Movie Reviews

So I am cheating by writing this review right after my book review but waiting to post it. This weekend, I saw The Good Shepherd and Bobby.



The Good Shepherd

This movie was loooong - 3 hrs long. I think a few scenes could have been cut so the movie was shorter. I must admit the setting that I watched this movie was a little loud so I missed some of the quiter moments of the movie - and there are a lot of these. I think overall the movie was good and Matt Damon did a good job - even though he doesn't really say much. It is kind of like watching Tom Hanks in Castaway and he just is my himsel on the island. Anyway, the movie is good if you have 3 hrs to spare and a quiet place to watch it. Angelina Jolie is in the movie but in a very small role. Alec Baldwin is even in the movie and I for one barely recognized him. As a side note, it also had Gabriel Macht in a very small role - I first saw him in the romantic comedy Because I Said So and think he is very good looking and apparently is was in an episode of 90210 (my college TV show of choice)! I give this movie a B.



Bobby

I wanted to see this movie when it first came out last Nov but it seems that it made a quick run through the theatres and the critics weren't too kind to the movie. At about halfway through the movie, I would have agreed with the critics but the ending of the movie makes the movie. You see how all the people the movie has been following (the kitchen mgr, bus boy, campaign workers, hotel mgr, salon owner, lounge singer, couple on vacation) all are affected by the tragedy of Bobby Kennedy being shot. I thought the movie did a good job of seamlessly transition between real footage of the shooting to the movie shots covering the same event. My dad and I watched this part of the movie in silence. After the movie ended, it gave us a lot of food for thought. What would have happened had he not been shot? Why did Bobby get ahead of his security? Why were all those people in the kitchen? RFK went from a high to a very big low - he had just won the CA primary and given a speech to a roomful of supporters only to be shot a few mins later and dash a roomful of people's hope... a country's hope. You see how all the people spent their day leading up to the shooting and how after the shooting, they are all equal and only one man doesn't survive. I give this movie an A+ mainly for the conversations that it will start and a glimpse into history that is slowing fading in our country's memory.