Film Excess - Free Ukraine - Stop Putin - End the war NOW!!: Malpaso Productions

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10/01/2024

Invictus (2009) - Morgan Freeman is Nelson Mandela

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On the turned backside of co-star Morgan Freeman, a smiling face of sport's victory from co-star Matt Damon, makes up this poster for Clint Eastwood's Invictus

Nelson Mandela is freed after 27 long years as a political prisoner in his home country South Africa, and as its president soon after he starts the long, hard work of reuniting his torn people. To serve this end he takes an interest in the country's poor rugby team...

Invictus is written by Anthony Peckham (The Assassin (1988)), adapting the non-fiction book Playing the Enemy (2008) by John Carlin (Chase Your Shadow (2014)), and co-produced and directed by Californian master filmmaker Clint Eastwood (Play Misty for Me (1971)), whose 30th feature it is.

Morgan Freeman (The Ritual Killer (2023)) is amazing and seems a lot like the real Mandela, whose exceptional dedication to forgiveness, his country and its future is the film's main driver. The man's fascinating mission is deeply moving.

Matt Damon (The Last Duel (2021)) is a bit timid as the rugby captain, and there are moments in Invictus in which one is almost swept up in the sport. Eastwood of course wants to do justice to the whole important history here, but he may be somewhat on away ground. The backstory of the country and of Mandela's imprisonment are not told convincingly, which might have been done in a matter of minutes, (a filmmaker cannot trust that modern global audiences are privy to these facts), and Invictus nearly drowns in pathos and 'spiritual' feeling music, which is quite overly obvious and directive. The still gripping film might have gotten further with some more restraint and focus on the problems and history of South Africa. The meaning of the title (which latin for 'undefeated') remains unclear. In the final match it is mentioned that the country winds up in the final, - but they then immediately are seen receiving the trophy!?!

Invictus shows the uniting strength of sports in exemplary fashion.

Sully (2016) - Eastwood's miracle landing biopic is inert and overrated 2014 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED IV]
2014 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]
Top 10: The best biopic movies reviewed by Film Excess to date
2014 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]
2014 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]
American Sniper (2014) - Eastwood conveys an American man and myth in electric masterpiece
2011 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]
2011 in films - according to Film Excess
J. Edgar (2011) - Eastwood, Black and DiCaprio's great, intense biopic

Hereafter (2010) - A movie so bad it might kill you (director/composer)

2008 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]

2008 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]
Gran Torino (2008) - Eastwood's actor persona comes full circle in absolute smash (co-producer/director/starring actor)
The Changeling (2008) or, The Christine Collins Story

2006 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]

2006 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]
2006 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]
2006 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess
Letters from Iwo Jima/硫黄島からの手紙 [Öjima Kara no Tegami] (2006) - The Japanese side of Eastwood's remarkable WWII two-parter
Flags of Our Fathers (2006) - Eastwood's Iwo Jima portrayal is captivating and profoundly moving

Blood Work (2002) - Eastwood churns out uninspired thriller adaptation (producer/director/starring actor)

1997 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess

Absolute Power (1997) - Eastwood stumbles with low-caliber thriller (director/co-producer/co-starring)

In the Line of Fire (1993) - Clint and co-stars on fire in one of the decade's finest thrillers (starring)

The Dead Pool (1988) - The highly entertaining last Dirty Harry movie (starring actor)

Heartbreak Ridge (1986) - Lots of deficiencies in Eastwood's weak Marine movie (producer/director/starring actor)
City Heat (1984) - Eastwood and Reynolds wrestle dispassionately in Benjamin's messy period affair (co-starring actor)
Tightrope (1984) - An undervalued Clint Eastwood sex killer thriller (starring actor)
Any Which Way You Can (1980) or, More Monkey Business! (starring actor)
Escape from Alcatraz (1979) - Siegel, Tuggle and Eastwood's phenomenal prison escape thriller (starring actor)
Every Which Way but Loose (1978) or, Honky Tonk Monkey Business! (starring actor)

The Gauntlet (1977) - Locke/Eastwood cast sparks in corny shoot-em-up (director/starring actor)
The Enforcer (1976) - Eastwood teaches revolutionaries a lesson in third, less punchy Dirty Harry (starring actor)
The Eiger Sanction (1975) - Eastwood's mountain climbing dud (director/star)

Hang 'Em High (1968) - Post and Eastwood make spaghetti in the West (starring actor)
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966) - Leone ends his poncho trilogy with certified classic (starring actor)
For a Few Dollars More/Per Qualche Dollaro in Più (1965) or, Return of the Poncho Killer (co-starring actor)
A Fistful of Dollars (1964) or, Killer in a Poncho (starring actor)

Watch a trailer for the film here

Cost: 50-60 mil. $ (different accounts)

Box office: 122.4 mil. $

= Flop (returned 2.22 times its cost)

