Rating: 
Summary: Entertaining Romp
Review: "Rough Magic" is a wild little romp. I like the twist of how it begins with a magician and all of his tricks and ends in Mexico with what in the reality of the film would be bona fide magic such as levitation during sex, a man who gets turned into a sausage and Bridget Fonda laying a blue egg. Bernardo Bertolucci's wife Clare Peploe directed this piece and has a mastery of pacing. I found her 2001 film "Triumph of Love" also to move quickly. Bridget Fonda is certainly beautiful; and we've missed her on screen for the last several years. Her characters as in "Lake Placid" or "A Simple Plan" always engage; and this outing is no different. As the edgy, confident con-artist who falls in love, she displays a good variety of conflicting emotions. Sharon Stone brought Russell Crowe to Hollywood for "The Quick & the Dead" the same year this movie was made and called Crowe, "The sexiest guy working in movies today." He certainly expresses depth and a world-weary sense as Alex Ross, the somewhat burned out detective. Jim Broadbent went on to win an Oscar as best supporting actor for "Iris" in 2001 and then appeared in "Moulin Rouge." As Doc Ansell, he does a nice job trying to steal the sorceress' secrets and carries the plot along in its improbable twists & turns. D. W. Moffatt who was in "Twisted" with Ashley Judd and "Traffic," plays the rich cad Cliff Wyatt that regards Myra Shumway as a trophy and pursues her to Mexico. Based on the story "Miss Shumway Waves A Wand" by James Hadley Chase, this film is an entertaining romp filled with magic, romance and improbability. Enjoy!
Rating:
Summary: Magic!
Review: A hugely underrated film and one which has disappeared without trace in my home country (England). It's an enchanting story without being too sickly sweet and is well cast, acted and directed. Fans of such movies as The Princess Bride, Edward Scissorhands and Coen bros. movies will find much to commend it. I'm now waiting for a sensitive transfer to DVD to really put the icing on the cake.
Rating: 
Summary: No Nogs Allowed
Review: Another splat of evidence that Bridget Fonda Makes No Dogs.The heart, the heart! Yes, Russell Crowe is in flying pre-fame hunkamundo form here; this cannot be denied. But the whole experience of this movie is charming (in the best sense of that word). Leave this world behind, and fall into Peploe's magical realism mystery tour through even *your* cynical cardiac organ. A lark.
Rating:
Summary: No Nogs Allowed
Review: Another splat of evidence that Bridget Fonda Makes No Dogs. The heart, the heart! Yes, Russell Crowe is in flying pre-fame hunkamundo form here; this cannot be denied. But the whole experience of this movie is charming (in the best sense of that word). Leave this world behind, and fall into Peploe's magical realism mystery tour through even *your* cynical cardiac organ. A lark.
Rating: 
Summary: Cliche ridden, predictable and dull
Review: As a huge Russell Crowe fan I was particularly disappointed by this offering. No character in this movie was completely developed and bits of the plot were left hanging. A little explanation on a few points would have gone a long way toward developing even a single character in this confusing melodrama. As it stands Bridget Fonda spews 40's era cliches and tries to look alluring, while Russell Crowe (who can usually pull off a decent American accent) sounds ridiculous and seems to fall in love with Fonda's character for no reason whatsoever. Even the music is cliche. Sad, not one of the better vehicles for either star.
Rating:
Summary: Not As Rough As It Looks
Review: As you can see from my identity, I'm a big fan of movies! If I like what I see I reveiw it, and even if it's just okay, I do it anyway. (I've reveiwed another VHS movie online, see The Quick And The Dead, I'm still Moviechick101).
"Rough Magic" begins with Myra, who's a magician's assistant with a jerky fiancee and a kind magician mentor. Everything is looking great, but when a backstage prank turns to murder, Myra leaves her small town and heads for Mexico. Her Fiancee is determened to bring her back, (more for his benifit than anyone else's). So he hires a guy by the name of Alec Ross who's just a down-and-out fella to get Myra back.
So Myra's in Mexico and she soon meets Alec Ross, who can be really funny except he's got a bit of a fast mouth. But of course Myra does also, so they get along very well. (Because of this you get some laugh-out-loud scenes in this movie!).
Althought when they first meet you can tell that Myra thinks that Alec is a sketchy guy, she has nothing to lose so she and Alec embark on a wild adventure of humor, trust, betrayal and ultimetly...love!(I won't tell anymore, because it would take away from watching the movie).
