TASK DEFINITION: In this task, you must classify if a given review is positive/negative, indicating your answer as P or N.
PROBLEM: sandra bullock in high heels and wielding a chainsaw ?
yup , it 's got ta be summer .
just when you thought the pointless sequel had gone the way of franchise films and direct - to - video releases , into port slams speed 2 : cruise control , the gloriously godawful follow - up to the 1994 sleeper about a bus rigged to explode if it slowed below a certain speed .
the gimmick , this time , is an ocean liner rigged to , well , crash into stuff .
sound exciting ?
dennis hopper 's disgruntled bomb squader , the villain of the first film , has given way to willem dafoe 's disgruntled computer programmer , a maniac whose main beef has something to do with having to use live leeches , i kid you not , as a self - treatment for copper
poison- ing .
( and said poisoning induced by prolonged exposure to electro- magnetic fields , no less !
calling dean edell . . . )
so , he overrides the boat 's computer , convinces the crew to abandon ship , and sends the remaining passengers , those who could n't evacuate in time , on a col- lision course with destiny .
( oddly , no one thinks to just . . .
jump off the back of the boat . )
with keanu reeves electing not to return--
perhaps he read the script ?
-- the job of john mcclane goes to jason patric ( sleepers ) , as the * second * la cop and swat team member that that bus drivin ' babe annie ( bullock ) has dated .
( what are the odds ? )
they 're on this caribbean cruise for pleasure , as are a handful of requisite stock characters , including a deaf teenager
( ! ) who has a crush on the hero
( ! ! ) who also knows how to sign
( ! ! ! ) .
( and you thought the raptor slam was a cool summer movie move ?
wait till you see the feats that * this * little girl can do , when stuck on a shipboard elevator ! )
bullock is her pesky , perky self , though she ends up with far less screen time than her top billing suggests .
( those paying attention to her bikini-
and tank- tops probably wo n't complain , however ) patric is the main man in motion and that 's damn good , 'cause when he stops to talk , he 's only slightly less monotone than his predecessor .
( his first lol line is to ms .
bullock :
" i 'd like to boogie with you .
" ) of course , nobody in front of the camera embarrasses themselves quite the way that returning director jan de bont does .
he also produced this mess , which is insulting even by the most lax summer standards .
( con air , buddy , father 's day , romy and michelle 's high school reunion , murder at 1600 , 8 heads in a duffle bag , anaconda , vegas vacation , meet wally sparks , metro , bevery hills ninja , the relic , all is forgiven ) .
worse , he 's spent a hundred mil on a premise that does n't even live up to its title !
there 's no sweat - inducing motion of the ocean here-- just two hours of shaky handheld camera work and a handful of cross - cut exteriors , all leading up to the big slam , when the love boat sideswipes an oil tanker and then plows into a harbor town .
( oh , how far we 've come in twenty years .
remember the simple fun of seeing a locomotive smash into railway station in the silver streak ? )
admittedly , either of the aforementioned sequences is worth the price of admission .
it 's just the rest of the movie-- the other hundred or so minutes-- that 's pure nonsense .
and wonderful nonsense at that .
i know he did n't intend to , but de bont has done one thing right : he 's created the hands - down funniest film of the year .
so , now , allow to present a few more things that made me laugh :
o a box with a big label :
" fiber optic converter " o plain english , whole - sentence computer instructions o an entire sequence devoted to opening a fire door o jason patric 's character walks onto the bridge and immediately understands everything that 's happening o a ships ' navigator who speaks in a scottish accent and actually gets to say " i canna override it !
"
o willem dafoe 's amazing arm - mounted keyboard o two living , breathing adults ( bullock 's character and the first mate ) who have to be told , step by step , how to disconnect a trip wire from the pin of a hand grenade .
duh
o " no wait !
"
screams
the ship 's intercom o
yet another damn dog in peril
o fishing reel .
pontoon plane .
memories of weekend at bernie 's

SOLUTION: N

PROBLEM: synopsis : in this movie , steven spielberg , one of today 's finest directors , attempts to spice up the 1800s story of a long courtroom battle over the fate of prisoner cinque ( djimon hounsou ) - - a young angry man from sierra leone who was kidnapped into slavery - - and his fellow prisoners .
cinque and friends have landed a ship on the shores of america after escaping spanish slave traders , but since the americans do n't speak cinque 's language , the black men are hauled into court to determine whether or not they are legally slaves .
technically , since the international slave trade was outlawed at that time , people like cinque could n't be kidnapped into slavery ; one had to be born a slave to be legally considered a slave .
lawyers baldwin and adams ( matthew
mcconaughey and anthony hopkins ) must prove cinque and the others were captured into slavery , rather than born slaves , in order to get them out of prison as free men .
three lengthy court cases are portrayed with spielberg 's trademark panache - - flashy beginning , lots of facial close - ups , big music , and dramatic imagery .
a final speech by adams is followed by an anticlimax where subtitles show what eventually happened to the various characters .
opinion : making a fictional movie is easier than making one about real life .
in fiction , one invents purposeful , clear - cut good guys and bad guys , puts the fictional characters in conflict , and takes the tale to its exciting conclusion .
real life , however , consists of long stretches of boredom with a few dramatic moments and characters who stand around , think thoughts and do nothing , or come and go before events are resolved .
spielberg gives us a visually spicy and historically accurate real life story .
djimon hounsou and anthony hopkins turn in excellent performances .

