Book of Eli/ The New Daughter

154. The Book of Eli
155. The New Daughter


The Book of Eli is a post-apocalyptic action/thriller.

Denzel Washington stars as Eli, a man walking from the east coast all the way out to the west coast. Set 30 years after an apocalyptic event, his road is littered with very little food and lots of trouble from roving groups of people who would be more than happy to dine on his flesh. Eli can hold his own however, as he is quite skilled in fighting and with weapons. Nearing the coast, he stops at a small town built and run by Carnegie. Carnegie dreams of building more towns but his plans are dependent on a book that Eli happens to have in his possession. He's going to try to get the book out of Eli's hands...one way or another.

This movie was directed by the Hughes brothers, best known for Menace II Society and Dead Presidents. It was their first movie in over 9 years. The story is engaging, sucking you into Eli's world right from the start. There are quite a few good action set pieces along the way, all of which are well done. The cast is excellent with Washington really setting the tone as Eli. I've always been a fan of his and have really yet to see a bad performance from him. Carnegie is played by Gary Oldman in a solid performance. Support comes from Mila Kunis, Jennifer Beals, Tom Waits and Malcolm McDowell.

Overall, this is a really good movie. It's nearly two hours but it moves along at a nice pace. I really enjoyed it. I highly recommend checking it out when it hits video on June 15th.


The New Daughter stars Kevin Costner as John James, a newly divorced father of two kids. He has just purchased an old country house to live in. Things are going well until he begins to notice a change in his daughter.

This movie is the directorial debut from screenwriter Luis Berdejo. Berdejo is best known for writing [REC]. Aside from Costner, this flick stars Ivana Baquero and Samantha Mathis. Support comes from Gattlin Griffith, Noah Taylor, James Gammon and Erik Palladino. The cast is pretty good. I'm a fan of Costner so I've enjoyed most of his stuff. It's actually nice to see him doing something that's not a romantic comedy or sports movie at this point. Baquero is solid as the titular daughter. She's best known for her role as Ofelia in Pan's Labyrinth. She's definitely got a bright future ahead of her.

While the cast is good, I can't quite say the same of the movie. On a whole, it's decent but it could have been much better. The story is interesting, touching on a mythology not often seen in movies. I just feel as though once that stuff was revealed in the movie, it just kind of started to topple over from its own weight. There really wasn't anywhere else to go from there but down. It's too bad, because the first hour or so built a really solid feeling of dread.

Overall, The New Daughter is decent but nothing worth really hunting down. If you're a Costner fan, see it. Otherwise, skip it.