brianp-47-339568

Hello, I first read the entire series of Malory Towers in 1957. I was 7 years old. I was born and raised in a poverty stricken Salford, Near Manchester - times were hard, yet my mother spent money we couldn't really afford to buy me these second hand books. You might think that I read these books and felt envious of the characters - they did, after all, have so much more than I - but no. I was intrigued, captivated and laugh-out-loud entertained by their antics. I've always been a prodigious reader - but some themes', some ideas stay with you a lifetime - in this case it's the 'rose tinted glasses' ideal of an England where the Summers last forever... where friendships never fade and justice is served. The acting was... as has been noted... occasionally poor - but not exceptionally so - and the editing could have been far better. To summarise - this show holds true to the very essence of the books - and I believe that Enid Blyton would have been extremely happy with this outcome.

Will Smith (Looking 10 years younger than is actual age) & Martin Lawrence (Looking his age plus the answer to the question: Who ate all the Pies?) - are remarkably good in this revisit to the 'rogue cop' genre of the 80s' & early 90s'. Kate del Castillo - an excellent actress, appears only briefly (what a waste of talent) - and yet she still manages to create a detailed presence with the few lines and scenes given her. Jacob Scipio - (Kate del Castillo characters son in the film) - does an excellent job of portraying the familial loyal son with doubts. Unfortunately, the writers couldn't be bothered portraying him with any kind of real personality, regular speech patterns or wit (shame on them). I could go on, about how good the actors and actresses are in this film... but I'd far exceed my submission length here... so, I'm going to try and sum in up in a few sentences. The movie is about the original 'Bad Boys' - but it should NOT have centred itself (almost in its entirety) upon them. A man/woman who has enough hatred to kill you, is NOT - by definition - a bit part! - They must have a reason, unless you're dealing with a complete sociopath (in which case, there is still a reason!) - and that reason shouldn't appear in the last 2 minutes of any Movie or the last 5 pages of any book!

With all of the above in mind - the entire casting effort was excellent - great actors and actresses who were under used in soooo many instances - but still excellent.

The overall acting was below par - with absolutely none of the actors standing out. The script is diabolically simple... way too simple.

..BUT... the end result is a success!

This, obviously, limited budget Movie has REAL character. It's one of the best - if not THE best - Low cost productions - I've ever watched.

I simply cannot disparage any main part of it - except, perhaps, the scripting (which is way, way too simplistic ) - and have to say that the main actors did their best... without any major experience... but with TONS of talent.

I'm not going to go into individual performances here for the reason previously stated... but I will mark 'Fernando Hidalgo' and 'Tabitha Caulfield' as people to watch. Talent will shine through.