gila_film

(2013-05-17 20:21:38)

Great love story is not always pleasant

Original sin was told us about a love tale that cross that sweet lines oflove. For some people maybe feel to be deceived by the trailer, because it shows the audience about a hot-basic instinct-kind-thriller. But, this movieis not that kind. It's more melodrama than thriller. It will bored somepeople, but for whom that would like to see a great unordinary tale aboutthe dangerous and sometimes lethal power of love drama, it's amust-see.The movie set in the exotic world of Cuba in the late 1800s. Luis AntonioVargas (Antonio Banderas), a wealthy coffee merchant, arranges a marriagethrough the mail but discovers that the woman who arrives to share his houseis an imposter with an eye on his fortune. When he arrives at the docks tomeet Julia Russell (Angelina Jolie), he is amazed to find that she is notthe simple woman he was expecting. Though happier than he ever imagined, thesurprises continue until the story takes a fateful turn (and happy endingofcourse).After all, I must give it 8/10

(2013-05-17 12:27:23)

Better than Expected

I will be honest with you. I went to see this movie for one reason and thatwas to see Angelina Jolie naked. I planned to leave after it was obviousthat there would be no more sex. After the first sex scene I had definitlyhad my fill of sex, however, I was not ready to go. There was only slightnudity in the rest of the movie, but I enjoyed it. Yes it was slow, but Ithink the critiques were way to hard on this one. I would go check it outfor you. It has a great story line, it just should have been about 20minutes shorter.

geminimanson

(2013-05-17 07:43:16)

This was an excellent film!

This was an excellent film. The loves scenes were great. Angelina Joliewasonce again amazing. The on screen chemistry between Jolie and Banderas wastruly realistic. The plot was intriguing, the costumes and settings werebeautiful.

(2013-05-17 00:33:38)

Better than expected

I had seen the rated version of this movie, but bought the unrated version instead. Great Movie...!! Rated or not. Worth the watch. Angelina Jolie is wonderful in this movie. And Antonino Banderas-its always a pleasure to watch him.

(2013-05-16 10:09:34)

excellent movie

I thought this was a great movie! Angelina is my fav actress and once again she did a great job here.(does anyone know what's the difference between this version and the unrated version?)

(2013-05-15 19:50:22)

Had to see it more than once.

This review is from: Original Sin (Unrated Version) (DVD) So now I own it! Forget Antonio, and that's not easy to do, the lushness of the Cuban plantation and the wonderful music do a great deal to hold this movie together. True, Luis seems a little less wordly than you would expect a rich, prostitute user of pre revelutionary Cuba to be, but Antonio is able to carry that off. One of the most believiable scenes is Luis, drunk and longing for Julia, is bent on finding her to kill her. You hope that he does! The story is a bit strained but I grew up on this kind of love hungary "film noir" movie. All in all, it is intertaining and isn't that what this is all about? If we wnated plausable stories we wouldn't be watching a to be intertained but to be educated.I think this movie did educate, don't get me wrong, the love scenes between Julia and Luis were VERY educational and believable, i'm sure many would have loved to change partners with Antonio or Anjolina! I picked up something new every time I saw it. The DVD is what is needed to watch this movie and appreciate what the story is all about. One last thing, did anyon, besides me, pick up on who is singing the song at the end?

Queen M

(2013-05-14 14:40:03)

Attention Grabber

I thought this movie was so well done. The Storyline was sointeresting. This is one of those movies that you watch to see whathappens next. It's very sexual but for the right reasons and usedproperly. The acting from everyone in this movie was excellent.Angelina was magnificent in this as usual. The scene where, Louis(Antonio) was looking for Julia (Angie) and and saw her at the hoteland came into her room, that scene was amazing. Both of them createdthis intensity that they were feeling and brought that out veryclearly. I have the unrated one and the whole movie from start tofinish is a definite attention grabber

Spleen

(2013-05-14 04:05:04)

Not at all bad

The original novella was called "Waltz into Darkness". The earlier FranГѓВ§oisTruffaut film version was called "Mississippi Mermaid" ("La SirГѓВЁne duMississippi"). What were they THINKING when they saddled this version withas dull a title as "Original Sin"?For the film isn't nearly as worthless as the all-purpose generic titlewould suggest. The main thing it has going for it, admittedly, is the story,which the director Michael Cristofer does little with but does nothing toscrew up. (Except perhaps - and this is just a minor nit-pick - use thosedopey jump cuts.) It's a good deal fresher than your average "eroticthriller"; the characters feel as though they have been conceived fromscratch rather than copied from something else, and the same can be said forthe overall mood. The nudity is NOT gratuitous in a bad sense. Badgratuitous nudity is there to please the director during filming or perhapsthe studio accountants; good gratuitous nudity is there to please theaudience. (Angelina Jolie certainly pleased me.) Besides, I can't see itworking as well WITHOUT the nudity; this is a tropical location, after all,and the directors use of human flesh suggests caressing heat and mildindolence and distance from the centres of the civilisations from whichthese people original came (America and Spain) rather well.Perhaps the pace is too CONSISTENTLY brisk. It undermines the tension. Inever said it was a great movie, but it works.

