In this task, you must classify if a given review is positive/negative, indicating your answer as P or N.
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 )
Example solution: N
Example explanation: The phrases used in the review convey a negative sentiment (e.g. "presents it in a very bad package").

Problem: this has been an extraordinary year for australian films .
" shine " has just scooped the pool at the australian film institute awards , picking up best film , best actor , best director etc .
to that we can add the gritty " life " ( the anguish , courage and friendship of a group of male prisoners in the hiv - positive section of a jail ) and " love and other catastrophes " ( a low budget gem
about straight and gay love on and near a university campus ) .
i ca n't recall a year in which such a rich and varied celluloid library was unleashed from australia .
" shine " was one bookend .
stand by for the other one : " dead heart " .
> from the opening credits
the theme of division is established .
the cast credits have clear and distinct lines separating their first and last names .
bryan | brown .
in a desert settlement , hundreds of kilometres from the nearest town , there is an uneasy calm between the local aboriginals and the handful of white settlers who live nearby .
the local police officer has the task of enforcing " white man 's justice " to the aboriginals .
these are people with a proud 40 , 000 year heritage behind them .
naturally , this includes their own system of justice ; key to which is " payback " .
an eye for an eye .
revenge .
usually extracted by the spearing through of the recipient 's thigh .
brown , as the officer , manages quite well to keep the balance .
he admits that he has to ' bend the rules ' a bit , including actively encouraging at least one brutal " payback " .
( be warned that this scene , near the start , is not for the squeamish ) .
the local priest - an aboriginal , but in the " white fellas " church - has a foot on either side of the line .
he is , figuratively and literally , in both camps .
ernie dingo brings a great deal of understanding to this role as the man in the middle .
he is part churchman and part politician .
however the tension , like the heat , flies and dust , is always there .
whilst her husband - the local teacher - is in church , white lady kate ( milliken ) and her aborginal friend tony , ( pedersen ) have gone off into the hills .
he takes her to a sacred site , even today strictly men - only .
she appears to not know this .
tony tells her that this is a special place , an initiation place .
he then makes love to her , surrounded by ancient rock art .
the community finds out about this sacrilegious act and it 's payback time .
the fuse is lit and the brittle inter - racial peace is shattered .
everyone is affected in the fall out .
to say more is to give away the details of this finely crafted film .
suffice to say it 's a rewarding experience .
bryan brown , acting and co - producing , is the pivotal character .
his officer is real , human and therefore flawed .
brown comments that he expects audiences to feel warmth towards the man
, then suddenly feel angry about him .
it was n't long ago that i visited central australia - ayers rock ( uluru ) and alice springs - for the first time .
the wide - screen cinematography shows the dead heart of australia in a way that captures it 's vicious beauty , but never deteriorates into a moving slide show , in which the gorgeous background dominates those pesky actors in the foreground .
the cultural clash has provided the thesis for many a film ; from the western to the birdcage .
at least three excellent australian films have covered the aboriginal people and the line between them and we anglo - saxon ' invaders ' : " jedda " , " the chant of jimmie blacksmith " and " the last wave " .
in a year when the race ' debate ' has reared up in australia , it is nourishing to see such an intelligent , non - judgemental film as " dead heart " .
the aboriginal priest best sums this up .
he is asked to say if he is a " black fella or white fella " .
Solution: P