Rating: 
Summary: What a find!
Review: Sam Jackson is a revelation as Romulus Ledbetter. The director, Kasi Lemmons, has a wonderful eye for painterly composition. Amazing visuals. Strong story, and nearly perfect casting. I appreciate the fact that Ms. Lemmons chose to retain the integrity of the characters over the easy, "Hollywood-ized" happy ending.
Rating: 
Summary: Down and out but still honest and pure
Review: Samuel Jackson at the top of his game!Romulus, a burned out mental-case, a piano prodigy from Julliard, leaves home to live at a cave in the heart of NYC. Hearing voices and convinced that the imaginary "Mr. Stuyvesant" is out to get him, he unwittingly becomes involved in a SM-murder case. His daughter, a NYC cop, and estranged wife, continue to drive the human heart that beats powerfully inside his troubled chest. Haunted by the nightmares of the past and burdened by a gift that he could not share with the world due to his mental condition, Romulus still ends up proving that he is one of the cleanest characters in this gritty thriller. Romulus is a character you care for. You want this man to survive and do well. He does it, as best as he can. I especially liked the emotional father-daughter scenes where his daughter desperately wants to establish that basic link with him but due to his mental condition does not quote know how. Very well written tear-jerker scenes there. Samuel Jackson has not disappointed me since that explosive part in Pulp Fiction. All his engines are still firing strong. Don't you miss it.
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful!
Review: The Caveman's Valentine (Kasi Lemmons, 2001) Lemmons, who gave us the well-above-average Eve's Bayou a few years back, helms George Dawes Green's adaptation of his own award-winning debut novel about a schizophrenic pianist, Romulus Ledbetter (Samuel L. Jackson), who wakes up one morning, walks out of his New York cave (yes, they do still have caves in New York, at least if you believe Green, and homeless people live in them), and discovers a frozen body in a tree. This may not be anything other than par for the course in winter in new York, but Ledbetter is convinced that the man's death is anything other than natural. Of course, Ledbetter is also convinced that the Chrysler building is inhabited by an evil overlord named Cornelius Beford Stuyvesant (groove on the name for a few minutes, if you're acquainted with the early history of NYC) who's out to kill him. So no one, least of all his daughter Lulu (Aunjanue Ellis, Cuba Gooding Jr.'s love interest in Men of Honor), wants to take him seriously. But Lulu, an NYC police officer, is a subordinate of the guy who ends up running the case. What's a girl to do? Add to this the fact that the dead guy's boyfriend, Matt (Rodney Eastman, of many indie films and a copule of Nightmare on Elm Street flicks-- he played Joey, the mute guy), DOES believe Ledbetter, and provides him with the name of the killer, interntionally-renowned photographer David Leppenraub (Colm Feore, who's been in most every movie made in the past decade). Ledbetter starts digging around to see whether there's a murder here to investigate, and, as we all know, complications ensue. The movie is cast perfectly, from Jackson all the way down to the relatively minor part played by an almost unrecognizable Anthony Michael Hall (who really does deserve a lot more high-profile roles; the guy is just plain good). The script is well-done and moves along at a proper pace, never letting the action drop even when exploring its various subplots. Okay, Leppenraub is a little too obviously modeled on Mapplethorpe, but we'll forgive Green since the rest of it's so well-done. But the key to the whole performance is Jackson himself, who gives a career-best performance as Ledbetter. Schizophrenia may never have been filmed as well as it is here. Rather than go for the Hollywood-style nutcase one normally associates with filmed depictions of schizophrenia, Lemmons and Jackson take the DSM-IIIR route and hand us a character who's, ironically, not as believable unless you've read a whole lot of scizophrenia case studies. Then you realize just how perfect a depiction this is, and your jaw hits the floor, both at Jackson's wonderful performance and the fact that Hollywood let this movie slip through the cracks. Very much worth going well out of your way to see, especially if you like Sam Jackson. Lots of interest from indie circles, too, as many indie-film darlings show up here. Hard to believe this movie got almost no press given the cast, but so it happened. Very highly recommended. ****
Rating: 
Summary: Keep this one hidden in a Cave
Review: The Caveman's Valentine was one of the weirdest, strangest, and confusing films I have ever seen. I knew one minute into this movie that I was going to regret paying the $3.69(which is a rip-off in itself) at Blockbuster that I did. Frankly, I didn't really know what was going on throughout the whole movie. There are things that I have mulled over after watching it, and I still don't have a clue what they meant. I know the color green was a significant part of the movie, but why? The director did not explain this to me. And if he did, then it was in some kind of subliminal message. And why people are calling this movie a visual stunner is beyond me. There was nothing great about the Cinematography in my opinion. And that is basically the only reason I rented this movie. That and Samuel L. Jackson is in it. The Caveman's Valentine is everything that I expected in the form of craziness and oddness, but it failed in my eyes in the directing department and the overall writing of the story. 2 Stars
Rating:
Summary: Stirring the Soul
Review: The energy level of this music is the highest that I have ever calibrated (950) using Dr. Hawkins Map of Consciousness (from the book "Power versus Force"). Calibrated it only after viewing the movie three times (a first). Give me more music that stirs the soul like this!!!
