Classic Movie Review Mrs. Doubtfire

Mrs. Doubtfire (1993) 

Directed by Chris Columbus 

Written by Randy Mayem Singer, Leslie Dixon 

Starring Robin Williams, Sally Field, Mara Wilson, Pierce Brosnan 

Release Date November 24th, 2023 

Published November 27th, 2023 

I feel like our culture has gaslighted us all for the past 30 years. During this time period our culture has maintained a notion that Mrs. Doubtfire is a classic comedy about a father who will do anything to be close to his kids following a separation and divorce from his kind but worn out ex-wife, played by Sally Field. If you look at the film simply through the lens of our culture-wide love affair with the late Robin Williams, you will only ever find people who think that Mrs. Doubtfire is an untouchable comedy classic, ranking among the best family comedies ever made. 

If, however, you view the film without your rose colored glasses, Mrs. Doubtfire is a mess. This is a sloppy and ludicrous movie that stops dead repeatedly so that Robin Williams can do annoying schtick more at home on a mediocre sitcom than in any mainstream feature comedy. But, even more insidious is the bizarre notion that Robin Williams' devoted dad is some kind of hero. This is patently absurd if you actually watch the movie. I recently watched Mrs. Doubtfire for the I Hate Critics 1993 podcast and the consensus among the three of us on the show is that Robin Williams is the villain of Mrs. Doubtfire. 

I realize this is hard for some people to hear but it's true. Williams' Daniel is a terrible person. Every choice he makes, every desperate, sweaty attempt at fooling people, and all of the lying he does to cover his backside, Daniel is a villain. You can try and convince yourself that he does all of these things because he's being kept from his children, but the reality is that he could have been with his children as their father but he chose to be their friend and he chose not to be a good and caring partner to his wife. Those are the facts and I will happily lay them out for you. 

Mrs. Doubtfire stars Robin Williams as Daniel, a father of three whom we meet as he quits his job as a voiceover artist. He does it because he doesn't want to voice a cartoon in which a character is seen smoking. He's concerned about the effect of seeing smoking on kids and I sympathize with that. However, can we pause and consider the level of privilege one must have to be able to quit a good job over a moral disagreement like this? A lot of us aren't in a financial position to be able to quit a job simply because we have a minor qualm. 

So, why does Daniel feel comfortable walking out on his job? It's because his wife, Miranda (Sally Field) has a great job, a well paying job. It's a job that makes their life together with three kids possible and provides him the freedom to think he can quit his job on a whim. Quitting as he does allows Daniel time to pick up his kids from school and get home in time to throw a birthday party for his son that includes a petting zoo and dozens of kids who run around their house crawling on the furniture, throwing trash on the floor and bringing the pets from the zoo into the house. 

Find my full length review at Geeks.Media 

Movie Review Limitless

Limitless (2011) 

Directed by Neil Burger

Written by Leslie Dixon 

Starring Bradley Cooper, Abbie Cornish, Robert De Niro, Anna Friel 

Release Date March 8th, 2011

Published March 7th, 2011

"Limitless" might have been more aptly titled 'Plot Device: The Movie.' The little clear pill that drives the film's star Bradley Cooper infuses him with whatever ability is needed at any given moment in the movie. At one point, when Cooper is assaulted by thugs in the subway, the pill lends him the ability to tap his memory for some Kung Fu he saw on TV years ago and the agility to employ it with force.

Now, as fun as it would be to be able to recall a little Bruce Lee and employ it viciously and at will this bit of wish fulfillment is all there is to "Limitless," a threadbare pseudo-thriller that relies on this limitless device for all of it's narrative force.

Wish Fulfillment

Eddie Morra (Cooper) is a loser, plain and simple. He lives in a dump of an apartment and while he has a contract to write a novel, he hasn't written a word. His girlfriend Lindy (Abbie Cornish) sees him for what he is and as we meet her she is dumping him. Things are looking very bleak when Eddie bumps into an old friend with a secret.

Vernon (Johnny Whitworth) is a drug dealer who Eddie knows through his very brief marriage years earlier. Vernon's secret is a new drug he is pushing that he claims is legitimate, even FDA approved. The clear pill with no marketable name allows the user to access portions of his brain not usually accessed.

God in the Machine

After a brief bout of worry, Eddie indeed takes the pill and the effect turns him into a superman of intuition, charm and motivation. Naturally, he will need more of this but to maintain his fix will take him into Eddie's dangerous world of drug dealers, loan sharks and into another, even more untamed frontier, Wall Street; where traders rob each other in ways somehow deemed legal.

