Blood Diamond

Bloody bling
Review by Vives Anunciacion

Directed by Edward Zwick
Written by Charles Leavitt
Starring Leonardo Di Caprio, Djimon Hounsou, Jennifer Connelly
R13/ 138 minutes
Warner Brothers
*** (3 stars)

In the 1990s, rebels in the African country of Sierra Leone illegally mined and traded diamonds to finance their war against their government. In Blood Diamond, Leo DiCaprio plays a gem smuggler engaged in the trade and Djimon Hounsou plays one of the rebels’ mining slaves who discovers a rare pink diamond. Both actors deliver brilliant performances, even if the movie’s storytelling requires some polishing of its own.

Against a backdrop of poverty and Africa’s beautiful landscapes (captured in beautiful cinematography), Director Edward Zwick melodramatizes (quite commonly with his message films like Glory, Courage Under Fire and Last Samurai) the issue of “conflict diamonds” – diamonds mined in war zones then sold illegally to finance and sustain the insurgency.

DiCaprio plays Danny Archer, a former soldier of Rhodesia (now known as Zimbabwe) who engages smuggling in, at that time, war-torn Africa. Danny is caught smuggling conflict diamonds across the border and is sent to prison, where he meets Solomon Vandy (Hounsou), a farmer captured by the local revolutionary army (Revolutionary United Front) and forced into slavery as diamond miners. The illegal mine site is raided by the government and the slaves are sent to prison along with the rebels.

Danny promises to help Solomon find his family if Solomon will tell Danny where he hid the pink diamond. Half action movie and half human drama, Blood Diamond highlights the conflicting interests of a smuggler separated from society and a slave separated from his family.
Between them is a rare diamond worth the price of their freedom, and an idealistic journalist (Jennifer Connelly) who can actually change their lives.

At more than two hours the “action” movie runs slow and the message over-dramatized. Connelly’s morally-inclined role is the spirit of the movie, but her romantic role is unnecessary in the scheme of things. Despite the real issues and the intense performances, Blood Diamond is an artificial gem that put more carats in its bling than actual storytelling.

eragon

Enter the dragon
Review by Vives Anunciacion

Directed by Stefen Fangmeier
Based on the novel by Christopher Paolini
Starring Ed Speleers, Jeremy Irons, Sienna Guillory
G / 104 minutes
20th Century Fox
** ½ stars (2 ½ stars)

It’s like Star Wars and Harry Potter with a little Lord of the Rings, and instead of riding x-wings or broomsticks it’s riding dragons. Eragon, at the very least, has marvelous costumes. Lots of it. Behold the most fasyon fantasy adventure for kids.

An orphan teenager, Eragon (newcomer Ed Speleers) discovers his destiny as Alagaesia’s last dragon rider after he finds and raises a blue dragon, which he calls Sephira (voiced by Rachel Weisz.) Jeremy Irons plays his mentor Brom, who trains Eragon to be a rider and instructs him on his quest to join the rebel force Vardens and free Alagaesia from the dark rule of lord Galbatorix (John Malkovich.)

First, Eragon must rescue the elf princess Arya (Sienna Guillory) who was responsible for teleporting the dragon egg to Eragon, from the clutches of Galbatorix’ minions. Eragon manages to accomplish this with a heavy price that forces Eragon to bring Arya to the Vardens. Galbatorix’s army arrives and a brief battle ensues, but in the end the good guys win – until the last shot when Galbatorix thrashes his throne room to reveal his deadly secret and the prelude to Part 2.

If the story reminds you of Star Wars except that it’s set in Hobbiton, don’t run for the exits yet because the highlight of the movie is when Eragon rides Sephira while training. After all, we’ve never seen a dragon rider before. The CG effects are well done and the visuals are beautiful, not surprising since the director is a former visual effects supervisor.

But that is Eragon the movie’s main problem – it’s easy on the eyes but not on the ears as the story suffers from bad dialogue, bad character development, stone-cold acting and clichéd ideas, as if only the effects mattered. A teenager may have written the original novel, but the screenplay has no excuse to sound amateurish. One thing’s for sure: those black leather pants on Eragon are sure smashing.

To err is human, to Eragon, derived.

