& War (1996): A beautiful romance based on the real-life love affair between Ernest Hemingway and Red Cross nurse Agnes von Kurowsky that inspired Hemingway’s literary masterpiece A Farewell to Arms. As always, director Richard Attenborough’s cinematography of war-torn Italy is absolutely breathtaking as is his period recreation. Best of all, though is how perfectly Chris O’Donnell captures the essence of the young Hemingway and his love for adventure, romance, cockiness, and self-pity. Particularly impressive is the recreation of the Hemingway summer home on Michigan’s Walloon Lake. I suspect Hemingway himself would have approved of O’Donnell’s performance, the creation of his world, and the film as a whole.
Fallen (1998): A police thriller with a satanic twist and a great performance from Denzel Washington. The story itself is gripping as any good thriller should be, but Fallen also has a surprisingly effective emotional core made even stronger by Washington’s sensitive performance. The ending is especially clever because it throws two surprises at us while grinning wickedly at the way its manipulating the audience.
Bamboozled (2000): By the early 2000s, Spike Lee was starting to sell-out to mainstream Hollywood and running out of critical favor, but I think Bamboozled was his last (so far) high caliber film. It’s imperfect to be sure. I took particular issue with the vilification of Damon Wayans’ character as the TV producer who loses his way when he pitches an idea for a new show reviving minstrel shows, since his intention for doing so was noble at first. He was trying to prove a valid point about the reception of African-American shows in America. That his idea