Hell's Kitchen (1999)

Highly Overrated But Still Good

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

Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

Watching it is like watching the spectacle of a class clown at their best: you laugh at their jokes, instigate their defiance, and "ooooh" when they get in trouble.

I don't normally write reviews on here, but after seeing that nearly all of them praised the movie, I couldn't in all good conscience keep quiet. So, here we go:Who gave Tony Cinciripini a budget? Surely they'd read the script before handing over the money! This film is quite gob-smacking in its incompetence. The dialogue is so horrendous that none of actors have the slightest chance to even remotely act (with the exception of Arquette who's allowed to do the drug-addict thing, and Jolie who's allowed to angrily cry on two occasions). The plot is utter nonsense – it could make sense if it was an 8-hour miniseries that not only allows you to get to know the characters but also gives the film a chance to have something akin to pace. However, at just over 1½ hours, this lack of pace and runtime means we get horribly jarring shifts from an emotional scene to sex to bonding to someone waving around a gun with nothing in between. Add to that some wholly inappropriate music (don't have slow, moody pieces during action scenes!) and an editor who has found the slow motion button but doesn't know when to use it, and we have a full-on car crash of a film. The entire onus has to be on the director / writer. He wrote the terrible dialogue then obviously told the actors how to play it, a large part of which is that if you're not the one talking you have to freeze in place and don't do the slightest thing that might distract them from remembering their lines. Oh, and let's forget about such things as explanation – towards the end (SPOILER) Jolie's character does the following: dumps Patty, apologises to Johnny for wanting to kill him, argues with Liz, tells Johnny she's pregnant with his baby. Erm...what? How did that suddenly happen? A more pertinent question would be – how did any of this happen? Only Arquette was even remotely famous back then, so you can't say that it got released purely on the merits of starring Angelina Jolie. For this film to get made in the first place defies belief. Uwe Boll, Jalal Merhi and Edward D Wood Jr would all tie for The Most Incompetent Director award for sheer consistency, but as an individual prize, I'd have to award it to Tony for this.

I saw this film for the first time today and I was often in tears throughout. It was very slow at the beginning and I was contemplating turning it off. I'm glad I didn't, Once the initial scene had been the set, the cast began to shine. Mekhi Phifer is particularly convincing (it was also refreshing to see a black man not being portrayed as a gangster)as a man who makes a mistake but wants to get on with his life. Angelina Jolie is very "real" despite her having to take a more subtle and more in the background approach to her character. The soundtrack is very beautiful and appropriate to every stage of the film and its development.Its well worth watching, just stick with it through the slow parts in the beginning and you'll enjoy it.

I for one am a huge Angelina Jolie fan, so when I picked up this movie at blockbuster I was hoping that it would turn out to be a really good film. I wasn't disappointed but the movie didn't blow me away. It does go in a lot of directions and it doesn't really officially resolve any of the problems. But I must say that Angelina Jolie and Mekhi Phifer gave great performances, despite the fact that the script was only okay. Despite the script I have to give the movie its credit, it was gritty, disturbing, even moving at times and it did keep me watching. I did feel like I was directly in Hell's Kitchen. This film shows the budding talents of two very good actors and I am glad that I had a chance to see it. So I would give the movie a 7 out of 10.

This is certainly one of the best films I've seen lately. It's a good surprise, once it doesn't seem to be so good when you read about it. The plot is basic in the beginning, but it turns into a fascinating drama and a breath-taking thriller. Angelina Jolie is again very well in her role.The songs we hear all through the movie are very good. They're also a good reason to make this such a good film. We have a bit of everything here: rap, rock, folk... This is really something you can't miss. I have to talk about the direction too. I think it's brilliant and remarkable. my rate 8/10