The Recruit

[yendi]

jet_li_wannabe had passes to a screening of The Recruit last night, so the two of us, along with LJ-less Thomas and Jerry, headed to Phipps.

The movie was surprisingly fun, if not anything special. Understand, I get a blast out of good conspiracy yarns. I loved Enemy of the State, and still consider Conspiracy Theory to be one of the best Julia Roberts movies.

And I love Al Pacino. Especially after last year's Insomnia, which was his finest performance in ages. And he gets to ham it up here, with most of the comedic lines falling in his lap. And Bridget Moynahan (who I'd only seen before as Big's wife on Sex and the City) is quite enjoyable to watch as well.


So I had a lot of fun. The movie was utterly predictable, but the ending is never the big deal with this sort of ride -- it's getting there that matters. About the only big weakness was Colin Farrell, whose Irish accent kept popping out at the most inconvenient of times, kinda tough when the character isn't supposed to have that accent. Let's hope he's a bit more restrained as Bullseye.

Overall, not a five-star flick, but damned fine brain candy.

Then, we attempted to go home.

For the record, never let Thomas give you directions. Ever.

Or if you do, make sure that A) everyone knows where North and South are, and B) everyone knows where Sidney Marcus Boulevard is in relation to you at all times. And C), don't ever expect anything as concise as "go left, now."

Suffice to say, the drive home was longer than expected. :-)

Comments

[tanaise.livejournal.com]

Us at the peace demonstration. My stepmom and dad were talking about how they'd had to wait for someone to get to the bus in the morning, because he'd gotten directions messed up. My dad is insisting that people can follow directions like 'go north..." He turns to me.

"Which way's east?" Takes me a second, but I point (correctly) at the capitol building. "Good," he says, all pleased that I've proven him right. "How did you know that?"

"Because the Capitol is east." *So* not the answer he wanted. "Because I was facing north and therefore east was to my left." was what he wanted. :) He's just lucky I got it right at all. :) I think some people have a mental compass--I have one sometimes, when I'm someplace familar that I can match up to my mental map--but i think he always has it.

[rollick.livejournal.com]

You know, my friends-circle pretty much takes it for granted that no conspiracy movie is ever really satisfying. When you find out who the conspirators are and what they really want, it's always less interesting than you'd hoped it might be, and always more mundane. "Oh. It's just the CIA." "Oh. The Mafia. Sure, I guess that makes sense." "Ah. Okay, so he's trying to punish America for betraying his ideals. Sure. Why not."

I like conspiracy movies. I like trying to figure out what's going on, and I like the powerful-evil-vs.-desperate-good dynamic they so often produce. But for me, conspiracy movies always seem to fall apart in the end.

[yendi]

I like conspiracy movies. I like trying to figure out what's going on, and I like the powerful-evil-vs.-desperate-good dynamic they so often produce. But for me, conspiracy movies always seem to fall apart in the end.

And that is exactly how the great Hollywood/Gnomes of Zurich/International Tennis Association cabal wants you to react to conspiracy movies. They're lulling us into complacency.