Movie Review: The Wicker Man

The Wicker Man (2006)

Directed by Neil Labute 

Written by Neil Labute 

Starring Nicolas Cage, Ellen Burstyn, Leelee Sobieski, Frances Conroy

Release Date September 2nd, 2006

Published September 1st, 2006

Director Neil LaBute's war of the sexes examinations of the male-female dynamic are some of the most caustic and elucidating treatises on men and women thus far brought to the screen. His In The Company of Men, Your Friends, and Neighbors and The Shape of Things are withering, gut wrenching contests of highly neurotic will. Each film a wringing of the writer-director's psyche on to the screen. To this point in his career LaBute had avoided simplistic metaphor in favor of the raw examination of his feelings of insecurity and inferiority.

For his latest film, however, LaBute has waded neck deep into the muck of a loaded metaphor. In The Wicker Man, a loose remake of 1973's horror thriller of the same title, LaBute places his battle of sexes inside a dopey thriller plot that any other director could have pulled out of his ass. Working uncomfortably within genre constraints, Labute chafes at his thriller plot which crowds out the more interesting ideas about men and women that he desperately crams into into sides of the picture.

Thus The Wicker Man becomes a dippy hodgepodge of thriller cliches and mixed metaphor. But mostly, it's  a tedious trip to the movies.

Edward Malus (Nicolas Cage) just received a letter from his ex-lover Willow (Kate Beahan) and was rather shocked at the content. This women he loved; who disappeared without saying goodbye some years earlier, is calling on him to come to a remote island off the coast of Washington state where a girl who may or may not be his daughter has gone missing.

Making the journey to the island, Edward encounters a society of women who worship nature and dominate the men of the island who are seemingly slaves. Lead by Sister Summerisle (Ellen Burstyn); there is a distinctly creepy vibe to this little cult despite the gentility of most residents.

Searching for the child Edward is stonewalled by everyone as someone is tries to make it seem as if the child never existed. The truth is a sinister twist you can likely see coming even if you have never seen the original 1973 Wicker Man. The only real shock you may get from The Wicker Man 2006 is in the credits when you see this dull witted, plodding mess is directed by the usually tart and ingenious writer-director Neil Labute.

Based on the British cult classic; The Wicker Man was reimagined by Neil LaBute as an examination of a society dominated by women. The female of the species have always fascinated LaBute whose debut picture In The Company of Men examined a pair of misogynists who take advantage of a beautiful blind woman only to have her destroy them. Your Friends & Neighbors was yet another navel gazing assessment of male female dynamics.

LaBute's most intense, and I think telling, portrayal of women was 2003's The Shape of Things in which a nerd, played by Paul Rudd, is reshaped, literally and figuratively, by a woman played by Rachel Weisz. The change in the nerdy exterior of Rudd's character is eventually revealed to be a large scale social experitment by Weisz's ambitious college student. This film exemplifies an idea that comes a little clearer in The Wicker Man, Neil LaBute is afraid of the power women wield over men.

Women can drive men to do anything in Neil LaBute's universe and men are ill equipped to stop them. In The Wicker Man all of the men of the island exist as breeding stock and nothing more. Cage may be an alpha male but he is naturally undone by the far more clever women who, even though their devious plot is too convoluted to be believed, control his every move.

This idea of LaBute examining his fear of women through a thriller story about a cult of powerful women is interesting but that is not really what we get in The Wicker Man. Rather, what came of the picture is a dull mystery about a dopey tough guy and a search for a missing girl that has all of the suspense of a David Spade movie.

Is it possible that Neil Labute lost control over this picture in the editing room? Given the exceptional talent he has shown in the past that is really the only explanation I can think of for the odd shifts in tone in the picture and the uncomfortable attempts to force suspense where none exists. A scene where Cage seeks a place to stay for a night finds Cage overacting and gesticulating in a vain attempt to give the scene some tension when in fact it is just a guy checking in to a slightly off-kilter inn.

Neil Labute is simply too talented to have crafted such a mess of a movie like The Wicker Man.

Nicolas Cage as a cop hunting for a missing girl on a remote pacific northwest island is the bare bones of a plot that includes references to the occult, to witchcraft, and druidism. Unfortunately, somewhere in the editing, the film became about the search for the missing girl, a red herring of immensely stupid proportion, and not about these eccentric and downright weird characters.

Neil LaBute, a master of dialogue and conniving characters, here settles for a mystery story that eschews any real examination of the characters. He sets up metaphors but never delivers the true subtext. You can infer from the fact that the island is home to a cult dominated by women with men kept as breeding stock; that LaBute is commenting subtextually about the power of women over men. However, LaBute never takes the time to examine the dynamic. All is inferred then shoved aside for more thriller genre goofiness.

The Wicker Man is a shockingly goofy movie that leaves one scratching his head; wondering how such talented people as Nicolas Cage and Neil LaBute could have made such a stunningly bad picture. The ambitions of both Cage and LaBute are visible around the edges but front and center is sheer goofiness that leaves its cast and creators with egg on their faces.

Movie Review Invincible

Invincible (2006)

Director Ericson Core 

Written by Brad Gann 

Starring Mark Wahlberg, Greg Kinnear, Elizabeth Banks, Kirk Acevedo

Release Date August 25th, 2006

Published August 24th, 2006

The Disney sports movie has become an annual experience. From Remember The Titans to The Rookie to Miracle to Glory Road, they aren't just reliably rousing sports adventures they are also consistent money makers. The latest in this long line of sports underdog stories is called Invincible and it stars Mark Wahlberg in the role of real life NFL walk-on Vince Papale, a teacher /bartender who rose from the streets of South Philly to the turf of old Veterans stadium.

In 1975 the Philadelphia Eagles were getting booed out of town by their own fans in venerable Veterans stadium. The team was a woeful 3 and 13 in 1975 which lead to the firing of their head coach and the hiring of UCLA wunderkind Dick Vermeil (Greg Kinnear). Moving from the cozy confines of college football to the NFL city where fans once booed Santa Claus off the field, is quite the culture shock for the new coach.

Desperate to spark fan interest in the new look Eagles, Vermeil launched a wild idea. In his first press conference, Vermeil offered open tryouts to anyone in Philly who felt they had the talent to become an Eagle. Of the hundreds who took the chance, only one man, Vince Papale, a teacher and part time bartender, had the guts and talent to be offered a shot at a training camp.

For Vince the opportunity could not come along at a better moment. His wife (Lola Glaudini) has left him. His part time teaching job has just eliminated the need for subs like him and his bartending gig is not paying the bills. He has been reduced to borrowing money from his father (Kevin Conway) who is facing the possibility of a lengthy strike at the plant where he works.

Even given his desperate circumstances Vince does not approach training camp with great optimism and it is in fact the surprisingly dark pessimism with which Mark Wahlberg plays Vince Papale that separates Invincible from typical Disney sports flicks. Wahlberg and director Ericson Core take risks in allowing Vince to be a real glass half empty type who is not concerned with being likable. Vince is a good guy, a nice guy but he does not have the typically lovable characteristics of your average feel good movie hero.

That is not to say that Invincible in any way breaks the mold of the typical Disney feel good sports movie. It lives comfortably within the genre's conventions. What director Ericson Core, writer Brad Gann and star Mark Wahlberg do is simply apply the formula better than other similar films like the saccharine Remember The Titans, the unfocused Glory Road or the simpleminded rah rah enthusiasm of Miracle.

The best thing about Invincible is Mark Wahlberg who continues to mature into a combination of character actor and superstar. Wahlberg has the star power to open a picture and the talent to make it memorable beyond that opening. Two years ago he dazzled as a thug hero in the highly underrated Four Brothers. Now in a 180 degree turn from that blood and guts actioner, Wahlberg courts family audiences, without simply pandering, in a piece of genre product. He brings more to the role of Vince Papale than most other actors would such an uncomplicated role.

The football scenes in Invincible are not groundbreaking but they more than pass as believable because star Mark Wahlberg actually performs his own football stunts.. Especially entertaining are Vince's games against his neighborhood pals in the rain on a sandlot lit by car headlights. These scenes have a music video quality to their rapid fire edits timed to the music of the scene whether its BTO or Grand Funk.

The music video feel also applies to the slick cinematography of director Ericson Core who slows the street ball scenes down, speeds them up and brightens the images just a little to make them stand out from the rest of the picture which has a sepia quality.

Invincible doesn't break the mold of the Disney sports movie. Rather, it just makes a more quality version of the product within that mold. This is not an entirely satisfying experience for a discerning audience. However, given the realities of modern studio filmmaking you have to grade on a curve. On that curve Invincible's ability to do what's been done before better than it's been done before is a welcome change of pace.

Movie Review Idlewild

Idlewild (2006) 

Directed by Bryan Barber

Written by Bryan Barber

Starring Andre Benjamin, Big Boi, Terrence Howard, Faizon Love, Paula Patton, Ving Rhames

Release Date August 25th, 2006 

Published August 26th, 2006 

I've seen bad movies and I've seen disappointing movies but I have never had a movie leave me with the kind of disappointment and frustration as Idlewild. After a sensational trailer that made the film look like an epic musical from hip hop's reigning duo, Idlewild turns out to be a wildly eclectic misfire of both filmic and musical proportions.

