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

[Q]: synopsis : easily - angered , chainsmoking architect david encounters his homicidal first wife diedre five years after their divorce .
diedre easily cons david 's not - so - bright new wife molly into believing she 's a child psychologist so that she can influence molly and
david 's quick - tempered son , michael .
diedre , at the same time , murders a bunch of people .
comments : the ex is a very bad movie .
i have n't seen a turkey of this magnitude in quite a while .
i kept vacillating , however , between giving the ex one star for its sheer awfulness and three stars for its campy humor ( ultimately , i decided to split the difference and give it two stars ) .
as summarized briefly in the synopsis , this is yet another spurned - psycho - lover - gets - her - revenge type movie .
i 'm not sure how many films have been produced since fatal attraction which use this tired storyline , but it seems like 10 , 000 , 000 , 000 .
the ex , however , though following many of the standard cliches of this thriller subgenre , differs slightly from the norm in that , at least , it does n't take itself too seriously like so many other duds do ( malicious and stalked are two examples which come to mind ) .
those involved in the movie realize they 're in a turkey , apparently , and turn in hammy performances which compliment the ludicrous dialogue contained within the script .
the ex 's storyline , as i said , incorporates many cliches predominant in films of its nature ; however ,
the plot is so overwrought and unbelievable
that , after a while , the viewer must accept that logic does not operate in the realm of the movie .
diedre , david 's first wife , kills and kills and kills , for example , without ever having to worry about police investigations and the like ( it 's not as though she 's bright enough not to leave fingerprints at the scene of the crime ) .
david and his new wife molly have an incredibly difficult time understanding why michael , their son , has emotional problems , specifically his inability to control his anger .
though david smokes like tomorrow will never come and blows up at people every other minute in the movie , the connection between him and his son is not made .
molly is easily swayed by diedre into believing she 's a child psychologist and allows the demented woman to spend time with her son . time and time again , things do not add up in this movie .
if a viewer ca n't accept this fact , then he will definately not like the ex .
if , on the other hand , he can appreciate the movie for its campiness , then he 'll probably like it much better .
i do n't mean to necessarily suggest , however , that the ex is a memorable exercise in camp .
even when viewed from an it's - so - bad - it's - good angle , this movie is n't all that successful .
the ex does have its moments , though , almost all of which involve yancy butler ( the psychotic diedre ) and nick mancuso ( david ) .
these two actors turn in decidedly hammy performances which , oftentimes , elicit chuckles from the audience .
the truly awful lines written for them help this humor along .
butler gets the larger portion of bad dialogue ; every time her character kills someone , she has a punchline that 's unbelievably inane .
when she murders a tenant of an apartment she wishes to use to spy on david , for example , diedre whacks the elderly lady with a crowbar and states
" i 'm so sorry , your lease is terminated .
"
or how about when diedre takes out her therapist in another ridiculous scene ?
( diedre 's therapist wishes to have her recommitted ,
so she decides to visit diedre , alone , in her new apartment -- never realizing , of course , that it 's not her 's .
therapists typically are catatonically brain - dead in these movies ) .
having successfully snuffed the woman out , diedre looks at the body and says : " what was it that you always said to me at the end of each session , dr .
jones ?
oh , that 's right . '
i 'm sorry , but your time is up ! '
"
this is what passes for humor in the film .
the audience does n't necessarily laugh but groan ( the type of groan that suggests the audience ca n't believe they 're watching this crap -- although watching it they are ) .
nick mancuso 's chainsmoking , nervous - wreck character does not have the cheesy lines that butler 's character delivers , but his ridiculously overdone performance provides for some better comic relief .
in between drags off his cigarette , for instance , in one of the movie 's best scenes , david tries to explain to his lawyer what a creep his ex - wife is .
in exaggerated exasperation , he nearly shouts " the woman is a cuckoo - bird ! "
( trust me , it is funny in context . )
and so , the movie continues until its painfully obvious conclusion .
i wo n't reveal the ending specifically ( though anyone remotely familiar with thrillers of this type could probably guess the ending just from this film review ) , but i will say that the ex has one of the biggest fire hazards appearing recently in film .
molly and david own a cabin that becomes engulfed by flames in approximately three seconds !
molly , at one point in the film , not - so - brilliantly observes , after discovering diedre has moved into an apartment across from her family 's to spy upon them , that " she 's crazy .
