Syriana (2005)

Genre

Drama | Thriller

Director

Stephen Gaghan

Country

United States

Cast

George Clooney, Matt Damon, Jeffrey Wright, Christopher Plummer, Amanda Peet, Chris Cooper, Tim Blake Nelson, William Hurt, Mark Strong, Robert Baer, Mazhar Munir, Alexander Siddig, Amr Waked, Akbar Kurtha, Viola Davis, Jayne Atkinson, Jamey Sheridan

Plot

The film is a combination of parallel stories of several characters having place in several locations: Emir, Assassination, Wasim, Merger and the Father-son.

Opinion

Syriana is a cynical film, without any consolation or hope, reveals plots and at the same time leaves a thousand of unanswered questions. I appreciated the choice of using the languages of those locations ( English, French, Arabic, Urdu and Farsi).

Matt Damon's character is superfluous, he doesn't add anything else. Useless the final scene when he returns home to his family.

Quotes

Dean Whiting: In this town, you're innocent until you're investigated.

Prince Nasir Al-Subaai: Americans love to drill holes in other people's countries.

Rating

7.2/10

Jersey Boys (2014)

Genre

Biography | Drama

Director

Clint Eastwood

Country

United States

Cast

John Lloyd Young, Erich Bergen, Michael Lomenda, Vincent Piazza, Christopher Walken, Renée Marino, Kathrine Narducci, Lou Volpe, Freya Tingley, Elizabeth Hunter, Grace Kelley, Mike Doyle, Rob Marnell, Johnny Cannizzaro, Donnie Kehr, Jeremy Luke, Joey Russo, James Madio, Erica Piccinini, Steve Schirripa, Barry Livingston, Miles Aubrey, Kim Gatewood, Jackie Seiden, Kyli Rae, Troy Grant, Heather Ferguson, John Griffin, Chaz Langley, Billy Gardell, Francesca Eastwood, Sean Whalen

Plot

1951, Tommy DeVito (Vincent Piazza), narrating the story, introduces the audience to himself, his brother Nicky (Johnny Cannizzaro), their friend Nick Massi (Michael Lomenda) and Frankie (John Lloyd Young).

One night the group attempts a robbery and the police arrest them. When Tommy is released from prison, he reunites his group and asks Frankie to join them.

After Nicky leaves, the group, now called "The Four Lovers", is in need of a songwriter, and thank to Joe Pesci (Joey Russo) they meet Bob Gaudio (Erich Bergen). That's the beginning of The Four Seasons.

Opinion

Clint Eastwood's choice to bring to the screen a theatrical play turned into a success. While I was expecting something better from him, Jersey Boys is still good film.
Eastwood manages to give music the right importance, avoiding the musical effect, which would have overshadowed the story. 

Quotes

Frankie Valli: Four guys under a street lamp, when it was all still ahead of us, the first time we made that sound - our sound.

Rating

7.0/10

The Negotiator (1998)

Genre

Action | Thriller

Director

F. Gary Gray

Country

United States

Cast

Samuel L. Jackson, Kevin Spacey, Paul Guilfoyle, David Morse, Ron Rifkin, John Spencer, J.T. Walsh, Siobhan Fallon, Paul Giamatti, Regina Taylor, Bruce Beatty, Michael Cudlitz, Carlos Gómez, Tim Kelleher, Dean Norris, Nestor Serrano, Stephen Lee, Leonard Thomas, Robert David Hall

Plot

Danny Roman (Samuel L. Jackson), a top Chicago Police Department hostage negotiator, is the victim of a conspiracy: he is charged with his partner's murder and with embezzlement from the department's disability fund.
To prove his innocence, Danny goes into the headquarter of the Department of Internal Affairs and takes as hostages several people including Terence Niebaum (J.T. Walsh), suspected by Roman to be part of the conspiracy.
He shifts from negotiator to abductor's shoes and he finds himself face to face with Chris Sabian (Kevin Spacey), another brilliant negotiator, called by Roman himself. Now it's up to Chris to save the hostages and bring Danny out alive.

Opinion

The Negotiator is a good action thriller film and spectacular in a couple of scenes; the duo Jackson-Spacey works fine, and they prove, once again, to be the best actors of their generation. It's nice seeing Spacey as the good guy. Great performance also by J.T. Walsh, who died several months before the film's release. 

Quotes

Chris Sabian: When your friends betray you, sometimes the only people you can trust are strangers.

Rating

8.0/10

Non-Stop (2014)

Genre

Action | Thriller

Director

Jaume Collet-Serra

Country

United States

Cast

Liam Neeson, Julianne Moore, Michelle Dockery, Nate Parker, Linus Roache, Scoot McNairy, Corey Stoll, Lupita Nyong'o, Anson Mount, Omar Metwally, Jason Butler Harner, Corey Hawkins, Frank Deal, Shea Whigham, Bar Paly, Jon Abrahams, Quinn McColgan

Plot

Bill Marks (Liam Neeson), an alcoholic U.S. federal air marshal, is on a Boeing 767 non-stop from New York to London when he receives text messages stating that if 150 million dollars is not transferred into a specific bank account someone on the plane will die every 20 minutes.
Bill begins a manhunt to save his passengers. 

Opinion

An action film with Liam Neeson will never be disappointing, at least that's what I think based on the films I've already seen.
Non-Stop is a pleasant thriller that manages to entertain the viewer and provides a good photography. In addition to Liam Neeson, there is a brilliant Julianne Moore, in the role of Jen.

Quotes

Bill: I hate flying. The lines. The crowds. The delays...
Jen: I always kinda liked it. Six hours. One seat. Nobody can get to you.

Rating

7.3/10