Man... Harry here. I have no doubt that this fella didn't dig Nora Ephron's latest film.... it seemed to really smell of raunchy meat, but ya know... I've run into alot of people that don't like any Nora Ephron movies ever... and I'm not one of those people. Now... her last film with Travolta was the abysmally bad flick.... MICHAEL... which, though shot in Austin and the film kept my father out of jail for outstanding late fees on Akira Kurosawa's RAN... well, it stunk BAAaaaaaaaAAAAD! Is there a cursed relationship on screen when Ephron and Travolta work, or was it a lingering trance? Hmmmm... we may never know.
Harry,
There's been many times that I've wanted to write after a screening, but I haven't had much to warn the world about. But now that I've seen John Travolta's new film "Numbers" at Paramount last night, I really must warn all of you: Stay Away! It's worse than that damn virus in M:I 2 (and the rest of M:I 2 as well).
Here's the most simple plot summary I could write:
It's based on a true story about a weatherman (Travolta) who's losing money from bad investments. He and his girlfriend (Lisa Kudrow), who is the Lottery Girl, hatch a plan to rig the lottery to pay off debts and get rich. They involve Kudrow's perverted cousin (played by Michael Moore of "Roger and Me") who will cash in the ticket. After he asks for more money, Kudrow "kills" him by refusing to give him his inhaler for an asthma-like reaction. She steals the ticket from him. The station manager (Ed O'Neil) discovers a rigged lotto ball and confronts Kudrow and Travolta. He wants in on the money, too.
Sooooo....after much more double crossing, a nervous Travolta sells the ticket for Ed O'Neil for $100,000, and decides to bail town. Travolta gets into a tractor-trailor (too much to explain) accident trying to leave town. When Pullman comes to help, Travolta runs, gets caught and spills his guts.
Let me catch my breath now. Yesterday, word came out that Paramount is pushing this back, with many guessing it's because of the bad press from Battlefield Earth. But I can tell you the real reason: this movie sucks...THATS RIGHT, IT SUCKS! The first twenty minutes are mildly amusing, but the pacing starts to bog this film down. It's the slowest, most painful two hours I've experienced in a long time.
Many of the jokes rely Travolta being a local celebrity and somewhat of a loser. Early on, when he's got an ego, Travolta is pretty funny. But when the shit hits the fan and he starts going downhill, he just stinks. Travolta's strong suit is playing cool, slick, charming guys like he did in Pulp Fiction and Get Shorty. This is not one of them.
Kudrow's character was ditzy, dumb, greedy and didn't make me chuckle once. The character was annoyingly bad.
Tim Roth and Michael Moore are the only two things that I didn't mind. Roth, as usual, does well, playing a strip-bar owner, but has nothing to do with his character. He's not a funny character, just playing a guy who seems to try to solve people's problems by having others killed. Michael Moore is funny in his brief role. His character was stupid and goofy, but it was the only part in the film that I laughed at.
Michael Rappaport, Bill Pullman and Ed O'Neill contribute nothing to this film whatsoever. Rappaport plays a dumb thug, O'Neil plays a sleazy guy and Pullman, and eccentric cop, roles that they've all done before.
This film is a waste of time, talent, energy, and money. It tries to be Fargo/Cohen Brothers-esque, but fails on all levels. It's dark humor is more lame than funny. That log of crap Battlefield Earth made me laugh more than this did.
Stay away! Please!
Later,
Jack Foley
