Movie Review Strays

Strays (2023) 

Directed by Josh Greenbaum

Written by Dan Perrault 

Starring Will Ferrell, Jamie Foxx, Isla Fisher, Randall Park, Will Forte 

Release Date August 18th, 2023 

Published August 21st, 2023 

Strays Stinks! Reaching the nadir of talking animal movies, Strays pees, poops, and generally grosses out in every possible way while begging us to find it cute. Featuring the voices of Will Ferrell and Jamie Foxx, Strays is a cruel, nasty, disgusting little movie that also happens to be an amateur effort in terms of production and direction on top of the lame gross out humor. I felt a sense of embarrassment while watching Strays, an embarrassment on behalf of the people who filmed this and assumed that what they were doing was worth doing. 

Will Ferrell provides the voice of Reggie a badly abused dog that doesn't realize it is being abused. Reggie's owner is a cruel bully that the movie seems to think is a clever takedown of redneck, man-boy stereotypes. Doug (Will Forte) is instead, a monstrous, nasty creation who says and does terribly cruel things that we're asked to laugh at. It's supposed to be funny that Reggie thinks his name is S###bag. It's supposed to be funny that Doug hates this dog that much. 

It's also supposed to be hysterical that Reggie thinks Doug is playing a game with him when Doug drives Reggie into the country, throws a tennis ball and leaves Reggie to find his way back home. The plot of Strays kicks in when an angry Doug drives Reggie more than 3 hours away and drops him in the middle of a mid-sized city. Reggie has no idea where he is and is immediately set upon by bullies. Thankfully, he's saved by Bug (Jamie Foxx) who, though even smaller than Reggie, is more resourceful. 

Find my full length review at Geeks.Media 

Movie Review: Confessions of a Shopaholic

Confessions of a Shopaholic (2009) 

Directed by P.J Hogan

Written by Tim Firth, Tracey Jackson

Starring Isla Fisher, Hugh Dancy Joan Cusack, John Goodman, John Lithgow, Leslie Bibb

Release Date February 13th, 2009 

Published February 15th, 2009

What a strange bit of timing. When Confessions of a Shopaholic went into production the economy was sluggish but not so bad off. Now, the story of a credit card crazed shopaholic could not be anymore at odds with the times. Nevertheless, this movie is not a social commentary or documentary, it's a dopey, good natured rom-com and judged by that standard, it's not bad.

Isla Fisher, best remembered as Vince Vaughn's sexually rapacious gal pal in Wedding Crashers, takes on her first starring role as Rebecca Bloomwood a serious clothes horse. Rebecca has a problem, there isn't a high end clothing store that she can walk past.

Over a short period of time she has built up more than 16 grand in credit card debt. She is being stalked by bill collector's and to top it all off she has just lost her job as a writer at a gardening magazine. On the bright side, she does get an interview at her favorite high end fashion mag.

However, things don't go quite as planned and instead of working at the fashion mag, Rebecca winds up at a financial magazine. Luke Brandon (Hugh Dancy) happens upon Rebecca by accident and ends up hiring her... well... because the plot requires him to.

Using fashion to describe finance, Rebecca quickly becomes a sensation but when people find out about her credit card problems more than her new job will be on the line.

Yes, I cringed a little when I wrote that last line. A 4 year old could see that little complication coming. All romantic comedies consist of two people and the series of roadblocks used to keep them apart until the appointed moment they are supposed to be together for a happily ever after.

Confessions of A Shopaholic is anything but original. The film adheres to all rom-com cliches and requirements without question. The only thing that director P.J Hogan could do to make the movie interesting was get the casting right and he did it.

Isla Fisher is cute as can be and Hugh Dancy matches her in charm and good humor. As a couple they sparkle together and we want to see them in their happily ever after even as we are forced to suffer the false roadblocks of the typical rom-com.