" you 'd be pretty crazy too if you 'd rented this turkey
.
i 'd avoid it unless it 's on tv
and you come across it .
if you do , you may want to watch it , groan at the bad punchlines and stupid plot , and feel good that you did n't spend money renting it .
[A]: N

[Q]: it is always refreshing to see a superstar actor who gets paid more than enough to forget about working for a living to want to take a chance and play a less - than - savoury character as mel gibson does in payback .
of course , if i was being paid $ 25 million for one month 's work , i 'd probably be willing to take risks as well , but that 's neither here nor there .
payback is based on a novel by richard stark ( apparently actually donald e. westlake , author of the grifters , itself a fine crime film ) which was also filmed in the 1960s as point blank starring one of the toughest of tough guys , lee marvin .
the film opens with gibson having recovered from being shot several times in the back , by whom we do n't know yet .
all we know is that gibson , as porter , is n't a happy chappy and is hellbent on getting the money stolen from him back , and getting even in the process , no matter what the consequences .
it turns out that the man he 's after is val ( gregg henry ) , his sometime partner with whom he stole a briefcase full of cash from a gang of chinese mobsters .
obviously not having much of a crisis of the soul , val figures porter is dead and goes about using his share of the money to pay off a debt to his employers .
porter , however , is the sort of man who holds a grudge and once on his feet , goes about exacting revenge on the double - crossing val .
gibson gives a terrific performance in the sort of role which he was born to play , that of a slightly unhinged guy who does n't mind beating up or shooting people to get what he wants .
you probably would n't see other actors in his salary range take such an offbeat , out - of - character role such as porter ( jim carrey wo n't be doing anything like this in a hurry after what happened the last time he tried - the cable guy , anyone ? ) .
harrison ford 's idea of playing an unsympathetic character is presumed innocent ; the last time schwarzenegger played a villain was batman and robin , which we wo n't mention further ; and has stallone ever really played a villain at all ?
this is not to say that porter is a villain , per se .
while he is n't the sort of character you would n't want to get on the wrong side of , he 's nothing compared to some of the ones we are forced to watch in countless bad thrillers and action films where they kill innocent people in the blink of an eye or execute their right - hand men just to prove how mean they are .
porter is only trying to get back what is not - so - rightfully his , which in a way is almost understandable .
payback is an enjoyable dramatic black comedy - thriller which wo n't be remembered as being among gibson 's most important work , but is still one of the finer films he 's done .
the only real problem with it is that , while everything seems to work out in the end , i was left feeling something was lacking ; was that all ?
the ending looks as if it was tacked on at the last minute , and the final voice - over does n't ring true , even though it was used to good effect elsewhere in the film - noir style the rest of the film embodies .
the film just ends far too suddenly , after a huge build - up in the penultimate scenes .
a fine film , even though it needs just a little something more to be the kind of a film that can be recommended without hesitation .
just be ready for a possible letdown of an ending .
[A]: P

[Q]: with the exception of their surrealistic satire barton fink , the films of joel and ethan coen fit into two broad categories : quirky and sometimes darkly humorous takes on the " film noir " genre in which crime schemes go wrong and spin increasingly out of control ( fargo , miller 's crossing , blood simple ) , and off - the - wall comedies centered around an eccentric , scatter - brained lead character ( raising arizona , the hudsucker proxy ) .
their latest offering , the big lebowski , falls within the latter category , though there are elements of the crime - gone - wrong theme and even a touch of satire to be found in this film .
the main difference , however , is that while the protagonists of raising arizona and the hudsucker proxy had lofty aspirations and ideals but did n't quite have the brains to get it all together , the main character of the big lebowski seems like a fairly intelligent guy who 's wise to the world , but he does n't really want to do much of anything besides go bowling , smoke pot , and generally relax .
that main character is jeffrey " the dude " lebowski ( jeff bridges ) , introduced by the film 's rambling narrator ( sam elliott ) as " quite possibly the laziest man in los angeles county .
"
the dude is unemployed , needless to say , and spends most of his time at the bowling alley with his two best friends , walter ( john goodman ) , a borderline - psychotic who 's in the habit of pulling a gun when he thinks somebody 's cheating in a bowling match ( " has the whole world gone crazy ? !
