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VHS
A
Beautiful Mind (The Awards Edition) VHS
from Universal Studios
A Beautiful Mind manages to twist enough pathos out of John Nash's
incredible life story to redeem an at-times goofy portrayal of schizophrenia.
Russell Crowe tackles the role with characteristic fervor, playing the
Nobel prize-winning mathematician from his days at Princeton, where he
developed a groundbreaking economic theory, to his meteoric rise to the
cover of Forbes magazine and an MIT professorship, and on through to his
eventual dismissal due to schizophrenic delusions. Of course, it is the
delusions that fascinate director Ron Howard and, predictably, go astray.
Nash's other world, populated as it is by a maniacal Department of Defense
agent (Ed Harris), an imagined college roommate who seems straight out
of Dead Poets Society, and an orphaned girl, is so fluid and scriptlike
as to make the viewer wonder if schizophrenia is really as slick as depicted.
Crowe's physical intensity drags us along as he works admirably to carry
the film on his considerable shoulders. No doubt the story of Nash's amazing
will to recover his life without the aid of medication is a worthy one,
his eventual triumph heartening. Unfortunately, Howard's flashy style is
unable to convey much of it. --Fionn Meade - Amazon.com
starring Russell Crowe, Ed Harris
directed by Ron Howard |
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A
Beautiful Mind (Widescreen Awards Edition) DVD
from Universal Studios
starring Russell Crowe, Ed Harris
directed by Ron Howard
Gladiator
VHS
from Universal Studios
starring Russell Crowe, Joaquin Phoenix, Connie Nielsen
directed by Ridley Scott |
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Gladiator
DVD
from Universal Studios
starring Russell Crowe, Joaquin Phoenix, Connie Nielsen
directed by Ridley Scott
Proof
of Life (2000) VHS
from Warner Studios
When someone in Proof of Life says "Don't leave me hanging," you can
bet they're going to be left hanging. That's what happens when Alice Bowman
(Meg Ryan) learns that her husband Peter (David Morse) has been kidnapped
by rebels in the (fictional) Latin American country of Tecala. He's building
a corporate-funded dam there, and that makes him a fine target for kidnap
by the rebels, who barter with the lives of well-insured executives. Enter
Terry Thorne (Russell Crowe), former soldier-turned-"K&R" (kidnap and
ransom) negotiator for a global firm that collects a commission for rescued
hostages. With no guarantee of payment, Thorne takes the job out of moral
obligation (and a yearning for would-be widow Alice).
There's little room for delicacy in Tony Gilroy's screenplay, adapted
from an article by William Prochnau and the book Long Road to Freedom by
kidnapping survivor Thomas Hargrove. A hint of romance between Crowe and
Ryan (who enjoyed plenty of it off-screen) adds tension as the story shifts
back and forth to Morse's captivity, but it also threatens to cast Alice
in an unsympathetic light. Avoiding that pitfall, director Taylor Hackford
crafts the plot as a latter-day Casablanca that unfolds on a grander canvas
(at stunning locations in Ecuador) while favoring an exciting rescue-mission
climax over the tragedy of an ill-timed affair. It might have worked better
as a straightforward macho action flick (with David Caruso doing lively
work as Crowe's gung-ho K&R cohort), but Proof of Life effectively
conveys the two-sided torment of a hostage crisis, while Morse holds it
all together as the character to root for. --Jeff Shannon -- Amazon.com
starring Meg Ryan, Russell Crowe, David Morse
directed by Taylor Hackford |
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Proof
of Life DVD
from Warner Studios
starring Meg Ryan, Russell Crowe, David Morse
directed by Taylor Hackford
L.A.
