My bottom-to-top ranking of the movies I saw in 2007 continues with these unsatisfactory contributions from six filmmakers.
At #52 (out of 57) is Trust the Man, another David Duchovny vanity project featuring his twisted view of the world. This will be my last Duchovny film--as I don't like his view on things. Here, he and Billy Crudup play cheating brothers-in-law who finally grow up and attempt to save the relationships they've all but destroyed. Maggie Gyllenhaal and Julianne Moore turn in fine performances (C-).
Perfect Stranger (#51) proves that Halle Berry is worthless when it comes to picking her own material. She is a talented actress, who picked the right cast (Bruce Willis, Giovanni Ribisi)--but the wrong screenplay. This is one of those films that out-twists itself. It was once all the rage to turn a seemingly-noble character into the villain, but this generally backfires and you end up alienating the viewer. But what really sinks this ship is the ridiculous situations and dialogue (C-).
In Relative Strangers (#50), Danny DeVito, Kathy Bates, Neve Campbell, and Ron Livingston team up for a broad comedy about a smooth-operator who learns that his WASP-y parents adopted him. His birth parents are a couple of trailer parkers with the last name "Menure" (sounds-like manure). As the parents, DeVito and Bates demonstrate a poor understanding of boundaries and eventually ruin the lives of Livingston and his bride (Campbell). The movie is cute, though ultimately unsatisfying, but it made me wonder why someone can't find a better use for Neve Campbell's talents (C-).
The Wild (#49) is a rip-off of the Ben Stiller-led cartoon Madagascar. There is really nothing of merit or disgust to mention here, it was bland and unoriginal (C-).
Everyone's Hero (#48) had a great deal of potential, but failed in the execution. It could have been a whimsical tale about America's fascination with Babe Ruth--and a bit of an education for today's youngsters. Instead, they went for the absurdity of Whoopi Goldberg as a talking baseball bat (C-). Read the full johnvano review.
Transformers (#47) was a loud, CGI-heavy and plot-thin exercise in marketing (C-). Read my full review.
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