I'm having the same problem. I love Steve Martin and Jason Schwartzman but hate Claire Danes simply for being Claire Danes. I did enjoy the book, but seriously, sitting through 2 hours of the Danes may kill me.

Good luck on your decision!

Same problem here. I don't care that Danes gave a "flawless performance" (some review I read). Blah! She sucks! Maybe we can rent it on DVD when it comes out, and that will be better. Then you can throw popcorn at the screen anytime she's on.

I did see Mr. and Mrs. Smith though, because as sad as the breakup was, dude, Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie are both so hot that I couldn't NOT see it. Not to mention, the soundtrack is pretty damn good.

YAY! Claire Danes haters unite!!!

I'm half-Filipino so I still can't let go of the comments she made about filipinos after filming Broken Down Palace (that they are gross, have no teeth, eyes, legs. Yes, she REALLY said all that). The Philippines banned her after that. Granted, she was much younger and gave a half-hearted apology afterwards, but it was such an ignorant thing to say. The Billy Crudup thing sealed it for me.

My advice is not to see the movie in theatres and wait to see if others say its good. I think it may be OK to rent, if you insist. I'm a bit curious to see it because the overall esthetic quality of the film - and the wardrobe - does appeal to me.

Yes! You hit the nail on the head. As much as I adore Steve Martin, I can't in good conscience reward Claire Danes by paying to see this movie. Her behavior is atrocious. It gave me great pleasure to boycott Stage Beauty so I could blow off her and Billy Crudup in one movie! I had no idea there were people who thought like me. Whew, that's a relief!

i heard it wasn't all that good if that helps your decision any. maybe wait till it comes out on dvd...saves you money and pain because you can fast forward through the parts where claire cries. honestly, she is the ugliest crier ever!!

i am a steve martin fan - in general. but i so did not enjoy that book at all. and considering i apparently go to the movies very rarely these days, i don't think that one is going to make my list.

I saw the trailer last weekend when I went to see Elizabethtown. I decided that Steve Martin wins out so I'll probably go to see it next weekend.

Steve Martin had me from "wild and crazy guys" to L.A. Story, but I think I had a problem following him into his other artistic endeavors. I'll join in on the Claire Danes bash, though! She's not one of my favorites.

Boo to Claire Danes! I just can't buy her as Mirabelle, plus I hate her for the whole Ben Lee/Billy Crudup/Mary-Louise Parker thing as well. I also have to admit that I haven't really liked Jason Schwartzman at all since Rushmore.

Ditto on the homewrecker-hatred.

Not that stupid Billy Crudup is off the hook, I hate him too. But I do love me some Steve Martin.

This is possibly the toughest ethical dilemma of our time.

Go see the movie ... and let me know if it is any good.

How 'bout going to see the movie without thinking about the past roles and/or lives of the participants? Start fresh. Try looking at the movie from an unbiased view.

I too, read the book, love Steve Martin 'cause he plays the banjo and is a SoCal native (Orange County).

I became a Claire Danes hater after she ruined any and all possibilities of Terminator 3 being anything of a great movie. The main reason T3 is somewhat awful is because she is in it! I hope she reads what I have to say. Her acting is terrible. She acts like some little stuck up snob through out the whole movie. It makes me sick to my stomach. Even Nick Stahl's lackluster performance shines in brillance when compared to hers. Her heart was no where near to being remotely interested in the script of Terminator 3, its so plain to see this. Its clear to any viewer of this film, that she was only in it for the paycheck, going thru the motions, and the lines in her script-waiting for it all to be over. I doubt she has ever even watched the completed film, and if she has, maybe she either slept thru it, or was forced to attend a showing. She is one of the worst actresses I have ever seen captured on film. She doesnt know how to act. She doesnt portray her character well, she doesnt make the story believeable. If youre a Terminator fan, and are reading this post, you know exactly what I am talking about. Her acting plain stinks, and its sad, cause after the huge success of Terminator 2: Judgment Day, many fans had high hopes for T3, but thanks to the pathetic acting role of Claire Danes, she has destroyed our ambitions of what could have been a rather enjoyable film. And to think fans like me waited 12 years for this 3rd installment. Sigh.

