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Domestic Disturbance

Domestic Disturbance

List Price: $14.99
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Rating: 2 stars
Summary: OK rainy day viewing
Review: I don't know how some movies get favourable quotes from some reviewers on their posters. Do studios pay people to say nice things about their pictures? If so this was probably one of those movies. This is an old story too. A kid suspects that his new step father (Vince Vaughan) is a psycho; and when he witnesses him committing a murder and cremating the body he runs to his real father (Travolta) who doesn't believe him either, but soon has his doubts because being a movie, his son is perfect and never lies to him. (Feeble feeble feeble). John Travolta gives a good performance and is one of the main reasons for watching this. Vince Vaughan on the other hand does pretty well too, but whenever I see him I am reminded of how awful he was in that pointless PSYCHO remake several years back. You've seen it all before, but DOMESTIC DISTURBANCE still stands way above BATTLEFIELD EARTH.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: One of the best movies of its type to come along in years
Review: I really like this movie. Granted, it's a little predictable, and in places maybe Travolta seems a little flat. It has a few other flaws as well. But there are a lot of reasons to like a movie and sometimes you have to make allowences.
What works about it? Matthew O'Leary and Vince Vaughn; the helpless kid & the bad guy. As the movie progresses, the kid gets more and more loveable and the evil dude becomes ever more despicable. Everything you need for this type of movie to be successful; a couple of very good actors in the right roles, convincingly earning, in this case, our sympathy or our bile. Even if the movie holds up in no other way for you, these two actors are sure to do their part. Settings, production, background, or script aside, these two deliver.
Predictable? Somewhat, sure. How many movies aren't? As for Trovolta perhaps being a little off, hey, the man is very busy. Besides, he was supposed to be low-key in this role, the emphasis of the movie being his son's plight. I think ultimately he served that role very well.
So despite its flaws, this movie still works, and I think quite well. If you haven't seen it you should consider doing so.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Travolta is great, movie is mediocre
Review: It's like the old good-cop, bad-cop routine. Except this time, it's Good Dad and Bad Dad, and the two are decidedly not working together.

Enjoyable from beginning to end primarily because of Travolta's intense performance, the major fault of this film is that it is too obvious. Good and bad are too clearly defined and clues are too clearly marked. It's the movie you expect it to be from the beginning, complete with a fantastic "Good Dad to the rescue!" whoop-a** moment in the final confrontation between good and evil. But even with no twists to follow, the characters are engaging, Travolta is marvelous, and the movie overall is decently composed.

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Rating: 3 stars
Summary: A better movie then you think its going to be
Review: Yeah, I'll admit that I watched this disc with very little in the way of hope or expectations but an hour and a half later I was pleasantly surprised at this little thriller. While this film's foundation is comprised of typical 'B-movie' elements the film certainly over-achieves by way of Harold Becker's taut direction and Travolta and Vince Vaughn's excellent performances making this a better thriller then it deserved to be.

As far as overall disc production goes, the video transfer is average at best while the 5.1 Dolby is slightly better. Extras are skimpy as well with a commentary track by Becker, a handful of deleted scenes and a few storyboard examples. Is the disc ultimately worth your purchase? Probably not - but certainly worth your rental dollar should you find yourself craving a well done b-movie thriller.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: John Travolta's best role since "The General's Daughter"!
Review: Now, THIS is a John Travolta movie! Especially when this movie is called "Domestic Disturbance", a movie that is packed with so much action and suspense that it never, never, never lets up from one minute to the next! This is director Harold Becker's ("Mercury Rising", "Malice") best film since he directed Bruce Willis in 1998's "Mercury Rising"! The rest of the supporting cast, including Vince Vaughn ("The Lost World: Jurassic Park"), Teri Polo ("Meet the Parents"), Steve Buscemi ("Armageddon"), and newcomer Matt O'Leary were all incredible alongside Travolta. But, to me, this is really John Travolta's movie as he stands out above the crowd as Frank Morrison, a successful boat builder and divorced, but loving father to his son Danny (O'Leary). Frank's ex-wife Susan (Polo) is now married to a new resident named Rick Barnes (Vaughn), also Danny's stepfather, whom everyone thinks of as the perfect gentleman and such, but Rick is not so perfect to Danny when he witnesses Rick killing a person and burning his body inside a factory one night. And quite frankly, the only person who will believe Danny is none other than his father, whom Danny has never lied to before. Rick knows that Danny told his father that night and starts making threats to him about it...but Frank will be damned if Rick thinks that he's going to lay a hand on his son! So, Frank goes out to find out the truth about Rick and bring the truth to light, etc. With lots of suspense from start to finish, leading up to a earth-shattering climax between father (Frank) and stepfather (Rick), you'll agree that "Domestic Disturbance" is one of the best John Travolta films ever made since "Swordfish" and "The General's Daughter"! A DVD must-have for any Travolta fan or any Travolta collection!

