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VeganPagan
Reviews
The Contract (2006)
Abysmal cookie cutter thriller
The only clichéd plot device missing was an animal encounter/attack. Otherwise they threw every tired old theme into this lack luster mess. Truly not worth your time. This review does contain spoilers, but the truth is there is NOTHING in this movie that you haven't seen done better elsewhere.
The dysfunctional family: mother dead of cancer, the teenage boy in trouble with the law and blaming his father, the father an (utterly unbelievable) ex-cop now a teacher and Little League couch.
The "stone-cold killer" gang. Dead on accurate when shooting anyone but our "hero".
The quasi-political "hitman" plot.
The DC Feds mocking the hick small town cops. The hick small town cops knowing they are being mocked and retaliating.
The survival trek through the wilderness with the inevitable onset of bad weather.
Father and son on a cliff edge with the assassin bad guy behind them and NOTHING happens!
The bad guy actually catches and saves the son from falling when he inevitably slips and would otherwise plunge to his death.
Encounter with a dysfunctional obvious "red shirt" couple out hiking!
Bad guy gaining respect for our hero dad, and becoming an almost good guy in the end.
Father and son reconciled.
*rolls eyes*
See what I mean? Nothing original, nothing new, no unexpected twists. In short, a complete waste of time and talent.
This is a bad, bad, bad movie ... one that stars like Morgan Freeman, and John Cusak should be ashamed of taking part in. And what on earth happened on Alice Krige ... she looks truly awful in this movie?!
Cocoon: The Return (1988)
Completely betrayed the original concept
The original Cocoon, with its heartwarming concept that advancing years need not doom one to an inevitable decline, is completely betrayed in this maudlin, pointless sequel.
Cocoon depicted a lovable cast of lively but sickly seniors not willing to go quietly into the night. Cocoon: The Return expects us to believe that this same intrepid group are actually homesick for hot dogs, night clubs, and dress shopping. We are "treated" to endless depictions of seniors enjoying the senior retirement "scene" ... the very "scene" from which they fled in the original.
The direction was aimless, and the editing totally lacking. The script stilted and wholly unbelievable, the acting truly bad ... although to be fair I am not sure the actors can be blamed for this.