The only thing these two movies have in common is some impressive acting

Three reviews about two movies:

Then She Found Me. The Rotten Tomatoes consensus for this film says--

A threadbare story anchored by strong performances, Then She Found Me is a mostly successful directorial debut by Helen Hunt.

--and that's pretty much right. Four screenwriters credited (including Hunt, twice) on one film are almost always a sign that at least parts of a movie are going to feel badly stitched together.

Then She Found Me is no exception. It also has some really predictable "beats" that had me thinking Hunt thought she was directing another sitcom.

However, the star performances, especially Hunt, Colin Firth, and Matthew Broderick, are indeed strong.

But personally, I felt Bette Midler was miscast. Of all the stars whose other work I know, she was the only one who in this movie I was never able to stop saying "Hey! That's..."

The film is worth seeing if you are an admirer of Hunt's or just appreciate good acting. If you rent the DVD, I recommend listening to Hunt's self-deprecating commentary.

PS: Oh, and I also ought to say something about the camerawork, which is excellent especially in closeup.

And now...

Oh yes...there will be Saw V.

Short, newly arrived (but) diehard fan review:

That.

Was.

AWESOME!

Slightly longer, somewhat more detached review:

Better than the fourth installment, still not as good as the second and third. But that's not bad for a series on its fifth movie. The attempted "lessons" this time were the importance of working together and learning to trust.

That's right, it's Jigsaw's after-school special--only with not enough Jigsaw. As you know if you've been reading my "takes" on the series this past month, the character of Jigsaw was killed two movies ago.

He still makes his presence known in this movie through flashbacks, and the film is at its greatest and most legitimate in those scenes. One of the luckiest decisions the makers of the original Saw ever made was casting Tobin Bell.

In a part that as far as they knew at the time, didn't necessarily require an actor of any depth, or even really an actor at all. His part in the first movie might almost have been played by an extra. But it wasn't. It was played by an actor who found something to play.

Bell still gets (and deserves) top billing. And the succeeding films have given him something that the Leather and Ghost faces haven't had enough of, and that is: A character. He already had presence onscreen; so does Costas Mandylor (below).

When they're together it almost burns your eyes.

(As an only semi-related aside, one of the trailers before the movie was for the Friday the 13th remake. Boy does that thing look ridiculous. Contain your shock.)

As usual, most of the traps were, for me, the least of it. For me these movies are all about listening to Jigsaw (or his helpers) and trying to figure out the last trap.

For the record, I did...not exactly how it would play out but what the switch was. Anyone who remembers Superman II could probably have done that too.

Minor things: Yeah, there's a plot hole or two...but no Saw movie would be complete without at least one continuity error for future films to retroactively explain. And unless I just didn't hear it, this is the first Saw movie ending with nobody saying "Game Over."



On the one hand, I missed that, but on the other, not until I was driving home. And I suppose it was better for me to miss it than to have it meaninglessly shoved in.

In closing, look: This film was made for the fans, of which I (obviously) am only recently one. Its brain is shriveling (and so indeed may mine be), but it still has more of a brain than most other fourth sequels; I don't think it'll disappoint most fans.

Me, I walked out whistling Charlie Clouser’s staple musical cue (you're listening to it right now)...