Little Miss Sunshine

Little darlin’
Review by Vives Anunciacion

Directed by Jonathan Dayton, Valerie Faris
Starring Greg Kinnear, Toni Collette, Steve Carell. Abigail Breslin
99 minutes/ R13
Fox Searchlight
Exclusive at Ayala Cinemas
*** ½ (3 ½ stars)

I found this movie uproariously engaging for many reasons, but mainly because there on the screen was an exaggerated version of my own crazy family. In the movie, the Hoovers are a nutty bunch of unfulfilled losers on the brink of disintegration. Little Miss Sunshine is an irreverent road trip of dysfunction as a family struggles to keep itself intact despite the seemingly unending series of misfortunes that comes in its way.

Daddy Richard (Greg Kinnear) is a failed motivational speaker who can’t motivate his own self to get a real job. Alan Arkin delivers the most memorable and hilarious lines as the foul-mouthed, heroin-addicted Grandpa. In contrast, the talented Ms. Toni Collette is underutilized as a former divorcee and Richard’s new wife Sheryl. Funnyman Steve Carell (The 40-Year Old Virgin) plays
Sheryl’s suicidal gay brother Frank. Playing the nihilistic teenager who has decided not to talk is Paul Dano.

Last but not the least is little chubby Olive, whose dream of joining the Little Miss Sunshine beauty pageant forces the bankrupt family to take a 700-mile road trip from New Mexico to California. Seven year-old Abigail Breslin plays the Hoovers’ ultra-cute bunso Olive with natural charm and innocence and rays of light in her eyes.

Along the way, the family deals with road mishaps and relationship bumps, but it’s at the beauty contest when the message takes a literal turn. It appears that there are far more freakier families than their own.


Sunshine’s best assets are its zippy quotable dialogue, catchy music and the excellent ensemble cast. Kudos to Arkin, who deserves a nomination somewhere, and Kinnear who may be the only actor who can warmly smile at the audience after playing the asshole the entire trip.

Sunshine is an enjoyable commentary at how we unconscionably put premium on winning, even if the winning makes the winners look like losers. Unlike her entire family who can’t get into proper terms with their own freakiness, Olive embraces her inner superfreak to show her family what winning truly means.

In the end it’s not about the winning or the losing, it’s the getting there that counts – even if the getting there means riding the bus with the only family that can take you there, no matter how crazy they can get.

Casino Royale

Ante-Bond
Review by Vives Anunciacion


Directed by Martin Campbell
Based on the character created by Ian Fleming
Starring Daniel Craig, Eva Green
144 minutes/ PG 13
Sony Pictures/ Columbia Pictures
*** 1/2 (3 1/2 stars)

After 21 outings, it still represents the grand male fanstasy – crisp clothing, hot cars, lots of gadgets and hot women. But Casino Royale also reshapes James Bond to a new level of seriousness since Timothy Dalton played a darker Bond in License to Kill (1989). Welcome the lean, mean, but emotional, machine.

Of all actors who delivered the introduction, “The name is Bond, James Bond.” Daniel Craig’s physique makes him the most believable person to accomplish the physically demanding missions of Agent 007 (let’s see – Pierce Brosnan was too pretty, Roger Moore too stiff; Sean Connery was great too, but first we had to understand his Scottish. That leaves George Lazenby who quit after On Her Majesty’s Secret Service (1969) and Timothy Dalton who’s as charismatic as a grandfather clock onscreen.)

But credit Dalton for creating the darker side of Bond, who in Moore’s time was a bumbling chick magnet, then a gadget freak in Brosnan’s. For the longest time, the image of the dapper, gentlemanly super Secret Agent was established by Connery even in the first James Bond flick, Dr. No in 1962. Craig only had to improve on Dalton’s inner assassin to make this version of Bond the most emotionally vulnerable (but such is the trend with virtually all male bidas in recent movies.)

In Casino Royale, Bond’s first mission as a double-o agent takes his bomb-terror trail from the Bahamas to a high stakes poker game in Montenegro, resulting in the crackdown of a worldwide agency of terrorist money. Eva Green plays MI6 accountant Vesper Lynd, the only woman that matters in this edition of James Bond. This Bond barely uses any gadget, drives a car once only to smash it in a few minutes and sleeps with only one woman. Sheer mind and muscle.

Great movie, and a successful reboot of a franchise, like it was an edition of the Jason Bourne series. Too bad it had to glamorize gambling.