[Invictus premiered 3 December (California) and runs 135 minutes. Eastwood was paid 6 mil. $ for his work on the film. Shooting took place from March - May 2009 in South Africa, including in Johannesburg. The film opened #3, behind holdover hits The Princess and the Frog and The Blind Side, to an 8.6 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it left the top 5 in its 2nd weekend and grossed 37.4 mil. $ (30.6 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were France with 26.6 mil. $ (21.7 %) and Spain with 10.3 mil. $ (8.4 %). The film was nominated for 2 Oscars: Best Actor (Freeman), lost to Jeff Bridges in Crazy Heart, and Supporting Actor (Damon), lost to Christoph Waltz in Inglourious Basterds. It was also nominated for a César award, a David di Donatello award, 3 Golden Globes and won 4 National Board of Review awards, among other honors. Roger Ebert gave it a 3.5/4 star review, translating to a notch over this one. Eastwood returned with Hereafter (2010). Freeman returned in 30 for 30 (2010, TV-series) and theatrically in RED 2 (2010); Damon in Cubed (2009, TV-series) and theatrically in Green Zone (2010). Invictus is certified fresh at 76 % with a 6.60/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Invictus?

6/08/2022

Absolute Power (1997) - Eastwood stumbles with low-caliber thriller

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+ Worst Poser of the Year

What looks like a seat belt (!) is wrapped around Clint Eastwood's giant head on this questionable poster for his own Absolute Power

An aging, sophisticated master jewel thief is in the middle of robbing a political bigwig's home, when he accidentally witnesses the US president's causing the death of a younger woman and later receiving help from his team in covering up the tragedy.

Absolute Power is written by William Goldman (All the President's Men (1976)), adapting the same-titled 1996 novel by David Baldacci (One Good Deed (2019)), and directed by director/co-producer/star, Californian master filmmaker Clint Eastwood (Play Misty for Me (1971)), whose 19th feature it is.

This crime thriller ranks among the weakest in Eastwood's prolific career. SPOILER The first several minutes pass with him standing in a closet, while Gene Hackman (Banning (1967)) as the president strikes and halfway rapes an innocent woman and then has her murdered. The violent scene combined with the 'impotent' hero (because he just watches the ordeal from the closet) is just not a nice opener.

Absolute Power does nothing to make the president character real to us, and he in fact seems like a pseudo-character in the dark universe that is conjured up. There is an impressive cast, but Absolute Power works at the lowest possible flame, (the kind of film you can watch very late at night with half an eye.) It is simplified and stupid to put it bluntly. The only cast member who esteems himself here is E.G. Marshall (Interiors (1978)), whose last movie this was, SPOILER as the president's likely murderer in the film's ending.

Blood Work (2002) - Eastwood churns out uninspired thriller adaptation (producer/director/starring actor)

1997 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess

The Dead Pool (1988) - The highly entertaining last Dirty Harry movie (starring actor)
City Heat (1984) - Eastwood and Reynolds wrestle dispassionately in Benjamin's messy period affair (co-starring actor)
Tightrope (1984) - An undervalued Clint Eastwood sex killer thriller (starring actor)
Any Which Way You Can (1980) or, More Monkey Business! (starring actor)
Escape from Alcatraz (1979) - Siegel, Tuggle and Eastwood's phenomenal prison escape thriller (starring actor)
Every Which Way but Loose (1978) or, Honky Tonk Monkey Business! (starring actor)

High Plains Drifter (1973) - Eastwood cleans up red town in great western (director/star)
The Beguiled (1971) - Intense, erotic Civil War kammerspiel thriller (starring actor)
Dirty Harry (1971) - Eastwood's great, signature renegade cop character comes to life (starring actor)
Coogan's Bluff (1968) or, Dopes and Hippies, Beat It! (starring actor)
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966) - Leone ends his poncho trilogy with certified classic (starring actor)
For a Few Dollars More/Per Qualche Dollaro in Più (1965) or, Return of the Poncho Killer (co-starring actor)
A Fistful of Dollars (1964) or, Killer in a Poncho (starring actor)

Eastwood talks about the film for 11 minutes in this video

Cost: 50 mil. $

Box office: 50 mil. $ - North America only

= Uncertain but likely a big flop (projected return of 1.4 times its cost)

[Absolute Power premiered 4 February (Westwood, Hollywood) and runs 121 minutes. Baldacci reportedly sold the worldwide book and movie right for his novel for 5 mil. $. Ed Harris (Milk Money (1994)) was paid 2.5 mil. $ for his performance. Shooting took place from June - August 1996 in Los Angeles, California, Washington, D.C, and in Maryland, including in Baltimore. It opened #2, behind a 1997 'special edition' re-release of Star Wars (1977), to a 14.6 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it spent another 2 weekends in the top 5 (#3-#5-4X-#3-#4), grossing 50 mil. $. Without the international gross numbers a theatrical status regrettably cannot be determined. A projected much-smaller-than-needed international gross, leading to a final gross of 70 mil. $ would earn Absolute Power the rank of 'big flop'. Roger Ebert gave it a 3.5/4 star review, translating to 3 notches over this one. Eastwood returned with Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil (1997), and as an actor in True Crime (1999). Harris returned in The Truman Show (1998); Hackman in Twilight (1998). Absolute Power is rotten at 56 % with a 5.70/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Absolute Power?

