Recently in Thriller Category

2008

Plot: A retired secret uber-agent destroys France to retrieve his daughter kidnapped by women traffickers.

Eric: I love how these mild-mannered movie characters can magically turn in to Jason Bourne whenever their families are threatened. If I was that guy I would have told my ex-wife “I told you so” a million times. Everybody was so selfish—no one thanked him except the presumably self-absorbed pop singer. Sigh.

Kelly: Whiny daughter, bitter ex-wife, repentant dad, creepy human trafficking thugs: the perfect ingredients for a ridiculous plot with lots of needless violence.

2007

Plot: Let's break all the commandments for the sake of revenge.

Eric: This movie was painful to watch. I could not think of a single good reason to make such an offensive story.

Zero Paws

Kelly: I never use the word hate because it is such a strong word. I hated this movie.

Zero Paws

2007

Plot: Independently wealthy, gorgeous detective babe tracks a starched shirt business man serial killer dude.

Eric: Most entertaining movie about a psychotic serial killer with a split personality I’ve seen this month.

Kelly: He scared me. Cool ending, though.

2007

Plot: How to kill your wife by not killing your wife after going on trial for killing your wife.

Eric: This was a mildly entertaining movie with some interesting surprises. The “suspension of disbelief” factor in this film was too hard to overcome for my taste. Is it a rule that Anthony Hopkins has to play brilliantly smug evil people?

Kelly: Anthony Hopkins really creeps me out. I thought he was going to eat her liver with some fava beans and a nice chianti.

2007

Plot: “I’m a Mac” geek saves the world from Bruce Willis.

Eric: Only John McClane could knock out a helicopter with a water stream from a fire hydrant. Yawn.

Kelly: I got lots of knitting done that night.

2008

Plot: If you are going to take a trip on the world’s longest passenger rail line, make sure the toilets on the train work.

Eric: This was an interesting, if not poetic, choice of a movie to watch while we were trapped indoors during a blizzard. I thought the plot was interesting and Hitchcock worthy. I am quite proud of this astute observation in light of the fact I’ve only seen one Alfred Hitchcock movie.

Kelly: I’m not totally sure I completely buy Eric’s Hitchcock comparison, but I really liked this movie. It was fun to watch with the backdrop of our own blizzard. I like the ones that keep you guessing, and this movie did that.

2008

Plot: A plausible story gets kidnapped.

Eric: This movie used every possible kidnapping cliché, but it still worked for me to a point because it had some new twists and one of the best highway car pile-ups ever.

Kelly: I’m still squirming from the scalpel-up-the-butt self-defense strategy. Yikes! I can’t stand whiny victims, so I actually enjoyed this movie. In spite of the kidnapping clichés, I appreciated that all three victims never stopped trying to escape. Dakota Fanning's portrayal of an asthmatic child left me breathless.

2008

Plot: Roger Ferris needs a day off.

Kelly: I had no sympathy for anyone in this movie. "Body of lies?" No kidding! How can we solve terrorism if even the good guys lie to each other all the time? No wonder the Arab world hates America so much. Roger Ferris, the main character, was selfish and manipulative; he sacrificed his colleagues, two fingers, his love affair, and nearly his life. For what purpose?—to flush out a terrorist leader by creating an entire fake organization on his own and blowing things up? Really? His CIA boss talks to him constantly from the opposite side of the world on his magic cell phone that always gets reception. Eric and I don’t get good cell-to-cell reception from the other side of town. Oh, and that CIA dude is seriously going to talk about killing people at his kid’s soccer game? Oh, and how 'come when those two talk from opposite hemispheres, it’s always the middle of the day for both of them. Oh, and another thing . . .

Eric: [Ducking out of the way] Okay . . . ! (This is why I don't let Kelly go first.)

2005

Plot: Fidelity, honesty, and personal responsibility jump the tracks.

We have more than usual to say about this one! Movies that make you talk—for good or bad—are sometimes the most interesting.

Eric: This movie succeeded on one level: it riveted me for the duration and caused a provocative discussion between Kelly and me that lasted long past our bedtime. Why is watching characters pile bad decision upon bad decision on top of moral failures so morbidly addicting? My adrenaline was pumping in a type of stress reaction as I wondered what consequences, if any, the main character would face. Kelly, to her credit, predicted the big surprise well in advance and didn’t accept the numerous logic flaws for a second. I appreciated this movie less the following morning. If only Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day could have captivated me this much.

Kelly: I have a strong distaste for movies where the main character puts innocent loved ones in jeopardy just to save face. There is a point (like when the bad guy is kissing your daughter) that it might be a good idea to go ahead and tell the truth! I’m just saying. I guess I could have gone along with the adventure and enjoyed the thrill of wondering how he was going to get out of the mess he created, but I didn’t care. He didn’t deserve revenge. I thought Jennifer Anniston’s character was robotic and a bit sad. Were we supposed to feel sorry for her? The logic didn’t really work; the “good” characters were just plain stupid; and I have yet to find a redeeming quality for anyone in the movie. It did spark a great conversation with Eric, though, and that might be worth placing it on your Netflix queue. I prefer Miss Pettigrew.

2008

Plot: The FBI's cyber-crime unit chases a killer who broadcasts his murders over the Internet.

Eric: The horror of the cruelty in this movie was intense. Despite that I had a strange feeling this plot was somehow plausible. Diane Lane was very good as the heroine.

Kelly: I agree that Diane Lane was very good, but I don’t like movies that I have to watch with my hands held over my eyes. Seriously, everybody knew the murderer was in the back seat of the car except the seasoned FBI agent herself—come on!