Idlewild tells two stories at once. Two pals, Rooster (Big Boi) and Percival (Andre 3000) are living their lives in Idlewild Georgia circa 1935, give or take a year. Rooster is a nightclub performer and part time thug who helps a mobster (Ving Rhames) move booze. Percival is Rooster's piano player but most of his time is spent working as an undertaker in his father's (Ben Vereen) mortuary.

Both Rooster and Percival have dreams well beyond the juke joints and southern climes of Idlewild. Rooster is a family man who longs for the days when there won't be a bullet with his name on it. Percival is a talented musician; who writes terrific songs that no one has ever heard. He dreams of one day leaving Idlewild for the big city's up north to perform his songs.

The two friends' lives are changed in a matter of days when a rival gangster named Trumpy (Terrence Howard) kills his way to the top of the liquor trade by killing Rooster's boss Ace (Faizon Love). This leaves the club in Rooster's hands and the ruthless mobster at his back.

Percival meanwhile is hit with a bolt of lightning in the form of Angel (Paula Patton); the feature act that Ace hired before he met his untimely end. Angel takes an immediate liking to the piano player and the two make beautiful music together on stage and off. Angel encourages Percival to leave Idlewild with her for a shot at stardom in Chicago, this despite a secret that threatens to cost both of them their lives.

These two plots compete for attention in a picture crowded with colorful characters whom director Brian Barber cannot find time for. Consider for a moment the supporting cast that includes Ving Rhames, Ben Vereen, Terrence Howard and makes little room for Patti LaBelle -in a blink and you miss it cameo-, Macy Gray, Paula Jai Parker (Hustle and Flow), and Bill Nunn. Characters are introduced very briefly, often unnamed because there is simply no time.

Barber simply has too many balls in the air, from his sprawling cast, to his lavish musical numbers to the love story and the gangster story and finally trying to coalesce all of this into a coherent conclusion. That he does manage to reign it all in at the end to give the film at least a sensible finale is quite a feat.

The story experience of Idlewild runs a distant second to the music of Idlewild which is seemingly the purpose of it all. Idlewild plays like an overlong concept music video collection. The competing storylines, gangsters and booze vs art and love story, play not unlike the last Outkast project, the dueling albums Speakerboxx/The Love Below.

Like that 2 disc collection, Andre 3000 and Big Boi in Idlewild are essentially working on different projects in which each makes a cameo in the other's story. The only differences are that this is a movie, not just a CD and it all comes together under one title instead of two.

Of course, the star of Idlewild is the music and again drawing parallels with Speakerboxx/The Love Below, Andre 3000's music is more daring, unique and entertaining than Big Boi's, only lacking Big Boi's showmanship which he uses to sell his best contribution to Idlewild, the song "Bowtie" a rousing introduction of his slickster character Rooster.

Andre 3000's musical contributions to Idlewild are a wildly eclectic mixture of hip hop and old school rhythm and blues piano arrangements. His musical repertoire, as he demonstrated on The Love Below and previous Outkast records, is seemingly limitless and he shows that once again in Idlewild. And Andre is as unique with his lyrics as with his music in Idlewild. Check the song "Chronomentrophobia" and don't bother looking up that title in the dictionary.

Idlewild as a movie is a jumbled, messy enterprise. As a collection of music videos, this a good, not great concept soundtrack. Andre 3000's work on Idlewild, much like on Speakerboxx/The Love Below, is superior to his partner Big Boi's but neither really reaches the heights of their previous works.

For Outkast fans, Idlewild is an easy recommendation, the music is by no means sub-par, just not as good as what came before. For non-fans Idlewild is an okay introduction to the work of Outkast, but you are better off grabbing a copy of Stankonia or Speakerboxx/The Love Below to get a real idea of the genius of Outkast.

Movie Review: 'Beerfest'

Beerfest (2006) 

Directed by Jay Chandrasekhar

Written by Kevin Heffernan, Steve Lemme, Paul Soter, Eric Stolhanske

Starring Jay Chandrasekhar, Kevin Heffernan, Steve Lemme, Paul Soter, Nat Faxon

Release Date August 25th, 2006 

Published August 27th, 2006

I must admit that I have never been a fan of the comedy stylings of the Broken Lizard comedy troupe. Their brand of frat boy juvenilia falls somewhere between the South Park guys shrill nihilism and fingernails on a blackboard as far as I'm concerned. So seeing their new film Beerfest, about an underground beer drinking Olympics, was not something that excited me.

My worst fears for how bad I assumed Beerfest would be were confirmed within the first 15 minutes of the film. Beerfest is yet another example of Broken Lizard's almost nihilistic approach to comedy, all grotesquerie, no real humor

Jan and Todd Wolfhouse (Paul Soter and Eric Stolhanske) have just lost their beloved grandfather. To honor his memory, at the request of their grandma (Cloris Leachman), they will fly to Germany to scatter gramps' ashes at his favorite spot Oktoberfest. Once in Germany the boys find themselves taken to an underground lair where a secret international beer drinking contest known as Beerfest is underway.

The German team, it turns out, are cousins of Jan and Todd. However, a family secret divides these clans and Jan and Todd find that grandpa and grandma have secrets that fall under the category of 'too much information', ick! To fight back against their evil German cousins and reclaim the name Wolfhouse from international infamy, the brothers decide to start the very first American beer drinking team.

Hooking up with some old college friends, including a scientist nicknamed Fink (Steve Lemme), a big fat hog named Landfill (Kevin Heffernen) and a former college ladies man and beer pong champion Barry (Jay Chandreskhar) who, in a perfect example of the broken lizard style of humor, has become an alcoholic male prostitute. Barry's current gig has him showing his privates to strangers for a dollar, hilarious gag or desperate cry for help from whoever wrote the bit? You decide, I'm going with the latter.

That is the problem with much of Broken Lizard's comedy stylings. So much of what they think is funny are half baked ideas that are often more grotesque than humorous. Take the introduction of the Fink character. His job as a scientist finds him masturbating frogs for cloning purposes. The gag at the end of the scene after the frog has climaxed is Fink lighting a cigarette, ho ho, how clever.

And that frog gag is likely the funniest bit in the movie. Funny in the kind of sad desperate way that marks much of Beerfest. The gags are all sad attempts to either out gross or out sick the likes of Jim Carrey or the Farrelly brothers. They achieve the grossness and sickness but they cannot find what makes it possible Carrey or the Farrelly's to push that gross envelope. There is no heart to Beerfest.

The Farrelly's especially make an effort to bring a heart to even their grossest outings. Broken Lizard does not do heart so gross is all they've got and for me that is not nearly enough.

I did not laugh once during Beerfest. Not once. I did not actively try not to laugh. I saw the film after watching the truly disappointing Idlewild and hoped that Beerfest might raise my spirits after such a thorough disappointment. Alas, Beerfest only worsened an already bad day at the movies by not providing one humorous moment.

From Donald Sutherland's shockingly awful cameo as the boys late grandfather to jokes about Cloris Leachman and a sausage to the masturbating frogs, there is nothing remotely funny about Beerfest. Even the drunkenness, the loads and loads of alcohol that is consumed by these characters fails to elicit a single laugh.

The Broken Lizard comedy troupe is simply too juvenile, too sophomoric and too unfunny to continue making movies. Dump them into a comedy central series next to equally unfunny comics like the blue collar comedy guys and shuffle them off the big screen. Their brand of humor belongs on late night cable where I can choose to ignore it in favor of yet another VH1 celebreality series.

Broken Lizard no longer belongs on the big screen where as a critic I am forced by job title to acknowledge their existence.

Movie Snakes on a Plane

Snakes on a Plane (2006) 

Directed by David R. Ellis 

Written by Sebastian Gutierrez 

Starring Samuel L. Jackson, Julianna Margulies, Rachel Blanchard, Flex Anderson, Lin Shaye, David Koechner 

Release Date August 18th, 2006 

Published August 17th, 2006 

The phenomenon that is Snakes on a Plane is one of the more remarkable marketing triumphs in history. New Line Cinema with the simple decision to abandon their preferred title of Pacific Air Flight 121 in favor of the working title placeholder Snakes on a Plane, created an uncontrollable internet sensation that they could not have planned or even imagined.

Now that the film itself is replacing the faked trailers, posters and audio clips, could it even come close to matching the pre-release hype? Yes and no. Yes, the film features seriously campy moments of ridiculous gore and foul mouthed fan requested dialogue. And no, the film was supposed to be either so bad it's good or actually be pretty good and it turned out to be neither.

Snakes on a Plane is simply nothing more than a bad movie with an eye catchingly simpleminded title.

There really is not much to describe in terms of plot. The title says almost all you need to know. There is a plane with snakes. To be more specific, a flight from Hawaii to Los Angeles carrying a federal witness, Sean played by Wolf Creek star Nathan Phillips, and a pair of FBI agents Neville Flynn (Jackson) and his partner John (Mark Houghton), is filled with poisonous snakes by a mob boss whom Sean witnessed murdering a prosecutor.

Also on board this flight are a group of caricatures and stereotypes who line up to be victims of the hissing, slithering bad guys. Flex Anderson plays a germ phobic rap star, Kenan Thompson -from Saturday Night Live- is his sassy, video game loving bodyguard. Julianna Marguilies, once an Emmy candidate on E.R, plays a flight attendant on her last trip alongside Farrelly brothers regular Lynn Shaye whose character just turned down early retirement. Comic actor David Koechner shows up to give the film a little comic jolt as the plane's politically incorrect pilot but his energy is quickly dissipated.

