In this task, you must classify if a given review is positive/negative, indicating your answer as P or N.

[EX Q]: way of the gun is brimming with surprises , some good , most bad .
one of the good ones is ryan phillippe 's surprisingly halfway decent performance .
after the actor gained much attention by posing and preening through teen swill like i know what you did last summer , he hinted at a bit growth in last year 's cruel intentions with his amusingly contemptuous john malkovich meets james spader performance , though his acting in that film faltered around the third act mark , precisely when the screenplay made his character grow a heart ( presumably to appeal to his training bra wearing fans ) and start bellyaching about how he 'd fallen for his " target " .
it was a dramatic shift that neither phillippe nor the film 's director could negotiate .
but he seems to be trying and that should n't be overlooked ( or probably over praised ) seeing as how , at this point , he really is n't required to do much but look pretty .
here , phillippe has procured a five day growth of beard , his hair askew and his affect altered to sound something like james cagney in all his " look here , see " glory .
it 's tough to believe a pretty boy like phillippe as a hard ass , but his performance actually helps with the illusion .
unlike ben affleck 's puppy dog approach in reindeer games , phillippe is believable and not too bad at that .
as for the plot , well , that 's one of the bad surprises ; phillippe and the great benicio del torro play two moronic ( and not even remotely likeable ) criminals ( introduced to us in the parking lot of a rave where they stupidly pick a fight with about twenty people ) who hatch a scheme to kidnap a surrogate mother ( juliette lewis ) after overhearing that she 's carrying the baby of painter ( scott wilson ) , a very well connected wealthy man .
the kidnapping devolves into a laborious shoot out where much damage is done and many are killed .
but the anti - heroes escape with the woman while an aging hit man ( james caan ) and two scheming bodyguards ( taye diggs and nicky katt ) remain in pursuit .
directed by christopher mcquarrie , the screenwriter who won an oscar for his work on usual suspects , an overrated piece of crime noir in many circles ( this one included ) , way of the gun is a hodgepodge of crime thriller motifs that just oozes eye rolling familiarity .
unlike phillipe , mcquarrie does n't seem to be growing at all ; he fills his flick with a sprawling labyrinth of plot all snatched from movies
i know i 've seen before and worse , it feels like it .
the film lacks even a fresh approach ( like what soderbergh did out of sight or the limey ) to its clich ?
s , all of which are spewed before us in a picture that tries so desperately to be hip and gritty without bothering to notice how common it is
.
it features characters living by a code they seemed to have picked up in sam peckinpah 101 rather than any thing resembling life .
even attempts at emotional weight feel strained like in preposterous scene where enemies james caan and benicio del torro stop in their tracks to have a cup of coffee and pontificate on life , philosophy , etc .
i did n't like the bit much when it first appeared in heat ,
here , it 's even more self consciously " dramatic " .
usual suspects , which also featured a bunch of low lives that seemed to live by a code they learned from the movies , worked to some degree because of that astonishing twist ending .
nowadays an astonishing twist per ending is de rigeur , never mind if it deems all that transpired before it completely inconsequential .
thus , nearly every character in way comes with at least one dirty little secret ( most amateurishly projected before they appear ) and it too has an ironic little twist at the end ( nothing earth shattering , like in the usual suspects ) but i admit , i did n't see it coming , and i smiled .
however most of the movie feels exactly like the interrogation scenes between palminteri and spacey in usual suspects : a lot of faux huffing and puffing with no rhythm or reason .
or substance .
it 's just as overplotted as suspects , and often dull as any overplotted movie without interesting characters , a distinctive style , or a good script would be .
even the good stuff , most of which involves james caan ( doing a fine job ) , feels odd and out of place in a movie that thinks lines like " karma is only justice with out the satisfaction " are clever .
at one point caan laments " need is the ultimate monkey " a line so inexplicable he might as well have said " love is like hippo ass " .
i 've seen porno with better dialogue .
and some with better plot lines too .
but rarely has porn offered up such a talented cast ( i mean , can you even compare james caan to ron jeremy ) .
caan slips into this role with seeming ease , he could do this kind of soft - spoken tough guy in a coma , but he manages to give his character depth and weariness .
benicio del torro is always welcome , though here he plays it fairly straight ( rather than another oddball character creation like the ones the actor gave us in usual suspects and excess baggage ) , adopting a brad pitt - esque quizzical pout to go along with his heavy swaggering .
speaking of pitt , his ex , juliette lewis , is a weak link , either shouting her lines with ear shattering shrillness , or waddling about like a silly goose .
nicky katt was brilliant in a brief role in the limey , here his role is just as brief only
he seems wasted ; he 's only kept around for his cold presence .
taye diggs has a similar function , cool as ever , but never a character , though the guy has one helluva death scene .
for the most part way is incessantly talky with no reason to give a hippo 's ass about any thing that transpires since its characters are never more than simplistic pawns .
it 's vaguely tarantino - ish , but in a bad truth and consequences nm way , with phillippe , in one scene , leaping into a stupid rant about " faggots " migrating to los angeles .
you know the routine .
the final shoot out is pure bargain basement john woo ( who himself seems to be doing bargain basement john woo ) with interchangeable bad guys lining up to be shot at .
but those gun shots sure crack like thunder .
just the other day i was watching an old dirty harry movie on cable and was stunned to hear the weak elephant grunt - like sound that emanated from harry 's fetishized smith and wesson .
oh how far we 've come .
[EX A]: N

