Stoli_Raz_N_7

Both the script and the direction behind this fictionalized account of historical events were very well presented. The cinematography was pretty good, too. In fact, it's actually a great story that was intriguing, suspensful and quite well told. Of course, it would've been better if we'd been able to get immersed in the story without becoming distracted by apparent facts that shouldn't have take our attention away from the story. Unfortunately, some things very much did detract from the immersiveness of the storytelling. The actors cast in the film were very distracting without even trying. Or, should I have said, without the makeup department even trying. Don't get me wrong: Bryan Cranston was as on point as he's ever been in any other role. He was, unfortunately, quite noticeably a bit old for the historically accurate age of the agent he portrayed. He was born in 1956 and was already 30 years old in 1986, the time of the historical events of this movie. The real Robert Mazur, the character he portrayed, was 36 in 1986. Someone like Zac Efron or Kit Harrington would have been a more appropriate choice with respect to the age of the actual agent. Even John Leguzamo (for whom I have great respect as both an actor and a comedian) appeared pretty old compared to the actual age of the agent he portrayed. Leguzamo was 63 during the filming of this movie, and the character he portrayed didn't retire until 1995, when the average retirement age was 60 years old. You do the math.

Now, if the fact that I'm pointing all of this out makes you wonder how much I payed attention to the movie versus how much I paid attention to the crows feet around their eyes and the age lines on the backs of their necks, then might I suggest to you that the producers should also have considered how much others may notice such things. To be honest, this movie is loaded with 80s, 90s, and early 2000s actors including Cranston (Malcom in the Middle, 2000), Leguzamo (Romeo + Juliet, 1996), Benjamin Bratt (Blood In, Blood Out, 1993), Michael Pare (Eddie and the Cruisers, 1983), Diane Kruger (Troy, 2004; National Treasure, 2004), Amy Ryan (Gone Baby Gone, 2007), Yul Vasquez (Bad Boys II, 2003), Jason Isaacs (Event Horizon, 1997), etc. Hopefully, by now you get the point. They even had Olympia Dukakis (Steel Magnolias, 1989) in the movie as Mazur's aunt. It was actually a very impressive cast of very solid actors in very strong, historical roles. The biggest problem was that the only actor who was actually age appropriate for their respective role was Amy Ryan, who played the rather famous Customs & Border Captain Bonnie Tischler.

Truthfully, none of this will matter to most viewers, only to the ones who remember the Iran-Contra Scandal or the killing of Pablo Escobar. It'sworth noting, however, that if any younger viewers are interested in this story at all, they may also find it hard to not get distracted by Cranston's crows feet. After all, they are really hard to ignore.

...and exceptional for longtime fans of the comics and the movies! There's so much to see that I'm already buying my tickets to see it again! I can't spoil any of it for you, except to say that it's so much more than I expected to see! I absolutely loved this movie!

If I have any complaint about this movie, it would be that some of the returning villain cameos (the ones that everyone has already pointed out from the trailers and publicity stills) just weren't long enough to make them everything they could have been. However, I totally understand how, in order to make those cameos pay off the way they should have, they would have had to make the movie over three hours long. So, while it would have been better in my humble opinion to have close ups and dialog with those characters, I can totally understand why some of those scenes were pared down to give more room to those scenes which provided much of the necessary content that gave purpose to the actual story.

Long story short (I would say too late, but have you read some of the other reviews?!? They are so long-winded!) YES, You Should Definitely Go See This Movie!

This is a Star Wars show? Could've fooled me. It took me three weeks to binge watch this show because I kept falling asleep through every single episode. Every one. I kept having to back up to the last part I remembered in each episode and start from there, and then try to keep my eyes open and remain engaged with the story. What a chore!

Sure, the cast is great, the sets are decent, the costumes are almost good, and there are droids and even a few aliens...but this is supposed to be Star Wars, and it just wasn't. It took every ounce of fanboy love that I have for Star Wars to sit through every moment of this drudgery as I hoped that all the positive comments other people had for it would prove to be true. Guess what? As far as I'm concerned, I got trolled by a bunch of people who want Star Wars to be more artsy and intellectual, and who want Star Wars to stop being the popcorn-binging fairy-tale-in-space that George Lucas meant it to be for his kids.