Movie Review Life Partners

Life Partners (2014) 

Directed by Susanna Fogel 

Written Joni Lefkowitz, Susanna Fogel 

Starring Gillian Jacobs, Adam Brody, Leighton Meester, Greer Grammer, Gabourey Sidibe 

Release Date December 5th, 2014

Published December 25th, 2014

Making room in life for our people's people is not an easy thing. No man has lived without the experience of the girlfriend or even wife of the long time friend who's intrusion into their life is among the most significant disruptions in their life. When my best friend got married he was already moved away and living apart from me which actually made the transition in our lives easier. His wife and I are Facebook friends and get along splendidly on holidays. 

Other friends have married and the transition has been bumpy, awkward and on more than one occasion the friendship simply vanished. The thoughtful, funny new movie "Life Partners" is about a significant life-interruptus moment for a pair of female friends whose co-dependency was a defining trait. 

Sasha (Leighton Meester) and Paige (Gillian Jacobs) are the kind of friends who are announced as one person upon their arrival, as if Sasha's last name were And-Paige. They have jokes so deeply inside that to introduce them to others is to mystify them further. Take their obsession with the pop institution known as "Top Model." I doubt 'Model' host Tyra Banks could keep up with the stream of giggling asides Sasha and Paige cram into just a couple of scenes. 

So, when Paige meets and hits it off with Tim (Adam Brody) we know Sasha is about to take a serious loss. Tim is affable and has a good map for Paige's weirdness in the same way Sasha does; turning them, naturally, into competitors for Paige's attention. Of course, Tim is going to win; the plot has kicked in before the end of the first act and we know that the subject of the film is how we deal with our friend's new friends. How Sasha comes to cope with Tim while forging her own new bonds and longing for her bond with Paige is how the story will play out. 

That Sasha also happens to be a lesbian is surprisingly unimportant. Just ten years ago a filmmaker would be forced by convention to play on a secret longing Sasha has for her best friend to also become her lover. Here however, we have not a boundary breaking movie but rather a movie that is knowledgeable enough and modern enough not to bother with such old school thinking. Sure, it comes up, but only in a bitter, thoughtless tirade from an angry supporting player. 

No, director and co-writer Susanna Fogel is forward thinking enough not to waste time with the sexual politics and focus on two friends growing up, growing apart and growing together again. Maturity comes from learning that you aren't the center of everyone's world and that your people's people are also the star of their own story and not a supporting player for your wants and needs. It's only when Sasha stops seeing Tim as the villain in her story that she can mature and move on and make her way forward with Paige as two adult friends. 

I've been waiting for a movie like this for a long time. I've often wondered when someone might tell a story about friends and friends of friends that isn't some vacuous series of dinner party conversations or some trifling mumblecore B.S masquerading hipster ideas of friendship as deep insights. "Life Partners" is a movie for people struggling to grow up and then finally, actually growing the fuck up. What a refreshing notion. 

Movie Review: Country Strong

Country Strong (2011) 

Directed by Shana Feste

Written by Shana Feste

Starring Gwyneth Paltrow, Garrett Hedlund, Leighton Meester, Tim McGraw

Release Date January 7th, 2011 

Published January 8th, 2011 

Country Strong is a stunningly bad movie. An overwrought tale of addiction, failed romance and country music, Country Strong was written and directed by Shana Feste as two different movies. One version of Country Strong is a straight drama about a falling star and the other is a gritty indie drama about an alcoholic struggling to get clean in the harsh light of fame. Director Feste crashes these two movies into one another and the result is a massive wreck at the corner of Lifetime Movie Network and the Independent Film Channel.

Gwyneth Paltrow stars in Country Strong as Kelly Cantor a country diva who evokes what Taylor Swift might look and sound like in 20 years. As we join the story Kelly is in rehab for some yet to be revealed reason. In treatment she is being romanced by an orderly named Beau (Garrett Hedlund, Tron Legacy) who happens to be a small time country singer. We know there is romance here because of their moony exchanges while Beau tries out a song for the diva in her room.

The rehab idyll is broken up by the arrival of Kelly's husband James (Tim McGraw) who announces that Kelly is leaving rehab early to get back out on the road and reclaim her career. In a fit of bad judgement James is sending his wife back out on the road just 6 months after her breakdown on stage during a concert in Dallas. Moreover, genius James is sending her back to Dallas for her big comeback show at the end of the tour.

Joining Kelly as her opening act is 19 year old Chiles Stanton (Leighton Meester) a mousy wannabe Carrie Underwood with the brains of Kellie Pickler. James chose Chiles personally and the sexual tension between the married man and the rising teen diva is yet another of James's brilliant moves that seem orchestrated to drive his already fragile wife over the edge. Thankfully, Kelly has brought Beau along as both a lover and protector.

