MOVIE FACTS 

MOVIE REVIEW ()             REVIEW BY JERM
JOHN WOO PROTÉGÉ’ ANTOINE FUQUA, DIRECTOR OF THE REPLACEMENT KILLERS, A $30M MOVIE THAT GROSSED ABOUT $18.5M BACK IN 1998, CHECKED IN IN 2000 WITH BAIT, A MOVIE WITH A $35M PRICE TAG AND A LESS THEN STELLAR GROSS OF LESS THAN $16M. THE MOVIE TRIES TO FOLLOW THE SAME FORMULA AS THE TWO “COMEDIAN IN AN ACTION MOVIE” GENRE HITS: BLUE STREAK AND RUSH HOUR.  BUT WHAT HAPPENED?  WELL THE MOVIE SURROUNDS A BIG TIME ROBBERY OF A WHOLE LOT OF GOLD.  AT THE SAME TIME ACROSS THE CITY FOXX IS BREAKING INTO A SEAFOOD WAREHOUSE.  NOW BY SOME TWIST OF FAIT, ONE OF THE ROBBERS AND FOXX END UP IN THE SAME CELL THAT SAME NIGHT.    THE ROBBER DIES, AND FOXX GOES TO JAIL.  BUT THE FBI WANT THE OTHER PERSON INVOLVED, SO THEY COME UP WITH THIS FOOL PROOF PLAN TO IMPLANT A TRANSPONDER INTO FOXX AND MAKE IT KNOWN THAT HE KNOWS WHERE THE ROBBER WHO DIED HID THE MONEY (SOMETHING THE OTHER ROBBER DOESN’T KNOW).  SO FOXX IS THE BAIT FOR THE BIG BAD GUY TO COME AND GET AND THEN THE FBI WILL BE ABLE TO CATCH THE FISH THAT GOT AWAY.  GRANTED, IT’S NOT THE BEST OF PLOTS, SO THE MOVIE DOES THE BEST IT CAN.  FOXX PLAYS HIS CHARACTER LIKE HE’S DOING STAND-UP.  HE IS CONSTANTLY CRACKING ONE JOKE AFTER ANOTHER, SOMETHING THAT GETS OLD REALLY QUICK.  THE REST OF THE CHARACTERS ARE AS ABOUT AS FORGETTABLE AS THE PLOT IS LAME.  THE ONLY REAL STANDOUT WAS THE BAD GUY WHO WAS TRYING TO DO HIS BEST JOHN MALKOVICH IMPRESSION.  BUT WHY 3 STARS?  BECAUSE, I ACTUALLY LIKED THE MOVIE.  YES IT WAS A BAD MOVIE, BUT IT HAD ITS MOMENTS.  AND FOXX IS ACTUALLY A VERY FUNNY COMEDIAN, HE JUST GETS LOST IN THE SHUFFLE.  AND DESPITE FUQUA’S TRACK RECORD, HE DOES A GREAT JOB DIRECTING AN ACTION MOVIE ON A SMALL BUDGET. 

DVD REVIEW ()
THIS DVD BEGS FOR US TO FINALLY ASK THE QUESTION, WHO IS IN CHARGE OF WARNER BROTHERS DVD DEPARTMENT?  THIS DVD IS TERRIBLE.  NO LONGER SHOULD STUDIOS ADVERTISE “ENHANCED FOR 16x9 TV’S”, “THEATRICAL TRAILER”, AND “DOLBY DIGITAL 5.1” AS EXTRAS.  ON A DVD, WE WOULD EXPECT NOTHING LESS.  WHILE ACROSS TOWN, DREAMWORKS PICTURES ARE MAKING GREAT DVD’S, WARNER BROTHERS IS STILL PUTTING OUR “DARK-AGE” DVD’S.  THE SOUND MIX IS OK.  THE SURROUNDS ARE GIVEN A NICE WORKOUT IN SOME OF THE MOVIES ACTION SEQUENCES, BUT ON A DVD, THAT TOO IS EXPECTED.  THE ONE SHINNING STAR IS THE FACT THAT JAMIE FOXX HIMSELF PROVIDES FULL LENGTH COMMENTARY.  BUT OTHER THEN THAT, THE DVD IS A POOR ENTRY INTO WARNER BROTHERS DVD LINEUP.  LIKED THE MOVIE, HATED THE DVD.

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