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Movie Review - Freedomland (2006)
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(What this rating means)
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| Director: |
Joe Roth |
| Starring: |
Samuel L. Jackson, Julianne Moore, and Edie Falco |
| Rated: |
R (for language and some violent content) |
| Length: |
114 minutes |
| Genre: |
Msytery/Drama/Thriller |
| Tagline: |
The Truth Is Hiding Where No One Dares To Look. |
| Studio: |
Sony Pictures |
| Website: |
Freedomland |
| Release: |
February 17, 2006 |
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PLOT
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Julianne Moore shows up at a hospital with bloody hands. When Samuel L. Jackson arrives to take her statement,
she tells him that she was trying to get from the projects in Dempsy back to her home in Gannon when she was
carjacked and forcibly removed from her car. For some inexplicable reason it takes her about 30 minutes to
tell Jackson that her son was in the car.
The police jump into action and decide to blockade Dempsy residents in their homes. They think the perpetrator
must be in the community, so they don't want anybody leaving until they've found him. Naturally, the people within
the community cry racism. Julianne Moore just cries. And cries. And cries.
Edie Falco, who founded "Friends of Kent," offers Jackson her support in finding the missing child. Once the
investigation really kicks in, it is soon discovered that the case is more complicated than they originally
expected. Julianne Moore's impersonation of Cary Elwes in Saw ensues.
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JOHNNY'S TAKE
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Technically competent, yet entirely unsatisfying, Freedomland is a movie whose proponents will excuse its
mediocrity with defenses such as, "Well, its heart is in the right place!" That may be true, but the problem is
that when the heart is placed firmly in the middle of a below-average movie, well, you know what they say about good
intentions and the road it paves.
Despite the fact that it took me about 10 minutes to come up with a pretty good idea of what the resolution was
going to be, the movie continued to keep my interest. But then Julianne Moore got more and more screen time. At
first I thought her strange performance would eventually make sense. "Once the full context is revealed then I'll
understand," I kept telling myself. But it gradually became obvious that she just had the major misfortune of
portraying a poorly developed character.
Moore, who is getting dangerously close to being typecast as a woman with child-rearing issues, delivers every
line and squeezes out every snot-laced tear with such over-the-top zesto that she comes off as neither believable
nor likable. Not since Renee Zellweger pranced around in Cold Mountain with one of the worst fake Southern
accents I have ever heard has a character so grated on my nerves. Any interest remaining completely vanished
once she started to deliver a 10-minute monologue near the end of the movie.
I'm not joking. For 10 minutes she's given the opportunity to talk hysterically fast, cry, repeat stuff, and
basically act like a mad woman on crack. Watching her performance feels like you're simply witnessing someone
who is trying to act. Acting should be subtle. That's how you make a character believable. When half the
audience is laughing during what is supposed to be a dramatic scene because of how silly and unconvincing
you look, well, you know you've failed.
Honestly, it was the most uncomfortable 10 minutes I've sat through in quite a while. And it wasn't uncomfortable
because of the subject matter, oh no, it was because of how embarrassed I felt for Moore. It's similar to when
you're watching a young child totally humiliate himself at a talent show. It's hard to watch.
But it didn't take long for my pity to turn into annoyance because I started to get a headache. "Please shut
up, pleeeeease," was the only thing on my mind.
To make matters worse, from this point on the movie just refused to end. The "mystery" was solved, I yawned
indifferently, and I was ready to go home. Nope. The movie still wanted to try to make a statement
regarding race relations. Somebody thought the best way to do that was through a slow motion clash between cops
and the people in Dempsy. All while soft piano music was playing. Touching.
Well, at least that should do it ... oh, I guess not. Samuel L. Jackson, whose presence is the only thing
preventing this from being a straight-to-Lifetime movie, still has a monologue of his own to deliver. OK, five
minutes later and there can't possibly be any other way to drag this out some more. Oops, where there's a will
there's a way...
Freedomland tries really hard to get a point across. Unfortunately, nobody really knew how to do that
effectively. Do you want the audience to accept this as a thriller? A mystery? A character study? It's just
way too disjointed for me to care. I'm sure plenty of issues could have been resolved with a few more rewrites
and about 30 minutes of editing, but oh well, that's a moot point now.
If you're in the mood for a really good thriller or mystery then send
me an email and I'll gladly give you some much better alternatives. But if you're looking for a movie that
poignantly tackles the issue of race relations, well, this movie fails in that category as well. Just watch
Crash instead.
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ODDS & ENDS
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- Based on the novel by Richard Price.
- Samuel L. Jackson's character of Lorenzo was modeled after Calvin E. Hart, a 21-year veteran of the New
Jersey police force.
- The "Friends of Kent" group within the movie is based on the real life "Friends of Jennifer for Missing
Children," founded by Donna Cutugno. It was named after Jennifer Schweiger who was kidnapped in Staten
Island in 1987.
- Jennifer's body was found at the abandoned Willowbrook State School, an infamous institution for disabled
children.
- The press notes claim that Joe Roth has "several successful comedies under his belt as a director." Um,
the comedies he has directed are Revenge of the Nerds II: Nerds in Paradise, Coupe de Ville,
America's Sweethearts, and Christmas with the Kranks. Yeah. I'll let y'all debate the meanings
of "several" and "successful."
- There was a guy at the screening that we thought was Samuel L. Jackson. He arrived late, so our first glimpse
of him was when the lights were dimmed. However, his face looked just like Jackson. Plus, Jackson is currently
filming a movie (Black Snake Moan) in Memphis, so we figured there was a good chance that it was him.
After the movie we got close enough to realize that the guy was only about 5'8" and not quite as old as the real
Samuel L. Ah well, it's just as well. I didn't want to have to lie about my feelings toward the movie.
- William Forsythe was in Coastlines with Josh Brolin who was in Hollow Man with Kevin Bacon.
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MAMA'S APPROVAL
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Good news for mama - there's no sex or nudity! But the bad news is Freedomland is chock full of "f" bombs,
G-d**n's, and other salty verbiage. Leave the kids at home or suffer well-deserved nasty glares from child-conscious
moviegoers.
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TRAILER COMPARISON
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Great trailer! It did a good job of getting me pumped up to watch a dark, tense, gripping, thrilling drama. Well,
I guess they got the "drama" part right. Otherwise, the movie simply does not deliver on the promise that the
trailer showed.
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THE GIST
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Freedomland isn't an absolutely horrendous movie, but it's just not very good. It loses steam about
halfway through and never regains it. Moore's over-the-top acting clinic is the final nail in the coffin.
Catch it on TV one day if you're really desperate.
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