I want this pill, I really do, and that identification with Eddie is enticing but it doesn't change the fact that director Brad Furman and screenwriter Leslie Dixon are working with the ultimate 'God in the Machine,' better known in Latin as 'Deus Ex Machina.' The pill allows Eddie and eventually Lindy, an easy escape from any danger and that removes a great deal of the story tension.

A Distinct Lack of Tension

Why worry about characters that can just take a pill and have all of their problems become easy to solve. There is a distinct lack of tension that plagues "Limitless" right to the very end. To be fair, there is one scene; one in which Cooper loses his magic pill, which has significant tension as Eddie is forced to do something unthinkable and entirely unpredictable.

One scene however does not excuse an entire film so blatantly based on a cheap device. Limitless is simply too easy going about it all. Star Bradley Cooper is too comfortable in the confines of this plot cheat, wielding it all with a confidence that only magnifies how shabby it all is.

If you're someone who doesn't like to think when you are at the movies, "Limitless" might just be the movie for you. The pill doesn't just help Eddie do anything; it helps the audience as well taking away all of that pesky sifting of plot details or deciphering of mysteries and especially all of that scary anxiety that comes when a movie challenges an audience.

Movie Review Just Like Heaven

Just Like Heaven (2005)

Directed by Mark Waters

Written by Peter Tolan, Leslie Dixon

Starring Reese Witherspoon, Mark Ruffalo, Jon Heder

Release Date September 16th, 2005

Published September 16th, 2005 

A romantic comedy that marries elements of the music of the Cure with the romance of The Ghost and Mrs. Muir has far more ambition than anything that genre has seen in a long while. Throw in that it's directed by the director of Mean Girls and Freaky Friday and stars Reese Witherspoon and you have an absolutely can't miss formula.

Just Like Heaven is very much a formula picture but it's the best version of that classic romantic comedy formula than anyone has made since Tom and Meg last embraced.

Reese Witherspoon stars in Just Like Heaven as Dr. Elizabeth Masterson, a resident at a San Francisco hospital with zero social life. 24 to 36 hour shifts are nothing new to Elizabeth, nor is falling asleep in her lunch. But despite her dedication one cannot help but notice the twinge of loneliness in her eyes as her  co-workers discuss family and friends. Not that Elizabeth does not have them.  She simply has no time to spend with them.

Finally, after getting a much sought after promotion, Elizabeth gets a night off. She is on her way to her sister Abby's (Dina Spybey), for dinner with her family and a blind date. Unfortunately, Elizabeth never makes it to dinner that night. After assuring Abby she was on her way, Elizabeth crosses the path of an oncoming truck and suffers a major accident.

Cut to three months later and the story shifts to David Abbott (Mark Ruffalo) a widower searching for a new apartment. Fate leads David to choose the apartment that once belonged to Elizabeth and, to David's frightened surprise, is still her spirit's home. At first it's an occasional run in here and there that David thinks could be just a misunderstanding or voices in his head as he has been drinking a lot recently.

Soon it's clear that this is all for real and David and Elizabeth set out to find out just what happened to her and in the process they fall madly in love. There's more to the plot than my description states but I don't want to spoil the fun. If you've read a number of reviews already you probably know the twists and turns but I'm still not going to spoil them myself.

Living man falls in love with a ghostly girl is not an original plot but I doubt it's ever been as wonderfully entertaining as it is in Just Like Heaven. Reese Witherspoon and Mark Ruffalo have chemistry to burn as the man and his ghost and director Mark Waters have just the right touch of classic romantic comedy and modern movie magic. Waters is quickly becoming a master of light hearted material mined for big laughs and a tug at the heartstrings.

Waters is absolutely blessed in the casting of Just Like Heaven, not only with his terrific stars but in the supporting cast, which features Donal Logue, Dina Spybey (who happens to be the director's wife), and the brilliant Jon Heder who combines just enough of his iconic Napoleon Dynamite with a relatively normal looking character to deliver some of the film's best moments.

The script by Peter Tolan and Leslie Dixon is based on a novel by Marc Levy called "If Only It Were True" which was actually optioned by producers even before it was published. With the paucity of new and different ways for romantic comedy couples to meet, it is rather cute finding one where a live guy falls for a seemingly dead girl.  At the very least it is refreshing.

As put in play by Mark Waters and his excellent team, including Tolan and Dixon, cinematographer Daryn Okada and production designer Cary White, this concept comes magically and romantically to life. The characters are smart and wonderfully likable and the San Francisco locations, including screenwriter Dixon's own apartment standing in as Elizabeth and David's apartment, are gorgeous. The filmmakers could cut back on the fake smoke and soft lighting that creeps in a few too many times but overall the attention to detail is lovely.

