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The Spleen looks at ENTRAPMENT
I dearly hope this review is a million miles off target... I see the film this coming Wednesday, and I have to tell ya... I've been looking forward to it ever since I first heard that Sean Connery and Catherine Zeta Jones (and VING RHAMES!!!) were attached. I'm just hoping The Spleen has digestive failure and didn't get it... But... Till later, let this be a subtle warning, lest our hopes be too high... (as if the MATRIX didn't infect us with that virius!)
“Entrapment?”
Try “Mission: Disposable.”
Jon Amiel, the director who helped derail Bill Murray’s career with
“The Man Who Knew Too Little,” turns his attention to the heist genre,
but “Entrapment” excites little more than a sense of sadness and
borderline-horror -- especially in how it serves to defame not only
beloved thespians Sean Connery and Ving Rhames, but screenwriter Ron
Bass in the bargain.
Not that this should surprise truly tuned-in AICN readers. If Fox
believed – as Warners did with “Matrix” – that it had a major action
franchise on its hands, why launch it just 20 days before “The Phantom
Menace?” (Legions starved for entertainment – marching alongside the
always-quick-to-mobilize army of the easily bamboozled -- will
nonetheless surely secure for this pricey nonsense a first weekend at
the top of the box office charts. But watch that plummet on weekend
two.)
Oh, don’t be misled by the presence of Bass’s name on the screenplay.
The man who penned “Rain Man,” “Joy Luck Club” and “My Best Friend’s
Wedding” seems these days to be spreading himself thinner than a
certain Fox TV lawyer. In the last 12 months alone, we have seen Bass’
name adorn scripts for such less-than-luminous efforts as “How Stella
Got Her Groove Back,” “What Dreams May Come,” and “Stepmom,” but when
his name flashes upon the screen at the end of “Entrapment,” one feels
genuine betrayal. The dialog for which Bass takes partial credit
(William Broyles Jr., one of the screenwriters who adapted Jim Lovell’s
book “Lost Moon” into “Apollo 13,” is the other credited scribe) is
clumsy, leaden and familiar enough to make one look more kindly upon
the poor souls who crank out “Walker: Texas Ranger” each week.
The plot, about a pair of rival high-tech thieves who must overcome
mutual mistrust to pull off a heist (an $8 billion heist that can only
be perpetrated in the last ten seconds of 1999), is as confusing as the
film’s characters are uninvolving. But not all fault with this movie
can be attributed to its script.
One of more wrongheaded ideas was trying to pull Connery, who turns 69
this summer, into such a such a physically demanding role. It becomes
painful to watch the man who once made the outlandish James Bond so
convincing now trying to limp and hobble urgently after athletic,
twentysomething Catherine Zeta-Jones. His physique remains so
well-concealed thoughout the enterprise that audiences can’t help but
be aware of the stunt and special-effects fakery as his character
dangles from Malaysian high-rises.
This high-rise dangling, dimly evocative of similar Connery derring-do
in “Diamonds are Forever,” underscores another major problem
“Entrapment” faces: the new film constantly reminds one of older,
better films. The tepid skyscraper shenanigans evoke not only
“Diamonds,” but the better- crafted action caper “Die Hard.”
Rhames, so nuanced and compelling in projects like “Pulp Fiction” and
“Out of Sight,” is reduced to the most generic of foul-mouthed minority
badasses. Perversely, he seems to have been cast in his colorless role
only to remind us of the superiority of another high-tech heist movie
in which he played a prominent role, Brian DePalma’s “Mission:
Impossible.”
Almost as ill-served is Zeta-Jones, lovely as ever but hobbled by an
American accent that highlights her resemblance to the edgier and more
expressive (if equally lovely) Linda Fiorentino.
But God love character actor Maury Chaykin, whose brief, demented
appearance as a bellicose high-tech barterer not only feels like it
fell out of different, better movie, but almost (almost) makes us happy
to see a loud, half-naked fat man wearing lipstick. This horror of a
human being manifests virtually the only scrap of texture in what is
otherwise the blandest film of the year.
