matt-24001

Very rarely will I write a review for a television series but The Bear is certainly review worthy. The acting is absolutely outstanding and throughout both seasons, there is this sense of dread and 'the other shoe dropping' as they say in the series, which gives you an unexpected roller coaster of emotion that has your rooting for the characters, despite their self destructive tendencies. The writing absolutely brilliant, somehow blending dark humor with tragedy, regret, remorse, disfunction, rage, and hope.

Very rarely is a series able to match the second season to the first, but the second season is absolutely phenomenal with episode 6 being one of the most intense and heart breaking episodes I've ever seen in a series, not to mention the unbelievable acting done by a handful of big star cameos. It's television at its finest, just watch it!

As a huge Bob Marley fan, I was very excited to learn more about his life. Unfortunately, the execution of this movie was a huge swing and a miss. The story itself is a convoluted mess. The first thing 'wrong' was the accents. I get that there is a duty to be genuine to Bob's story, but they overdid it with the accents making it nearly impossible to understand, even with subtitles. In addition, the movie jumps all over the place and too much time is spent watching rehearsals. I didn't expect this to be a classic like 'The Doors,' but I was truly hoping it would come close and we'd have much better insight into Marley's genius and journey.

I read about this several years ago and was excited to see it played out on the 'big screen.' The movie had so much potential, but the 'overcooked' NY accents, poor set design, and overall bad acting ruined it for me.

I will say that Zac Efron did his best to pull this off and his acting certainly outshined everyone else, but the rest of the cast (including Crowe) was subpar and just plain silly at times. Has Crowe just totally given up? Anyway, there are absurd moments/scenes that don't seem to make practical sense (I mention this because it's a true story and scenes were far too dramatized) and then there are sudden graphic violence moments thrown in for shock value and possibly keep people awake. The overdone, long, and worn out political dialogue about how unnecessary the Vietnam War was pointless as well. It's 2023, we all know how futile that war was and how it truly devastated and a region and the baby boomer generation as a whole. It's been played out for decades now in books and on the big screen.

If you're looking for a movie to pass time and for some general entertainment, watch it but don't overthink it. The story itself is pretty incredible, but the execution of this screenplay and the atrocious acting overshadow it.