Angelina Jolie proves her box-office versatility in Life or Something Like It, a romantic comedy (Jolie's first) that succeeds on the strength of Jolie's appealing performance. As Seattle TV news reporter Lanie Kerrigan, Jolie craves celebrity (i.e., she's insecure and seeks approval), but her disapproving cameraman (Edward Burns) detects an admirable woman beneath Lanie's bleached-blond coif and pancake makeup.
When Steven Spielberg was an adolescent, his first home movie was a backyard war film. When he toured Europe with Duel in his 20s, he saw old men crumble in front of headstones at Omaha Beach. That image became the opening scene of Saving Private Ryan, his film of a mission following the D-day invasion that many have called the most realistic--and maybe the best--war film ever. With 1998 production standards, Spielberg has been able to create a stunning, unparalleled view of war as hell. We are at Omaha Beach as troops are slaughtered by Germans yet overcome the almost insurmountable odds.
Bathed in self-conscious cool, Confidence is a heist caper in which the heist is unimportant. As you might expect from Glengarry Glen Ross director James Foley, this pulpy concoction is more interested in giving good actors a lot of hip, salty dialogue as they scheme their way to the royal scam. It's a poor man's Ocean's Eleven, just as enjoyable in its own way, beginning when con artist Jake (Edward Burns) discovers he's accidentally stolen from an eccentric crime boss (Dustin Hoffman, oozing threat in a fine character turn).
