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

stendhal 's syndrome : a condition where , in the presence of art , a person becomes engulfed in a painting and hallucinates and may afterwards suffer symptoms such as depression , suicidal behaviour and personality disorder .
grim stuff , to be sure , but the subject of a remarkable film from italy 's master of the horror thriller dario argento . boasting an unforgettable soundtrack from the grandfather of film music ennio morricone
, the stendhal syndrome is a quite magnificent return to form for argento .
it follows his disappointing american debut trauma ( 1992 ) , the patchy opera ( 1987 ) and several mediocre films he produced for young italian director michele soavi in the late 1980 's .
based on the novel by graziella magherini , the film stars argento 's daughter asia as young roman police inspector anna manni in pursuit of a brutal rapist - killer .
visiting florence to follow up several leads , she is lured by the killer alfredo ( thomas kretschmann ) to an art gallery , a favourite haunt where he hopes to identify exactly who is on his tail .
at the gallery anna is overwhelmed by a painting and faints .
posing as a bystander , alfredo briefly comes to her aid and having now identified his pursuer , a strange game of cat and mouse begins .
a gripping story evolves , and a coherent one , too , which may surprise those familiar with argento 's often lumpy narratives .
the stendhal syndrome is not a simple cop - hunting - killer scenario .
it is a disturbing and often compelling study of the central character 's psychological disintegration .
the script explores its psycho - sexual themes with intelligence and candour , perhaps too much so for more sensitive viewers .
but as dark as its themes are , the stendhal syndrome emerges as one of the most artful and effective european thrillers of the last ten years .
argento is once again working in his native italy , and he fully exploits the opportunities to use art and architecture for both symbolic statements and as departure points for several brilliant hallucinogenic sequences . effects whiz sergio stivaletti serves his director well here , and the cinematography by giuseppe rotunno is consistently excellent .
the film 's opening 20 minutes segues between hallucination , flashback and real - time with tremendous style .
proof that , at his most inspired , argento remains one of the world 's most exhilarating filmmakers .
the cast is generally good , though marred at times by dubbing into english that renders speech all but emotionless .
asia argento 's performance is by turns risky , awkward and fascinating .
it 's a difficult role , and given her relative inexperience on screen
she deserves applause for her efforts .
thomas kretschmann is chillingly effective as alfredo , and marco leonardi ( of cinema paradiso , and possibly the most gorgeous looking man in italy ) does okay as anna 's work colleague and increasingly confused love interest .
but perhaps the stendhal syndrome 's single most striking element is ennio morricone 's soundtrack .
active since the 1960 's
, morricone has scored over 100 films in his career and this must rate as one of his finest efforts .
it 's mostly a variation on the one theme : a slow circular melody for strings and wordless female vocal possessed with an extraordinary , haunting beauty that lingers long afterwards .
it 's been three decades since argento and morricone worked together .
this is a long welcome reunion .
if the film has a fault , it is that the last half hour drags a little and the film does n't quite reach a completely satisfying climax .
but by the closing scenes , the stendhal syndrome has already offered us enough to qualify as one of the very best films of dario argento 's career .
* note : see the uncut print from japanese laserdisc if you can .
dubs of this version are available from various video dealers on the world wide web .
P

synopsis : blond criminal psychologist sarah chooses to copulate with greasy tony the mysterious puerto rican rather than bearded cliff the wisecracking neighbor upstairs .
in the meantime , someone sends sarah rotting flowers , puts her name in the newspaper 's obituary column , and kills her cat .
comments : never talk to strangers ,
a colossal waste of time , moves slower than molasses in winter to arrive at a conclusion which should be obvious to the audience 20 minutes into the film .
one would n't think that two genuine movie stars , antonio banderas ( evita ) and rebecca de mornay ( hand that rocks the cradle ) , and the acerbic comic genius dennis miller ( " saturday night live " ) would be involved in such a celluloid backfire as this turkey .
