12 | November | 2019 | Movie Reviews 101

Director: D.C. Hamilton

Writer: Brinna Kelly (Screenplay)

Starring: Gino Anthony Pesi, Brianna Kelly, Jason Stuart, Jon Jacobs, Matt Fontana

Plot: When a charming fare named Penny climbs into his taxi cab, Harris, her world-weary driver, finds himself engaged in the only kind of courtship he can have with a passenger — one that lasts as long as her trip. That is, right up until she disappears from the back seat without a trace. When confusion gives way to reality, he resets his meter and is instantaneously transported back to the moment when she climbed into his cab. As he and Penny find themselves trapped in an endless night-time cab ride, with only each other for company, secrets will be revealed, truths will come to light, and Harris’ entire life will be changed forever.

Runtime: 1 Hour 22 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Verdict: Minding Mystery

Story: The Fare starts when cabbie Harris (Pesi) is picking up a fare in the middle of nowhere, with his passenger being Penny (Kelly), after hitting something, Penny vanishes, with him back on the road to pick her up again, reliving the short journey, only this time a sudden moment, makes Harris remember doing this before.

When Harris returns to the beginning of the cycle again, it turns out they have been doing this for ages, being stuck in this timeless loop, where now they both remember what happened before, getting to know each other, falling in love, trying to figure out a way to break the loop.

Thoughts on The Fare

Characters – Harris is a taxi driver, he is content with this job used to arguing with the radio and getting tired of his boss checking up on him. He finds out he has been stuck in this loop, trying to figure out ideas that Penny hasn’t tried before, in an attempt to get out of this situation. Penny is the fare picked up in the middle of nowhere, looking to go to the middle of nowhere, only she is has been waiting for Harris to remember the loop they are stuck in, making up stories to see if he could ever remember anything from each journey. The pair spend time just getting to know each other through the time they spent through the loop showing great chemistry in conversation.

Performances – This is a two person show, with Gino Anthony Pesi and Brinna Kelly doing a wonderful job together, showing the natural chemistry through the conversations and journeys they must continuously go on.

Story – The story here follows a cab driver that picks up a fare only to see her vanish at a certain point of the journey, putting him back where he started, where the two must repeat the cab drive over and over again. This story does give us a nice mystery and does play in the time loop idea, this is interesting and we want to figure out how to break the loop with the pair. The most impressive side to the story comes from the truth, which will leave you surprised and happy with how everything unfolded.

Mystery/Romance – The mystery here comes from why the two are stuck in the time loop, we see how everything gets unfolded as the two start to fall in love, showing how love can make you do strange things.

Settings – Most of the film is set within the taxicab which does show how trapped the two are, with only the cab being a location where they are together.

Scene of the Movie – The truth drives.

That Moment That Annoyed Me – The montage of conversation is slightly too mixed up.

Final Thoughts – This is a wonderful mystery romance that will leave you shocked by the outcome of everything, it will keep you guessing and leave you happy with the ending.

Overall: Must Watch Mystery.

Director: John Glen

Writer: Richard Maibaum, Michael G Wilson (Screenplay)

Starring: Roger Moore, Carole Bouquet, Topol, Lynn-Holly Johnson, Julian Glover, Cassandra Harris

Plot: Agent 007 is assigned to hunt for a lost British encryption device and prevent it from falling into enemy hands.

Tagline – Bond for the ladies in For Your Eyes Only

Runtime: 2 Hour 7 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Verdict: The Weakest Bond So Far?

Story: For Your Eyes Only starts when a British submarine is sunk with the equipment lost putting Britain in danger, with a salvage crew hired they a killed leaving only the daughter Melina (Bouquet) alive. James Bond (Moore) is put on the case to retrieve the equipment before it falls into the wrong hands.

James must work with Melina to figure out just who is behind the attack and working for the Russians, with Milos Columbo (Topol) and Kristatos (Glover) being the prime suspects.

Thoughts on For Your Eyes Only

Characters – James Bond has returned to his roots after disposing of an old enemy, he must work with other intelligence agencies to figure out who is behind the a British submarine sinking, he still picks up the women, only here he rejects one for once, he will go out of his way to not trust both sides just to be sure who he can trust. Melina is the daughter of the explorer that is killed, she wants revenge and will help James out through the adventure. Milos is one of the potential suspects to whom could be after the equipment. The film does struggle to establish a true villain, we have the hitmen, but when it comes to the lead villain we don’t learn the identity until late into the film.

Performances – Roger Moore is good as always in his role in the movie, he does bring a more serious approach this time around. Carole Bouquet has the look of a Bond girl no question, but the fact that they have to dub her doesn’t help her performance. When we look at the rest of the cast we don’t get too many standouts because we don’t know who the villain is until too late.

Story – The story follows Bond on his latest adventure where he must track down a missing component from a British submarine, he must play both sides to whom could be the person behind it all. This time we get a much more serious focus on the story cutting out the cheesy material we have been seeing in the previous films. This is a good thing only the fact the film struggles to establish a villain until later into the film, we never feel like there is a big enough threat in the film. in the end this does feel like one of the weakest stories in the franchise to date.

Action/Adventure – The action brings back the wildly over the top races with the ski versus motorbikes being the highlight of the ones we see here. The adventure does take Bond around the globe again, this is what we come to know from him.

Settings – The settings add moments of tension in the film with the action sequence feeling fresh, the climbing scene being nail biting and the underwater moments being shark infested.

Scene of the Movie – Skiing versus motorbike scene.

That Moment That Annoyed Me – The bad dubbing job on Melina.

Final Thoughts – This feels like one of the weakest storylines to date, the tense moments are great though, the film lacks the iconic villain which most of this franchise has become so famous for.

Overall: Not on the best level.

Rating