Movie Review The House

The House (2017) 

Directed by Andrew Jay Cohen

Written by Brendan O'Brien 

Starring Will Ferrell, Amy Poehler, Jason Mantzoukas, Jeremy Renner, Nick Kroll 

Release Date June 30th, 2017

Oh, how I hate The House! This one note joke of a comedy about morons trying to send their daughter to an upscale college is an embarrassing and sad mess. Will Ferrell and Amy Poehler star in The House as a married couple about to empty their nest when they send their daughter off to Bucknell University. However, when they lose out on their daughter’s scholarship due to a scheme by a corrupt city council member (Nick Kroll) they are forced into criminal behavior to make their daughter’s college dream come true.

Ferrell and Poehler play Scott and Kate, a married couple with the believability and romantic chemistry of a brother and sister. With no options to send their daughter to college they decide to take up their friend Frank’s advice and join him in running an illegal casino out of his mini suburban mansion. Playing off the cliché that the house always wins they set out to steal the money of their neighborhood friends who are so eager to break the monotony of suburbia that they don’t mind losing loads of money to do it.

Read my full length review at Geeks.Media 

Movie Review Hamlet 2

Hamlet 2 (2008) 

Directed by Andrew Fleming

Written by Andrew Fleming 

Starring Steve Coogan, Catherine Keener, Amy Poehler, David Arquette, Elisabeth Shue 

Release Date August 22nd, 2008

Published August 22nd, 2008

Since his splashy stateside debut as Alan Partridge in the indie hit 24 Hour Party People I have been left waiting for Steve Coogan to become a big star. His latest, Hamlet 2, was expected to be the launching pad. Unfortunately, a funny idea takes too long to get going and a flimsy, flailing effort only comes together for a few big chuckles at the end, after most of the audience has already checked out.

Dana Marsh (Steve Coogan) wanted to be an actor and for a time he was in a number of commercials. Unfortunately, his career never took off and now he finds himself teaching theater at a high school in Tucson Arizona. There his musical stagings of Hollywood movies like Erin Brockovich are universally panned by audiences, especially the whip smart freshman drama critic Noah (Shea Pepe).

When he is assigned a group of students whose other classes have been canceled by budget cuts, Dana has to come up with a way to reach them. Inspired by the young critic to write something of his own, Dana crafts Hamlet 2 and the students have a full on production to mount. The students take quite readily to the bizarre, offensive production, yes a sequel to the Bard's classic, co-starring Jesus and a time machine.

The description is unfortunately, funnier than the movie itself. Directed by Andrew Fleming, Hamlet 2 flails about for the first two thirds, finding only a few laughs here and there. Especially unfunny are the brief looks at Dana's personal life where Catherine Keener essays the least interesting performance of her career.

In the last third of Hamlet 2 things actually pick up. With the personal story shuffled off the stage, we get down to this ludicrous, ballsy, utterly offensive play and some actual laughs arrive. With Jesus and his time machine bringing Hamlet back to life and rescuing Ophelia before she drowns, as the gay men's choir of Tucson sings "Someone Saved My Life Tonight" the craziness of it all is enough to induce a giggle fit.

Then there is the big musical number. "Rock Me Sexy Jesus" is blasphemy of the highest form but also a jaunty, catchy, high energy pop tune that you cannot get out of your head. Arguably, the best musical moment of any movie in 2008, "Rock Me Sexy Jesus" is everything that Hamlet 2 should be but isn't. The song comes along in the funny final third of Hamlet 2 and those audience members who didn't check out during the sluggish first two thirds will absolutely love it.

If all of Hamlet 2 had the ludicrous, satiric edge of "Rock Me Sexy Jesus" it would be the funniest movie of the year. As it is, it's a slog to get through the first two thirds of Hamlet 2 and that flattens some of the admittedly funny third act. Steve Coogan still has not found the right vehicle to demonstrate his talent. Thankfully, this fall Coogan is mounting a standup comedy tour and a rumored documentary about said tour. Here's hoping this is the form he needs to break out.