I absolutely must praise the film's soundtrack headed up by Composer Rolfe Kent and Cure singer Robert Smith. The soundtrack features The Cure's original "Just Like Heaven" and a lovely cover by Kate Melua. I've never been a big fan of cover tunes but the soundtrack overflows with good ones from the title track to Kelis covering the Pretenders' "Brass In Pocket" to Bowling For Soup's very funny take on "Ghostbusters".

The soundtrack also features Beck, Pete Yorn and original recordings from Composer Rolfe Kent, who was nominated for a Golden Globe last year for his work on the Sideways soundtrack.

Despite the live boy/ghost girl approach, Just Like Heaven is still a traditional romantic comedy and as tired as that genre is this film has none of the lethargy or stagnation that most recent romantic comedies suffer from. That has everything to do with this exemplary cast. Reese Witherspoon is back after dipping into the Oscar bait in Vanity Fair. She has fully inherited the romantic comedy crown from Julia Roberts and has become the rare actress to receive bigger billing than her male co-stars.

Mark Ruffalo continues to show astonishing range by choosing unique material. He was last seen as a gritty cop chasing Tom Cruise and Jamie Foxx in Collateral. Before that he made another bubbly effusive romantic comedy, the candycoated 13 Going On 30. That film was not as smart or well made as Just Like Heaven, but both showcase Mark Ruffalo's quirky approach to the genre. Ruffalo treats even the lightest material with an actor's eye toward motivation and logic. He has a natural approach to the material that refuses to be manipulated by the plot.

Napoleon Dynamite's Jon Heder has been hyped prominently in the film's marketing and though his role is not as big as it may seem from the commercials and trailers, Heder nevertheless makes a great impression. Playing an oddball bookstore employee with empathic powers, he can sense the presence and feelings of ghosts.  Heder does not so much shed his Napoleon-ism as play to it and then away from it. This character is smarter and more stylish but retains the endearing oddness of Napoleon.

There are plot holes in Just Like Heaven as there are in any typical genre picture. The key to overcoming those holes is to create characters who can see audiences past any illogic simply with their appeal. Witherspoon, Ruffalo and the amazing supporting cast with their easy rapport and synergy completely gloss over any logic problems or editing missteps, allowing the audience to rejoice in the magic realism and the sheer joy of romance.

I despise the term chick flick! The simpleminded anti-feminism of the phrase grates me. It's a term people use to simply dismiss a film that they have not seen. What a shame because films as funny and well crafted as Just Like Heaven deserve the widest possible audiences they can get. With so few good movies made every year, to dismiss a movie simply for its surface is such a waste.

Movie Review Hairspray

Hairspray (2007)

Directed by Adam Shankman

Written by Leslie Dixon 

Starring Nikki Blonsky, John Travolta, Christopher Walken, James Marsden 

Release Date July 13th, 2007 

Published July 12th, 2007

John Waters Hairspray was an independent movie that made only 6 million dollars during its theatrical run in 1988. Nevertheless, the film struck a chord with someone, because over a decade later the film was plucked from obscurity and turned into a Broadway musical that went on to gross far more than the film ever did and garnered a few awards along the way.

Now Hairspray is back on the big screen and in a most astonishing turn of events, Hairspray gets even more successful in its return to the big screen. This jaunty good natured, upbeat satirical musical is the most consistently smile-inducing film this side of Ratatouille and nearly as much of a must see.

First time actress Nikki Blonsky, who won a nationwide talent search to get this role, stars as Tracey Turnblad an optimistic young teenager in early 1960

Of course, what people really want to know about Hairspray is, how does John Travolta pull off the crossdressing, the fat suit and the song and dance all at once. He's absolutely terrific. Though saddled with a Baltimore accent that limits his ability to belt out the songs in full voice, Travolta really throws all of his talent and charisma into this performance and his joy is fun and infectious.

The star of Hairspray is not John Travolta however, it's the music. These are some terrific songs; performed with style, humor and panache. My personal favorite is "Run and Tell That" a fast paced dance tune performed by Elijah Kelley who I believe is a star waiting to happen. Watch this performance and the chemistry he has with Amanda Bynes during this song and throughout their scenes. Bynes herself is a real joy to watch, together with Elijah Kelly, they are great fun.

The showstopper is an all-cast blast called "You Can't Stop The Beat" a rousing announcement of the arrival of the 1960's and modern times and values. Hairspray captures our move to a more permissive time, an experimental and unique time in our history. In this moment the film is both of its time, the 60's, and beyond it.