This isn't a great movie but when Fisher and Dancy are together, it's worth suffering a few dull cliches to watch them spark together. If you love romantic comedies and don't care about predictability and cliche, you will smile your way through this superfluous, charming and forgettable movie.

Movie Review Rango

Rango (2011) 

Directed by Gore Verbinski 

Written by John Logan 

Starring Johnny Depp, Bill Nighy, Isla Fisher, Abigail Breslin, Alfred Molina, Timothy Olyphant 

Release Date March 4th, 2011

Published March 3rd, 2011 

2011 has seen very great movies. For me, the best film of the year, before the Oscar bait stuff arrives in October, November and December, is the animated Johnny Depp comedy "Rango." This endlessly inventive animated feature stunned me back in March of this year and has lingered in the back of my mind ever since.

"Rango '' stars Johnny Depp as the title character, a movie loving pet chameleon who gets lost in the desert after falling out of the back of a car. After meeting a Possum named Roadkill (Alfred Molina) Rango wanders off into the desert in search of the spirit of the west.

Eventually, after being chased by a hawk and passing out from the heat, Rango meets Beans (Isla Fisher), an iguana from a western town called Dirt. Through a series of mishaps Rango becomes the sheriff of Dirt and is tasked to stare down Rattlesnake Jake (Bill Nighy) while uncovering a scam to steal the city's water supply.

"Rango" was directed by Gore Verbinski, best known for the "Pirates of the Caribbean" franchise, and written by John Logan, writer of "Gladiator" and "The Aviator." Together, Verbinski and Logan have cooked up an animated western that gathers influence not merely from the obvious sources, the westerns of Clint Eastwood and Gary Cooper, but also the HBO series "Deadwood" (Timothy Olyphant voices a mysterious character known as the Spirit of the West) and even the forgotten Lee Marvin classic "Cat Ballou" and the epic "Once Upon a Time in the West."

The references are literate and lively and will delight western fans to no end. But the mimicry in Rango doesn't end with the western. Rango includes nods to everything from "Star Wars" to "Raising Arizona" to "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas" and "Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End," the last two, of course, starring Johnny Depp.

The plot of Rango turns on the same premise of the film classic "Chinatown," a corrupt man taking control of a town's water supply. Most kids won't get the reference but the key to Rango's charm is the way it keeps both kids and parents wildly entertained. While parents are cataloging the numerous references to classic and newer movies, the kids will love the cleverness of the story as well as the marvelous color and the energetic voice performances from Johnny Depp, Ned Beatty, Isla Fisher, Abigail Breslin and more.

Unlike most animated films where the voice actors are recorded over several months, often one voice at a time, the cast of Rango recorded vocals all at the same time with the cast often acting out the action of the animated characters. The lively interaction of the cast and the way the animators worked to capture the emotions of the actors in their animated characters gives Rango its unique energy.

The animation of Rango is phenomenal with bright colors, visual nods to the work of Sergio Leone, the legendary Italian master of the Spaghetti Western, and an almost Dali-esque sense of the absurd, captured especially by a dream sequence involving a floating, wind-up fish.

Rango is entertaining on multiple levels from the film encyclopedia level of movie references to the extraordinary animation and the lively, boisterous, and wildly talented voice cast led by the brilliant Johnny Depp. With these elements combined, there is no question that Rango is, thus far, the best movie of 2011.

Movie Review Hot Rod

Hot Rod (2007)

Directed by Akiva Schaffer

Written by Pam Brady

Starring Andy Samberg, Ian McShane, Isla Fisher

Release Date August 3rd, 2007

Published August 3rd, 2007

Andy Samberg was the MVP of Saturday Night Live recently thanks to his terrifically funny digital short films Lazy Sunday and Dick In A Box. Samberg has brought SNL the kind of cultural cache that the show hasn't had in over a decade which makes his move to the big screen a well anticipated event. It also unfortunately stokes my disappointment in Samberg's feature film debut.