Movie Review: Baby Mama

Baby Mama (2008) 

Directed by Michael McCullers

Written by Michael McCullers

Starring Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, Greg Kinnear, Dax Shepard, Romany Malco, Maura Tierney, Sigourney Weaver

Release Date April 25th, 2008

Published April 24th, 2008

When Kate (Tina Fey) is told she has a one in a million chance of having a baby she first considers adoption. Unfortunately, being single her wait for a baby could be five or six years. Her only other option is a surrogate mom. A high end company, run by the glorious Sigourney Weaver, sets Kate up with Angie (Amy Poehler).

Kate and Angie could not be more different. Where Kate is successful, smart and focused, Angie is dull witted, messy and hooked up with a loser boyfriend/common law husband Carl (Dax Shepard). Nevertheless, Kate needs a baby mama and Angie is willing so the two strike a deal. Later, when Angie breaks up with Carl she ends up living with Kate while Kate finds herself romanced by Rob (Greg Kinnear) who knows noting of her baby ambitions.

Baby Mama was written and directed by Michael McCullers whose most high profile credit is the script for the most recent Austin Powers outing. He has a talent for outsized, broad comedy and he brings some of that to Baby Mama. Unfortunately, the mixture of McCullers broad comedy clashes with the straight laced character based comedy of Tina Fey and the two fail to mix.

Where Poehler is playing a very broad character, married for seven years, never having gotten pregnant yet hired as a surrogate? Fey plays Kate as straight as an arrow. Given a romance with Greg Kinnear, Fey shines and we see a glimpse of the movie that Baby Mama might have been with a different comic vision.

The odd couple bits between Fey and Poehler feels more like the forced concoction of marketers rather than the organic growth of a comic idea. Reteaming the SNL gal pals holds some appeal with younger audiences, there is no doubt of that, but in Baby Mama the reteaming happens at the expense of a story that had great potential as a romantic comedy.

Greg Kinnear, hidden entirely in the films commercials and trailers, drops in to show exactly what kind of movie Baby Mama might have been. As a juice bar owner who flirts up a storm with Fey before falling for her, without knowing of her baby fever, Kinnear shines with an easy smile and quick witted charm. When he and Tina Fey are together onscreen you want more of them and less of the broader, less believable antics of Poehler.

In essence Baby Mama wants to be a smart, funny romantic comedy but the distraction of Fey reteaming with Poehler prevented that and lead to this lame odd couple knock off despite numerous, obvious, pitfalls. Tina Fey remains somehow above even the lowest of the low moments of Baby Mama and thus the film isn't so bad as to be unwatchable but not quite good enough for me to recommend Baby Mama,.

Movie Review: Blades of Glory

Blades of Glory (2007) 

Directed by Josh Gordon, Will Speck

Written by John Altschuler

Starring Will Ferrell, Jon Heder, Will Arnett, Amy Poehler, Jenna Fischer

Release Date March 30th, 2007

Published March 29th, 2007

How does a film critic approach something like the new Will Ferrell comedy Blades of Glory. It's not so much a movie as it is a series of skits featuring the same characters. Yes, there is the vague sense of a narrative and a sense of filmmaking skill involved in the capturing of the various skits, but is it really a movie in the classic sense of the term? Not really. Blades Of Glory may not be a real 'movie' but as a series of skits; cut together; and presented on the big screen; it is rather hilarious.

Will Ferrell stars in Blades Of Glory as Chazz Michael Michaels. We are told that he is a world championship figure skater whose showmanship has earned him the nickname "Sex on Ice". His main rival is a sweet natured, orphan turned prodigy; Jimmy McElroy (Jon Heder). When we meet them for the first time, in dueling TV highlight packages, they are competing for the world championship in men's figure skating.

Michaels with his trademark fireballs and McElroy with his own trademark bird-like moves, manage a tie for the gold medal but neither is satisfied. On the medal stand the two rivals argue and push and shove and finally break down into the kind of catfight one might not stereotypically expect from figure skaters. Soon both skaters are bloodied and the mascot is on fire.

