| Copyright © 2007 Ed Bagley | | | | Writing by Tom Schulman, and garnered three |
| | | | other Academy nominations: Robin Williams for |
| Here are four average movies that do not get | | | | Best Actor, Peter Weir for Best Director and |
| any better the second time around: | | | | Best Picture. |
| | | | |
| Anger Management - 2 Stars (Average) | | | | The Emperor's Club was not even noticed at |
| | | | awards time. |
| Anger Management brings young Adam Sandler | | | | |
| together with old Jack Nicholson in a dippy | | | | The Fast and the Furious - 2 Stars (Average) |
| comedy that borders on a romantic comedy | | | | |
| without the dramatic bent. | | | | The Fast and the Furious is an action flick |
| | | | for guys featuring street car racing, macho |
| Dave Buznik (Adam Sandler) is a businessman | | | | wannabe men and mindless activity that sends |
| who is wrongly sentenced to an | | | | a terrible message to every mixed up teenager |
| anger-management program following an | | | | who is out of control and looking for |
| incident on airline flight, but insult is | | | | trouble. |
| added to injury when Dr. Buddy Rydell (Jack | | | | |
| Nicholson), an aggressive, unorthodox | | | | Yes, the cars are great, yes, the race scenes |
| therapist, becomes his live in roommate | | | | are terrific for a fantasy world, and no, |
| during rehabilitation. | | | | this film has no redeeming quality worth |
| | | | talking about. It is, in a word, stupid, and |
| This film is dominated by Nicholson, has a | | | | glorifies a stupid activity. |
| script that begs for better lines, and | | | | |
| becomes annoying after awhile, which is very | | | | The Fast and the Furious picked up some minor |
| similar to Nicholson's character in the | | | | awards for cinematography and music, but |
| movie. I am not altogether sure this movie | | | | lacks substance and gets low marks for bad |
| would not have been better if the roles of | | | | behavior. Save your money on the sequel. |
| Nicholson and Sandler were reversed. | | | | |
| | | | Five Easy Pieces - 2 Stars (Average) |
| Imagine Nicholson as a problematic, | | | | |
| anger-management reprobate (not hard to do) | | | | Five Easy Pieces was made in 1970 and 36 |
| and Sandler as a recent psychiatrist grad | | | | years later has become a cult film in the |
| about to deal with his first real patient | | | | sense that it engenders a misplaced or |
| (easy to do). I propose this because I felt | | | | excessive admiration because of an actor |
| very little chemistry between Nicholson and | | | | named Jack Nicholson and a restaurant scene |
| Sandler as they were cast. | | | | that suggests humor but exhibits rage. |
| | | | |
| Anger Management is not a film I would see | | | | Robert Dupea (Jack Nicholson) is a successful |
| twice under any circumstances. Apparently a | | | | classical pianist from a well-to-do family |
| lot of judges felt the same way as awards | | | | who becomes a worthless piece of nothing on |
| were really absent for this effort. | | | | his way to nowhere about 1,000 miles an hour. |
| | | | Dupea becomes one troubled and sad person who |
| The Emperor's Club - 2 Stars (Average) | | | | ends up as a trashy oil rigger. |
| | | | |
| The Emperor's Club reminds me of the | | | | Dupea surrounds himself with enough |
| aspirations of people starting out in life | | | | dysfunctional people to field a basketball |
| and the disappointment that inevitably comes | | | | team. One of Dupea's lines in the movie says |
| when forcing one's ideas upon another. | | | | a lot: "I move around a lot, not because I'm |
| | | | looking for anything really, but 'cause I'm |
| William Hundert (Kevin Kline) is a passionate | | | | getting away from things that get bad if I |
| and principled classics professor who finds | | | | stay." Dupea just needs to grow up and stop |
| his world challenged when a new student, | | | | feeling sorry for himself; he simply cannot |
| Sedgewick Bell (Emile Hirsch), comes into his | | | | come to terms with life and what it has to |
| class. A battle of wills ensues. | | | | offer. |
| | | | |
| The Emperor's Club needed a better script and | | | | Nicholson does a great job with his role in |
| suffered from the lack of a female presence. | | | | the film (he gets his second Oscar nomination |
| Who wants to watch a bunch of guys being | | | | for Best Actor), but the script, story, |
| smart asses? This gets to be about as | | | | ending and everything else about Five Easy |
| interesting as watching flour turn brown. | | | | Pieces is negative and worthless. The message |
| | | | of the film is just a sad, sorry excuse for |
| The Emperor's Club was not unlike the Dead | | | | living. |
| Poet's Society with Robin Williams as English | | | | |
| professor John Keating, except Williams does | | | | Nicholson becomes a major force in acting |
| a better acting job than Kline. | | | | during Five Easy Pieces. He goes on to earn |
| | | | no less than 2 Best Actor Oscars (One Flew |
| The message of The Emperor's Club is negative | | | | Over the Cuckoo's Nest and As Good As It |
| and undermining; the message of Dead Poet's | | | | Gets), 1 Best Supporting Actor Oscar (Terms |
| Society is uplifting and encouraging. | | | | of Endearment) and no less than 9 other Best |
| | | | Actor nominations. |
| Dead Poet's Society earned an Oscar for Best | | | | |