Kevin Costner Page 4

Almost criminally entertaining, this preposterous thriller mixes buckets of humour and emotion into the violent, twisty action. And Kevin Costner gets his best role in years, a remarkably complex character who's unpredictable and thoroughly engaging. So even as the story grows increasingly ridiculous, the film remains both gripping and a lot of fun.

It's set in London, where hot CIA operative Bill (Ryan Reynolds) is on the trail of an evil anarchist (Jordi Molla) when he's captured, tortured and killed. To stop an imminent attack, the CIA chief Wells (Gary Oldman) needs to know what Bill was working on. So he calls in scientist Franks (Tommy Lee Jones), who has been experimenting with transferring memories from brain to brain in animals. For his first human trial, he copies Bill's dying memories into the only suitable brain available on such short notice: psycho killer Jericho (Kevin Costner), who's serving a death sentence in prison. And now Jericho is desperate to sort out the chaos in his head.

Director Ariel Vromen (The Iceman) keeps everything moving so briskly that there isn't time to stop and think about how silly the premise is. All of these characters act on their basest impulses, never thinking through anything before they charge into the next situation. Viewers who try to make sense of the plot, or of London's geography, will find their brains aching like Jericho's. So it's better to just hang on and enjoy the ride. The film's edgy, urgent tone adds the illusion of depth amid the mindlessly brutal violence, while the formidable cast adds weight to a variety of rather thinly drawn characters, from Oldman's bluster to Jones' wry wit. Only Costner gets some real depth to play with, and Jericho is constantly surprising, mixing a killer instinct with brainy invention and some properly dark emotions. His scenes with Gal Gadot (as Bill's wife) are unnervingly tense and moving.

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After 2013's beefy Man of Steel, director Zack Snyder goes even bigger and darker with this sequel, cross-pollenating Clark Kent's story with flashbacks to the origins of Bruce Wayne and his Dark Knight alter-ego. The problem is that the film is so big and loud that it can't help but feel bloated, especially since so much of what's on screen feels rather vacuous. But it looks amazing and is relentlessly gripping.

After a Bat-origin prologue, the story kicks off with the climactic battle from Man of Steel as seen from the perspective of Bruce Wayne (Ben Affleck), watching his city being destroyed by Superman (Henry Cavill). This further fuels the rage that began when his parents were murdered. And that fire is stoked by the mischievous millionaire Lex Luthor (Jesse Eisenberg). Meanwhile, Superman/Clark is struggling with how the world is revering him as a god, which is straining his relationship with intrepid reporter Lois (Amy Adams). As these very different vigilante heros head toward a climactic confrontation, Luthor is up to something seriously nefarious. And the ensuing chaos brings another hero into the open, Wonder Woman Diana Prince (Gal Gadot).

While the various plot threads are fascinating, and Snyder maintains a snappy pace, the overall story centres on the fact that Affleck's prickly, bitter Bruce is easily manipulated into doing terrible things, which makes him rather unlikeable. And Cavill's fundamentally good Clark isn't much easier to identify with. Both are also oddly constrained by their costumes and bulked-up physicalities, which leave them unable to move properly. This allows the side characters to steal the show: Adams adds emotion and passion, Eisenberg provides the nutty nastiness, Irons is hilariously cynical as Bruce's butler Alfred, and Fishburne is all bluster as Lois' editor. But in the end, the film belongs to the gorgeous, clear-headed Gadot, instantly making her stand-alone movie the most anticipated superhero project on the horizon.

Continue reading: Batman V Superman: Dawn Of Justice Review

Bobby Walker (Affleck) is a high-flying shipping executive stunned when he's fired after 12 years on the job. Company founder Gene (Jones) is furious at the CEO (Nelson) for sacrificing thousands of employees to guarantee bigger profits for stockholders and executives. And his 30-year-veteran colleague Phil (Cooper) is worried that he might get the chop in the next wave of cuts. While Bobby struggles to accept his unemployment, his wife (DeWitt) is more realistic, suggesting that Bobby take a job with her builder brother (Costner) to tide them over.

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These movies have an established pattern, and Guardian follows it to the letter. To borrow a phrase from Ron L. Brinkerhoff's soggy screenplay, Guardian swims with the current as it tics off predictable accomplishments en route to a by-the-book conclusion. At times, it's laudable. At times, it's laughable. But nothing prepared me for the sheer atrocity that occurs in the film's final frames.

Continue reading: The Guardian Review

These movies have an established pattern, and Guardian follows it to the letter. To borrow a phrase from Ron L. Brinkerhoff's soggy screenplay, Guardian swims with the current as it tics off predictable accomplishments en route to a by-the-book conclusion. At times, it's laudable. At times, it's laughable. But nothing prepared me for the sheer atrocity that occurs in the film's final frames.

Continue reading: The Guardian Review

Houston doesn't have to stretch too far to play Rachel Marron, a bitchy diva surrounded by luxury and sycophants who finds her path to the pinnacle of musical and cinematic stardom blocked by a particularly nasty anonymous stalker who has made an increasingly scary series of threats. Enter Kevin Costner as Frank Farmer, an ex-Secret Service agent haunted by his failure to protect Ronald Reagan from John Hinckley's bullet. Frank signs on as a security consultant and immediately battens down the hatches, much to the displeasure of the uptight Rachel, who's used to getting things her way.

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3000 Miles to Graceland is not the realization of that dream.

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About 75 percent of "Message In a Bottle" is waiting for theother shoe to drop.

Robin Wright Penn plays a Chicago Tribune researcher whobecomes fixated on finding the author of a grief-filled love letter setadrift at sea. By the time she meets him, the letter has done a numberon her heart and she falls in love quickly with the achingly widowed, middle-agedsalt, played by a Kevin Costner, and spends most of the movie trying tofind the right moment to say "Hey, I read that letter to your deadwife that no one was ever supposed to see."

Continue reading: Message In A Bottle Review

It's hard not to admire Kevin Costner for his stanch dedication to making old-fashioned movies that defy our acidic modern world.

Unapologetically sentimental, he insists through films like "Field of Dreams," "The Postman," "Message in a Bottle" and now "For Love of the Game," that melodrama is not outdated, and the man has an aptitude for jerking tears from even the most reluctant ducts.

Sometimes he tries too hard, and frequently he tries too long (it's been 10 years since he made a movie under two hours), but chick flick or cautionary futurist yarn, he almost always succeeds in taking hold of the viewer's heart, even as some of us wince at his methods.

Continue reading: For Love Of The Game Review