I decided to list what I call a thorough review of the movie: "Terminator 3:Rise of the Machines"(2003). After this film was shown in a wide national release, it recieved many negative reviews from both fans and critics alike. Now that 3 years have passed, and that the hype surrounding this film has subsided, I feel that I could approach the film with a fair, unbiased review.

In the course of this review, I will briefly touch upon the film's highlights, moments in the film that made it a success. I will also shed light to certain points of the film that it could have done without. Many will agree that there are certain scenes in the film that could have been left out, either because they really had no bearing in relation to the film's storyline, or they detract from the mood or feeling of the film.

The film opens with a narrative given by John Connor himself. In it, he explains how he has thus far evaded all means of being tracked by the forthcoming apocalyptic "judgment day" by living off of the grid. having no phone, no listed address, no drivers license,.further increasing the difficulties of having Skynet's computers successfully track his whereabouts.

The film seems to follow routine Terminator storyline so far. Each Terminator has descended into modern time via time travel sent back through Skynet. Both Schwarzenegger and Lokken each arrive in their birthday suits and immediately began their respective searches for clothes, weaponry and mode of transportation. While Lokken's acquisition is believeable, there are many problems with Schwarzenegger's. He has arrived in the desert adjacent to a nearby ladies nightclub. As soon as he enters, the common dark tone of previous films is immediately shotdown and takes a turn for comedic relief. This happens is a succession of events at the nightclub.Schwarzenegger is greeted by an elderly lady who makes a lewd suggestive gesturing at him. As he approaches the stagefront, he is told by the dancer to "wait your turn". after Schwarzenegger has made his rebuttal to this, he is told to "talk to the hand". After successfully acquiring clothes from the dancer, Schwarzenegger dons on shades that would be more appropriate for Elton John. After realizing this, Schwarzenegger drops the shades on the ground and crushes them with his foot.

The next set of mistakes happens soon after this scene. Now, later in this film, Schwarzenegger informs Connor that he is a "different model Terminator" than the one who had befriended Connor when he was a child. With this in mind, how is it that Schwarzenegger seems to recall keys being stored inside the sunvisor of the late model pickup truck he has just broke into? unless skynet now programs all terminators to look in the sunvisors of all vehicles for a set of keys, this scene made no sense, and was terrible in story continuity.

The next problematic scene involves the confrontation of Claire Danes with Lokken. Lokken after tasting the blood of Connor on the vet clinic floor, learns that "connor was here". She pins down danes with her foot and asks where is connor. seconds later, we see Schwarzenegger hauling quickly towards Lokken in the pickup truck, he crashes into Lokken and rams the truck into a nearby fence. The problem with this scene, is when Schwarzenegger steps out of the truck, he gets out and simply gleens into the camera, as if he is posing for a celebrity shot.He is there for what seems like eternity, simply standing still and looking into the camera. This is awful! It slows down the story and makes one wonder if this script was written for the storyline or for Hollywood revenue. I hate to think it was the latter.

The next problem comes with the fact director Mostow chose to use a Toyota Tundra truck with a camper shell that reads "emery vet clinic". The problem is that the chase scene featuring this truck is reminiscent of the scene in Terminator 2: Judgment Day involving a truck also with a camper shell. This was the truck being pursued while Robert Patrick was driving the 18-wheeler carrying the liquid nitrogen, right before it crashed into the factory.

Anyone, who has seen Terminator 3 cant deny the film had great action scenes. In fact, probably the best action scene involved Lokken driving a crane through a delapitated section of Los Angeles wrecking mad havoc crushing building after building in the process. So why is this scene happening so early in the film? The problem is, with the placement of this scene so early in the film, it leaves the viewer begging for more, and with the impression that even bigger and better scenes are in store later in the film. sadly, there isnt, that was the best action scene.

A great introduction in this film, is that the new TX, played by Lokken, now has the power to take control of other electronic peripherals, or in this case, other vehicles. Critics who hate this film often overlook some of the strong points that furthered the Terminator storyline. Mostow did a great job by introducing us to the fact that the TX was indeed a much more advanced model than even Robert Patrick's T-1000 was, as the TX can analyze DNA by simply tasting blood, and also by scanning the eye's iris.