The Spleen
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+ Expand All
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...the Thomas Crown Affair, starring Pierce Brosnan himself. I hear their was some kind of Antz/Bugs Life thing going on with these two movies, with defectors from one studio taking their idea with them to another. Does anyone have more info on this, ie release date? It looks like TTCA will now be the better movie, from this story... for those who don't know, it's a remake of the old Steve McQueen movie... but more, y'know.... 'hi-tech'.
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He was in lots of stuff after 'Indy 3'(yes, we know you didn't want to type the full title!) He was in "The Hunt for Red October," he was in the "Russia House," he was in "Just Cause." Dammit, these were great movies! They weren't exactly like Bond, and that's the only thing I have against this film Entrapment. Connery doesn't need to make movies that recall Bond, dangit. We all remember him as that guy, I want him to move on and do other things! Pity Jackson has said Connery won't be Gandolff. That would have been a great casting choice.
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While his track record in Hollywood has been less than stellar, this is the man who directed THE SINGING DETECTIVE, one of the most brilliant television series ever aired. As for ENTRAPMENT vs. THE THOMAS CROWN AFFAIR..... well, I haven't seen the Connery flick yet, but I did have the (dis)pleasure of reading the script for TTCA. I'd be surprised if we don't see this baby in the running for the first Razzies of the new millenium. Along with SUPERNOVA, THE MOD SQUAD, and CARRIE 2 (to name a few,) it exists as further evidence in support of the theory that MGM/UA is willfully running themselves into financial ruin.
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a)Sean Connery is Bond. he was, he is, he always will be.
b) Sean is still a very good actor. I cite Hunt For Red October, Indy 3 (I too am too lazy to type the full title)and his droll and self-mocking performance in the Rock as examples.
c)Just Cause sucked, sucked, sucked!
d)Pierce Brosnan is the best Bond since Connery. He is suave, convincing and he does a good job of mixing both the humor and the serious aspects of Bond. Ease up off his back.
e)The idea of seeing the ravishing Catherine Zeta Jones have her clothing stolen is alone worth the price of admission.
f)Mission Impossible and Sneakers were great. I want more pictures where people sneek around high-rises stealing things. I also want them to be good.
g)Ving Rhames is one of the best actors, black or white, working today so I am still going.
h)I am out of points -
PEople are saying SEAN is too old now but IT'S better to look too old than a stupid highschool kid,like that TOM CRUISE.In every movie that guy has made,he looks like a 13yr old.In TOP GUN his blond girlfriend looked like his MOTHER!.IN MI he plays a top secret CIA agent,but he would have been better off in BEVERLY HILL 90102.SEAN will have more presence than CRUISE ever will,when SEAN retires,he'll still be remembered but CRUISE WILL BE FORGOTTEN like that other prettyboy CASPER VAN DIEN,I mean where the hell is he now.
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Apr 24, 1999 11:44:06 AM CDT
I find it amusing that everyone refuses type out the full title
by l'auteur
Connery will be a has-been if he continues this pathetic attempt to stay young. HE'S ALMOST SEVENTY!! Who honestly believes that even he could do all the things that his character does. There's acting, and then there's pure bullshit and this is pure bullshit. Have some dignity, Sean, and age like a man, not some bitter disgrace who refuses to acknowledge what everyone else already knows.
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For me, I just don't associate good acting w/ Sean Connery. Part of me thinks we just think he's so great b/c of the accent (which is admittedly tres cool). Don't get me wrong - I've enjoyed him in a number of roles - Bond, Hunt For Red October. But then there has been roles, like the Rock and Indy 3, where I've just been less than impressed. In a way, I think Connery is defined by the part he plays - if he's got an awesome kickass role - he'll play it kickass. In the Rock, his part was simplistic and not very well written (IMO) and he responded in turn to the writing. As to this movie, it looks like to me he's sleeping through another role, which is a shame.
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If SEAN hadn't have been in INDY 3,it would have been total crap!He was the only thing that was good innit,everything else about INDY3 was seen it before tired old crap!SPIELBERG had to be persuaded to let SEAN Be innit, goes to show how much he knows! And as for THE ROCK,SEAN was the star of the show.PS there better not be another INDY movie,the only half decent one was RAIDERS,the other two were inferior CASH INS!
