Kim's Thoughts

My bad — I have seen THREE movies in the last three weeks and haven’t written reviews on any of them!!!  So — in an effort to catch up before I make it FOUR that I am behind on, here are reviews for My Sister’s Keeper, The Proposal, and Public Enemies (wow – talk about three very different movies!) – in the order I saw them (and, coincidentally, also in the order I ranked them):

First is My Sister’s Keeper.  This movie stars Cameron Diaz as Sara Fitzgerald, a mother who discovers her two year old daughter, Kate,  is going to die of cancer.  Neither parent nor their son are matches for the treatments Kate needs to survive.  On the off the record advice from their doctor,   the Fitzgeralds go through the process of conceiving another child – one that is genetically engineered to be a perfect match for Kate.  Abigail Breslin portrays Anna – Kate’s life line!  Anna’s whole purpose of being is to provide organs, blood, and bone marrow to her sister to keep her alive.  As the girls enter their teen years, Anna contacts a publicity hound lawyer, played by Alec Baldwin, to sue her parents for medical emancipation.  This action immediately rips the family apart and creates emotional turmoil for all.  It also raises moral and ethical questions on multiple levels!  Another standout character is Judge DeSalvo, exceptionally portrayed by Joan Cuzack.  The judge recently returned from a long leave of absence after a break down caused by the accidental death of her own teen-aged daughter.  The relationships between all the characters intertwine and meld beautifully.  The siblings – Kate, Anna, and brother Jesse – are close nit.  In particular, the bond between Kate and Anna is amazingly close.  The Judge’s compassion for the Fitzgerald’s situation results in an emotional roller coaster for her that is felt by all.  Campbell Alexander – the lawyer – also suffers from a disability that strips him of control over his own body.  So he, too, is emotionally connected to young Anna.  The movie is incredibly emotional and heart wrenching – watching a lovely young girl become more and more ill and close to death – watching the personal torture Anna goes through as she is torn between her deep love and sense of duty for her sister and her desire to have control over what happens to her own body – watching the parent’s hearts breaking over the inevitable loss of one daughter and the conflict of what to think about the other daughter – watching the judge desperately try to keep her recent tragedy aside as she deals with the case before her………….all actors are incredible in their roles and the story is told impeccably.  Take a whole box of tissues or a HUGE stack of napkins in with you — you’ll need them!!  I highly recommend this movie – it will give you a lot to think about!   I rate this one a solid A+!

Next is The Proposal.  How can you go wrong with Sandra Bullock?  I don’t think I have ever seen her in a movie that I didn’t like on some level!  This was no exception.  In this particular romantic comedy, she plays a high powered book editor at a major publishing company in NY City.  Margaret Tate is a “Devil Wears Prada” type editor – she is a ruthless executive who is hated and feared by all, but she is much more obvious and loud about it.  Her self centered “all about me” attitude about everything she does results in her facing deportation to her native country – Canada!  In a split second decision, she blackmails her assistant – Andrew (played by Ryan Reynolds) – into going along with an announcement that they are engaged to be married so that she can get a “fiance visa”!  A weekend at Andrew’s parent’s home in Alaska and a suspicious immigration agent set the stage for hilarious situations and the potential for Margaret to show her real self – as well as to provide fuel for real love to develop!  This is a very funny movie – Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds have great chemistry and are convincing in their roles.  I thoroughly enjoyed this movie and recommend it for all you romantic comedy fans and any guys who are looking for a good chick flick to rack up some extra brownie points to impress your date!  I rate this one an A-!

And finally, we have Public Enemies.  This movie stars Johnny Depp — need I say more????  He was fantastic as gangster John Dillinger – the FBI’s Public Enemy # 1 for much of the depression era years.  The movie follows the last couple of years of Dillinger’s life and adventures in crime.  It portrays his wild side – his love of women and flamboyance;  his softer side – his relationship with girlfriend, Billie, and his deep caring for the members of his gang;  and his gangster side – his elaborate jail breaks, his adventurous bank robberies, and his connections to Chicago Mafia head Frank Nitti.  I love a good gangster movie and this, for the most part, didn’t disappoint me!  Depp was perfect in the role of Dillinger!  I was a little disappointed in Christian Bale’s portrayal of FBI agent, Melvin Purvis.  Purvis was the charismatic, good looking movie star type who made a name for himself as being the agent who shot Pretty Boy Floyd.  On the heels of that fame, he was assigned to focus all of his attention on getting John Dillinger!  The cat and mouse game that ensued between Purvis and Dillinger is legendary – Dillinger was always one step ahead of Purvis and he just didn’t have what it took to get close enough to get the job done!  I thought the movie did a good job of showing that, but I thought it was lacking something – not sure what, but I thought that whole piece could have been a little more exciting!  I also thought Christian Bale’s portrayal of Purvis was a little flat — it didn’t feel right — like it was forced and not natural for him.  That didn’t ruin the movie, though — it just left me thinking that something was a little “off”.  Overall, the movie was very good — I enjoyed it and definitely recommend it for anyone who likes gangster movies and especially for anyone who likes Johnny Depp!!!  I rate this one a B+++!

See you at the movies!