"
he shouts at a suspected cheater ) , and donny ( steve buscemi ) , who 's always a few steps behind the conversation and is constantly berated by walter for it ( " donny , you have no frame of reference here ! " ) .
these three seem to more or less live for bowling tournaments , and as the film begins they are anticipating an important match with rival bowler jesus quintana ( john turturro ) , who , when we first meet him , is doing a dance in the bowling lane to accompany a spanish version of " hotel california " and , if it 's possible , seems to be even more of a head case than walter .
if that does n't give you a good idea of this film 's absurdist tone , then perhaps this will : the entire scenario which drives the story is set in motion by two thugs mistakenly urinating on the dude 's rug .
they 've mistaken him for a millionaire of the same name who is also known as the " big " lebowski ( david huddleston ) and
whose nymphomaniac wife bunny ( tara reid ) owes money to porn producer jackie treehorn ( ben gazzara ) .
the dude goes to the big lebowski seeking compensation for his ruined rug ; he does n't have any luck , but when bunny is apparently kidnapped , the elder lebowski asks him to deliver the $ 1 million ransom .
unfortunately , walter gets involved and fouls up the drop - off , and before they can try again to get the money to the supposed kidnappers , the dude 's car gets stolen , along with the briefcase containing the money .
soon , the dude is being harassed not only by the big lebowski himself but also by treehorn and by a group of german " nihilists " who demand the ransom money even though they may not have been involved in the kidnapping in the first place ; the dude and walter suspect that bunny may well have kidnapped herself in order to extort money from her husband to repay her debts to treehorn .
meanwhile , the big lebowski 's daughter maude ( julianne moore ) , a feminist avant - garde artist who likes to make grand entrances swinging through the air naked , wants to recover the money for her family .
the plot , however , is really just a vehicle for all these bizarre characters to run wild and wreak their own unique forms of havoc .
the previews for the big lebowski feature creedence clearwater revival 's " run through the jungle , " and it fits : the coens see los angeles as a veritable jungle of oddballs and nutcases , with the sometimes bewildered dude left to run through it and try to avoid any more trouble ( usually unsuccessfully ) .
the film does n't feature quite as many one - liners and sight gags as the coens ' other comedies ( though there are a few hilarious moments of visual humor , particularly in the dude 's dream sequences and acid flashbacks ) , but it more than makes up for it with the sheer fun of watching these strange characters interact .
the film sometimes seems a little disjointed as a result - you get the feeling that the coens have not only set their characters loose in this " jungle " but are also themselves running crazy through the jungle of their own twisted imaginations -
but for the most part the characterizations are interesting enough to overcome the shaky plotting and what turns out to be a somewhat anticlimactic resolution .
there 's also a noticeable ( but not too heavy - handed ) thread of social commentary in the big lebowski , which , incidentally , takes place just as the gulf war is about to begin ; at the beginning , we see george bush on television making his " this aggression will not stand " speech .
the coens take aim at just about every elite l .
a .
subculture in the book :
the egotistical wealthy businessman ( " the bums will always lose ! " shouts the big lebowski at one point ) , the porn industry , the overbearing malibu policeman who berates the dude for disturbing their " peaceful beach community , " and so on .
by the end , we really start to admire the dude , who almost certainly harbors the least " aggression " of anyone in this story ; his passive resistance ( emphasis on " passive , " albeit ) to the elite emerges as something more than just another quirky characterization in a film overflowing with quirky characters .
he also turns out to have a pretty well - functioning brain in his head , even if he does n't like to use it very much ; his sarcasm towards treehorn and the malibu policeman shows that he knows when he 's getting a run around , and he does manage to unravel the kidnapping mystery by the end .
the coens certainly poke fun at the dude for his laziness , but they do n't just treat him as fodder for cheap shots either .
i think that , more than anything , is what makes the big lebowski
a standout comedy : it manages to approach characters like the dude and , to some extent , walter , with genuine affection while still acknowledging that they are pretty scatter - brained .
audience members may find themselves surprised at how much they like the un - dynamic duo by the end of the movie , given that they seemed like nothing more than the butts of an extended joke at first .
"
it 's good knowin ' he 's out there , the dude , takin ' it easy , " posits the narrator towards the end .
i dare say that truer words have seldom been spoken .
[A]:
P