Harold and Maude

"Harold, *everyone* has the right to make an ass out of themselves. You just can't let the world judge you too much."

Harold Chasen (Cort) is obsessed with death.  He creates elaborate suicide attempts which his socialite mother (Pickles) ignores.  He drives a hearse and regularly attends funerals.  At a funeral he meets Maude (Gordon) a 79 year old woman with a zest for life.  Maude steals cars and tries to do something new each day.

Despite their differences, Harold and Maude strict up an easy friendship.  His mother tries to find him a wife, while his Uncle Victor (Tyner) tries to get him to join the military.  Maude teaches Harold how to embrace life and their friendship blossoms into romance.


Harold and Maude is a cult comedy classic that consistently appears on top movie lists.  It appeared on 4 of the AFI's 100 Years list: 100 Years ... 100 Laughs, 100 Years ... 100 Passions, 100 Years ... 100 Cheers, and AFI's 10 Top 10.  But when it was released it received mixed reviews from critics and it did not receive any awards (although the stars were nominated for Golden Globes).

Director Hal Ashby began his Hollywood career as a film editor, before successfully transitioning to directing (this was his second time directing).  The script was written by Colin Higgins (in his Hollywood debut).  Later the screenplay was turned into a novel, and Higgins adapted it as a play which ran on Broadway in 1980.  Higgins wanted to make a sequel focused on Harold and a prequel about Maude, but neither project happened.

Ruth Gordon is perfect as Maude.  You love her from the beginning and she gets the most memorable lines.  She is the most interesting character and gives a stellar performance.  Bud Cort captures a different side to Harold, but still draws you into his struggles.  They have good chemistry and the film is better when they are together.  Vivian Pickles is good as Harold's icy / apathetic mother.

An entertaining movie that packs an emotional punch... definitely worth watching.

Harold and Maude (1971) 91 minutes
Director: Hal Ashby
Starring: Ruth Gordon as Maude
Bud Cort as Harold Chasen
Vivian Pickles as Mrs. Chasen
Cyril Cusack as Glaucus
Charles Tyner as Uncle Victor

Operation Petticoat

"Excuse me, sir, is this normal, or should I be nervous again?"

In 1941, a Japanese air raid severely damages the Sea Tiger, a new submarine under the command of Lieutenant Commander Matt Sherman (Grant).  Sherman's crew scrambles to make the repairs so they can get out to sea.  The newest addition to their crew is Lieutenant JG Nick Holden (Curtis), the self-appointed supply officer.  Holden and his crew use any means necessary (including stealing) to acquire the items needed.  Despite their shady methods, the Sea Tiger is finally able to leave, but their sub still needs quite a bit of work.

They stop at Marinduque for repairs but find the only occupants of the island are 5 nurses: Major Edna Heywood (Gregg), Second Lieutenant Dolores Crandall (O'Brien), Second Lieutenant Barbara Duran (Merrill), Second Lieutenant Reid (Rhue), and Second Lieutenant Colfax (Ross).  Sherman reluctantly agrees to take the women along, with mixed reactions from the crew.  As their sub continues to be plagued by problems and in need of repair, can the men and women learn to get along?


I love Cary Grant films.  He can do it all, comedy and drama, and throws himself into every role.  He is well matched with Tony Curtis, another actor than can do both drama and comedy.  The combination of Grant and Curtis and director Blake Edwards (who worked with Curtis again in The Great Race in 1965) makes for comedy gold.

I have always loved this film.   The cast is great and the script is funny.  Grant and Curtis are funny together and throughout.  The women don't get to do as much, but they each get a nice moment.  Gavin MacLeod is funny in a small role.  He has quite the TV resume with big roles on McHale's Navy, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, and The Love Boat, and is memorable in all of those roles.  Arthur O'Connell has great chemistry with Virginia Gregg and they are very funny together.

There actually was a pink (technically crimson) submarine in WWII.  Apparently when the Sea Lion was bombed and sunk, it was docked beside the Sea Dragon.  The Sea Dragon sustained damage and had the paint fall off due to the heat.  The steel rusted and turned the entire sub crimson.  Despite the color, the Sea Dragon ended up sinking 3 ships.