Maxim magazine regulars Rachel Blanchard and Elsa Pataky round out the cast of those with the best chance to survive, process of recognizability elimination, if we have a vague idea who you are you have a better chance of surviving. It's what would happen if the love boat turned into the titanic.

Blame director David R. Ellis who had shown a modicum of suspense skill in his previous high blood pressure thrillers Final Destination 2 and Cellular. In Snakes on a Plane Ellis can barely ring a few minor seat jumps from this story which would seem to have built in thrills. Snakes are falling from every opening, slithering up from every hole in the floor, the possibilities for them to strike are endless and yet Ellis never really establishes the tense situation beyond his colorful ideas as to where to attach a rubber snake to the human body.

As for star Samuel L. Jackson, it's difficult to decipher whether Jackson is in on the joke of Snakes on a Plane or the subject of the joke that is Snakes on a Plane. In interviews Jackson blasted the idea that the film would be full on camp and yet he was more than happy to include the joke phrase that internet fans demanded the creators put in the film. His delivery of the line "I'm tired of these motherf*****g snakes, on this motherf*****g plane" does rouse the audience but it seems to lack conviction and feels more than a little forced.

With something as cheeseball goofy as Snakes on a Plane you can't help but have a few cheap thrills to enjoy. It's nearly impossible not to enjoy watching the plane's resident jerky passenger, the pushy fastidious complainer guy, get his snakey comeuppance. There are also some very creative ways to dispose of snakes such as with a lighter taped to the side of a bottle of hairspray or the kickboxer with the quick squishing kick.

These momentary thrills along with a high gore quotient will be more than enough for some people. For me however, I checked out during the scene in which a nameless extra is using the toilet and ends up with a snake attached to a very sensitive portion of his body. There are cheap jokes and then there is simple crass exploitation. I should not have expected anything less from Snakes on a Plane but that does not dismiss my disgust and dismay.

Criticizing Snakes on a Plane for being mindless is as futile as... well.. being trapped on a cross pacific flight with boxes of angry poisonous snakes. You simply have to accept fate. Snakes on a Plane was going to be brainless from the moment it was conceived. It was a dullard idea when the first screenwriter put fingers to keyboard to type it out.

Still there was the potential here for some camp fun, there in fact is a little camp fun, but there is simply not nearly enough fun for me to recommend Snakes on a Plane.

Movie Review Material Girls

Material Girls (2006) 

Directed by Martha Coolidge 

Written by Jessica O'Toole, Amy Rardin 

Starring Hilary Duff, Haylie Duff, Anjelica Huston, Lukas Haas, Brent Spiner, Maria Conchita Alonso 

Release Date August 18th, 2006 

Published August 20th, 2006 

Trashing a movie like Material Girls is like shooting fish in a barrel. You could rip this movie just from having seen the press materials. So how does a critic approach a movie like this? My tactic is to try and be understanding of the niche audience the film is meant to entertain. In the case of Material Girls, the audience is 12 year old girls. So, what do 12 year old girls have in store for them in Material Girls? Nothing they haven't seen before. Vapid, shallow starlets in haute couture learning shallow lessons about love and family and how to be yourself.

Is the movie funny? Not to me. But, will the target audience laugh?

The Marchetta sisters Ava (Haylie Duff) the oldest, and younger sister Tanzy (Hilary Duff) are privileged Hollywood socialites living in the lap of luxury thanks to the fortune provided by their late father's cosmetics company. They are the face of the company, modeling the products on billboards across the globe affording them a lavish lifestyle of parties and rich friends.

Secretly however Tanzy harbors the ambition to go college and become a chemist while Ava looks to become the wife of a famous TV star. Things go bad for the Marchetta's when a shady reporter breaks a story that Marchetta cosmetics are causing consumers to get nasty rashes. This just as a ruthless rival, Fabiella (Angelica Huston), makes an offer to buy the company, something the girls top advisor and their father's former best friend Tommy (Brent Spiner) suggests they do.

The girls are more stubborn than expected, they plan to fight for their father's company. Unfortunately the scandal bankrupts them, a fire takes their fabulous mansion and Ava's TV star fiance dumps her. This jovian series of events leaves the girls living in the ghetto with their loving maid Inez (Maria Conchita Alonzo) and seeking the help of the common people they had so long looked down their noses at.

The characters may evoke comparisons to the famous Hilton sisters or even Mary Kate and Ashley Olson, but Material Girls is no satirical gloss on excess in celeb-land. Rather, this is yet another simpleminded exercise in teen girl empowerment. The message of Material Girls is to be false and bad things will happen, be true to yourself and good things will happen. There are post cards with as much wisdom that cost a lot less than the price of a ticket to see this film.

A pair of pencil thin Hollywood sisters telling America's teens that being yourself is the true path to happiness has a falseness to it that is far too obvious to bother pointing out. But trashing a movie like Material Girls for being shallow is like criticizing the clouds for the rain. This movie was shallow from the moment it was conceived to the day director Martha Coolidge completed principle photography.

For her part Martha Coolidge does little to distinguish herself as a director. Material Girls is not a movie that will stand out on a resume, even one whose biggest highlight is the TV movie Introducing Dorothy Dandridge, a slight but compelling memoir. It's not that Coolidge is unskilled but her talents are put to task in Material Girls creating something so superficial and so mindless that whatever skills she has feel like wasted effort.

The Duff sisters are a pair of attractive young women who at the very least can rely on their looks to draw a crowd. It's a shame that the only pleasure derived from Material Girls comes from objectifying the two lovely young stars but you have to take what you can get when it comes to something as insipid and banal as Material Girls.

Among other very minor pleasures to be found in Material Girls it's nice to see Lukas Haas get some mainstream Hollywood work. His role as a legal aid lawyer and love interest for Haylie Duff is nothing to get excited about but I have always liked Haas, all the way back to his breakout performance as the mute child of Witness.

Shallow, mindless, a waste of film. All valid criticisms of Material Girls. All judgements I could have made without having seen the film. I did see the film. The key assessment is that this movie was not made with 30 year old film critics in mind. This is a movie made for the attention spans of the modern 12 year old girl. Whether or not they like the film I have no idea. I know that if I had a 12 year old daughter I would not want to expose her to such a vapid waste of 90 minutes.

Movie Review: Accepted

Accepted (2006) 

Directed by Steve Pink 

Written by Adam Cooper, Bill Collage, Mark Perez 

Starring Justin Long, Blake Lively, Anthony Heald, Jonah Hill, Lewis Black, Columbus Short 

Release Date August 18th, 2006 

Published August 19th, 2006 

The college comedy is a genre all it's own. It has conventions and clichés and stock characters. The latest example of the genre, Accepted starring Justin Long, breaks no new ground in the college comedy genre. It's a slight, forgettable little comedy that has a more than a few redeeming qualities but not much to recommend it.

Justin Long stars in Accepted as Bartleby Gaines an underachieving slacker whose inattention to his schoolwork has left him without a college acceptance letter. Every school he applied to has rejected him. Even Ohio State! His safety school. With his parents breathing down his neck Bartleby launches one of those only in the movies kind of schemes, he starts his own college.

With the help of his computer nerd best friend Sherman (Jonah Hill), who got into the hometown school Harmon College, Bartleby founds the South Harmon Institute of Technology, if you don't get the joke of that name don't worry the film will explain it again and again and again. At first it's just a very convincing website and acceptance letter but when mom and dad insist on driving Bartleby to school he makes the drastic choice to use his tuition check to rent a building.

Bartleby is not alone in his rejection and acceptance of this wacky scheme. Joining Bartleby at South Harmon is his pal Hands (Columbus Short) who lost his football scholarship after an injury and Rory (Maria Thayer) a Ivy league wannabe who only applied to Yale and swore off other college's after being rejected. Pooling their collective tuitions they rent and renovate an old psychiatric hospital and manage to fool their parents into thinking South Harmon is for real.

Unfortunately they also convince a bunch of other rejects who show up at South Harmon expecting their freshman year. Can Bartleby and friends keep up the ruse of South Harmon or will they be headed to jail on fraud charges. If you don't know already then you probably haven't seen very many movies.

Predictability is not the biggest problem with Accepted. It's biggest problem is Director Steve Pink and writers Bill Collage and Adam Cooper who fail to put their own unique spin on the requirements of the college comedy genre. While director Pink does a good job of keeping up an energetic pace and his cast crafts some lovable characters, there is not one college comedy cliche that Accepted manages to avoid.

The bad guys are the crusty dean from the rival college played with extra crust by Anthony Heald. The dean is joined, in typical Animal House fashion, by a group of overprivileged white frat boys lead by Arian dreamboat Travis Van Winkle. No points for guessing that Travis's character, Hoyt Ambrose, has a hot but very sweet girlfriend who also has eyes for Bartleby. The lovely Blake Lively is Monica who you can bet won't be with Hoyt much longer than the plot deems necessary.

Wait, you won't believe it, there is a bigtime party in the movie too, that happens to be on the same night as major bash thrown by the evil frat guys. No points again for guessing that the bad guys are crashing our heroes party with vague threats and evil intent. These scenes have been repeated more times than I or you can count and there is nothing even remotely original about them in Accepted.