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In my opinion, it should be crime to say anything against Sean Connery. He is, and always will be, the man. First we know he can kick ass- he created the bond franchise and is still the best. Plus we know he's a good actor- just look at his performance in The Untouchables, which won him an oscar and nobody on this talk back seems to remember. Plus, just think of all the other great movies and performances he's given- Last Crusade, The Man Who Would Be King, Marnie, The Rock, The Hunt For Red October,etc. Plus all his other movies in which he was the best feature. Perhaps he shouldn't keep making action movies, but i hope he never retires.
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I HAVE TO ASSUME THAT MANY OF YOU THAT READ THIS SITE AND CONTRIBUTE TO IT ARE OF GEN-X OR YOUNGER AND DON'T REMEMBER SOME OF THE TV SHOWS FROM THE 1960'S THAT ARE INFLUENCING MOVIES WE SEE TODAY. I HAVE SEEN THE PROMOS FOR "ENTRAPMENT" AND LOOKS LIKE TO ME THE OLD ROBERT WAGNER TV SHOW "IT TAKES A THIEF" 30 YEARS LATER. ALTHOUGH I LIKE SEAN CONNERY I THINK ROBERT WAGNER SHOULD HAVE PLAYED THE LEAD IN THIS MOVIE. HE REALLY HAS AGED A LITTLE MORE GRACEFULLY THAN SEAN CONNERY AND COULD PULL OFF THIS ROLE A LOT BETTER. COMMENTS ANYONE???
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I got to see ENTRAPMENT on Thursday when I went to the opening of the Cinerama theatre up here in Seattle. What ENTRAPMENT really could have used was more screen time for Will Patton(anybody who's seen NO WAY OUT knows what a great bad guy he can be) as well as Ving Rhames(MIS, Don King anybody!!). These guys are two great actors who were so terribly underused in this movie that they were almost non-factors. As far as Connery goes, he's still a great actor, is still in great shape for a 70 year old, but is too old to be a romantic lead opposite Catherine Zeta-Jones. As much as they try, I could never see why she would keep coming on to a guy old enough to be her grandfather. Anyway, the highlight of the night wasn't the movie as much as it was the theatre itself. It's outfitted with all the latest sound(Dolby EX), has got a huge screen, and seats about 800. The Cinerama is definately the most kick-ass theatre up here, and I STRONGLY reccomend it to anybody in the Seattle area.
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Apr 24, 1999 3:23:23 PM CDT
Connery had some style but he's over the hill for action type ro
by elan vitale
HUNT FOR RED OCTOBER rocked?? The same movie with Alec "I like to be naked in all my movies" Baldwin?? The same Alec Baldwin who sucks so hard as an actor the careers of the collective Baldwin clan have vanished from the radar screen? The same RED OCTOBER that had a scottish-accented actor portraying a Lithuanian submarine captain in the Russian Navy? That movie had some of the biggest laughs, unintentional or not, of any movie released this decade. The hack job of a suspense/action ending - need I say more? No wonder Clancy shit bricks.
Connery was good in THE ROCK because he wasn't required to be the A-1 badass mutha - just the guy who got them into the prison. Having a nice set-up for his character didn't hurt either. Connery's ego is one of the biggest in Hollywood and I hope this movie finishes him off. Only a guy who's completely full of himself (and shit) could be a good James Bond. -
Are you really comparing Cruise to Casper van Diem? Casper is a male sculpture whose only purpose in film was to represent The Master Race in Verhoeven's STARSHIP TROOPERS. Cruise is an actor. If you think he looks too young, fine (i dont see it, but if you do, OK). But at least he acts. No other movie star of the $20 million club has Cruise's repectablity. Even Tom Hanks sells out with crap like YOUVE GOT MAIL. Jim Carrey is trying to improve his ouvre (sp?) but i dont think he can do it. Cruise is constantly improving. He started as a pretty-boy in TOP GUN (which makes some like you still see him like that) but he did BORN ON THE FOURTH OF JULY, and then RAIN MAN, and then JERRY MAGUIRE. He's conssistently proving to everyone that he's a better actor than anyone else in the maga-star club (Ford, Hanks, Carrey, Willis, etc). With EYES WIDE SHUT, he'll finally prove that he's more than just the leader of the pretty boy club (Pitt, Reeves, VAN DIEM, havent decided yet about Leo). Connery on the other hand is nothing more than a really fucking charming accent and damn good looks. I worship him as Bond, but he really cant stretch himself past that personality. Now he's just playing Bond--age 70--in movies like THE ROCK and ENTRAPPMENT.