The film was adapted into a TV series in 1977 starring John Astin (and featured Curtis' daughter Jamie Lee Curtis as one of the nurses).  The show only lasted 32 episodes and the last 10 episodes most of the characters were recast.

A great film that doesn't get the kind of love it deserves.

Operation Petticoat (1959) 124 minutes
Director: Blake Edwards
Starring: Cary Grant as Lieutenant Commander Matt Sherman
Tony Curtis as Lieutenant JG Nick Holden
Joan O'Brien as Second Lieutenant Dolores Crandall
Dina Merrill as Second Lieutenant Barbara Duran
Gene Evans as Chief Torpedoman "Mo" Molumphry
Dick Sargent as Ensign Stovall
Arthur O'Connell as Chief Motor Machinist's Mate Sam Tostin
Virginia Gregg as Major Edna Heywood
Robert F. Simon as Captain J.B. Henderson
Robert Gist as Lieutenant Watson
Gavin MacLeod as Yeoman Ernest Hunkle
Madlyn Rhue as Second Lieutenant Reid
Marion Ross as Second Lieutenant Colfax
Clarence E. Lung as Sergeant Ramon Gallardo

The Wedding Ringer

"I want my real life to be as fun as the one I made up!"

Doug Harris (Gad), a tax attorney, is getting married in 10 days.  He believes his fiance Gretchen (Cuoco-Sweeting) is out of his league and is doing everything possible to make her happy.  But he has a big problem, he doesn't have a best man or any groomsmen.  Their wedding planner, Edmundo (Serricchio), sends Doug to The Best Man Inc (TBM).

Jimmy Callahan (Hart) the owner of TBM agrees to pose as Doug's best friend / best man Bic Mitchum.  He also agrees to provide the impossible: 7 groomsmen with detailed backgrounds, in 10 days.  With the deadline fast approaching Jimmy and his assistant Doris (Lewis) start screening potential groomsmen and settle on a colorful collection of characters.  Can they convince Gretchen's disapproving father Ed (Howard) and the rest of the wedding guests that their friendships are real?



This year it seems that most people I know are either getting married or having babies, so we watch a lot of wedding movies / TV shows.  Even though it received mixed reviews, I enjoy Kevin Hart and Josh Gad and decided to give it a chance.

The plot is basically a raunchy version Hitch (an awkward guy gets relationship pointers from a smooth guy) plus I Love You, Man (a loner needs a best man / groomsmen).  The good news, Hart and Gad have great chemistry.  You truly believe they are becoming friends as the film progresses.  They are best together, especially in the scene pictured above when they crash a wedding and dance together.  There are funny, laugh out loud moments... but often the comedy veers towards raunchy over-the-top moments that take away from the film.  The groomsmen as a whole are entertaining and each get a fake personality that they fully embrace.  Ken Howard is overbearing as the father of the bride, but he is the reason for the football scene (featuring retired football stars Joe Namath, John Riggins, and Ed "Too Tall" Jones).  The women in the film don't get to do much and Cloris Leachman is sorely underused.

It is a mindless comedy that has some great moments, but isn't overly memorable.

The Wedding Ringer (2015) 101 minutes
Rating: R for crude and sexual content, language throughout, some drug use and brief graphic nudity
Director: Jeremy Garelick
Starring: Kevin Hart as Jimmy Callahan / Bic Mitchum
Josh Gad as Doug Harris
Kaley Cuoco-Sweeting as Gretchen Palmer
Alan Ritchson as Kip / Carew
Cloris Leachman as Grandma
Mimi Rogers as Lois Palmer
Ken Howard as Ed Palmer
Affion Crockett as Reggie / Drysdale
Jenifer Lewis as Doris Jenkins
Olivia Thirlby as Allison Palmer
Jorge Garcia as Lurch / Garvey
Aaron Takahashi as Endo / Rambis
Dan Gill as Bornstein / Dickerson
Corey Holcomb as Otis / Alzado
Colin Kane as Fitzgibbons / Plunkett
Ignacio Serricchio as Edmundo

Lucy (2014)

"We humans are more concerned with having than with being."

