Movie Review Glass Onion A Knives Out Mystery

Glass Onion A Knives Out Mystery (2022) 

Directed by Rian Johnson 

Written by Rian Johnson 

Starring Daniel Craig, Janelle Monae, Edward Norton, Kate Hudson 

Release Date November 23rd, 2022 

Netflix Release Date December 23rd, 2022 

Years ago, movies were home to terrific detective characters. For whatever reason, the character of the independent investigator fell out of favor. Perhaps its because independent detectives have rarely been relevant in real life since the days of Humphrey Bogart, or the rise of television gave detectives a more generous home, movie detectives had been in decline for years until 2019 when filmmaker Rian Johnson reminded us how much fun the detective genre can be with his ingenious mystery, Knives Out. 

With the release of Glass Onion A Knives Out Mystery, we have proof positive that the detective genre is back with a vengeance. This mystery finds the world's greatest detective Benoit Blanc languishing in the boredom of the pandemic before having his intellect revived with a new case that gets him back into the world. Delivering another career best performance, Daniel Craig gives Benoit Blanc a life and charm that echoes through the history of detectives on film, a brand new colorful icon for this beloved sub-genre. 

A group of 'friends' have received an invitation to the private island of a billionaire named Miles (Edward Norton). All of the guests are Miles' long time friends but they are also people whose livelihoods and financial well being are linked to the benevolence of Miles and his bank roll. In this group is a regularly cancelled former model, Birdie Jay (Kate Hudson), a superstar Twitch Streamer turned Mens Rights Advocate, Duke (Dave Bautista), his model girlfriend Whiskey (Madelyn Cline), a liberal Gubernatorial candidate, Claire (Kathryn Hahn), and a boundary pushing scientest, Lionel (Leslie Odom Jr.) who may have completely solved our environmental crisis or may be about to blow up the planet. 

Interestingly, and quite unexpectedly, another guest for this murder mystery party is Miles' former business partner and best friend, Cassandra (Janelle Monae). This is quite surprising as Cassandra had just sued Miles after ending their business partnership. Miles stole her idea and used his vast army of lawyers to destroy Cassandra while convincing their mutual friends, the other guests at this party, to lie for him in court. So that's awkward. 

Even more interestingly, who invited Benoit Blanc? Benoit received the same strange puzzle box invitation that everyone else did and yet, Miles did not know that the world's greatest detective had been invited to his murder mystery themed weekend. This adds to the layers upon layers of mystery and intrigue that writer-director Rian Johnson has built into this exquisite mystery. But this is no mere mystery, Glass Onion A Knives Out Mystery is also hilariously funny. This group of brilliant actors get laughs effortlessly and organically, never too broad or unrealistically. 

Click here for my full length review at Geeks.Media. 

Movie Review Our Idiot Brother

Our Idiot Brother (2011) 

Directed by Jesse Peretz

Written by Evgenia Peretz, David Schisgall

Starring Paul Rudd, Zooey Deschanel, Kathryn Hahn, T.J Miller, Steve Coogan, Adam Scott, Rashida Jones

Release Date August 26th, 2011 

Published August 26th, 2011

Paul Rudd is so appealing in "Our Idiot Brother" that you barely notice how thin the story is or how poorly drawn the supporting players are. The star of "Role Models" and "I Love You Man;" Paul Rudd has become known for his fidgety, acerbic, tightly wound comic characters. Now with "Our Idiot Brother" he has expanded his brand to include, shaggy, good natured stoner.

Ned (Paul Rudd) is just a great guy; unassuming, trusting and ready to help when needed. Thus, when a cop, in full uniform, approaches him and asks for some weed, Ned obliges only after hearing how tough things have been for the cop lately. It's a wonderful scene and Rudd's affability sells it.

When Ned gets out of prison, early release as he was everybody's favorite inmate, he finds that his girlfriend (Kathryn Hahn) has kicked him off of their organic farm and moved on with a new guy, Billy (T.J Miller). Worse, she's keeping Ned's beloved dog Willie Nelson.