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: FATHER KNOWS BEST
Review: DOMESTIC DISTURBANCE is a by the book, easy to predict potboiler, but one directed with sharp verve by Harold Becker and given a boost by the performance of Matthew O'Leary as young Danny. O'Leary went on to show his incredible range in FRAILTY, but in this movie, he brings his doe-eyed innocence and fervent fear to form the core of the movie. John Travolta does well as Danny's father, although he sometimes seems overburdened with trying not to act like Pulp Fiction; Vince Vaughn is appropriately menacing as the wicked new stepfather, but we never really understand his motivation for marrying Polo in the first place. Steve Buscemi shows up in his usual seedy bad guy role, but doesn't get much of a chance to do anything with it.
This is an entertaining movie, and works because it attacks our primal fear of something happening to our kids. It's to O'Leary's credit that it works so well.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Enjoyable, but predictable, escape flick
Review: John Travolta gets a chance to be the hero in this formula thriller. And, to his credit, he does a wonderful job portraying the divorced father who is faced with the impossible: either believe an incredulous story from his frequently prevacating son, or trust the "authorities" and their assertion that nothing his son has claimed occurred.

Fortunately for the audience, Travolta decides to go with his son on this one. However, the movie tends down a standard path in the process of uncovering the truth about his son's new stepfather. There are also some considerable leaps in deductive logic, and a few too many perfectly arranged situations that lead to a rather predictable conclusion. One of the most annoying aspects of the film is how inept the local police department appears to be in gathering evidence. I realize the events in the film take place in a small coastal town on the Eastern Seaboard, but they can't be so backward that they don't even have a connection to the internet.

Casting for this feature is outstanding. Matthew O'Leary, as Travolta's son, is fantastic in his ability to play the classic child of a divorced family. Vince Vaughn is able to capture that creepiness of the individual who has more to show than meets the eye. Teri Polo, as Travolta's ex-wife, brings believability to her character's desire to see what she wants in her new husband, and ignore the obvious warning signs.

If you are looking for a pure escape movie, this is the one. Pop up some popcorn and enjoy the show. But you'll probably see the ending coming long before the characters on the screen do.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: 2.5 stars
Review: Frank Morrison (Travolta) is a divorced man who builds boats for a living. He lives in the same small town as his exwife (Polo) and his son Jason (Lashly). His ex is about to get married to wealthy Rick Barnes (Vaughn), even if Jason doesn't really care for him.

As it turns out, the kid's suspicions are proven true when he sees how Barnes murders Ray Coleman (Buscemi) an 'old friend' of his who showed up at the wedding. He runs away and tells the police, but there's no proof of the crime. Should Frank believe his son who has never lied to him or has he gone too far this time? Is Barnes really a murderer or not?

What should have been a decent thriller ends up as a very uneffective movie. We never really care for Travolta's character and the outcome of the film is pretty much by-the-book predictable. Vaughn does a decent villain, but there are no surprises, no great speeches or scenes worthy of remembering. This is one of those films you forget the minute you leave the theater (or turn off the DVD player).

Worthy only as a rental when there's nothing else you haven't seen. If you ask me...

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Predictable storyline
Review: John Travolta is always a good reason to pick up a movie, even if the part he plays here does not have a lot of "meat". Nevertheless, Travolta is always able to bring his charm and personal touch to any part, and to give it the warmth of a real person.
Here he plays Frank Morrison, a boat builder who learns that his ex wife's new husband is not the man he pretends to be. In fact, it is no other then Danny, Frank's son who now lives with this man, who blames him to be a murderer. If only the viewer did not know that Danny is right...we could have been in a better position to understand Frank's hesitation in believing his son. However, in this movie, the viewer is always a little ahead of the actual heroes and thus the tension is not a matter of "did he" or "didn't he" do it, but rather a feeling of "can't you see he is telling the truth..."
The story line is somewhat predicted as we are all familiar with movies uncovering a villain's true face, including all the slow gathering of evidence. We are even familiar with the "real face" being uncovered by the person most unlikely to do so, such as in this movie. However, even if you know for sure that the end will be good and the bad will be punished for their deeds (or rather, that someone will believe the "good"), this is a real thriller that keeps you sitting at the edge of your seat.
Other actors do not stand out as much. Steve Buchmi with his ever irritable, unpleased expressions is the only one who deserves mentioning. Other then that this is a one-man show.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Suspenseful and troubling
Review: John Travolta plays the divorced father of Danny, a troublemaking son who witnesses his new stepfather kill a man who was presumed to be his business associate. A boy who cried wolf scenario presents itself in that the police do not believe Danny whatsoever. However, the abusive man begins to threaten and hit Danny and fight with his mother. An unbelievable climatic scen arises and the truth about the husband and his past are revealed.


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