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REVIEWSPREVIEWS: My Boss’s Daughter
What is worse: having a boss from hell or having a crush on the boss’s hot daughter? Mix that with having to look after the boss’s expensive house, a bunch of lunatics and a pet owl on the loose. What you get is 100 minutes of pure mayhem in return.
The latest romantic comedy to hit video stands is My Boss’s Daughter. This teen flick stars Ashton Kutcher (the cute blonde from That 70s Show) as the honest, hardworking young man who thinks he has made it by being the date of his horrible boss’s gorgeous daughter (Tara Reid). Instead, he gets stuck having to house-sit with strict instructions to make sure nothing goes wrong.
All of a sudden, along comes the boss’s ex-secretary, her four loony friends, the boss’s son and the drug-dealer he is running from, and the daughter — the one who wasn’t supposed to be home. From a quiet, relaxing evening, everything turns upside down as the pet owl escapes, the mice run amok and the drug-dealer relieves himself on the pricey Persian carpet! Still, the fact that the hero gets to kiss the boss’s daughter somewhat makes up for the evening’s wacky happenings.
Filled with crude humour, drug use and profanity, My Boss’s Daughter’s few hilarious moments make up for the rent of the video.—Atif Khan
Shaolin Soccer
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Shaolin Soccer is a movie that caters to sports aficionados, but in a lighter vein. A young Shaolin disciple, “Mighty Iron Leg” Sing (Stephen Chow) wants to propagate the ancient art of Shaolin: a school of thought meant to clear the fog of the mind and to teach one the fancy moves of kung-fu in the process. He meets Fung, a washed-up football player who teaches him and his brothers the art of soccer (known as football in the rest of the world). They assemble a team and enter a prominent tournament that carries the prize tag of one million dollars. Gelling their martial arts finesse with their soccer sense, they must defeat tough competitors (including the Evil Team) to claw their way to the top.Like all kung-fu movies, Shaolin Soccer is best watched with the logical processing unit of the brain switched off. With elaborate moves that defy the laws of gravity, the film is a classic example of what might happen if the Matrix were filmed on a soccer field. Some of the one-liners in the movie are pretty slick, guaranteed to turn the frown upside down! Despite being a Hong Kong film, the flick manages to pass the acid test of the Hollywood audience.
A note of caution: make sure you get the English version of Shaolin Soccer and not the one with silly English subtitles. Or else good luck while you try to figure out the Chinese dialogues!—Taimur Saleem
Killing Me Softly
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Fans of Chinese director Chen Kaige’s previous film, the Oscar-nominated Farewell My Concubine would have been expecting something extraordinary from Killing Me Softly, his debut English film, but they will be disappointed. Heather Graham and Joseph Fiennes give a spark of hope, but their respective performances offer no substance.The flick has a confused feel. One keeps wondering whether the movie is romantic or a thriller and even the romance is lukewarm, whereas the ‘thrill’ aspect appears to be half-baked (to be very frank, not even half).
The plot revolves around Alice (Graham) who is an American living in London with her boyfriend. One day, a mysterious stranger (Fiennes) catches her attention at the bus stop. She is instantly smitten by the man, who turns out to be a mountaineer, and the duo develop relations. After dumping her boyfriend, she marries him and after the marriage discovers some strange secrets about his past and suspects that he is really a psychopath.
Killing Me Softly’s direction is as dull as the performances. Graham may appeal to many due to her looks, but expect nothing as far as acting is concerned. If you still want to watch the flick, go ahead, but don’t say we didn’t warn you.—-Azeem Haider
American Splendor
American Splendor is a true story of a hospital clerk who discovers himself with his autobiographical comic book series. Motion picture adaptations of comic books are extremely popular these days. This picture is one in the same queue but of a different species.
Harvey Pekar (Paul Giamatti) is the hero who has no superpowers whatsoever. In fact, he’s an ordinary guy with an ordinary job and the usual family problems. It is his passion for collecting comic books that keeps him alive, along with his collection of rare jazz records. Pekar is a loner. His second wife walks out on him and he is dead bored with his job, but a chance meeting with fellow comic book fan Robert Crumb (James Urbaniak) in Cleveland gives him the inspiration he needs to create his own underground comic book. His illustrations are barely better then stick figures, so Crumb illustrates for him. Pekar himself is the subject, dealing with situations around him. It is through his comics that he meets and marries Joyce Brabner (Hope Davis), a fan of his. Life changes for him just when he has lost faith in everything.
American Splendor is the first major motion picture written and directed by Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini. It’s a unique blend of fiction, documentary and comic book style and character actor Giamatti single-handedly carries the film. The picture has a very practical approach. The theme behind the film is one doesn’t need heroes to believe in; we only need to have faith in ourselves. Worth watching on a day when you feel you cannot take the stress anymore.—Shamama Shabbir
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