Rating:
Summary: Stirring the Soul
Review: The energy level of this music is the highest that I have ever calibrated (950) using Dr. Hawkins Map of Consciousness (from the book "Power versus Force"). Calibrated it only after viewing the movie three times (a first). Give me more music that stirs the soul like this!!!
Rating:
Summary: Sam Jackson is wonderful!
Review: The great thing about DVD and movie rentals are to be able to catch those gems that were here this morning, gone this afternoon from the movie theater. This is a can't miss film from Kasi Lemmon (Eve's Bayou) starring Sam Jackson as Romulus Ledbetter, a former Julliard trained musician who has been driven to the streets due to mental illness. He discovers a "valentine" in the form of a dead body that was left outside of his cave on Valentine's Day and sets out to track down the killer.
The movie just rumbles along with plot twists, the mental images are beautiful and the movie is a thriller to the end.
I was disappointed with the deleted scenes. It would have been nice if the director could have let the viewer know why the scene was deleted and what the relevance was. There is a short cast and crew bio that is pretty nice and of course the director's commentary.
Rating:
Summary: Paranoid? Maybe They Really Are Out To Get You.
Review: The idea of a homeless man (well, not homeless, he lives in a cave) solving a murder mystery is original. I came into this movie with low expectations. I hadn't read the book, and the few reviews I had seen were dismissive of the film. I was pleasantly surprised. As usual, Samuel L. Jackson gives an excellent performance. His paranoid character, Romulus, is unrelentingly tense. I was distracted enough by the parallel story of his relationship with his daughter, Lulu, that the solution to the murder was a surprise. The look of this film is great. Romulus' visions are frightening and must have been even more effective on a big screen. A viewer who has read the book tells me that what was left out of the movie did not detract from the film, in fact, it tightened up the story for the most part. The only parts that left me wondering, were why the insurance tycoon, Bob, wanted to help Romulus out. And the finale was a bit unbelievable, but by then I was willing to suspend disbelief enough to go with it. Caveman's Valentine was a satisfying suspense movie with good acting. Go for it!
Rating:
Summary: An Underappreciated Award Winner
Review: The National Alliance for the Mentally Ill (NAMI) has honored actor Samuel Jackson, director Kasi Lemmons, and her sister, Dr. Cheryl Lemmons, the psychiatrist who served as a consultant to the movie, with its 2001 Outstanding Media Award for a dramatic motion picture---because of its portrayal of a homeless man with paranoid schizophrenia, who is both protagonist and hero. Jackson's character, Romulus Ledbetter, who solves a murder mystery, is a figure of intelligence, insight, talent and dignity, even as he experiences paranoid delusions and hallucinations (which he calls--correctly--"brain typhoons"). The Caveman defies the stereotypes and stigma usually associated with mental illness, and represents a major, cultural breakthrough for Hollywood. Viewers will come to know and like Romulus as an individual. There are many funny, ironic moments, but he and his illness never are used as the butt of jokes. The acting, direction and visual effects are superb, the mystery only so-so, but there IS a twist at the end. The realism also is greater than many may believe. Don't expect a big, wonderful, warm, happy ending. Romulus is a man whose spirit survives, and he prevails...but so does his illness.