(2013-05-14 03:40:06)

Lead Us Into Darkness

I love this movie. I don't care how far fetched the plot is or how melodramatic the movie is. I found everything that makes me enjoy watching a movie right here. And yes seeing Angelina in her Lara Croft toned bod in the buff was the icing on this sinfully delicious devils food cake. In short, Original Sin is a romantic thriller. Set in the late 1800s, a wealthy Cuban merchant (Banderas) has sent off for a mail ordered bride who turns out not be the plain looking woman in the picture but a ravishing beauty (Jolie). But beneath her beauty and wanton sexuality lies a truely dangerous heart. I won't go any further storywise except to say that this movie does go pretty far off in left field. I mean, how many times does a woman have to try and kill you before you say "Enough!"? And yes there are lots of graphic sexuality shown; lots of close ups on limbs innertwined, lots of thrusting, and heavy on the moaning and the panting. Remember this version was released back when you could actually tell what scenes were re-instated instead of just a desperate marketing ploy to try and sell a cruddy movie that bombed in its theatrical run. But, for what its worth, the movie does entertain for its two hour span and even now, eleven years after purchasing it, I never grow bored while watching it. I guess the real moral of the story is if you order a bride off the Internet or from a catalogue and someone who looks like Angelina Jolie shows up, its probably better to Return To Sender.

(2013-05-13 16:21:58)

original sin. don't do it.

this is the first time i've ever felt it necessary to write a review of a movie. this is because this movie is So Deplorably Miserably Incomparably Bad that i feel compelled, nay, Required to tell you, the intelligent audience, to skip this one altogether. not since "Jack Frost" (He's Chillin' He's Killin') has there been a movie of such ghastly caliber. then again, perhaps it was supposed to be that bad...Do yourself a favor, call your mom, clean your house, rearrange your silverware drawer, but don't waste your time watching original sin.

(2013-05-12 21:19:15)

A good movie

This review is from: Original Sin (Unrated Version) (DVD) This a great way to spend a rainy with a person of the the one who is a part of your life.

Michael O'Keefe

(2013-05-12 06:11:34)

You can not just walk away from lust in love.

It is the 1880s and Cuba is a hotbed of commerce and personal manipulations.A wealthy businessman(Antonio Banderas) is thrust into a dizzy world ofdanger and mystery after marrying a sensationally beautiful woman(AngelinaJolie). Her past governs her future and her newlywed husband is obsessedwith giving her his whole world. The story line seems at times a bithaphazard; but the steamy love scenes are worth more than the cost ofadmission. And we are talking about full redeeming nudity, because thestory's very meaning lies within. Banderas has not been this powerful sinceMASK OF ZORRO(1998). And Miss Jolie evokes sex period. The sizzle betweenthe two is what holds the movie together. In supporting roles are ThomasJane and Jack Thompson. This movie may not be the best or even thatmemorable; but it will damn sure give you something to talkabout.

(2013-05-12 08:41:18)

Origianl Sin

I saw this at the theater, and I couldn't take my eyes off Angelina Jolie. Yet I think she has this affect in every movie she makes. It's a little twisted, and lots of body showing, but I liked it.

flimbuff

(2013-05-11 21:37:22)

ATTRACTIVE CAST FAILS

Interesting idea and attractive cast falls flat. A mail order bride turnsout to be far more attractive than the picture she sent and her husbandturns out to be a wealthy business man and not the simple clerk he claimedto be. Sounds like a plot for a pleasant romantic comedy right? Well Jolieturns out to be a plotting gold digger with an accomplice who murdered thereal bride to be and Banderas turns into a mushy, lovestruck moron. On topof that a maddening bongo drum beat tries to establish suspense wherethereisn't any. Waste of talent and time.

(2013-05-11 04:29:59)

CHEAP MELODRAMA?

