2003 Capsule Reviews

Kill Bill Vol. 1
rating: *****
review: Other people have Reservoir Dogs or Pulp Fiction as the reason they became fans of Quentin Tarantino, but this is my origin.

Phone Booth
rating: *****
review: Colin Farrell in a terrifying Twilight Zone experience, delivering one of his most mesmerizing performances. 

Finding Nemo
rating: *****
review: Pixar has a certain story archetype it rarely deviates from, and I think along with Toy Story this is a perfect example of it.

The Matrix Reloaded
rating: *****
review: A lot of fans were severely disappointed that the sequel to The Matrix suggested Neo didn't automatically end the struggle at the end of that first one.  I love the exquisite nuances thrown into the mix in this one.

S.W.A.T.
rating: ****
review: I love the ensemble in this one, including a pre-stardom Jeremy Renner.

Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl
rating: ****
review: Jack Sparrow supersized Johnny Depp's career in a heartbeat, but I'm partial to the immediate sequel, Dead Man's Chest.

The Matrix Revolutions
rating: ****
review: I've always struggled with how much time is spent on the war waged by the rest of humanity, and whether this conflicts with Neo's role in the saga, which otherwise concludes beautifully here.

Daredevil
rating: ****
review: I'm baffled that this one ended up becoming a poster child for how not to do a superhero movie; Jennifer Garner is pretty much perfection, and everything works well around her, including Ben Affleck, who of course was in the midst of a very public backlash at the time.  But why can't it be appreciated now?

Shattered Glass
rating: ****
review: Everyone seems to forget that Hayden Christensen's appeal was explained perfectly in this non-Star Wars performance.

The Rundown
rating: ****
review: Still my favorite Dwayne Johnson vehicle.

The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
rating: ****
review: As far as I'm concerned, the only thing Peter Jackson got absolutely right in the conclusion to his trilogy was Sam telling Frodo that if he wasn't capable of carrying the ring himself, he could still carry Frodo onward.  But then, that one moment is kind of enough to justify the whole thing.

The Human Stain
rating: ****
review: This is one of those movies that ended up being wildly misinterpreted because someone wanted to make a stink about the casting, a phenomenon that's only been further escalated in recent years.  Anthony Hopkins is cast as a black man whose skin is so light he can pass for white.  How do you do that role with anyone but a white man?  Is there really a point to arguing that?  I also love that Wentworth Miller appears as the young Hopkins, apparently his one and only chance at cinematic glory to date.

American Splendor
rating: ****
review: This is the movie where critics finally discovered Paul Giamatti, and possibly Harvey Pekar.

Elf
rating: ****
review: The movie that launched Will Ferrell's popular film career, and also an early look at Zooey Deschanel.

Cold Mountain
rating: ****
review: One of those truly heartbreaking experiences.  I think if Jude Law had pushed for a more showy performance, this would've helped stem the backlash from all the roles he was in at the time making him seem overexposed.

Lost in Translation
rating: ****
review: I love Sofia Coppola, but I think the hype surrounding this particular movie did it and her a disservice: in the end it really became the start of Bill Murray's melancholy period, and a glorification of Scarlett Johansson's butt.

Seabiscuit
rating: ****
review: I may think Tobey Maguire was miscast as Spider-Man, but he suits a jockey in an inspirational movie just fine.  Sadly, being miscast as Spider-Man pretty much made more movies like this increasingly impossible.

Bruce Almighty
rating: ****
review: This was one of Jim Carrey's biggest hits, but it also made him a sideshow act in his own movie, insofar as he supported the gimmick rather than being the gimmick, which ultimately derailed his career.

Peter Pan
rating: ****
review: This overlooked Harry Potter era update ironically cast Jason Isaacs in a role(s) better than the one he had in those movies.

2 Fast 2 Furious
rating: ****
review: I originally caught this in a college auditorium full of enthusiastic viewers.  It was my first taste of the budding franchise, and I loved it.  I'm not surprised that given a few more chances it finally exploded in popularity.

Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines
rating: ****
review: I don't care if fans consider it superfluous, this one's got the best ending of the whole franchise, the first time someone dared deviate from the basic plot of finding a way to avoid the apocalypse.

X2: X-Men United
rating: ***
review: This is another franchise where I greatly differ with popular opinion: I think the first two, which are highly regarded, are trumped by the less popular third.  X2 needlessly duplicates the invasion-of-the-mansion gimmick from the first one, and spoils the showdown between Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen fans had clamored for on a single sequence.

