The Magic of Belle-Isle
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Tagline: A Re-Coming Of Age Story.
It seems apt that in the week after the sad passing of the great Nora Ephron, the director of her celebrated When Harry Met Sally, Rob Reiner, releases a new movie. And he teams up once again with Morgan Freeman (they made the risible Bucket List in 2007). This time, Freeman plays Monte Wildhorn, a famous novelist whose battle with the bottle has quenched his thirst for writing. But by renting a lakeside cabin for the summer in Belle Isle, and becoming friends with the next door neighbors – which happens to include not unattractive single mom Virginia Madsen – will Monte regain his mojo?
“Shaggily sentimental and a few spells short of enchantment,” writes Variety. “This gooey reteaming of Rob Reiner and Morgan Freeman is crammed tight with baldly manipulative elements, its tearjerker quota busting at the seams,” slams Slant. But Boxoffice magazine takes a different view entirely, claiming that “Reiner has crafted the perfect summer film in The Magic Of Belle Isle,” which “you won’t soon forget.” The problem for Reiner — and one suspects, for Oliver Stone — is that with Spider-Man taking up most of the available screens, will you even get a chance to see this at the movies?
MORE: Tom Hanks on Nora Ephron
NewsFeed’s Flicks Pick: Savages seems to merit the dreaded phrase “a return to form,” but The Amazing Spider-Man is surely the ideal opening blockbuster act to fill the short gap before Batman’s return next week.