TASK DEFINITION: In this task, you must classify if a given review is positive/negative, indicating your answer as P or N.
PROBLEM: robert benton has assembled a stellar , mature cast for his latest feature , twilight , a film noir mystery set amid the fading stars of hollywood .
paul newman stars as retired detective harry ross .
harry has spent the last couple of years doing odd jobs for jack and catherine ames ( gene hackman and susan sarandon ) , a pair of married actors who have fallen from the limelight .
when jack sends him on a routine delivery job , however , the old instincts kick in .
soon , harry is wading through a mystery where friendships and lives are on the line , and he no longer knows who to trust .
there are plenty of familiar faces throughout twilight , in addition to newman , hackman and sarandon .
james garner plays raymond hope , a former cop and one of harry 's best friends .
stockard channing plays verna , harry 's former partner , and possibly a former love interest .
reese witherspoon is mel , the distrustful daughter of the ames ' , and liev schrieber is her scuzzy boyfriend .
giancarlo esposito appears as harry 's bumbling detective protigi , and john spencer is a suspicious police captain .
with a cast like that , it 's almost worth watching twilight just to stargaze .
luckily , there 's more to the film than some sort of actor 's recognition ceremony .
twilight has a solid film noir - ish plot .
it may not have as many twists and turns as some of the classics , but it has much more than a lot of what passes for film these days .
the major cast members all deliver strong performances , as can be expected of their caliber .
however , none of them have that little extra oomph which would make them memorable .
the supporting cast is enjoyable , if a little underdrawn .
stockard channing 's character , in particular , is a cipher .
there 's more to her character than the film takes the time to describe .
it 's a minor , but irritating , flaw .
with a solid cast , and a good plot
, there 's a lot to recommend about twilight .
it 's biggest flaw is actually its short running time .
at a slim 94 minutes , there 's a lot of stuff that 's packed into an awfully small package .
still , the chance to see newman , sarandon and hackman working together is worth a cramp or two .

SOLUTION: P

PROBLEM: first and foremost i think this movie comes to grief at the hands of the pg rating it 's been given .
for those of us who have n't read the james lee burke novel that heaven 's prisoners is based on , do not rabidly go out and buy tickets to movies featuring the combined talents of alec baldwin and eric roberts , feel vaguely depressed by the notion of swamps , gangsters with louisiana accents , plots , sub - plots , more plots , and well , really just want to see teri hatcher naked , this is one movie you 're going to worry the price of admission over .
hopeful still ?
well , let me share my moment of sheer panic , and then the cold enervation of the big let - down when a semi - robed hatcher purrs to alec baldwin , " what do you think of my butterfly ? " .
butterfly ?
, i asked myself , what butterfly ? !
and then it hit me . . .
the scene had been snipped !
damn you , godless pg rating , show us her butterfly ! !
we want to see the goddamn butterfly ! ! !
so . . .
no naked teri hatcher . forget about that .
okay ?
now . . .
heaven 's prisoners is about ex - alchoholic ex - cop dave robicheaux ( alec baldwin ) who 's trying to discover life anew running a bait shop and boat hire business with his loving , down - to - earth wife annie ( kelly lynch ) .
everything dull , but hunky dory until a plane carrying illegal immigrants crashes almost ontop of the couple while they 're on their boat .
the plane nosedives into the water and sinks , but from its wreckage robicheaux rescues a little pixie - faced salvadoran girl whom he and his wife immediately decide to adopt .
what they do n't realise is that the plane 's pilot was also a drug dealer , and that the plane had been sabotaged by the latter 's erstwhile colleagues .
when robicheaux discovers this , he predictably , against the advice of his wife , a well - meaning dea agent , and two gangsters who rough him up , begins ' poking his nose where it do n't belong ' , we know that the man deserves all the misery he 's going to get .
the question now is whether or not you want to be dragged along for the ride through a tedious , meandering yet utterly suspenseless plot with an unlovable hero as your guide .
as dave robicheaux , alec baldwin is fat . . .
no seriously , this is not the svelte , thinking man 's hero of the hunt for red october , it is an out - of - shape guy who does n't look too good in a roof - top chasing scene .
he 's also unconvincing in the movie 's dramatic moments , acting with what as far as i can tell is a steven segal - like economy of expression .
three - quarters of the way through the show , while you 're probably waiting for the next scene in a bar where robicheaux contemplates succumbing to the temptation of the whiskey bottle , getting drunk and beating up someone or getting beaten up
, you 'll want to beat on him a little yourself .
on the other hand , mary stuart masterson ( some kind of wonderful , fried green tomatoes , benny & joon ) cast as a down - and - out stripper who has her fingers broken is quite a breath of fresh air , with just the right mix of cynicism , warmth , insecurity and humour to be the movie 's only endearing character .
eric roberts as bubba rocque , always believable as the woman - abusing bad guy who knows how to box ( see final analysis , coincidentally also directed by phil joanou ) is believable here as the woman - abusing bad guy who knows how to box .
and lest we forget teri hatcher 's role in all this , this being her rather well - publicised paid vacation from playing lois lane on tv 's " adventures of lois & clark " . . .
she is totally ridiculous as rocque 's manipulative and seductive cajun wife , coming across as devious as a mildly disgruntled au pair who 's trying to get back at an employer who has n't been giving her enough days off .
it 's probably safe to say that her day job beckons .
and at the end of our day , none of this is really worth 2 hrs and 12 minutes of our personal misery .
the flying inkpot 's rating system :
* wait for the video .
*
* a little creaky , but still better than staying at home with gotcha !
*
* * pretty good , bring a friend .
*
*
* * amazing , potent stuff .
*
*
*
* * perfection . see it twice .

SOLUTION: N

PROBLEM: synopsis : lifelong friends rafe ( affleck ) and danny ( hartnett )
join the us air force and are stationed at pearl harbor , hawaii .
rafe goes to england to fight alongside british pilots and is seemingly killed in action .
danny falls in love with rafe 's girlfriend , evelyn ( beckinsale ) , but rafe survives and returns to confront his former friend .
meanwhile , the japanese sneak attack is imminent . . .
review : " pearl harbor " is a perfect example of movies as product rather than as art .
it is little more than a crassly - calculated attempt to woo the masses , enticing them with big stars , big effects , and a big setting -- but no heart .
it is difficult to criticise the actors , because they do everything the movie demands of them . sadly ,
this amounts to barely more than reciting dialogue of such sheer banality that it makes one eager to see the script randall wallace wrote with his right hand at the same time as he was writing " pearl harbor " with his left .
the plot here is pure cliche , and the wartime setting simply a convenient backdrop .
there is no genuine exploration of what pearl harbor meant to the united states , and no insight into its vital role in inciting that country to join world war ii . instead , there is just an assembly - line love triangle , some empty patriotic rhetoric , and a laughable attempt to placate japanese viewers via the inclusion of some reticent imperial commanders ( when one intones , " i fear all we have done is to awaken a sleeping giant " , i nearly fell out of my seat ) .
to the movie 's credit , it does include a fantastic portrayal of the attack itself , an exciting and dizzying hour which plunges viewers into the war .
if only the remaining two hours had been crafted with such skill , perhaps this memorial day non - event would have been worth watching .

SOLUTION:
N