Director: Taylor Hackford

Writer: Douglas Day Stewart (Screenplay)

Starring: Richard Gere, Debra Winger, David Keith, Robert Loggia, Lisa Blount, Lisa Eilbacher, Louis Gossett Jr

Plot: A young man must complete his work at a Navy Officer Candidate School to become an aviator, with the help of a tough Gunnery Sergeant and his new girlfriend.

Tagline – It will lift you up where you belong.

Runtime: 2 Hours 4 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Verdict: Love Changes Everyone

Story: An Officer and a Gentleman starts when the rebellious Zack Mayo (Gere) tired of living in his father’s Bryon (Loggia) shadow, enlists in the navy, Zack goes through the strict training regime by Sgt Emil Foley (Gossett Jr), here he shines, finding it almost too easy to get through, he even starts his own business to make sure everyone has extra clean material.

Zack makes friends where he needs them with Sid Worley (Keith) helping him with paperwork side of being in the navy, the job he desires most, in flight. Zack soon finds himself meeting Paula Pokrifki (Winger) who always attend the parties looking for their own soldiers. Zack must learn to balance his training with his new girlfriend, finally learning to grow up in his own life.

Thoughts on An Officer and a Gentleman

Characters – Zack Mayo has grown up under his father that never believed he could achieve anything, he decides to sign up for the navy to follow his dreams of being a pilot, he believes he can just coast through the training alone, only for his way to see him needing to learn to let people in, meet a girl decide whether love is the most important thing in his life or whether he can balance everything together. Paula is a factory worker that goes for parties around the naval candidates, she meets Zack seeing him as different from the rest and gets left constantly wondering if he is willing to change his lone wolf nature. Sid is fellow naval candidate that becomes Zack’s best friend, he pushes him to open up and is the brains that could help Zack through the side that he is struggling through. Sgt Emil Foley is drill sergeant that is training the candidates, he is strict and doesn’t like how Zack thinks he can breeze through the training.

Performances – Richard Gere in this leading role shows us all that he was going on to have a wonderful run as a leading actor, he could play the loveable rogue that wants to find his place in the world. Debra Winger is great here showing how her character is going through a difficult lifetime, where love can make things even more difficult. David Keith brings us a performance which does show us how depression can be hidden from the world. Louis Gossett Jr does bring us one of the best drill sergeants in film here that did get him an Oscar.

Story – The story here follows a rebellious young man that finds his place in the navy, where he learns to work with others and to fall in love, to motivate and find himself a career along the way, he will need to overcome life challenges which will shape his future. We do get to see many different challenges that young people could face when they reach a certain age, this will show us just how difficult people will need to overcome to be the people they were always meant to be. We do get to see the darker side of the services because they will show us just how people can hide the emotional troubles which could bring a life changing  moment in their life.

Romance – The love story in this film shows how a rebel meets a girl searching for hope and fall madly in love either though neither of them were really looking for it.

Settings – The film uses a couple of main settings, with the training camp being one of the most iconic for the film, the most iconic comes from warehouse where Paula works, which will be the shot everybody remembers from this film.

Scene of the Movie – Zack breaks to learn to help others.

That Moment That Annoyed Me – Lynette wouldn’t still be Paula’s friend by the end of the film.

Final Thoughts – This is one of the classic romantic films out there, one that everybody knows and can enjoy.

Overall: Romance to enjoy.

Rating

Director: Anton Corbijn

Writer: Andrew Bovell (Screenplay) John le Carre (Novel)

Starring: Philip Seymour Hoffman, Rachel McAdams, Daniel Bruhl, Robin Wright, Willem Dafoe

Plot: A Chechen Muslim illegally immigrates to Hamburg, where he gets caught in the international war on terror.

Tagline – Inspired by true events

Runtime: 2 Hours 2 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Verdict: Slow Burn

Story: A Most Wanted Man starts in the aftermath of 9/11, intelligence agency around the world are trying to stay on top of all known terrorists, with Gunther Bachmann (Hoffman) following a Chechen immigrate in Hamburg with his team, leading his German team on tracking his known connections, before the US get involved with Martha Sullivan (Wright) checking on the investigation.

When attorney Annabel Richter (McAdams) uses her contacts with bank manager Tommy Brue (Dafoe) to help Karpov become a resident of Germany, Gunther continues to watch over to see if he is a threat even with the added pressure of America.

Thoughts on A Most Wanted Man

Characters – Gunther Bachmann is the German agent that is tracking known terrorists, his team has connections and keeps eyes on most of the suspects with their latest one being one wanted worldwide, he must figure out if this man is a danger or not. Martha Sullivan is part of the American team searching for the terrorist, she is trusting Gunther to do the right thing only she isn’t sure what he is going to do. Annabel Richter is an attorney that is trying to help the suspect get into Germany, she is just doing his job using her connection to help make his move go smoother. Tommy Brue is the bank manager that has been dealing with multiple nationalities through the years, he gets involved in trying to get the transfer of money done.

Performances – Philip Seymour Hoffman in the leading role steps into the German character with ease, showing the composure to take his character to be the standout of the film. Robin Wright, Rachel McAdams and Willem Dafoe fill the supporting roles well through the film.

Story – The story here follows the German and American intelligence agencies as they are trying to figure out if an immigrate is a potential terrorist suspect, both sides have difference of opinion on what is true and they must try to stay ahead of each other the best they can. This story does try to come off like an intense spy thriller that seems to get bogged down too easily, by making everything seem like it is just an everyday incident, this does move at a slow pace which only brings down everything because they do just seem to pick a random person, that could have reason to suspect from the early point in the film.

Crime – The crime side of the film shows how the authorities operate to try and tackle potential criminal actions, it does show that they could be above the law at times too.

Settings – We have the German backdrop for this movie, showing how they are planning to operate to keep tracks on terrorists.

Scene of the Movie – Pick up.

That Moment That Annoyed Me – It just seems dull.

Final Thoughts – This is a spy thriller that never seems to get going, it tries to play along with the idea that we are building, but we soon lose the attention because it is more of a political spy thriller over anything going on thriller.

Overall: Slow burning thriller that just doesn’t get going.

Rating