Posted by Kevin at 205.147.8.135 on August 02, 2003 at 21:58:23:
In Reply to: What did you think of Gigli, Kev? posted by Elmo Machete on August 02, 2003 at 21:38:05:
Like most Marty Brest movies, it could've done with some tighter editing (you could've easily
cut a half hour out of "Meet Joe Black" - a movie I love, by the way - just by removing all the
pregnant pauses), but I found it very in keeping with the tone of his other flicks ("Scent of a
Woman", "Midnight Run"). If people liked those, what was their problem with this one? The
movie, like Ben and Jen, are just victims of a particularly nasty little backlash. Of all the
reviews I read for the flick, Roger Ebert's and Joe Batalke's (in the Sacremento Bee) stood out
as actual critiques of the film, that didn't resort to simple "this is the worst movie of all time"
attacks. Both reviews took the position of "This movie's not great, but it's not an abortion
either."
Which is largely true of most, if not all, movies.
And all the Ben and Jen blasting is about as transparent as it gets. The sheer naked
aggression is astounding. Alright, fine - folks are tired of hearing about their relationship.
But who started covering it to death in the first place? Ben and Jen themselves? You think
they courted it at all (outside of the Dateline piece, which was clearly a marketing tool to
promote "Gigli")? No - it was the same press that's going after them with the gleeful
abandon of those trenchcoat wearing high schoolers who march into school and pick off the
popular kids with a small arsenal.
But let 'em shred the movie. Ben and Jen got what they wanted out of it: Ben and Jen. And
everyone'll live happily ever after.