The fight gets both skaters stripped of their medals and banned from skating. Oh, but there is a loophole. They were banned from men's singles skating, not pairs. Eventually, Jimmy's coach (Craig T. Nelson) gets the brilliant idea to pair the rivals as the first male figure skating pair in history, much to the dismay of the top pairs couple in the world Stranz and Fairchild Van Waldenberg (Will Arnett and Amy Poehler). The brother sister pair make it their mission to destroy their new rival with the help of their mousy little sister Katie (Jenna Fischer) who caught Jimmy's eye.

OK, there is a semblance of a plot here. However, watching it unfold and describing it are two very different things. Watching Blades of Glory I was left waiting for the movie to begin. Every scene is the set-up of a bit, closed with a punchline ending. There is little story progression, almost no character development and what little there is, is undone quickly by another gag/punchline ending. That said, most of the gags and punchlines in Blades of Glory are pretty funny and that goes a long way in excusing the film's faults.

I promise not to give away any of the great jokes in Blades of Glory except to say keep an eye on the hot dog guy. This one line day player has the best joke in the movie. Also stealing the show is costume designer Julie Weiss whose Flash Gordon meets Tron designs are absolutely priceless. The costumes in the final performance may in fact get the loudest laugh of anything in the film.

Will Ferrell is... Will Ferrell. He's everything you expect him to be in Blades of Glory, obnoxious, clueless, occasionally drunk and it works for him. What is odd is watching Ferrell try and share the screen with Heder who, though likable, is not on Will's plain in terms of starpower. In fact, Ferrell's role is really a glorified supporting role. Heder is the one with the more pronounced arc and he gets the girl. Ferrell merely sweeps in for punchlines. Pretty well, all of them.

For those who stick around for the credits and want to know who that is singing that oddly earnest sounding "Blades of Glory" theme song, it's not Survivor or the remaining members of Boston. It's former American Idol contestant Bo Bice.

I don't think Blades of Glory is very good as a movie but as a series of laughs strung together; I must admit, I laughed alot. Will Ferrell as a figure skater is enough to produce a chuckle. When decked out in spandex skating to Foreigner tunes, he is just a scream. There may not be a plot but when the jokes are this funny it's hard to complain to much. I guess; you could call this a recommendation for Blades of Glory.

Movie Review Man of the Year

Man of the Year (2006) 

Directed by Barry Levinson

Written by Barry Levinson

Starring Robin Williams, Christopher Walken, Laura Linney, Lewis Black, Jeff Goldblum, Amy Poehler

Release Date October 13th, 2006

Published October 20th, 2006

Robin Williams is not hip. He's funny, energetic and a legit star but he is not hip. That makes his role as a star political comic, ala the undeniably hip Jon Stewart, in the new movie Man of the Year more than a little ill fitting. Williams is quite funny in notching a number of smart and quite pointed political barbs but also a number of jokes that are a little past their sell by date.

Of course, if Williams' hit and miss jokes were the film's only problem with Man of the Year it would not be so bad. Unfortunately, director Barry Levinson throws in one terribly awkward subplot that takes Man of the Year from merely flawed to flailing.

Tom Dobbs (Williams) has a top rated cable show on which he talks about the issues of the day with edgy, politically incorrect humor. One night before the show an audience member gives Tom a crazy idea, why doesn't he run for president. Floating the idea on the show, Tom gets a huge response on the internet that leads to him declaring his candidacy and getting on the ballot in 13 states.

On the campaign trail with his showbiz manager Jack (Christopher Walken), and his head writer Eddie (Lewis Black), Tom's approach to the campaign is serious and joke-free. Tom desperately wants to be taken seriously as a candidate. That plan goes out the window when Tom gets into the presidential debate and begins riffing on the hot button issues of the day as acerbically as he might on his show.

His debate performance garnered a lot of attention but there is no way he could possibly win. Or is there? Somewhere out in the San Fernando Valley a computer company has earned the contract nationwide to provide electronic voting systems. The system has a serious bug in it that is discovered by Eleanor (Laura Linney), the company's lead programmer. On election night when Eleanor realizes the bug she found was not fixed; she decides she must blow the whistle, something the company will not allow to happen (cue ominous music).

