1996 George Clooney movieRating: 14/20
Plot: A pair of brothers kidnap a faithless preacher and his two children, drive to Mexico, and meet up with some vampires and Fred Williamson.
A tale of two movies, the first a very written tale of criminal activity and possible neurosis and the second a balls-to-the-grindstone (is that a phrase?) vibrant and chaotic and squelchy erupted bloodbath with decapitations and stake piercings. And Salma Hayek, a woman who makes Juliette Lewis look like a little boy. The brothers are interesting even if they're a bit cardboardish, and even though you've already seen this movie, it's still got a way to keep you guessing. There's a solid ten minutes in this, right after Salma's little dance, that is about as exhiliratingly bitchin' as cheapo gross-out mayhem can get. But my favorite part is how John Hawkes' Pete pronounces "microwave" or maybe his magazine selection. That and the words "Hey, Monkeyman."
Recommended for people who really liked The Help.
Very uneven film from the worlds most uneven director. It seems like all Robert Rodriguez's films follow this odd arc he settled in. Start out normal, then go as weird as possible, while losing things like character development or any rational plot. From Dusk till Dawn is not as bad at this as Rodriguez's part in Grind House, but its close. It all started with Desperado, where he took that simple story from El Mariachi and had to make it BIG and KICK ASS and LOUD.
ReplyDeleteA lot of his movies are entertaining on the most superficial of levels. FDtD is one of those.....its fun to watch, but when its over you feel vaguely ill, like eating a whole box of M&M's all by yourself. You enjoy it at first, then when you get towards the bottom you cant decide if you want to throw up, or just get to the end because you have gotten this far.
A 13 for me. Some great scenes, and some real crap.
Well said.
ReplyDeleteRight on, Barry...you almost ask yourself, "Why did I just do that?" after watching this movie, the exact question I asked myself after I last ate an entire thing of M&M's.
ReplyDeleteIt's undeniably trashy, but there's still something mesmerizing about it. At least for me.