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Several Looks At THE SUM OF ALL FEARS!!!!
Hey folks, Harry here.... Ya know, if Ms Lansing sticks to her guns and releases this film without pandering to the world of protect everyone's fragile little minds and releases THE SUM OF ALL FEARS as it was shown to this audience in Pasadena last night.... Well... I'll just adore her to death. I'm so sick of the fears of an American Public that can't handle the concept of terrorist threats. Each of us is dealing with it daily now. Everytime I open a strange piece of mail, everytime a friend says they are flying somewhere, when that plane crashed in Queens this week, I freaked and worried about the N.Y. Kitten. But ya know what? I can handle watching a political suspense thriller with the deadliest ramifications. I like Ben Affleck on screen, there's a goofy charisma and good spirited sense of life from him... I'll be very curious to see how he handles playing early Jack Ryan. Here's 3 rave reviews from the screening... Can't wait to see it for myself!!!!
Harry:
Scored a few tix to a screening last night at the PaseoPasadena that turned out to be “The Sum of All Fears.” (woo hoo! Jack Ryan!)
This was my first screening (my friends ALWAYS get tickets,but I never do), I thought they did a great job with the setup (as far as I know)--- new Paseo Pasedena was great, and they had Pinks hotdogs without the nasty long line—excellent... (For those that have never been to Pinks hotdog shack in LA, there is *always* a line time) After downing a couple (heh. Did I say a couple? I meant one) of dogs I was ready for the film.
I thought the film was great, good story line, enough of the “oh shit-what’s next” suspense that’s pretty typical. Without giving away too much, the story was different from thebook in many ways (did I mention I’m a Clancy addict?), but consistent with thewhat else I’ve seen from past films, blah blah blah. Affleck did a good job as Jack Ryan and Morgan Freeman was so good that I didn’t miss James Earl Jones….I totally thought I would. I liked the fact that they took Ryan’s character back in time…….Harrison Ford played the role well, but Ryan was beginning to be limited in how much running around he could undertake the big-man-on-campus position that he had in the last film while keeping the storyline semi-realistic (have you ever seen a big FBI guy running around? I think not). So this one had Ryan out and running around, minus the paunch that you often see on older FBI men (thank god)
Bridget Moynahan, who plays the fiancée of Ryan, has, um“impressed me” before in Coyote Ugly. She….”impressed me” again, if you get my drift….she looked awesome and had good chemistry with Affleck.
Its hard to talk about the movie without details, but I’ll hold off, because I hate reading spoilers. The ending kinda reminded me of some of the Godfather endings and where the film seems to come together with cuts to multiple scenes played to opera music. Very cool, and a nice touch…..so from what I saw, the Sum of All Fear totally kicks ass….(but where was Matt Damon? )
Until later,
Kevo Sal really seemed to dig it as well...
Hey Harry ˆ
I've been a long time reader of Ain't It Cool but have
never had anything to submit before -- until now. So
last night, I was checking out the new mall (the Paseo
Pasadena if you are ever in the area) up here in
Pasadena and this guy offered me a ticket to a
screening of some new movie. He wouldn't give me any
details but just told me it was a movie that involved
a terrorist act and two superpowers. Gee, that could
be just about anything. Had some time to kill so I
took him up on his offer.
Well, I'm glad I had nothing to do because the movie
ended up being Sum of All Fears -- the latest Clancy
flick -- and had Ben Affleck in it as a young Jack Ryan
which seems a little out of place considering that
we've already seen 3 Jack Ryan movies and he's pretty
old by this point. So, Affleck becomes Jack Ryan
(guess we won't be seeing Harrison in these again) in
this one -- he's not married but is dating a beautiful
doctor (I'm spacing on her name right now but I think
she was in Coyote Ugly) and is working a desk job at
the CIA.
I don't want to give away too many spoilers but
basically it involves a nuclear bomb, the United
States, Russia, Nazi facists and a football game -- all
the ingredients needed for a great Jack Ryan movie.
Reminded me slightly of the movies they used to
release in the 1980s -- remember Red Dawn?
The film had so many things going on that I was
exhausted by the time I left and could barely focus to
fill out the questionnaire they handed out. I forced
myself to focus though because the question that
popped out at me was about whether or not the current
crisis situation impacted my interest in these types
of movies. Well, I've been thinking a lot about that
in the last couple of months as I'm sure everyone has
-- and I say MOVE AHEAD with action flicks where good
wins out over evil and peace is found somewhere in
between all of the chaos and confusion! God bless
America -- land that I love.
Bye
Sal Mr Anonymous thinks it was pretty damn good...
