Roughly speaking, a film review is a short description aimed at providing the potential viewer with the information about its strengths and weaknesses. The style of a review is reader-oriented and can be either formal or informal. The main grammar peculiarity is the preferential use of present tenses. As for the structural peculiarities, a review normally contains the following parts:
- An introduction, which gives all the background information, such as the type of the film, cast and the director, main characters and the setting.
- A main body, which deals with the key plot elements as well as the comments on the acting, directing and character development.
A conclusion, which is mainly the opinion of the author about whether the film is worth watching.
Consider the following examples of movie reviews in order to get familiarized with the style peculiarities:
1. Formal review introduction
Released in 1999, American Beauty shocked the audience, questioning the very basis of the American family life ideal. A powerful and provoking tragical comedy, created by Sam Mendes and a wonderful cast of Kevin Spacey (Lester Burnham), Annette Benning (Caroline Burnham), Mena Suvari (Angela Hayes) and Thora Birch (Jane Burham), exploits the usual topic of the midlife crisis, but uncovers a deep hidden conflict of the personality feeling oppressed within the limits of the “normal” life and the society, which uses a wide range of tools to make you behave in the correct way.
2. Informal review introduction
Tired of sobby melodramas and stupid comedies? Why not watch a film with a difference? American Beauty by Sam Mendes is both a drama and a comedy, which definitely absorbed the best features of the genres, creating a powerful and mind-boggling cocktail of love, hatred, sinful passion, rebellion, loneliness, fear and total liberation.