The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen
rating: ***
review: The best thing about this is also the saddest thing about it: Sean Connery.  Because this was his last movie, and it's not as bad as people like to say, and it's thanks in large part to him.

Once Upon a Time in Mexico
rating: ***
review: The conclusion of Robert Rodriguez's Mariachi trilogy can't really competed with its predecessor, Desperado, but that's okay.

Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World
rating: ***
review: There's nothing particularly wrong here, except like the book series from which it's derived, it's missing the crucial context by focusing on characters elevated mostly because we're watching them.

Intolerable Cruelty
rating: ***
review: The Coens lampoon legal shenanigans with George Clooney forecasting a few years later into a career critics would eventually respect.  You could watch this and Up in the Air as a double-billing, and it would probably make more sense.

Big Fish
rating: ***
review: If there's a problem with Billy Crudup, it's that he seems like the most normal guy to ever become a movie star.  So to see him at the heart of a Tim Burton film is to discover new levels of irony.

Ned Kelly
rating: ***
review: This is another of those movies Heath Ledger made that technically had been done before, but critics forget that audiences are not nearly as aware of that fact as they are.  With all due apologies to Mick Jagger, this is the version of the Aussie hero's life that is going to be remembered.

The Gospel of John
rating: ***
review: Worth watching to see Henry Ian Cusick play Jesus.

Head of State
rating: ***
review: I think we can all agree that Chris Rock would be an excellent president, all things considered.

Open Range
rating: ***
review: As part of his never-ending apology tour for being Kevin Costner, at one time one of the biggest movie stars in the world, Kevin Costner makes another Western and agrees to share the spotlight.

The Recruit
rating: ***
review: Colin Farrell makes a movie with Al Pacino just at the point where no one cared about Al Pacino anymore.

The Last Samurai
rating: ***
review: Tom Cruise does disillusioned here probably better than in Born on the Fourth of July, but he overshadows Ken Watanabe, which in the grand scheme of things is wrong for the movie.

The Missing
rating: ***
review: I kind of think if more people revisited this (including me) it would be more appreciated.  It's basically a John Wayne movie with Tommy Lee Jones as the Duke, but Cate Blanchett as the lead character.  Even Katharine Hepburn didn't get to do that (and Blanchett would certainly know all about her).

Timeline
rating: ***
review: A relatively minor Michael Crichton adventure (but everything seems like that after Jurassic Park), but also another of those early chances to see Gerard Butler in action pre-300.

Beyond Borders
rating: ***
review: I know Angelina Jolie is the lead in this, but I had the stronger impression of Clive Owen, which is similar to the problem with Last Samurai.

Hulk
rating: **
review: Eric Bana is one of my favorite actors, so I'm sorry his popular career all but crashed around this, but also kind of relieved, as it allowed him to move on to the best work of his career, rather than a Hulk movie that ultimately has too many tonal issues, starting with Bana himself, as I now see in hindsight.  Bruce Banner should be mild in comparison to the Hulk, but if you're going to have someone like Bana in the role, you ought to at least have something interesting for him to do.

Underworld
rating: **
review: I remember the first time I saw this thinking what a terrible actor Bill Nighy was.  Now of course he's a favorite actor, and this movie was genius in figuring that out.

Mystic River
rating: **
review: This movie made Dennis Lehane one of the most popular authors in Hollywood thanks to Sean Penn.  But I think Penn was hugely overwrought and overhyped in the role.

Out of Time
rating: **
review: Shame that it led to a string of action roles for an actor (Denzel Washington) who really should have been lighting up showcase roles.

Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life
rating: **
review: The second of Angelina Jolie's overly slick Tomb Raider movies that are in hindsight more interesting for supporting actors destined for breakout performances elsewhere; the first time it was Daniel Craig, this time Gerard Butler.

The Order
rating: **
review: A sort of dark Knight's Tale.  Thank god someone finally let Heath Ledger really stretch himself in a different Dark Knight.

Gigli
rating: **
review: Notoriously considered one of the worst wide release movies ever made, I have a soft spot for it thanks to a mesmerizing performance from Jennifer Lopez.

Basic
rating: **
review: The best scene of the whole movie was hyped as the whole reason for the movie: where John Travolta and Samuel L. Jackson finally reunite like it was Pulp Fiction all over again.  I mean, how do you make a whole movie and convince yourself that the story dictates leaving this most crucial element to the last possible moment?

Tears of the Sun
rating: **
review: In hindsight, probably a career mistake for Bruce Willis to choose this moment to go back to action movies.