Hey Harry,
Long time reader, first time scooper blah blah blah. I just caught a test
screening of Sum of All Fears with Ben Affleck and Morgan Freeman.
No spoilers, don't worry...which is gonna make it really hard to describe how
this movie worked.
Overall, it was pretty damn good. It's about terrorism (no secret), and the
resultant buildup of tension between Russia and the US. It's based on a Tom
Clancy book, obviously, so you get the basic idea. It started out so-so, with
a lot of character development for Ben Affleck's character...semi-enjoyable.
The cinematographer had this unhealthy obsession with jamming the camera into
people's faces, as though tell us "look! we're being personal and intimate!"
Unfortunately, there was also a lot of this in Affleck's last picture, Pearl
Harbor. Am I sensing a pattern, here...?
Anyway, you get through half the movie without so much as a flinch. Been
there, don that kind of political drama stuff. Why pay eight bucks when you
can watch West Wing for free?
I'm gonna include the spoiler, with a big label. If you don't want to read
it, skip below.
SPOILER: Midway through the film, Detroit is levelled by a nuclear explosion.
NON-SPOILER: Midway through the film, something INCREDIBLE happens.
The entire audience just sat stock upright and stared. Huge eyes, gaping
jaws. The gasp that went up in the theater drowned out the movie. If you
wanted to know what the reaction to a movie about terrorism would be in our
current times, there you have it. At this point in the movie, people will
either hate it or love it.
The way that it's portrayed is, to say the least, disturbing. Anyone who
wasn't on Mars on September 11th, or hasn't since been vegetablized by a
lobotomy or something, is going to be at least a bit shocked. Sort of answers
the question: "would studios have the balls to do that?"
Sadly, the rest of the movie is pretty unrealistic, because at the time it
was written, they didn't know what the reaction to something like that would
be. So they pretty much avoided it. They focused only on the President and
his officers, and Ben Affleck's character, and the rubble. No attention to
any outside reactions. That, I think is their biggest flaw.
Anyway, the ending is completely satisfying. I walked out generally pretty
pleased, and quite entertained. Mediocre acting, okay special effects, but
EXCELLENT story.
Hope this was of some help.
Mr. Anonymous
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+ Expand All
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Revenge is mine. Boo yah
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Why do so many people make such a hoopla about being first anyway? I agree with Harry about the being able to watch movies like this after 9/11, but I really have a problem accepting Ben Affleck in the same role Harrison Ford's been playing even if it is a prequel. Wonder if Blockbuster will still be sticking those stickers on films like this as they did with SWORDFISH. I was looking around in Blockbuster today and saw some really lame looking Christopher Lambert movie (is there any other kind) that just came out where Lambert plays an Israeli (So if you have a European accent then you can play any non-American as long as they're not Hispanic, Asian, or an African native?) special agent tracking a Mid-East terrorist. Yes, they stuck one of those stupid warning stickers on it too. Sheesh!
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As someone who lives in Queens, about 100 blocks from the crash, who is also a hardcore film geek, I say let life be life, and film be film.
Hell, my wife works at 30 Rock, and she's been bitching about Hollywoods reaction to 9/11 more than I have. Although we both have been bitching louder about the revamped "E.T.".
While I know the studios have to worry about financial outcomes, I figure if we here in NY can take it, than the rest of the country (who until, and now since, 9/11 can't stand us) should have no problem with it. -
Why there? Now it would be REALLY interesting to see how the movie would play out if the target was NYC, as is usually the case for these kinds of flicks. Imagine if this movie was The Peacemaker for example. Denver seems an odd choice; as Blofeld put it in Diamonds Are Forever "If we destroy Kansas, the world may not hear about it for six months".
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Good God! Thanks for nothing.
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Boy what a slow week in entertainment. Except for my friend getting his script sale mentioned in Variety! Go Jack! But other then that...this lame Battlestar Galactica debate. Oh and what's this about Lambert being in Gilliam's next? I mean what child did he sacrifice for that? Anyway, I think this movie sounds like fun and I wanna see big action movies! We are Americans and we like big loud dumb movies. That's who we are. I mean I wish this shift in attitude meant more people would go see Memento or Sexy beast but they won't. Granted, who knows what to make of Swordfish now? But hey don't let those bastards wreck what's great about us. Nothing wrong with an intelligent thriller. I hope Ben scores a TD on this one.
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SPOILER FROM ABOVE.... So Detroit was nuked in the 1980's, early in Jack Ryan's career? Funny how the nuclear destruction of a major American city by terrorists never came up in any of the other Ryan movies that involved international dangers and intrigue... oh, never mind, never mind...