Homeless, Ned moves back home to New York, briefly living with his mother (Shirley Knight) before crowding into the lives of his uptight sisters. First up is Liz (Emily Mortimer). Liz is married to a jerky documentary filmmaker, Dylan (Steve Coogan), and has two kids; the boy, River (Matthew Mindler), is quickly Ned's best friend.

By the formula, since Ned has two other sisters, he will screw up Liz's life and be fobbed off on the next sister; in this case Miranda (Elizabeth Banks) who makes the mistake of having Ned help her out when she has an important celebrity interview to conduct. He also gets in the middle of her friendship with Jeremy (Adam Scott).

Finally, there is Natalie who seems to be defined by her lesbianism; she lives with her longtime lover Cindy (Rashida Jones). However, when a cute boy artist (Hugh Dancy) shows her some attention, even offering to help out Ned, things in Natalie's life get very complicated and of course, Ned is there to make an even more interesting mess.

"Our Idiot Brother" is highly formulaic and has a highly predictable ending but the journey to get to that ending and the modest detours from formula make it worth your time. This is among Paul Rudd's best performances, a loose, sweet and terrifically funny performance that evokes a younger version of Jeff Bridges's legendary The Dude.

The rest of the cast is not as well defined as Ned and are really only in place to give Ned something to do. It's as if writer Evgenia Peretz and her director brother Jesse Peretz came up with Ned first and then built a movie around him. That sounds bad but Ned is such a terrific character, and so remarkably well played by Paul Rudd, that "Our Idiot Brother" actually kind of works.

"Our Idiot Brother" doesn't work in the typical way that great movies work. However, on its own terms, "Our Idiot Brother" has such a great vibe and is so well centered on Rudd's performance that it works in its own very unique and often very funny way. It's a bit of a strange recommendation, you have to have a soft spot for stoners and Paul Rudd, but I do recommend "Our Idiot Brother."

Movie Review Step Brothers

Step Brothers (2008) 

Directed by Adam McKay

Written by Adam McKay, Will Ferrell

Starring Will Ferrell, John C. Reilly, Richard Jenkins, Mary Steenburgen, Adam Scott, Kathryn Hahn

Release Date July 25th, 2008 

Published July 24th, 2008 

My sister and I have a long running disagreement about the comedy of the absurd. She loves the strange, the bizarre and the out of context. I prefer a comedy with some structure, comedy with an idea behind it, a strong sense of character. That said, even with my sisters great tolerance for absurdity, even she will have a hard time enjoy the depths of absurdity plumbed in Step Brothers, the latest dumb guy comedy from the Will Ferrell factory.

Brennen (Will Ferrell) and Dale (John C. Reilly) are two 40 year old virgins who barely left the womb, let alone their respective parents' homes. Brennen's mom Nancy (Mary Steenbergen) happens to have met and fallen in love at first sight with Dale's dad Robert (Richard Jenkins). Now Brennen and Dale are step brothers and they are none to happy about it.

Setting about destroying each other, Brennen and Dale engage in an ugly and occasionally funny, escalation of nasty pranks all of which seem to reveal how much more they have in common than against one another. When Brennen's successful younger brother Derek (Adam Scott) shows up and Dale ends up punching, the step brothers finally realize all they have in common. Unfortunately, Dale and Brennen's hijinks as enemies and friends drive their parents to divorce. Now they must try and grow up or lose their family.

My description of the plot is much more conventional than the actual plot of Step Brothers which amounts more to throwing a series of gags at audiences than much of anything you might consider a plot. Director Adam McKay, who co-wrote the script with Ferrell, attempts from time to time to bring some structure to Step Brothers but the urge for non-sequitur gaga becomes too much to resist. Some of the gags are funny, some are embarrassing; for both actor and audience, and others just leave one to ponder other things they could be doing with their time, like watching The Dark Knight again.

So what is funny about Step Brothers? Mary Steenbergen's brief cursing fit gets a good laugh as does Richard Jenkins' ever increasing frustrations. Ana Gasteyer's astonishing dirty talk will stun and still get a good laugh and a dog belonging to a blind neighbor gets a laugh as well. Otherwise, Ferrell and O'Reilly's antics as Brennen and Dale are more awkward than funny, more mean spirited than good natured.

