Teacher: In this task, you must classify if a given review is positive/negative, indicating your answer as P or N.
Teacher: Now, understand the problem? If you are still confused, see the following example:
plot : two teen couples go to a church party , drink and then drive .
they get into an accident .
one of the guys dies , but his girlfriend continues to see him in her life , and has nightmares .
what 's the deal ?
watch the movie and " sorta " find out . . .
critique : a mind - fuck movie for the teen generation that touches on a very cool idea , but presents it in a very bad package .
which is what makes this review an even harder one to write , since i generally applaud films which attempt to break the mold , mess with your head and such ( lost highway & memento ) , but there are good and bad ways of making all types of films , and these folks just did n't snag this one correctly
.
they seem to have taken this pretty neat concept , but executed it terribly .
so what are the problems with the movie ?
well , its main problem is that it 's simply too jumbled
.
it starts off " normal " but then downshifts into this " fantasy " world in which you , as an audience member ,
have no idea what 's going on
.
there are dreams , there are characters coming back from the dead , there are others who look like the dead , there are strange apparitions , there are disappearances , there are a looooot of chase scenes , there are tons of weird things that happen , and most of it is simply not explained .
now i personally do n't mind trying to unravel a film every now and then , but when all it does is give me the same clue over and over again , i get kind of fed up after a while , which is this film 's biggest problem .
it 's obviously got this big secret to hide , but it seems to want to hide it completely until its final five minutes .
and do they make things entertaining , thrilling or even engaging , in the meantime ?
not really .
the sad part is that the arrow and i both dig on flicks like this , so we actually figured most of it out by the half - way point , so all of the strangeness after that did start to make a little bit of sense , but it still did n't the make the film all that more entertaining .
i guess the bottom line with movies like this is that you should always make sure that the audience is " into it " even before they are given the secret password to enter your world of understanding .
i mean , showing melissa sagemiller running away from visions for about 20 minutes throughout the movie is just plain lazy ! !
okay , we get it .
. .
there are people chasing her and we do n't know who they are .
do we really need to see it over and over again ?
how about giving us different scenes offering further insight into all of the strangeness going down in the movie ?
apparently , the studio took this film away from its director and chopped it up themselves , and it shows .
there might 've been a pretty decent teen mind - fuck movie in here somewhere , but i guess " the suits " decided that turning it into a music video with little edge , would make more sense .
the actors are pretty good for the most part , although wes bentley just seemed to be playing the exact same character that he did in american beauty , only in a new neighborhood .
but my biggest kudos go out to sagemiller , who holds her own throughout the entire film , and actually has you feeling her character 's unraveling .
overall , the film does n't stick
because it does n't entertain , it 's confusing , it rarely excites and
it feels pretty redundant for most of its runtime , despite a pretty cool ending and explanation to all of the craziness that came before it .
oh ,
and by the way , this is not a horror or teen slasher flick . . .
it 's just packaged to look that way because someone is apparently assuming that the genre is still hot with the kids .
it also wrapped production two years ago and has been sitting on the shelves ever since .
whatever . .
. skip it !
where 's joblo coming from ?
a nightmare of elm street 3 ( 7/10 ) - blair witch 2 ( 7/10 ) - the crow ( 9/10 ) - the crow : salvation ( 4/10 )
- lost highway ( 10/10 ) - memento ( 10/10 ) - the others ( 9/10 ) - stir of echoes ( 8/10 )
Solution: N
Reason: The phrases used in the review convey a negative sentiment (e.g. "presents it in a very bad package").

Now, solve this instance: " when it 's cold , molecules are n't moving .
everything is clean .
"
these are the essential words of mikey carver ( elijah wood ) , a young teenage boy living in 1973 new canaan , connecticut in the ice storm .
when mikey delivers these words to a bored science class , it is unlikely that anyone realizes how much they parallel mikey 's life and the lives that surround him .
his father jim ( jamey sheridan ) is rarely seen and his mother janey ( sigourney weaver ) is having an affair with married neighbor ben hood ( kevin kline ) .
ben 's wife elena ( joan allen ) suspects the affair , but does n't say anything .
meanwhile , ben 's 14-year - old daughter wendy ( christina ricci ) continuously lures mikey and his younger brother sandy ( adam hann - byrd ) into sexual explorations .
tobey maguire plays paul hood , the 16-year - old narrator of the story who also happens to be the least prevalent character .
we start the film with an interesting outlook on family from paul .
he compares family to the fantastic four comic book , and even goes so far as to say that family is everybody 's own anti - matter ; something everybody will return to eventually , and the farther you go , the deeper you 'll return .
the ice storm is a character piece that explores a dismal time both in america , and in the individual lives portrayed in the movie .
everything parallels everything else .
the young teenagers trying to discover who they are thru drugs , sex , and alcohol is really almost identical to the parents trying to figure out the purpose in their own lives using the same methods .
"
when it 's cold outside , the molecules are n't moving .
everything is clean .
"
everything is clean because nobody will admit what 's going on .
even the president is on tv denying his wrong - doings .
how can you expect anything more out of a couple of suburban families riding the coattails of sexual revolution ?
all the sex and drugs is so obviously empty , and i think that 's the point of the film .
at first viewing , the entire movie might seem empty , but then why should n't it parallel itself ?
you do n't get to know the characters very deeply , but i think that 's because nobody in the movie knows each other either .
we sadly watch two families go about their lives nearly oblivious to one another .
at first glance , you might think emotion is lost in the ending scenes because you have n't gotten to know the characters well enough to sympathize - then you realize that just might be the point , and then you do feel the pain .
the acting by all is quite good , but i particularly liked elijah wood .
he does n't seem to be receiving as much recognition as the others , but i still found him to possess quite a real sense of being .
christina ricci is being acclaimed for her part as the misguided teenage temptress who looks for something more to her life in the pants of every available boy .
still , i say hats off remain to wood , joan allen 's subtle but believable performance as a lonely , unappreciated wife , and the always excellent kevin kline .
tobey maguire did a fine job , but his character which , perhaps , was the most intact , sensible person in the story , seemed a little lost .
he was needed , but perhaps he should 've been used more .
the ice storm is being hailed by many as one of the best films of the year .
i hate to say that i do n't agree , but i do n't .
in fact , i can think of many other films that i would rank higher than this one .
even so , it is a very good film .
it takes a lot of retrospect to fully appreciate it 's art , but when you finally start seeing things in it that you did n't before , you start to grow even fonder of the characters and the story .
perhaps this is one to see , ponder , and then watch again with different eyes .
Student:
P