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Affleck sucks, though I hear he's quite the hit at the Meow Mix. But he was the bomb in Phantoms. Seriously, Affleck is an amazingly overrated actor, but I think he's great because he doesn't take himself too seriously (see any View Askew DVD commentary).
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LOVED it.
Note to MCVamp: It's not Detroit, it's Baltimore, and the film takes place today, not the 80s.
See this film!
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For those of you who haven't read the book, the Super Bowl is held in a new domed stadium in Denver/(Detroit, apparently, in the film?) which is why it gets nuked.
Low profile city, high profile target. It's a spoiler, yeah, but you had to read the article to get here, right?
As A Clancy fan, and seeing how the franchise crashed and burned with Ford as a dottering Jack Ryan, More power to the filmmakers for going young with Affleck, and having the balls tostick to the book and nuke the Super Bowl/City, which is ESSENTIAL to the rest of the plot! Stopping he bomb in the nick of time would not have the same effect, and make for an unforgivable plot concession.
Can't wait to see it! -
I fear I have that sinking feeling in my stomach and I know why: Clancy books adapted to movie probably make me a stupid dumb fanboy who just can't sitdown and enjoy them because they mess up the true feeling of the book. Clear and Present, Patriot Games.. Bah.. Harrison Ford.. phooey.. Dafoe as Clark? *gag* Only one I've enjoyed is Red October because of Baldwin and Connery.
Of course, as I've gotten to the ripe old age of 26, I don't really enjoy Clancy books all that much anymore as it gets to feeling like a bit of the same ol' same ol' ..
Dragon and Bear for example.
But, more power to them if they want to distribute another Clancy movie. It will probably draw in the mass crowds of military nuts and techno-thriller men and women.
Ok, stupid-rant-that-no-one-will-read is over. -
Isn't there supposed to be athread running through the Jack Ryan films and books? Oh well, nobody beleives in continuity anymore.
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Sorry about the typos. It's late here. Good night.
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I live in Baltimore!! Guess that explains some of the fucked up people that live here (i.e. previous girlfriends).
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I really, really, really don't like to contribute a post that exclusively trashes someone, but... apparently, this person Sal is just a giant fucking moron. Why even post a review from someone who notices that Jack Ryan is considerably younger in this movie... realizes that it's a lot like 80's movies such as Red Dawn... and yet apparently has NO FUCKING CLUE that the movie is SET in the 80's? What could we, as an audience, possibly hope to gain from a review written by someone so thoroughly thick?
And yes, a "highlight to read" on that GIANT SPOILER might have been nice. -
Not because "The Sum of All Fears" was any good (I saw it Tuesday night in Pasadena as well, and contrary to previous posters' opinions, it was a structural mess and chock full of glaring inconsistancies and plot holes). No, Phil Alden Robinson seems to be the first director with the BALLS enough to tell Ben Affleck to shut his gaping, mouth-breathing maw when he's not speaking. HERE'S TO YOU, MR. ROBINSON....
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"The Sum of All Fears" takes place in 2001, NOT THE FUCKING 80's!!!!! It is a REINVENTION of the Jack Ryan character, not a prequel! And DETROIT doesn't get nuked, BALTIMORE does (without a true "money shot" of the nuke exploding I might add). Oh, and the nuke explosion kills Morgan...wait, nevermind. Some ban-happy...wait, complaining about being deleted will get me banned. DAMMIT!
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Nov 15, 2001 8:28:02 AM CST
Great! I'm From Louisiana & The Super Bowl Is Being Held In
by rightwing dude
So, obviously, this movie will be good for the economics of my state (sarcasm). By the way, does anybody remember reading on AICN about a year ago that Harrison Ford objected to the book's portrayal of Middle-Eastern Arabs as deadly terrorists because he didn't want to stereotype them?
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Oh yeah...BLACK SUNDAY. Let's see, a terrorist plot to blow up a football stadium during the Super Bowl (in this case, it was the stadium at Tulane University, which ain't that far removed from the New Orleans Superdome). Thomas Harris did it years before Tom Clancy, and did it better. I'm a Clancy fan, but I'm just waiting for Jack Ryan to rip off his shirt and show the big red "S" that Clancy wishes was on HIS chest. They really did this ass-backwards. In the Ryanverse, he goes from a field agent to the Deputy Director of the CIA, to head of the NSA, to VP (for all of 5 minutes) to the fricking PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES! I could believe Baldwin or Harrison Ford as VP and Pres, but no way in hell could Ben Affleck pull that one off. IF they decide to make the later novels, look for yet another recast of Jack Ryan.