An Inonvenient Truth

Wala nang next time
(in filipino)
Rebyu ni Vives Anunciacion


Documentary ni Davis Guggenheim
Featuring Al Gore
100 minutes/ GP
United International Pictures
Showing exclusively at SM Megamall and Mall of Asia
**** (4 stars)

Hindi pa uso sa Pilipinas ang global warming, pero base sa pelikulang ito, walang lugar sa mundo ang hindi apektado nito, at tayo ang dahilan kung bakit ito nagaganap. Manood at makinig, dahil ito na yata ang pinakamahalagang mensahe para sa ating henerasyon.

Unti-unti nang umiinit ang klima ng mundo at tao ang salarin. Sa pamamagitan ng mga chart at graphs, pinaliliwanag ni Al Gore, muntik na presidente ng US, ang pagtaas ng temperatura sa atmosphere at ocean surface sa nakaraang ilang taon, dala ng pagdami ng carbon dioxide at iba pang greenhouse gases. Kumakapal ang mga ito sa atmosphere dahil sa masibang paggamit ng tao ng fossil fuels (langis, gas at uling) pagkakaingin at pagsasaka. Amerika ang pinakamalaking salarin, na nagbubuga ng 36% ng total carbon dioxide na tinatapon sa atmosphere, kasunod ang China at India.


Sa isang clip ipinakita ng satellite image kung paano lumakas ang bagyong Katrina nang dumaan ito sa mainit na karagatan ng Gulf of Mexico bago tumuntong sa lupa. Ipinakita rin ang ilang lugar na dati’y balot sa yelo at glacier at ngayo’y tuyo na na parang disyerto. Dala ng mas mainit na atmosphere at karagatan ang pagtunaw ng yelo sa Antarctica at Greenland, pagtaas ng sea level, mas malakas na bagyo tulad ng Katrina at Milenyo, paglipat ng mga hayop at sakit sa mga bagong lugar, tagtuyot, fresh water shortage at ang pagkamatay ng maraming ecosystem.

Malinaw ang paglalahad ng pelikula at simplified ang pagpapaliwanang ni Al Gore. Ang An Inconvenient Truth ay isang dokumentaryo ng lecture ni Gore tungkol sa climate change. Nililibot ni Gore ang ibat ibang bayan upang iparating ang babala at ipaalam na hindi pa huli ang lahat. Madalas nakakagulat ang mga datos na ipinapakita niya para ipaliwanag na tao ang may kagagawan sa global warming.

Ang mahalaga ay may panahon pang nalalabi para aksiyunan ang problemang ito. Ayon nga kay Gore, hindi ito political issue kundi isang moral imperative. This is a very important film, with a very important and urgent message. Ang nakataya dito ay kaligtasan ng buong lahi ng tao. Parents, bring your children; teachers see this movie with your students.

Maaaring narinig na natin dati ang global warming o climate change, pero hindi natin ito pinansin. Ano ba naman ang malay nating mga Pinoy doon. Pero ang masakit na katotohanan, dapat nating aksiyunan ngayon ang mga paninirang ginawa ng ating henerasyon bago natin masasagot ang susunod na henerasyon kung ano ang ginawa natin sa kalikasan nila.

Walang excuse, walang pass muna dahil wala nang next time na darating.

Coolio!

Review by Vives Anunciacion

Happy Feet
Directed by George Miller
Featuring the voices of Elijah Wood, Brittany Murphy, Hugh Jackman, Nicole Kidman, Robin Williams
98 minutes/ GP
Warner Brothers
**** (4 stars)

It started with Madagascar and then with March of the Penguins (locally known as Penguin, Penguin, Paano Ka Ginawa? – by god, who on earth thought of that title), penguins are now officially the cutest animals on earth.

In ice-covered Antarctica, Mumble Happy Feet (Elijah Wood) was born to dance and not to sing. His parents (Norma Jean, voiced by Nicole Kidman, and Memphis, voiced by Hugh Jackman) know that he will find it difficult to fit in with the rest of the penguins in Emperor Land, much less find his true love, if he doesn’t find and sing his heart song. Realizing that Mumble’s oddity can disrupt their harmony, Noah the Elder (Hugo Weaving) banishes Mumble from Emperor Land, accusing him of being the reason why the fish has become scarce.

