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Lessons Learned from the Film The Rich Man’s Wife feat. Halle Berry & Clive Owen

Posted on June 9, 2012 Written by ripitup

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The Rich Man's Wife movie poster
The Rich Man's Wife poster via screened.com.

I don’t generally care about movie ratings since there is a chance I’ll find the movie either underrated or overrated, but sometimes they can be spot on. But when I saw the 5.0 IMDB rating, I hoped I would disagree – it wasn’t good news, as I was already bored by a couple of Halle Berry thrillers before. Unfortunately, my best rating would be 5 – and this is from someone who likes the cast and the genre. I wasn’t expecting genius twists or very smart characters. But getting bored or asking “Seriously?” every couple of minutes is not a good sign. If only characters and events were tied better and the story was told a little faster…

But watching a non-thrilling thriller can return as an entertaining post. Inspired by movie fans who love to start “(insert number of choice) lessons learned from….” threads on boards, below is what you can take home from this movie. Of course some are obvious, but come on and join me. It’s fun.

Lessons learned (aka Common sense) from the film The Rich Man’s Wife

Spoilers ahead. You’ve been warned.

1)      Clive Owen is a lot sexier with a little more age and weight. Try comparing his The Rich Man’s Wife (1996) version to Beyond Borders/Shoot ‘em Up/The International…Well, pretty much any Clive Owen movie after

2)      Don’t date a younger, thinner Clive Owen character. Chances are he is up to no good. 5 years before this film, one of his characters was dating his own sister!

3)      Peter Greene (The Mask villain) can switch between weird-looking slime ball to charming, uniquely good-looking guy in a matter of seconds.

4)      Halle Berry’s dramas and action films are often very enjoyable, as opposed to her thrillers.

5)      It is not a good idea to not to foreshadow your twists at all.

6)      Calling the cops suckers at the end of the movie is not a good idea, as there is no way they would have seen that one coming and since this is also the case for the audience (see item 5). Just don’t call your audience suckers. Period.

7)      It’s not very cool if you don’t have one single likable character in the movie.

8)      It is not very convincing (since you want to convince the woman to ally with you) if you switch from Prince Charming to smooth player to good listener to murder plotter to rapist in lightning speed. This would be Peter Greene’s character.

9)      Gold-digging, young, pretty women should not sign pre-nuptial agreements. Instead they should marry gullible rich men who trust them enough not to make them sign those. It’s easier than planning murders, getting rid of the other villains and all that. And what would they have done if the cops had half the obsession Holmes (or House) had for cases?

10)   It will be easier to convince a rich guy that you are not a gold-digger if you don’t say yes to their proposal after 2 minutes.

11)   It might be better if you marry a woman with a little money of her own if you are planning to make her sign pre-nuptials. She might be less likely to try to get rid of you.

12)   Or better yet, don’t get married- and/or make your will so that in the matter of your death, they don’t get a single dime –whether it is a suicide/murder/or call of nature and make it clear to them.

13)   Or be a less obnoxious husband, and make it harder for her to want to get rid of you.

14)   If you are getting married, and signing pre-nuptials, do a better background check on the woman.

15)   It isn’t a great idea to hire a cabin in the woods if you are a pretty woman with no special fighting skills.

16)   Very few normal people hang out near in-the-woods-cabins in the middle of nowhere.

17)   Women hardly ever want to stay alone in a cabin in the middle of nowhere. If they do, they can either fight like Sydney Bristow, haven’t seen any horror movies or they are up to no good.

These were all I could think of so far. Feel free to add yours in the comments.

What about the plot?

The plot you ask? Oh well: Halle Berry’s Josie is married to the richer, older Tony (Christopher McDonald) and the marriage is going down the drain. She has a lover, he has a lover. He’s abusing alcohol and she has signed a pre-nup. Claiming that she wants her marriage work, she dumps the lover (Clive Owen) and convinces her husband to take a trip together- where his regular business relationships and fondness of alcohol prevent them from making any progress. So he leaves, and she stays.  Then her car breaks down one night and she is “saved“ by a helpful stranger, who drives her home and gets her car fixed-all for dinner. And as she tells her story, he gets her to say that she wished he were dead. Then he offers to do the job for her. And then….well, let’s say that no one is exactly innocent in the movie, adulterer or not.

Made in 1996, written/directed by Amy Holden Jones.

