08-13-2007, 06:26 PM
Superb study of the gray region between good and bad.
Who do you root for? The short fat girl ridiculed by everyone and who dares to befriend the negroes? Or the upper class conservatives wiho rule the world?
I probably would not have seen this except for some negotiations with Lady Cranefly. Anyway, I thought the lead girl was good, but perhaps a little too enthusiastic at times, and not as good a dancer as I would have wanted. But hey, it was her part and the limits of her physique, and sadly it might be the only substantial part she ever gets.
Travolta was both good and bad. He was good for taking the role, but the fat suit severely limited his dancing and even any body language, and the heavy facial makeup took away all expression except for close-set eyes.
Pfieffer was quite good in several early scenes, but just the standard foiled villain in the end, forced to overact ridiculously to make clear she had been outwitted.
Several of the secondary characters were outstanding. Zac was great (he appears on the cover of every celebrity rag right now), as was the MC of the TV show. Queen Latifah was straightjacketed into her usual self, which is good but a typecasting danger to her career. Christopher Walken let us watch his very existence for a few minutes more (someone should follow him around, recording him endlessly, so we can enjoy watching him just being himself long after he's gone).
I've heard the movie described as inspired. I think some of the secondary scenes were. But all in all, it seemed more heavy-handed in its message than the original. Still, it's a very upbeat movie filled with happy and energetic people. And I wouldn't disrecommend it.
As Lady Cranefly said sadly afterwards, this should be up for best fantasy of the year, because in the real world the ending could never have happened.
Who do you root for? The short fat girl ridiculed by everyone and who dares to befriend the negroes? Or the upper class conservatives wiho rule the world?
I probably would not have seen this except for some negotiations with Lady Cranefly. Anyway, I thought the lead girl was good, but perhaps a little too enthusiastic at times, and not as good a dancer as I would have wanted. But hey, it was her part and the limits of her physique, and sadly it might be the only substantial part she ever gets.
Travolta was both good and bad. He was good for taking the role, but the fat suit severely limited his dancing and even any body language, and the heavy facial makeup took away all expression except for close-set eyes.
Pfieffer was quite good in several early scenes, but just the standard foiled villain in the end, forced to overact ridiculously to make clear she had been outwitted.
Several of the secondary characters were outstanding. Zac was great (he appears on the cover of every celebrity rag right now), as was the MC of the TV show. Queen Latifah was straightjacketed into her usual self, which is good but a typecasting danger to her career. Christopher Walken let us watch his very existence for a few minutes more (someone should follow him around, recording him endlessly, so we can enjoy watching him just being himself long after he's gone).
I've heard the movie described as inspired. I think some of the secondary scenes were. But all in all, it seemed more heavy-handed in its message than the original. Still, it's a very upbeat movie filled with happy and energetic people. And I wouldn't disrecommend it.
As Lady Cranefly said sadly afterwards, this should be up for best fantasy of the year, because in the real world the ending could never have happened.
I'm nobody's pony.