MATCHSTICK MEN
TIME: 117 minutes
STARRING: Nicolas Cage, Sam Rockwell, Alison Lohman, and Bruce McGill
DIRECTOR: Ridley Scott
PRODUCERS: Ridley Scott, Jack Rapke, Sean Bailey, Steve Starkey, and Ted Griffin
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: Robert Zemeckis
WRITERS: Nicholas Griffin and Ted Griffin
BASED ON THE NOVEL BY: Eric Garcia
DISTRIBUTOR: Warner Bros.
SUMMARY: In Matchstick Men, a phobic con artist and his prot??©g??© are on the verge of pulling off a lucrative swindle when the con artist's teenage daughter arrives unexpectedly. With incredible writing, directing, and acting, as well as a redemptive outcome, Matchstick Men is nonetheless spoiled by foul language, sexual content, and a portrayal of teenage drinking and smoking. On the bright side, however, it is a great story of redemption of a man who doesn't have to be caught in the act in order to find true repentance. The last scene is a tearjerker, a positive moment extolling love of family.
The title of Matchstick Men, from a novel by Eric Garcia, means scam artists or con men. Nicholas Cage plays Roy, an obsessive-compulsive, neat freak con man who attempts to pull off his biggest sting ever. All seems great until the sudden appearance of Roy's daughter. Matchstick Men attempts to shed light on the lives of con men, living just under the veneer of society, nasty people who call unsuspecting elderly people and scam them with expensive promises and confidence tricks.
CONTENT: Redemptive, moral worldview showing the hopelessness and lack of fulfillment resulting from a sinful lifestyle, and secondary pagan worldview glorifying drinking, dancing, stealing, etc.; strong language with at least 33 obscenities; moderate action violence; some sexual depictions of ladies dancing at bars; nudity includes scantily-clad women dancing; portrayals of teenage and adult drinking; smoking; and, lying, stealing, cheating, teenage disrespectfulness, dishonesty, etc.
ONCE UPON A TIME IN MEXICO
RATING: R
STARRING: Antonio Banderas, Salma Hayek, Johnny Depp, Ruben Blades, Eva Mendes, Willem Dafoe, and Mickey Rourke
DIRECTOR: Robert Rodriguez
PRODUCERS: Elizabeth Avellan, Carlos Gallardo, Tony Mark, and Robert Rodriguez
WRITER: Robert Rodriguez
DISTRIBUTOR: Sony
GENRE: Action
INTENDED AUDIENCE: Adults
SUMMARY: In Once Upon A Time In Mexico, a mariachi hit man is hired to stop a drug lord from overthrowing the Mexican government-the same drug lord that murdered the mariachi's wife and daughter. With lots of action violence, including cruelty and torture, this third movie in the El Mariachi trilogy is a scary jump from Rodriguez's lighter, sweeter Spy Kids series.
The El Mariachi series is based on revenge. This third movie in the trilogy, Once Upon A Time In Mexico, is no exception. The lead character's wife and daughter are killed, and the mariachi returns to wreck unimaginable havoc upon the evildoer, who is another drug lord bent on taking over Mexico with his henchmen. Bullets fly. Blood Splatters. Bodies fall in slow motion. Repeat for ninety-five minutes adding cruelty, torture, and humor to the mix until the mariachi walks in slow motion with a Mexican flag draped across his chest.
Rodriguez knows how to shoot action, and the action only slows for some brief dialogue that, in some cases, is fairly clever. Let's pray that Robert Rodriguez directs his attention back to the action/family films that he does so well.
CONTENT: Pagan worldview glorifying violence and the "3 G's" - gold, glory, & girls with some biblical elements with lead character asking God to forgive him; strong language with 19 obscenities, most of them strong; violence includes torture, death by car wreck, gunfire, fire, falling, knives, and explosives; sex, lying, cheating, stealing, & revenge.
