Home :: DVD :: Mystery & Suspense :: Mystery  

Blackmail, Murder & Mayhem
British Mystery Theater
Classics
Crime
Detectives
Film Noir
General
Mystery

Mystery & Suspense Masters
Neo-Noir
Series & Sequels
Suspense
Thrillers
Miranda

Miranda

List Price: $24.98
Your Price: $22.48
Product Info Reviews

<< 1 2 >>

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Needs captioning
Review: Captioning is a valuable service to provide for those of us who need it. In the film "Miranda" there is no English closed-captioning track, and the only concession to captions at all is the track in Spanish. I have noticed that British efforts are frequently released without captions, and in "Miranda" there are the usual modern faults: nearly inaudible whispering, inadequate separation between dramatic lines and accompanying music, British terms and pronounciations which Americans need to hear more accurately, and so forth. The use of Spanish subtitles does NOT help whatever in these matters. Otherwise, I do believe Christina Ricci is suitably admired by the photographer.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Needs captioning
Review: Captioning is a valuable service to provide for those of us who need it. In the film "Miranda" there is no English closed-captioning track, and the only concession to captions at all is the track in Spanish. I have noticed that British efforts are frequently released without captions, and in "Miranda" there are the usual modern faults: nearly inaudible whispering, inadequate separation between dramatic lines and accompanying music, British terms and pronounciations which Americans need to hear more accurately, and so forth. The use of Spanish subtitles does NOT help whatever in these matters. Otherwise, I do believe Christina Ricci is suitably admired by the photographer.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Needs captioning
Review: Captioning is a valuable service to provide for those of us who need it. In the film "Miranda" there is no English closed-captioning track, and the only concession to captions at all is the track in Spanish. I have noticed that British efforts are frequently released without captions, and in "Miranda" there are the usual modern faults: nearly inaudible whispering, inadequate separation between dramatic lines and accompanying music, British terms and pronounciations which Americans need to hear more accurately, and so forth. The use of Spanish subtitles does NOT help whatever in these matters. Otherwise, I do believe Christina Ricci is suitably admired by the photographer.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: If it were this simple Everybody would be a Grifter
Review: First of all I seem to be bucking the trend of other reviewers but then I do that sometimes.

Basically, Miranda is a sting movie starring (funny term here) The semi-beautiful, Cristina Ricci as Miranda, John Hurt as Christian, her mentor and father figure and Frank as John Sim, a librarian and Cristina's love interest.

After watching this travesty I'm reminded of the old saying, when joking with someone naive or gullible, "Do you want to buy a bridge" referring to a time in the eighteen hundreds when the Brooklyn bridge was reputedly sold over and over by con men to gullible investors.

Well if anyone who have viewed this movie, believes that what happens in this movie could really happen in real life, then I've got some gold mine stock for them.

The Plot

The sub plot of this movie is that Frank, a librarian, who is working in a condemned library building, apparently until the last day, goes Ga Ga over Miranda who, for some inexplicable reason stars hanging around. Now Frank doesn't know it yet but Miranda and her cohort are Flim Flam artists, who allegedly con Millionaire Businessmen into buying condemned buildings. Ostensibly, they are so smitten by Miranda and so trusting that, they just wire money into her account.

The plot of the movie is that Frank falls hard for Miranda, who reciprocates but has obligations to Christian etc. etc.. Of course when Frank finds out what Miranda does, he wants to take her away from all that and move to the country. Really.

What does Miranda do?

I know this film was made in England and they probably do things different there but I found Miranda's scam idiotic and anyone who has ever bought one piece of real estate should feel the same!

These are millionaire businessmen for chrisakes!

What about Due Diligence? How about Escrows and Title Policies? How about tax records, or at least getting a phony deed?

Ok, if you can get past that nonsense (which I can't), what you have is a Really, Really mediocre movie. Cristina Ricci is mildly engaging. She'd probably be in my top fifty of movie stars I'd like to see in the buff but you don't even get to see that.

