Movie Reviews - Dear Frankie and Bride & Prejudice

When I watch a DVD, I always like to watch the previews. One reason is that many times I get an idea of how good the movie I'm going to watch will be. Sometimes, the weirder the previews the weirder the movie! Another is to get ideas for other movies I'd like to see.

So, a couple weeks ago, I got the movie Dear Frankie from the library. It had been recommended in a Catholic magazine I'd recently read. It is the story of a nine year old boy & his mother. She has hidden the truth of why his father is not in his life by telling him that his father is in the service. The boy, Frankie, writes letters to his father & sends them to a PO box. His mother, in turn, picks up the letters & replies as if she were his father. This all works well until one day a school mate informs him that his father's ship will be in their town port. So, the mother finds & pays a man to pretend to be the boy's father. The man is played by Gerard Butler, who played the Phantom in the movie version of The Phantom of the Opera musical. The movie itself was just okay for me & I am VERY surprised it was recommended in a Catholic magazine, due to some of the content & talk.

At the beginning of Dear Frankie, there was a preview for Bride & Prejudice, a Bollywood film. (If you're not familiar w/ Bollywood, it is the India version of Hollywood.) This is a modernized telling of Jane Austin's Pride & Prejudice and it is also a musical. I LOVED this movie, so much in fact that I watched it a second time w/ Casinodad! It stars Aishwarya Rai, who is one of the most popular actresses in India & very beautiful! Naveen Andrews (Sayid from LOST) is also in it, playing the best friend to Will Darcy. His role is VERY different from his character on LOST...can you see Sayid singing & dancing?!? Click HERE to see the Wedding Song - Balle Balle, in which he dances like the Indian version of MC Hammer.

Bride & Prejudice is a very clean movie, not even any kissing. Aishwarya Rai has never done a kissing scene in any of her movies & has no plans to. The only exception was one provocative dance by Ashanti. She's onstage at a beach night club surrounded by a dozen or so bare-chested males in jeans & barefeet. I think they could have left that part out.

Overall, this was such a FUN movie...one that I intend to own, as well as the soundtrack. I loved the music & dancing, as well as the story itself. It's a great romantic comedy that even Casinodad liked.

Let me know your thoughts if you've seen either of these movies!