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Wait, couldnt they have bombed detroit for real for once? I mean, the only real loss will be the Red Wings, but its worth it. We'd be getting rid of the crime, the looting, the Lions, the Tigers, teh Pistons, it seems like a good trade off. Just kidding, guys, but i don bet that the flick does well, for movie goiers will want to see the good americans beat up the bad terrorists. Or maybe they would just like to see former crackhead-alcoholic Affleck headline a movie without Matt Damon.
Besides, this detroit talk made me think of a good joke, so here go:
Detroit Lions coach Bobby Ross is looking for a new quarterback. But after scouting all of the colleges and scanning the waiver wires, he hasn't found his man.
Then one night he sees a news clip of a Bosnian solider hurling grenades through 15-story windows from 200 yards away. "That guy's got an amazing arm," Ross says to himself. "We've got to give him a tryout."
So the coach brings him to America and the next season, with their new Bosnian quarterback, the Lions win their first Super Bowl.
After the game, the quarterback phones his mother.
"Mom," he yells from the raucous locker room, "We won the Super Bowl. I'm famous and rich!"
"I don't want to talk to you," his mother says.
"But mom," the star quarterback pleads. "I just won the Super Bowl!"
"I don't care," she answers. "At this moment there are gunshots all around. The neighborhood is a pile of rubble and your two brothers were beaten within an inch of their lives last week."
She pauses, then tearfully says, "I'll never forgive you for bringing us to Detroit."
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You're right is is an "Amazingly Overated Actor". But he is one hot beefcake. And Dreamy too.
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Nov 15, 2001 9:22:51 AM CST
Clancy novels= Solid Ryan character -> Movies = Lame Ass Monkeyn
by shad0wfax
Okay, what's with all the Ford bashing? Admittedly, it was a huge mistake for Alec Baldwin not to continue the character that he played so well in Hunt For Red October, but what happened happened. Ford took over admirably, although I will say that they definitely made the character too gung-ho(ish) in Clear And Present Danger.
Now for people who don't read the books, I'll not spoil anything but in Sum of all Fears, Jack Ryan is over forty, packing on a few pounds and is the Deputy Chief of the CIA. A desk frigging job! Why the hell would he be running around on the front line, diving around and dodging bullets? The choice of Affleck was appaling, there are pieces of furniture with more acting talent than him, he's more wooden than a frigging log cabin. The storyline? Of course it's going to be okay, it's based on a decent book by a reputable author. Bad Acting? That's a standard these days, ham acting was once frowned upon, now it's a prerequisite for any movie with a budget over $5M. To me, the story should be about the character already established, not "re-inventing" it for the thick, dumbass modern public. Just take a look at Sal to see what I mean. -
harrison ford too old? for the next indiana jones film i think they should get Denis Quaid
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God, I hate it when Hollowood thinks it has to revise/reimagine a previous work to "improve" it. What the FUCK is it with making Ryan single but dating a woman doctor? God damn it, he's happily married with two kids by SoaF! And pretty-boy Affleck's too young for Ryan by that point in the series. Assholes! Assholes! Assholes! ASSHOLES! I seriously doubt the movie has the incredible climax post-bombing featuring the confrontation in which Ryan faced down the overreacting shithead of a President. As a hardcore Clancy fan, I was curious about film adaptation, and this will probably go over big among movie audiences, especially nowadays, but most will hopefully not have read the books. Then their disappointment may not be so great.
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Who the fuck... I mean who in their right mind... who ever on this plane of existence EVER thought that Ben "Jerry Bruckheimer is God" Affleck was a good choice for the part of Jack Ryan? Don't these producers ever actually READ the books their movies are based on? What am I saying, producers can't read. Just age wise he completely doesn't fit! At least at his age he would have been more appropriately cast in Patriot Games (shudder!). Memo to Hollywood: Listen to the fucking fans, you twits!
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Actually, there was one of these guilty pleasures or world premiere z-grade crap fests on HBO where they use action scenes from other movies to save money --- this one starred Roy Schieder as the President, Maria Conchita Alonzo as the Vice President, and Patrick Muldoon as the dedicated secret service agent. The action scenes lifted in this "movie" were from DEEP RISING cuz the Prez is supposed to be on a south china sea cruise with some taiwanese businessman hehe... anyway, Washington D.C. does get nuked in the movie. That bit was interesting.
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Nov 15, 2001 2:35:04 PM CST
Afflected, now way. Gonna skip this one. Oh how a good thing i
by fandude
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Hunt For Red October - SUCKED (Most entertaining feature - Connerys Hairpiece) Patriot Games - SUCKED Clear & Present Danger - SUCKED So this no doubt will suck too! Talking Terrorism, I have been sans Internet for a while so have missed most of the postings that would have happened in September, but who's watched "The Long Kiss Goodnight" with Samuel L Jackson & Geena Davis lately? Not sure if someone whould have brought this up at the time but the logic behind the bad guy's plans - SCARY STUFF... Would love to hear your views if you know what I'm referring to...
