Jan Wahl Movie Review: 'Promised Land' & 'Les Miserables'
(KCBS) – KCBS Entertainment Editor Jan Wahl reviews "Promised Land," starring Matt Damon & John Krasinski. Plus the epic, "Les Miserables" with Hugh Jackman, Russell Crowe, Anne Hathaway, Amanda Seyfried, Helena Bonham Carter and Sacha Baron Cohen.
KCBS Entertainment Reporter Jan Wahl:
Jan Wahl Movie Review: 'Promised Land' & 'Les Miserables'
PROMISED LAND (R)
This makes me think about movies like 'On The Waterfront' and 'Norma Rae', movies that illuminate social and political conditions. Well this time it's about the relevant idea of fracking— the leasing of land for natural gas drilling.
Matt Damon stars in the film with a screenplay written by John Krasinski. Gus Van Sant directs this interesting film about what happens in a small rural American town when a gas company wants to drill. So we have this environmental story with political ramifications, but we don't really get a sense of what kinds of emotions would entail a situation like this.
Three hats.
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LES MISERABLES (PG-13)
Les Mis on the other hand is big and intimate. Basically the shallow version of this deep story is about a man who gets into a lot of trouble for stealing a loaf of bread. We follow him (he's portrayed by Hugh Jackman who's terrific) in this Tom Hooper directed film. You may recall Hooper also delivered with "The King's Speech". A fun fact is that they sing live, it's not lip-synched.
Four hats.
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See Right Now: Argo, Life of Pi, Flight, Lincoln, Hitchcock, Silver Linings Playbook, Chasing Ice, and A Royal Affair
Home Viewing/DVD: Bernie, The Bourne Legacy, and The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel
You can hear KCBS Entertainment Editor Jan Wahl's movie reviews on KCBS All News 740AM and 106.9FM Fridays at 8:53am & 4:53pm.
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