Well that's about it. You can listen to the other reviewers and rent or buy Miranda or you can listen to me and skip. If you listen to them, next time you'll listen to me.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: confused
Review: i am completely and utterly baffled by this movie, but more so by the people who are giving it five stars. once again, it is proven that amazon reviewers only review things that they like. and for some reason, there are people who liked this. i'll admit that the movie has its good qualities - christina ricci is one of my favorite actresses and this film wasn't bad enough that i will hold it against her, some of the acting was charming, it had a few clever scenes and i just liked the look of a lot of it. BUT as for the important traits of a good movie - the plot was incredibly under-developed as was the script and the transitions just didn't seem to fit, almost too the point of my asking "are they TRYING to make this not make sense?" and it's overall just unrealistic. i'd watch it again, sure, but that says nothing about the film.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: "Grifters" Lite
Review: I'm going to go out on a limb here and call this a "likeable little noir". Reminiscent of several recent Brit Noirs ("The Criminal", "B. Monkey") that feature an everday ho-hum 'bloke' hooking up with an impossibly beautiful and sexy woman who soon sends him hurtling into a world of danger and intrigue, "Miranda"'s nebbishy protaganist takes the shape of Frank the librarian (John Simm). When an alluring yet enigmatic American woman (Christini Ricci) "randomly" strolls into his library, the daydreaming Frank fantasizes that his life is about to change-and precedes to learn where the proverb "Be careful what you wish for" came from! After you've pushed aside all the ensuing plot twists and dark crime thriller elements, you actually have a rather engaging romantic comedy at the film's core. Ricci just keeps getting better and better, and John Hurt is excellent as Miranda's shadowy "mastermind"/ mentor. Kyle MacLachlan deserves honorable mention for a dark comic turn as a sleazy, corrupt businessman (are there any other kind?) who lives for the day that Miranda concedes to dominate and "punish" him (perhaps a sly reference to his "love" scenes with Isabella Rossilini in "Blue Velvet"?). A must-see for Noir and/or Ricci fans.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: It's not what you might think...
Review: It's not what you might think, but then again, love never is.
This film is a warped, romantic thriller about the shattering of idealistic love. It's about loving someone no matter what their past experiences are. It is thought provoking, touching, heroic and passionate. You'll find yourself falling in love with Miranda too. A true indie classic.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: 5 stars for John Simm!
Review: More John Simm! Please, John, make more movies, and not just BBC tv.
Simm's character, Frank, has got to be the sweetest boy-man in cinema. Christina Ricci is wonderful playing a character that is all hard-edge. Frank is the perfect foil to melt her like butter, if she will let him. Frank is nerdy, but cute and sensitive-- adoring and adorable. As John Hurt says in the bts, it's an idealistic love affair, but Ricci & Simm are thoroughly enjoyable together. And MacLachlan and Hurt are typically perfect in supporting roles. The plot is exaggerated, but it's pure escapist fun. For a B-movie, it is a gem of a find, thanks to Simm.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: 5 stars for John Simm!
Review: More John Simm! Please, John, make more movies, and not just BBC tv.
Simm's character, Frank, has got to be the sweetest boy-man in cinema. Christina Ricci is wonderful playing a character that is all hard-edge. Frank is the perfect foil to melt her like butter, if she will let him. Frank is nerdy, but cute and sensitive-- adoring and adorable. As John Hurt says in the bts, it's an idealistic love affair, but Ricci & Simm are thoroughly enjoyable together. And MacLachlan and Hurt are typically perfect in supporting roles. The plot is exaggerated, but it's pure escapist fun. For a B-movie, it is a gem of a find, thanks to Simm.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Conflicted
Review: The movie itself I'd give 1 star. The extreme close-ups of Christina Ricci's bare toes and soles gets a full five stars.

Ricci has often been quoted saying she loves the smell of her own feet. This movie was a chance to share her interest with the rest of the world.


<< 1 2 >>

© 2004, ReviewFocus or its affiliates