Reel Insight Episode 44: Paul Bettany

We can't seem to get enough of our British stars.  Mr. Bettany was pushed a few times, from the fall and now he arrives at the dawn of spring.  We also discuss the return of "Friday Night Lights" (why aren't you watching it yet?), the super-sized "Glee", I love you Phillip Morris and it turns out Super is MUCH darker than anticipated (Rachel told me I won't like it).  Oh, and then we chat about Paul Bettany too.

New Movies with Paul Bettany I watched this week:

Firewall - I can't get this one out of my head.  Harrison Ford owns a computer security company that can get into bank accounts.  Bettany is a great bad-guy for the first 90 minutes, but when things start going against him he crumbles rather unattractively.  Good nerdy tension, and complicated thriller, but the ending was a bit weak.

After the Rain - When this ended I was thinking it would make a terrific play, and then found out it's based on the play "Soweto's Burning".  Taking place in South Africa during apartheid, Bettany plays an Afrikaans soldier who can't kill.  He goes AWOL and when he gets home he finds his girlfriend Emma in bed (platonically) with a black man, Joseph.  He's as freaked out by the white woman helping him as Bettany is to find him there.  Bettany takes them hostage trying to get them to say they've been sleeping together.  It doesn't end well for anyone but Joseph, and I really enjoyed the movie.  

Creation  - This could have been amazing, tellings us more about the real-life of Charles Darwin.  However, it focused on his love for his daughter, his stomach problems, and really ignored his thinking about evolution.  He struggled with how to say it because his wife was devoutly religious.  But the movie was really dull.

Legion - This was soooo bad.  Bettany plays archangel Michael who wants to save mankind from the devastation that God is about to rain down.  Of course the baby to bring about the future is at a diner in the middle of nowhere with some seriously terrible characters.  It's funny enough to enjoy a few more times, but not intentionally.  And as Rachel pointed out, Bettany looks AMAZING.