Travelling across Antarctica in search of his heartsong and the true reason of the fish shortage, Mumble bands with the Adelie Amigos led by the flippy Ramon (Robin Williams) and the Rockhopper penguin Lovelace (also Robin Williams). In the end, Mumble will find whatever he needs and much more, in time to come back to his true love Gloria (Brittany Murphy).

Part National Geographic, part Broadway and American Idol, more than half of the time feeling like it’s the American Music Awards, Happy Feet has showstopper after showstopper of song and dance numbers that will rival any Disney animated musical. Heck, it may already be better than any of them.

The animation is gorgeous, the characters adorable, Robin Williams is side-splittingly funny, Happy Feet’s achilles heel is an ice-thin storyline involving identity crisis, a long search and an abrupt and hurried recital on the disasters of commercial overfishing by aliens (that’s us, humans). Important and relevant may these themes be, they don’t add that many layers to the cake full of icing. Nevertheless, the movie overflows with melodious and hippity-hoppity soul.

Hands down (or should I say, feet up?) the best animation this year. Jump and move and jump and move and stop. You got it?

Borat natin

(in filipino)
Rebyu ni Vives Anunciacion

Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan
Directed by Larry Charles
Starring Sacha Baron-Cohen
R:18 / 82 minutes
Twentieth Century Fox
**** (4stars)

Barok siya kung mag-Ingles, pero parang tayo rin pag dinurugo na sa tainga kakausap sa mga dayuhang bisita dito sa atin. See Borat. See Borat movie film. Pwede na ba Ingles ko?

Si Borat Sagdiyev (Sacha Baron-Cohen, mas kilala bilang Ali-G) ay isang TV reporter na inatasang mag-observe sa kulturang Amerika at gumawa ng documentary para sa ikauunlad ng bansang Kazakhstan (dating probinsiya ng nasirang U.S.S.R.) Mula New York hanggang Los Angeles, maghahasik si Borat ng lagim at katatawanan upang ipapakita ang ibang anyo ng pamumuhay sa Amerika na di madalas ipakita ng Hollywood o ng CNN.

Isa itong mockumentary o isang pekeng dokumentaryo na pinapakita ang “normal” na kulturang Amerikano sa mata ng isang foreigner. Sa isang banda maaaring ganito rin ang maging karanasan ng isang Pinoy na mapapadpad sa Amerika na walang karanasan sa kanilang kultura. Ilang pelikula na nina Dolphy at Chiquito ang may ganitong tema para gawing kakatawa ang nagtutunggaling lenggwahe at pamumuhay, culture clash kumbaga.

Ang mas mahalagang punto ng palabas ay hindi lang ang ipakita ang mga kakatawang gawain ni Borat kundi ang pagpapakita sa natural na reaksiyon ng mga ordinaryong Amerikano sa isang weird na dayuhan tulad ni Borat.

Tinatawid ng Borat ang linya kung alin ang kakatawa, bastos at shocking pero ang mas nakakabilib ay si Cohen na kung tutuusin ay isang matapang na performance artist, at kahit alam niyang hindi na siya igagalang na tao sa mga pinaggagawa niya, naitatawid pa rin iyon.

Watch na the Borat, is very funny. Pero watch it more so because it gives us, non-Americans a good reason to laugh at Americanisms.

Ceremonial flag

Review ni Vives Anunciacion

Flags of Our Fathers
Directed by Clint Eastwood
Written by William Broyles Jr., Paul Haggis
Starring Ryan Phillippe, Jesse Bradford, Adam Beach
DreamWorks/ Warner Brothers
** (2 stars)

A picture is worth a thousand words, pero sa Flags of Our Fathers kulang ang one thousand words dahil paulit-ulit na tatanungin ni director Clint Eastwood kung ano ang tunay na kahulugan ng kabayanihan. Paulit-ulit hanggang matapos ang pelikula, may sermon pa. Actually mas kasalanan ng mga writers.

Based on the book by James Bradley and Ron Powers, Flags of Our Fathers is Clint Eastwood’s lavish deconstruction of the famous photo taken by Joe Rosenthal depicting the raising of the star spangled banner by American soldiers on Iwo Jima on February 23, 1945. More than what it means to the American public, Flags of Our Fathers dissects the true meaning of heroism sa katauhan ng tatlo sa anim na sundalong nagtaas ng bandila.

