Taking Lives

I didn’t care for Angelina Jolie at first. I try very hard not to let my feelings about an actor as a person affect my feelings about the art. After all, what do I really know? Gossip, that’s all. That’s all you know, too. The impression we get that we know famous people is an illusion, always, unless you have met them in person, and even then you can get blindsided by hero-worship and what you think you know.

But AJ seemed like a real flake, often in the news for the wrong reasons. Her stormy relationship with Billy-Bob, the rumors of incest. Go to the IMDb and check out the list of her tattoos. Weird. And what’s the deal with those lips, anyway? So I didn’t really pay much attention to her, dismissed her as a lightweight.

She’s grown on me. I may even rent one of the Lara Croft movies. She was deliciously cool in Sky Captain, and she’s very good in this. The movie itself is a turkey, no question … but it’s a well-cooked turkey, the stuffing is exquisite, the cranberry sauce piquant, even the yams and mashed potatoes are piping hot. So the ending sucks. Okay? So don’t say I recommended it to you. But Lee and I both observed something: a creepy scene is made twice as creepy with the music of Philip Glass behind it. That guy is worth the money.