Detailed Instructions: In this task, you must classify if a given review is positive/negative, indicating your answer as P or N.
See one example below:
Problem: 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
Explanation: The phrases used in the review convey a negative sentiment (e.g. "presents it in a very bad package").

Problem: that thing you do !
( r ) tom hanks 's screenwriting and directorial debut ,
that thing you do !
, has all the qualities you would associate with the most beloved screen actor of the moment : fun , lively , and oh - so - nice .
it is the latter quality , however , that becomes a hindrance , for this ' 60s nostalgia trifle is so nice and sweet that it teeters on becoming bland milquetoast .
that thing focuses on the wonders , a teen rock band from erie , pennsylvania that is suddenly thrust into the national spotlight in 1964 when they score a major dance hit called , of course , " that thing you do !
"
the group 's members are , naturally a diverse group : there 's brooding lead singer and songwriter jimmy ( johnathon schaech ) ; girl - crazy lenny ( steve zahn ) , the lead guitarist ; a goofy , geeky type known only as the bass player ( ethan embry ) ; and the film 's center , guy ( tom everett scott ) , the drummer who has aspirations in jazz .
along for the wonders ' ride to success is jimmy 's perpetually neglected galpal , faye ( liv tyler ) .
hanks proves to be a capable writer - director , deftly recreating the innocent spirit of 1964 , which hanks calls " the last innocent year .
"
the spirit is not only reflected in the period clothes and settings but also in the music , which , like the other recent period music film , grace of my heart , was expressly written for the film ; hanks himself had a hand in writing four of the tunes -- but not the infectious title cut by adam schlesinger , which is guaranteed to stay in your head long after the end credits have rolled ( it 's still playing in my mind as i write this ) .
it should come as no surprise that hanks the director works well with the actors , eliciting charming , likable work from the entire cast , most notably hanks lookalike scott and tyler , who is remarkable in delivering the film 's biggest and best dramatic moment .
the work of the young ensemble is so natural that they truly convince as teens of the early ' 60s ; they do not appear to be ' 90s grungers playacting " retro .
" yet for all the light , frothy charms of that thing you do ! , it 's nearly nice to a fault .
while this unbridled innocence in film is a refreshing change from all the sinful cinema around these days , there is not enough conflict to keep things consistently interesting .
everyone is so happy , basking in the glow of overnight success , marvelling at it all -- except toward the end , but even then the tone quickly reverts to sweetness , ending on an appropriately feel - good note .
there is n't much of an edge throughout that thing --
the only thing that is remotely edgy is hanks 's turn as the wonders ' manager -- and thus becomes in danger of being so nice
it 's bland .
but a little niceness goes a long way these days , and
there 's no denying the entertainment value of that thing you do ! ; it 's just about impossible to hate .
it 's an inoffensive , enjoyable piece of nostalgia that is sure to leave audiences smiling and humming , if not singing ,
" that thing you do !
"
--quite possibly for days .
to paraphrase a passage from the song : though i try and try to forget that song it is just so hard to do every time they play
" that thing you do ! "
Solution:
P