Hot Rod, the story of a teenage stuntman, is a lame attempt to expand on Samberg's talent for physical humor with none of the wit that made Lazy Sunday a YouTube classic.

Rod (Samberg) dreams of one day becoming a world famous stuntman. For now he is content putting on stunt shows for the younger kids in the neighborhood. Though, as we meet him, his stunts consist mostly of his ugly crashes, Rod never loses hope that one day he will hit the big jump that will make him a legend and earn him the respect of his step-father (Ian Mcshane).

Rod's relationship with his step-dad is strained. The two do battle in hand to hand combat on a regular basis, putting a real hurt on one another; with real weapons and fists, in the family basement while Mom (Sissy Spacek) remains clueless. Despite the acrimony, when his step-dad grows ill and needs an operation to save his life, Rod steps up with a plan to use his stunt skills to raise the money to save his life, if only so he can finally kick the old guy's ass.

Naturally, there is a love interest for Rod. Isla Fisher (Wedding Crashers) plays Denise, Rod's neighbor who remains oblivious to Rod's obvious crush on her. As a plot this typically dictates, Denise has a jerk boyfriend (Will Arnett) who will no doubt lose his girl to the sweet, earnest Rod.

Hot Rod was directed by Akiva Schaffer who is one third of the Lonely Island Comedy team with Samberg and Hot Rod co-star Jorma Taccone. The trio has worked together since they were teenagers and when Samberg got his SNL gig, based on one of their popular internet videos, he brought Schaffer and Taccone along with him as writers.

In their work; Samberg, Schaffer and Taccone have shown a real knack for modern culture and ironic wit. Why that did not translate in Hot Rod likely has a lot to do with trying to meld their talents with what is a rather mundane formulaic concept. Reduced to trying to squeeze their brand of irony in between all of the goofball slapstick, Samberg and company are left with snarky music cues and vague homages to 80's cultural icons, though thankfully no Hasselhoff.

Hot Rod is yet another of those really disappointing Hollywood comedies where the best stuff is the trailer. Searching my memory for one funny scene that I hadn't already seen in the film's ad campaign; I'm at a loss. The ramp collapsed? Funny in the trailer; less funny in the movie. The exploding stunt and subsequent exchange with a malcontent viewer? Funny in the trailer, forgettable in the context of the movie.

And on and on, anything funny in the trailer is all that was mildly amusing in the film itself. What is left of Hot Rod are allegedly humorous bits of music placement. If you think the simple fact that someone listens to the long lost hair band Europe is funny, then you will get a chuckle out of Hot Rod. If you think a character singing a karaoke version of George Michael's One More Try to his stuffed animals is a laugh riot? Then Hot Rod is your movie.

Whoops, sorry, I may have given away this movie's two jokes that aren't in the trailer.

Hot Rod is a real disappointment. Andy Samberg is a talented kid who can and likely will do better. Being that Hot Rod was a script originally intended for Will Ferrell, Samberg would be well instructed to find and develop something of his own. Or, at the very least, something more suited to his quirky talents. Hot Rod is, I hope, beneath the talent of Mr. Samberg and not the definition of his talents on the big screen.

Movie Review: Definitely, Maybe

Definitely, Maybe (2008) 

Directed by Adam Brooks

Written by Adam Brooks 

Starring Ryan Reynolds, Elizabeth Banks, Rachel Weisz, Isla Fisher, Abigail Breslin, Derek Luke, Kevin Kline

Release Date February 14th, 2008 

Published February 13th, 2008 

In his first mature leading man performance Ryan Reynolds becomes a star before our eyes in the terrific romance Definitely, Maybe. Call it his Sleepless In Seattle moment, Reynolds becomes the new millennium answer to Tom Hanks as he establishes his romantic leading man street cred opposite not a single Meg Ryan but three tremendous young actresses on three completely different star tracks.

There is the capital A actress Rachel Weisz, already a hairs breath away from Oscar. Elizabeth Banks, the comic character actress. And then there is Isla Fisher, who is still too young to know where her career is headed. Reynolds sparks with each and makes you believe that indeed one man could get that lucky in his life.

