Sweet and Lowdown

More chameleon-like work from Sean Penn, as a heelish jazz guitarist, and an adorable performance by Samantha Morton as the mute woman who loves him. As for the story itself...you never get bored watching it, but there's also something missing. The tale just doesn't click. On the other hand, if you dig jazz, you'll love the soundtrack, and the performance sequences are amazing (you'd swear that's Penn playing those tunes).

The House of Mirth

To call the pace of this movie languid would put an undue strain on the concept of languidity. It really has some trouble holding the attention. And there are too many actors in here--Gillian Anderson, Eric Stoltz, Dan Ackroyd, Anthony LaPaglia--who are too modern in their usual on-screen personae to seem in the proper context in a period piece like this. (They're not bad, in terms of performances; just out of place.) And finally, the gist of the story--obnoxious rich bitch gets her comeuppance--is hardly designed to spark much empathy in today's audience.

Lantana

Maybe it's just me. Despite the shitload of critical praise this movie received, I found it to be not very interesting. I'm not much of a mystery person, so maybe that was the problem. Then again, the characters all seemed like jerks--it's tough to care when you don't really like anyone in the film. Posted .