Lucy (Johansson) is coerced by her boyfriend Richard (Pilou Asbaek) to deliver a briefcase to Mr. Jang (Choi).  Mr. Jang is a ruthless business man who kills Richard and forces Lucy to be a drug mule for a new drug called CPH4.  The drugs are forcibly sewn into her abdomen and she is sent back to the U.S.  Prior to her flight, she is beaten which releases the drug into her system.

The drug gives Lucy enhanced mind capacity and physical agility.  She begins researching the condition and stumbles upon the research of Professor Samuel Norman (Freeman).  She plans to meet Professor Norman in Paris to share her knowledge.  Along the way she recruits the help of Parisian police captain Pierre Del Rico (Waked) as she tried to track down the rest of the drug mules before Mr. Jang's goons can unleash the drug on the world.


I have to admit, I was skeptical of this movie when it first came out.  It seemed ridiculous, but the film did better than I expected and a friend recommended that I check it out.  It is a unique film.

It is an interesting concept, even if the science does not back up the premise.  It fully embraces the fantasy genre and creates it's own mythology.  It has a unique style and the visual effects are very impressive.  That said, the stylized approach can be polarizing.  I loved the story structure and enjoyed the homages to other films in this genre, but I understand how others would hate all of that.

Scarlett Johansson has proven that she is a talented action star, and she gets to do more of that here.  But she is also a talented actress and gets to show the transition of Lucy from terrified to emotionless.  Min-ski Choi is quietly menacing as Mr. Jang.  He is a dark and brutal villain without going over the top.  The rest of the cast are fine.  Morgan Freeman is always a good choice to portray a wise man / mentor.  The rest of the characters aren't overly memorable and you probably won't remember their names.  They simply serve as pieces to move the story / action forward.

It was an interesting film that makes you think while you enjoy intense, brutal action.  I enjoyed it, but it definitely isn't for everyone.

Lucy (2014) 89 minutes
Rating: R for strong violence, disturbing images, and sexuality
Director: Luc Besson
Starring: Scarlett Johansson as Lucy
Morgan Freeman as Professor Norman
Min-ski Choi as Mr. Jang
Amr Waked as Pierre Del Rio

Still Alice

"I am a person living with Early Onset Alzheimer's, and as that person I find myself learning the art of losing every day. Losing my bearings, losing objects, losing sleep, but mostly losing memories."

Dr. Alice Howland (Moore) is a renowned linguistics professor at Columbia University.  She is happily married to John Howland (Baldwin) who is also a professor at Columbia, and has three children: Anna (Bosworth) a lawyer, Tom (Parrish) a doctor), and Lydia (Stewart) an actress.  Around her 50th birthday she starts to forget things, at first it is a word during a lecture and eventually she gets lost during her daily run around the campus.

She begins to see neurologist Dr. Benjamin (Kunken) who diagnoses her with early onset familial Alzheimer's disease.  The news is devastating to Alice who values her intelligence and memories.  As the disease takes hold, can the family stay together?


In 2007 Lisa Genova, who has a Ph.D. in neuroscience, wrote the fictional novel "Still Alice."  It was her first novel, which she self-published.  The book became a bestseller and has been translated into 20 languages.  In 2013 the story was adapted into a play by the Lookingglass Theatre Company in Chicago.  In 2014 Big Indie Pictures produced the film adaptation.  And it was released by Sony Pictures.

I have not read Genova's book, but the film is extremely powerful.  The writing and acting are good.  Julianne Moore, who won an Oscar for this role, is incredible.  She fully inhibits the role and takes you on a difficult journey.  Despite Moore's big win (she swept the acting awards for his role), the film was not nominated for any other awards.  The film really focuses on Moore's Alice, and understandably so... and it is impressive how much they delve into the disease.  The rest of the cast are fine, Kristen Stewart is better here than her usual hollow acting.  She isn't great, but better than usual.

It is a powerful film that is hard to watch at times, but it is worth the watch.


