Closer

An offbeat personality, a tough-as-nails approach and a track record as one of the country's leading investigators: These are just a few of the traits exhibited by Deputy Police Chief Brenda Leigh Johnson. For the Atlanta transplant heading up the Priority Homicide Division of the Los Angeles Police Department, her position on this elite detective squad, which handles high-profile cases of a sensitive nature, is a tenuous balancing act. She faces antagonistic roadblocks, even from her own peers within the department, and must manage a team that remains wary of her unconventional style.
"Oh, for heaven's sake, it is a head!" The Southern drawl and mild exasperation are by now familiar to TV crime buffs: Kyra Sedgwick's steel-magnolia-with-a-badge, Deputy Chief Brenda Leigh Johnson. The fourth season of The Closer finds Sedgwick in super form, as the scattered, ditzy mama's girl with a weakness for junk food and a singular focus when it comes to getting perps to talk. Yet the strength of The Closer goes far beyond just Sedgwick, as formidable as she is. The ensemble cast is also stellar, and very human and believable. Johnson's fellow cops (among whom Johnson is, finally, one of the boys, albeit in frilly skirts) are fleshed-out and battle their own demons. And this season viewers get to know Johnson's fiancé, the FBI agent Fritz Howard (Jon Tenney), much better, along with his "psychic" sister (the unforgettable Amy Sedaris), and Brenda's doting parents, as both families prepare for the happy couple's impending nuptials--if serial killers and terrorist plots will only give them a little break. The boxed set includes the full season, along with delicious extras, including an unforgettable blooper reel (the cast really does seem to have a blast shooting this series, as viewers have long suspected; and don't miss guest star Jennifer Coolidge's R-rated ad lib café scene). There's also an informative featurette with Corey Reynolds (the hunky Sgt. Gabriel) and LAPD Det. Mike Berchem, an adviser to the series; deleted scenes, and more. Thank you--thank you so much! --A.T. Hurley (Editorial Reviews fromAmazon.com)

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Taken

Review from Amazon.com
What could be a skillful but ordinary action flick gets a surprising emotional heft from the presence of Liam Neeson as the hero. Bryan Mills (Neeson) has given up his career as a spy to form a relationship with his estranged teenage daughter--but when, on a trip to Paris, she's kidnapped by slavers, Mills uses all his connections and skills to turn the city of lights upside down and rescue her.
Like most of the movies that writer/producer Luc Besson has a hand in (such as La Femme Nikita, The Transporter, Unleashed, and many other French action movies), Taken drips with lurid violence (a bit toned-down to get a PG-13 rating, but there's still plenty of it), deranged sentimentality, and stereotypes of all kinds. But this doesn't stop his movies from being effective thrill-rides, and Taken is no exception. Taken pays just enough attention to the illusion of procedure--making it seem like Mills knows all the right steps to track down his daughter--that the movie cheerfully seduces your suspension of disbelief, despite many plot holes and scenes where Mills doesn't get scratched despite bullets flying in all directions or pretends to be a French policeman despite not speaking French or even adopting a French accent. What holds it all together is Neeson; his gravitas and emotional availability make his character--the usual action fantasy of impossible competence and righteous fury--somehow seem real

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