The Maker (1997)

Such a frustrating disappointment

i must have seen a different film!!

Don't listen to the negative reviews

In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

I ordered a very cheap copy of this movie from eBay. The DVD doesn't look very attractive - I had to forgot about the cover and start to watch.Josh (played by my favourite Jonathan Rhys Meyers) is an American teenager growing up in the 90's - he hangs out with friends, has crush on a pretty cop and occasionally succumbs to booze. When he turns 18, his older long-lost brother (Matthew Modine) re- appears. He wants Josh to help him with some business, but it turns out it's a dirty game. The one who lies, who plays the trick, is "The Maker" and gets most of the money.The terribly young Meyers managed his first leading role very well. Only one week had he to learn speak American English and hide his native Irish accent and he obviously succeeded. Modine plays the sneaky older brother trustfully. Resumé? This not much known 90's American thriller IS worth watching. And now come on, it's time for The Maker to play his final trick...

I can always seem to tell how good a movie is going to be by the opening soundtrack music. This movie was no exception. I've heard better music on a Casio keyboard pre-programmmed. I watched this based the actors merit only. It was almost a complete waste of time. Only a movie with this thin of a plot could have as many holes. The funnest part of this movie was the word game played with the main character and his girlfriend. I've seen better. Too many to mention. I've seen worse. The only one that comes to mind is From Justin To Kelly. If you want to waste some time at 3 in the morning whilst madly drunk, be my guest. Otherwise, change the channel.

There were so many good things here -- interesting characters, good details (like the Minnell's perfect home being right next to an ugly industrial complex), and the potential for a nice dramatic movie about troubled brothers reuniting. The filmmakers had lots of good ideas and no way to weave them together into a coherent movie. Modine was sadly unconvincing as a bad guy, Madsen was an unnecessary scenery-chewing addition, and how Balk's character was written off was a crime. The scenes between Bella and Josh were the best. Jonathan Rhys Meyers was excellent! (He does a good American accent.) He brought a very genuine, believable feel to the character Josh. It's a shame the movie let him down by becoming increasingly implausible, and finally just a low-budget action climax cliche. Good cast & good ideas make this worth seeing.

for starters, a movie with mathew modine as a career criminal and a bad influence on a young "troubled" teen can be summed up before viewing the film as crap. this could be deemed ignorant, but heh? whatever. the writing was reminiscent of a "troubled" idiot who seems to have a bit of "trouble" with plot, seeing as how there is little to none of it here. the acting is far below satisfactory, the directing was lackluster at best, the ending was laughable, as was the attempt to convince viewers that this was a touching story. honestly, i'm shocked that any one with the time to enter a comment would be so devoid of knowledge or good taste. "tell me how to be the maker." throw me a bone here! that's ridiculous ( to say the least). anyhow, i wanted everyone to know that the above are stupid and this movie really is bad. a "hot" star and a "hip" soundtrack do not amount to a good movie... the fact it made its permier on cable will amount to that. i can't think of a good cable movie.... ever! there... i said my piece.