Problem: This review is like what?

Review:This movie had a IMDB rating of 8.1 so I expected much more from it. It starts out funny and endearing with an energy that feels spontaneous. But before the movie is half-way through, it begins to drag and everything becomes sickingly predictable. The characters in the office were delightful in the first third of the movie, but we get to know them a little too well; they become caricatures, not real people at all. This is the same story I've seen hundreds of times, only told here with slightly different circumstances. The thing is, I could stomach another predictable love story if only the dialog weren't so stale!

The only thing that could be worse is if the characters had inconsistent and unbelievable motivations, and unfortunately that was also the case with Dead Letter Office. Hopefully this movie will end up in the Dead Movie Office soon.
+++++++++
A: negative

Problem: This review is like what?

Review:This romantic adventure must have seemed shockingly subversive in its day. A wealthy upper class English woman schemes, plots and manipulates everyone around her for her own satisfaction. She uses her privileged position to embark on secret activities of a decidedly anti-social kind. There's a clever sex-role reversal as her activities prove her more daring and dashing than most of the male characters. But naturally there's a tall, dark and handsome stranger to keep up the love interest, and this wicked lady is not backward in coming forward when she meets the right man.

The wishy-washy weakness and gullibility of every other character make the plot unconvincing in the extreme, but those who thirst for Romance will overlook that.
+++++++++
A: negative

Problem: This review is like what?

Review:I generally LIKE watching Burt Lancaster's films--especially when he is needed to go nuts with his imposing screen presence like in Elmer Gantry. However, his greatest strength, his magnetism, was occasionally also his greatest weakness as he rarely, if ever, underplayed ANYTHING. And it is this lack of subtlety that really hinders The Rainmaker. Now I understand that his character was meant to be a sort of showman but how Katherine Hepburn could fall under his spell is completely inexplicable. She is supposed to be smart but doesn't seem so when Lancaster's blarney is being thrown about the screen! In addition to this, the story is perhaps one of the most stagy looking films I have ever seen and it is way too obvious that this is a movie based on a play. It just looks like it was mostly filmed in a sound stage instead of in the great wide open West like it was supposed to be.

Overall, a very overrated film.
+++++++++
A: negative

Problem: This review is like what?

Review:I've seen a lot of TV movies in my time as a student, the majority the normal waste of time that US television throws out. This one, however, was well crafted and plotted and had a very nice twist at the end. Having only seen Richard Dean Anderson in MacGyver and Stargate I was surprised with his excellent performance rather than the rather gamut of expressions from A-B that he normally gives. It was a pleasant surprise to see Daphne Zuniga after quite a long time dating back to The Fly II. Also nice to see Robert Guillaumme in a leading role again. I can't say that I ever take Jane Leeves seriously after her Benny Hill days but she just about managed to cope well in her role. All in all a highly recommended film.
+++++++++
A:
positive