Still Alice (2014) 101 minutes
Rating: PG-13 for mature thematic material, and brief language including a sexual reference
Director: Richard Glatzer & Wash Westmoreland
Starring: Julianne Moore as Alice Howland
Alec Baldwin as John Howland
Kristen Stewart as Lydia Howland
Kate Bosworth as Anna Howland-Jones
Hunter Parrish as Tom Howland
Shane McRae as Charlie Jones
Stephen Kunken as Dr. Benjamin

In a World...

"I'm not going to have an argument about whether we're having a goddamn argument or not, right?"
"That's the only kind of argument I know how to have."

Carol Solomon (Bell) is an underachieving vocal coach.  She has an ear for accents and is always trying to covertly record the unique voices she encounters.  She works at a recording studio with Louis (Martin), who has a crush on her.  Her father is famed voice-over artist Sam Sotto (Melamed), a legend in the industry.  Sotto is dating a much younger woman, Jamie (Holden), and has no interest in his daughters.  Carol lives with her sister Dani (Watkins), a concierge, and brother-in-law Moe (Corddry). 

A new film series, The Amazon Games, based on a quadrilogy teen series, wants to bring back the famous "In a world" trailer staple made famous by the late Don LaFontaine.  It is a huge, career-making gig.  Sam steps aside so that his friend and up-and-comer Gustav Warner (Marino) can secure the job.  When Gustav gets laryngitis, Carol does a temp track and ends up getting the job.  The job leads to other offers for Carol, and makes her the front-runner for The Amazon Games job.  But in the male-dominated voiceover industry, does Carol have a chance?


I saw a trailer for this film and was intrigued by the premise.  Most movie trailers and commercials feature deep male voices taking a commanding lead.  There are movie trailers that use female voices, but most of the memorable trailers have a male voice.  Actress Lake Bell was fascinated by the world of voiceover artists and wrote, directed, and starred in this film.  She cast 2 voiceover actors in the film: Melissa Disney (who voiced the trailer for Gone in 60 Seconds) and Fred Melamed (sports and TV announcer). The title of the film, and the main plot point, revolve around the phrase "In a world" that Don LaFontaine made famous. 

It is an interesting premise and a solid cast... but I didn't love the film.  Bell assembled an impressive cast (for her writing and directing debut), mostly comprised of people she previously worked with (most are from the webseries Children's Hospital).  The cast are good in their parts, but Bell's lack of experience behind the camera shows.  Also, it is billed as a comedy, but is more of an absurd drama... it's not hilarious, but there are funny / absurd moments, while focusing on the drama of the events.  It is an ok film, but not overly memorable.

In a World... (2013) 93 minutes
Rating: R for language including some sexual references
Director: Lake Bell
Starring: Lake Bell as Carol Solomon
Fred Melamed as Sam Sotto
Michaela Watkins as Dani Solomon
Ken Marino as Gustav Warner
Demetri Martin as Louis
Rob Corddry as Moe
Alexandra Holden as Jamie
Nick Offerman as Heners
Tig Notaro as Cher
Stephanie Allynne as Nancy

The Imitation Game

"Sometimes it is the people who no one imagines anything of who do the things that no one can imagine."

In 1939 Britain declares war on Germany and officially joins WWII.  To aid the military, the British government gathers brilliant young mathematicians to an elite code breaking team.  The team is housed at Bletchley Park and is under the supervision of Commander Denniston (Dance) and MI-6 leader Stewart Meniezs (Strong).  The team is top secret and tasked with breaking the German Enigma code.  The code changes daily giving the team hours to attempt to break the code.

Alan Turing (Cumberbatch) a socially awkward mathematics prodigy, believes that the only way to break the code is to create a machine that will solve all possibilities.  The other members of the team, Hugh Alexander (Goode), John Cairncross (Leech), and Peter Hilton (Beard), are not impressed and continue their work separately.  To expand their team Turing places a crossword puzzle in the newspaper, it is solved in record time by Joan Clarke (Knightley).  Clarke joins the secretarial staff at Bletchley Park while sneaking around to assist the code breakers.  Can the team work together to crack Enigma?