Confidential VHS
from Warner Studios
starring Kevin Spacey, Russell Crowe, Guy Pearce, Kim
Basinger
directed by Curtis Hanson |
Mystery,
Alaska VHS
from Hollywood Pictures
starring Russell Crowe, Burt Reynolds
directed by Jay Roach |
For
the Moment VHS
from Twentieth Century Fox
starring Russell Crowe, Christianne Hirt
directed by Aaron Kim Johnston |
The
Sum of Us VHS
from Hallmark Entertainme
starring Jack Thompson, Russell Crowe
directed by Kevin Dowling, Geoff Burton |
The
Insider (Widescreen Edition) VHS
from Touchstone Video
As revisionist history, Michael Mann's intelligent docudrama The Insider
is a simmering brew of altered facts and dramatic license. In a broader
perspective, however, the film (cowritten with Forrest Gump Oscar-winner
Eric Roth) is effectively accurate as an engrossing study of ethics in
the corruptible industries of tobacco and broadcast journalism. On one
side, there is Jeffrey Wigand (Russell Crowe), the former tobacco scientist
who violated contractual agreements to expose Brown & Williamson's
inclusion of addictive ingredients in cigarettes, casting himself into
a vortex of moral dilemma. On the other side is 60 Minutes producer Lowell
Bergman (Al Pacino), whose struggle to report Wigand's story puts him at
odds with veteran correspondent Mike Wallace (Christopher Plummer) and
senior executives at CBS News.
As the urgency of the story increases, so does the film's palpable sense
of paranoia, inviting favorable comparison to All the President's Men.
While Pacino downplays the theatrical excess that plagued him in previous
roles, Crow is superb as a man who retains his tortured integrity at great
personal cost. The Insider is two movies--a cover-up thriller and a drama
about journalistic ethics--that combine to embrace the noble values personified
by Wigand and Bergman. Even if the details aren't always precise (as Mike
Wallace and others protested prior to the film's release), the film adheres
to a higher truth that was so blatantly violated by tobacco executives
seen in an oft-repeated video clip, lying under oath in the service of
greed. --Jeff Shannon - Amazon.com
starring Al Pacino, Russell Crowe
directed by Michael Mann |
The
Insider DVD
from Walt Disney Home Video
starring Al Pacino, Russell Crowe
directed by Michael Mann |
Proof
VHS
from New Line Studios
starring Hugo Weaving, Geneviève Picot, Russell Crowe
directed by Jocelyn Moorhouse |
DVD
Vanilla
Sky DVD
from Paramount Home Video
starring Tom Cruise, Penélope Cruz
directed by Cameron Crowe
L.A.
Confidential DVD
from Warner Studios
starring Kevin Spacey, Russell Crowe, Guy Pearce, Kim
Basinger
directed by Curtis Hanson |
Mystery,
Alaska DVD
from Walt Disney Home Video
starring Russell Crowe, Burt Reynolds
directed by Jay Roach |
The
Quick and the Dead DVD
from Columbia/Tristar Studios
starring Sharon Stone, Gene Hackman
directed by Sam Raimi |
The
Sum of Us DVD
from M G M, Inc
starring Jack Thompson, Russell Crowe
directed by Kevin Dowling, Geoff Burton
Romper
Stomper
DVD from Fox Home Entertainme
starring Russell Crowe
directed by Geoffrey Wright
The burning intensity of Russell Crowe (L.A. Confidential) first lit
up screens as a hate-filled, Mein Kampf-spouting skinhead in this brutal
Australian drama. Crowe glowers from under his deep-set eyes as Hando,
the creepy but charismatic leader of a racist gang who declares war on
the Asian immigrants pouring into Melbourne. His rage erupts in violent
attacks on the local Vietnamese community, but when his victims fight back
his gang breaks up, and Hando flees the city with his best buddy Davey
(Daniel Pollock) and redheaded hellion Gabe (Jacqueline McKenzie), a rich
girl runaway who turns the dynamic duo into a splintered love triangle.
Writer-director Geoffrey Wright's matter-of-fact treatment of this subculture
eschews social commentary for visceral immediacy. His portrait of white
supremacist punks living like squatters on the fringes of Australian society
is powered by coiled anger and simmering frustration, which finds its outlet
in brutal fights and murderous rampages (the intense violence earned the
film an NC-17 rating). The lack of moral position may bother some people,
especially in light of Wright's sympathetic treatment of particular members
of Hando's racist army, and the cold, hate-driven violence is sometimes
hard to watch, but his vivid characters and richly drawn world create a
compelling drama for adventurous filmgoers. --Sean Axmaker - Amazon.com |
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Virtuosity
DVD
from Paramount Studio
starring Denzel Washington, Russell Crowe
directed by Brett Leonard |
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