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Reviews
Basic Instinct 2 (2006)
Why?
I suppose it's sort of like shooting fish in a barrel to point out that there is absolutely no reasonable justification for this movie's existence, but it seems as good a place as any to start. Some movies cry out for continuation, while others make you feel so close with the characters that you want to go back to them, to see them again. But "Basic Instinct"? Huh?
There's a lot wrong here, from the bad acting to the bad script to the absolute pointlessness of the film's existence, but the real problem is that the whole premise of the movie just doesn't work; specifically, the notion that Sharon Stone's character is so seductive that seemingly rational men will completely ruin their lives for an opportunity to get nice with her. This is, of course, the premise of "Basic Instinct", but there it worked; Sharon was mighty foxy and the Michael Douglas character seemed dumb enough to fall into her web.
Here, Sharon is still looking pretty foxy, but her male foil (David Morrissey) seems substantially more intelligent (if horrifically boring); that he would fall into her games seems completely illogical and silly. Additionally, the "seductive" banter between Stone and Morrissey is so pithy and juvenile that it is hard to believe that he would somehow be aroused by it. In the first "Basic Instinct", stone may have portrayed a "femme fatale" in the classical sense, but here her character is little more than a caricature, floating by on bratty references to sex acts and flashes of thigh.
Ultimately, I suppose this movie is no worse than any other B-grade erotic thriller, although its high profile release and the hype surrounding it ensured that it would be scrutinized in a way that movies like "I Like To Play Games 2" never are. Of course, a movie like this is much better when it is subject to no scrutiny at all, and if you can suspend disbelief and/or judgment, "Basic Instinct 2" has the potential to be a marginally enjoyable (if totally unnecessary) film; anyone who cannot is advised to skip this one.
Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby (2006)
Could have (should have) been much, much better.
I really wanted to like this movie.
It's obvious that Will Ferrell is a talented comedian; his work on Saturday Night Live, his supporting roles in Old School and Wedding Crashers and portions of Anchorman are all very funny. However, Ferrell often seems to be playing the same character over and over, and with Talladega Nights, Ferrell has taken this a step further, essentially grafting the plot of Anchorman onto NASCAR Racing.
In theory, this should be hilarious, but in reality Talladega Nights just doesn't hold up. The problems with the film are myriad: inconsistent tone (too absurd one moment, too serious the next), unlikable characters, and a general sense that you've seen this all before. As in Anchorman, here Ferrell plays a boorish, unlikable protagonist who has ascended to the top of his game and conducts himself with varying degrees of arrogance, narcissism and idiocy; as far as I could tell, the only reason one would care about the Ricky Bobby character was because 1)you're supposed to because he is the main character of the film or 2) he was played by Will Ferrell. While Ferrell can be a charismatic guy, this charisma failed to carry over to his portrayal of Ricky Bobby, to the point that I found myself actively rooting against the Bobby character.
Additionally, the film follows a virtually identical plot arc as Anchorman, down to the presence of an antagonist who threatens with their "otherness" (in Anchorman a female news anchor, in Telledega Night a gay race car driver), a crew of moronic sycophants and yes-men to support the Ferrell character, and a denouement that strives to leave you feeling uplifted. Sadly, all these elements felt forced and stale (the Sacha Baron Cohen character is particularly grating, which is all the more lamentable considering its potential.)
Overall, while Telladega Nights did have some funny moments, nearly all of them were shown in the preview; it's telling when the funniest moments in the film come during the outtakes shown over the end credits. Considering the talent involved in this film, the way that it plays out should be considered a major disappointment.