The computer company subplot is a thriller element that this film absolutely botches. After launching an interesting concept, a comedian elected president, director Barry Levinson gets distracted by the details of how such a thing could happen. Tossing together this computer voting/thriller plot, Levinson gives us a plausible reason as to how a comedian could get elected president but misses the more interesting plot, how would a comedian run the country.

Watching Man of the Year I kept hoping that Levinson would cut through the thriller plot and show more of Tom Dobbs comedian figuring out how to be the most powerful man in the world. His thoughts on this rather momentous occasion beyond the jokes might be some place to start. But Levinson, I gather, just didn't believe audiences would buy Tom getting elected without some chicanery.

It's a fair bet that many people might not buy the premise without the computers, but that really isn't the point. We are at a place right now where most of the country is in the center and the rest are divided to extremes and make most of the noise. The idea that the center might rally to a centrist candidate, say a charismatic comedian, is an interesting and timely idea. Man of the Year has that idea but tosses it in favor of a dull thriller plot.

In early 2002 Robin Williams did a standup special on HBO that absolutely killed. His comedic skills having been tarnished by a few years worth of really bad movies, Patch Adams-Jack-Bicentennial Man, he bounced back with a tremendously funny concert set. That concert, in which Williams mixed his wildman schtick with some very smart and pointed humor, is the template for the character of Tom Dobbs, wildly energetic and very smart.

Part of the genius of Robin Williams in that HBO special and here in Man of the Year is the risks he takes with his humor. Always on the edge between funny and cringe inducing, Williams rides that razors edge in Man of the Year by recycling Clinton era humor that makes you snore while making timely references to the middle east quagmire, gay marriage and racism. When he's on, Williams rivals Jon Stewart and Bill Maher in irreverence and smarts, when he's off however he's Carrot Top crossed with Richard Jeni.

Thankfully, Williams is on far more than he's off in Man of the Year. It's just a shame he doesn't get more time to be on or off. Williams is forced off screen far too often in Man of the Year to make room for the thriller plot. I love Laura Linney but there is nothing that even someone of her tremendous talent can do with this ill-fated material. The way that Barry Levinson brings her and Williams together in the film, marrying the thriller and comedy plot in a romantic subplot, is almost less believable than the crappy thriller plot.

Robin Williams hasn't been this good in awhile. It's a shame that his efforts are often squandered in a film that just can't commit to a good premise. Politicians need courage of convictions, at least the few good ones do, and the Man of the Year too needed a little courage. The courage to craft a comic idea that is timely and relevant. Unfortunately, Barry Levinson lacks that courage and instead falls back on plot mechanics and thriller beats that interrupt what might otherwise be a pretty good political farce.

What a shame.

Movie Review: Envy

Envy (2004) 

Directed by Barry Levinson

Written by Steve Adams 

Starring Ben Stiller, Jack Black, Rachel Weisz, Amy Poehler, Christopher Walken

Release Date April 30th, 2004

Published April 30th, 2004 

Imagine a Hollywood pitch meeting where a producer first tells you that he has Barry Levinson attached to direct the film being pitched. Then the producer tells you that Mr. Levinson has drawn the interest of both Jack Black and Ben Stiller. This is a can't-lose pitch and you don't even know what the movie is about. The result of this can't-miss pitch is Envy, a comedy about best friends, one of whom becomes a millionaire while the other remains an everyman schlub. Somehow, despite its can't-miss pitch, it misses badly.

Ben Stiller is Tim Dingman and Jack Black is Nick Vanderpark. Tim and Nick have been best friends and neighbors for years. Their wives are friends, their kids are friends and the guys even work together at a sandpaper factory. Tim is a dedicated worker but Nick is more of a dreamer with a tendency to nod off at times. Nick spends most of his time dreaming up wacky get rich quick schemes and his latest is a doozy.

After seeing some guy on the street cleaning up dog-doo with a rubber glove and a baggy, Nick is struck with an idea. It's a spray that would make dog-doo disappear. Well it's not an invention yet, as Tim is quick to point out, all Nick has is an idea with a name, Va-Poo-Rize. Regardless of Tim's discouragement, Nick offers Tim the chance to be his fifty-fifty partner for a minimal investment. Tim, not surprisingly turns him down but ends up kicking himself when Nick's idea becomes a reality and he becomes filthy rich.

