'The Hobbit' & 'Hyde Park On Hudson' Reviews

 The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey is the first of a trilogy of movies based on the novel of the same name, a prequel to the Lord Of The Rings trilogy. The film is pretty much what you'd expect: a fun, fantasy adventure with humor, action, and a beautiful landscape. Ian McKellen reprises his role as Gandolf with more playfulness this time and Martin Freeman takes over the roll of Bilbo Baggins. Freeman's performance is dry, understated, hopeful, and humorous. He is an excellent focal point which the movie turns around. The dwarfs are portrayed by a wide array of English and New Zealand character actors. The result is a fun journey with fun characters. The film doesn't have the moral weight of the LOTR and it shouldn't, The Hobbit is essentially a young adult film. An exciting and adventurous fantasy film with heart.

Not a lot of surprises but worth the trip.

See It.

Hyde Park On Hudson is a confused mess of a movie about FDR and his burgeoning romantic relationship with his sixth cousin. The movie can't decide whether it's about the visit of the King and Queen of England or the a fore mentioned romance. What results is a movie that has two plots that don't go together and in the end take us nowhere. Bill Murray's portrayal is interesting but lacks the charm needed to really empathize with him. Laura Linney's performance is bland, uninspired, and simpering. She plays here character so dumb we don't care about her. Olivia Williams as Eleanor is a bright spot but she gets little to no screen time. The King and Queen portrayed by Samuel West and Olivia Coleman do their best to save the film, they are the only engaging characters but in the end the movie isn't really about them.

The movie suffers from cliche dialogue and a lack of focus. There is a good film in there to be made but it falls painfully short. If you take Laura Linney's character out of the film and focus on the interesting aspect of the story, the King and Queen visiting FDR, that's a movie you'd like to watch. You get moments of it: a dinner party, late night drinks with the King and FDR, a hot dog picnic, but they are not it's focus. FDR's adultery and multiple mistresses are the subject matter the movie focuses on and quite frankly it simply isn't interesting.

Don't See It.