In the Land of Women full of interesting characters, including Meg Ryan's
6:32 p.m. Friday, April 27, 2007
The Condemned
The Condemned is the first big screen starring role for WWE legend Stone Cold Steve Austin who plays Jack Conrad. In the movie there are 10 fugitives, all on death row, put together on a small island to battle to the death until only one remains. That one remaining criminal will receive a full pardon on all of their previous charges freedom to return to their families and have their respective criminal records erased.
The entire event is put together to by Ian Breckel (Robert Mammone), an over the top TV producer who wants to put this show on the internet and charge viewers $50 per person to watch the carnage happen live.
If anything The Condemned has a message to it about how we as a society love swift and blinding violence any way we can get it at times. This is a bit over the top in theory, but not as much as you think. On the other hand the film is full of bad action movie lines and could have been at least 20 minutes shorter. The movie would have flowed much better if cut down.
As for "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, he does have that big screen presence to him that's similar to the likeability of "The Rock." I thought his lines were delivered poorly and without any emotion that might get better with his next movie. I really liked Vinnie Jones (Juggernaut in X-3) as the main villain Ewan McStarley. There is not one redeeming quality in McStarley, and that's what you want in you main big screen bad guys.
The actor's do the best they can with this lackluster script that is like a paint-by-numbers. Scott Wiper wrote and directed this movie, and while I like the idea, you still need a solid script before you begin shooting, not the other way around. With the proper script combined with the idea at hand this could have been far more than the action film fizzle it turns out to be.
The Condemned should have been better than it was and while it will do decent numbers in its first weekend release it will soon disappear from theater complexes to await its arrival on DVD.
In The Land of Women
Carter Webb (Adam Brody) is a struggling mid-20s writer who's recently been dumped by who he thought was the love of his life. With nothing left to lose, Carter decides to leave Los Angeles and head up to Michigan to help keep an eye on his aging and sickly grandmother (Olympia Dukakis). He quickly becomes acquainted with Hardwickes who live across the street. Carter hits it off with the Sarah (Meg Ryan), a mother of two daughters who's is going through a bad time in her life. She has just been diagnosed with breast cancer. Her daughters Lucy (Kristen Stewart) and Paige (Makenzie Vega) take an immediate liking to Carter as a bond is built between all of them.
I liked In The Land Of Women, and it's one of those rare movie moments when I wanted the film to continue on. This is a movie that isn't going to come out, grab you. But, it will take you on a emotional roller coaster with very interesting characters. You care about Carter and the Hardwickes and the audience can relate to them.
I wasn't familiar with Adam Brody, but I am now as I loved his performance. And, it’s so nice to see Meg Ryan in a solidly written part. She is still an audience darling and with good reason; she is terrific here in what has to be her best role in a decade.
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