pureshores

Chris Pine is okay, I'm not sure if he can carry a movie on his own (I haven't seen any of the Star Trek movies yet but I think he shares billing with Zachary Quinto). Keira Knightly did what she had to do, though this material was beneath her and some of her shots did not flatter her. Kevin Costner was obviously winging it. He admitted himself he didn't read the books. In addition, the movie wasn't based on any of Clancy's novels. It was written with the working title 'Dubai' and was just rewritten to change the lead to Jack Ryan. Good enough for mindless fun, not good enough to be the next spy movie franchise.

Reviews for this film are mixed, with some saying it wasn't hard-hitting enough. To me, it did what it was supposed to. It wasn't about asking people to get mad at the Catholic Church for all the atrocities it committed, somebody already did that before. This one is about reminding everyone about what happened before, what we can learn from it and how we become better because of it.

Okay I admit I didn't really get the whole housing mortgage crisis. Yes, even with Margot Robbie and Selena Gomez helping out, it was just too complex for me. And maybe that's where the problem started for me. Otherwise everything else were good though I feel Christian Bale was a little underused. Maybe he's better when exchanging lines with an ensemble versus on his own.

This movie somewhat reminds me of another Academy Award nominee for Best Picture, Gravity. It's your usual race to survival but it pales in comparison with the latter. Gravity's strength relies on bringing us in along for the ride with the protagonist whereas The Martian aims to show us how as realistically as possible he overcomes his struggles in outer space. It also helps that he has a keen sense of humor and hates disco music.

Tom Hanks is Tom Hanks, but I think part of the reason he was extremely successful back in the day was because there was no one out there like him. But now that we've got the Leos and the Toms Hardys, it is both quite sad and nostalgic that Tom Hanks is the same. Sad because he'll be relegated to support status soon, but nostalgic because whenever you see him you remember great movies like Saving Private Ryan and Catch Me If You Can, among others. Along with Steven Spielberg and the Coen Brothers they should be enough to pique your interest in this film. If not, think the Green Mile x Argo.

How very timely that I got to watch this on Valentine's day. To quote a review of it: "A beautiful and sensitive love story that is everything a Nicholas Sparks film adaptation wishes it could be." Feels level: like the movie "Atonement."

My only problem is it's obvious the Academy knew they should've given Leo the Best Actor trophy for the Wolf of Wall Street, gave it to him with this instead. He's good but he didn't convince me as a father from which the whole movie somewhat stood upon. As far as acting award goes, Tom Hardy should've gotten one. If he continues to make good choices, we're looking at a living legend right now.

At first it felt like a prolonged episode of the TV show Criminal Minds. When that part of the movie finished I thought, "what are we gonna do now?" I've been so used to the routine of the agents saving victims one episode after another that I became callous to the fact that each and every survivor get to live their lives after a very traumatic experience. And it's hard to understand what was going on in the mind of the mother and I realized that's how it's supposed to be. Also I'm glad that they didn't explore further what happened with her kidnapper because doing so is like giving him power. Great acting from both stars, there were some very powerful scenes that makes you thankful for the life you're living now no matter how mundane it would seem.