The creepy love quadrangle is one of the stranger touches of Country Strong as bot James and Beau lust after the teenager while sleeping with Paltrow's troubled 40 year old alcoholic. This is part of the wannabe indie vibe that writer-director Shana Feste wants to make even as most of the movie is a big, glossy, classically showbiz drama.

The dissonant tone of Country Strong clangs and bangs along and Shana Feste matches it with a shooting and editing style as clunky and discordant as the two movies she is banging into one. Scenes begin and end in strange places at odd angles and at times all we in the audience can do is laugh at the oddity of what we are witnessing.

How strange and out of tune is Country Strong? The one actual country music star in the cast doesn't sing until the closing credits. While actors Gwyneth Paltrow, Garrett Hedlund and Leighton Meester play singers and get on stage, the one person to actually sell a few country records, country superstar Tim McGraw is the one person on the screen called upon just to act.

That's not to say that the music of Country Strong suffers for having actors playing singers; each of the stars actually come off surprisingly well. Gwyneth Paltrow gave fans an earful of her warble in the long forgotten karaoke drama Duets singing alongside Huey Lewis. In Country Strong Gwyneth's voice is stronger and more confident bringing to mind a slightly less engaging Shania Twain.

Garrett Hedlund as Beau is the films one true revelation. Hedlund has a terrific deep drawling voice that fits perfectly the old school, twangy laden country songs that are Beau's forte. Leighton Meester's meek voice is well cast. The Gossip Girl star fits perfectly the role of the pretty pop country star whose best work is created in the studio with the aid of a great producer who can hide her faults.

When Country Strong takes to the stage things get lively and fun. Off of the stage Country Strong is a disaster of high camp melodrama and wannabe indie movie grit. If writer-director Shana Feste had embraced this trainwreck with a bit of irony and humor she might have turned Country Strong into a honky tonk Black Swan with Gwyneth as the cracked diva, Leighton Meester as a ditzy version Mila Kunis's scheming wannabe and McGraw taking on Vincent Cassell's taskmaster with a Tennesse twang replacing the haughty Frenchness.

It would cost the film Hedlund's voice, his character is far too earnest to survive this version of Country Strong, but it would be a better and far more interesting movie and it would free Hedlund to go make a real country record of his own. I know, I have to review the movie that was made and not dream of the movie I wish were made but I had little else to do while I waited out Country Strong's final odd yet somehow conventional twist.

Movie Review: The Roommate

The Roommate (2011) 

Directed by Christian E Christiansen 

Written by Sonny Malhi 

Starring Leighton Meester, Minka Kelly, Cam Gigandet, Aly Michalka, Daneel Harris, Billy Zane 

Release Date February 4th, 2011 

Published February 3rd, 2011 

It's odd to think of a little movie like “Single White Female” and deem it iconic. Yet, there are few women in the past 20 years who have moved in with another woman and not thought for a brief moment of the potential for a Bridget Fonda/Jennifer Jason Leigh scenario before laughing it off. ”Single White Female” was nothing all that new or inventive; rather it was simply more stylish and well acted than many similar genre efforts. 

In an attempt to recreate that iconic style and culturally relevant kitsch, the makers of the new thriller “The Roommate” have offered us a copy of “Single White Female,” a black and white, low-light copy from a machine that is low on toner. ”Friday Night Lights” star Minka Kelly is “The Roommate” of the title, Sara Matthews. Sara is a daughter of privilege from Los Angeles who is attending a nameless L.A College to get out from under her parents watchful eyes. 

Sara's college roommate is Rebecca (“Gossip Girl's” Leighton Meester), fresh off the bus from Des Moines, Iowa and hoping to make it as a big city fashion designer. Sara and Rebecca are fast friends but others are quick to see Sara's dark side. Tracy (Aly Michalka), for one, is immediately creeped out by Sara's too friendly demeanor, and is soon avoiding Rebecca at Sara's warning. Meanwhile, Rebecca meets and falls for Stephen (Cam Gigandet) and while he doesn't have any dangerous encounters with Sara, we witness her stalking him in the library without his knowledge.

Every scene in “The Roommate” coheres to a similar scene in “Single White Female” right down to a murder committed by the psycho roommate while in the guise of the non-psycho roommate. Remakes are becoming relatively typical but are we truly far enough away from a movie like “Single White Female,” which was released in 1992, for a complete rehash? Taken on its own “The Roommate” is flat and joyless; an exercise in tedium that lacks not merely in originality but in any kind of invention. Even those unfamiliar with “Single White Female” will assume the beats of this story and easily determine the simpleminded 'twists' well before they turn.

”Single White Female”, at the very least, was not afraid of being trashy, indeed, that film traded in high class trash to become iconic of its brand of thriller. “The Roommate” could have used a little trashiness to dress up these flat, boring characters. Instead, with a PG-13 rating the closest we get to trashy is the sight of one character's belly ring in a shower scene.