[EX Q]: " holy man " boasts a sweet , gentle , comic performance from an unusually subdued eddie murphy and a few moderately funny skits .
unfortunately , to get to the good stuff you have to sit through a painfully long set - up , loads of tedious filler , interminable shots of jeff goldblum stammering and twitching ,
a superfluous romantic subplot and quite possibly the most annoying performance of robert loggia 's career .
if ever a movie screamed " wait for video so you can fast - forward through all the dull and annoying parts
, " this is it .
eddie murphy plays g , a robed nomadic pilgrim wandering the land enjoying the moment and spreading his spiritual message .
a chance meeting with ricky hayman ( goldblum ) ,
a stressed - out executive of a home - shopping channel , and kate newell ( kelly preston ) , a no - nonsense media analyst , results in physical injury to g . quicker than you can say " the odd couple ,
" g ends up rooming with an extremely leery ricky .
after some script gymnastics , g appears live on the air at the good buy shopping network , wreaking havoc on the cheesy product demonstrations , enraging network owner mr .
mcbainbridge ( loggia ) , and becoming a national media sensation .
" holy man " attempts to be several things at once .
it tries to satirize home shopping networks , but it 's difficult to effectively make fun of something that is already a self - parody .
the film attempts to teach us that collecting material possessions is merely a futile attempt to fill the spiritual holes in our hearts , but that 's common knowledge already .
" holy man " also tries to present a story of redemption , as ricky hayman tries to decide whether to exploit g 's good will to achieve financial security or do the right thing at the expense of his career .
anyone want to place a wager on his final decision ?
the one genuine asset in " holy man " is eddie murphy , who gives a charming performance , sharing love , good will and relevant advice to all those around him , while beaming his million dollar smile at just the right moments .
murphy is delightful and the film takes off whenever he 's onscreen .
unfortunately , he 's not onscreen enough .
jeff goldblum gets the lion 's share of screen time and his tired storyline weighs the proceedings down .
as his potential love interest , kelly preston tries to brighten things up , but she transforms from an all - business media shark to an empathic softy far too quickly and the abrupt change reeks of contrivance .
the other principal actor , robert loggia , wastes his talents in a one - note turn as a ruthless , screaming monster .
structurally unsound and way too long
, " holy man " is appealing when murphy is onscreen and dull
when he is n't . instead of dropping your money at the theater for this trifle , wait until it hits video and fast - forward past everything except the murphy scenes .
g suggests that we focus on enjoying the moment and that 's the best way to do so .
[EX A]: N

[EX Q]: for those who associate italian cinema with fellini and " high art , " the son 's room is an inventive , subtle alternative .
written by , directed , and starring nanni moretti , it takes us through the slow , complicated path of bereavement .
slow is the best description for the film at first .
it takes its time in establishing the habits of what appears to be a normal , happy family .
father and mother both work but still find the time to support their son and daughter through homework and after school activities .
they laugh , spend free time together , and reprimand the kids for innocent wrongs with a sigh and soft pat on the shoulder .
you get the feeling there is open communication and unconditional love amongst the foursome .
but suddenly , the son is found to be dead after a diving accident .
the family dynamics begin an unpredictable descent that gives the narrative strength when you least expect it , but can also be trying on the attention span .
though the film drags and even repeats itself , this can be somewhat excused as influenced by the process of grieving .
though nanni moretti wore several hats for this production , it does n't come across as a vanity piece .
one might wish he had n't picked the profession of analyst for the father , giovanni ( which he stars as ) , if only because this makes his character 's reactions so predictable .
what saves it is a well written script , with spare dialogue and an eclectic variety of human interaction .
the potency of the film lies in the recreation of the tiny details of everyday life that alter due to the death of a close relative , or that remind a depressed person of loss .
you start to take notice of the cracked dishes , ignored when familial bliss was in full swing .
you remember bonding during the routine jogs around the block , and not necessarily huge events like graduation .
even better are the role reversals that take place within the household .
while giovanni and paola ( laura morante ) do check up on their daughter irene ( jasmine trinca ) , there is a sense of being on autopilot .
not only does irene begin to take care of her own needs more , she 'll make her parents breakfast in an attempt to crack their new shells to life around them .
these scenes provide interesting portrayals of various coping mechanisms , frequently crossing a boundary as to how much you can help yourself versus others during drastic , unexpected change .
respectfully , gender issues never enter the picture .
self - propelled isolation is universal in terms of dealing , so moretti
intelligently uses this tool to separate the family .
though giovanni does stop paolo from discussing andrea at a party with friends , there is never a sense that he or she is more stoic , or more correct in the search to restore a sense of a balance to their lives .
most films that broach the topic of death utilize annoying melodrama , speeches , and conciliatory issues to get the waterworks flowing .
in contrast , the son 's room captures a more realistic depiction of the effects of death on a family by graciously flowing among the five stages of mourning ( denial , depression , anger , bargaining , acceptance ) through each of its main characters .
it 's not the most engaging 100 minutes , but it is certainly easy to relate to .
[EX A]:
P