Classic Movie Review Cabin Boy

Cabin Boy (1994) 

Directed by Adam Resnick

Written by Adam Resnick, Chris Elliott

Starring Chris Elliott, Melora Waters, David Letterman, Andy Richter 

Release Date January 7th, 1994 

Published January 16th, 2024 

Cabin Boy is a miserable attempt at comedy. That's surprising because, in general, comic Chris Elliott's absurd style of comedy is usually pretty great. I can remember being a kid and loving the weird gags Elliott did for David Letterman on Late Night. I remember some of his short-lived TV series Get a Life which also featured surreal running gags about Elliott being an overgrown child, one of the original Peter Pan Complex types. Elliott did a tremendous job of making man-children the subject of mockery. He targeted over-privileged mama's boys and clueless, entitled men who couldn't understand why the world didn't constantly bend to their will. 

It's a good brand of comedy and you can sense him bringing some of that sensibility to 1994's Cabin Boy. Elliott's main character, Nathaniel Mayweather, proudly calls himself a Fancy Boy, even as others intend it as an insult to his ill-mannered over-privileged man child. As we join the story of Cabin Boy, Nathaniel is finishing four years of insulting everyone less rich than him. Witless, irritating and openly cruel, Nathaniel is exactly the kind of character who needs a comeuppance and a valuable lesson about not being cruel to people of lesser status. You might assume that that will be the story of Cabin Boy and it kind of is. But, the reality of Cabin Boy is far more disjointed and odd. 

After getting kicked out of a limousine that is ferrying Fancy Boy Nathaniel to a luxury cruise how to his mansion in Hawaii, Nathaniel takes a wrong turn and ends up at the wrong port. Here, Nathaniel will end up boarding a stinking fishing boat called The Filthy Whore. Mistaking it for a themed cruise ship, Nathaniel becomes a stowaway on the fishing boat that is most certainly not headed to Hawaii. The salty smelly crew is a collection of character actors that includes James Gammon, Brion James, and frequent Chris Elliott collaborator, Brian Doyle Murray. Eventually the crew will add a woman, Trina (Melora Waters), as a very unlikely love interest for Nathaniel. 

I've given a rudimentary shape to Cabin Boy but the reality is much less linear. In reality, Cabin Boy is a series of random, mostly unfunny gags that don't add up to much of a story. Among the failing oddities is a character played by Russ Tamblyn. The former star of West Side Story plays a half-man-half-shark, who falls in love with Nathaniel and thus ends up saving his life on more than one occasion. Tamblyn has a nice smile but nothing that the movie has him do is funny. He looks weird as a human-shark hybrid but if you aren't laughing at that description, you probably won't laugh at the character in the context of Cabin Boy. 

Find my full length review at Geeks.Media

Movie Review Short Term 12

Short Term 12 (2013) 

Directed by Destin Daniel Cretton 

Written by Destin Daniel Cretton 

Starring Brie Larson, John Gallagher Jr, Lakeith Stanfield, Kaitlyn Dever, Rami Malek, Melora Waters 

Release Date August 23rd, 2013 

With the release of The Glass Castle on August 12, director Destin Daniel Cretton is stepping into his first major Hollywood feature. Will he be ready for the pressure that comes with bigger budgets, bigger stars, studio involvement, and the inherent issues that come from attempting to adapt a vaunted best-selling memoir to the big screen? That question will only be answered in a review of The Glass Castle. What we do know is, if The Glass Castle is half the movie that Cretton’s breakthrough feature Short Term 12 is it will be worth the price of a ticket.

Short Term 12 tells the story of counselors working at a short-term home for troubled kids. Grace, played by Brie Larson, is the lead counselor at the home who feels as if she’s seen it all from the children in her care. Naturally, she’s in for a surprise with the arrival of Jayden (Kaitlyn Dever) who reflects so much of Grace’s own troubled childhood back at her that it throws the normally well put together Grace into a minor tailspin.