Definitely, Maybe stars Reynolds as Will Hayes an ad exec who has just received his divorce papers. He's been headed for divorce for awhile it seems. Will see's his daughter Maya (Abigail Breslin) on Wednesdays and Fridays and is on his way to pick her up as the opening credits wrap. On this particular Friday Maya's school is abuzz. Today the kids took a surprise sex education course and all are bursting with questions. All of this talk of sex has Maya wondering where she came from, not necessarily the technical details, she learned all too much of that, rather about how mom and dad met and how they are where they are today.

Dad is not so hot on telling the tale and thus devises the story as a romantic mystery, leaving Maya to guess which of three women from his past is her mother. There is Emily (Elizabeth Banks) not her real name, who was his college sweetheart. They split up when he went to New York. It's more complicated and messy than that but that comes later. Then there is the copy girl aka April (Isla Fisher). She makes copies for a living in the Bill Clinton for President campaign office where Will has come all the way from Wisconsin to work. Politics of the early to late 90's play a big part in Definitely, Maybe.

And finally there is Summer Heartley (Rachel Weisz), a woman from Emily's past who Will meets when he delivers a present to her from Emily. What that present is has all sorts of surprises attached. Summer is an aspiring journalist sleeping with her esteemed professor (Kevin Kline) when she meets Will. They bounce around each other a little before the girly crush on the professor passes and Summer wants to get serious. She and Will share a relationship with many twists and moments you will not see coming.

So which girl is really mommy? Which girl is also the ex? That is the mystery and the secret charm of Definitely, Maybe.

Writer-director Allan Brooks isn't teasing the audience or screwing with us just to keep us off track. What he devises, structurally and with these terrifically charming and smart characters, is a romantic mystery that in-trances and enchants.This seemingly typical romantic comedy defies convention by mixing three different romances and allowing us to guess, take sides, and hope for our favorite to win out. Leading the guessing game is 12 year old Oscar nominee Abigail Breslin. In yet another devastatingly cute performance, Breslin charms us into a romantic journey that would be lonely and a little dreary without her hopeful, doe eyed presence.

The humor of Definitely, Maybe is warm and comfortable. It emanates naturally from these characters without the force of set ups and punchlines. The skill of Brooks' script may not occur to you until much later when you realize just how invested you are in the outcome of this mystery. Listen for the subtle ways Brooks uses politics as an undercurrent of Will's emotional state. His optimistic investment in President Clinton's promise of hope in 1992 juxtaposed against his disillusionment with his love life and the scandal that engulfs Clinton's presidency. This sets up a final moment in the movie so subtle; blink and you'll miss it. It's a minor scene but it means so much if you follow the context of the film as a whole.

Definitely, Maybe doesn't necessarily break the mold of the traditional romantic comedy. Rather, like the best of the gentrified genre lot, it takes the typical and improves upon it. The formula is familiar, it's just better performed, filmed and crafted in Definitely, Maybe. Rather than limiting himself to what is expected of the romance genre, Adam Brooks goes in slightly off kilter directions. He tweaks the formula, changes the expectations and, by creating wonderful characters with just the right actors, he changes the dynamics of the formula romantic comedy, bends it to the will of his story and creates something special.

Indeed, Definitely, Maybe is something special in the romantic comedy genre.

Movie Review: The Lookout

The Lookout (2007) 

Directed by Scott Frank

Written by Scott Frank

Starring Joseph Gordon Levitt, Jeff Daniels, Matthew Goode, Isla Fisher

Release Date March 30th, 2007 

Published March 29th, 2007 

Scott Frank made his name adapting the work of Elmore Leonard for the big screen. In fact, no other writer in the business has been able to so well capture Leonard's unique rhythm and humor as well as Scott Frank has. His scripts for Get Shorty and Out of Sight were smart and sophisticated Hollywood concoctions with perfectly executed mousetrap plots. Now working on his first outing as a writer-director,The Lookout, Frank brings the same smart sophisticated approach; minus the Elmore Leonard-isms but just as entertaining.

