The Conspirator (2010)

 

 

Mary Surratt is the lone female charged as a co-conspirator in the assassination trial of Abraham Lincoln. As the whole nation turns against her, she is forced to rely on her reluctant lawyer to uncover the truth and save her life. 

Made in good taste and excellent period detail and with a capable cast ensemble, this historical drama focuses on an interesting aspect of the Lincoln assassination, but without much suspense or giving the story the importance it actually has. 

Maltin**1/2: "'Historical drama never achieves the urgency it should, but McAvoy's impassioned performance is worth seeing."  

Cassandra's Dream (2007)

 
Two brothers with serious financial woes become enemies, when a third party proposes they turn to crime, and things go badly.

Seamless production, presented as if it were an experimental set-up, simulating depth where there is none.

Maltin**: "Well-intention but flawed - and far too predictable - morality play...Allen deals with issues similar to those he explored more successfully in CRIMES AND MISDEMEANORS." 

The Samaritan (2012)

After twenty years in prison, a man is finished with the grifter's life, but his past is proving to be a stubborn companion.

The story is really nothing new, so all kinds of twists and angles were built into the plot; otherwise an OK thriller with a good cast.

Maltin**: "Grim, serious crime film features good acting, but it's nothing new."

A Good Woman (2004)

While retaining her secret identity, the illustrious Mrs. Erlynne saves Lady Windemere from making a grand social faux-pas with the scoundrelly Lord Darlington.

This Oscar Wilde adaptation is nice to look at with its Italian surroundings and neatly costumed stars, but it fully misses the original's excitement and wit; instead, the audience is showered with a cascade of the author's aphorisms (and not just from the play, but from all other sources as well).

Maltin**: "Ill-conceived version..."

Selma (2014)

A chronicle of  Martin Luther King's campaign to secure equal voting rights via an epic march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama in 1965.

Stirring historical drama, well-made in good taste, mainly convinces due to an excellent cast.

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)

When their relationship turns sour, a couple undergoes a procedure to have each other erased from their memories, but it is only through the process of loss that they discover what they had to begin with.

Complex and intriguing love drama playing with our sense of time and memory; well worth watching, but at times a strain putting the parts together. 

Halliwell*: "Another film with a beginning, middle and end, though not necessarily in that order; indeed, the beginning is the end. It is too fussy in its writing and direction to maintain interest in its shifting narrative."

Maltin***: "Ingenious, Oscar-winning screenplay by Charlie Kaufman...is extremely well executed by director Gondry (and cinematographer Ellen Kuras), though the film tends to cleverly dance around the roots of emotional and romantic pain rather than fully engage them. Carrey has never been better; Winslet is (as always) exceptional."