Characters/Actors: Bad Blake (Jeff Bridges), Jean (Maggie Gyllenhaal), Thomas Sweet (Colin Farrell, Robert Duvall, etc.
Bad Blake ( Jeff Bridges) is a hard-living, smoking, drinking, aging country singer who
meets and falls for a much younger journalist and single mother (Maggie Gyllenhaal). Due to his own actions, the relationship is almost bound to fail. This woman inspires him to reassess his priorities and to get his drinking under control. Thomas Sweet (Colin Farrell) is a much younger rival singer who considers Blake a mentor. Very similar to last year's film "The Wrestler", only with country music substituting for pro wrestling. The most surprising thing about this movie is that both Jeff Bridges and Colin Farrell can actually sing, and either could probably make it as genuine country musicians.
"Edge of Darkness" (Rated R) Characters/Actors: Detective Thomas Craven ( Mel Gibson), Ray Winstone, etc.
A Boston police detective (Mel Gibson), Thomas Craven's adult daughter is murdered right in front of him, and though there are rules against officially being part of the investigation, he uncovers an apparent government conspiracy involving clandestine weapon's research at a shadowy corporation. Just before Emma Craven is slain, she starts vomiting. It turns out she has been poisoned to try to silence her. Det. Craven is the exact opposite of Martin Riggs, the suicidally reckless detective Gibson plays in the "Lethal Weapon" series. Craven is the kind who only fires at those who deserve it, and normally he tries to obey the rules. Although Gibson did an admirable job as Det. Craven, Ray Winstone as a shadowy covert operative was even better. As a police drama this movie was a little dull. However, as a government and corporate conspiracy film, this movie was quite intriguing. Almost without realizing it, his daughter got over her head when she discovered the wrongdoing by the company she once worked for. Also, when Craven gets an inkling of the conspiracy, even he is targeted in spite of being an officer of the law.
"Extraordinary Measures" Characters/Actors: Dr. Robert Stillwell (Harrison Ford), John ? Crowell (Brendan Fraser), Keri Russell, etc.
John ? Crowell, a businessman and father of two children who have "Pompe disease", a form of Muscular Dystrophy, risks everything to persuede an irascible but brilliant scientist who is an expert on the disease to work on a remedy to save the lives of his ailing offspring. Crowell promises to come up with a lot of money to fund the research, but coming up with that much money is much easier said than done. Another complication is Stillwell's temper and the unpredictability of Crowell's ailing children's health from day to day. Also, most Pompe kids die before their tenth birthday, and both of his sick kids are approaching that age. The most interesting thing about the movie was the red tape that Crowell and Stillwell go to to get funding for the research, and how Stillwell's fiery personality clashes with fellow scientists. Although there is a relatively happy ending, the end was a little sappy, but if it didn't have such an ending there would be no reason to make or see the movie.
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