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Nov 15, 2001 7:10:52 PM CST
CHECK OUT "SOUTH PARK" THIS WEEK FOR THE ORIGINS OF BEN AFFLECK
by lt. torello
Believe it or not, Alec Baldwin came the closest to the early books' Jack Ryan. The later books were fun but ridiculous. "The Hunt for Red October" remains the best of the films.
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My kindom for a Hugh Jackman or Viggo Mortensen.
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She is an avid Jack Ryan fan and when I told her what they were doing with the franchise she nearly destroyed our apartment. She even co-opted my user ID and railed in a previous SoaF talkback. The real disappointment I have is the fact that the John McTiernan/Gary Sinise adaption of Without Remorse will never be realized, they were so close to doing it, but something happened, funding was cut I think. Oh yeah they would never nuke Baltimore because that is where all the terrorists are hiding out. Think about it it's close to DC and not to far from NYC. And I live here! It's November and it's 70 degrees out!
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If Detroit got consumed by a nuclear holocaust and no one was there to hear it, would it make a sound?
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Nov 16, 2001 10:53:09 PM CST
I Read this script IT BLOWS!!!!!!!SPOILERS EVERVYHERE BEWARE!!!!
by 20th century fox
Ok...Using the powers given to me by Rupert Murdoch, I was able to penetrate Viacommunist Central and grab a copy of the shooting script. SPOLIER ALERT: Ok heres the lowdown this script has NO CONNECTION at all to any of the previous Jack Ryan Movies!!!!! Yep you read right no linkage AT ALL to HFRO, Patriot Games or CAPD... And yes all you laid off MTVers it DOES take place in 2001... So even if you are a fan of the previous movies you are in for a BIG SHOCK!!!! Jack Ryan is NOT married to Cathy... Jack Ryan is a young guy just starting out in the CIA...Now I can hear the Viacommunists spining like a figure skater:"Oh it takes place before HUNT FOR RED OCTOBER thats what you saw..." Well if thats the case hoe come in this script he meets John Clark for the first on a luidicrous adventure in central Asia?????? Yet even a Emerson graduate who was laid off from MTV (Yes kids MTV does layoffs to pad its bottom line) konws Ryan meets Clark for the FIRST TIME IN CLEAR AND PRESENT DANGER!!!!!!!!!!!! Yes kids you read right Sherry Lansing is thinks you are soooooo dumb that you would notice this little continunity glitch...._______________Oh but wait! Thats only the begining...I need not talk about lame plotting, cliche villians (Neo-Nazis???? Come on Sherry. Were you worried Summner Readstone would call you insensitive if you made the terrorists ISLAMIC?????),
Logic holes even Brtiney Spears would spo(EX: At the stories climax Jack Ryan,Who is just starting out in the CIA, convincvinces the rusian president to stand down an imment nuclear attack...Now in the novel it made sense cause of previous continuity...However in this script JACK RYAN gtoes on his FIRST overseas mission HES NEVER MET THE RUSSIAN PRESIDENT...Yeah Sherry I'm sure Vladimir Putin would listen to me a person he's never met over people he knows...YEAH AND YOU'll SIGN ME TO A STUDIO DEAL ON THE LOT TOO BEFOFRE THAT HAPPENS!!!!!!!!!_______________________________________Now I know some of you are pissed I gave it all away but I just saved you $8.00 bucks...Oh Yeah I think the debate SHOULDN'T be should the Viacommunists release this for making Americans nervous...RATHER when the Viacommunists relase this crapfest, how far will Viacom's stock fall.More to the point how many more MTV personell will they lay off to make up the BIG MONEY LOSSS....Now if your Viacommunist fantasies have been shattered by my Tirade please send all hate mail to bankofkev@hotmail.com...Oh and if you were a MTV employee who was promised lifetime employment (After all MTV owner Viacom would cut ther executive salaries before doing layoffs...Right?) I REALLY want to hear from ya....Much Love...20TH Century Fox
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I don't know what "20th Century Fox's" problem is, but I've read the script too, and I've seen the film, and both are terrific.
But don't take my word for it ... check out TNMC's review of the script (http://www.tnmc.org/dp/0823011.shtml) and Jeffrey Wells' 2/9/02 column on Reel.com. He had previously trashed the idea of the movie, but completely changed his mind and raved about the script.
Just thought you'd like to know, there's another point of view out there.
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