As Good As It Gets

I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.

It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

When I viewed this movie it was named "Chained".It is a drama thriller about a Hollywood actor with a declining career who is kidnapped by thugs and held locked up in a remote cabin....I thought the lead players all give full throttle performances including the baddies and the film is mostly compelling and well presented.The very last sequence I found a little bit odd but despite that I was impressed with this picture and Ryan Phillippe is not someone who I had noticed before but he certainly has star quality:7/10.

Ryan Phillippe's directorial debut 'Catch Hell' is a strange little movie. It's an interesting story that never really goes anywhere. The plot never really advances. And Phillippe in the lead role is never really given any opportunity to shine. He co-wrote the story as well so this surprised me. Surely when you write a character that you know you're going to play you give yourself every opportunity to be the star of the show, but this was never really the case. The kidnappers had the most interesting characters of the lot. It's not an overly bad movie, it's just simply pretty forgettable. There's no element to it that separates it from the bunch. Does Phillippe have a future behind the camera? I don't see why not. This film would have been about as straight forward as they come to direct, but I still didn't see any glaring mistakes he made. The choice of the scene over the credits was a bizarre one for me. I'm not sure exactly what he was going for with that and I'd love to hear his explanation. Give it a look if you're short of something to watch but otherwise you're not missing a whole lot.

Morality tales are always difficult. Going after the whole fame makes one vulnerable thing too. Put "crazy fans" into it and you get something weird like this. And all that with one of the worst plans (if any) in recent memory. Things can go sideways and they will especially if you haven't really thought about them.Don't get me wrong, there are quite a few scenes that are difficult to watch, because they are brutal and you feel the pain just watching. Nothing that is exciting or fun in any way. Thankfully it doesn't stay on that track too much. Not the kind of movies I like to watch anyway, this lacks a bit of empathy. Ryan Phillipe might feel at "home" (no pun intended) with some of the scenarios (job and fame wise that is), but this won't help him get back on any Hollywood radar any time soon

Ryan Phillipe's career goes down the toilet even further in this action thriller which he directed, wrote and stars in. It's more sad than embarrassing. Playing a somewhat autobiographical character, Phillipe stars as a down-and-out Hollywood star. He's seen better days, and is now set to star in a low budget thriller filming in Louisiana. There, he's kidnapped by a couple of rednecks who want revenge. Ever the cad (though he wants to stop being one), Phillipe banged one of their wives. They take him to a remote cabin in the bayou and torture him. Before killing him, they want to ruin his reputation by taking over his Twitter account and posting anti-Semitic rants. When the cuckold leaves his buddy to guard Phillipe, of course he turns out to be a closet homosexual who wants to rape Phillipe. The whole thing comes off as a weird fantasy of some way Ryan Phillipe could once again become noteworthy. It must really hurt that his more talented ex-wife is getting the reviews of her life