not only are they in it , however , but de mornay executive produced it .
what was she thinking ?
never talk to strangers centers upon sarah , a psychologist examining the ill - tempered max , a murderer soon to stand trial .
she receives a sudden visit from her father which elicits flashbacks of some tragedy in her early childhood .
two men woo her ; tony the " security consultant " wins her over ( so they have passionate sex replete with cheesy saxophone music ) .
a lot of psychobabble is thrown around about multiple personality disorder , but the movie asks its audience not to derive the obvious conclusion between mpd and sarah , and instead offers several male characters as red herrings .
86 minutes , the running time of this cinematic mess , thus , seem like 86 hours .
a good chunk of never talk to strangers is spent upon sarah and tony .
why would the career - minded , professional sarah feel attracted to the walking steroid with a black hat called tony ?
that 's one of the film 's mysteries which are never answered .
regardless of motive , de mornay and banderas strip down and have sex several times in what passes for eroticism .
they also manage to go out before copulating occasionally -- in one of the stupidest scenes of the film , tony takes sarah to a carnival that 's * right outside *
his dingy apartment (
that way , they can hurry back and have sex quickly ) .
also , apparently , the weather changes quickly in their locale : they 're at this outdoor carnival one day before having sex ;
the next day , they 're out playing in the snow before having sex .
the filmmakers attempt to produce a suspenseful plot interspersed with tony and sarah 's " character development .
"
someone is out to get poor sarah ( though most of the audience should have figured out who before any of this starts ) . rotting flowers , a writeup in the obituary , and a beaten neighbor are just a few of the bad things which happen to her .
suspense cliche number one also occurs : whenever someone is stalked in thrillers , by any means , if the stalked has a pet , that pet will die . oftentimes , to even further the cliche
, the murdered pet is a cat ( suspense filmmakers , for some reason , just do n't like cats ) .
sarah
, in never talk to strangers , receives a package and , lo and behold , discovers her mutilated cat within .
suspense at its very derivative !
as stated before , never talk to strangers is a poor excuse for a film whose sole purpose seems to be exploiting banderas and de mornay 's bodies as often as possible .
comedian dennis miller is completely wasted here
( he 's not given lines that are suitable for his persona ) and does n't even appear all that much .
maybe , in a way , he 's lucky for that .
early on in the movie , sarah tells tony , after meeting him in a supermarket , that she had been advised to never talk to strangers .
allow me to advise that you never watch this stinker .
N

i like movies with albert brooks , and i really like movies directed and written by albert brooks .
lost in america and defending your life are two of my favorite comedies .
his humor is of a kind that is not very prevalent in movies today , inundated as we are with films which revel in their aim toward the lowest common denominator .
you will rarely see any slapstick in an albert brooks film , while the dialog will not be as oppressive as in some of the independent " talk films " which are finding their way into theaters .
the situations in which his characters find themselves are ones we can often identify with , but even if we ca n't , brooks has the talent to make them comfortable , and therefore we laugh .
teenagers and jim carrey fans probably wo n't find an albert brooks movie very funny , but people who look for more than what we could find on television probably will .
put simply , brooks ' comedy is intelligent .
mother is albert brooks ' latest film , and it does not disappoint .
brooks plays john henderson ,
a middle - aged science fiction writer just coming off his second divorce .
he makes an attempt at dating , but fails miserably .
he then has dinner with his brother jeff ( rob morrow ) , a successful sports agent who seems to live the ideal life .
jeff has a good job , a loving family , and most of all , a warm relationship with their mother beatrice ( debbie reynolds ) .
after dinner , john witnesses a telephone conversation between jeff and beatrice , and is at the same time amazed and sickened by how hunky - dory the dialog is .
in comparison , beatrice always hints at a fault in john and his career every time she talks with him , and john gives it right back to her .
at the end of one of their conversations where beatrice has just picked apart john 's life , she says , " i love you , " and john replies with , " i know you think you do .