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I forgot to add that Klaus Maria Branduer (spelling?), who ironically played the bad guy in NEVER SAY NEVER AGAIN (aka THUNDERBALL '82) who supposed to play Capt. Marco Ramius - an actor who can do a slavic accent - such genius! - but Mace Nuefeld and Robert Rehme quickly gave him the shaft when Connery became available.
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Apr 24, 1999 7:07:03 PM CDT
Sean Connery may have an ego of global proportions, but...
by liquidnitrate
if you were as cool as he is, you would too. As for how and why he keeps getting paired up with hotties who should be playing his granddaughters, Sean is the ONLY actor on the planet who can get away with it because he is one of the rare (lucky) male icons who epitomizes "sexiness." So what if he wears Depends and has to rub BenGay on his joints, if your girlfriend was "trapped" in his company she'd be having the time of her life succumbing to his graceful charms. I'm glad someone finally remembered The Untouchables among his masterpieces. Robert Wagner and Klaus Maria Brandauer may be talented, but they aren't marquee names, so Sean is dependable for box-office. As for other cool heist movies (or at least those that contained excellent heist sequences) LaneMyers must recall Woo's Once a Thief, Bruckheimer-Bay's Bad Boys, and Henson's The Great Muppet Caper. The WORST heist movie of all time (I am deeply remorsefully ashamed to admit I actually watched this once) was the redundantly hideous Sidney J furie abomination The Taking Of Beverly Hills, with Ken Wahl, Robert Davi, Matt Frewer, and Harley Jane Kozak. UGH, that trauma still haunts worse than a Stephen J Cannell jacuzzi rubdown. The guilt-free pleasure of ENTRAPMENT will hopefully go along way to soothe those wounds.
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Apr 24, 1999 7:08:46 PM CDT
Bond Gadgets Then & Now: Shoe Phone. Laser Watch. Toupee of Dea
by javacycle
Unlike some of my fellow learned Talk Backers, I find comfort in the idea of the characters portrayed by Mr. Connery and Miss Zeta-Jones having physical relations. I hope that when I reach the age of retirement and I find myself drawn more and more to the nutrient benefits of prune paste, I'll seem enticing to young, fiery brunettes who wear spandex that crawls up into places that is best left to the imagination and porn sites. Sure, perhaps the moans issuing forth from their shared bedroom romps might be more related to hip problems than passionate embraces. But I believe in The Dream. The Dream that one day, all men will be old, and those men will have sex with young, beautiful women. It is a good dream, a dream worth having. So if you must, attack the dreamers. But don't attack The Dream. Thank you for your time.
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Yeah Connery's no kid but I'd pay to see him any day of the week vs. some snot from the WB or Fox. Let's face it Hollywood doesn't make films for adults anymore. Look at all of the films that have been released since the beginging of the year,very few of them appeal to anyone over 18. Sure Connery has had his share of clinkers but he used his clout (and talent) to appear in some damn good films(THE HII, THE ANDERSON TAPES,)
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Two words...Jack LaLanne. The man swam with like 70 boats tied to him when he was 70 or something. I'm impressed.
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Regardless of if Sean Connery is a good actor, he's got a set of pipes that more than makes up for any lack of talent. His voice inflection is great, and he just has this deep, tolling voice that makes the ladies bend over. Someday, I wish to also have this kind of voice. To all who have a hard time believing me, listen to the George Martin cd that was released a while ago, kinda like Goldenthroats where famous people sing Beatles songs, but in this case, they do it GOOD! (Robin Williams and Jim Carrey are among others that perform awesomely) Anyhow, Sean speaks In My Life, and it just about brought a tear to my eye. **** Perhaps the problem with Sean Connery is not that he's a bad actor, but just that we as an audience collective, are all wowed out. Okay, Sean, we know that you can do stunts with more ease than Nikoli Cage... We don't need to see you outdoing every actor in Hollywood til you're 102. It just gets tiring. I agree that it would be incomprhensibly awesome to see Connery in Lord of the Rings. Perhaps, he doesn't want to delve with the time commitment of these bigger projects. He *is old. I dunno. But I want to hear him in more movies, and I think that when everything in America is computerized and named after Lane Myers, that Sean Connery should do all the voice-work for our talking computers and toasters. "Yor toast ish dunn, sir."