Despite his riches, Nick remains in the neighborhood. He buys out most of the neighbors surrounding his and Tim's homes and builds a mansion that fills an entire city block directly in front of Tim's house. While Tim has to get up every morning and trudge to the sandpaper factory, Nick is riding his great white horse everywhere, making sure to wave to Tim every morning as he leaves.

Tim has trouble at home, where his wife Debbie (Rachel Weisz) has left him, she can't forget how Tim turned down Nick's partnership idea. Tim is fired from the sandpaper factory after blowing up at his boss and soon he is hanging out with a bum called the J Man (Christopher Walken) at a dive bar. As the bum buys him drinks, Tim becomes increasingly angry at Nick and when he gets home, he intends on letting Nick know it. Instead, he accidentally kills Nick's horse, which kicks the plot into an entirely different and strange direction.

This is a typical Ben Stiller character prone to humiliation, fits of uncontrollable rage and self-deprecating physical comedy. Stiller is funny in this familiar comic persona though it would be nice to see him try something different.

This however, is not a typical Jack Black character and that is where the film goes wrong. In Envy, the comic whirling dervish that is Jack Black is slowed to the point of normalcy. Black's character has all sorts of wacky outfits and a Jim Carrey circa Ace Ventura haircut but his character is a neutered version of the manic over the top comic we have enjoyed in School Of Rock and High Fidelity. It doesn't help that Black's character is often shoved well into the background as the plot spins out of control around the horse and the bum.

Christopher Walken is a welcome presence playing yet another classic Walken character with one or two of those way out there monologues that only he could deliver. However, his character is a distraction from the center of the film, which should be Stiller and Black.

Subplots are added and discarded as director Barry Levinson spins wildly from one comic idea to the next, looking for a purpose. The horse thing takes up too much of the film, while a more intriguing idea hangs just off screen as a controversy erupts over where the dog-doo goes when the spray makes it disappear. It's gross but it's a funnier idea than anything that happens with the horse. The dog-doo idea is introduced and discarded and then brought back without explanation and then left unresolved as if it were a comic idea that they thought worked but did not and the filmmakers were forced to edit around it.

The whole film feels like it was assembled in the editing room without a clear purpose of what the filmmakers had filmed. Thus, there are some funny moments in the film but no cohesiveness to the plot. It's a series of ideas with no central purpose. The ending is especially slapdash and unsatisfying. There may have been a good film in there somewhere but what ended up in the final cut is basically all potential and no payoff.

Movie Review Mr Woodcock

Mr. Woodcock (2007) 

Directed by Craig Gillespie 

Written by Michael Carnes, Josh Gilbert 

Starring Billy Bob Thornton, Seann William Scott, Susan Sarandon, Ethan Suplee, Amy Poehler, Melissa Sagemiller 

Release Date September 14th, 2007 

Published September 13th, 2007 

Billy Bob Thornton has managed the art of being a curmudgeon like no actor since the late George C. Scott. Thornton's every expression is a pained movement he is forced into by having to interact with others. This expertise in being a curmudgeon served him well as the drunken Santa Claus in Bad Santa. However, that same curmudgeon act was a bore in the 2005 remake of The Bad News Bears.

Now, Thornton brings his curmudgeon act to a new comedy called Mr. Woodcock and like Bad News Bears, the context fails to make the act funny. Rather, what we get in Mr. Woodcock is Thornton as a truly thorny character whom we never enjoy watching and who offers few moments of levity. Kind of an odd character for a comedy, don't you think?

John Farley (Seann William Scott) was traumatized as a kid by a sadistic gym teacher. That teacher was Mr. Woodcock (Billy Bob Thornton) and just over a decade since he delighted in tormenting chubby young John Farley, he's entering his life again. John, now a successful self help guru; with a popular book about letting go of painful memories, returns to his Nebraska home town to visit his mother (Susan) and to his horror, finds mom is dating Mr. Woodcock.