A fascinating historical film.  Who knew a film about mathematicians could be so interesting.

The film is structured like a puzzle, asking the viewer to piece together what is happening as the story jumps from a police investigation 1951 to boarding school in 1927 to the start of Britain's involvement in the war in 1939 and back again.  As the story continues you start to piece together the nonlinear narrative and connect the pieces:  it is a smart choice by writer Graham Moore.  The film is directed by Norwegian director Morten Tyldum, in his English language debut.  The story is based on the biography Alan Turing: The Enigma by Andrew Hodges.

The casting is excellent here.  Benedict Cumberbatch is best known for playing another brilliant and cocky man: Sherlock Holmes on the BBC show Sherlock.  Cumberbatch shows Turing's intelligence while still showing his vulnerabilities.  His was nominated for an Academy Award for this performance.  He is matched by Keira Knightley as Joan Clarke.  Knightley's Joan is instantly likeable, while proving that she is no slouch and is seen as a valued member of the team, at a time that women were not given these jobs.  Knightley was also nominated for an Academy Award for this film.  The scenes between Cumberbatch and Knightley are great, and show a comfort between the characters that are forced to hide so much of their identities.  The other standouts from the code-breaking team are Matthew Goode and Allen Leech.  Goode has a decent career of film and TV roles and is good here.  Leech is best known as Branson on ITV's Downton Abbey.  It is nice to see him in a different role.  Charles Dance and Mark Strong are always good as morally ambiguous characters.

The story mostly focuses on Turing's code-breaking years, while flashing back to his boarding school days and the reason for his interest in puzzles / codes.  And the flash forwards show a very different man, broken by the government he used to work for.  An undercurrent of the film is Turing's homosexuality, which hits all three time periods of the film.

The Imitation Game (2014) 114 minutes
Rating: PG-13 for some sexual references, mature thematic material and historical smoking
Director: Morten Tyldum
Starring: Benedict Cumberbatch as Alan Turing
Keira Knightley as Joan Clarke
Matthew Goode as Hugh Alexander
Rory Kinnear as Detective Robert Nock
Allen Leech as John Cairncross
Matthew Beard as Peter Hilton
Charles Dance as Commander Denniston
Mark Strong as Stewart Menzies
James Northcote as Jack Good

Avengers: Age of Ultron

"You get hurt, hurt 'em back. You get killed... walk it off."

The Avengers: Captain America (Evans), Iron Man (Downey Jr.), Black Widow (Johansson), Thor (Hemsworth), Hulk (Ruffalo), and Hawkeye (Renner);  have been raiding Hydra bases to recover Loki's scepter.  They find it in the country of Sokovia, where they learn that Baron Strucker (Thomas Kretschmann) used the scepter on humans to give them enhanced abilities.  The only survivors are twins Pietro (Taylor-Johnson) and Wanda (Olsen) Maximoff, who gained super speed and telekinesis / mind manipulation respectively.  The Avengers recover the scepter and Tony Stark and Bruce Banner use it to create a peacekeeping program called Ultron (Spader).

Ultron feels that the real problem with the world is the Avengers and wants to destroy them.  He destroys Stark's A.I. JARVIS (Bettany) and recruits the Maximoff twins to set his plan in motion.  With his consciousness downloaded to the internet and Wanda destroying the team from within, can the Avengers set aside their differences to once again save the planet?

After the success of 2012's The Avengers, it seemed only natural for Marvel Studios to greenlight a sequel as part of their Phase 2 films.  Phase 2 began with Iron Man 3, which picked up a few months after the events of The Avengers.  Next was Thor: The Dark World, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, and The Guardians of the Galaxy which had the difficult task of introducing new characters and a new world with minimal crossover to the previous Marvel films.  Phase 2 will end with Ant-Man, which is set to premiere later this year.

