instruction:
In this task, you must classify if a given review is positive/negative, indicating your answer as P or N.
question:
breakdown is an moderately entertaining , if underwhelming , thriller .
kurt russell and kathleen quinlan play couple jeff and amy taylor , taking the scenic route to california through redneck country .
however , while in the middle of nowhere , their jeep decides to break down , leaving them stranded .
a friendly truck driver , warren ( walsh ) , offers to give them a lift to town .
although jeff rejects the offer ( he wants to stay with his car ) , amy agrees , hops into warren 's lorry , and promptly disappears .
jeff wonders where the hell she is , and when he later catches up with warren and warren says he has never seen amy in his life , the plot thickens and jeff goes on a chase to find his wife .
although comparisons can be made with this film to deliverance ( 1972 ) and the vanishing ( 1993 ) plot wise , the latter two are far superior character and script wise .
kurt russell is o .
k as jeff , although he can seemingly only pull of one expression , which is angry .
throughout the whole film , he looks angry ( or just pissed off . )
quinlan is o .
k again , but again
she can only pull off one expression , which is looking dorky .
throughout the whole film , she looks dorky .
j .
t walsh ( who , sadly , recently passed away ) is fine as warren ( who we soon find out is a kidnapper )
although his actual character is pretty weak , and not really menacing enough .
the supporting cast do their best aswell , with rex linn as a doubting sheriff , and the other kidnappers .
the story , written by first - timer jonathan mostow ( who also directs ) is o .
k ,
if surprisingly familiar and sometimes extraordinarily stupid .
some of the things the characters do in this movie is beyond the bounds of idiocy .
there are some flaws with the plot also , as the characters do the complete opposite to logical ( presumably to keep the story ' exciting ' ) and also the fact that the story just is n't strong enough to sustain the audience 's attention .
the picture moves along very slowly also .
it almost threatens to drop dead .
the picture does pick up towards the end , but by then it 's too late .
mostow directs the action sequences well enough , however .
the film does n't really come to a satisfying conclusion , either .
the ending tries to be bleak , but just comes off annoying
.
breakdown could of been a far more enjoyable picture
had it had a stronger cast and director .
instead , it just turns out to be merely average .
a missed opportunity .
overall rating= review by david wilcock
answer:
N

question:
it 's tough to be an aspiring superhero in champion city .
just ask mr .
furious ( ben stiller ) , the blue raja ( hank azaria ) , and the shoveler ( william h . macy ) .
they 're trying to break into the biz , but captain amazing ( greg kinnear ) , the city 's hero numero uno , hogs all the action .
the good captain has his own problems .
because he 's all but eliminated crime , amazing 's endorsement deals are falling through .
the public craves a major slugfest , so amazing engineers the parole of his one - time arch enemy casanova frankenstein ( geoffrey rush ) .
frankenstein succeeds beyond expectations ; he captures capt .
amazing before setting out on his scheme to destroy the city .
so , no one is left to save the day but our would - be superheroes , but their abilities are more " little league " than " justice league .
"
the raja hurls forks at foes , the shoveler hits them with a shovel , and mr .
furious just yells at people ( stiller is doing essentially the same character he played in a guest appearance on " friends " ) .
after a painful first strike , the guys hold auditions for teammates and add the bowler ( janeane garofalo ) , who carries her dead father 's skull in her bowling ball ; invisible boy ( kel mitchell ) , who can only use his powers when no one is looking at him ; the spleen ( paul reubens ) , who blows devastating winds from his rear ; and the sphinx ( wes studi ) , a mysterious figure who will teach them to fight .
" mystery men " boasts one of the most talented and eclectic casts ever assembled .
in addition to those already mentioned , the credits include lena olin as frankenstein 's evil shrink , comedian eddie izzard and the fugees ' prakazrel michel as disco - themed thugs , singer tom waits as an inventor of superhero weapons , artie lange ( from " mad tv " ) as another thug , claire forlani ( from " meet joe black " ) as a waitress mr .
furious is pursuing , louise lasser ( from " mary hartman , mary hartman " ) as the blue raja 's mother , and actor / magician ricky jay as capt .
amazing 's manager .
the cast includes four oscar - nominated actors !
when i saw the list of players early last year , i figured the result would be a can't - miss comedy .
yet , i must report disappointment .
the script is probably the worst of 1999 .
nearly every joke misfires .
the stabs at comic books are too obvious to be funny .
( for example , no one can recognize capt .
amazing in his secret identity because he 's wearing glasses . )
the fart jokes surrounding the spleen are surprisingly the only gags that work .
the cast tries hard , especially hank azaria , whose character adopts an effete british accent while in costume , but the script is just too lame to run .
answer:
N

question:
the happy bastard 's quick movie review analyze this how does one do a comedy focused on the mob ?
well , a few years ago , there was a sly little comedy called the freshman , which had marlon brando doing a romp of a send - up of his famous don corleone character and , recently , the utterly stupid ( in a bad way ) movie mafia ! failed to really get the joke .
this time around , however , warner bros .
may have gotten it right with analyze this , a movie that hits its targets
more than it misses .
. .
and for plenty of reasons .
the story goes like this .
a mobster ( robert deniro ) finds himself receiving several panic attacks as of late , fueled by the stress of an upcoming mobster meeting and a near - death following a drive - by shooting .
it 's these attacks that prompt him to hire a psychiatrist ( billy crystal ) who 's mostly reluctant to take the mobster 's case for two reasons .
first , of course , he 's a mobster , but secondly , he 's trying to get married and enjoy a quiet honeymoon with his wife ( lisa kudrow ) and kid .
and , of course , he ca n't rest worth for a moment because the mobster 's goons are always needing the shrink for something , be it a quick consultation or dream analyzation .
fortunately , the movie is played out for plenty of laughs .
director harold ramis ( who also helmed the comedy multiplicity , which was n't half bad ) keeps the tone peppy and light , even if it 's sometimes sprinkled by slight dramatic moments ( shootings ca n't always be taken for laughs , you know ) .
deniro
does some of his finest comic work since the king of comedy , giving off a somewhat similar performance to his role in goodfellas , but with a bit of a lighter heart .
( a scene where he tries to display his anger over the phone and fails miserably is hilarious . )
crystal plays an excellent straight man to deniro 's character , uplifting him from such bombs as father 's day and my giant .
kudrow is also a hoot as crystal 's wife - to - be , who 's on the verge of a breakdown thanks to deniro 's presence .
is the movie perfect ?
not really , thanks to a simplistic ending and some slightly wasted moments with a character portrayed by chazz palminteri
( he 's a comic actor , too , come on , give him some more ! ) , but
it is an enjoyable romp
that lets deniro do something different but same for a change , taking his dramatic act to a new field of comedy . kudos to crystal and kudrow for not just making it his show , either .
line of the movie : crystal :
" when you said you needed family therapy , this is not the family i had in mind ! "
answer:
P