Hairspray is a guaranteed great time at the movies. A non-stop toe-tapping, smile inducing musical that will leave you humming, if not dancing, out of the theater. Young star Nikki Blonsky is a revelation as Tracey Turnblad, not bad for a contest winner, and John Travolta is a scene stealer as her mom Edna, just wait till you see Edna dance with Christopher Walken as Wilbur Turnblad, this scene alone is worth the price of a ticket.

Rat up your hair, call your best girl and go see Hairspray. If you can't have fun watching this movie, you simply don't know how.

Movie Review: Freaky Friday

Freaky Friday (2003) 

Directed by Mark Waters 

Written by Heather Hach, Leslie Dixon

Starring Lindsay Lohan, Jamie Lee Curtis, Harold Gould, Chad Michael Murray, Mark Harmon

Release Date August 6th, 2003 

Published August 6th, 2003 

1976's Freaky Friday preceded a craze for body switching movies in the 1980's. Remember Fred Savage and Judge Reinhold in Vice Versa? George Burns and Charlie Schlatter in 18 Again? And horror of horrors Kirk Cameron and Dudley Moore in Like Father Like Son. Most recently Rob Schneider pulled off the trick in The Hot Chick. So, history was solidly against the new Freaky Friday starring Jamie Lee Curtis and Lindsey Lohan.

Dr. Tess Coleman (Curtis) seems to have everything in her life working like clockwork, a thriving psychiatric practice, a book deal and her fiancé Ryan (Mark Harmon). Everything is good except for her difficult teen daughter Anna (Lohan) who is struggling in school, dresses from a thrift store and spends her time playing in a rock band in the family garage.

Anna is also unhappy about Tess's fiancé and upcoming wedding. Unfortunately, Tess is too busy to notice. Everything finally comes to a head between mother and daughter when Anna asks to skip the wedding rehearsal to play in a battle of the bands. Mom says no, leading to a screaming match at a Chinese restaurant. The mother of the owner of the restaurant is one of those oddly beatific old Asian women that exist only in Hollywood to dispense supernatural advice and/or meddling. In this case, the old women uses some mystical fortune cookies to teach mother and daughter how difficult each other’s lives are.

The next morning, the freaky Friday of the title, Mom and daughter have switched bodies and it couldn't happen at a worse time. Anna has an important test and a burgeoning flirtation with a boy that mom would not approve of, Jake played by Jake Murray. Meanwhile, Mom has a patient she absolutely must see and a big surprise from Ryan, who also is her book editor. After visiting the restaurant again and consulting the fortunes from the cookies, they find that the only way to reverse the switch is through learning to understand each other.

That may sound hokey, and it is, but Director Mark S. Waters has some surprises along the way that leaven the potential after-school special moments. A funny script by first timer Heather Hach and two excellent lead actresses help Waters deliver a family movie that avoids the treacly pitfalls of most non-animated family films.

Jamie Lee Curtis in Freaky Friday has the best role she's had since True Lies and she tears into it with the same fervor and imagination. She shifts from uptight adult to slacker teen in a perfectly natural manner. Unlike a Judge Reinhold or Dudley Moore from those awful 80's body switch movies, Curtis never embarrasses herself. There are a couple of uncomfortable over the top moments but considering the circumstance of the story that’s easily forgiven. As for Lohan, she doesn't pull of the switch quite as well as Curtis but she is game enough to get through the rough spots and earns and maintains audience sympathy through the body swap and back.

I honestly expected to hate this film, not just based on the history of films with similar stories, but also because it's yet another Disney retread. Whether it's recycling their theme park rides or betraying their animated library with awful straight to video sequels, Disney has shown a distinct lack of creativity. However, that lack of new ideas has yielded Pirates of the Caribbean, possibly the summers best film, and now this remake. Freaky Friday is a surprisingly, or maybe even shockingly, funny family film. It's seems Disney at least has the brains to hire creative people even if the ideas and stories are less than creative.

Movie Review The Heartbreak Kid

The Heartbreak Kid (2007)

Directed by Peter and Bobby Farrelly 

Written by Peter Farrelly, Bobby Farrelly, Scot Armstrong, Leslie Dixon, Kevin Barnett

Starring Ben Stiller, Malin Akerman, Michelle Monaghan, Jerry Stiller, Rob Cordry, Danny McBride

Release Date October 5th, 2007 

Published October 4th, 2007 

Ben Stiller has the astonishing talent to remain as funny and likable in bad movies as he is in good movies. Night at the Museum, Meet The Fockers, Envy, all not so great movies and all movies where Stiller outshined the material provided to him. Stiller is once again in better than the movie mode in the Farrelly Brothers comedy The Heartbreak Kid. This sorta-romantic comedy, a remake of the 1972 Elaine may-Neil Simon teaming, has a terrific idea at its center and Stiller in fine form. Unfortunately directors Peter and Bobby Farrelly can't help but succumb to their worst instincts in a vain attempt to recapture past glory.

