Director: Steven Soderbergh Writer: Ted Griffin (screenplay), George C. Johnson and Jack Golden Russell (story) Released: December 2001 Starring: George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Andy García, Julia Roberts
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After hearing about Ocean’s Eight coming out, I decided it was time to watch the first instalment.
Actually, Ocean’s Eleven is a remake of a 1960s movie called Ocean’s 11 (number instead of word) featuring Frank Sinatra as the protagonist. I had no clue!
Ocean’s Eleven is a fun, shallow film about a star-studded cast who rob a casino. Why? Because Danny Ocean (George Clooney) has just got out of prison and doesn’t accept that his ex-wife (Julia Roberts) has moved on with a wealthy casino-owner.
Hence why him and his former colleagues rob the casino, in order to try and win Danny’s wife back. How romantic.
It’s harmless fun, really, which is what the director wanted; enjoyment without embarrassment or cheese. It looks like everyone on set had a good time – and apparently their chemistry is all completely genuine! They hung out together, played pranks on Julia Roberts and even gambled together outside of shooting.
This is a short review because although I enjoyed it, I was hoping for a bit more comradery, a bit more comedy and more deep-and-meaningful moments. To be honest, I was expecting The Parole Officer featuring cool Hollywood superstars.
Oh, and Don Cheadle as Basher was a terrible choice; his English accent was cringe-worthy. Otherwise, they should have just allowed him to be American! (Apparently Ewen McGregor was considered for his part initially.)
It’s a classic and I enjoyed it for what it was, but maybe it’s simply more of a man’s man film.
Director: Ryan Murphy Writer: Ryan Murphy Jennifer Salt (screenplay), Elizabeth Gilbert (novel) Released: August 2010 Starring: Julia Roberts, James Franco, Richard Jenkins, Viola Davis, Billy Crudup, Javier Bardem
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I have avoided writing this review for years because the thought of it exhausts me, as did the film.
Eat Pray Love is about Elizabeth Gilbert (Julia Roberts) who has a large home, a husband and a great job, but she feels empty and without an ‘appetite’ for life. She soon instigates a divorce from her husband (Billy Crudup) whom she feels no connection to, before having a rebound relationship with David (James Franco).
Elizabeth: Hadn’t I wanted this? I had actively participated in every moment of the creation of this life. So why didn’t I see myself in any of it? The only thing more impossible than staying… was leaving. I didn’t want to hurt anybody, I wanted to slip quietly out the back door and not stop running until I reached Greenland.
A comment in the early part of the film that sticks in my head is by Elizabeth’s best friend Delia (Viola Davis). She says that Elizabeth used to look like Steven (her ex-husband), and now she looked like David (her rebound boyfriend).
As in, she was trying to find herself in others and consequently copying the way they dressed. I thought that was insightful and very relatable because when you don’t know who you are, you pretend to be someone else.
So Elizabeth decides to go travelling for a year to Italy to find her appetite again (eat), then India to experience peace (pray), and then Bali for balance, which turns into love.
Elizabeth: I used to have this appetite for my life, and now it’s gone! …I want to go somewhere where I can marvel at something.
Julia Roberts was the perfect choice because she plays a down-to-earth, complicated and romantic character. Her character is also quite inspirational as she does exactly what she tells everyone she’s going to do; travel!
She’s especially inspirational in comparison to her rebound actor boyfriend David who talks a lot about what he’s going to do but never actually does it.
Elizabeth: If you’re brave enough to leave behind everything familiar and comforting, which can be anything from your house to bitter, old resentments, and set out on a truth-seeking journey… then the truth will not be withheld from you.
Eat Love Pray does have a particularly ‘privileged, rich, skinny, white woman is feeling sad’ kind of vibe. So I can imagine this detracts from the message significantly. Especially when the slim characters supposedly get ‘muffin tops’ from eating too much pizza and pasta. Like, girl, there’s nothing to you!
Nevertheless, there are a lot of philosophical lessons that are learnt by Elizabeth along the way, which I enjoy. It truly is a very personal discovery that she goes through, with her self-reflection and life lessons being relatable and aspirational.
In Italy, she learns to enjoy herself and not worry about her waistline. She learns to taste, enjoy, not feel guilty and to not deny herself of feeling good.
Luca Spaghetti: Americans! You work too hard. …you don’t know pleasure. You have to be told you’ve earned it. You see a commercial that says, “It’s Miller time”… and you say, “That’s right. Now I will go to buy a six-pack”. And drink the whole thing and wake up the next morning and you feel terrible.
But an Italian doesn’t need to be told. He walks by a sign that says, “You deserve a break today”… and he says, “Yeah, I know. That’s why I’m planning on taking a break at noon… to go over to your house and sleep with your wife”.
In India, she learns to block out the noise and to live in the moment. She learns to make peace with her past and let resentment go.
Richard from Texas: Big deal. So you fell in love with someone Elizabeth: But I miss him. Richard from Texas: So Miss him! Send him light and love when you think of him and then drop it!
Finally, in Bali, she discovers true love.