The key to the storytelling in Short Term 12 is intimacy. Director Cretton’s style is up close and personal with tight two person shots that enhance the moments of incredible, realistic intimacy as confessions are made, moments are had, and especially when tragedy strikes. Cretton does a wonderful job of capturing extraordinary moments while also remaining aware of the bigger picture story he’s telling.

The director is aided by a standout cast led by Larson whose big, beautiful beating heart comes through in every scene. Grace may have troubles of her own, but she never loses track of her empathy. Empathy is both Grace’s greatest strength and her biggest weakness as having too much to give leaves one vulnerable, and Grace’s vulnerabilities are a big part of the story being told in Short Term 12.

Find my full length review at Geeks.Media 

Movie Review: Wisegirls

Wise Girls (2002 

Directed by David Anspaugh 

Written by John Meadows

Starring Mira Sorvino, Mariah Carey, Melora Waters

Release Date January 13th, 2002

Published February 12th, 2002

With all due respect to those of you with a marketing degree, there is no greater scourge in modern Hollywood than marketing. Say what you will about a film's marketing having nothing to do with the film's quality, the fact is that commercials, trailers and posters shape a viewer's point of view when seeing a film. The new-to-video Lions Gate release WiseGirls is a perfect case in point.

Everything in it's marketing would lead you to believe that Wisegirls is a comedy starring Mariah Carey, when in fact the film is a drama and Carey is merely a supporting character to Mira Sorvino's lead. I went in expecting a lame comedy and another chance to rip Mariah Carey's acting skills. Instead, I got a somewhat gripping mob drama from a female perspective that, because of it's marketing, will turn away many potential viewers.

Sorvino stars as Meg Kennedy, a former med school student who has moved to Long Island to live with her ailing grandmother and run away from her tragic past. With the help of her grandmother's caretaker. Meg finds work in an Italian restaurant that is run by the mob. At first Meg has no clue who she is working for, but her new friend Raychel (Carey) is quick to clue her in after one of their special clients accidentally shoots himself and needs Meg's medical training to save his life. 

Meg's first inclination is to quit but once she is clued into how much money she can make and how she would be able to care for her ailing grandmother, she puts aside her moral objections and keeps the job. In the meantime she and Raychel and another waitress named Kate (Melora Walters) bond and become close friends. That bond is tested after Meg witnesses her new boss murdering a man who attacked her. The authorities begin to close in on the restaurant, with particular interest in the things Meg witnessed, which include the murder and the drugs being funneled through the restaurant's kitchen.

WiseGirls is a rather surprising movie in it's first hour and twenty minutes. The film builds three very believable lead characters thanks to the strong performances of Sorvino, Waters and, I can't believe I'm saying this, Mariah Carey. Yes, its true, Mariah doesn't suck in WiseGirls. In fact, supporting character work seems to suit her. Her performance is relaxed and engaging, she makes Raychel a girl we all think we've met before.

It is Sorvino's performance that nearly pushes WiseGirls into being a good movie. Sorvino does a sensational job of earning the audiences sympathy. There's help from the script by John Meadows that allows her character to evolve in ways that are logical, if somewhat misguided. Sorvino's Meg shows the slippery slope that many of us could find ourselves on if we don't keep good company. Admit it, we all have that drug dealer friend that we only hang with in public for fear of being there when the cops bust him. The fact is that, much like six degrees of Kevin Bacon, we all have some connection to crime, organized or otherwise, and this film shows what happens when you allow those relationships to go to far.

Many reviews of this film have referred to the film's stereotypical mobster characters played by Arthur J. Nascarella and Christian Maelan amongst others. I honestly didn't think the stereotypes were as pronounced as most reviewers thought. The problem was the actors who seemed to be just going through the motions of their characters.

The biggest problem with WiseGirls is a serious one, it's ending. This film has possibly the worst ending of any film released in the last year. The ending is a total cop out and ruins any emotional crescendo that had risen into a strong cathartic moment. The ending ruined the movie for me.