Eddie (Stiller) is 40 years old and never married. He was engaged for 5 years, but as we meet him in The Heartbreak Kid, he is attending his ex-fiance's wedding. Both Eddie's dad (Jerry Stiller) and his best pal Mac (Rob Corddry) give him no end of crap for not settling down when he had the chance. Thus when Eddie meets Lila (Malin Akerman) he rushes things a little bit.

Eddie and Lila fall into a relationship not long after he attempts to foil a bad guy who stole her purse. A whirlwind courtship leads to the hasty decision to get married and a disaster on the horizon. Taking their honeymoon in Cabo San Lucas, Eddie quickly realizes that Lila is a little off. She sings along with every song on the radio, she's horrible at math, and she's desperately in debt. She's also not very bright, thus why she is almost immediately laid up in the hotel room with a bad sunburn.

The time alone allows Eddie to meet Miranda (Michelle Monaghan), a beautiful women's lacrosse coach vacationing with her family. The two spark quickly and after spending a day together drinking and soaking in the local culture,  Eddie realizes he is in love. Now, he has to figure out a way to break it to Lila that they are not working out and make sure he has won Miranda's heart.

The set up for The Heartbreak Kid is solid, this is a terrific premise. Unfortunately, the Farrelly Brothers, back behind the camera for the first time since 2005's Fever Pitch, can't resist a return to their basest instincts. Fever Pitch was a sweet, good hearted romantic comedy that played straighter than any previous Farrelly's comedy. The Heartbreak Kid is a throwback to the less interesting Stuck On You, Shallow Hal, Me Myself and Irene days.

Those films distilled the essence of the Farrelly's oeuvre down to the lowest common denominator. Each has its moments, but for the most part each is a lesser and lesser version of the Farrelly's one true classic There's Something About Mary. The Heartbreak Kid is the palest imitation of all; featuring Stiller in the earnest, frustrated good guy role he played so well in Mary.

Sadly, The Heartbreak Kid fails to capture what made Mary such a great comedy. The combination of heart and humor in There's Something About Mary is a near perfect combination of good hearted romance and lowbrow, genitalia based humor. It's a combo nearly impossible to pull off and The Heartbreak Kid doesn't even come close.

Disgusting for the sake of being disgusting, slapstick for the sake of slapstick, The Heartbreak Kid constantly steps on the more interesting aspects of Eddie's romantic dilemma by dropping in unnecessarily crude humor. Do we really need Carlos Mencia as a porn loving, sex offending, hotel manager? Do we need Jerry Stiller grossing out everyone in earshot with his many horrifying sexual innuendos?

Did we need to see Ben Stiller getting peed on or a visual gag about women's privates that may be the lowest joke of any movie in 2007? I certainly don't think so. Not when Ben Stiller, Malin Akerman and Michelle Monaghan are doing such great work creating a comically tense love triangle. The crudity only serves to distract and get in the way.

Ben Stiller gets better and better each time out. In fact, Stiller has never seemed more comfortable onscreen as he does in The Heartbreak Kid. Granted, he's played the flustered good guy for more than a decade but really, you can finally see him losing his many tics and affectations and becoming comfortable being himself on screen. This newfound comfort only serves to turn this already funny actor into a more charming and interesting screen presence.

Stiller's work clearly has a good effect on co-star Malin Akerman who does much of the heavy lifting in the broad comic moments. Akerman is a great beauty who gives herself over to broad comedy in the most unexpected ways. Not everything about her performance works, but you have to respect her bravery and willingness to do anything that was asked of her.

Michelle Monaghan is the perfect romantic foil for Stiller. The two have tremendous chemistry and the romance between them was more than interesting enough to make The Heartbreak Kid work as a romantic comedy. It's unfortunate that Peter and Bobby Farrelly didn't trust their stars enough to back off, just a little, on the lowbrow stuff.

The potential is there for a terrific romantic comedy in The Heartbreak Kid. It's undone by writer-directors desperate for faded glory. Peter and Bobby Farrelly have seen diminishing returns on each of their films since There's Something About Mary. Only Fever Pitch betrayed an attitude that they really didn't care about mimicking their past success.

Reteaming with Ben Stiller however, the Farrelly's sensed an opportunity to regain their A-list status and went for broke trying to recreate something that just can't be captured a second time. Certainly not with such desperate pandering as that which breaks The Heartbreak Kid.