“He Was A Quiet Man”

Christian Slater
Elisha Cuthbert
William H. Macy
Sascha Knopf
John Gulager
Jamison Jones

Unrated           95min           2007

Christian Slater delivers what critics are calling the performance of his career as Bob Maconel, a bullied office drone with hate in his heart, voices in his head, and a loaded gun in his desk drawer. When a bizarre twist turns him into an instant hero, Bob begins a tender relationship with a disabled co-worker (an equally powerful performance by Elisha Cuthbert) who asks Bob for the ultimate favor. Can two damaged souls ever learn to live again or is the brink of madness still just a shot away? – from the back cover

“He Was a Quiet Man”is a good film with an amazing performance by Christian Slater.
He has an outstanding supporting cast.

The hype on the DVD cover is warranted. Christian Slater gives the performance of his career. He becomes Bob Maconel. It is amazing how he transforms into this character. His performance is so subtle than I almost did not notice that he had asperger syndrome.

Not to be outdone, Slater is supported by William H. Macy and a great performance by Elisha Cuthbert.
William H. Macy could be credited with bring up the levels of Christian Slater and Elisha Cuthbert in“He Was a Quiet Man”. Cuthbert brought up her performance too. She is amazing in her performance a quadriplegic.

There is not many feature on “He Was a Quiet Man” DVD. There is a behind the scene first look. It has the deleted and alternate scenes. There is only one audio commentary with the writer and director Frank A. Cappello. There is a theatrical trailer of the film and a movie preview for “Spirial”.

I give it 3/5.

“Ghost Son”

Laura Harring
John Hannah
Pete Postlethwaite
Coralina Cataldi Tassoni
Mosa Kasiser

Unrated           97min           2006

Mark (John Hannah – “The Mummy”, “Four Weddings and a Funeral”) and his new American wife, Stacey (Laura Harring – “Mullholland Dr.”, “The Shield”), find true happiness on a remote ranch in South Africa. But their happiness is short-lived – Mark dies in a car crash and Stacey suddenly finds herself alone, grieving, and suicidal. Well, not entirely alone. Mark’s ghostly apparition pays her a nocturnal visit, taking her to the brink if both ecstasy and terror, after which Stacey discovers that she’s pregnant!

A year later, Stacey suspects that something is not right with her infant son, and it becomes apparent that he’s possessed by Mark’s spirit. She is convinced that the baby us trying to kill her, and his behavior in the presence if her naked body us bizarrely inappropriate. In desperation, Stacey resorts to the ancient shamanisitc traditions of her adopted country to save both her own life and that of her child.

“Ghost Son” is a freaky little movie with a low budget feel to it. It looks like it was film on location in Africa and I forgot to check the credit to see if it was. Really, I cannot believe this film was made based on the subject matter.

I guessing they did it for the money. It not the worst film I have seen these year but it is not far from it. I might appeal to science fiction spirit fearing people. What was supposed to be scary came off as comical.

I did not read the cover before renting the film, I got it because I am a fan of Laura Harrings’. That was a mistake. What pushes this film into freaky territory is the scene of the baby acting inappropriate with his mother. It is clear an animatronics arm but its still too creepy to be shown and pulled the limits of what is acceptable to watch. It made feel like I was voyageur into an Oedipal tryst.

There are no special features on “Ghost Son”. There are movie previews for “Snoop Dogg’s Hood of Horror” and “Blood Ranch”.

I give it 1/5.

“Surburban Girl”

Sarah Michelle Gellar
Alec Baldwin
Maggie Grace
James Naughton
Chris Carmack
Vanessa Branch
Peter Scolari
Marian Seldes
Ebon Moss-Bachrach
Jill Eikenberry
Nate Cordday
Amad Jackson

PG13           97min           2007

Sarah Michelle Gellar stars in this funny and disarmingly wise romantic comedy based on stories from the best-selling book The Girls’ Guide to Hunting and Fishing. Moving from the suburbs to the glittering metropolis of New York City, Brett (Gellar) is a naïve associate book editor embarking on her first big job. Overwhelmed by the demands of her new position, she meets literary star Archie Knox (Alec Baldwin) and begins to gain confidence as he introduces her to a glamorous new world. Torn between her old boyfriend, career aspirations and romance, will Bret realize her dreams in the big city?

“Suburban Girl” is a film that I could never figure out if it was a story written by the author or was it autobiographical. It was a strange change to see SMG in this part. It a film that felt incomplete with the ending with characters that came in the film for not apparent reason.

It is a story in the life of this character. It would be more interesting if it was autobiographical but, as I do not know it comes off as ordinary. It lacks any direction and that could be that it only takes two of the stories from the six total stories in the complete book. It also felt like the film was rushed and not well thought out.

It was strange to see Sarah Michelle Gellar in “Suburban Girl”. It’s a part she was very competent at playing but it did not fit right for her. Maybe because she usually playing a strong willed characters that it does not work and in her career she has had a problem with audiences and romantic comedies. It was hard picturing her as the insecure, yet confident young woman in an May-December relationship.

Althoough “Suburban Girl” tells a complete story it felt unfinished. The film introduced characters that went nowhere and left me confusing why they were even in the film. The film only took two out of the six stories left a lot unexplained information in this film.

This is just an ordinary film that was dumped out to DVD when it should not have been made in the first place. “The Girls’ Guide to Hunting and Fishing” is a best-selling novel. If they were going to do the complete novel then they should have made provision to continue the story. It may have made more sense with more of the story told to the audience.

This is almost a bare DVD. There is an audio commentary by the director Marc Klein. It only has a theatrical trailer for the film. The only movie previews are for “Undead or Alive” and “Fingerprints”.

I give it 2/5.