Sina Doc Bradley (Ryan Philippe), Rene Gagnon (Jesse Bradford) at Ira Hayes (Adam Beach) ay tatlo sa mga sundalong nagtaas ng bandilang Amerikano sa Iwo Jima sa ika-limang araw ng may 40-days na pakikipagdigmaan ng US laban sa mga Hapon noong World War 2.

Kaagad naging sikat ang mga flag raisers matapos ilathala ang larawan sa mga pahayagan, kaya hindi nag-atubili ang gobyernong iuwi sila sa Amerika para maging poster boys sa kampanya para makalikom ng 14 Billion dollars pantustos sa gastusin ng digmaan. Binansagan silang Heroes of Iwo Jima. Hindi nahirapan si Rene na mag-adjust sa bago niyang kasikatan, samantalang hindi matanggap ni Ira ang bansag sa kaniya bilang bayani. But the story is told through the experiences of Doc as the attending medic of the fallen GIs.

It’s easier to like Flags of Our Fathers than say how contrived it truly is. Don’t get me wrong - it’s a handsomely made film, beautifully photographed and light-handedly guided by Eastwood, as most Eastwood films are. Will it receive many Oscar nominations? For sure. But what it truly is is a sappy, repetitive and preachy no-brainer of a story that condemns idolatry but glorifies the idol at the same time.

There’s no need for Flags to repeat its theme in every scene, but in case somebody misses it, there’s even a sermon at the end defining what heroes are. Heroes are but our creation, it says, but they are heroes nonetheless. For once, Dirty Harry blinks on his politics.

If it’s arrogance to call this a literal, spoonfeeding, no-brainer drama, it’s because the movie condescends to its audience and makes sure it gets its message in the most melodramatic manner possible. War Movies for Dummies New Illustrated Edition.

Tricky treat

Review by Vives Anunciacion

The Prestige
Directed by Christopher Nolan
Starring Christian Bale, Hugh Jackman, Michael Caine, Scarlett Johansson
Touchstone Pictures
*** ½ (3 ½ stars)

At more than two hours, the movie is slightly (just a little bit) difficult to finish – there are so many twists and turns and revelations, one can’t wait for the ending to come. But it’s this anticipation that makes the movie The Prestige a rousing success – just like a great magic act, one can’t wait to see the magician reveal his trick.

In this case, the magician is director Christopher Nolan and his tools are Christian Bale, Hugh Jackman, Michael Caine and a cleverly adapted script from the novel by Christopher Priest. The Prestige is more about two magicians’ obsessive pursuit to create the ultimate magic trick and not about the trick itself. Look closely, they didn’t use digital effects in this movie. This is old-school filmmaking at one of its finest.

Christian Bale (formerly Batman) and Hugh Jackman (formerly Wolverine) play Alfred Borden and Robert Angier respectively, young rivals engaged in a bitter personal war to become the supreme magician in Victorian-era London. Borden is the better inventor of tricks, while Angier is the better showman. The movie shifts the story between the two with flashbacks and flashbacks-within-flashbacks, until, like a magic trick, it reaches the ultimate reveal in the end.

The movie’s strongest point is how Nolan’s treatment manages to play on the audience’s sympathies, made even more effective by strong performances from Bale and Jackman. In the beginning, it’s easy to sympathize with Angier and get mad at Borden. This reverses towards the mid part. By the time the movie ends, both characters are chest-deep in dirt. Walang bida dito, dahil pagdating sa dulo, pareho silang kontrabida. From this standpoint masasabing magaling ang pagganap nina Bale at Jackman sa kanilang mga karakter kaysa sabihing flatly obsessed ang mga karakter nila from the start. Support acting, cinematography and costumes are also top-notch in this period-thriller, with a notable appearance by rock idol David Bowie as the inventor Nikola Tesla.

The Prestige is compelling to watch as a psycho-thriller, but deep inside its handsome exterior lies a story that relies significantly on a few “electrifying” tricks as its main device. So much for well threshed out characters, the devices are not as inventive. That maybe is the only weak link to an otherwise mind-blowing illusion.

America the beautiful

Review by Vives Anunciacion

World Trade Center
Directed by Oliver Stone
Written by Andrea Berloff
Starring Nicholas Cage, Michael Peña
Paramount Pictures
** ½ (2 ½ stars)

I always get mixed reactions from an Oliver Stone film. But it’s a personal thing, a matter of taste. In fairness, the set-ups and the acting in World Trade Center are never too showy nor over-dramatic. But it is erratic – beautiful and ugly, poetic and literal in various places. World Trade Center is Stone’s intensely dramatic dedication to the families who survived the 9/11 tragedy.

