Adam Baldwin Reviews
POSTED BY: ladyjayne
UPDATED: Thursday, February 12, 2004 22:53
VIEWED: 4959
PAGE 2 of 2
Smoke Jumper - In the line of duty:
I believe this one is a true story, a kind of docu-drama.
The movie centres around Baldwin who plays Don Mackey a parachuting forest firefighter(smokejumper). It seems to chronicle Mackeys life leading up to the tragic end in which America experiences its largest loss of firefighter life in one incident(obviously pre 9/11).
AB looked in his prime in this movie, he was very cut and always walked around with clenched fists soz his biceps were pumped :) my kinda stupid :)
I recommend this to any AB fans, although it wasnt an action blockbuster it was AB after all so you cant lose.
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THE RIGHT TEMPATION
The difference between a mystery and a thriller is really quite simple. In a mystery, you know *what* is going on, but you don't know *who* is doing it. In a thriller, you know *who* is stirring up trouble, but you don't know *what* exactly it is they are doing.
I was quite surprised when I found out what exactly it was that Anthea Farrow-Smith (Dana Delany) was up to in this thriller. I really hate predictable movies, but this was not one of them. It had some marvelous twists that even I couldn't figure out.
The film begins when Farrow-Smith hires former undercover police detective Derien McCall (Rebecca DeMornay) to follow her husband, Michael (Keiffer Sutherland). Throughout the film we get to find out more of the Farrow-Smiths' *and* McCall's background. The revelations are nicely paced making the viewer want to see the next one, but not get too frustrated about not having enough information.
Had the plot not been this intriguing, I know I would have lost interest quickly. I was, of course, expecting to see Adam Baldwin, but did not get to see more than three scenes with him. Baldwin only appears in the backstory as McCall's supervisor in her final case as a police detective. It was a rather bland role for him. Not much script for him to work with. The role could possibly have been expanded, but the film would have needed at least another 20 minutes to do that.
If you're just going to watch the film for Baldwin, you might not want to bother. If you like Sutherland as much as I do, however, it's very much worth a look.
Next week: MY BODYGUARD
--Kala
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MY BODYGUARD
I cannot stress this strongly enough: This is a MUST SEE for any Adam Baldwin fan. I am shocked and appalled that this did not launch him into super-stardom.
Baldwin plays the title character in this story about a well-to-do teen who goes from a private academy to an urban public school. Clifford Peache (Chris Makepeace) finds himself at the mercy of the school bully, Moody (Matt Dillon) and decides to hire his own bodyguard, the friendless Ricky Linderman (Baldwin). But reaching out to the closed off Linderman proves to be quite a task.
As fans of Jayne Cobb, we know Baldwin can do stoic. He's been doing this for a long time, apparently. It can be a tough line to walk between playing stoic and wooden acting, but to watch Linderman move silently down the city streets, well, as a mom he just made me want to reach out and tell him "It doesn't matter what happened, honey. It'll be okay."
If you enjoy character driven stories, this is also a great movie to watch. Peache struggling with his own isolation of moving to a new school really shows the empathy that he has for Linderman. It's a wonder to see the walls slowly come down for both boys as they connect and learn how to become friends.
There was a lovely actor surprise in this film for me. Joan Cusack plays Shelley, a girl desperate for the attentions Moody, who later discovers they may not be worth much. Cusack is always a delight to see with her barely tameable silliness. Later, Joan's dad, Dick Cusack, briefly appears as the school principal.
The ending is not one I would have chosen to write myself, but for 1980, it seemed to fit.
I'm glad I waited until I was an adult to see this film. I could not have appreciated its depth when I was 14. Nor could I have appreciated the marvelous performances by Makepeace and Baldwin. But especailly Baldwin.
Next week: GACY
(Please bear with me if I can't watch this film; I'm not sure how I'll handle it.)
--Kala
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