Positive Liberty

One of Constant Viewer’s many pet peeves is the superfluous rutting scene all R rated movies are apparently required by law to include. One of the few things Deception has going for it is that its montage of carnal abandon is at least tenuously related to the story. Alas, aside from a bit of cameo rutting by the still sexy in her sixties Charlotte Rampling, the sex scenes are on a par with the rest of Deception. As a purely formal matter, the movie falls in the suspense or thriller, drama and romance genres; but anyone claiming any legitimacy to such descriptions would be guilty of a far worse act of deception than this tepid yet overwrought Ewen McGregor and Hugh Jackman vehicle.

A case can be made for the proposition that neither Jet Li nor Jackie Chan has won the American audiences their talents deserve. While Jet Li’s martial arts skills may be more to the purist’s tastes, Chan boasts not only superb skills and a choreographer’s sensibility but genuine comedic talent, to boot. The Forbidden Kingdom is their first collaboration and it is a sheer treat to watch them work together. Even if martial arts movies are not your cup of tea (and especially if the only such film you ever saw was when someone dragged you off to Crouching Captions Tiger, Hidden Wires Dragon), Constant Viewer would be surprised if you didn’t like The Forbidden Kingdom and especially surprised if your pre-teen didn’t find the “rainmaker” bit the funniest thing he’s ever seen.

Speaking of pre-adolescent humor, Harold and Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay may just be the best or at least the second best Harold and Kumar movie ever. Constant viewer gave a pass on Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle but he has seen The Odd Couple, Slackers and enough Cheech & Chong and Kevin Smith movies to get it. There are a half dozen solid laughs in Escape even if you’re not stoned or don’t find Neil Patrick Harris per se hilarious. If you are and you do, well, you won’t be disappointed, dude.

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