Constantine: I like movies about the battle between Heaven and Hell. This film’s take on it is that God and Satan made a wager about the Earth regarding who can get more souls (not exactly a new concept, but it works here). They can’t interact with humans, but “half breed” angels and demons can influence people indirectly, hoping to nudge them one way or the other. One of these half-breed demons is Balthazar, played by Bush’s lead singer, Gavin Rossdale. I was pleasantly surprised at what a convincing and animated character he portrayed here, considering what a soulless and boring singer he is the rest of the time. Keanu Reeves, however, struck me as terribly miscast in the role of John Constantine, the damned soul trying to buy his way into heaven. His monotone voice and weird inflection were wrong for this part. But I’ve come to expect such things from Ted Theodore Logan, so I can forgive that here. Anyway, the other character I’d like to mention is Gabriel, a half-breed angel. I have no idea what his/her motivations were nor even if s/he was supposed to have a gender at all. Was s/he good? Was s/he evil? Hard to tell. But I thought Tilda Swinton did an interesting job in the part, even if she looks too much like Cate Blanchett. All in all, it was an entertaining film and I can’t say I regret seeing it. I just wish it had starred someone else.
One more thing: ever notice in this kind of movie that Satan always shows up in person while God’s only a ray of light, if He shows up at all?
by Elmore Leonard: The opening scene, where Chili Palmer is having lunch with a man who ends up getting shot by a hitman, is pretty good. But don’t expect the story to be about that crime. There are vague murmurings about possible connections with the Russian mafia but by and large the scene is nothing more than a hook to get you into the story, then forgotten about soon after. This book is a lot like Get Shorty except that it’s about a singer instead of a laundromat owner. The whole “let’s describe what’s really happening as if we’re making a movie” thing comes back full force, and it gets a little old. There’s even the formerly evil thug that has a change of heart and saves the day, just like in the last one. My suggestion would be to read either Get Shorty or Be Cool, but not both. The story just isn’t good enough to be read twice in a row.