2hotFeature one of my absolute favorites!

Supelice Dreadfully Boring

Kaydan Christian A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

Kamila Bell This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

Chris Knipp There is little to add to the other comments about this lengthy bore with its handsome images of an erupting volcano and lovely villas, its bad continuity, lack of chemistry between MacDowell and Keitel, generally wooden or uncoordinated acting, meandering, incomprehensible plot with an illogical set up (FBI man takes wife and kid to a dangerous assignment) and its preposterously heroic 11-year-old boy (let's not be too hard on newcomer Mattia De Martino: he does his best to impersonate a tough, angry kid; his acting is more convincing than Keitel's). I do want to mention something that drew me to rent the DVD besides the combination of Keitel, Harry Dean, and Asia Argento, and the fact that Pradal's first (and previous) film, 'Marie baie des anges' (1997) is haunting and evocative and original and 'stunningly beautiful' (Stephen Holden, NYTimes). This is the fact that Tonino Benacquista worked on the screenplay. Benaquista has been a fantastic collaborator with Jacques Audiard on 'Sur mes lèvres' ('Read My Lips') and 'De battre mon coeur s'est arreté' ('The Beat My Heart Skipped'). Well, Benacquista's talents did not help here any more than anybody else's. His participation may have been limited. He is more permanently listed on Pradal's subsequent (2006) 'Un crime'('A Crime'), which has gotten higher marks, and I'm curious to see that. Apparently it has just come out in a US DVD (July 2009) so it will eventually be available for rental. I haven't given up, because 'Marie baie des anges' is an experience one can go back to again and again. If Pradal could make that, he ought to be able to make another good film.

mckissack I have used IMDb for years to look up movies. I have never been compelled to write about one. But I must warn anyone thinking about watching this movie. Please for God's sake, find another movie. I cannot begin to describe how boring this movie is. I rented it because the actors in it are normally first rate, well they were terrible and the directing was ridiculous. It's still on here at my house, it is near the end, and I could care less about how it ends. I just wasted 2 hours of my life, it feels like a day and a half, or a half a day depending on what scene I am watching. Shoot me now. The premise is that an FBI agent is protecting a young boy from the mafia family that his father worked for. The boys family was killed by the mafia and the FBI agent was semi-responsible because he was protecting the boys family before the father testified against the mafia. However, one of the FBI agents friends leaks the info to the mafia family, thus the family is killed but they missed the boy. This premise could have made for a riveting and action packed movie, it is neither, it is packed with meaningless dialog, scenes that are unnecessary and forgetful characters.

rampete This is possibly the worst movie I have ever seen. A story would have been helpful and if the director knew what direction he wanted the movie to go that would also be a good thing. The acting was also poor at best.My advice is: Don't bother. PT

waterloo-5 Sounds like fun. Well it isn't. Location is great, actors are good (Keitel and Andie MacDowell) but there is no story, no plotline, nothing. Lets start shooting, who needs a story. Well, let me tell you, this movie was in very dire need of a story. Any story would have done, half a story would have given me a semi-enjoyable evening. I give you with 1/10 the first real dud of 2004. Should have gone to the party instead. 1-1-2004 02:45