This sets up a confrontation between John and Mr. Woodcock that should be a hilarious battle of wills? Or, maybe a comedy of misunderstandings? No. Maybe? Hmm. How about a slapstick comedy or a gross out comedy? No. In fact, Mr. Woodcock isn't really much of a comedy at all. Don't get me wrong, I sensed an intent on the part of director Craig Gillespie for Mr. Woodcock to be a comedy, it's just not funny.

Billy Bob Thornton is believably cruel and sadistic as the evil old gym teacher. However, he is in fact so convincing and so dispiriting that he sucks the comic life right out of the movie. Woodcock is such a jerk that there is simply no joy to be taken from watching him. This leaves Seann William Scott's John to carry all of the film's humor and in this character he just can't do it, not many actors could.

Where, in the American Pie movies, and the underrated actioner The Rundown, Seann William Scott showed an energetic comic presence, in Mr. Woodcock, Scott is a wishy washy presence who we never have any respect for. Set up as some kind of Dr. Phil wannabe, Scott's John Farley is no match, at any point, for Billy Bob Thornton's Woodcock.

The only humor in Mr. Woodcock comes in the supporting performances of Ethan Suplee, as one of John Farley's former classmates, and Amy Poehler as John's alcoholic press agent. Yes, Suplee is basically doing  a small variation on his My Name Is Earl sidekick but he is nevertheless a humorous oasis in the comic desert that is Mr. Woodcock.

Ms. Poehler too is only doing a variation of characters we have seen before. What she brings to the role is a sharp energy that though not original, is at the very least funnier than anything else we have to deal with in Mr. Woodcock.

The biggest disappointment in Mr. Woodcock is also in the supporting cast. Susan Surandon plays John's mom and I was left wondering, why? This role holds nothing for Ms. Surandon to do other than be Susan Surandon. Her character has nothing funny to offer, aside from looking rather ridiculous in an oversized dress proclaiming her the Corn Queen of 1970, which admittedly made me smile, briefly.

However, this role could have been played by any number of different actresses without affecting the role in any way. Susan Surandon is far too big a star for such a throwaway role.

Mr. Woodcock is a mean-spirited, unfunny take on the same character Billy Bob Thornton has been playing since he escaped the world of the character actor. The character, to my estimation, is getting less and less funny with every outing and Mr. Thornton would do well to find himself a character who smiles once in a while or is, at the very least, not such a buzzkill.

If he must play a buzzkill there must be some way to make that funny. Mr. Woodcock never finds a way to make this buzzkill funny, he's just a jerk.

Movie Review: Dr Seuss' Horton Hears A Who

Horton Hears a Who (2008) 

Directed by Jimmy Hayward, Steve Martino 

Written by Cinco Paul, Ken Daurio 

Starring Carol Burnett, Jim Carrey, Steve Carell, Amy Poehler, Seth Rogen, Will Arnett

Release Date March 8th, 2008 

Published March 7th, 2008 

We get a lot of animated movies every years and a number of very good ones. The artists of modern animated features are, more often than not, responsible caring, smart people who have your childrens best interests at heart. That is certainly the case with the team behind the latest Dr. Seuss adaptation Horton Hears A Who.

Jim Carrey gives voice to Horton the elephant, one Theodore "Dr. Seuss" Geisel's most enduring characters. In the land of Nool Horton is popular with the little ones and teaches them about the forest. His non-traditional teaching style is frowned upon by the sour Kangaroo (Carol Burnett) who fears Horton is causing the children to use their imaginations.

The Kangaroo grows even more sour when Horton takes to talking to a small speck atop a flower. You see, according to Horton, there is a tiny population on that speck called Who's. Horton has made contact with the Who's Mayor (Steve Carell) and has vowed to protect the populace and get the speck to the safety of a mountaintop sunflower.

Horton rescued the speck after it was dislodged from another flower, something that has caused big trouble for the who's from earthquakes to massive shifts in weather patterns. If they don't get to safety soon they will be destroyed. Standing in Horton's way is that dyspeptic Kangaroo and her mean sidekick Vlad (Will Arnett) a vulture who vows to destroy the speck free of charge.