Filipe: You don’t need a man, Liz. You need a champion.
While in theory this should be a film I absolutely adore, unfortunately it is simply far too long (two and a half hours) with too many complicated internal conflicts to digest.
But I do appreciate that a lot of people can relate to running away from a ‘perfect’ life to search for themselves across the world.
Overall, it’s got strong messages but by the end I felt like I had travelled the world myself. I was exhausted.
After finding out that Kathleen Turner and Nicholas Cage weren’t the best of friends in Peggy Sue Got Married, I decided to find out what other on-screen romances were less than genuine. Apparently there are a few!
It’s a shame that our favourite on-screen couples turn out to be played by people who strongly dislike one another. But from their point of view, what an awful situation to be in! It’s hard enough working with annoying or difficult people, but imagine having to pretend to be in love with them. Ugh. I guess that’s why actors are paid so much.
Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams as Noah Calhoun and Allie Hamilton in The Notebook (2004)
Arguably the most romantic film out there. (I would personally argue against this.) But according to the director, Nick Cassavetes, these lovebirds got into a massive argument on set. Ryan Gosling even asking the director to get a different actress to read Rachel McAdam’s lines off camera. But apparently once the two hashed it out, they got on with it. Then later started dating. Hollywood, eh!
Jamie Dornan and Dakota Johnson as Christian Grey and Ana Steele in 50 Shade of Grey (2015)
A raunchy romance (which I can honestly say I have not watched or read) with this erotic pair was reportedly not a very convincing one. Jamie Dornan and Dakota Johnson’s lack of authenticity resulted in multiple retakes, and off-screen they are apparently very cold toward each other.
Leonardo DiCaprio and Claire Danes as Romeo Montague and Juliet Capulet in Romeo + Juliet (1996) Allegedly these star-crossed lovers were anything but. Although if true, I’m not entirely surprised. Claire Danes – 16-years-old at the time – apparently simply got fed up with 22-year-old Leonardo DiCaprio, who was constantly playing pranks on set. Seems like a bit of a playground spat to me.
Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey as Johnny Castle and Baby Houseman in Dirty Dancing (1987) Dirty Dancing is a favourite for many (although, not mine). While the on-screen romance seemed authentic, apparently Patrick Swayze got fed up with Jennifer Grey’s ‘silly moods‘, and Grey needed convincing to work with Swayze again. (They had worked together before, and didn’t like each other much then either.)
Nick Nolte and Julia Roberts as Peter Brackett and Sabrina Peterson in I Love Trouble (1994)
I haven’t heard of this film before, actually. But the lack of on-screen chemistry between Nick Nolte and Julia Roberts is apparently obvious. They clashed on set, resulting in many scenes being filmed separately. Allegedly, Roberts called Nolte ‘disgusting’, and Nolte said Roberts is ‘not a nice person’, and they have never made-up.
Erin was a single mother of three, with barely enough money to feed her family, let alone pay the bills. Desperate for a job, she begged her lawyer, Edward Masry, (who was defending her in a car collision lawsuit at the time) to give her a job at his independent firm. It was here that she stumbled across a lawsuit dealing with over 1200 plaintiffs regarding major chromium contamination by a company named PG&E in Hinkley. Confused as to why health records were mixed with the real estate records, she looked into it further, eventually finding that the entire community were being poisoned without their knowledge.
Erin Brockovich had no background in law, only basic morals for the health and well being of the community. With the help of Ed Masry, they were able to bring down the multi-billion dollar corporation cover up that included doctors being hired and paid by PG&E to give the community a clean bill of health, saying that the water was not only safe, but that the chromium traces in their tap water would be beneficial for their health. This contamination was eventually proved to be the cause for many serious illnesses and deaths in the area.
“The case was settled in 1996 for US$333 million, the largest settlement ever paid in a direct action lawsuit in US history. Brockovich’s law firm received 133.6 million dollars of this settlement, and Brockovich herself received a two million dollar bonus from the action.”
Erin and her employer and close friend, Edward Masry
Erin Brockovich is an absolute heroine. She could certainly be rude and provoking with a no nonsense approach, yet her morals were in the right place. She was essentially a nobody who was able to know all of the plaintiffs personally, knowing their backgrounds and family trees enabling her to get the most up to date information to support their case.
I look up to this woman because against all odds she did something that was totally unexpected. She was able to bring down a multi-billion dollar company who’s only concern was how much profit they were making. Erin reminded everyone that people and the environment are so much more important than money, and that’s coming from somebody who had very little in the way of money.
The movie based on Brockovich’s and Masry’s success. Portrayed by Julia Roberts and Albert Finney.
I also think Erin Brockovich is a particularly perfect figure to talk about on this blog because a fantastically portrayed movie of her triumphs was released in 2000 with the amazing Julia Roberts playing Erin. It is a fantastic movie, very well made. In a world that is still ruled by billion-dollar companies, it’s still relevant. It was such a breath of fresh air to have my faith in humanity restored when an ordinary woman took the reins and did something.
She has so much integrity and is so inspirational.
NZ Film Freak 