Movie Review: War of the Worlds

Spielberg does War of the Worlds. That sounded really inviting to me. So I wanted to avoid reading reviews until I saw it. Hence I was front and center on opening day. The story begins in my native New Jersey. Tom Cruise plays a deadbeat dad working on the Kearny docks. ( Gee it was great to see Kearny again—not.) Spielberg melds the 1898 story by H.G. Wells with the 1938 radio play and 1953 movie. There are loads of excellent special effects. People get killed in all sorts of ingeniously designed ways. The alien ships don't seem practical for an invasion fleet, but what the heck. I guess that was to remain faithful to Wells’ original story.
The acting is okay. Tom Cruise does a journeyman’s role in the thankless role of a divorced father who has to contend with aliens and rebellious kids he barely knows. Dakota Fanning is good, but should be familiar with aliens by now. (She starred in the mini-series, Taken)
The ending is from the Wells novel. But the movie never grabbed me. I never cared for any of the characters. Visually it was a great movie, but I think a movie fan needs more than that.
I recently saw Saving Private Ryan again. It reminded me of the quality that I expect from Steven Spielberg. I’ve enjoyed most of Spielberg’s movies. Some are the best I’ve ever seen. War of the World won’t make that list.
Grade: C+

Movie Review: Cinderella Man

I can’t believe I’ve enjoyed two boxing films in one year. Ron Howard’s Cinderella Man is a biographical film about Jim Braddock who makes a boxing comeback despite overwhelming odds during the depression era. Russell Crowe plays the part just fine. Renee Zellweger plays his wife Mae. Zellweger wasn’t the best choice for the roll in my mind. But Howard makes a film that is interesting and entertaining. I also thought Paul Giamatti was very good as manager Joe Gould. The depression setting really made the boxing have much more meaning. Although some of the lines were a little over the top like “I’m fighting to put milk on the table.” Yeah, we got the idea. No need to punch it up with a line like that. The story was more like a Rocky for real. We got into the characters as much as into the boxers. It’s hard to get past some of the similarities to Million Dollar Baby. But the bottom line is it is entertainment. Not a bad day at the movies.

I’ll give this a B+

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