Is the idea of children beating up Ferrell and O'Reilly kind of funny? Yes. In execution however the scene simply isn't funny. When the scene is reprised later you know what will happen and again it's not very funny. These scenes are like most in Step Brothers, random, flailing attempts at jokes that miss far more than they hit.

Much of Step Brothers plays as if Ferrell, Reilly and McKay sat down and started throwing around gags, regardless of context and decided to just throw everything in and hope something would work. Because these are very talented guys, some of it does make you laugh. Just as much however makes you cringe or merely embarrassed for yourself and the performers.

Movie Review The Goods Live Hard Sell Hard

The Goods Live Hard Sell Hard (2009) 

Directed by Neal Brennan

Written by Adam McKay, Will Ferrell, Kevin Messick, Chris Henchy

Starring Jeremy Piven, David Koechner, Kathryn Hahn, Ken Jeong, Jordan Spiro 

Release Date April 14th, 2009 

Published April 13th, 2009 

The makers of the comedy The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard, owe a deep debt, possibly even royalty payments, to John Landis who's 2004 documentary Slasher is undoubtedly the inspiration for this comedy about a group of mercenary car salesmen who stage massive sales for desperate car dealers. No mention is made in the credits or on the film's IMDB page of Slasher but I fear, honestly, litigation could be on order.

I had time to ponder this as I watched The Goods because this inconsistent comedy leaves a good deal of time for thinking about other things.

in The Goods Jeremy Piven plays Don Ready. His job, really, his life, is selling cars. With his for hire team of mercenary salesmen, Don is in a new city week after week with a new sale to run and new suckers to take advantage of. His latest job however, in the middle of nowhere town of Temecula(?) has some unexpected pitfalls.

Hired by Ben Selleck (James Brolin) to save his used car lot from bank foreclosure and taken over by his rival (Alan Thicke, in cameo), Don finds himself beginning to question his mercenary lifestyle. In the course of business Don meets and falls for Ivy (Jordan Spiro), Selleck's daughter. And then there is Blake (Jason Sadowski) , a Selleck employee who may or may not be Don's illegitimate son via a one night stand two decades earlier.

Meanwhile, Don's team are also meeting new challenges. Brent (David Koechner), the team finance guy, has to fend off the unwanted advances of Mr. Selleck. Babs (Kathryn Hahn), team eye candy, falls for Selleck's 10 year old son. Don't worry, he's a ten year old in the body of a thirtysomething and played by comic Rob Riggle. Jibby (Ving Rhames), the team's ethnic diversity, falls for a stripper and hopes to 'make love' for the first time.

Naturally, there is an enemy and he is played by Ed Helms as a rival car salesman who also happens to be engaged to Ivy and a member of a so-called 'Man band' whose claim to fame is once having opened for the group O-Town. If you think he has much hope of competing with Don Ready you probably haven't seen many movies.

The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard is yet another in a long line of comedies that tries to get past predictable plotting by being exceptionally raunchy. The formula is however kicked up a notch thanks to the casting of some of the best comic supporting players working today. The all star team of supporting players is lead by Ken Jeong (The Hangover, Role Models), Tony Hale (Arrested Development), Wendie Malick and Craig Robinson. This terrific group pull laughs like the pros that they are and they elevate the otherwise forgettable movie with their uncommon talents.

Not that the main cast isn't good. I really like Ving Rhames in a very non-typically vulnerable performance. David Koechner's performance never goes in the direction you expect it to and Kathryn Hahn more than holds her own against the veteran launchers like Koechner and Helms.

The one performance that is just a degree off is Jeremy Piven who seems adrift between being the Fonzie and the affable, likable lead. The balance is never found. Don Ready is something of a loser, so no cool to fall back on and he is never all that likable even when he is supposedly playing vulnerable and in love.

I don't know if Piven is miscast in the role but he is definitely one of the things in the movie that doesn't completely work. The other is the stilted direction of TV vet Neal Brennan. Underlining all his points, Brennan directs The Goods as if mimicking, even parodying, other raunchy comedies of recent years.

There is nothing to really set The Goods apart from other R-rated comedies. Is it funny? Yes, and for some that will be enough. Myself, I was hoping for something more. Oddly enough, that is likely the feeling of most people who buy cars from guys like Don Ready.