In this task, you must classify if a given review is positive/negative, indicating your answer as P or N.
One example is below.
Q: 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 )
A: N
Rationale: The phrases used in the review convey a negative sentiment (e.g. "presents it in a very bad package").
Q: dead - bang , an action thriller starring don johnson , lives up to its dumb title , or at least to half of it .
although dead - bang is definitely dead , it is anything but a bang ; in fact , they should have called this one " dead bore .
" in the film , johnson plays .
. .
you guessed it . . .
a cop .
the role must have been really challenging for johnson since his character , jerry beck , is a gritty los angeles homicide detective , a real stretch from the slick vice detective johnson portrayed on " miami vice .
" a la mel gibson in lethal weapon , beck is an emotional wreck , complete with violent outbursts , unscrupulous police methods , and a bleak outlook on life .
beck 's wife has just divorced him , and she is cutting him off from their children .
she will not even allow him to wish them " merry christmas " by telephone .
but beck 's family and emotional problems take a back seat to the action and thrills in dead - bang .
beck is investigating the brutal murders of a shopkeeper and a cop .
his investigation starts in l . a . and finally culminates and climaxes in oklahoma , where he has a violent showdown with the killers at a white supremacist camp .
virtually every aspect of dead - bang is inept and ineffective .
the plot is incoherent and full of holes .
the movie depicts beck 's investigation so clumsily that you never see the connections between his clues and his conclusions .
the action sequences in dead - bang are strictly third - rate , and the movie has absolutely no momentum or suspense .
i certainly expected more from long - time director john frankenheimer who directed the classic political thriller , the manchurian candidate -- as well as black sunday , seven days in may , and the french connection ii .
in all fairness to frankenheimer , however , i should note that most of dead - bang 's shortcomings seem to stem from its shabby script rather than from the direction .
dead - bang tries to don a mask of social relevance by incorporating themes of racism and white supremacy , but its efforts are nothing more than token gestures and nothing less than insulting .
according to the movie 's production notes , dead - bang is based on the real - life experiences of still - active detective jerry beck .
you would never guess this from watching dead - bang , however , since the film totally lacks credibility ; it is utterly unconvincing and unbelievable .
most of the characters in dead - bang are either atrociously acted , underdeveloped , superfluous , or all of the above .
william forsythe , for example , is painfully bad as arthur kressler , a wholesome by - the - book fbi agent who 's offended by beck 's foul language and unorthodox methods .
forsythe 's lame performance and corny dialogue makes his character unbearable
.
dead - bang marks the motion picture debut of tim reid ( " wkrp in cincinnati " and " frank 's place " ) , but his talents are completely wasted in a cliched and contrived role ; he plays the chief officer of a squadron of black cops who help beck to nail the villains .
the sole function of penelope ann miller 's character is to give dead - bang an excuse to include a gratuitous love scene between characters about whom you could not care less .
i guess the film 's title refers to this love scene since
it 's definitely a dead bang .
the only real virtue of dead - bang , believe it or not , is don johnson , who tries to overcome the limitations of the movie 's pitiful script .
johnson succeeds in giving his character a sarcastic sense of humor and a hint of depth , and his pessimistic wisecracks occasionally bring the film to life .
and i must admit that dead - bang does have one or two amusing moments .
the funniest scene has johnson throwing - up all over a criminal as he interrogates him .
but when barf is the highlight of a movie , you know the movie 's in trouble .
the other amusing scene involves a psychological examination of beck , in which he ca n't keep a straight face because the psychiatrist resembles woody allen .
but two funny scenes and a couple good wisecracks do not a movie make .
A:
N