The dramatic stakes are high but Horton never gets to serious about it's situation. This is first class kids entertainment with both big laughs and smart subtext. Jimmy Hayward and Steve Martino were the minds behind this adaptation and they have kept much of Dr. Seuss's material intact, not the least is his undying respect and reverence for a child's mind.

The exceptional voice cast also keeps things light and fun. Jim Carrey, Steve Carell and Carol Burnett do a tremendous job finding just the right tones for the lead roles. Meanwhile, Seth Rogan, Jonah Hill and Amy Poehler offer terrific support.

Horton Hears A Who is as smart as it is funny. Underlying the story of Horton and the Mayor's heroic journey are ideas about spirituality and environmental concern that maybe Dr. Seuss didn't intend but become prominent in the expansion of Horton from a small book to a feature length film. The movie is about believing in something whether you can see it or not. It celebrates the imagination but also the capacity to believe in something beyond reason. Horton cloaks faith in the veneer of modern animated humor and somehow never comes off preachy.

The animation of Horton could not be a better representation of Dr. Seuss's classic style mixed with modern animated technology. The opening image of a drop of water on a leaf is breathtakingly realistic and there are striking images throughout Horton. Images that catch the eye without overstatement. Impressive and not overwhelming, a delicate balancing act. This is one terrific little movie. If you have kids then you must have Horton Hears A Who, a new animated classic for your collection.

Movie Review: Alvin and the Chipmunks Chipwrecked

Alvin and the Chipmunks Chipwrecked (2011) 

Directed by Mike Mitchell

Written by Jonathan Aibel, Glenn

Starring Jason Lee, Justin Long, David Cross, Jenny Slate, Anna Faris, Amy Poehler 

Release Date December 16th, 2011 

Published December 15th, 2011 

As a professional critic I know I shouldn't be biased against any movie but indeed I was biased against "Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked." The first two "Alvin and the Chipmunks" big screen adventures are moronic and terrible movies that flashed pretty colors and loud music in order to distract children and parents into thinking they'd gotten their money's worth.

"Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked" on the other hand has a richness and thoughtfulness that was lacking in the first two movies. In no way is 'Chipwrecked' a great movie but by the lowered bar of the first two films it's a "Citizen Kane" level effort.

"Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked" opens on a cruise ship where a family vacation is, of course, upended by Alvin's hijinks. Dave (Jason Lee) makes the mistake of leaving Alvin alone in their state room and he leads a break out of the room that takes him to the casino and the Chipettes to the dance floor for a dance off against some Jersey Shore babes.

The ship scenes are very reminiscent of all the things wrong with the first two 'Alvin' movies and my heart sank for about 10 minutes until Alvin took flight on a kite with Simon, Theordore, Brittany, Eleanor, and Jeanette hanging on the tale end. The kite carries the chipmunks off of the cruise ship and off-course to a lost little island.

Dave gives chase after the kids on a hang glider and is joined by his music industry rival Ian (David Cross) who gets caught up attempting to stop Dave from going after the kids. Ian is now a mascot for the cruise line and spends most of the movie dressed as a giant pelican.

In my favorite part of "Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked" former SNL bit player and "Bored to Death" actress Jenny Slate plays Zoe, a castaway on the island. Slate's wacked out Zoe has a running gag about sports balls, ala Tom Hanks in "Cast Away," that somehow got a laugh from me every time the movie brought it back.

Will kids get a reference to "Cast Away?" Probably not; but the wacky bits that Slate does with the balls, including naming them, are expansive enough to get laughs no matter whether you get the reference. It's also nice to see the creators of 'Chipwrecked' throw moms and dads a bone.

"Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked" is not a great movie; it doesn't rise to the level of great family movies like "The Muppets" or "Rango," but the fact that the makers of 'Chipwrecked' worked hard enough to improve this awful series is admirable. Director Mike Mitchell could have coasted on the 'Alvin' brand name and he didn't and I appreciate that.

Unlike the first two films, there is the sense of an actual idea in "Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked." The movie aims to dialogue a little with kids about growing up and learning and earning responsibility. It's a little idea and it's not pursued with much depth but it's one more idea than existed in the first two movies combined.