Life or Something Like It (2002)

Angelina Jolie and Edward Burns star in Life or Something Like It. It's a romantic drama that takes a look at what to do when you think you're abruptly dying.

Jolie is Lanie Kerrigan, the Seattle TV reporter who is climbing the corporate ladder. She seemingly has it all together, and loves her life: she dates a major leaguer, has a great apartment, and is a TV personality that is on the verge of going national. What could possibly mess this all up?

A chance encounter with a homeless guy/prophet of doom, known on the street as Prophet Jack (played by Tony Shalhoub, better known for his work on "Monk") sets the stage for the conflict of the film. Out of nowhere, he makes some predictions, including one that Lanie is to die within the week.

What's a blonde to do? Absolutely nothing, at first. However, when his initial prophesies start to materialize, she takes his soothsaying more seriously. In the meantime, Lanie travels to NY for her national TV debut, which haphazardly turns into the interview of her life. With so little time left, she rapidly rebounds from the end of her relationship, and starts anew with the cameraman she can't stand, Pete (Edward Burns).

Overall, Life or Something Like It just didn't do it for me. The plot kind of drags, and none of the performances were overly convincing or involving. I've seen each of these actors do better in other roles. While there's really nothing wrong with this film, there's really no reason to seek it out either.

Overall Grade: C+

Reviewed by Jonas

Chaos (2005)

How do you incorporate Chaos Theory into the plot of a movie without it turning into chaos? Well, I'm not sure how to do it either, but in this film, appropriately titled Chaos, they didn't figure it out either.

The premise is that Jason Statham is Detective Quentin Conners, a veteran of the Seattle Police force, that with his partner Jason York (Wesley Snipes) had an incident on the Pearl Street Bridge. As a result, York is off the force, and Conners is on permanent suspension. A hostage situation develops at a local bank, and the crooks want to deal with Conners of all people. The plot thickens after the incident when it is discovered that the bank robbers didn't take anything out of the bank that they were robbing.

I won't tell you what they were up to, but I will say that this whole thing was very confusing. At too many points in the film, I was confused who they were talking about until the end of the scene. Also, the characters are not introduced well in such a way that one cares about what happens to them. Between the too many characters, and the confusion, I can't wholeheartedly recommend Chaos.

This is a shame, because parts of this movie are quite well done. The hostage standoff at the bank robbing was strong, and one of the better ones I've seen. Ryan Phillippe also turns in a good performance as the rookie detective learning the ropes from Conners. Unfortunately, despite these high points, Chaos is simply a little too, chaotic for this reviewer's taste.

Overall Grade: C

Reviewed by Jonas