Instant Favorite.

hyped garbage

Brilliant and touching

It's a good bad... and worth a popcorn matinée. While it's easy to lament what could have been...

In a delightful comic turn, Emily Watson demonstrates clearly that she is not simply one of the great dramatic actors in cinema history. Giving a performance that rivals some of her most delightful work on stage while in residence at RADA in the early 1990's, Watson lights up the screen in a very funny, sexy characterization that will please those who have followed her stunning career with astonishment. Few actors could work so successfully with the rather lackluster material presented by this director and triumph over it, capturing our hearts completely. Viewers' hearts will melt as Watson breathes life into Trixie like a dynamo of acting energy that is almost atomic. This is an actor of unequaled talent, who blinds audiences with her brilliance, leaving those who appreciate great acting stunned by her power. While this is not a film to be noted at the top of her resume, Watson certainly proves once again how versatile an artist she truly is and her choices continue to astound audiences without exception, leaving all of us breathless and overwhelmed. The film deserves the low rating it receives here, but for Emily Watson's magnificent performance, a 10 is hardly close to what she truly deserves for commanding the screen, lighting up our hearts, and sharing her unlimited gifts with the audience. As Trixie, Watson delights as no other actor has ever cinematically delighted.

What more can I say. This movie is simply a disaster from beginning to end. The acting is terrible, even from the "big names" - Nick Nolte and Nathan Lane, both of whom looked through most of the movie as if they'd really rather be anywhere but on this set. Someone somehow got the idea that a movie about a woman who wants to be a private investigator but who isn't very bright and can never seem to choose the right word at the right time would be funny. Believe me - it isn't.A typical "funny" line from the script sums it up well: "I'd like a black pot of coffee, please." "Sorry, we only have silver pots." Maybe there's something wrong with my sense of humour, but folks - that really isn't funny. In fairness I suppose there were a couple of moments. When Trixie makes the boys who tried to mug her undress at gunpoint and kiss the ground - OK, I smiled a bit. And the encounter between Senator Avery (Nolte) and Trixie's friend Ruby (Brittany Murphy) at the restaurant was amusing, but I honestly can't think of anything else that tickled my funny bone, and in the end I just found myself looking repeatedly at my watch wishing this thing would end. (At almost two hours it is just interminable.)About halfway through the movie Sen. Avery looks at Trixie and says "I just don't see the point." A feeling shared by anyone who watches this movie and then wonders why it was ever made.Because of the two chuckles I mentioned above I'd like to give this 1.5/10, but - alas - there's no half point here at IMDb. And it just doesn't reach the necessary heights to gain a 2, so there's no option - 1/10.

When I first saw the lineup of actors in this film, I was thinking, "How bad can it be"? Well, I found out. It wanders all over the place and wastes some "major" talent who all fell by the wayside trying to react to the writer-director's desires. It has never been made clearer that a director makes the movie, and not the actors, than in this uneven waste of time.With the lone exception of the treatment Nick Nolte receives at the hand of a tramp at his dinner table, I would remember very little.Just "trust me" ( I hate that line, but...) when I tell you that you have better things to do. If you are a BIG fan of Emily Watson, than go ahead, but other than that, there is no reason to bother with this mindless drivel. I have critiqued a few other movies and been complimented on my synopsis, so you can rely on this recommendation.It looks to me like our director was "calling in" some favors.

Emily Watson was fabulous in BREAKING THE WAVES and wonderful even in a bad film like ANGELA'S ASHES. She is the kind of actress I want to see all her films, because I'm sure she will always be good. But here comes Trixie and... I can't believe that this great actress have been involed in such a ugly mess! The best work from Emily is her films made in European countries. So please, Emily, don't ever came back to the USA for making movies. The only way you could express yourself in a intelligent way is in European films. So please, stay there, and leave the mess to American actresses. They're good at it.