Customer Reviews

Paparazzi (Widescreen Edition)

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(17)
3 star:		(16)
2 star:		(11)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

I liked this movie. It was no classic, and it's garnering fairly mediocre reviews, or worse, but it was pretty enjoyable, and my wife and I both liked it. You can guess what happens, and Amazon foolishly gave away the ending with its synopsis here. Anyhow, I liked the movie because:

1) Paul Abascal is a cool guy.
2) Many people dislike the paparazzi, and within this movie we can live out a little fantasy about things turning around on them.
3) The ending was great. Predictable, but good.

Don't go into this expecting a five star movie, but if you're looking for something entertaining and well done for what it is, this movie fits the bill.

On seeing the previews for this film back in Oct. or so and hearing that Mel Gibson directed it sure didnt suprise me,via his love for violence,(Lethal Weapon,Braveheart,The Partriot,Payback etc.)But this movie goes a lot farther than that.For one thing it is a drama,but has a comical side to it,your very much rooting for this man to just beat the $#%$ out of thsese guys for not leaving him and his family alone.And all the while he trys not to get caught in his revenge towards them,and actually sets them up very well so that they actually get themselves killed etc.This makes for a very interesting semi-drama-semi action film.Definately you can see Mel's touches in the way the story is approached and how it is executed,many little things remind you of what HE HIMSELF would have done in the Lethal Weapon films.And i will have to agree that anyone who would mess with my family would suffer the same fate:)....So i totally back this film,keep up the good work MEL!!!

Maybe PAPARAZZI is reprehensible in its legitimizing the murder of vile photographers, but as movies go, it's entertaining and I for one was delighted to see these heartless, incendiary shutterbugs get their just desserts. Cole Hauser is effective as studly Bo Laramie, a hot new star whose life changes drastically when the paparazzi start invading all aspects of his life, eventually resulting in a car accident that seriously injures his wife and son. Hauser decides to take things on his own, and get revenge on the four responsible for this. Head honcho Tom Sizemore is vile and despicable, and one can't wait for him to get what's coming to him, that's for sure. Former cop Dennis Farina is on hand as the detective out to snare both the paparazzi and the murderer. We get some cameos from Vince Vaughn, Mel Gibson, Matthew McConaughey and Chris Rock. I liked this movie, because I despise the tabloids' reckless abandon in supposedly bringing the "truth" to the world. Freedom of the press should not include stretching the truth and fabricating it as well.

Mel Gibson served as co-producer of this routine revenge thriller that harkens back to the days of Charles Bronson in the original Death Wish. Cole Hauser stars as Bo Laramie; a rising Hollywood action star who exacts deadly revenge on a group of paparazzis (including Tom Sizemore and sleazy Daniel Baldwin) after they cause a car accident which leaves his wife (Robin Tunney) injured and his young son in a coma. Investigating the accident and the following crimes is a detective (Dennis Farina) who may or may not know what Bo is up to: all of which spirals towards an unlikely climax where the sleaze balls get what they deserve. Paparazzi is a generic revenge thriller that is partly inspired, but it's Hauser (who has been in everything from Dazed & Confused to Pitch Black to 2 Fast 2 Furious, and soon to be in the Cave) who carries the film on his shoulders which saves it from complete mediocrity. There are cameos from other celebrities pampared throughout the film; including Vince Vaughn, Chris Rock, Matthew McConaughey, and even Gibson himself.

"Paparazzi" is an educational film for me. Mel Gibson was the producer on this and its a life lesson on privacy, celebrity status, and an overzealous press. The action is swift, and the screenplay is breezy, but it feels like a "Law and Order" episode.

The acting is fine, the direction is solid, and the subject is important and timely. If this was addressed sooner maybe the princess would still be with us.

Unlike most actioners, this film has a very important message. Actually two. Privacy is a right that should be everyones. Even celebrities. The second message is sometimes the press goes too far.

This movie is fun anywho and the action is solid enough tp ignore some plot holes.

I primarily saw this movie because of the trailer for the film with Cole Hauser. I was impressed with the aura and strength he gave off in. It's pure old Hollywood 'Leading man' charisma which I really like.

I agree that it is not a cinematic masterpiece. But neither was it so bad that I wanted to walk out on it.

The film is about a Hollywood actor Bo Laramie. He's an up and comming Action actor in Hollywood who has just recently found success with a hit movie. He's a dedicated family man with a wife and a son and he comes from a rural background in rural Montana. He has old fashioned values such as fair play and being kind to people etc..

Unfortunely he soon finds out that these ethics and values don't apply in Hollywood. He finds himself and his family persued and hounded by a pack of unethical and dispicable tabloid photographers. To the point where they cause a car accident endagering the life of his family.

When Bo sees that they have no remorse about what they have done and are still intent on making his life miserable. He takes matters into his own hands.