I have said in countless reviews of similar genre pictures that the key to genre filmmaking is not originality but rather taking the established conventions of genre and simply doing them better or at the very least slightly different than they have been done before. Accepted simply repeats the conventions with different actors. These are some very good actors but we've heard all of the jokes before.

The film becomes almost saccharine near the end when a full of himself Bartleby gives one of those rousing the troops speeches that becomes an earnest defense of his wacky scheme. This almost works because we like Justin Long as Bartleby but the speech is simply another of the many clichés that Accepted doesn't just repeat it relies upon.

Accepted has a secret weapon in comedian Lewis Black. Brought in as a burnout ex-educator to be South Harmon's Dean, Black brings his sardonic, downer persona to Accepted and gives the film it's one shot of originality. Doling out his opinions on the education system, taxes and bureaucracy, like he was delivering one of his brilliant stand up routines, Black teaches the kids of South Harmon more about the real world than anything they could learn at a real college even if it is delivered with severe cynicism.

Justin Long is an appealing young actor who has been turning heads in supporting roles since his breakout turn on TV's Ed. He came to mainstream attention as the youngest member of Vince Vaughn's Dodgeball team and turned in a radically different cameo as a gay art gallery employee in Vaughn and Jennifer Aniston's The Break Up earlier this summer.

Now, in his first starring role in a mainstream comedy, Long shows a great deal of charisma and charm but the role is to familiar to be as funny as it could be. There is simply nothing that Long can do to break the mold of the classic, fast talking, quick witted campus legend. It's the mold put in place by past college comedy leads like Ryan Reynolds in Van Wilder or Jeremy Piven in the cult classic P.C.U. It's a template with it's roots in classic Bugs Bunny cartoons where our hero is always imperiled but also always one step ahead of that peril thanks to his quick wits.

Originality is not a prerequisite in a college comedy genre. There are some unavoidable conventions of the genre that filmmakers simply cannot avoid. What the better filmmakers do is try and twist those conventions with their own unique vision. Unfortunately director Steve Pink lacked the vision to bring any new twists to Accepted which wastes a terrifically likable cast on a retread of every cliché in the book.

Movie Review: World Trade Center

World Trade Center (2006) 

Directed by Oliver Stone 

Written by Andrea Berloff 

Starring Nicolas Cage, Michael Pena, Michael Shannon, Stephen Dorff, Jon Bernthal 

Release Date August 9th, 2006

Published August 9th, 2006 

When United 93 was released back in March of this year I was floored by that films documentary realism and emotional punch. However, I was unable to recommend the film. To whom do you recommend a film that gives the feel of actually reliving the greatest tragedy you have ever witnessed. Standing in the theater the following day watching audiences cue up with pop and popcorn in hand I was struck with how vulgar it seemed to munch popcorn while reliving 9/11.

World Trade Center, director Oliver Stone's flag waving, rah rah, patriotic remembrance of that day feels like a film you could munch popcorn to. Classically Hollywood, World Trade Center is about bravery, self sacrifice and the kind of heroism rarely ever seen. It's also saccharine, remote and rather simpleminded. Though skillful and respectful World Trade Center fails to grasp the gravity of it's subject and thus never feels important enough to justify having been made at all.

On September 11th John McLoughlin (Nicholas Cage) rolled out of bed at 3:30 am without waking his wife Donna (Maria Bello), it was going to be just another tuesday morning at the port authority police precinct. Will Jimeno (Michael Pena) rose a few hours after Mcloughlin and kissed his wife Allison goodbye before joining McLoughlin at PAPD headquarters.

This of course was to be no ordinary Tuesday for anyone in the country. After receiving assignments for the day, McLaughlin in charge of everything and Jimenez sent to Port Authority bus terminal, things turn horrifying quickly. As Jimenez is shooing away homeless people the shadow of the first plane passes over him headed for it's deathly collision.

Returning to the station, Jimenez will join McLaughlin, his pal Dom Pezullo (Jay Hernandez) and several other officers in heading off to the trade center towers to evacuate the people inside. Arriving at the towers, after commandeering a city bus, the officers find a horror show of the injured and the dead. Some are victims who leapt to their death rather than burn alive in the towers.

McLoughlin, Jimenez, Pezullo and another officer, Antonio Rodrigues (Armando Riesco), are the guys who chose to run into the towers and get people out. The cops are in the concourse between the towers when they began to collapse. Rodrigues was killed, Jimenez and McLoghlin were buried by the first tower  collapse while Pezullo managed to be unharmed and attempted to free Jimenez. Sadly Pezullo died when the second tower fell.

One of the most striking elements of these scenes in which the actors are trapped in the rubble is the complete loss of time. Unless you methodically researched and kept time on your watch you don't remember and cannot keep track of the time between when the planes hit, when the first tower fell and when the second tower fell. We have the benefit of hindsight but the characters do not, so every scene in which they wander the trade center gathering materials, in which they are first nearly crushed by debris of the first tower to the second tower falling, is filled with dreadful tension.

As filmed by Oliver Stone these scenes are the best in the film. Harrowing, nail biting moments that have a real emotional kick even as we already know what is about to happen. The actors approach to these moments is stellar without any pretense or knowingness, each actor plowed ahead acting on their assigned duties, working through fears of the unknown, fears of a world on edge that they cannot comprehend.

Nicholas Cage is especially good in the early scenes of World Trade Center before his portrayal devolves into a series of mushy  flashbacks. Early in World Trade Center Cage thrives as the efficient, matter of fact police sergeant who also happens to be the officer behind the disaster scenarios at trade towers. When McLoughlin tells a superior officer that we prepared for any number of occurances after the attack in 1994 but we did not plan for this, the lines hit hard.

The most fascinating moments of World Trade Center focus on a supporting character, Staff Sgt. Dave Karnes. Working on 9/11 as an insurance salesman in Connecticutt, Karnes left work soon after seeing the attacks on television. He visited his pastor and told him that god was calling him to the towers to save people. He went to a barbershop and got a military buzzcut and pulled his marine corp uniform out of mothballs and made his way to New York.

Arriving at the site, passing security thanks to the uniform, Karnes was the first person to jump onto the fallen towers and begin searching for survivors. Joined by a fellow  marine, Thomas played ever so briefly by William Mapother, Karnes searched the rubble and found Jimenez in McLoughlin some 20 feet below, trapped in the rubble. Karnes determination and heroism are stunning, so stunning that many have found his story unbelievable. Dave Karnes is for real and his story was real, one of many extraordinary stories that fateful day.

Karnes' story could warrant his own movie, he went on to fight in Iraq for 18 months at the age of 45, the attacks having inspired him to re-enlist. Unfortunately there are only so many stories that Oliver Stone and writer Andrea Berloff could work into a reasonable runtime. Another great story was that of former paramedic Chuck Sereika, played by Frank Whaley, who also gets only a gloss in World trade Center. When Chuck arrived at the site he was no longer a medic, having spent the most recent months in rehab. He intended only to tie a few tourniquets and help where needed. He ended up the first man inside the rubble when McLoughlin and Jimenez were found.

All of these stories are dramatic and compelling but they are the periphery of what is a real Hollywood-ization of 9/11. Most of World Trade Center is dedicated to the heightened melodrama of McLoughlin and Jimenez trying to keep each other alive and there families at home trying not to fall apart. The heightened emotion in these scenes is portrayed with a belt it to the back of the room, broadway musical like theatricality. To much of World Trade Center rings with a tinsel town phoniness that is anathema to a movie based on 9/11.

Most obvious of these egregiously inflated scenes comes at the end of the film. As Nicholas Cage as John McLoughlin is lifted from the rubble of the World Trade Center his stretcher passes through the hands of hundreds of rescue workers who shake Cage's hand and he gives the thumbs up to. With a star the size of Nick Cage laying in the stretcher the scene plays like a Hollywood homage to the heroic saviors of 9/11.

If any group are worthy of a big Hollywood thank you it's the fire fighters, policeman and rescue workers who saved what few lives could be saved that day but the justification does not make the scene feel any less false and cloying.

I find it bizarre and a little disgusting to try and examine the entertaining aspects of World Trade Center. By comparison I rated United 93 a zero in my popcorn rating. That film was just too much like watching 9/11 happen again for me to treat it like a typical movie. World Trade Center , because of it's star power and melodrama is more of a movie movie. I was able to seperate from World Trade Center far more than I could the more visceral and real United 93.

That seperation comes twofold. I was able to find aspects of World Trade Center that I could judge from a movie making standpoint, things such as the performances of Cage, Pena, Maggie Gyllenhaal and Maria Bello all of which are solid with just a hint of falsehood. Also Andrea Berloff's often overwrought and at times gut wrenching script that never fails to hit a melodramatic note but also misses few chances to really touch you with sincerity.

However, this is still a 9/11 movie and it is rubbing a wound that is still raw. Oliver Stone is very careful to be respectful with his storytelling. There is no shock factor, no forced conspiracy theory, really no controversy about Stone's interpretation whatsoever. The film is an earnest examination of character and heroism that uses the greatest attack on American soil as a framing device. That is both respectable and repugnant. It is both a great piece of storytelling and an impossible rendering of a painful memory.

