Personal Effects (2009) Review

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(More customer reviews)This plays more like an indie flick, and you wouldn't think so with a cast like Michelle Pfeiffer, Ashton Kutcher and Kathy Bates, but in order for this picture to be evaluated properly it needs to be understood that this isn't a fast paced Blockbuster movie, but rather a moody, slow character piece with an unraveling beautiful love story in the subtext. Ashton Kutcher plays a young man whose sister was brutally raped and murdered. He's a silent, but tough guy who has trouble with communicating what's really going on underneath. He's a man's man. He does an impeccable job at conveying what he's thinking just by watching his face and his eyes. I've never seen him do more honest acting work than in this film. Michelle Pfeiffer is a true gem in this, not just a stunning beauty, but she brings a great spirit to the screen and with her character, showing raw emotion to charismatic and charming humor. She plays a woman whose husband was killed by a friend with a gun. Ashton and Michelle's characters have that first common understanding between each other when they meet at a group therapy session for those that lost someone close to them. They slowly begin to develop a friendship that later grows more intimate, clinging onto one another in an underlying way to connect with someone they can relate to. Michelle's character has a deaf son who holds a lot of bottled up anger and rage over his father's death, but is befriended and helped by Ashton's character taking him out of pain and into new heights. Ashton has his Mother played brilliantly in a small, but significant supporting role by Kathy Bates who is raising her daughter's daughter. The love story aspect between the two leads is very real, honest and sexy, poignantly done. This is a sleeper, a slow methodical and feel good piece on loss, love, friendship and family. I don't consider my five star giving for this overly generous, it's five stars for the kind of movie that it is, for this kind of genre, a unique film about the human condition.
There's a scene between Michelle Pfeiffer and Ashton Kutcher that is so erotically charged, practically everything, but taking off their clothes that I'm surprised they didn't give this an NC-17 just for that. The three leads show some absolutely incredible dramatic realism. Kathy Bates should've got some kind of award acknowledge for this one, but if only someone could've put it out there and market it.

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Walter (Ashton Kutcher) is a rising star in the NCAA wrestling world until his life is ripped apart by the brutal murder of his sister.Returning home to console his mother Gloria (Kathy Bates) he seeks vengeance on the man who is accused of the crime.A chance meeting with a beautiful mature woman (Michelle Pfeiffer) gives him solace to the situation.Personal Effects is a heartbreaking and ultimately uplifting romance that is a testament to the power of love.

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Misery (1990) Review

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(More customer reviews)Misery is an exceedingly good adaptation of the original novel by Stephen King. The novel features one of King's most tightly-wound, increasingly suspenseful tales, and this movie faithfully brings the novel to life on the big screen. Paul Sheldon, America's best selling writer, creator of Misery Chastain and chronicler of her romantic and human struggles and successes, has just finished writing a "serious" novel he hopes will give him the stature he desires. On his trip home with the manuscript, a fierce blizzard causes him to lose control of his car. Annie Wilkes, his number one fan, finds his car at the bottom of a hill, pulls Sheldon out of it, and takes him home to nurse back to health. As Sheldon begins to adjust to his new surroundings, he is increasingly bothered by his caregiver's erratic mood swings. He soon finds himself a virtual prisoner in her house, essentially unable to move with his two mangled legs. When Annie reads his brand new book, she is exceedingly unhappy with it. When she gets the newly published Misery Chastain novel and finds out that her beloved Misty is dead, she begins unleashing her fury on Sheldon and insisting he resurrect Misty in a new novel written especially for her. All this time, the small mountain town's husband-and-wife police force search for any sign of the missing author (albeit halfheartedly). Eventually, Sheldon realizes escape is something only he can achieve for himself.
James Caan is quite good as Paul Sheldon, but Kathy Bates simply is Annie Wilkes. Her performance as this complicated, mentally disturbed super-fan broods over this entire movie, making it the riveting thriller it is. Lauren Bacall, in what is an overlooked but rather amazing casting coup, lends her talents to the movie in the role of Sheldon's literary agent, while Richard Farnsworth and perennial King favorite Frances Sternhagen round out a truly excellent cast. King actually held out on this project until such time as it could be placed in the more than capable hands of director Rob Reiner. King had a special affection for this particular story, and he was not going to allow a second-rate adaptation of it to come to the big screen.
The suspense of this story is basically psychological in nature, but there are two scenes of far more physical suffering. The hobbling scene is memorable to say the least, and another incident toward the end introduces a little blood to the film, but overall this is a movie that all lovers of suspense and human drama can appreciate. There are a lot of bad movies based on terrific Stephen King stories and novels, but this movie captures the powerful magic of the original novel as effectively as any King movie ever has.

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A "heart-stopping psychological thriller" (Joel Siegel) this Academy AwardÂ(r)-winning* film is "one of the best horror movies" (Time) ever. Adapted from a Stephen King story by OscarÂ(r)-winning** screenwriter William Goldman (All the President's Men) and directed by Rob Reiner (A Few Good Men), this chiller starring Kathy Bates (Titanic) and James Caan (The Godfather), is "a Hitchcockian kind of cat-and-mouse" (The New York Times) gameplayed between two cunning mindsone as sharp as a tack and the other as blunt as a sledgehammer. Novelist Paul Sheldon (Caan) doesn't remember the blinding blizzard that sent his car spinning off the road. Nor does he remember being nursed back from unconsciousness. All he remembers iswaking up in the home of Annie Wilkes (Bates)a maniacal fan who is bent on keeping her favorite writer as her personal prisoner for the rest of his "cock-a-doodie" life! *1990: Actress (Bates)**1969: Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid; 1976: All the President's Men

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