Screenwriters: Tom Malloy
Director: Rob Schmidt (Wrong Turn)
Actors: Eliza Dushku (Nobel Son), Cary Elwes (Saw), Timothy Hutton (Taps) and Michael Ironside (Starship Troopers)

Labels: Cary Elwes, film, Michael Ironside, movie trailer, timothy hutton

A classic. William Goldman (Heat, The Marathon Man, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid) proves his talent is wide ranging in what is probably the best live-action family film in the last thirty years. Filled with genuine humor and good morals this movie is a certain crowd pleaser and should be seen at least once. A traditional boy-meets-girl storyline is given new life thanks to Goldman's affectionate telling and rousing performances by a cast who looks like they had a great deal of fun.

The cast of the film is very impressive with each of them adding to the overall ensemble. A young Fred Savage plays a cynical boy who at first resists his patient grandfather's offer to read him a book. The book, about a beautiful princess, doesn't interest the boy until the plot begins to unravel. The pages come alive and the story is told in a nice bit of meta fiction on screen. The characters played by Robin Wright-Penn, Cary Elwes, Mandy Patinkin, Christopher Guest, Chris Saradon, Andre the Giant, Wallace Shawn and Billy Crystal. The ensemble each give memorable performance with even the side characters making their mark. Wallace Shawn's conniving Sicilian Vizzini is particularly guilty of stealing his show. The performances give a lightness to the film and combined with Goldman's clever twists with words, makes this an absolute joy to watch. This is not a movie you see, it's one you buy and own. It is one of those rare films that lends itself to becoming a part of people's lives in the same way Wizard of Oz, A Christmas Story and The Sound of Music have.


Related Reviews:
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Mr. Saturday Night (1992)
Analyze This (1999)


Other Critic's Reviews:
Siskel & Ebert
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Labels: Billy Crystal, Cary Elwes, Christopher Guest, film, movie review, Robin Wright-Penn

Short Review: I’d cut through my leg with a hacksaw to get away from this movie.


More horrible than horrifying. There is a big, fat juicy line between suspenseful horror and plain ol’ cruelty. This movie is not creepy, its not clever, it’s just cruel.

The story revolves around a couple of guys who wake to find themselves chained to the walls of a filthy bathroom. The men discover a psycho has kidnapped them. The psycho has laid out a plot wherein one of the men will have to kill the other man to survive.

In itself, this is an interesting premise for a story. But like intentions, a premise is useless without good results. There are so many areas in the making of this film that are below par, I can’t decide which one to tackle. The best thing is to lump all of the problems into this one statement. Films like this are killing American cinema. This is a cheap, juvenile flick with the depth of a Saturday morning cartoon. Weak films like this are sold to the public as pretending to be the real deal. People watch this drivel and come out thinking they have seen a horror movie. They’ve seen crap and now the bar has been lowered to allow for more sub par garbage to be made.

A final note: Can someone please let Cary Elwes' agent know its okay to only offer him roles where he plays an Englishman? Elwes’ American accent is slightly less convincing than Schwartznegger's.


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Other Critic's Reviews:
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Labels: Cary Elwes, film, movie review, torture porn