Lukewarm Money
I’m watching James’ made for TV movie, "Cool Money". [It was still on when I wrote this part last night, then my wireless adapter had a problem and I was cast out of the online universe. *shudders* ]
Does anyone else recognize all kinds of things lifted straight out of the George Clooney version of "Ocean's 11"? (As I said in a comment elsewhere, GC is another guy who makes 40-something look hot.) They even used the iconic line, "Are you in or are you out?", not to mention the hip-happening late 60's/early 70’s music. It featured the dapper, charismatic leading man who just got out of the joint, hoping to go straight, and who then gets tempted into a big ambitious job. How about the leading man talking strategy at the racetrack with the old guy who swears that after this job he’s retiring? Not to mention the yummy tux-no complaints there.
Whoa, he just did Spike (as you said) when he throttled his cousin, Phil the cop. For a moment there, I was expecting JM to slip into The Accent. And the scene in the restaurant where he's wearing the wire-rim glasses? Hee! William. That’s worth the price of admission right there. [/end of real-time commetary]
Random thoughts: I thought JM was as terrific as the somewhat lame screenplay would allow. I don’t think it was an acting decision, but I never really got the feeling that we (or the screenwriter) got to know the character. The supporting characters ended up being 2-dimensional, I’m afraid, although I liked the wife. It was great to get to stare at James for a couple of hours, though.
Although I cringed at the “Pink Panther/Casino Royale/60’s caper movie” opening credits, I thought it was clever of them to hint at what to expect and prepare us for what I suppose you could stretch and call an homage or a send-up of that genre. In fact, I think if they’d been able to do more of the comedy that seemed natural to this kind of story, it would have made it a much stronger film. As it was, I think JM did a great job of playing the funny moments without going over the top, but they didn’t give him much to work with. The music was a hoot-cheesy yet appropriate.
The movie was neither really good nor, fortunately, reprehensibly bad. At least it wasn’t painful to watch. *pauses a moment in gratitude for the overdue demise of “The Mountain”* (Not exactly a ringing endorsement.) I did end up multitasking throughout the movie, either checking LJ or trying to fix my wireless adapter, so that should tell you something. If it hadn’t had JM in it, I would have been channel-surfing after the first 10 minutes. Poor Mr. Spikefan gave it 5 minutes, then escaped to go play Battlefield 1942.
Overall, the movie was mildly enjoyable and, most importantly, I do think it will get JM more attention from casting agents. I’d love to see him do some guest roles on network TV, and I don’t mean the WB, upon which I heap tons of much-deserved scorn.
Does anyone else recognize all kinds of things lifted straight out of the George Clooney version of "Ocean's 11"? (As I said in a comment elsewhere, GC is another guy who makes 40-something look hot.) They even used the iconic line, "Are you in or are you out?", not to mention the hip-happening late 60's/early 70’s music. It featured the dapper, charismatic leading man who just got out of the joint, hoping to go straight, and who then gets tempted into a big ambitious job. How about the leading man talking strategy at the racetrack with the old guy who swears that after this job he’s retiring? Not to mention the yummy tux-no complaints there.
Whoa, he just did Spike (as you said) when he throttled his cousin, Phil the cop. For a moment there, I was expecting JM to slip into The Accent. And the scene in the restaurant where he's wearing the wire-rim glasses? Hee! William. That’s worth the price of admission right there. [/end of real-time commetary]
Random thoughts: I thought JM was as terrific as the somewhat lame screenplay would allow. I don’t think it was an acting decision, but I never really got the feeling that we (or the screenwriter) got to know the character. The supporting characters ended up being 2-dimensional, I’m afraid, although I liked the wife. It was great to get to stare at James for a couple of hours, though.
Although I cringed at the “Pink Panther/Casino Royale/60’s caper movie” opening credits, I thought it was clever of them to hint at what to expect and prepare us for what I suppose you could stretch and call an homage or a send-up of that genre. In fact, I think if they’d been able to do more of the comedy that seemed natural to this kind of story, it would have made it a much stronger film. As it was, I think JM did a great job of playing the funny moments without going over the top, but they didn’t give him much to work with. The music was a hoot-cheesy yet appropriate.
The movie was neither really good nor, fortunately, reprehensibly bad. At least it wasn’t painful to watch. *pauses a moment in gratitude for the overdue demise of “The Mountain”* (Not exactly a ringing endorsement.) I did end up multitasking throughout the movie, either checking LJ or trying to fix my wireless adapter, so that should tell you something. If it hadn’t had JM in it, I would have been channel-surfing after the first 10 minutes. Poor Mr. Spikefan gave it 5 minutes, then escaped to go play Battlefield 1942.
Overall, the movie was mildly enjoyable and, most importantly, I do think it will get JM more attention from casting agents. I’d love to see him do some guest roles on network TV, and I don’t mean the WB, upon which I heap tons of much-deserved scorn.