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It's unfortunate, but Sean Connery IS getting old. But I'm willing to ignore that, because he remains one of the coolest guys on the planet. The accent, the look, the nonchalant attitude -- I love it. With that said, I firmly believe Entrapment will suck. I doubt it's any fault of Connery's. Just from the trailer... sheesh. The cheesy, whiny guitar over the big action moment in the trailer? Come ON! That's the sort of thing that was in vogue around Lethal Weapon I. The Simpsons have even made fun of it (Chief Wiggum PI's soundtrack). Overall, this looks like a film that has one purpose: add itself to the bottom of the list of techno-caper flicks. Sigh. At least the Wachowski's are planning a Matrix prequel and sequel... that cheers me up a bit.
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Hey, Harry, you were outrageous(ly good)! No Tom Shales, but in there among the top candidates. HOWEVER, you woefully missed the mark that Roger hit. The BEST scenes were in the control room! Where were you? And Billy Bob was at his absolute best, as Roger said, when he was a man of mystery. There was a total 'nother plot there--with slightly different cast (let's keep the top four stars but Nick Nolte's Vicki Lewis did NOT seem like a body builder to me! Making me agree with the NY Times review). Oh, and it was an up-thumb, if only for the turbulence scenes...and more. Plus a great chance to see Jon Voight's daughter...um, grown up.
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well first of all, i do have to agree with l'auteur about what he said concerning you guys and typing indy 3 and then the explanation. anyways, has anyone thought that maybe this reviewer could be just some poor bastard who hasn't seen the movie but saw the preview and just wanted to make himself feel cool by saying he saw the movie before all of us did? i don't know that's just my theory. well that's it for now....STAR WARS ADVANCE TICKETS MOVIEFONE MAY 12 3:00 PM!
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I for one am not frothing at the
mouth to see this movie, but will see it because it looks better than a lot of the movies coming out in the pre "Phantom Menace" wake.
I love Connery, but feel that the Bond films were his pinnacle. Connery will always be Bond to me, and for that reason alone I consider him one of my favorite actors. "Entrapment", however, could be good, because I wasn't too excited about "The Rock", but ended up loving Connery's performance.
Ving-Rhames is truly bad-ass, and adds to every film he's in whether it's excellent (Pulp Fiction), good (Mission: Impossible) or crap (Striptease).
The main reason I'll see the movie for is the absolutely breathtaking Catherine Zeta-Jones. She was the very best thing about the Zorro movie (with the Horner soundtrack in a close second) and is truly one of the most beautiful women in Hollywood. She forgoes the sex-bombshell look of the Sharon Stones, has a more refined beauty than the Love-Hewitts, but still incredibl sexy.
For that reason, I think Zeta-Jones is perfect for the next Bond girl. She's gorgeous, exotic and tough. She's already acted with the best and original Bond, so lets get her to duo with Brosnan next. -
Man, I can't believe my eyes. Sean Connery is about 65 and he still is hanging from skyscrapers? Well, there goes your credebility right down the drain. He should be doing things that match with his age, and not those stupid James Bond - The Saint crossovers. He's simply too old for that shit !
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C'mon, I'm seeing the movie (free pass) just to see that scene
where C Z-J is going up and down over the lasers
wearing those tightass black pants. She is
going to rival Jennifer Lopez. Oh, can anyone say
girl-girl scene? -
...I just saw it last night and I liked but no loved it. See it at a cheap matinee.
One thing is I never see any of James Bond in Sean Connery's character. This was a different character and I liked that. It was more of a criminal version of the character he played in Medicine Man.
And C. Zeta-Jones was such a nice ass, I would play $4 just walk her wiggle it in a catsuit for two hours, no problem. But she does act and she was nice. Not as good as in the "Mask of Zorro".
But if you are hungry for an (Ahr-nold accent on) Action Picture, see "The Matrix". Until May 19th, it is the Biggest Movie of the Summer.
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It doesn't watch movies.
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