I don't mean to come off perverted but when you trade in stock characters, unambitious dialogue, and a boring, overly familiar plot, the least you could do is trash it up with stronger girl fights and a little more bare flesh. If you are going to bore us to tears with a mere rehash of a better movie at least dress it down with some high class campy trash. Is that too much to ask?

Movie Review Monte Carlo

Monte Carlo (2011) 

Directed by Thomas Bezucha 

Written by April Blair, Maria Maggenti, Thomas Maggenti 

Starring Selena Gomez, Leighton Meester, Katie Cassidy

Release Date July 1st, 2011 

Published July 2nd, 2011

With Selena Gomez on the cover of the September issue of Elle Magazine, their LatinX special, I went and found one of the few times when I have had the chance to write about Selena Gomez. In 2011, Gomez co-starred with Leighton Meester and Katie Cassidy in the forgettable but pleasant teen comedy Monte Carlo. Selena Gomez proved to be a very natural lead for a teen comedy and because of her, Monte Carlo is more enjoyable than many similar teen girl comedies.

Monte Carlo is the story of three friends who travel to Paris for one of the worst tours of all time and stumble upon one truly unexpected adventure that finds one of them impersonating a tabloid superstar, all three jetting off to Monte Carlo, and each finding love in unique ways. Is it a great adventure? No, but for what it is, it's not bad.

Selena Gomez is the star of Monte Carlo as Grace, a Texas High Schooler who has just graduated. Her plan is to head off to Paris with her best friend, Emma (Katie Cassidy) but her mom (Andie McDowell) and step-dad (Brett Cullen) have an addition to her plans. Dad will upgrade Grace and Emma's travel plans if they don't mind having his daughter Meg (Leighton Meester) join the trip.

Naturally, there is tension between Grace and Meg; they haven't exactly bonded since their parents got together. They will need to get along however as once the trio arrive in Paris they quickly find themselves abandoned by their terrifically awful tourist group. The tour scenes are quite funny with the speedy tour guide dragging the group past Paris's greatest landmarks in less time than it would take to snap a picture.

Stuck in the rain and miles from their modest hostel accommodations, the girls stop off at a luxury hotel to dry off. That's when the adventure begins. At the hotel Emma and Meg encounter Cordelia Winthrop Scott (Gomez) and find that Grace is a dead ringer for the heiress. After overhearing that Cordelia is pulling a disappearing act that will have her out of the way for a week the girls hatch an accidental plot to replace her.

The plan was just to take Cordelia's luxury suite for a night in order to get out of the rain but the following morning finds the trio ushered to a limo and on to a private jet headed to Monte Carlo. From there the plot cleverly conspires to keep the girls from escaping. Most films of this sort, modest, middle budget, niche comedies, skimp on character motivation. Monte Carlo actually takes care to make sure that the characters are moving in particular directions for particular reasons.

Grace may not want to keep up the Cordelia charade but when she finds that a children's charity will suffer without Cordelia on hand to raise funds, she changes her tune. It helps that she is immediately smitten with Theo (Pierre Boulanger) the scion of the charity founder. Meg too wants to escape this situation but when she falls for an Aussie vacationer her plans change as well.

Monte Carlo is far from brilliant comedy but within its modest ambitions it is successful at earning smiles and a few minor laughs. The young stars are sweet and best of all they perform with purpose in a movie that has a clear motivation and coheres to a specific plot. Again, I cannot express how nice it is to watch a movie, especially a teen-centric comedy, that cares why characters do the things they do.

Selena Gomez was on the track for stardom ever since she started out as a regular playmate for Barney the Dinosaur. Gomez is sweet, smart and pretty and the makers of Monte Carlo showcase her playfulness as well as her beauty. Monte Carlo gets extra credit from me for portraying Gomez's young romance with a light and comic touch. The romance is sweet and chaste and fitting of the young and playful tone of the rest of Monte Carlo. 

Leighton Meester also showed big star potential in Monte Carlo. Meester's roles prior to Monte Carlo had shown her to be a bland beauty with a mostly blank, expressionless face. In Monte Carlo however, especially in chastely romantic scenes with Aussie hunk Luke Bracey, Meester is lively and fun in an effortless yet PG friendly way. Considering that the role Meester took on just before Monte Carlo was the unwatchable supposed 'thriller' The Roommate, Monte Carlo was Casablanca by comparison. 

Monte Carlo doesn't reinvent the teen comedy wheel but in its formulaic, PG comedy way, it's a pleasant distraction and a breath of fresh air compared to a kid comedies of the same time period, 2010 and 11, like Mr. Popper's Penguins or even a rom-com like Something Borrowed, both of which looked downright amateurish compared to the effortless family friendly fun of Monte Carlo which is both kid flick and modest rom-com.'