John McLoughlin (Nicholas Cage) and Will Jimeno (Michael Peña) are two of the hundreds of Port Authority police officers called in to rescue the people trapped in the collapsing towers of the World Trade Center when the walls crash in and they themselves get trapped in the rubble.

The movie follows the stories above and below ground, between John’s and Will’s physical and mental struggle to stay alive beneath layers of twisted metal and concrete of the fallen towers and the story above ground as their families resolve to keep believing that their loved ones are still alive. In this emotionally charged movie, Peña comes out more sympathetic and out-performs Oscar winner Cage.

There’s no question the visuals and the design recreating the horrific images captured on CNN that day are remarkably stunning. Even more stunning is the scene from inside the concourse when the towers implode. And then there are Stone’s jarring intrusive images typical of his vision, whether it’s a stoplight representing authority in absentia or a shot of the earth from up in space or a Christ figure holding a water bottle representing, what else, salvation. In these instances the movie roller coasters from sublime to paralytic.

Moreso, the movie plays out like a recruitment movie for the US Marines, and is most annoying to progress slowly to a happy ending, how, as Sergeant Karnes (Michael Shannon) puts it, “it’s their mission.” World Trade Center’s mission is to unearth from the rubble the cracked American ego. It could have easily ended with a shot of the American flag fluttering in the wind with God Bless America playing in the background. Interestingly, I distinctly remember CNN showing a certain city celebrating the Sept. 11 attacks. That is not even insinuated in World Trade Center.

September 11 didn’t have a happy ending, because if it did, then we should all move on and stop the war on terror.

The gang’s all here

Review by Vives Anunciacion

The Departed
(3 stars)
Directed by Martin Scorsese
Written by William Monahan
Starring Leonardo Di Caprio, Jack Nicholson, Matt Damon, Mark Wahlberg

The Departed by all accounts is a reworking of the 2002 Hong Kong megahit Infernal Affairs, never mind if director Martin Scorsese says his movie isn’t a remake.

Leo Di Caprio and Matt Damon play two sides of the Boston State Police. Leo’s Billy Costigan is an undercover cop hired to uncover the illegal dealings of the Irish Mafia led by kingpin Frank Costello (Jack Nicholson), while Matt’s Colin Sullivan is a hotshot rookie detective who serves as Costello’s inside man. When the police and the Mafia suspect a spy in their ranks, Billy and Colin devise ways to keep their identities secret from within their groups, while they individually try to expose each other.

Jack Nicholson’s zesty Costello is enough for him to snatch the lead acting nomination away from Leo, though his role opens the debate on what is and what isn’t a lead role. If Jack gets it, Mark Wahlberg deserves the support nom for playing hardball cop Dignam.

Overall, The Departed is Scorsese Lite, a very audience-friendly movie that ‘s a departure from the director’s usually expansive vision (The Aviator, Gangs of New York, Goodfellas, Raging Bull). It’s a top-notch thriller all right, but it’s still just a remake of one of the best Asian films ever made.

Green Street Hooligans
(2 stars)
Directed by Lexi Alexander
Written by Dougie Brimson, Lexi Alexander
Starring Elijah Wood, Claire Forlani, Charlie Hunnam

Football hooliganism is a serious issue in the U.K. and Lexi Alexander ‘s Green Street Hooligans tries to explain parts of the phenomenon the best it can without romanticizing the addictive thrill of violence. Part brilliant and part amateurish, Green Street Hooligans is mostly emotionally inconsistent. But when it works, it works well.

Elijah Wood is Matt Buckner, a promising journalism major who is kicked out from Harvard. Moving to London, he meets his brother-in-law’s brother Pete, who introduces him to the Green Street Elite (GSE) firm – a radical gang of football fans which takes the fanaticism in “fan” to deathly ends. Matt’s presence in the GSE reignites the violent rivalry between GSE and another Firm, leading to the expected tragic end.

The movie works more than half of the time, although almost every character is stereotyped. There’s no question on Elijah Wood’s acting abilities (kilay pa lang acting na), it’s just that he isn’t physically convincing to morph into a street thug. Plus, putting another pretty boy beside him won’t help making him macho – Sam and Frodo are still fresh on people’s minds.