"Original Sin" is yet another of those cheesy tales of bad love, disillusionment, revenge and possible redemption we can't seem to get enough of; as such, it has all the usual strengths and weaknesses. ... Much panned by critics and a letdown at the box office, this is actually a much better example of its genre than one might first believe. The leads are engaging (particularly the dazzling Jolie), the mystery deep and dark, and the depiction of Eros and the madness induced by his poison arrows true to life. Michael Cristofer's direction is fluid and frequently original, even if his story is not. The film's primary handicaps are a flagging pace in the middle and some glaringly bad dialogue. Of course this isn't high drama, but the viewer who doesn't expect too much should find "Original Sin" a generally fun and mostly painless way to waste a couple of expendable hours.

Bernard Kelly

(2013-05-10 19:16:03)

Not much good, really.

This seemed, from the trailer, to be the only interesting thing on in thecinema. In fact, there was nothing interesting on in thecinema.First, the idea is not original. Quite apart from the previous adaptationsof the source book (none of which I've seen), there's "Sommersby" (itself aremake), "The Talented Mr Ripley", and possibly many others. I'm not sayingthe plots are identical, but where this one splits off is in its slavishattention to banality and predictability.The principal catchphrase from the film, uttered three or four times byJolie, declares that "this is not a love story, but a story about love".Such a statement does not excuse the total lack of chemistry between theleads - the only one who really seems emotionally involved is ThomasJane.On the plus side, the sets are occasionally gorgeous, and the editing not sobad as some previous commentators have suggested (mostly a question of stylethan skill, though the style seems misplaced). And if you're *really* intoJolie, yes, you *do* get to see a lot of her. Whoop-dee-do.

sickcritik

(2013-05-10 14:19:20)

some nice scenes with boring parts

I went to Original Sin for one shallow reason, I wished to see boobs on thebig screen, and not just any boobs, but the breasts of Tomb Raider's ownAngelina Jolie. Call my original sin oogling or something, but not covetingmy neighbors wife, as Billy Bob Thornton doesn't live near me.I went having seen about one commercial for this movie, and the lack ofadvertising showed. I believe there were six other people in the entiretheater that Saturday night. This is not a good sign for a movie on itsopening weekend. Original Sin stars the aforementioned Mrs. Billy Bob Thornton, and AntonioBanderas. Who, I have concluded is perhaps one of the luckiest actors infilm today, he has romped about with Salma Hayek, (in Desperado) and nowAngelina Jolie. The Story Cuban rich guy, Luis (Antonio) corresponds for a while with a woman inAmerica, she decides to come down to Cuba and they will get married.Angelina, as Julia shows up as the woman, a woman who doesn't match thedescription or picture of the woman he had been writing to. The reason: Ididn't want you to love me for a pretty face. Shortly thereafter Luis beginsnoticing inconsistencies in what he knows of her from her letters, and heractions. Is this really Julia? Things begin to get stranger when Julia refuses to write to her sister backin the states. Julia's love for the theater is immediately apparent, and somight be some telling signs of infidelity. Luis great sex is about to endwhen a man claiming to be a private investigator shows up and wants to seeJulia. Mr. Private Investigator, Billy, is an evil man, and I cheered forhis death. Luis, blinded by the great sex, (as we men are prone to) stupidlygoes and puts Julia's name on all his bank accounts. Julia disappears, leaving Luis with about $65. Gee, Didn't see that comingdid you? Luis decides he is going to devote himself to hunting her down and killingher, then the story takes some interesting twists and turns, and we find outthat Julia isn't really the bad girl at all, she's totally controlled bysomeone else. We feel for Jolie's character, that's for sure.Luis genuinely loves Julia, and it would seem that the controlled Juliahonestly has fallen in love with Luis. So, how can they be together whenJulia is ordered to kill Luis? You'll have to see the movie to find out, I won't give it all away.Instead, I shall discuss the scenes. The scenery, the story set in Cuba has great sets, there are numerouselaborate looking houses, all set to a period long ago. The place sure lookslike it would be nice. Of course, it's only in the movies.SEX! Umm, the sex scenes I mean. OK, so we get to see Angelina's Boobs, they aren't all bouncing all over theplace, instead we get some tastefully done love scenes between her andAntonio. Guys will have to endure seeing Antonio's butt in order to seeAngelina's boobs, not a bad trade off. But, this wasn't a film which left meneeding to go home and change my underwear. The number of nudey scenes aren't even that many, and this isn't terriblydisappointing. I had expected some big time erotic thriller story, butinstead, was left with more of a love story with some sex and killingsthrown in. How about that acting? Seemed awful good to me. What I did find nice was how this film is narratedat points by Angelina's character while she is telling a priest her story asshe waits to be executed in Jail. You are left to wonder throughout most ofthe film, OK, what did she do? Who does she kill? How did she get caught? Itis my opinion that the narration and the incarceration helped the film,rather than took away from it. It kept the audience with questions.Most of these things will be answered. We don't know exactly why she isthrown in jail to be executed, but it could be one of a few things. We alsomust assume she is caught when trying to save the one she loves. Finallyputting her love of someone above what she has been forced to do for solong, and her own self preservation. Antonio plays the left behind lover filled with rage very well, and we seethe internal strife he must combat when he finally catches up with Julia,does he love her enough to not kill her? Of course. Does he want her back?Of course. Shortly after catching up with her, there is a GREAT scene wherehe answers the door. Well worth not spoiling it by giving it away.The "Private Investigator" or "Billy" He is convincing to Luis as someone who is there to help him, but really hasulterior motives. He is evil, he needs to die, and needs to die a slowpainful death. See, he had that kind of effect on me, therefore, hisperformance was very well done. God, I really love Angelina Jolie's lips, don't you think she can do a realgood you know what? I'm sure she swallow everything.The implied gang rape. Sure, it isn't shown, and that's a good thing. But I abhor rape, and foundit not necessary to the story in the least bit. The Cutting. Julia/Bonnie has some scars on her back. We even see another line added toher four scars, but we don't really know what the point of them is. If it isa way of keeping track of how many men she's seduced and stolen their money,it sure seems stupid. Finally..... I would say that Original Sin will come and go from the theater in anotherweek or so do to terrible marketing, and judging by the size of theaudience, terrible ticket sales. This is to bad, Original Sin is a decentfilm which would better fit in the winter film line up.Oh, and one more thing. It is just amusing to hear how often who-res are brought up in the film.Someone even tells Luis to just go get a good who-re and everything will bebetter.