That said, if you stop watching with maybe five or ten minutes left, you might walk away with a pleasant view of WiseGirls. But stay for those final moments, and you will be very disappointed.

Movie Review The Butterfly Effect

The Butterfly Effect (2004) 

Directed by Eric Bress, J Mackye Gruber 

Written by Eric Bress, J Mackye Gruber 

Starring Ashton Kutcher, Amy Smart, Ethan Suplee, Logan Lerman, Melora Waters 

Release Date January 23rd, 2004 

Published January 22nd, 2004 

There is a classic Simpsons Halloween Special in which Homer attempts to fix the toaster and ends up turning it into a time machine. Every time Homer travels through time, he does something stupid that changes the future. I kept flashing back to this work of comic genius all throughout the new Ashton Kutcher sci-fi drama, The Butterfly Effect. The stories are similar but also, I had nothing better to do while the film kept repeating itself into oblivion.

Ashton Kutcher stars as Evan Treborn, a psych major at some nameless college. Evan has had an odd path to college involving a memory loaded with potholes he longs to fill. Evan gets his chance to restore his memories when he rediscovers his childhood journals. After a fainting spell brings back one of his lost memories, Evan is led back to his hometown and the girl he left behind, Kayleigh, played by Amy Smart.

Kayleigh and Evan were childhood sweethearts before Evan's mother (Melora Waters) moved the family away. Now Kayleigh is a waitress trapped in her hometown that has become a prison. When Evan shows up wanting to reminisce and Kayleigh is less than thrilled and the encounter unlocks a load of  bad memories for her. These memories are so bad in fact that Kayleigh takes her own life.

Shocked and saddened by Kayleigh’s death, Evan begins experimenting with his memories, eventually discovering that if he concentrates hard enough he can travel back in time and change his traumatic past. Using his childhood journals as his guide, Evan goes back and changes the past to save Kayleigh's life. When he awakens, things have indeed changed. Evan is now a popular frat guy and Kayleigh has joined him at college. The two are planning to be married. The odd thing is, Evan can remember everything that he changed.

As any number of Star Trek episodes can tell you, when you change the past you affect not just your future but everyone's future. So while Evan may have saved Kayleigh's life and seems to have set them both on an idyllic path, he neglected the futures of the other people in his past. They include Kayleigh's nutball brother Tommy and their friend Lenny (Elden Henson). Tommy tragically ends the perfect future Evan thought he wanted, forcing Evan to go back and change something else which also ends tragically and again and again and again until the audience wishes we could go back in time and get our money back.

There is no doubt that this is an interesting concept. Who doesn't have a small portion of their past they would like an opportunity to change? This is certainly not the first time this material has been attempted either. There’s the aforementioned Simpsons' episode, each of the Star Trek series, and most recently on the big screen in the latest adaptation of H.G Wells' The Time Machine. The problem with the device in The Butterfly Effect is that the film never establishes either likable characters or a scientific basis for Evan's abilities.

The character of Evan is essentially a selfish, amoral, whiner. His only concern is for himself and manipulating the past for his benefit until the end and that includes saving Kayleigh for himself. Evan's motivation was supposed to be his love for Kayleigh. Unfortunately, Kutcher and Smart have little to no chemistry.

The film’s themes don't make the film any easier to enjoy. The things that Evan, Kayleigh and their friends go through include, physical and emotional abuse, child porn, animal cruelty, and manslaughter. Not to mention the time that Evan's mentally deranged father tried to kill him. The film is meant to be dark, I get that, but this is really dark.

The saddest thing about The Butterfly Effect is the fact that the trailer was so terrific. Watching the trailer as it debuted back in December, I was ready to give the goofy Ashton Kutcher the benefit of the doubt in his first dramatic performance. Kutcher was not up to the challenge and The Butterfly Effect does not live up to the promise of the trailer. This is a sad, depressing, dark film.