Rating:
Summary: Dynamic Performance by Samuel L. Jackson
Review: The thin line between genius and insanity is examined in this story of a gifted man estranged from his family and separated from his vocation by his seemingly unfounded paranoia. "The Caveman's Valentine," directed by Kasi Lemmons, stars Samuel L. Jackson as Romulus Ledbetter, a former Julliard student, talented composer and pianist who now lives in a cave near a park in New York City. Romulus treads that delicate line between reality and fantasy, his thought process interrupted by the "moth seraphs" that live within his head, but even during his most rational periods the demons of his delusions plague him incessantly. He alternately recoils from and stands boldly upright against the presence of the towering skyscraper (the Chrysler Building) wherein resides the "Big Brother" of his imagination, the man responsible for his present state of being, a man named "Stiverson." But then again, is it really only in his imagination? In his cave, Romulus has an unconnected television set he watches, which keeps him abreast of the latest "lies" concocted by those in power and foisted on an unsuspecting public. He lives alone, but is well known on the streets for his vociferous ranting and railings against Stiverson and those who seek to subjugate those like himself, those who haven't the strength or the power to stand up to them. Then one day, in the dead of winter, Romulus emerges one morning from his cave and finds something in a tree just outside. And what he finds sets him upon a quest that will prove to everyone once and for all that he is not crazy, that Stiverson and the others exist and are what he says they are, and if he is successful, he will finally have the proof. Now if he can but stave off his demons and maintain lucidity long enough to do what he must do; he is adamant, but just as he is beginning, "they" introduce their newest weapon which they wield in a soft, green light, the "Z-Rays." Romulus, however, is frightened but not deterred, and more determined than ever to expose Stiverson for what he is. Kasi Lemmons, who made an auspicious directorial debut in 1997 with "Eve's Bayou," presents this complex story with a stylistic and artistic touch that at times evokes the spirit of Fellini (as with the "moth seraphs" sequences which she uses to great effect). She quickly establishes the character of Romulus and sets a pace that allows the mystery to escalate as the story unfolds. Her approach succinctly captures the paranoid world inhabited by Romulus in his own mind, and she plays on his sudden erratic behavior and the unexpected turn in the middle of a scene to build an underlying tension that makes the drama all the more riveting. Most importantly, she manages to go beyond what is happening in the film to convey the true essence of what this story is all about, with insight and an obvious and incisive grasp of human nature. Samuel L. Jackson gives a dynamic performance as Romulus, who has a tendency to lapse into quiet moments, but guards against them as if they were a threat to his safety. Afraid to let his guard down, he fights his fears with anger and bravura, but clearly that's not who this man really is, which Jackson communicates quite effectively. There's nothing feigned or pretentious about this character, and Jackson takes him from a rational moment into madness seamlessly, which adds to the credibility of not only Romulus, but the entire film. This is not a man to whom you will be able to relate directly, but there are certainly elements of his situation to which you will readily be able to sympathize. Romulus is a thoroughly complex character, and Jackson realizes those complexities with insight and realism. Also outstanding in one of the smaller, but pivotal supporting roles in Anthony Michael Hall as Bob, the bankruptcy lawyer who encounters Romulus and somewhat indirectly facilitates his mission. Hall has matured as an actor, and this is probably one of the best roles he's had since his youthful efforts in such films as "National Lampoon's Vacation," and "The Breakfast Club." Ann Magnuson also gives a noteworthy performance as Moria Leppenraub, the sister of artist David Leppenraub (Colm Feore), who is something of a free spirit and becomes involved with Romulus when certain circumstances lead him to David. Magnuson has a certain charismatic, Shirley MacLaine-like quality about her that makes her accessible and easy to watch, and she is very believable here as Moria. Rounding out the supporting cast are Tamara Tunie (Shelia), Damir Andrei (Arnold), Aunjanue Ellis (Lulu), Peter MacNeill (Cork), Jay Rodan (Joey), Rodney Eastman (Matthew) and Kate McNeil (Betty). A thought provoking, emotionally involving film that is exceptionally well presented and acted, "The Caveman's Valentine" has something to say about the diversity of a society in which everyone has a place, no matter what they may appear to be, and the fact that absolutely no one should ever be dismissed out-of-hand. It says that there are no "throw-away" people; that the value of an individual often cannot be measured until confronted with extraordinary circumstances, for it is that which brings out the best and drives someone like Romulus to exercise the latent capacity which lies within. One of life's lessons, told here with a profound clarity by Lemmons, through a medium that is the magic of the movies.
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