Because the film is directed by Oliver Stone parsing the films political aspects should become quite a sport. However, these efforts are futile. Stone honestly avoids any overt political message in favor of a simple tale of heroism. If you want to find politics in World Trade Center they will likely be your own. I have read reviews that claim Stone's use of a Brooks and Dunn song on the soundtrack is an example of his red state bent. On the other hand I personally read a minor political statement into Stone's montage of citizens around the globe reacting to the attack and rallying around America. The Bush administration went on to squander this international goodwill almost completely. That however, is my own parsing of the scene not Oliver Stone's.

In searching the film for political viewpoints you cannot ignore the most fascinating and complicated character in the film, Staff Sgt. Dave Karnes played by Michael Shannon. There is no question that Shannon was a hero that day selflessly risking his life to locate McLoughlin and Jimenez in the rubble. On the other hand, the creepy intensity that Michael Shannon brings to the role allows a political interpretation.

Karnes is a neo-con wet dream of god and country patriotism who re-enlisted in the military twice to join the war on terror. Karnes is undoubtedly brave and heroic but, the creepy intensity with which he is portrayed could be read, if one were so inclined, as a metaphor for the right wing's frighteningly single minded pursuit of the war in Iraq. That again though, is me bringing my personal politics to a chapter of the movie that may not have politics at all.

Oliver Stone's reputation simply invites this sort of speculation.

World Trade Center is a film that fills me with conflict. There is nothing horribly offensive about the film. It is relatively well crafted with some very powerful moments. But, I cannot escape my own horror at watching 9/11 dramatized. It's still too raw and too fresh in my memory for a movie to portray in a way I feel will show respect and deference for what happened.

That is not Oliver Stone's fault. He made what I'm sure he feels is the best movie he could make given the materials he had to work with. Much of what he delivers is Hollywood hokum that is out of place in a movie about 9/11. However, there is far too much solid work for me to write the film off completely. Michael Shannon for one deserves a serious Oscar push as does Stone's set design team whose attention to detail may be the films most emotional experience.

To whom do you recommend a film about 9/11? I cannot think of anyone to whom I would say this film is a must see. Maybe the academy for what I mentioned before but with great reservation. I cannot fathom who would want to watch a dramatization of this horrifying event in history when so much of it is still so fresh in our collective memories.

Movie Review The Ant Bully

The Ant Bully (2006) 

Directed by John A Davis

Written by John A, Davis 

Starring Zach Tyler Eisen, Julia Roberts, Nicolas Cage, Meryl Streep, Regina King, Bruce Campbell

Release Date July 28th, 2006 

Published July 29th, 2006 

Is Hollywood killing the golden goose? A recent explosion in computer generated cartoons threatens to saturate the market for a genre that came to prominence based on its lovely uniqueness. In the summer of 2006 we have already seen Over The Hedge, Cars and Monster House and soon Barnyard will open. In the midst of all of this frenzy of computer animation comes The Ant Bully, a forgettable but lovingly rendered kiddie flick from the creative minds behind Jimmy Neutron Boy Genius.

Adapted from a book by John Nickle, The Ant Bully delivers perfunctory kids movie messages about friendship, family and working together in a terrifically crafted computer animated universe.

Nine year old Lucas Nickle (Zack Tyler) has been the target of neighborhood bullies for years. His only solace from the constant humiliation is taking his frustrations out on the ant hills in his yard. Little does young Lucas realize that he is not just bullying ants but nearly destroying a very real society of families and friends. With each squirt of Lucas's hose or stomp of his foot years of progress for the large in number but small in stature ant colony is lost.

While the leaders of the ant colony debate how to react to Lucas, whether to pick up and move away from the hill or find some way to retaliate, the ant wizard Zoc (Nicolas Cage) has a plan of his own. Zoc has developed a potion that will shrink Lucas, known to the ants as 'The Destroyer', to ant size. The potion works and Lucas is taken prisoner and put on trial.

Sentenced by the ant queen (Meryl Streep), Lucas is given the opportunity to prove himself. Rather than the ants eating him, Lucas will become part of the colony and if he can work together with the ants and find his place in the colony he will be returned to his family. Aiding Lucas will be Nurse Ant Hova (Julia Roberts) who volunteers to mentor Lucas over the objections of Zoc, her boyfriend.

Obviously from my plot description there is very little suspense in The Ant Bully. If you don't know the valuable lessons about friendship, teamwork and family that Lucas will learn then you have never seen a kids movie before. The story of The Ant Bully, adapted by director John A. Davis from the book by John Nickle, is neither original nor all that humorous. It works because it is comforting, familiar and the animation is absolutely gorgeous.

Because John Nickle's book is a slight 32 pages much had to be added and those additions include a nasty bug exterminator voiced by Paul Giamatti. The exterminator character leads to the film's climax, a bug war with the exterminator that is a visual marvel if only a story convenience. The war with the exterminator as well as ants angst over how to deal with Lucas, leads to an interesting, if not well explored, idea of the doctrine of The Ant Bully.

John A. Davis considers for a moment an idea of an anti-war movement amongst the ants. Many ants oppose confronting Lucas in a war-like fashion. Later when threatened by the exterminator there is talk of whether striking the exterminator before he strikes the ants is a proper course of action. A cartoon debating the ethics of first strike capability, even as briefly and simplistically as The Ant Bully does, is rather ambitious for such a little movie.

The animation of The Ant Bully is some of the best non-pixar computer animation I have ever seen. John A. Davis, whose previous effort was the imaginatively unattractive Jimmy Neutron Boy Genius, here crafts lovely, lush visual landscapes. The characters are candy colored browns, greens and fleshtones that really pop right off the screen. The action is animated so spectacularly that you nearly forget how unnecessary these scenes are.

The voice cast lead by Nicolas Cage and Julia Roberts is first rate. Cage strikes just the right balance of strength and vulnerability in his vocalization. Roberts, honey voiced and beatific, communicates motherly wisdom and a sensuousness that really draws you to the character of Hova. Bruce Campbell as Fugax does most of the film's comic heavy lifting with his tough guy bravura often punctured by pratfalling cluelessness. Finally, Regina King as Kreela is as always the queen of smart sass.

A better, funnier, more innovative plot could have turned The Ant Bully from a typical kids flick into something worthy of the Pixar canon. As it is I can still comfortably recommend The Ant Bully because of it's artistry and good intentions. John A. Davis has a bright future ahead of him in computer animation if he can in the future combine the gorgeous visuals of The Ant Bully with telling a real good story.

Movie Review My Super Ex-Girlfriend

My Super Ex-Girlfriend (2006) 

Directed by Ivan Reitman 

Written by Don Payne

Starring Uma Thurman, Luke Wilson, Anna Faris, Eddie Izzard, Rain Wilson

Release Date July 21st, 2006 

Published July 20th, 2006 

It's a good concept for a movie. The idea of a superhero in a dating situation with a regular human being is an idea that other films, Spiderman or Tim Burton's Batman, have alluded to but only now has a film made this idea its subject. The comedy My Super Ex-Girlfriend drew a number of big laughs from this great premise but unfortunately director Ivan Reitman was unable to sustain those laughs for the length of the feature.

Thus what I get with Super Ex-Girlfriend is two thirds of a very funny film and a third of a chaotic special effects movie with no solid finish. It's disappointing but not entirely destructive. Too much of Super Ex-Girlfriend is too funny to be written off entirely because of third act problems no matter how huge those problems are.

Luke Wilson stars in Super Ex-Girlfriend as Matt an architect who spends his days pining for the engaged girl of his dreams Hannah (Anna Faris) and his nights fending off the lecherous advice of his best friend Vaughn (Rainn Wilson) whose idea of good dating advice is to find a chick and bang her then find another and do the same.

Vaughn did have one seemingly smart piece of advice, he was the one who encouraged Matt to approach Genny (Uma Thurman) , a bookishly sexy art gallery employee. Though the meet cute on the subway is interrupted by a mugger that steals Genny's purse, Matt still manages to land a date by chasing down the mugger and retrieving the lost purse, though he is nearly pummeled by the bad guy.

The relationship is nearly tumultuous as the meet cute as Matt discovers Genny is more than a little odd. Clingy, neurotic but a raging wildcat in bed, Genny is certainly not like any woman Matt has met before. But there is far more to Genny than meets the eye.

Genny happens to be the Clark Kent identity to a superhero known as G-Girl who has made a habit of saving New York City from repeated disasters. Her crime fighting has naturally hindered much of her dating life but once she tells Matt of her secret identity their relationship takes off to another level.

Meanwhile Matt is still pining for Hannah and eventually when it looks like Hannah might be available and Matt has tired of Genny/G-Girl's insane jealousy and neurosis Matt makes the difficult decision to end things. If you think breaking up with an everyday crazy girlfriend is hard, try breaking up with a girl with superpowers.

The first two acts of My Super Ex-Girlfriend are very funny in capitalizing on the unique idea of a superhero and her non-super boyfriend. Director Ivan Reitman and writer Don Payne spin a number of humorous scenes from this brilliant scenario, such as G-Girl and Matt's midair coitus and G-Girl's jealousy at having to leave Matt alone with Hannah while she saves the world. These scenes draw huge laughs from the premise to the skilled performances of Thurman and Wilson and the smart writing.

Unfortunately nobody figured out how to bring this brilliant concept  to a satisfying conclusion.

The third act of Super-Ex which features G-Girl's attempts to punish Matt for breaking up with her and the evil scheming of her arch nemesis Professor Bedlam, played by the wonderful Eddie Izzard, to use G-Girl and Matt's break-up to his evil advantage devolve to simply into a series of chaotic and unsatisfying special effects.

