As Good As It Gets

Absolutely Fantastic

The acting in this movie is really good.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

The Forger is nowhere near as most critics make it out to be. It has a talented cast, solid pacing, a great family component and a classic Travolta performance. It will keep you hooked throughout. However, it's never surprising and doesn't break any new ground. (3/5)

"The Forger" from 2014 stars John Travolta, Christopher Plummer, Tye Sheridan, Jennifer Ehle, Abigail Spencer, and Anson Mount.Travolta plays Raymond Cutter, an art forger in prison for five years. Ten months before he's due to be released, he insists that his attorney "call Keegan." Keegan is part of a crime syndicate, and bribes a judge with $50,000 to get an early release for him.Cutter wants the early release because his teenage son (Tye Sheridan) has stage IV brain cancer, and Cutter wants as much time with him as he can get. But in order for Keegan to do that, Cutter had to agree to forge a Monet painting and switch it with the real one in a museum.The terrific performances really make this movie. John Travolta is excellent as a man trying to forge a relationship with his son. Christopher Plummer steals the show as Travolta's retired crook dad, abrasive with a loving heart beneath all the gruff. Tye Sheridan (Will) does a beautiful job as a kid who has moments of fear, knows his fate, and at first resents his father, and then realizes his father's talent and love for him. Very touching film, with some great Boston locations. It has a few problems - the forgery/heist story is a little sketchy, but as a family drama it really works. A great rental.

Review: This movie is watchable, just because you want to know if they get away with the heist but it does seem cheap and the acting isn't that great. Travolta plays a art forger who has to take on one last job to pay of a debt to a criminal who bribed a judge to get him released from prison 10 months early so be with his son, who is dying of cancer. Whilst preparing for the heist, he spends time with his son who asks for three wishes which are to see his mum, who he has never seen before, to get laid and to help his dad with the heist. After much persuasion, he teaches his son the ropes to steal an expensive painting by Claude Monet and he also recruits his father who has knowledge in the heist game. With the police hot on there tail, they set out to swap the painting with a replica whilst cooperating with a certain police officer who believes that his motives are not what they seem. I'm not used to the moody Travolta, who has lost his spark lately but he managed to pull of a good performance, even though this film seemed like it was made for DVD. I did get quite confused when it came to the actual heist because it seemed way to easy and I haven't got a clue how they got away with it. I also didn't understand how they were able to leave the country so easy after being accused of stealing a painting but thats just me being picky. The storyline was a bit sketchy but I did like the bond between Travolta and his son, which started off to be a little awkward but once he knew that his dads intentions were genuine, they bonded quite well. Christopher Plummer brought light to the difficult situation with his humorous attitude but I didn't quite understand what happened to the gangster who needed the painting to pay of his debt. Anyway, it's not the most intelligent heist movie that I've seen but it's watchable because of the different elements involved. Average!Round-Up: What has happened to Travolta lately! I can understand why his acting career had to be put on the back burner lately, after losing his son in 2009 whilst on a trip in the Bahamas, so that might explain why he only releases one film a year since then. His career has definitely had its up and downs throughout the years, especially during the 80's after he struggled to make a decent movie after pairing up with Olivia Newton John again, in the awful Two of a Kind but he came back with smash hits during the 90s in movies like Pulp Fiction, which brought him back into the limelight, Get Shorty, Phenomenon, Broken Arrow, Michael, Face/Off, Primary Colours, A Civil Action and a Generals Daughter. After investing in the terrible Battlefield Earth, his career has never hit the success as it did during the 90s but his acting abilities have never been questioned. He seems to deep in and out of different genres by starring in comedies like Old Dogs and Hairspray one minute and then moving to action movies like the Taking of Pelham 123 and From Paris With Love the next, so his career is definitely not stable at the moment. I do wish him all the best after such a terrible tragedy in his life and I'm sure Tarantino is busy writing another movie to bring him back to mainstream cinema. Anyway, this is the first movie directed by Philip Martin for the big screen so I can't criticise him that much. He did bring different elements to the project which made it quite interesting but it did seem low budget and sketchy. Basically, it's better than I expected but it's still not the standard that I expect from Travolta.Budget: $11million Worldwide Gross: N/AI recommend this movie to people who are into their crime/drama/thrillers about a man who seeks help from a gangster so he can be released from prison 10 months early to spend some time with his dying son but he has to steal a expensive painting to pay back the debt. 3/10

I took a quick look at the most recent user comments for this movie before typing this up, and it sure seems this film has divided people - people either love or hate it. I think that those viewers who didn't like the movie may have felt they were promised something different (a traditional caper movie) than what the movie actually is (a character study.) I admit that I thought I was going to get something closer to a caper movie, but I didn't mind at all what I actually got. The movie is pretty well done for what it is. There is some good acting here, for one thing. While Travolta (who has a weird looking toupee and facial hair) is just adequate, Plummer gives spark to his scenes, and the youthful Tye Sheridan does very well at all, making his teenage character interesting and vulnerable instead of obnoxious. It's primarily the script that makes their characters and the others not boring. I actually got interested in these people, and I didn't have any idea as to how they would end up until the end of the movie. I will admit that the movie is somewhat slow a lot of the time, and could have used a bit more excitement here and there (the art theft scene is surprisingly short). But in the end, I thought the movie was okay. Just don't see it if you are in the mood for action/adventure or a traditional caper movie, that is.