(2013-05-09 22:53:49)

Cuban Bedroom Gymnastics.

Somebody else wrote than Antonio's butt, which appears almost as much as his face in this film, is worth 1 star alone. Yeah, maybe just the one - personally I think it's seen better days. Somebody else described "Original Sin" as a convincing period piece. Um, it's not. This is not Cuba of any period, this is a 2 hour Ralph Lauren Safari ad. But you know, I saw it in the theatre (on a date, isn't that hilarious) and then I rented the DVD, cuz what can I say, sometimes I enjoy a 2 hour Ralph Lauren Safari ad. Specifically I like that scene with all those petals raining down on that huge party in the hotel in (I think it's supposed to be) Havana. I watch that and I want to be there. Also, the actors are eye candy. And since I did see both the theatrical release and the DVD, I know what the DVD includes for "extra footage" - but I could probably have guessed anyway. I mean, we've got two naked people on a bed of roses on the cover, with "Unrated Edition" scrolled across the top and a pull-quote that says "Steamy!" Things get pretty raw in this movie considering it isn't an actual porno - don't watch it if sex annoys you or whatever. I wonder if Melanie and Billy Bob get together on a Sunday night and watch it. Other than that it just seems to play off Angelina Jolie's public persona as a beautiful, slightly disturbed, sexually charismatic in a vaguely wicked way, thrill-seeking bad girl. It's a shame she hasn't been in more really good films, cuz she has proved she can act. But "Tomb Raider" was awful, "Life or Something Like It" was awful, and this is beyond awful. So awful it's hilarious - which can be a good thing. Watch it and laugh, or watch it for the lush department store idealizations of Cuba, or watch it cuz you like to see pretty naked people having sex (admit it). Don't watch it cuz you want to see a compelling drama, cuz...you won't.

(2013-05-08 18:18:03)

Hot, hot, hot!!

This movie is so sexy. Antonio Banderas and Angelina Jolie look fantastic. It is a love story with quite a few twists. I highly recommend it.

stokeman

(2013-05-08 07:11:51)

Could have been an epic romance - it was not - not bad though

First to say: This was one good movie, entertaining and interesting andsomehow even exciting. Cast and the core of the story were really notbad....not bad..actually that's, what this movie was. But it could havebeenreally great.It was not because the actors sometimes could not be convincing enough.Actually it was not an actor-problem, but more a screenplay- ordirector-problem. The adjustment of the original story with a standardhollywood-template simply was too obvious. The atmosphere was not bad, butit was not really continuous. The cuban flair and atmosphere of thesettingalso could have been brought to the screen in a more intense way. So itlacked the great excitement. But you always can do it better.In fact it was a really romantic, erotic, entertaining and thrillinglovestory (sorry...a story about love ;-)). Compared to the horriblestandard crap-romances you could see at the cinemas the last years it wasvery refreshing. Watch it without great expectations and you will besurprised. 7 Stars!!