Chris Pratt had life by the tail. As a teenage hockey star he had a college scholarship all lined up. He had a beautiful girlfriend and a rich family to make certain that a life of ease awaited him. That life was shattered in one fateful moment. Driving drunk with his girlfriend and two friends on a desolate country road, Chris gets into a horrendous car accident. His friends were killed, his girlfriend lost a leg. As for Chris he lost his mind.

Not in the colloquial sense, but rather literally. Chris lost some of his brain and the ability to remember even his most recent activities. No more hockey. No more girlfriend and even his rich family has receded. Chris is left with his pain and a scar on his forehead. Now working nights cleaning a bank branch and living in a tiny apartment with a blind man (Jeff Daniels) for a roommate, Chris lives day to day off the little notes he must write himself in order to remember anything.

On one particularly frustrating night Chris doesn't go home. Instead he goes to a small town bar where he meets a sweet young girl named Luvlee (Isla Fisher) who thankfully doesn't seem to know who he is. Her friend Gary however, immediately recognizes Chris, they went to High School together. Gary shows Chris a little kindness and friendship and soon Chris has a whole new circle of friends. Unfortunately, Chris's new friends have ulterior motives. Gary and his gang are looking to rob a bank and with Chris's access to a local bank he's the perfect patsy.

That is the surface plot of The Lookout but the substance comes in the performance of rising star Joseph Gordon Levitt. An underappreciated young talent from his days on TV's bizarro alien comedy Third Rock From The Sun, Levitt has made an astonishing transition to indie films with three mind blowing performances. In Mysterious Skin he went into the heart of a teenage gay hustler with heartbreaking results.

In 2006 he starred in the popular indie noir Brick, a film that took a classic forties mystery plot into the halls of a modern high school. Now comes his most full bodied adult performance in The Lookout. Here Levitt plays wounded with such precision and heart rending truth that you can't help but be drawn into his world. As his new friends begin to take advantage of him your rooting interest is so invested that you move to the edge of your seat for the rest of the film.

Director Scott Frank amps up the tension by crafting a tight narrative with no fat, no extranneous elements. What is on the screen in The Lookout is only what is necessary to create this tense, clockwork plot. This no frills approach works to never let the air out of the room. Every scene has a near perfect level of tense pressure

The obvious comparison for The lookout is another tense, exciting short term memory based thriller, 2000's Memento. Both films examine unique characters through the prism of their limitations and finds the truth of their natures. Memento is the more artistically accomplished film but The Lookout is definitely the equal of Memento in terms of entertainment value.

A taut, pulse pounding thriller,The Lookout is smarter than most films of this abused genre. The thriller, much like the romantic comedy and the horror movie, has in recent years, given in to very simple, recognizable formula. Thrillers play out typical, easy to digest plots where one overwhelmed character takes on bad guys and uses standard thriller practices to overcome rote, prototypical villains.

Some filmmakers augment the typicality of the thriller with sleeze. Scott Frank in The Lookout overcomes the expectations of the genre by being smarter and more cunning than most. Combining a talented cast with a subversive plot and just the right amount of violence, The Lookout is set apart from other thrillers by moxie and brains.

The Lookout is one of the best films of 2007. A smart, savvy thriller that benefits greatly from the rising talent of star Joseph Gordon Levitt, a young actor with Oscar gold, no doubt in his future. Were there justice in the world of Hollywood, Levitt would be considered for his work in The Lookout. Sadly, there is no justice and thus the film is almost already forgotten by the Hollywood machine.

Still, there is me and you and everyone we know and we can and should pass this movie on to everyone. Great films like The Lookout are never appreciated in their time, don't let this one wait too long before you come to appreciate it.