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Tuesday, January 14, 2014

A Film Review, A Book Launch and Entries close soon for Mr South Africa


Movie review

By Lauren Immelman





        

The movie house is full and everyone is chatting in a low whisper.  We all have our popcorn and soft drink close by and every now and again I can hear a hand plunge into the box of the white spiced up goodness.  Last Vegas is the movie of choice for today. Starring Robert De Niro, Morgan Freeman, Michael Douglas and Kevin Kline, this movie is about four childhood friends who have reached the age of 70.  The four old fogeys have decided to leave for Las Vegas as one of their friends, Billy (Michael Douglas) has decided to get himself hitched to a much younger woman. Let’s just say he is old enough to be her father.

Part of the gang is Paddy, (Robert De Niro) a sullen old man who sits at home moping around surrounded by pictures of his beloved.  Paddy seems to be the member of the gang that does not want to do anything about this attempted trip with his three buddies. This is simply because he and Billy had a fall out over his wife’s funeral to which Billy did not attend. Robert De Niro’s character seems to have a lot of issues with Billy and it seems to be a solid performance by that standard. This issue is deeply rooted into the rest of the movie which will always be raised over and over again, no matter which scene it is.  Next on the list is Archie (Morgan Freeman) a prisoner in his son’s home after suffering from a mild stroke.  To which he decides to escape from.  Then we have the married one, Sam (Kevin Kline), a happily married man, yet depressed by the loss of his lust for life.

Once arriving in Las Vegas, the old boys are astounded to what they see; gambling, the flashing lights, great food and classy entertainment. And so they set out and do what everybody does in Vegas, absorb the sights, eat the amazing three course meals and find the best entertainment.  This is when a lounge singer, Diana, played by Mary Steenburgen comes into the equation. Yet, If you think about it, by placing one single lady amongst four men, something is bound to happen; so when Diana starts to spark with two of the friends, old memories come back to haunt them. It seems to show in this film that all these characters have a lot of problems and it is not just fun and games. Both Kline and Douglas show that their funny sides are still intact, yet in most films these days, corny parts are a must and so these two actors were chosen to make these parts work. For me, they didn’t; it was in the long run quite predictable on how it would end. My all star rating might be a generous one, but that is only because of the solid characters portrayed by Robert De Niro and Morgan Freeman.


Rating:  4 Stars 


Book Launch

ADAMS Booksellers Musgrave Centre invites you and a partner to the launch of PETER LARCOMBE’s CREATIVE INVESTMENT PLANNING for South Africans
(St.James Media 2014 , R170.00) .
Date :  Wed 15 January , 5.30 for 6.00 pm     rsvp :  to this email or phone Adams Musgrave 031 319 4450 or  Cedric 082 873 2702
(Source - Adams Booksellers) 

Do You Fancy Yourself As The Next Mr South Africa?
Entries close soon for Mr South Africa.  If you think you have the goods head on over to their website and fill in the entry form.
Entries close 31 January 2014.
Website:  http://mrsa.co.za/

(Source - Mr South Africa) 

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