The story closes with a perfunctory predictable and unearned happy ending which ties the story up far too neatly. Eddie Izzard is a wonderful comic actor but his story arc as Professor Bedlam is almost non-existent. For the ending to work he needs to be a more established character. Instead he is a plot instigator, a pawn moving the story to its conclusion and not a functioning character.

Ivan Reitman and Don Payne are far too interested in Matt's mundane existence as an everyman dating a superhero and not nearly interested enough in the far more interesting superhero. Little attention was paid to giving G-Girl powers beyond standard Superman abilities, her backstory is dull and her outfit is neither sexy or functional.

Just creating a character with super powers does not make the character interesting or compelling. Uma Thurman gives an energetic but flailing performance as it seems Reitman decided somewhere along the line to use the broadest comic takes filmed. Thurman is far too classy for much of the overwrought scenes she is forced to play and thus her performance seems strained.

Luke Wilson is spot on as the everyday guy. His reactions are natural and grounded and his charm is endearing without being cloying. Wilson's comic skills are impeccable and he plays even the broadest scenes with a smart economic ambivalence that seems perfectly natural to the character. Like I said, much of My Super Ex-Girlfriend is really good. It's only the film's third act that keeps the movie from rising to a level at which I could excitedly recommend it to you. As it is My Super Ex-Girlfriend is a flawed funny movie worthy of a rental if not an actual trip to the theater.

Movie Review: You Me and Dupree

You Me and Dupree (2006) 

Directed by Joe and Anthony Russo

Written by Michael Lesieur

Starring Owen Wilson, Matt Dillon Kate Hudson, Michael Douglas, Seth Rogen, Bill Hader

Release Date July 14th, 2006 

Published July 16th, 2006 

Owen Wilson's career is coming to a serious crossroads. The star of Wedding Crashers and charter member of Hollywood's so called frat pack, with his pals Ben Stiller, Vince Vaughn and Will Ferrell; is reaching a tipping point with his good natured slacker persona. How much longer can Wilson continue to play the same relaxed slacker charmer and remain in the good graces of audiences? 

How much longer can Wilson play a variation on the laid back musing hippy that has made him a star. His latest effort, You, Me and Dupree co-starring Matt Dillon and Kate Hudson, gives us a glimpse of Wilson's coming crossroads crisis. Exhibiting the very limits of his appeal, Dupree is typical of the dazed and confused good natured stoner that Wilson has made his bread and butter, he is also however an example of how that laid back stoner can be as irksome as he is charming.

As we join the story of You, Me and Dupree, Carl (Matt Dillon) is in Hawaii preparing to marry his fiancee Molly when his best friend and best man Dupree turns up on the wrong island and needs to be flown in. Dupree has always been a drifting, lazy, slacker but his friends, Carl and Neil (Seth Rogan) have always loved him.

Now that Carl is getting married the whole dynamic of their friendship is changing. Faced with having to watch his friend really grow up, at 36 years old, Dupree finds himself once again in arrested development. Having been fired from his job for attending Carl's wedding without bothering to get time off from work, Dupree is homeless and sleeping on a cot in a bar.

Seeing Dupree's dire straits Carl, fresh from his honeymoon, invites Dupree to sleep on his couch for a few days much to the chagrin of Molly. Naturally, hi-junks ensue as Dupree makes his mark on his new territory. He floods the downstairs bathroom, eats all of the food and eventually nearly burns the house down while sharing intimate relations with a friend of Molly's.

All of Dupree's actions and his completely oblivious attitude make for one truly irritating character. And then the film takes a giant mid-point turn that those of you who are really sensitive to spoilers might want to skip until you have seen the film........

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After all of the horrible things that Dupree does the filmmakers Anthony and Joe Russo decide to try and turn Dupree into the good guy of the movie. It's really rather astonishing. To the half way point you are with Kate Hudson' Molly in wanting to strangle Dupree but then the movie tries to turn him into this slacker with a heart of gold with a philosophy that heals all and suddenly even Molly is on his side while Matt Dillon's Carl turns into the worst variation of a Ben Stiller Jovian afflicted fool. This may work for those in the audience willing to love Owen Wilson no matter what but if you aren't buying Wilson's usual charm as I wasn't the mid-point twist is nearly as irritating as Dupree himself.

The film is pretty well downhill from this point. Michael Douglas joins the fray as Molly's doting dad who happens to hate Carl. This plot line leads into one of my biggest movie pet peeves. The troubles of Carl could be solved completely with one open honest conversation but if he were to do the logical thing and have this conversation there would be no movie. Thus the plot requires Carl to be a fool. This further undermines Dillon who was already stuck with a role it is clear Ben Stiller turned down.

I cannot say that You, Me And Dupree is completely devoid of laughs. With a cast this talented and lovable laughs are going to come no matter how poor the plot or direction. Owen Wilson occasionally emerges from the Dupree character with this wonderful hangdog expression reminiscent of a loving puppy that messed on the floor but doesn't truly realize he's done anything wrong. It's undeniably charming and at times funny.

Kate Hudson is really spot on throughout. Had not the script and direction let her down at every turn her winning smile and ability to adapt to any comic situation could have turned the whole film around. Its unfortunate that she accepted a role in which her character subservient to the whims of her male counterparts. Though she is clearly the equal of her co-stars in terms of star power, the plot relegates her to a dull supporting role that she seems far to big for.

Matt Dillon never should have accepted this role. I'm sure the idea, which came from two of the minds behind TV's brilliant Arrested Development, seemed like a potentially fun idea but he had to have seen the writing on the wall that this was a role meant for the slow boil, comedy of humiliation that is the specialty of Ben Stiller. Dillon is never comfortable in this role which is neither deep enough for his terrific instinctual acting or loose enough for the kind of wild streak that he showed in There's Something About Mary.

In the end You, Me and Dupree turns on the likability and adaptability of Owen Wilson. Sadly he is not up to the task. Dupree exposes the limitations of Wilson as an actor and a persona. Dupree evokes the idea of a stand up comedy routine rather than a fully fleshed out film character. The Owen Wilson persona established in Wedding Crashers, Starsky and Hutch and Zoolander, keeps peeking out from behind the character to wink at the audience and undermine Dupree as a character. You are essentially watching Owen Wilson try out the material of a Dupree character rather than watching a real character develop.

The one word that kept popping into my head throughout You, Me and Dupree was irritating. Dupree as a character and as played by Owen Wilson is irritating. Kate Hudson forced to dial down her star wattage is irritating. Matt Dillon shoehorned into a Ben Stiller character is irritating. The toneless, rhythmless direction of Anthony and Joe Russo is irritating. And at 2 hours in length Me, You And Dupree like it's central houseguest from hell overstays it's welcome and that is truly irritating.

Movie Review Superman Returns

Superman Returns (2006) 

Directed by Bryan Singer 

Written by Michael Dougherty, Dan Harris 

Starring Brandon Routh, Kate Bosworth, James Marsden Kevin Spacey, Parker Posey, Frank Langella 

Release Date June 28th, 2006 

Published June 27th, 2006 

The title Superman Returns has more than a single meaning. The title in the literal sense refers to the fact that the man of steel is returning to the big screen for the first time in nearly 20 years. In the movie universe the title refers to Superman having disappeared from earth for five years in search of the remains of his home planet of Krypton.

This search for home is at the heart of the new Superman flick which recasts the legendary superhero, now played by newcomer Brandon Routh, as a lonely hearted romantic with unrequited passion for Lois Lane (Kate Bosworth) and an earnest will to protect mankind from all hurt and pain.

Superman Returns is a pseudo sequel to the first two films in the Superman series starring Christopher Reeve. Ignoring the last two installments, a pair of embarrassing failures, Superman Returns takes on the task of reinventing Superman while remaining beholden to the original films.

Five years after leaving without a trace, mild mannered reporter Clark Kent returns to his job at the Daily Planet. Not surprisingly, soon after Clark's return, Superman arrives and is immediately put to the test rescuing a space shuttle mission that nearly causes an airline crash. Intrepid reporter Lois Lane happens to have been on the rescued plane but her reunion with Superman is short-lived.

Back at the newsroom Clark/Superman finds that since he left, Lois has given birth to a son and is engaged to Robert (James Marsden) an editor at the paper and the nephew of the Planet's managing editor Perry White (Frank Langella). Assigned to the return of Superman story Lois is far more interested in investigating how her plane and the space shuttle came to lose power in mid-air just as the power went out across the entire eastern seaboard.

Lois has a hunch that the power outage is linked to the legendary bad guy Lex Luthor who, out on parole because Superman failed to testify against him at trial, has stolen his way to wealth and used it to discover Superman's fortress of solitude. In finding the fortress he plans to harness its power crystals to create a whole new continent for himself even if it means sinking the east coast.

The film takes on an episodic feel early on as director Singer attempts to draw together his varying plot elements.

Episode one, explains how Lex Luthor got out of jail.

Episode two, Superman returns to the Kent family farm and his mother, played by Eva Marie Saint. This episode also attempts a quick recap of young Superman discovering his powers.

Episode three, the plane crash rescue. This is by far the best episode in the film as Singer harnesses a special effects masterpiece in Superman's return to his super good deeds.

And the film continues this stop and start of episodic melodrama and action at the expense of establishing a solid dramatic rhythm over its long runtime of two hours and thirty minutes.