I really liked this film. First of all I thought that it was very well executed. And I liked the transformation of Bo, the lead character. In a round about way it reminded me of the Count Of Monte Cristo. In that the protagonist had a good heart and did not want to harm others at first. But as the story goes on he is stripped of his naivety when he sees just how nasty and ugly some people can be. And that he has to defend himself against such people. I found the two red carpert sequences very interesting. First at the begining and the one at the end. Becasue it showed the difference in the character.

Anyway I really enjoyed this film and I hope to see more Cole Hauser in more leading men roles.

Its the ultimate vigilante movie!! I bet something that celebrities would do to the nastiest of all paparazzi. The actors that were chosen to play their respective roles were excellent choices.

This is definitely a go see movie-rent it/buy it today!

I have to admit that I didn't find this movie appealing when I first heard about it but I ended up getting it in the mail in a dvd lot. I watched it one night and I was absolutely astounded at how awesome this movie is - I was going to just watch half and go to bed but I couldn't - I was hooked. Mel Gibson is the director and wow, you can tell! The plotline is incredible and the movie keeps you at the edge of your seat. If you weren't thinking about seeing this movie, think again. You will enjoy it!

I enjoy an occasional trashy novel, so it shouldn't be surprising that I enjoyed this trashy flick that has no redeeming social value whatsoever.

Here, Cole Hauser is Hollywood's new golden boy action hero, Bo Laramie. Now that he's made the A-list, Bo naturally becomes prey for the PAPARAZZI, in this case a group of four led by Rex Harper (Tom Sizemore). After Laramie decks Rex for photographing the former's young son, Zach (Blake Bryan), the latter vows to destroy the star's life. One night, the photogs unintentionally cause the Laramie's car to become involved in an auto accident that puts Zach in the hospital with a coma. The paparazzis' involvement in the affair can't be proven, and they continue their harassment of the Laramies, subsequently painting Bo as a womanizer and his wife Abby (Robin Tunney) as a drug addict. Bo begins to get seriously annoyed.

PAPARAZZI is a guilty pleasure somewhat reminiscent of the first two films of the DEATH WISH series starring Charles Bronson as Paul Kersey, an otherwise law abiding businessman who wrecks a terrible vengeance on assorted dirtbags who kill his wife and daughter. Paul's vigilantism is suspected by cop Frank Ochoa (Vincent Gardenia), who can't prove, and perhaps even sympathizes with, Kersey's involvement. Similarly in PAPARAZZI, police Detective Burton (Dennis Farina) gives Bo long, penetrating stares, but can't do much else.

Laramie's revenge on Rex and his pals goes way beyond "eye for an eye", although his method's credibility doesn't hold up to close viewer scrutiny. What makes the comeuppance so satisfying is that Sizemore plays a particularly venomous Harper opposite Hauser's Bo, who's a rather bland Mr. Nice Guy; Sizemore steals the show.

For punching Rex out, Laramie must undergo court-ordered anger management therapy. This sets up a fleeting cameo - don't blink or you'll miss it - involving the film's producer Mel Gibson in the shrink's waiting room. Presumably, Gibson's role here is as his hot-headed, berzerker cop persona, Martin Riggs, from the LETHAL WEAPON series, and is a hoot.

Short synopsis: an up and coming movie actor is pursued by a pack of evil paparazzi. After being hounded by them to the point where he gets in a car accident with his family, he takes matters into his own hands and starts to pursue the paparazzi himself.

For the record, I like the guy who plays the main character -- Cole Hauser. He hasn't really been in much that you would notice him in (he's the blend-in, character actor type -- but looks like a leading man, which is why he was cast in this movie), but I recently saw him in White Oleander and I thought he was fantastic. He's reminiscent of young Marlon Brando, and is hopefully going to be getting more noticeable roles in things.

Apparently this film was directed by a guy who used to be a hairdresser on a bunch of Mel Gibson films (Mel produced this film), but all the movie reviewers who are referring to the guy snidely as "Mel's hairdresser" are being pretty short-sighted, as the guy has quite a list of things he's directed, so he obviously has experience. Besides, there's no law that says a person who's good at hairdressing can't be good at other things, too.

I guess the studio didn't screen the film for the press, which I think automatically biases the press against the movie. A lot of internet critics are writing really bad reviews for a movie that really isn't that bad. This film did a great job of putting the audience in the position of the paparazzi-hounded actor. Hauser turned in a good performance as a charismatic and likeable guy with a big dark edge, which made his character interesting and watchable.

The movie wasn't perfect -- there was an unnecessary opening voice-over which totally didn't fit, the four-man paparazzi team was pretty much straight evil with no humanizing characteristics, which isn't realistic, and the cop in the film might have been a titch too dumb. There were several cameos which were kind of distracting, but entertaining anyway, and there was some humor that seemed kind of offbeat to the intensity of the film. All of these are minor complaints. I enjoyed the film.

Anyway, the bad buzz for the film and the lack of press screening might be the death knell for this film, which I think should have earned a respectable box office. Hopefully the theaters will keep it for another couple weeks and people like me will tell their friends that it's worth seeing, and it won't be completely buried. My audience seemed to really enjoy it, so maybe you will too.