Reviews in a line or two: Nine to Five, Descendant and The Man Who Wasn’t There

Nine to Five (1980)
IMDb synopsis: “Three female employees of a sexist, egotistical, lying, hypocritical bigot find a way to turn the tables on him.”
dir. Colin Higgins
starring Jane Fonda, Lily Tomlin and Dolly Parton
Straight Talk will always be my favorite Dolly movie, but this one is a lot of fun. It successfully sets up the character of Frank as worthy of revengeful action before jumping into the thick of the plot, and it takes a few unexpected turns. The score: 3.8/5

Descendant (2003)
IMDb synopsis: “A young novelist, tormented by his family’s history and haunted by [his ancestor, Edgar Allan Poe], falls in love with a woman, a distant relative of his ancestor, whose friends and family begin to disappear mysteriously.”
dir. Kermit Christman and Del Tenney
starring Jeremy London and Katherine Heigl
Bad audio, costumes that look like they came from Party City’s discount section, laughably atrocious performances and a whole lot of disjointedness make up this mess of a film. It’s an absolute disgrace to Poe’s name, but a hilariously bad thriller that is somewhat enjoyable to watch because it’s so bad. The serious score: 0/5; Corny Cliff Scale score: 3/5

The Man Who Wasn’t There (2001)
IMDb synopsis: “A laconic, chain-smoking barber blackmails his wife’s boss and lover for money to invest in dry cleaning, but his plan goes terribly wrong.”
dir. Joel Coen; written by Joel and Ethan Coen
starring Billy Bob Thornton, Frances McDormand, James Gandolfini and a bunch of other awesome people
I absolutely love the Coen brothers and film noir is one of my favorite genres of film, so I had very high expectations for this. It didn’t quite live up to those expectations, but it does successfully spin a complicated tale of corruption, adultery, lies and death that never lost my interest at any point. Bonus points for beautiful black and white cinematography and a fantastic cast. The score: 4/5