- Far more terrifying than what was seen in theaters, this special unrated version of DARK WATER is a thoroughly absorbing, suspense-filled thriller starring Jennifer Connelly. Dahlia Williams (Connelly) and her 5-year-old daughter are ready to begin a new life together. But their new apartment dilapidated and worn suddenly seems to take on a life of its own. Mysterious noises, persistent leaks of d
CAREER OPPROTUNITIES - DVD MovieIf you're a lifetime member of the Jennifer Connelly fan club, you'll be in the passionate minority of people (100% male) who won't care that this 1991 comedy is wallowing in its own oily puddle of lameness. The gorgeous Ms. Connelly is conspicuously put on display in this typically lightweight fluff from writer-producer John Hughes. Frank Whaley does his best to liven up the male-fantasy plot about a semi-nerdy teen who gets a night-watchman job in a variety store, o! nly to find himself locked in overnight with the local knockout (Connelly), who's as rich as she is beautiful. She's also really unhappy with her home life and her bully boyfriend (Dermot Mulroney), so it's Frank's big opportunity to make his move as a sympathetic Romeo. Shallow and contrived, the movie does have its standard moments of John Hughes delicacy, and a cameo by the late John Candy scores bonus points for comedy. Still, it's clear that the movie exists primarily to satisfy adolescent lust--and with Connelly as the object of desire, this otherwise tiresome comedy is a triumph of wish-fulfillment casting.
--Jeff Shannon Hot Hollywood stars Antonio Banderas (SPY KIDS) and Jennifer Connelly (A BEAUTIFUL MIND) heat up this sexy and intriguing thriller! Francisco Leal (Banderas) is an on-the-edge photographer whose work with a beautiful magazine reporter (Connelly) uncovers a government's nightmare: a secret so deadly the military will stop at nothing to elimina! te them! Now, as they are thrown together into danger ... and ! drawn cl oser by passion ... they must risk everything for a chance at freedom! It's an exciting story of courage and compassion that's captivated critics and moviegoers everywhere!WAKING THE DEAD - DVD MovieActor-turned-director Keith Gordon has crafted a touching love story that transcends time, political ideology, and even death. The movie opens in 1974 as Fielding Pierce (Billy Crudup) watches a TV news report announcing the death in Chile of three American activists, including Sarah Williams (Jennifer Connelly), his one true love. The story flashes back to when they first met, showing how he was always more conservative, with grand political aspirations, but the relationship worked because they both shared dreams of making the world a better place, one from inside the system and the other from outside. The movie also flashes forward to his life in the early '80s, when he gets tapped to run for Congress. He starts having visions of her, but he is never quite sure if she's a hallu! cination arising out of his stress, a manifestation of his political consciousness, an out-and-out ghost, or maybe she's still alive somehow. Whatever she is, his deep longing for her is making him crack up. Gordon smartly jumps the story back and forth in time, forgoing an "objective" reality in favor of a more subjective and emotional one. It is a structure based on memory, and that in tandem with the content is what makes
Waking the Dead a very powerful film indeed.
--Andy SpletzerFar more terrifying than what was seen in theaters, this special unrated version of DARK WATER is a thoroughly absorbing, suspense-filled thriller starring Jennifer Connelly. Dahlia Williams (Connelly) and her 5-year-old daughter are ready to begin a new life together. But their new apartment â€" dilapidated and worn â€" suddenly seems to take on a life of its own. Mysterious noises, persistent leaks of dark water, and other strange happenings in the deserted apartment above send D! ahlia on a haunting and mystifying pursuit â€" one that unleas! hes a to rrent of living nightmares.In many ways
Dark Water improves upon the memorable Japanese film it's based on. The earlier version was directed by Hideo Nakata (whose excellent shocker
Ringu was remade in America as
The Ring), but in the hands of director Walter Salles (
The Motorcycle Diaries) and screenwriter Rafael Yglesias, this psychological horror story gets an intelligent and more chillingly effective overhaul. The story is rooted in themes of love and loss that Yglesias similarly explored in his excellent screenplay for Peter Weir's
Fearless, here focusing on young mother Dahlia (Jennifer Connelly) as she endures difficult divorce proceedings and settles into a low-rent apartment in New York's cramped Roosevelt Island community, near Manhattan, with her young daughter Cecilia (Ariel Gade). Amidst seemingly endless rainfall, Dahlia's world slowly unravels, and Connelly is superb as a woman seemingly on the verge of a nervous breakdown. O! r is she? Could it be that Cecilia's imaginary friend, and the apartment's persistent leaks of dark, dripping water, are the ghostly manifestations of a young girl who had been abandoned by the previous tenant? Creepy atmosphere and high anxiety are expertly maintained by Salles, and supporting roles for Tim Roth, John C. Reilly and especially Pete Postlethwaite give the film an added edge of mystery. The tension builds slowly (gore-mongers and action fans may be disappointed), but the cumulative effect is palpably unnerving, inviting favorable comparison to
Rosemary's Baby. Unlike some other remakes of Japanese horror hits,
Dark Water doesn't feel redundant; it stands on its own thanks to the impressive work of everyone involved.
--Jeff Shannon
