Review: After the Sunset


Jewel thieves (and lovers) Pierce Brosnan and Salma Hayek dupe FBI agent Woody Harrelson, ridiculing him on their latest venture before escaping to an island paradise retirement. Things seem to be going fine until Harrelson shows up, pretty much goading Brosnan into doing one last job (a jewel located on a cruise ship) so he can finally nail him. Hayek, who has adapted quite easily to retirement, disapproves. Teaming up with Harrelson is local cop Naomie Harris. Don Cheadle is surprisingly effective as an eccentric local kingpin (originally from Detroit) who wants Brosnan to steal the priceless stone for him (His hilarious speech concerning the Mamas & Papas enters Christopher Walken territory).



Likeable 2005 Brett Ratner (“Red Dragon”, “Rush Hour”, “Tower Heist”) caper flick is essentially a modern version of Hitchcock’s “To Catch a Thief”, one of his more underrated, stylish and breezy films. Though it takes a long while to get anywhere, with cool-as-ice 007 Brosnan and sexy Hayek (who is absolutely stunning here, spending most of the first half in a bikini), I can’t say I was ever bored. All of the performances are top-notch- Hayek and Brosnan sizzle- admittedly not always together, but sizzle is sizzle. Harrelson is very funny, and I loved Harris’ Jamaican accent, mon! (Funny given I’ve hated it in the “Pirates of the Caribbean” films. Even weirder that her mum actually is of West Indies descent), but the plot is a tad silly at times, and not exactly earth-shattering.



At any rate, it’s better than Brosnan’s flat “Thomas Crown Affair” remake. Very pleasant to look at, too, thanks to the Bahamas scenery lensed here by Dante Spinotti (“Last of the Mohicans”, “Heat”). The screenplay by TV writer Paul Zbyszewski and Craig Rosenberg (“The Uninvited”, writer-director of the Aussie flick “Hotel de Love”) thankfully doesn’t take itself very seriously, and you could do a lot worse than spending a couple of hours with James Bond and a bikini clad Salma Hayek on a beach.



Rating: C+

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Review: Hellraiser (2022)

Recovering junkie Odessa A’zion accompanies scuzzy boyfriend Drew Starkey on a break-in where all they find is a weird puzzle box. A’zion later opens the box and after some weird shit happens, A’zion and Starkey figure it might be a good idea to learn more about this messed up trinket. Goran Visnjic plays a millionaire who possessed the box before our protagonist nicked it.   Is there any point in remaking/rebooting “Hellraiser” when the 1987 adaptation of Clive Barker’s original text was written and directed by Barker himself? And is considered a horror classic? On evidence here, absolutely not. Directed by David Bruckner ( “The Signal” ) and scripted by Ben Collins ( “The Night House” ) and Luke Piotrowski (ditto) this is an entirely tedious affair. I took a long time to get on board with the 1987 “Hellraiser” , I have to admit. It was wildly imaginative and original, like a nightmare transplanted on to film. However, the characters were stone cold and left me similarly chilly t
Read more

Review: Cinderella (1950)

The story of poor young Cinderella (voiced by Ilene Woods), treated as a servant by her nasty stepmother (voiced by Eleanor Audley), and dismissed by her thoroughly rotten, ugly stepsisters. Her only friends are a group of mice, who are forever being menaced by a cat named Lucifer (or as I call him, Grumpy Cheshire Cat). The King (hoping to find a wife for his charming son) is throwing a ball and every available young woman is invited to attend, and Cinderella is most excited to go. However, her stepmother and stepsisters do all they can to prevent this from happening. But with help from the mice and one fairy godmother (voiced by Verna Felton) later, and Cinderella looks set to attend the ball. You know the rest, folks.   Lovely 1950 Disney animated movie from directors Clyde Geronimi ( “Peter Pan” , “Lady and the Tramp” ), Wilfred Jackson ( “Fantasia” , “Alice in Wonderland” , “Peter Pan” ) & Hamilton Luske ( “Pinocchio” , “Fantasia” , “Peter Pan” ), that is a bit too s
Read more

Review: Eugenie de Sade

Eugenie (Soledad Miranda) makes a deathbed confession to author/biographer (Jesus ‘Jess’ Franco himself), recounting the tale of how her depraved stepfather (Paul Muller) groomed her into a life of depravity, debauchery, and murder.   Not to be confused with the similarly titled “Eugenie…The Story of Her Journey into Perversion” (by the same director) or “Justine de Sade” (which is not to be confused with Franco’s own “Justine” for that matter), this 1973 Marquis de Sade adaptation from writer-director Jesus Franco ( “99 Women” , “A Virgin Among the Living Dead” ) is perhaps the perfect marriage of Franco, sleazy material, and actors. Basically this is what Franco’s “She Killed in Ecstasy” might’ve been like if it were based on a Marquis de Sade work. There’s a few slow spots here and there, but overall I actually think this is Franco’s best film. Yes, even better than my previous choice “Vampyros Lesbos” , and better than his more ‘respectable’ films like “Count Dracula” (a
Read more