Home :: DVD :: Art House & International  

Asian Cinema
British Cinema
European Cinema
General
Latin American Cinema
Stormy Monday

Stormy Monday

List Price: $14.95
Your Price: $13.46
Product Info Reviews

<< 1 2 >>

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Stormy Weather-more like Stormy emotions
Review: Interesting film, with the story actually focusing on Mr. Sean Bean, rather then Tommy Lee Jones and Mrs. Griffith. The performances are well done. Sean Bean and Sting are very well with the charactors, however Mr. Jones is not convincing as the villan. The whole idea that such violence would erupt over one man's need for a nightclub is a little unbelievable. However, watch it to see the highly watchable performances of Melanie Griffith and a young Sean Bean.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Early Figgis, dark-themed, worth a look
Review: One of Mike Figgis' first films, Stormy Monday fuses an intriguing mix of American greed, crudeness, and innocence with British coolness, toughness, and civility. But added to the mix, interestingly enough, is a Polish element (more on that later).

One American is Melanie Griffith as a cocktail waitress and vaguely defined moll (or former moll) of the other, Tommy Lee Jones, a ruthless moblike businessman who plans on making Newcastle, England his own--commercially, of course. (Political takeover is a little hard to imagine circa 1988). Melanie emits a sexy blend of sensuality and innocence, pretty much irresistible. The British are Sting, as the owner of a club (a role he neatly reprised in Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels), and Sean Bean as his cleaning person/gofer. Both are civil and, as it happens, tough as well. And Sting's coolness is in the ultra category, a real neat piece of work.

Sean and Melanie meet and then do a whole lot more; they do the romantic thing, all the while being pursued, as is Sting, by Tommy's henchmen. Tommy plays rough, as it turns out. The mingling of Yank and Brit romantically (Melanie and Sean) is paralleled by battling of Yank and Brit commercially (Tommy and Sting).

The Polish element? Melanie's character is half Polish, and, as well, the band slated to play in Sting's club has an accident so the Cracow Jazz Ensemble (or some such), all Poles, steps in instead, among which is Andrej, a sympathetic band manager, the only one who speaks English. Andrej is destined to play a critical role in the film, but rather than provide a spoiler here, see the film to understand what this means.

Violence plays a large part in the proceedings, as is obvious from the above description. This is a well-plotted film that put Mike Figgis on the map. Doesn't hurt that he not only wrote and directed it, but also composed the music for it, an effectively moody jazz score.

Recommended.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Early Figgis, dark-themed, worth a look
Review: One of Mike Figgis' first films, Stormy Monday fuses an intriguing mix of American greed, crudeness, and innocence with British coolness, toughness, and civility. But added to the mix, interestingly enough, is a Polish element (more on that later).

One American is Melanie Griffith as a cocktail waitress and vaguely defined moll (or former moll) of the other, Tommy Lee Jones, a ruthless moblike businessman who plans on making Newcastle, England his own--commercially, of course. (Political takeover is a little hard to imagine circa 1988). Melanie emits a sexy blend of sensuality and innocence, pretty much irresistible. The British are Sting, as the owner of a club (a role he neatly reprised in Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels), and Sean Bean as his cleaning person/gofer. Both are civil and, as it happens, tough as well. And Sting's coolness is in the ultra category, a real neat piece of work.

Sean and Melanie meet and then do a whole lot more; they do the romantic thing, all the while being pursued, as is Sting, by Tommy's henchmen. Tommy plays rough, as it turns out. The mingling of Yank and Brit romantically (Melanie and Sean) is paralleled by battling of Yank and Brit commercially (Tommy and Sting).

The Polish element? Melanie's character is half Polish, and, as well, the band slated to play in Sting's club has an accident so the Cracow Jazz Ensemble (or some such), all Poles, steps in instead, among which is Andrej, a sympathetic band manager, the only one who speaks English. Andrej is destined to play a critical role in the film, but rather than provide a spoiler here, see the film to understand what this means.

Violence plays a large part in the proceedings, as is obvious from the above description. This is a well-plotted film that put Mike Figgis on the map. Doesn't hurt that he not only wrote and directed it, but also composed the music for it, an effectively moody jazz score.

Recommended.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Brendan and Kate
Review: Stormy Monday is the title to a song that is played at the end of this film. This is the story of Brendan played expertly by the young, brash, handsome and swaggering Sean Bean with an earing in his ear, wearing tight blue jeans and browsing job listing, he becomes an employee of "Sting" at a club. And meets Kate, whose boyfriend, Cosomo played by Tommy Lee Jones, is a real estate tycoon who is trying to buy up the town! Its a story of lost love, the love that is lost and destroyed between Kate and Cosmo and its the new love between Kate and the wonderful new man that she has found, Brendan. Its Sean Bean at his best, he is an excellent choice for Brendan, he sports an earing, and can play musical trivial pursuit with Sting, which is funny to watch. If you are a fan of Melanie Griffith, you will enjoy her performance as Kate, and Tommy Lee Jones does a calm, and cool job as a real estate developer.
If you are a fan of the wonderful british actor, Sean Bean, this is a must see film! Enjoy it, its hard to find, and its one of his best roles! And yes its also nice to see Sting as the club owner too!


<< 1 2 >>

© 2004, ReviewFocus or its affiliates