Word: villainized
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...supervises a raggedy bunch of street musicians. While Williams would have excelled at the role of a freelance artiste who teaches Rush how to play the guitar, the direction turns him into a psychotic, exploitive, and morally ambiguous child abuser. Wizard’s poorly conceived role as the villain ultimately slows the film, detracting from its simple magic. On a positive note, the film’s well shot. In particular, bright colors create a sense of easy-going warmth in places where the film’s happiest, music-related moments occur. The white light from a window...
...villain of the piece is Spacey, as a Scrooge type, sent from McKinsey-like headquarters, whose job is to impose stricter rules on all benefactors of children. (The Tooth Fairy has been told she can put money under kids' pillow only after the first tooth.) Conversion is the fate of every marplot in a movie like this. So Spacey, who played Lex Luthor in last year's Superman Returns, gets a Superman cape for Christmas. In-jokes and cross-marketing (the same company, Warner Bros., released both Fred Claus and Superman Returns) are about as sophisticated as this movie gets...
...Santa Claus story—and breathe some life into it by means of talented actors. Cast box office king Vince Vaughn as the protagonist, throw in a little Paul Giamatti, Kathy Bates, and Rachel Weisz to add some Oscar cred, and get Kevin Spacey to play the villain. You’ve gotta get Spacey to play the villain. The man put Gwyneth Paltrow’s head in a box in “Se7en,” so he’s sure to bring some lighthearted evil to “Fred Claus...
...also improved by the fact that Crowe's bumptious character comes to enjoy the man's company, even becoming his attorney when he leaves law enforcement. It's the old Dostoyevskian bit about cop and crook being brothers under the skin. In the film, the only truly loathsome villain is a crooked cop, Detective Trupo, played with wonderful brutality by Josh Brolin, who encourages us to think that the only real crime is to interrupt the smooth flow of criminal entrepreneurship...
...shame No Country for Old Men doesn't officially open till Nov. 9, since it has a villain crazier, scarier and more implacable than any Halloween horror ghoul. As incarnated by the great Javier Bardem, Anton Chigurh is a killer from hell who likes to play mind games with his victims before he makes them play dead. How could an ordinary fellow like Llewelyn Moss (Josh Brolin) hope to elude this monster, when Moss has $2 million that Chigurh plans to get back without saying please...