"
the thing is , beatrice is not overt with her criticisms , but instead gives them in that mothering way which is tantamount to nit - picking and guilt loading .
it 's the kind that goes something like , "
yes , dear , i think you do that wonderfully , but .
.. .
"
it seems as though nothing he does makes her happy .
there 's always the big
but .
john believes that his mother is somehow connected to his failed relationships with women , either because of his flawed self - esteem caused by his need for validation , or perhaps because he tends to unconsciously seek out women who remind him of his mother in an oedipal manner .
he comes to the conclusion that since his problems are rooted in his boyhood home , he should move back in with his mother for a while just to see what kinds of feelings come out , and by that be able to sort out why his life is the way it is .
"
a great experiment " , he calls it .
brooks ' own brand of humor really shines in this film , especially in the interaction john has with his mother .
there 's a scene where john has just arrived at his mother 's house , and after having driven from los angeles to sausalito , and having explained to his mother about the " great experiment " , beatrice asks , " now explain to me again why you do n't want to stay at a hotel .
"
she still does n't get it , and it is absolutely hilarious .
in the same scene , we get little glances at the life his mother leads when she tries to feed him food that is no longer fresh .
she apparently buys in great quantities and refrigerates it until the lettuce is wilted and the sherbet is iced over .
when john points out the ice on the sherbet , beatrice tells him not to worry about the protective glaze .
"
you 've named the ice ? " asks john .
he 's also surprised at the variety of items
beatrice keeps in the refrigerator , such as a twenty - pound block of cheese .
"
the freezer was a good invention , " says john , " but it 's not supposed to be used for everything .
that 's why it 's smaller than the refrigerator .
"
it 's something most of us find strangely familiar .
brooks is also a master at employing the non sequitur .
for example , in defending your life , his and meryl streep 's characters are in a comedy club having a discussion .
when they 're finished and walk out , brooks cuts to the comic on stage who is just at the point of delivering his punch line , " and so the moral is , if you have to fart , go outside !
"
you do n't know what the joke was because you could n't hear him during the entire scene , but i must have laughed for the next five minutes , it seemed so out of context .
in this film , brooks uses the same trick a couple of times to open or close a scene .
i do n't want to give them away , but suffice it to
say they work just as well as they have in the past .
john 's purpose for staying with his mother is to learn , and we as the audience learn right along with him .
his mother is not the fascinating type to begin with , but as john spends more time with her , we learn things about her personality and her lifestyle that give her depth .
watching the character of beatrice unfold is every bit as enjoyable as the humor that accompanies it each step of the way .
on screen , brooks does an excellent job playing this kind of character
: you get the feeling he often believes he is the only sane person in an insane world .
in a way , he 's very much like yosarian of catch-22 , expect with something of an attitude .
casting debbie reynolds as beatrice is perfect .
she assumes the part with ease , even moving and speaking a little slowly , and is just so adorable it 's hard to get mad at her character .
this only helps the audience to share the frustration john feels when dealing with her .
as his first choice , brooks originally wanted to lure nancy reagan out from her acting retirement to play beatrice , but the former actress and first lady could not leave her husband , who was beginning to show symptoms of alzheimer 's disease .
that may be just as well , since reynolds lends a softness to the character which enhances it immensely .
rob morrow also does a good job at playing the younger brother who has always been mother 's favorite and , for all his success in his job and family , is slowly exposed as a mama 's boy .
the only things that hold this movie back from being better are a couple of plot holes .
a solid connection is not really made between john 's troubles and his reasons for living with his mother .
additionally , the end results of the experiment do not necessarily jibe with the stated goals , and although this may have been sloppy screenwriting , how can you be mad at the guy who also wrote this ?
: beatrice : you must think i 'm some kind of moron .
john
: no , i think your someone who thinks i 'm a moron .
beatrice : well , it takes one to know one .
P