SOLUTION: P

PROBLEM: ralph fiennes is carving out a nice niche for himself in the genre of period piece romances .
for his followup to the academy - beloved the english patient , he has once again turned to a love story , this time directed by accomplished australian film maker gillian armstrong ( little women ) .
despite some obvious overplotting , oscar and lucinda is a mostly effective and often affecting motion picture that touches our hearts while daring our minds to balk at its implausible coincidences .
the film opens in the mid-1800s , with parallel storylines in new south wales , australia and devon , england .
as the helpful narrative voice of geoffrey rush informs us , lucinda leplastrier ( cate blanchett ) is a headstrong young woman being raised in the australian outback .
meanwhile , half the world away , oscar hopkins ( fiennes ) has broken with his puritanical father over religious issues , and has gone away to school to study to be an anglican priest .
lucinda is fascinated with glass ; oscar is obsessed with theology .
lucinda is rich ; oscar is poor .
lucinda is forward and self - assured ; oscar is timid and uncertain of himself .
yet one characteristic unites these two diverse individuals -- the compulsion to gamble , whether it 's on horses , dogs , cards , or the flip of a coin .
and fate has decreed that they will one day meet .
that day does n't occur until 45 minutes into the film , when oscar boards a ship bound for sidney , australia , where he hopes to change his life and minister to anyone in need of his help .
another of the passengers is lucinda , who is returning from england where she was shopping for machinery to equip her newly - acquired glassworks factory .
at first , their relationship is that of a reverend and a confessor , but it does n't take long for both of them to recognize a kindred spirit in the other .
a friendship is born , and , once they reach australia , it develops into something more potent .
but oscar is uncertain of lucinda 's affection , and feels he must do something to prove himself worthy of her .
oscar and lucinda is n't beyond a little manipulation to get the desired emotional response , and there are times when the storyline curves in preposterous directions .
on more than one occasion , it 's apparent that events are occurring specifically to funnel the characters into a position where there is only one possible route .
coincidence is a crucial plot device ; without it , this movie ca n't go anywhere .
the voiceover narration ( never one of my favorite techniques ) is too verbose and breaks into the story at undesirable moments .
( however , without it , the final twist , which i will not reveal , would not be as poignant . )
yet , despite these quibbles , i enjoyed oscar and lucinda .
storyline faults pale in the light of two such finely - realized characters .
thematically , the film is also strong .
the unifying motif -- that everything in life is a gamble -- is successfully delineated .
oscar and lucinda do n't just wager their money , they bet their hearts , minds , and souls .
a card game they engage in shortly after they first meet could easily be considered a form of emotional " strip poker " where defenses are peeled away to reveal their shared , secret passion .
oscar does not see gambling as a vice .
in fact , he believes that the greatest chance one takes in life is betting one 's immortal soul on the truth of a religious faith .
ralph fiennes , who normally plays strong , confident men , is very much at home
as the fumbling , insecure oscar .
the actor brings a variety of nervous tics to the part , all of which subtly add to a vague sense of discomfort whenever oscar is on - screen . as good as fiennes is , however , he is eclipsed by cate blanchett .
the actress , who appeared earlier this year as one of the leads in bruce beresford 's paradise road , is mesmerizing as lucinda .
she gives this liberated woman her flash , and feeds the chemistry between the two lead characters so that it sparkles rather than fizzles .
effective support is provided by ciaran hinds ( the male lead in jane austen 's persuasion ) as lucinda 's close friend , tom wilkinson ( the full monty ) as oscar 's mentor , and clive russell as a self - serving adventurer .
there 's a real magic
in the way armstrong develops the story , keeping things moving in unexpected directions without lingering too long on any one moment or sequence .
( in fact , i wish she had devoted a little more time to the luminous middle act , which has oscar and lucinda together . )
with the skill of a consummate storyteller , she weaves romance , friendship , passion , humor , and tragedy together into a complete package .
the characters , with all of their human foibles and neuroses , are wonderfully developed by fiennes and blanchett .
so who cares if the storyline is a little ripe and unwieldy ?
oscar and lucinda still offers abundant pleasures to reward the viewer .

SOLUTION:
P