This film had the difficult challenge of following up The Avengers.  It had to keep the stakes high, juggle a large and popular cast of heroes, maintain character development, and add new characters.  Joss Whedon returned as the writer and director of the film, and had a hand in all of the Phase 2 films.  In addition to serving as sequel, it also needed to tie up dangling plot lines from the previous films and set up the stakes for the next phase of MCU (Marvel Cinematic Universe).  Whedon managed to do all of that, while delving a little more into the lives / backstories of the heroes.  He also kept his voice while still maintaining the distinct personalities of all of his characters.  I enjoyed the humor and other Whedon touches.

Yes, the story is a little jumpy, but it is a fun ride.  The cast work well together and bring their characters to life.  The casting of the new characters was spot-on.  James Spader is the perfect (only) choice for Ultron: his voice is charismatic with a trace of menace.  I had reservations about the introduction of the Maximoff twins, but they were the right additions.  Aaron Taylor-Johnson, who previously suited up as a hero in the Kick-Ass films.  He doesn't say much in the film, but he is a fun character.  Elizabeth Olsen brings a weight to Wanda / Scarlet Witch, making her likeable while still making her a threat.  It was nice to see Anthony Mackie as Falcon, although I wish he had more screen time.  And I enjoyed Don Cheadle's expanded screen time as War Machine.  It was also nice to have Jeremy Renner's Hawkeye get more to do (and more personality).  He is much more interesting here.  I also appreciated getting a little more information about Scarlett Johansson's Black Widow.  Since Renner and Johansson and Mark Ruffalo don't get their own films, it worked well to give them more development here.  Paul Bettany is excellent as JARVIS and now as the Vision.

The film sets up the conflicts for Marvel's Phase 3: Captain American: Civil War, Doctor Strange, Guardians of the Galaxy 2, Thor: Ragnarok, Avengers: Infinity War - Part 1, Black Panther, Captain Marvel, Avengers: Infinity War - Part 2, and Inhumans.  There is also the potential for a Spider-Man film.  Whedon will not return for the next Avengers film... it will be directed by Anthony and Joe Russo who directed the last Captain America film (along with the next Captain America film).

I suggest going into the film without reading spoilers about the film.  Based on the trailers I knew which super heroes would appear, but I didn't have any other information and was pleasantly surprised by the direction of the script and the surprises that popped up.

An enjoyable film that you should experience on the big screen.

Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015) 141 minutes
Rating: PG-13 for intense sequences of sci-fi action, violence and destruction, and for some suggestive comments
Director: Joss Whedon
Starring: Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark / Iron Man
Chris Hemsworth as Thor
Mark Ruffalo as Bruce Banner / Hulk
Chris Evans as Steve Rogers / Captain America
Scarlett Johansson as Natasha Romanoff / Black Widow
Jeremy Renner as Clint Barton / Hawkeye
James Spader as Ultron
Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury
Don Cheadle as James Rhodes / War Machine
Aaron Taylor-Johnson as Pietro Maximoff / Quicksilver
Elizabeth Olsen as Wanda Maximoff / Scarlet Witch
Paul Bettany as JARVIS / Vision
Cobie Smulders as Maria Hill
Anthony Mackie as Sam Wilson / Falcon

Promoción fantasma: Ghost Graduation

Modesto (Arevalo) has the ability to communicate with the dead, an ability that he has had since childhood.  He thinks he is crazy and is seeing a psychiatrist.  His abilities have gotten him fired from seven local schools, but he is uniquely qualified to teach at Monforte High School.  For twenty years the school has been haunted by five students that were killed in a fire at the school: delinquent Dani (Maruny), heartthrob jock Jorge (Olias), pregnant Marivi (Duro), bookworm Angela (Castillo) and drunk Pinfloy (Bodalo).  They terrorize the school and have turned the once prestigious school into their playground.

Tina (Jimenez), the principal, is willing to do anything to get rid of the ghosts and hires Modesto.  Student Elsa begins communicating with Jorge.  Otegui (Areces), the head of the parents counsel, is watching everything, and school secretary Manuela (Abril) has her own ideas about how to exercise the ghosts.  Can Modesto embrace his gift to help the students and the school and eventually find happiness?


