Weekly Review -- Romance, shoot-outs and claustrophobia... what's not to like?

The Lake House (2006) -- This romantic drama did not generate much buzz when it was first released last summer, but it should have. Besides demonstrating the undeniable chemistry between Sandra Bullock and Keanu Reeves, the film is a subtle love story that offers up a new twist on the genre. Dr. Kate Forster (Bullock) begins corresponding with Alex Wyler (Keanu Reeves), an architect and previous tenant of her lakeside house. Their attraction to each other grows, but there seems to be an insurmountable problem -- Alex lives in 2004 and Kate is in 2006. Through their letters, they exchange suggestions for a possible meeting in person, but can they ever really meet? The roles are a departure for both Bullock and Reeves, neither of whom has had opportunities to do many dramas during the course of their careers, and each actor rises to the challenge. Bullock successfully conveys Kate's longing and conflicts, while Reeves is sympathetic as a man haunted by his turbulent family history. I loved the little touches that added even more emotion to the story, like the moments with the books and the restaurant rendez-vous. The main problem I had was with the occasionally forced and disjointed screenplay. Establishing the timeline and flashbacks during the first half hour felt a little clumsy and disorienting, while some parts, such as the dialogue between Kate and Alex arranging to finally meet up, felt premeditated to elicit emotion from the audience. Still, the combination of the film's ethereal atmosphere, timeless appeal of Bullock and Reeves and unpredictable mystery of the plot is enough to make it recommended viewing for all the romantics out there, as well as viewers who would like to see something different from the usual array of cinematic love affairs.

7/10


Miami Vice (2006) -- When Michael Mann first created the TV series "Miami Vice" in 1984, its emphasis was more on gloss and action than on grit. Fast forward to 2006, when Crockett and Tubbs got moodier, the plotlines darker and the villains more ruthless. Forget the retro pastels and beauty shots of Miami, this film is all about the city's sleazy underbelly. After a botched operation compromises the Joint Inter-Agency Task Force, detectives Sonny Crockett (Colin Farrell) and Ricardo Tubbs (Jamie Foxx) go undercover as smugglers to expose the drug trafficking business of Arcángel de Jesús Montoya (Luis Tosar). Not everything goes according to plan, though, since Crockett falls for Montoya's business partner, the enigmatic Isabella (Gong Li), and Tubbs experiences firsthand the consequences of the original operation gone wrong. Farrell and Foxx make for a good duo, although I would have liked to see more of their interactions, which would have made their chemistry more dynamic. I had a problem with the frenetic direction, as well as the film going into music video territory every ten minutes or so; we do not need a pop song to indicate or accompany every new story development. I also thought that the talents of many good actors, like Naomie Harris and Justin Theroux, were wasted; in a way, the talents of the leads suffer the same fate, since the conversations between Crockett and Tubbs are mostly dry and devoid of any wit. At times, the realism of the dialogue and cinematography makes the movie feel like a documentary, which is not always a good thing. We do not necessarily need one-liners, but we do not want to be watching "Cops", either. The story should have had more of a developed, coherent narrative, rather than appearing to serve Mann's indulgence. The film is a good effort, but feels like a first draft; it could have used more editing and more focus on fewer characters.

6/10


The Descent (2005) -- Going into a film that was billed as scary as Alien and 28 Days Later, I had high expectations. Were they met? Yes and no. Yes, in the sense that I understood the film's representations of fear and claustrophobia and no, in the sense that many scares resembled what I had already seen in better movies. Six women, including grieving Sarah (Shauna Macdonald), adventure junkie Juno (Natalie Mendoza) and cautious-by-nature teacher Beth (Alex Reid), set off on a cave exploration trip. Unfortunately, the only exit they know gets cut off and the women are soon being stalked by strange, humanoid predators inhabiting the cave.


**SPOILERS AHEAD**


What annoyed me more than anything else in this film was the characters' stupidity. Going into a cave that no one has seemingly ever christened is not an intelligent move. Blindly following and trusting the "leader" of the "expedition" without doing your own research does not bring you any closer to Mensa, either. Apart from Sarah, who has been to Hell and back, and Beth, who is actually using her brain much of the time, the characters are either not very sympathetic or not well developed, which made it hard to care for any of them. Juno, in particular, is far from likeable. Her motivations for the trip are ambiguous at best; we never know if she cares for everyone's lives out of the goodness of her heart or simply out of guilt she feels toward Sarah. Putting everyone's lives in danger and lying to the rest of the group about a crucial moment made me dislike her immensely.

Neil Marshall's direction is excellent. He takes full advantage of the cave locations, just as he did with the Scottish highlands in Dog Soldiers, and is able to put us in the characters' shoes by forcing the characters to make hellish choices, that no one should ever have to make. The cast does impressive work, particularly Macdonald. Her Sarah is a toughened, resourceful survivor. The look in her eyes near the end of the film gave me the chills; her body language alone speaks volumes.

As far as the scares go, I thought that the most frightening aspects of The Descent were the idea of going into an unexplored cave in the first place, the crash at the beginning and the overall feeling of helplessness after having been trapped. I did not find the crawlers scary and the jump moments were few and far between. However, this film is a cinematic depiction of survival instinct and paranoia and, although I would not even put it in the same sentence as Alien, it works. Considering the ending, the title can be interpreted in more ways than one, creating yet another psychological layer. I thought that the film could have been a little longer and the story more developed, and wished we could have learned more about the characters' backgrounds. On a side note, I have to say how much I love the film's poster -- talk about Sappho meets The Cell!

The Descent is an effective horror feature that thrives on torturing its characters, but not for exploitation purposes; rather, by taking their humanity away, it makes us question the meaning of friendship under the most dire of circumstances.

7/10