6/16/2020

Blood Work (2002) - Eastwood churns out uninspired thriller adaptation

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Star/producer/director Clint Eastwood looks determined here on a simple poster for Blood Work in black and reds

McCaleb is a locally famous homicide detective, who is retiring just as he suddenly requires a heart transplantation. A couple of years later he is contacted by a woman, whose sister's heart he now has, who comes to him with a sincere plea: Find her murderer!

Blood Work is written by Brian Helgeland (Payback (1999)), adapting Michael Connelly's (Echo Park (2006)) same-titled 1998 novel, and directed by Californian master filmmaker Clint Eastwood (Play Misty for Me (1971)), whose 23rd feature it is. Eastwood also produced and plays the protagonist McCaleb in the film.
Eastwood seems hopeful to recapture the success he enjoyed with previous cop thrillers like Richard Tuggle's great Tightrope (1984), which he starred in, but Blood Work lacks more than the sex of that fine film.
Wanda de Jesus (CSI: Miami (2002-03)) plays the young Latin-American woman who comes to McCaleb with her plea for him to help, while she falls for him despite their enormous age difference; a romance which the film doesn't make entirely credible. McCaleb also has a somewhat closer age-wise African-American ex whom he could have gone back to, but instead the filmmakers make this other reach.
Several elements in Blood Work don't come together: Jeff Daniels (Steve Jobs (2015)) is a comic sidekick 'dude' on a boat, SPOILER - who turns out to be a psychopath. His character's 180 degree turn from sympathetic to a racist madman is also not made credible.
An Eastwood fan will have patience with Blood Work due to the star's presence in it, but it is undeniably one of his poorest films, heavy on clichés, unoriginal and lacking in suspense. A big oops.

Related posts:

Clint Eastwood: Sully (2016) - Eastwood's miracle landing biopic is inert and overrated 2014 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED IV]
2014 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]
Top 10: The best biopic movies reviewed by Film Excess to date
2014 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]
2014 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]
American Sniper (2014) - Eastwood conveys an American man and myth in electric masterpiece
2011 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]
2011 in films - according to Film Excess
J. Edgar (2011) - Eastwood, Black and DiCaprio's great, intense biopic
Gran Torino (2008) - Eastwood's actor persona comes full circle in absolute smash (co-producer/director/starring actor)
The Changeling (2008) or, The Christine Collins Story
2006 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]
2006 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess
Letters from Iwo Jima/硫黄島からの手紙 [Öjima Kara no Tegami] (2006) - The Japanese side of Eastwood's remarkable WWII two-parter
Flags of Our Fathers (2006) - Eastwood's Iwo Jima portrayal is captivating and profoundly moving

2002 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]
The Dead Pool (1988) - The highly entertaining last Dirty Harry movie (starring actor)
City Heat (1984) - Eastwood and Reynolds wrestle dispassionately in Benjamin's messy period affair (co-starring actor)
Tightrope (1984) - An undervalued Clint Eastwood sex killer thriller (starring actor)
Any Which Way You Can (1980) or, More Monkey Business! (starring actor)
Escape from Alcatraz (1979) - Siegel, Tuggle and Eastwood's phenomenal prison escape thriller (starring actor)
Every Which Way but Loose (1978) or, Honky Tonk Monkey Business! (starring actor)
The Enforcer (1976) - Eastwood teaches revolutionaries a lesson in third, less punchy Dirty Harry (starring star)
The Eiger Sanction (1975) - Eastwood's mountain climbing dud
The Beguiled (1971) - Intense, erotic Civil War kammerspiel thriller (starring actor)
Dirty Harry (1971) - Eastwood's great, signature renegade cop character comes to life (starring actor)
Coogan's Bluff (1968) or, Dopes and Hippies, Beat It! (starring actor)
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966) - Leone ends his poncho trilogy with certified classic (starring actor)
For a Few Dollars More/Per Qualche Dollaro in Più (1965) or, Return of the Poncho Killer (co-starring actor)
A Fistful of Dollars (1964) or, Killer in a Poncho (starring actor)

Watch a short trailer for the film here

Cost: 50 mil. $
Box office: 31.7 mil. $
= Huge flop (returned 0.63 times its cost)
[Blood Work premiered 6 August (California) and runs 110 minutes. Shooting lasted 38 days in February - ? in California, including Los Angeles. The film opened #5, behind fellow new release xXx, holdover hit Signs, new release Spy Kids 2: Island of Lost Dreams and holdover hit Austin Powers in Goldmember, to a 7.3 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it left the top 5 in its 2nd weekend and grossed 26.2 mil. $ (82.6 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were France with 1.3 mil. $ (4.1 %) and Spain with 987k $ (3.1 %). The film won an award at the Venice International Film Festival. Roger Ebert gave the film a 3.5/4 star review, translating to 3 notches higher than this one. Eastwood returned with Mystic River (2003) as a filmmaker and in his own Million Dollar Baby (2004) as an actor. Blood Work is rotten at 53 % with a 5.54/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Blood Work?

Film Excess - Free Ukraine - Stop Putin - End the war NOW!!

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