Although a few scenes are slightly confusing,* and I think that the movie lost it a bit near the end, the final scene is touching so I gave it a four out of five. Which is still very good. It's defenetly worth renting and I'm seriously concidering purchasing it online. I loved it, and I'm really not one for romantic comedies! It's a cute film that you won't mind watching again. *Due to the fact that a couple of scenes were a little confusing I suggest watching the movie once or twice. Believe me it works!
Rating:
Summary: Not As Rough As It Looks
Review: As you can see from my identity, I'm a big fan of movies! If I like what I see I reveiw it, and even if it's just okay, I do it anyway. (I've reveiwed another VHS movie online, see The Quick And The Dead, I'm still Moviechick101).
"Rough Magic" begins with Myra, who's a magician's assistant with a jerky fiancee and a kind magician mentor. Everything is looking great, but when a backstage prank turns to murder, Myra leaves her small town and heads for Mexico. Her Fiancee is determened to bring her back, (more for his benifit than anyone else's). So he hires a guy by the name of Alec Ross who's just a down-and-out fella to get Myra back.
So Myra's in Mexico and she soon meets Alec Ross, who can be really funny except he's got a bit of a fast mouth. But of course Myra does also, so they get along very well. (Because of this you get some laugh-out-loud scenes in this movie!).
Althought when they first meet you can tell that Myra thinks that Alec is a sketchy guy, she has nothing to lose so she and Alec embark on a wild adventure of humor, trust, betrayal and ultimetly...love!(I won't tell anymore, because it would take away from watching the movie).
Although a few scenes are slightly confusing,* and I think that the movie lost it a bit near the end, the final scene is touching so I gave it a four out of five. Which is still very good. It's defenetly worth renting and I'm seriously concidering purchasing it online. I loved it, and I'm really not one for romantic comedies! It's a cute film that you won't mind watching again. *Due to the fact that a couple of scenes were a little confusing I suggest watching the movie once or twice. Believe me it works!
Rating:
Summary: Not As Rough As It Sounds
Review: As you can see from my name I'm a big fan of movies! (I've reveiwed another VHS movie online, see The Quick And The Dead. I'm still Moviechick101).
"Rough Magic" begins with Myra who's an assistant to a kind magician mentor, and has a jerky fiancee. Everything is looking great but when a backstage prank turns to murder, Myra leaves her small town and heads for Mexico. Her fiancee is determined to bring her back, (more for his benefit than anyone else's) so he hires a down-and-out but charming fella by the name of Alec Ross to get Myra back.
So Myra is in Mexico just hanging around and swindling guys out of a few bucks. Then she meets Alec Ross, who can be pretty funny except he's got a bit of a fast mouth, like Myra. So of course this means that you get some down-right funny scenes in this one!
Although when they first meet, you can tell that Myra thinks that Alec is a sketchy guy, she goes along with him on a road trip because she figures that she's got nothing to lose. So she and Alec go on a wild adventure of trust, betrayal, humor and ultimety love. (I won't tell anymore because it would take away from watching the movie).
Although a few scenes are slightly confusing* and I think the movie lost it a bit in the end, the last couple of scenes are pretty touching so I gave it a four out of five.
It's a movie worth renting and I'm even concidering buying it. If you're not into the romantic comedy thing, (don't worry, neither am I) see "Rough Magic" for it's humor. It's a nice film that you won't mind watching a few times. *Due to the fact that a couple of scenes are confusing, I suggest watching "Rough Magic" once or twice. And remember, exspect the unexpected!
P.S. I have no idea why there are two of my reviews posted here, I only sumitted one.
Rating: 
Summary: NO CHEMISTRY
Review: Bridget Fonda is a decent actress, so I was puzzled why she placed so much energy into avoiding Russell's advances throughout Mexico and beyond...silly girl....she didn't connect with the movie and although the script was weak and seemed from different decades, I felt a more cooperative female lead would have transferred from beautiful magic assistant to disheveled tourist in search of the Mexican shaman--ess while enjoying romance....Russel was his usual handsome self....so, movie was worth watching....
Rating:
Summary: CAPTIVATED BY ROUGH MAGIC
Review: Can't believe so many professional critics heartlessly trashed this gem! As an art historian and world traveler who is especially fond of Mexico, I find 'Rough Magic' gorgeous, delightful, amusing, and romantic -- in all, utterly captivating, with flawless attention to every detail from first frame to last. Since purchasing this film recently I've watched it at least a dozen times. Bridget Fonda and Russell Crowe are a dynamic and delightful duo -- hope they'll team up for another movie. I had never seen Jim Broadbent ('Doc') before and would like to see more of his work; my lands, even the dog was well-cast! My advice: ignore the critics and follow your heart to a refreshing treat for the eye, for the soul.
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