Superman Returns is the height of CGI special effects rendering a believably powerful and compelling Superman. His feats of strength and speed are exciting and eye-catching. Check out the space shuttle and plane crash scenes and also a scene where Superman rescues downtown Metropolis from the falling globe from the top of the daily planet building. Routh's poise in this scene is classically and iconically Superman.

However, when Clark Kent slips out of the Super suit the film comes to a screeching halt. Here Bryan Singer's slavish devotion to the original films becomes burdensome. Richard Donner's version portrayed the Daily Planet as a throwback to the My Gal Friday, fast talking, down and dirty days when female journalists were dames and everyone was out for the big scoop. Singer's vague attempts to recapture that are disastrous.

Singer also tries to evoke those unique qualities of Clark and Lois that Christopher Reeve and Margot Kidder made memorable. Thus you have the charismatic but humor challenged Routh attempting Reeve's swift witted nerdy Clark Kent minus the wink and a nod. Then you have Bosworth trying out Margot Kidder's flighty but quick on her feet comprehension, something Bosworth fails miserably at.

Brandon Routh makes a great Superman. He has the physicality, good luck and soulfulness that evokes the best qualities of his predecessor Christopher Reeve. What Routh lacks is the wit that allowed Reeve to play the duality of Superman and Clark Kent. Routh lacks that knowing glint in the eye, that subtle wink and nod that Reeve brought to Clark Kent that helped audiences accept Superman and his nerdy alter ego.

The bigger problem for Routh however is his co-star and love interest Kate Bosworth. Though lovely, Ms. Bosworth is a lightweight dramatic presence. When compared to Margot Kidder's tough and unconventionally sexy Lois Lane, Bosworth is blown away. Where Kidder and Reeve burned up the screen with romance and wit, Routh and Bosworth could barely strike a match. Bosworth is an emotional cypher.

Brandon Routh also gets little help from co-star and arch-nemesis Kevin Spacey. Evincing more petulance than menace, Spacey chews scenery nearly as well as Gene Hackman did back in 1978 but where Hackman brought charm and wit to Lex Luthor, Spacey brings sneering, mustache twirling, buffoonish-ness to the role.

Superman is a god like character, seemingly all knowing, thanks to his super hearing and ability to see through any substance, he is also benevolent and compassionate. The script does not play up Superman's god like qualities, they are inherent in the characters backstory. The problem is the film does not attempt to deconstruct this image. Superman begins the movie as god and though he faces temporary physical setbacks, his character is never challenged thus he does not have a great arc.

In Batman Begins and Spider Man 2, arguably the two greatest superhero films ever made, the main characters had their morality and their personalities challenged and played big dramatic arcs. Superman however is so sure of his place in the world and is so earnestly engaged that he seems bland. He is challenged romantically but because the love interest is so passionless the challenge is not all that dramatic.

Christopher Reeve and Margot Kidder brought a goofy sort of charm to the romance of the first two Superman films that managed to flame into a pretty good love story. In Superman Returns the romance is a non-starter because star Kate Bosworth is a limp noodle of muddled romantic interest. We can see love in the eyes of Routh's Superman but Bosworth's Lois Lane is a blank slate.

The film asks us to believe that when Superman left without saying goodbye Lois wrote a Pulitzer prize winning story about why the world does not need Superman. We are to believe that she poured all of her sadness and pain into this essay and that, despite being unable to spell the word catastrophic -a joking nod to the first Superman movie- she was honored with journalism's highest prize. But we are only told these things. Bosworth never demonstrates her heartbreak beyond a simpering anger in her voice.

The real dramatic arc of Superman Returns is only brushed over. It's the search for a home. Superman left earth without a word to the people he loved. He went to find his true home and found only ruins. Back on earth his beloved Lois Lane has moved on with another man and though he has his mother and his purpose, Superman lacks a private place in the world. This character arc is sniffed around and hinted at but, sadly, never fully explored.

A series of intermittently entertaining episodes Superman Returns is at its best when director Bryan Singer presents his big action set pieces. When the film slows down and Brandon Routh is out of his super suit the film bogs down. The movie needed to modernize the newsroom setting, smarten up Lois Lane so we don't find her so dithering, and cut a good 20 minutes out of the non-action scenes. Unfortunately it's far too late for these changes.

As it is Superman Returns is a modestly entertaining, visually impressive action picture that lacks the wit and romance that made the original iconic.

Movie Review: Click

Click (2006) 

Directed by Frank Coraci 

Written by Steve Koren, Mark O'Keefe

Starring Adam Sandler, Christopher Walken, Kate Beckinsale, David Hasselhoff 

Release Date June 23rd, 2006 

Published June 22nd, 2006 

Adam Sandler and Frank Coraci have worked together enough to have developed an assembly line approach to their work. From The Wedding Singer, to The Waterboy and now Click they have developed a certain formula to their work that is undeniably popular with the Sandler cult but has grown more than wearying for the rest of us.

The sad thing about their latest teaming, Click, is that such a promising idea gets chewed up and spit out in the Sandler-Coraci assembly line; turning a clever high concept into just another lowbrow Sandler disappointment.

Adam Sandler stars in Click as Michael Newman; a harried architect whose main focus in life is success. Feeling that being highly successful in his career will someday earn him the time he needs to spend with his family, Michael ignores his family in order to provide for them. His wife Donna (Kate Beckinsale) is rather clueless to Michael's need for success and her constant nagging about spending time with the family is Michael's main source of stress, outside of work.

One night when Michael actually gets a few moments of peace and intends to watch a little TV he finds that there are so many remote controls in the room he can't even turn on the TV let alone watch. This leads to a trip to Bed Bath & Beyond (in the ultimate bit of brand placement), and a trip to the Beyond section where a wild haired scientist named Morty (a perfectly cast Christopher Walken) sets Michael up with the ultimate universal remote control.

Once home with his new remote Michael slowly discovers its amazing abilities. The mute button can mute real sounds, like the dog barking or his kids screaming. The pause button can stop time and coolest of all the fast forward button allows Michael to skip those moments of his life that are keeping him from getting his work done.

Unfortunately for Michael he did not realize that he is in the comic version of a Twilight Zone episode. He doesn't realize that such a gift has to come with certain flaws and drawbacks. After fast forwarding through everything from getting ready for work in the morning to fights with his wife to even sex with his wife, Michael finds the remote jumping ahead for him. Like setting the preferences on a TIVO the remote learns and assumes Michael's preferences and soon large chunks of his life have passed unknown to him.

Click has a killer premise that Sandler and director Frank Coraci fumble miserably because of their slavish devotion to the juvenile behavior that made them so successful and an inability to really dig beneath the surface of this potentially fascinating idea. They seem to understand that they have a great idea but beyond that they have no interest in or no idea how to dig into it.

Click spends it's first two acts showing us the various little things that the remote can do, like Sandler using the color mapping to turn himself into The Hulk, or stopping time so his son can get revenge on a nasty little kid. Then in the third act, once it's revealed what the dangers of the remote are, rather than dig deeply into the sad, inherently tragic elements of this device; the film simply turns maudlin. Sandler and Coraci imitate depth without ever achieving it.

The comic potential of Click is at times well realized. The scenes in which Christopher Walken as the wacky scientist explains the various features of the remote are very clever, especially the commentary feature with James Earl Jones (though nowadays Morgan Freeman would be the funnier reference). I also loved the trip back through Michael's life as Walken explains the rewind function. Sandler's exaggerated response to watching his birth and conception are terrifically funny moments in an otherwise laugh free film.

Christopher Walken nearly steals the picture as the wacky professor. Though he does not get one of his classic oddball monologues, Walken still manages to be Walken-esque. With the wild hair and wilder eyes, Walken, along with Sandler veteran Henry Winkler as Michael's dad, seem to be the only actors really having fun with this material.

If someone can tell me why Kate Beckinsale was cast in this film, aside from her obvious beauty, you are a better man than I. Beckinsale's role is barely more than a cameo. When Sandler's Michael isn't fast forwarding through their time together; she is relegated to the role of the whining wife belaboring the point that Michael is never home and is abandoning his family. Beckinsale is far too talented and far too interesting for such a minor role.

One of the biggest problems I have with Click is likely something that Sandler fans were perfectly satisfied with. That is Sandler and Coraci's inescapable need for juvenile bathroom humor. As in every Sandler film you have a dog that humps everything, actually this time I believe it's more than one, and in another scene Sandler can't help but stop time so he can jump on his boss's desk and fart in his face.

Oh, did I mention that the boss is played by David Hasselhoff, something Sandler and Coraci seem to believe is funny simply because he's David Hasselhoff.

Then, in the third act, the film wants to be credibly dramatic. Are you kidding me! How am I supposed to feel sympathy, empathy or even pity for such a wretched character and such a wretchedly juvenile picture. Click simply asks far more of an audience than anyone, save the Sandler cult, is likely willing to give.

What a waste. A smart concept in the hands of a pair of lowbrow millionaires, Click is a sad waste of time and talent, atleast the talents of Beckinsale and Walken. The lowbrow aesthete of Click is perfectly suited to Sandler who seems content to waste his gifts on dogs humping and fart jokes. It's a shame he had to waste this terrific idea for a movie with him.

