and it was, too (a movie review)

You couldn't really call me a Jim Carrey fan, though I did laugh hard through Liar, Liar. Prehaps it was the attorney in me, but I thought that Carrey's portrayal of a slick lawyer literally prevented from lying for 24 hours was spot-on funny.

I've always thought of him as a face, only. Just a flexible face that makes him way too much money.

He's no genius, but he is an actor; I cannot deny that.

The Majestic is just that: sweeping, heartfelt, romantic (in the old-time movie sense, not so much in the "between a man and woman" sense, mostly because Carrey and his co-star, Laurie Holden, have almost zero chemistry--they would have been more believable as brother and sister than as a couple), nostalgic, heart-wrenching...and schmaltzy, unbelievable, and miles over the top.

So, how could I like it, given those caveats? Simple: I just did. It wasn't cinematic brilliance. It was just a movie. Pleasant, and happy, and the good guy wins. What could be better?

[Not that it's particularly germane, but I really liked Gerry Black as the goofily-named Emmett Smith, and Karl Bury as bitter veteran Bob Leffert was outstanding.]

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I went on a wild-goose chase today. I was (extremely politely) called on the carpet by an author whose book that I recently reviewed on the blog. For the second time since I started publishing book reviews here, I gave a mediocre review and was busted by the author. Quel gênant. And while I was advised strongly by my some of my closest confidantes to stand by the review as written, I have capitulated to my disquieted feelings. It does seem unfair to have disparaged the book, even to the mild extent that I did (although "mild" in my view certainly--and obviously--does not mean "mild" to an author trying to sell her book), without having read it in its entirety.

Hence the trip, today, to the local bookstores, for the sole purpose of buying the book (which I had borrowed through interlibrary loan prior to the review). Alas, Borders let me down. I gamely trundled myself to Barnes & Noble. Sigh: they didn't carry it, either.

My dear Ms. Prasso: I certainly hope that your book turns out to be as good as you think it is, because I'm bending over backward to acquire it. Amazon.com Nonfiction has another sale.

T'was also a wild goose chase in that I wanted to stop at Hallmark while I was at Barnes & Noble, but the store closed about 15 minutes before I arrived. What's the deal with these near-misses lately?