire airline owner whose son is snatched from the junior science fair by kidnappers .
mullen at first agrees to pay the ransom , but when things fall apart he rethinks the situation .
a veteran of numerous hard - nosed business negotiations , the tycoon realizes that in order to get his son back alive , he has to play his hand differently .
the casting is what puts this film over the top .
the trio of gibson , the kidnappers ' mastermind ( gary sinise ) and fbi team leader ( delroy lindo ) play off of each other wonderfully .
sinise is perfect as the driven scheming sleezebag is right on the mark .
his speech to mullen over a walkie talkie about h .
g .
wells ' morlocks and eloi reveal his vision of society .
mullen and the other glitteratti frolic up on high while sinise and the other lowlifes
dwell below , feeding off the unsuspecting .
gibson 's character is an all - american hero with a few flaws .
his cowboy tactics tend to work , but they are also what got him into this situation to begin with .
in a round about way , if he were n't known as a man who is willing to buy his way out of trouble , his son would n't have been kidnapped .
as sinise says " you 're a payer .
you did it once
and now you 're going to do it again .
" one of the nicest elements of this film is that most of the characters actually have personalities .
lindo calls home to talk to his kids , obviously shaken at working this case .
even the kidnappers are real people , arguing about the ultimate fate of sean mullen and feeding him candy bars .
gibson 's break - down on the balcony of their penthouse apartment is especially effective .
it 's one of the best filmed representations of a man 's world falling apart that i 've seen
.
it 's not all perfect .
the shoot 'em upending , while emotionally satisfying seems tacked on to be just that rather than to provide a powerful resolution .
as well crafted as the scene is , we 've seen it before .
mullen 's wife ( rene russo ) has several good moments , but occasionally just seems to be there .
while adequate , brawley nolte ( sean ) does n't provide much to the film other than occupying space to build the story around .
but you 'll ignore these problems as each minute of the movie builds on the previous one .
forget about the large coke , you wo n't want to leave for that five minute break an hour later .

SOLUTION: P

PROBLEM: carla gugino graduates from high school and instead of staying in her small farming town , she goes to college in california .
there she meets the residential advisor pauly shore , who is a city boy .
when gugino goes back home for thanksgiving , she brings shore with her , and her parents ( lane smith and cindy pickett ) are less than thrilled .
dan gauthier , gugino 's boyfriend from high school , proposes to gugino .
gugino is n't ready for anything like this
so she makes up the story that she is engaged to shore .
she and shore have to make it look like they are engaged while her parents try to make it end .
forget jurassic park , cliffhanger , the firm and last action hero , son - in - law is the film to see this summer .
son - in - law is a great romantic comedy that should please the viewers , especially fans of the wiez .
when son - in - law is long gone and forgotten , the blockbuster summer films will still be playing and you will have a chance to see them then .
this film could also make great video fare for those that are leery of spending seven dollars on it .
nothing will be lost by watching it on a television screen .
although the basic story line has been done many , many times before , the film is still fun to watch .
the laughs are plentiful , especially when the wiez is around .
the way some of the jokes are done are new , even though some of the jokes are old .
there are also several new jokes that , at least , i have n't seen before .
still , when presented right , even old material can be funny still .
this film is just basically a light comedy that is great to see if you are in the right mood that does n't contain much violence or any nudity that is definitely worth full ticket price .
the cast for this film does an excellent job .
pauly shore ( encino man ) is the star attraction of this film .
he is great , and knows how to entertain the audience .
pauly shore just seems to take over the entire screen when he is on with expressions and comments that are hilarious .
this film would definitely not have been as good with anyone else in this role .
carla gugino
does a very good job as the farm girl gone city girl .
she makes her character believable , on some levels , yet interesting at the same time .
the person who played the grandfather ( mason adams , i believe ) also does a great job .
the way he delivered his lines kept me laughing throughout the time that he was on the screen .
patrick renna , who played gugino 's little brother , was a little annoying , but no where as near as macaulay culkin , and for only part of the time , so i can forgive him .
tiffani - amber thiessen ( a killer among friends , " saved by the bell " ) does a reasonably good job for the time that she is on screen .
she shows that she may have a potential in movies if she can get out of the corny young adults programming on television .
she was n't given overly much to do in the film , but what she had ,
she does a good job with .

SOLUTION: P

PROBLEM: john carpenter directed this stylish and gory vampire flick to which has it 's good side
and it 's bad .
it 's held up by some good performances and dazzling special effects leading up to an ending that 's pretty satisfying
.
james woods gives an outstanding performance
that almost covers up the movie .
the good side : some neat scenes of vampires and violence .
the bad : no scares .
yes
that 's right ,
even though being directed by one of horror 's most cherished directors , ' vampires ' is the least bit scary , if not at all .
james woods stars as jack
a vampire hunter out to stop the plans of the ' master ' vampire valek played by thomas ian griffith whom wants vampires to walk in the daylight .
daniel baldwin plays his sidekick montoya , a wise - cracking guy who really is n't that funny .
in the opening scene jack along with montoya and the team of vampire hunters , find an abandoned house to which vampire occupy .
of course we all know sunshine kills vampires , and that is just how they kill these vampires : hooking them to ropes and dragging them outside letting them burn to death .
after throwing a party for what happened , the vampires that did not die come back to trash it .
they kill almost all of jack 's team , leaving only a few alive .
sheryl lee plays a prostitute katrina who was bitten by valek , but not yet turned into a vampire .
she is rescued by jack and ?
flees with them on their search for valek .
they have to fight they 're way against vampires , leading up to a finale that is well - done with great special effects . '
vampires ' definately could have been done better .
the make - up , special effects and story are first rate , but there is no scares or terror that the film could have had .
it to me had more humor than horror , almost being compared to ' fright night ' with the mix of violence and comedy .
john carpenter does a great job of directing this film .
he eases through some tough times and saves the flaws , which are noticeable but forgettable .
the script is clever and funny , with many lines that make us laugh out loud .
i much enjoyed ' vampires ' with a few exceptions .
it 's one of those films you see but do n't take to heart .
you enjoy the time you spent and go on .
the recently released ' psycho ' is the same way , it 's not as good as you 'd hope
but it is fun and entertaining .
' vampires ' is a good horror flick with no scares but plenty of other content to please the viewer .

SOLUTION:
P