Movie Review Melvin Goes to Dinner

Melvin Goes to Dinner (2003) 

Directed by Bob Odenkirk

Written by Michael Blieden 

Starring Michael Blieden, Melora Waters, Stephanie Courtney, Matt Price 

Release Date January 2003 

Published May 19th, 2003 

Bob Odenkirk is best known as half of the comic team behind HBO's cult comedy Mr. Show. With his partner David Cross, Odenkirk created some of the funniest sketch comedies ever on television. Now Odenkirk is venturing out into unknown territory directing his first feature film, and like Mr. Show, it's a risky comic sketch.

Melvin Goes To Dinner is a single, handheld camera following the twists and turns of a conversation between four semi-strangers. Like the classic My Dinner With Andre, Melvin is a fascinating experiment in comic dialogue and the ability of a director to hold your attention without resorting to trickery.

The Melvin of the title is Michael Bleiden, who wrote the script and performed the show as a stage play in Los Angeles. In the film, he and the original stage actors from the LA production, Annabelle Gurwitch as Sarah, Stephanie Courtney as Alex, and Matt Price as Joey, reunite in an LA restaurant. What unfolds is an hour-long conversation that twists from mocking discussions of ghosts in Alex's apartment to intriguing takes on religion, infidelity and strip clubs.

Alex is friends with Joey from business school. She is a man's woman, the type who will join the guys for a trip to the strip club. Joey, who fell into dinner after an accidental phone call, is also old friends with Melvin but they haven't seen much of each other recently. Alex has been friends with Sarah for years and just happened to bump into her on her way to dinner with Joey, forcing her to join them. That explains how everyone got there but there are deeper connections that are revealed during this marathon dinner conversation.

It is so rare to hear great dialogue in the age of Jerry Bruckheimer and Michael Bay. This makes Melvin a welcome change of pace from the majority of modern scripts that merely lend context to action scenes or gross out comedy. Melvin is the extremely rare film that doesn't just feature great dialogue, it is about great dialogue.

This material would be difficult for any director, especially for a first time director, yet Odenkirk manages the material very well. His observational, voyeuristic camera quietly shifts from shot to shot never getting in the way, never tipping off the story’s twists, never leading the audience by using tricks of perspective or showy camera movement.

As I mentioned earlier, the actual conversation is only about an hour long. The remaining 23 minutes of the film is made up of well-done flashbacks. Featured in cameos are Odenkirk cohorts like Jack Black as a mental patient and David Cross as a motivational guru to Odenkirk as one of Sarah's ex-boyfriends, a surprisingly poignant and revealing cameo that helps deepen Sarah's character. Maura Tierney also appears as Melvin's sister, and Melora Waters rounds out the cameos as Melvin's married girlfriend.

The script mines its best material from infidelity. Melvin is dating a married woman and has done it before. Joey is married and admits that he often considers cheating on his wife. Sarah, like Melvin, has been on the cheating side of a relationship while Alex admits to having been the victim of cheating boyfriends on more than one occasion. She claims to have come out unfazed, due to distractions at work.

The stories they relate about their relationships are funny, smart and touching. Not touching in that cloying movie way but in a more real human way that isn't with a major dramatic flourish or revelation but just comes from shared experience. This is a terrific movie, witty and smart with four very likable actors, well-timed cameos and flashbacks and well directed by first time Director Bob Odenkirk. The DVD for Melvin, courtesy of Sundance Home Entertainment, is in the style of Odenkirk's irreverent Mr. Show sense of humor. 

The DVD features two commentary tracks, including a very funny two-man commentary by Bleiden and Odenkirk and one with Odenkirk, Bleiden and Michael Penn who performed the film’s elegant film score. The DVD's best feature is a mock documentary about "The Frank Film Festival", a film festival put on by a guy named Frank in his basement with just one film. It is as much of a must see as the film itself.