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: i did n't come into city of angels expecting greatness .
i 've never seen wim wenders ' wings of desire , the classic movie upon which city is loosely based .
then again , i have seen enough stories which are based upon a similar plot device , with the little mermaid ( both the disney version and the original folktale ) being among them , that i had some high expectations about the possible power such a story of impossible love can hold .
unfortunately , city of angels ended up fulfilling few of them .
the plot , for those that could n't tell from the previews , revolves around the angel seth , played with an almost creepy intensity by nicolas cage , who , in the midst of his angelic duties , falls in love with a heart surgeon named maggie ( meg ryan in her most endearing performance since when harry met sally ) .
of course , his being an angel prevents him from doing much about his love except appearing at random times to talk to her , watch her buy groceries , only to disappear in the blink of an eye .
their love must remain unrequited unless seth decides to make the ultimate sacrifice and become human . using this framework as a jumping - off point , the movie attempts to veer through some heavy philosophical ruminations on the nature of desire , the joys of being human , and the definition of perfection .
the first half of the movie succeeds on most points .
cage excellently plays the eminently difficult role of an angel who does n't know feelings so ca n't really express , preventing the character of seth from getting boring despite his limited repertoire of intent looks and hang - dog expressions .
unfortunately , cage takes the intensity too far sometimes , and then seth comes across as more creepy than sensitive .
as maggie , ryan manages to be convincing as a heart surgeon who has trouble coming to terms with her having lost a patient on the operating table despite having done everything right .
her beauty , unlike her unbearable cuteness in french kiss , is mature , intelligent , and winning .
likewise , some interesting ideas float around at the beginning of the film .
when the camera pans through traffic jams and libraries and we get to hear the thoughts of the random people who flash across the screen , the audience experiences a little of what it must be like to be an angel .
the beautiful camera work , shooting down onto the hectic world of los angeles from the improbable perches of the angels , also gives us a sense of the unique wonder angels feel .
the film begins to lose its way , though , when the focus tightens more and more on seth and maggie .
the grand , angelic perspective gets lost , except for some idly tossed lines about the incredible beauty of the world through an angel 's eyes .
the movie devolves into an examination of how seth ca n't feel the world or , more importantly , he ca n't feel maggie : he ca n't smell her hair , feel her touch , or taste the pears she eats .
this change in focus attempts to capture the audience in seth 's intense longing , but in doing so , the conflict disappears .
if he wants maggie so badly , then why does n't her just make the leap and become human ? after all , what 's so great about being an angel ?
sure , you get to sit on marlboro signs , but what 's that compared to getting to be with meg ryan ?
and from there , once the yearning has been established and the romantic denouement must occur , it 's all downhill .
the philosophy becomes heavy - handed , the dialogue pedestrian when it tries to be deep , and the plot twists simply attempt to yank a few more tears into the audience 's hankie .
it 's the last thirty minutes of the movie , then , that wrecks the film .
i feel like the writer , by pulling out all the melodramatic stops , has robbed me of what could have been a genuinely powerful movie experience on both the romantic and the philosophical level .
i came out feeling robbed , seeing so much possibility in a film becoming nothing .
i could go on longer , but i do n't want to " ruin " the end by revealing any of the cheap plot devices the film relies on .
city of angels , then , is a paradox .
it 's a well - acted ( particularly look for dennis franz cutting against type - casting as a happy - go - lucky fallen angel ) , well - filmed , and based on a wonderful idea .
all these possibilities , though , are what make the film so unredeemable when the closing credits come up .
Student:
N