Movie Review Nacho Libre

Nacho Libre (2006) 

Directed by Jared Hess

Written by Jared Hess, Mike White, Jerusha Hess

Starring Jack Black, Peter Stormare, Moises Arias 

Release Date June 16th, 2006 

Published June 15th, 2006 

Jared Hess broke big with his debut feature Napoleon Dynamite. The cult that has grown from Napoleon has raised the stakes on Hess's young career. Expectations for his future success are huge and his follow-up, new to DVD, Nacho Libre is just the kind of oddly humorous, entirely offbeat, flick we might have expected.

Teaming Hess with another rising cult star Jack Black and his pal;writer Mike White is the kind of wonderfully inspired comic combination that Napoleon fans could have dreamed. Nacho Libre is a rare sort of movie made for a cult audience by cult figures. Whether the film can reach beyond the cult is a big question.

In Nacho Libre Jack Black stars as Ignacio, an orphan who grew up in a monastery and became a monk. He's in charge of the food which is just a notch below the kind of gruel described in a Dickens novel. Serving food has never been first and foremost on Ignacio's mind. Even as a child he was drawn to the dramatic spectacle of the Mexican wrestling ring and the masked heroes known as Luchadores.

One night the orphanage's food is stolen; Ignacio decides the only way to get the money to feed the children is to wear stretchy pants and become a luchadore. To do this he seeks out the very thief who stole the food, a skinny naif named Esqueleto (Hector Jimenez). With his speed and surprising strength, Esqueleto is the perfect partner for the newly dubbed Nacho.

Of course becoming a luchador is not easy. In fact Nacho and Esqueleto make a regular habit of getting their butts kicked by every possible combination of luchadore, fat, skinny even lilliputian luchadores. On the bright side they are paid even when they lose. The question becomes will the fame of the wrestling world go to Nacho's head or can he remain a humble monk and win the heart of a beautiful nun, Sister Encarnacion (Ana DeLa Reguera). Or can he possibly do both.

The plot description sounds far more straightforward than it actually is. In fact most of the comedy does not come from the oddball wrestling scenes but rather from Jack Black's unique persona. To get the humor of Nacho Libre you must be a fan of Jack Black and familiar with the kind of madcap insanity that entertains him.

Indeed it seems that much of the premise of Nacho Libre and the idea of Jack Black playing an outsized mexican wrestling champion extends from an idea that maybe only Jack Black and writer Mike White thought was funny. Then came director Jared Hess who took the unusual premise and filtered it through his deadpan comic perspective and the idea became even less accessible.

Esoteric doesn't begin to describe the humor of Nacho Libre. Sure there are plenty of the pratfalls and physical humor that Jack Black specializes in, but much of the film is an earnest examination of a man and a dream to become a luchadore. The humor then comes from Jack Black playing a character whose dream is to become a luchadore and if you don't think that is funny then Nacho Libre is not the movie for you.

To enjoy Nacho Libre you have to enjoy Jack Black and his manic energy, odd gesticulation and in this film, a funny accent. The story of Nacho Libre is earnest and oddly straightforward, the humor comes from Jack Black being a Mexican wrestler. I found it funny, but I can understand where some people might not.

For me, as a fan of Jack Black's strange sense of humor, his odd tics and verbal dynamics, Nacho Libre is a terrifically funny film. If however you are uninitiated to the cult of Jack black then Nacho Libre may be a trying experience, a series of earnest, deadpan examinations of the very odd life of an odd man who wears stretchy pants and dreams of leaping off the top rope. You have to smile at that last description to be part of the audience of Nacho Libre.

Movie Review The Break Up

The Break Up (2006) 

Directed by Peyton Reed 

Written by Jeremy Garelick 

Starring Jennifer Aniston, Vince Vaughn, Joey Lauren Adams, Judy Davis, Vincent D'Onofrio, Jon Favreau

Release Date June 2nd, 2006 

Published June 1st, 2006 

When Jennifer Aniston split with Brad Pitt she had the sympathy of the celebrity obsessed world. Pitt left Aniston for his Mr. & Mrs. Smith co-star Angelina Jolie who in her looks and manner is the perfect villainess foil to Aniston's all american girl. Sympathy however, does not mean much at the box office. People may have been annoyed with Pitt and Jolie for breaking poor Jenny's heart but that did not stop audiences from making Mr. & Mrs. Smith a box office blockbuster.

The sympathy has done little for Aniston's own films. Both the thriller Derailed and the high profile romantic comedy Rumor Has It were box office non-starters and this spring's Friends With Money was barely a hit by small scale indie standards. Aniston's box office troubles should end with the new comedy The Break-Up, co-starring new beau Vince Vaughn, but that does not mean that Aniston's astonishing career slide is anywhere near over. The Break-Up is a dyspeptic, almost angry anti-romance featuring two lead characters more unlikable than most horror film villains.

In The Break-Up, Aniston plays Brook, an artist who works in one of Chicago's swankiest Gallery's. While attending a Cubs game, Brook meets Gary (Vaughn), a bus tour guide, who boorishly forces an unwanted hot dog on Brook and her loser date before accosting and encouraging her into dumping the boyfriend for him.

Two years later the fastidious Brook and the disorganized Gary are living together in a beautiful condo but all is not well. Ego-centric Gary cannot seem to do anything but play video games and leave his clothes on the floor. Brook on the other hand, cannot stop nagging Gary about the ballet, doing the dishes and other such activities he hates and she enjoys. A major meltdown following a dinner with their respective families leads to a break up. However because both Gary and Brook are on the condo lease neither wants to move out. Worse yet for Brook, she does not want to give up on Gary and the relationship.

This is where I part ways with the picture. Aniston's Brook seems like a reasonably sane person. When she breaks up with Gary she has a number of good reasons for doing so, and yet, the film forces her to hope that he will simply apologize and they can get back together.This renders Brook a rather silly person. At one moment she’s standing up for herself against a slovenly and seemingly uncaring partner and the next she’s forced to whip herself into wanting to stay with the guy. 

Gary is never anything other than obnoxious, self centered and egotistical. He never shows an ounce of caring for Brook, aside from the opening montage of photographs over the credits that serve as the couple's two year backstory. He is a major jerk who puts a pool table in the dining room the day after the break up and follows that up with a stripper party in the living room to make Brook jealous. The film gives neither Brook nor us a reason to like Gary other than the fact that he is played by Vince Vaughn. That is just not enough, unless you believe Vince Vaughn is god's gift to women.

That said, Brook is no prize either. Just simply wanting this jerk back is off putting enough but the way she parades men through the apartment to make Gary jealous is just sad and pathetic. Watching her I wanted to call in Dr. Phil to sit Brook down for a talk on self esteem and bad judgment. Hurting Gary’s feelings is not something I cared about but the guys she was using for that purpose were innocent bystanders. It’s just not funny watching her so obviously use these men for such unseemly purposes.

Peyton Reed is a fascinating and challenging director. His Bring It On was a tart little comic truffle with more bite than you expect from the teen comedy genre. And more interesting, his Down With Love was a stylish, ballsy attempt to recapture the camp romance of the fifties Doris Day-Rock Hudson flicks. Neither Bring It On or Down With Love succeeded fully but both films are risky in ways most mainstream films are not.

The Break-Up too is risky in very unexpected ways. The film has a very serious edge to it. A very unexpected level of realism comes in the arguments that Vaughn and Anistons characters engage in. The fights sound like real couples arguments and not the cute banter of the usual rom-com. The fights are nasty and personal in the ways only intimate partners can be. This is very bold but also very out of place. Fans showing up for light funny romance tinged with Vince Vaughn's usual acerbic wit and outlandishness will be dazed and confused by the film's daring realism.

What is good about The Break-Up? There are a number of very funny supporting characters. Jon Favreau, as Vaughn's best friend, steals a couple scenes by giving Gary some awful advice. And John Michael Higgins, best known as one of Christopher Guest's regulars, is funny as Brook's in the closet brother who sings pop tunes acapella with his singing group 'The Tone Rangers'.

Both Favreau and Higgins characters are funny in individual scenes but they are so far apart from the central plot that they are almost from another, far funnier, movie. When The Break-Up takes its major turn toward drama in the final act both Favreau and Higgins are left behind and nearly forgotten. There is no place for their broad characters in what suddenly and quite unfortunately becomes a nasty and borderline abusive situation. 

I cannot forget to mention the brilliant Vincent D'onofrio who plays Vaughn's brother. D'onofrio is a mess of ticks and gestures in a role similar to his Law and Order Detective character but gone to pot. Disheveled and disturbed, D'onofrio makes this oddball character the most likable person in the entire film in just a few scenes. He too is lost in the wake of the film's dramatic turn and the film is worse for his loss.

Both Jennifer Aniston and Vince Vaughn are naturally likable actors. However, in this film not even their maximum charisma can overcome the nastiness that is at the heart of The Break-Up. The film is far too mean spirited and angry to be entertaining. The ad campaign positions the film as a so-called anti-romantic comedy, whatever that means. The film is certainly anti-romantic but it's also anti-humorous and anti-entertaining.

I credit the film and especially director Peyton Reed for being daring but the mixture of broad comedy and the nasty realism just doesn't come together. The characters are too poorly sketched and rely far too heavily on the real life likability of Vaughn and Aniston. As characters Gary is an egocentric dick and Brook is a simpering wimp. There is nothing romantic or comedy in this pairing. It's just sad.