A very problematic scene was when Schwarzenegger & Connor are driving inside the Toyota Tundra, and Schwarzenegger is explaining that he "requires a cutting tool" to remove a ruptured fuel cell. This scene could have been left out, as it really beared no revelance to the story's plot.

There is another scene which is very disturbing. It is when Schwarzenegger stops at an AM/PM gas station and starts shoplifting junk food. When confronted by the clerk, Schwarzenegger tells him to "talk to the hand". To make matters worse, after he exits the store, music starts playing which says "funky, funky,...that funky man,..funky, funky". The only reason I can see why Mostow shot this scene was because the clerk obtained the license number of the Tundra, but again, this scene could have simply been cut altogether.

All of the scenes shot at the headquarters where Claire Danes father works, were poorly done. They all lack the traditional cinematographery which usually presents the film in stylish cinematic style. There is no panning of shots here, nothing panoramic. Just bland static shots that give off the impression that one is watching a cheaply made sci-fi TV sitcom. Add in the terrible acting portrayed by not only Claire Danes father, but also the rest of the amatuers cast around him, and one cant help but to think they are watching some late night, small-budgeted sci-fi television series that would be shown on WB or UPN.It makes this film looks closer to being Stargate SG-1, or Babylon 5, more than it looks anything close to a so-called "summer blockbuster action film"

Another bad scene involves when Schwarzenegger is driving the Recreational Vehicle, with Connor and Danes aboard. As Connor and Danes enjoy, what seems to be their first happy moment together as future husband and wife in the pre-apocalyptic world. Schwarzenegger kills this moment by saying something utterly retarded like "your levity is good, it relieves tension, and the fear of death". Someone should slap Mostow for writing this line into the script.

Another bad scene is at the very end, Schwarzenegger is about to kill Lokken and stuffs an atomic bomb down her throat. As he does this, the look on Lokken's face (which I should add, is no longer really Lokken's face-but poorly done CG graphics of a TX terminator in dire distress) is awful. Considering how great most of the graphics hve fared up to this moment in the film, one cant help but to wonder if the CG animators just had gotten lazy at this point, and just wanted to slap some graphics together to get this film over with. Who knows, maybe they were behind schedule, and needed to rush the film out before July 2, 2003 hit.

Another bad implementation of this film are the "T-1" Terminator robots. For those who dont exactly know what these are, these were the first Terminator driods to become self-aware once Skynet was activated. The idea of them is good-the styling of them is hideous. They dont look threatening at all, and look a lot like the robot off of 1999's remake of "Lost in Space" featuring Matt LeBlanc and company. You know the robot Im talking about, the one that always says "Danger!, Danger! Will Robinson!"

Claire Danes' character in this film is Kate Brewster. This is an awful sounding name for any character in the Terminator series (No offense to anyone who is really named Kate Brewster, though). It just doesnt ring well off the tongue, and kinda sounds funny when Arnie says it with his thick Austrian accent.

Im assuming the reason why Claire Danes was cast a role in this film was because of her striking red hair. As Mostow had probably reviewed Terminator 2:Judgment Day, before starting on the next chapter, he probably came across the scene where Robert Patrick is interrogating Nikki Cox asking her where John Connor (Eddie Furlong) is at. When Nikki Cox's replies he may be at the the galleria splurging quarters at the local arcade with long-haired mullet buddy, Danny Cooksey. Mostow must have formed the impression that Nikki Cox's character in the earlier film could continue on in "Rise of the Machines", and thus Mostow created the character "Kate Brewster". If anyone remembers in Judgment Day, Nikki Cox was probably the only girl I recall even knowing John Connor, or wanting to be associated with him. John Connor has some serious problems, his mom was locked away at Pescadero, and John and his mullet co-hort, Danny Cooksey, were only good at fixing dirtbikes and robbing ATM machines. I dont know many teenage girls who would want to admittingly socialize with juvenile delinquent clowns such as these, I was surprised when Nikki Cox said she knew them. I cringed in my theatre seat. But with that being said, I dont understand why Mostow just didnt recruit Nikki Cox to resume her role in Rise of The Machines.If I was John Connor, I would much rather kiss Nikki Cox than Claire Danes any given day of the week. Maybe If Nikki Cox was cast in this film, John Connor wouldnt have all these random thoughts of committing suicide and throwing temper tantrums thru out the film. I would have suicidal thoughts too if I knew I was spending the rest of my post-apocalyptic days with Claire Danes. Yuck!

