 The possibility of Pierce Brosnan returning for another stint as 007 appeared more remote than ever following the reviews he is receiving for After the Sunset, in which he costars with Salma Hayek. "Mr. Brosnan has finally reached the age of flab, and the sight of Ms. Hayek's extravagant cleavage spilling over his hairy paunch isn't especially pretty," writes the New York Times' Stephen Holden, who calls the movie "so stale it feels like a retread of a retread." Lou Lumenick in the New York Post comments that Brosnan "is strictly on autopilot" in the movie, and Stephen Hunter in the Washington Post says he appears to be "sleepwalking" through it. Bob Strauss in the Los Angeles Daily News observes that Brosnan seems to be wearing a days-old beard stubble throughout the film. "It passes for character development," he notes wryly. Most of the reviews are devastating. Ty Burr in the Boston Globe says it may "look a lot better when it turns up on Cinemax at 1:00 a.m. in a few weeks." Steven Rea in the Philadelphia Inquirer drubs the movie as "the kind of glossy, Hollywood-forged waste of time that would depress even the most happily lackadaisical retiree." But Kevin Thomas of the Los Angeles Times, who can always be counted on for a contrary review, calls the movie "an unalloyed delight, bright and breezy escapist fare that's pure entertainment, filled with romance, adventure, humor, action, suspense, beautiful scenery and beautiful people. Best of all, it's got more emotion than gadgetry and special effects -- although those are spiffy indeed." |
