Part 1. Definition
In this task, you must classify if a given review is positive/negative, indicating your answer as P or N.
Part 2. 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 )
Answer: N
Explanation: The phrases used in the review convey a negative sentiment (e.g. "presents it in a very bad package").
Part 3. Exercise
note : some may consider portions of the following text to be spoilers . be forewarned .
milos forman 's first film since the ill - fated valmont , columbia 's the people vs .
larry flynt , is a vastly entertaining ( if not particularly enlightening ) biopic of hustler publisher and self - made millionaire larry flynt , who became an unlikely champion of freedom of speech rights in the united states in the late 1970s and early 1980s .
the film unweaves its tale in a chronological order : we open with young and dirt - poor larry flynt and his brother jimmy , peddling jars of water in true entrepreneurial spirit out in the rural outback of kentucky .
cut to forward in time , where the two flynt brothers , now young men , are running the struggling hustler go - go clubs in cincinnati .
the strip clubs are in a dire financial state , and in a last - ditch effort to salvage the operations , flynt decides to go to a print shop and churn out a promotional newsletter .
this evolved into the adult periodical _ hustler _ magazine , creating larry flynt a vast financial empire , and the rest is history .
what sets flynt apart from other publishers is his struggles against those who would have him cease publication of his adult material , and who railed and preached against him - flynt spent time in incarceration and was paralyzed by an assassination attempt - and his driven , single - minded insistence to buck the system and fight for his freedom of expression , regardless of personal cost .
the people vs .
larry flynt also weaves in the bittersweet story of flynt 's true love , althea leasure , whom he meets as a dancer in his club and later marries , and who devotedly stands alongside him throughout his trials and tribulations .
considering the serious nature of the film 's theme - the importance of the united states ' first amendment - the people vs .
larry flynt is surprisingly and wonderfully light - hearted and humourous .
much of the comedy is elicited from larry flynt 's outlandish stunts at his courtroom appearances - some of his chosen apparel is hilarious - and for the most part these elements of the film work far better than some of the more dramatic points , such as an uninspiring flynt monologue set at a free speech rally in front of an enormous american flag dealing with the subjectivity of obscenity .
the film 's focus is on the flynt 's many battles over first amendment rights and freedom of speech , but the heart of the people vs .
larry flynt is the touching love story between flynt and althea .
larry flynt is shown as being occassionally gruff , harsh , and overtly aggressive with his friends and colleagues , but with althea , we see his loving , affectionate side .
there 's a scene where flynt tenderly takes his ill wife on a ride on his wheelchair that is heartbreaking .
ultimately , the emotional power that the film hits at its conclusion comes not from his achievements from his battles against censors , but from the strength of flynt and althea 's love for each other .
woody harrelson is entirely engaging in what must be certainly a career - topping performance as the irrepressible larry flynt .
harrelson plays flynt with the right mixture of outrageousness and confident stubborness to make him endearing and entirely sympathetic to the audience , and a very compelling protagonist for the film .
courtney love plays althea leasure in a startling turn , completely raw and impulsive .
it 's a very solid performance , brash and naturalistic , and love is extremely compelling
; it 's difficult to take your eyes off her onscreen , and her chemistry with harrelson is dead - on .
edward norton , as flynt 's straight , level - headed lawyer is often upstaged by his flashier co - stars in the people vs .
larry flynt , much as his counterpart lawyer alan isaacman was upstaged by flynt during many of the courtroom scenes , but norton shines in his big scene where he addresses the supreme court in the climactic scene of the film .
one can sense the frustration that norton 's character feels when harrelson 's free - talking flynt sabotages trial after trial on him by openly speaking his mind , and this results in a heightened emotional punch when norton 's isaacman has the opportunity to sway the supreme court judges .
milos forman keeps the film moving - although it runs over two hours , it never drags - and his direction of the film is very effective , eliciting a great deal of empathy for a subject which could be construed by some as extremely sordid and unsympathetic .
there 's also a great visual technique which forman uses to indicate the passing of time in one shot , which is both clever and extremely entertaining .
two minor quibbles with the film - it certainly seems like the people vs .
larry flynt is in a rush to get to its main theme , with flynt battling against authorities and the system for his freedom of speech .
consequently , the first thirty minutes of the film , introducing and setting up the characters , seem unduly rushed ; perhaps it is merely due to the fact that these characters are so interesting , but i felt it would have worked better if this route was taken in a more leisurely fashion .
it also felt like there was a distinctive lack of insight into the inner workings of these characters - the film clearly shows what flynt , althea , isaacman , and rev .
jerry faldwell did , and on a superficial level some of their motivations , but it never seemed like one could really understand the characters on a deeper level .
for example , why larry flynt was compelled by ruth carter stapleton ( president carter 's sister ) to be born -
again is a mystery to me .
then again , perhaps it was to him as well .
these two points do n't detract greatly from the film .
the people vs .
larry flynt is certainly among the very best studio - released films of 1996 , and works both as a ringing political statement about the importance of freedom of speech and the depths to which larry flynt would go to advance the cause of free expression , and as a touching love story .
Answer:
P