TASK DEFINITION: In this task, you must classify if a given review is positive/negative, indicating your answer as P or N.
PROBLEM: apparantly money talks .
. .
and uses quite a bit of obscenities doing so !
i 've always considered myself pretty open about the gratuity a film can possess , whether in language , violence , sex , or what have you .
i find that this fact gives me a little more leverage to complain when a movie goes overboard , and money talks definitely does !
it 's not so much that the movie swore nearly constantly ( and i mean constantly ! ) , but it swore so much that it seemed overly prominent and way too staged .
perhaps if one character were foul mouthed , but in this film , everybody swears nearly every other word .
money talks is about a black ticket scalper named franklin hatchett ( played less annoyingly than expected by chris tucker ) .
franklin is your typical con - man and ends up with more than one person out to get him .
when the plot finally gets underway , there 's no less than three people ( or groups ) that want him , dead or alive .
the frenchman who 's somewhat responsible for franklin 's escape from a prisoner - packed bus , a hoodlum whom franklin owes seven grand , and the cops who wrongly suspect him of murder .
franklin 's only hope : james russell ( charlie sheen ) , an investigative reporter for the local news who 's out to prove himself a worthy journalist .
james offers to help clear franklin 's name if franklin will just allow him an exclusive report to help channel 12 conquer sweeps week .
both of these elements are completely lost along the way however , and never do reappear .
as expected , the odd couple of franklin and james do wind up friends at the end , which is another wasted element seeing as how they show no signs of becoming friends at any point along the way .
there is just nothing original or intriguing about this film , and so many developments are either non - relevant , or just plain forgotten about . money talks is a paint - by - numbers movie that lacks any real involvment with the audience . frivilous dialogue , a predictable , flat storyline , and two - dimensional characters make money talks a reason to save your money .

SOLUTION: N

PROBLEM: the rich man 's wife is one of those movies like final analysis or body double , where the story and characters are so one - dimensional and contrived that you know you should n't be enjoying yourself .
but somehow , the movie just tries so hard that you begin to forgive it and get into the swing of things .
not that it 's bad , it 's just that it 's been done before ; and better , in my opinion .
i realize that this is going to sound pretty bizarre , but it 's probably the best analogy that i can come up with right now ; you know how when you see a spider or something in your toilet , striving helplessly to get out , and instead of just flushing him ,
you end up kind of rooting for the little guy ?
that 's basically how i felt about this movie .
i mean , it 's not very good , but it 's not completely bad either .
the wife of the title is josie potenza ( played nicely by halle berry ) .
she is married to tony ( christopher mcdonald . . .
you know , the guy who looks like joe piscapo ) , a really stressed - out businessman who drinks way to much and does n't give josie the attention she deserves ( * cough , cough * ) .
thus , she is driven into the arms of another man , jake golden ( clive owen ) .
near the beginning of the film , josie decides to try and work things out with tony by dumping jake and going on a vacation to a remote cabin in the woods .
once there , however , tony has to leave almost immediately due to business details ( i 'm still not quite sure what line of work he 's in ) .
making the best of her situation , josie stays there and begins making the rounds at the local bars .
one night , she meets a stranger named cole ( peter greene , finally getting a meaty role ) .
they have dinner together , and eventually , both josie and the audience start to realize that cole is homicidal .
after learning that she is not happily married , cole offers to " take care " of the problem .
managing to escape from the psychotic maniac , josie returns home and starts a reconciliation with her estranged and very wealthy husband .
but then one night , cole shows up .
. .
and here is where the fun begins .
from this point on , it 's going to be a
no - holds- barred cliche - fest , ripping off every movie from strangers on a train to the usual suspects .
this is why most critics panned this movie when it first came out .
and for the most part , they 're right
; the rich man 's wife has nary one original bone in it 's body .
but who cares ? if you 're looking for good ol' dumb suspense movie , you ca n't do much better than this .
and if you suspense buffs are n't already sold , it has a killer of an ending too .

SOLUTION: P

PROBLEM: albert brooks saves the day , just in the nick of time .
with a very poor summer for movies , brooks is just what audiences were looking for to cheer them up , and does so in a positive way .
while this may not be his finest work , " the muse " still shakes up some delightful humor .
in albert brook 's latest comedy , he tells a story of a troubled screenwriter ( brooks ) who 's losing his edge , as his business partners say .
in desperation , he goes to see his friend jack ( jeff bridges ) , who has been a very successful screenwriter in the past .
he asks jack for some help , and recieves word of a real life muse , that has helped him and many other directors throughout their career .
so brooks seeks the muse named sarah ( sharon stone ) , and is suckered into buying her expensive , food etc . as a sort of payment .
the real punch line however , does n't come until the end .
it really makes you wonder , how screenwriters really get their ideas , could it simply be from a friend or a bum in the street ?
the idea itself is provoking and brooks
does it in a hilarious manner .
speaking of brooks , he was absolutely hysterical as a screenwriter .
every time he graces the screen , i ca n't help but start laughing .
albert has a very unique sense of humor that makes him a very likeable character .
the real problem with the film lies with sharon stone .
she was n't likeable at all .
brooks had the right idea with her occupation , but she never pulled through .
in a way , she drained energy from the once funny atmosphere and left it bleak .
luckily brooks could clean up the mess , and cover for stone 's mishap .
it was a shame that the film went slightly downhill after her appearance , because " the muse " had the potential to a be a very authentic comedy .
on a brighter note , andie macdowell was also charming as brook 's wife .
she is always a nice addition as a supporting actress , because she has that charisma
that seems to complete the atmosphere to any film she 's in .
the funniest moments in " the muse " in my opinion were the cameos by james cameron and martin scorsese .
i mean imagine , brooks seeing these big named directors in his back yard seeking sharon stone for advice
, like it was something out of the ordinary .
it was just plain hilarious .
it just adds to the satire joke , of how directors get ideas .
brilliant move by brooks .
as i mentioned before , the film is a satire much like it 's proceeder bowfinger , which came out a few weeks before .
unlike bowfinger , this is not a mean spirited film that 's desperate for jokes , it 's rather a witty and humorous look at hollywood .
" bowfinger " had it 's moments , but had quite a few problems that were never worked out , but " the muse " still managed to keep the laughs despite a bit of a detour .
by the end of the film , you 're glad to see a good hearty comedy come out of it .
for once
i 'm not fully disappointed , because the film did n't slow down , it kept moving , even with some flaws .
thumbs up to brooks for his brave effort .
i think he 'll still manage to keep his edge around well into the future .

SOLUTION:
P