"The battle within"
The next serious problem is when Schwarzenegger has been reprogrammed by Lokken and is trying to kill Connor. We see from his perspective that he is going thru recurring commands that read "abort", "terminate", etc etc. When he is about to plunge his fist square into Connor, Connor asks "what is your mission??" Schwarzenegger answers "to ensure the survival of Connor & Brewster". Connor adds "you are about to fail that mission!!" Schwarzenegger picks up Connor and throws him half way into next week, and then Schwarzenegger pounds the beejeezus out of a late model GM blazer. I guess even robots have internal mental conflicts, or Mostow didnt think this scene out thoroughly. Either way, it sucked.

"Homeboy Connor"

If I recall, in Judgment Day, Connor wore a shirt that said "Public Enemy". It would seem that John Connor was pretty big on rap music and the whole hip hop thing. However this doesnt become evident until Rise of the Machines. It is in this film where Connor says some pretty fly and dope phrases like. "my mom fed me that @!#$% since the cradle".Also, the scene in the park by the RV, Schwarzenegger tells Connor that Brewster is a healthy female of breeding age. Connor responds with the smooth player response "I think there's more to it than that". My favorite is when Connor says "you mean, we just run and hide somewhere while the bombs fall?" its not what he says so much, but the way he says it. It makes you wonder what inner city projects is Nick Stahl from exactly. There are some more dope-whack phrases that Connor mutters about, just watch the film and you can spot them out.

"Hey!..where is Mikey?"
Theres a scene in the cemetary, when Schwarzenegger explains that Sarah Connor died of Leukemia in Mexico and her ashes were spread out in the sea. (The real reason is Linda Hamilton didnt want to be in this film, and ex-husband James Cameron did not want to direct it). Anyways, Mostow did a decent job of explaining what happened to Sarah Connor, but what about Michael Biehn's character, Kyle?. He was the star of the first film, and was featured in a deleted scene in the 2nd one, did he also go to Mexico and die? Is Mexico the land of where actors who dont want to star in Terminator sequels end up at? Maybe we can go down there and find Nikki Cox and Danny Cooksey sipping down margaritas inside a local cantina.

"YOU DONT SCARE ME AT ALL!"
Maybe as I get older, movies tend to scare me less and less. But even with this being said, the first 2 terminators do a convinceable job in portraying the lethalness of how bad each terminator is. Schwarzenegger in the first film in 1984 did a great job of showing how menacing a terminator is. Robert Patrick did a fabulous job. Lokken did a good job looking good, but that was about it. I wasnt scared of her at all, in fact I am kinda hoping maybe she will try to hunt me down. Maybe I should change my name to John Connor. Then I will wait for her at my candlelit table under the pale moonlight. This movie could have just as easily been called "Miss Teen USA is looking to kill you"

CLAIR3 DANE3ZZ ROCKKZZZ AND ALL YA IZ HATERZZ!!!!!

For those of you who only hate Claire Danes from a distance or casually dislke her because of her on-screen presence, I am here to tell you that to know her personally is to absolutely hate her.

First off, she is a total intellectual snob and thinks she's so much more intelligent than everyone else in the world. She is constantly complaining how she can't relate to most people because they just aren't as bright as she is.

She also talks shit about everyone she works with or who is her competition, namely Uma Thurman, Kate Beckinsale, Nick Stahl, Wynona Ryder (whose ass she used to kiss until she decided she wasn't cool anymore), Natalie Portman and of course Mary Louise Parker.

Even though she pops anti-depressants like they were candy and has for years and years and has been in therapy since she was a kid, she is so unremorseful about what she did to Mary Louise Parker.

Honestly, Claire is a totally arrogant little snob and bitter because she thinks she should be more famous than she is.

Your instincts about her are totally correct.