I discovered this film through Netflix's instant streaming.  I was pleasantly surprised.  This Spanish language film is a marriage of John Hughes high school films and modern raunchy teen flicks.  It doesn't seem like it would work, but it does.  There is a nice balance of sentimentality (mostly through the heavy use of 80s music in the soundtrack) and humor.  The film also succeeds due to the charisma of the cast.  Raul Arevalo is charming as Modesto.  He is adorably awkward and sincere.  The teens are also endearing in their own ways.

The film fully embraces the John Hughes cliches, including some obvious references to his films (see the dance from The Breakfast Club).  And while all of the characters fit a cliche, each has a unique personality / voice within the film.  It is somewhat predictable, while still throwing some surprises at you.

An enjoyable film with some shocking moments and some laugh-out-loud moments.  And no scares despite being a movie about ghosts.

Ghost Graduation [Promocion fantasma] (2012) 88 minutes
Rating: R for sexual content, nudity and language
Director: Javier Ruiz Caldera
Starring: Raul Arevalo as Modesto
Alexandra Jimenez as Tina
Javier Bodalo as Pinfloy
Anna Castillo as Angela
Andrea Duro as Marivi
Aura Garrido as Elsa
Alex Maruny as Dani
Jaime Olias as Jorge
Carlos Areces as Otegui
Silvia Abril as Manuela

The Punisher (2004)

"What makes you any different from them?"
"They have something to lose."

Frank Castle (Jane) is an undercover FBI agent with one final mission before he retires.  The mission doesn't go as planned, and ends with the death of Bobby Saint (Carpinello).  Bobby's father is Howard Saint (Travolta), a powerful crime boss who wants revenge.  He sends his men to Puerto Rico to kill Castle and his entire family, at the request of his wife Livia (Harring).  Castle's wife Maria (Mathis) and young song Will (Johns), along with the rest of his extended family are executed and Castle is severely injured, but is rescued by a family friend.

Several months later, Castle moves to Tampa to get vengeance for his family.  He moves into an old tenement building with three young outcasts, Joan (Romjin), Spacker Dave (Foster), and Bumpo (Pinette), and begins setting his plan into motion.  He recruits demoted Saint stooge Micky Duka (Jemison) to be his spy / ally, and sets out to destroy Howard Saint and his entire organization.  Can he stay one step ahead of Saint and Quentin Glass (Patton)?


In 1974, Gerry Conway created the character of the Punisher.  He initially appeared as an antagonist in the Spider-Man comics, and proved to be a popular character for Marvel.  The character received his own series in the 1980s.  In 1989 Dolph Lundgren brought the character to life on the big screen in The Punisher was is not well-liked.  In the 2000s Marvel Studios made a deal with Artisan Entertainment to bring the Punisher back to the big screen and hired Jonathan Hensleigh to write and direct the film.

One of my roommates loves this film (it's her favorite), so I decided to give it a try.  I knew the character was based on a comic book, but that was it.  It is a bloody, violent film that more than earns its R rating.  It is interesting, and I enjoyed it overall, but there is strong language and violence throughout the film.  Most characters show no remorse for their actions, and then meet grisly ends.  Thomas Jane is good in the title role, and John Travolta was a good choice for the villain.  The cast as a whole is good and the action / explosions, etc are good.

After the success of this film, Marvel wanted to move forward with another Punisher film.  The sequel, Punisher: War Zone, premiered in 2008 with a new director and a different actor as Frank Castle / The Punisher.

The Punisher (2004) 124 minutes
Rating: R for pervasive brutal violence, language and brief nudity
Director: Jonathan Hensleigh
Starring: Thomas Jane as Frank Castle / The Punisher
John Travolta as Howard Saint
Will Patton as Quentin Glass
Roy Scheider as Frank Castle, Sr.
Laura Harring as Livia Saint
Ben Foster as Spacker Dave
Rebecca Romijn as Joan
John Pinette as Bumpo
Samantha Mathis as Maria Elizabeth Castle
Marcus Johns as Will Castle
Russell Andrews as Agent Jimmy Weeks
James Carpinello as Bobby Saint / John Saint
Eddie Jemison as Micky Duka