 

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Filed Under: Movies and Actors Tagged With: christopher mcdonald, Clive Owen, Clive Owen movies, halle berry, halle berry movies, halle berry the rich man’s wife, movies, peter greene, the rich mans wife movie, thriller

Swordfish starring Hugh Jackman, John Travolta, Halle Berry & Don Cheadle

Posted on February 13, 2011 Written by ripitup

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Swordfish starring Hugh Jackman, John Travolta, Halle Berry & Don Cheadle
Swordfish starring Hugh Jackman, John Travolta, Halle Berry & Don Cheadle. Directed by Dominic Sena. Written by Skip Woods. Image via maniadb.com

Swordfish starring Hugh Jackman, Halle Berry, John Travolta and Don Cheadle

Stanley Jobson (Hugh Jackman) is a brilliant hacker who recently got out of jail and banned from working his mojo on computers. This suits him just fine, because all he wants to do is to see more of his young daughter Holly (Camryn Grimes). Unfortunately, his ex-wife (Drea de Matteo)is an alcoholic bitch married to a porn industry king and has gotten full custody.  Stanley needs a lot of money to win a court battle and he doesn’t have any. Knowing his weak point, Ginger (Halle Berry) finds Stanley to make him a dangerous offer: her boss Gabriel (John Travolta) needs the best hacker for a highly illegal job and is ready to pay Stanley millions for his services. While Stanley doesn’t want to go back to jail, “helping” Gabriel seems like the only solution. Unfortunately, Gabriel is a lot more dangerous and psychotic than Stanley first estimated, Ginger seems to be full of secrets and the F.B.I agent Roberts (Don Cheadle) – the very agent who put Stanley behind bars in the first place- is after Gabriel and wants to use Stanley to get to him. How the hell will Stanley survive and get Holly back?

**

Swordfish is one kick-ass action/thriller. It starts with a blast, and some dialogue that only foreshadows how crazy and well-prepared Gabriel is. John Travolta makes a great villain. And Gabriel is even scarier and more powerful than his Broken Arrow character because well, the villains and the good guys in Swordfish have some really fine grey areas. The writing is fast, the action is satisfactory and despite defying logic in some areas, it is one hell of a ride. Directed by Dominic Sena (Gone in Sixty Seconds, Kalifornia, Season of the Witch). Written by Skip Woods (Hitman, X-Men Origins: Wolverine, The A- Team).

8/10 for the entertainment value.

Favorite scenes:

– When Gabriel (John Travolta) goes all ballistic to shake their tail in the street – while making Stanley drive.

– Everything about Gabriel’s getting in, and getting out plan.

Fun notes:

–          Stanley’s ex-wife is played by Drea de Matteo – who played Angie on Desperate Housewives in the show’s 6th season. She also played Joey’s sister in the Friends spin-off Joey.

–          Hugh Jackman co-starred with Halle Berry 3 more times: The X-Men trilogy.

–          Dominic Sena has directed Nicolas Cage twice: 2000’s action film Gone in Sixty Seconds and 2011’s fantasy action Season of the Witch.

–          Nicolas Cage and John Travolta starred in Face/Off together where both of them played the villain and the good guy in the same movie.

Also on Hugh Jackman:

Hugh Jackman Trivia

Someone Like You starring Hugh Jackman, Ashley Judd and Greg Kinnear

6 Hollywood Stars That Would Make 20-Year-Olds Jealous

Hollywood’s Tall Actors feat. Hugh Jackman, Gerard Butler, Paul Walker& more

Hugh Jackman: My Favorite Australian

Other Don Cheadle Movies:

Iron Man 2 starring Robert Downey Jr., Gwyneth Paltrow, Don Cheadle & Scarlett Johansson

Brooklyn’s Finest starring Richard Gere, Ethan Hawke & Don Cheadle

Also on John Travolta

Broken Arrow starring John Travolta, Christian Slater and Samantha Mathis

Mad City starring Dustin Hoffman and John Travolta

Face/Off starring John Travolta and Nicolas Cage

Pulp Fiction

6 Movies with Brilliant Casts feat. Hairspray starring John Travolta

From Paris with Love starring Jonathan Rhys Meyers and John Travolta

Basic starring John Travolta and Samuel L. Jackson

Phenomenon starring John Travolta, Robert Duvall and Kyra Sedgwick

Favorite Actors to Play Villains feat. Nicolas Cage, John Travolta and more

Actor Musicians and Musician Actors: Feat. John Travolta and Bruce Willis

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Filed Under: Movies and Actors Tagged With: action, Camryn Grimes, dominic sena, Don Cheadle, don cheadle movies, drea de matteo, halle berry, Hugh Jackman, hugh jackman movies, John Travolta, john travolta movies, movies, skip woods, Swordfish, swordfish movie, thriller

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