Movie Review The Devil Wears Prada

The Devil Wears Prada (2006) 

Directed by David Frankel 

Written by Aline Bros McKenna

Starring Anne Hathaway, Emily Blunt, Meryl Streep, Stanley Tucci, Adrien Grenier 

Release Date June 30th, 2006 

Published June 29th, 2006 

The Devil Wears Prada, adapted from the bestselling novel by Lauren Weisberger, wants desperately to be an urbane, witty combination of Sex In The City and the haute couture of a glossy Vogue magazine cover. More true to the film's nature however is a typical little fish, big pond story that combines elements of Cinderella and Mary Tyler Moore.

Anne Hathaway stars in Devil Wears Prada as Andy Sachs, a wide eyed midwestern girl in the big city of New York hoping for her big break in journalism. Landing a job at Runway magazine as the second assistant to the legendary Runway editor Miranda Priestley (Meryl Streep) is the kind of job that opens a lot of doors.

This, however. There are no typical assistants, assistant gigs. Priestley is a tyrannical slave driver with a withering gaze and a dismissive whispery voice that sets your teeth on edge, especially with her dismissive catch phrase "That's All" dropped randomly during any discussion.

At home Andy's life in the big city centers around the tiny apartment she shares with her boyfriend from back home Nate (Adrien Grenier, TV's Entourage). He is working his way to becoming a chef while watching Andy run ragged by her new job.

The thrust of the plot is seemingly predictable. Will the poor midwestern girl succumb to the glamor explosion of her new job at the expense of her midwestern values or will she be true to herself and her boyfriend. To the film's credit this very typical storyline does not play out completely as expected.

Director David Frankel and writer Aline Brosh McKenna cannot resist a few cliches along the way. Watch as the film trips along the edge of an old fashioned Hollywood values play as they position Andy's life choices. Andy can have the job and the glamor or the true love of her old boyfriend and all the pre-packaged old school benefits of marriage, kids and settled down 'bliss'.

For some reason Andy cannot have both. At 23 years old neither Andy's boyfriend nor her closest friends, played by Tracie Thomas and Doug Sommer, are unwilling to understand the sacrifices one must make in order to make it in a challenging field such as the one she has chosen.

The boyfriend and the friends bitch and moan about Andy changing into someone they don't know anymore. They even go as far as to condemn her when she accepts the chance to travel to Paris for a few weeks of work. I don't know about you but if a friend of mine were headed for Paris I would try and hide in their luggage rather than complain about it.

To reiterate, the film does not end with the old school values lesson. In fact the movie takes a wide left turn that Hays code era films never would have been allowed to take. Andy has a quickie relationship with a disingenuous newsman, played by Simon Baker, that is counter to her midwest values but that director Frankel does not play as corruption but rather as the choice of an independent minded woman.

Therein lies the problem with The Devil Wears Prada. The film is pushing two divergent messages at once. The old school idea that women are happier with relationships and kids than with a successful career and the idea that women can make independent choices that don't have to conform with old school values. The film wants it both ways, condemn Miranda for eschewing the classic homemaker idyll but celebrate Andy for being independent. The shifts in ideals never make sense.

The film in some fit of old school values rage wants Andy to choose the path of boyfriend and wedded bliss over career and glamor but then shows the career and glamor to be the more interesting and even correct choice, seemingly against the movie's own will.

Is Meryl Streep's Miranda Priestley an arrogant harridan deluded by her power? Yeah, but she also has great success and a serious belief in the integrity of what she does. Streep fights off any attempt to typically humanize Miranda choosing instead to have Miranda stay true to her driven hard nose self something the film then positions as her being unhappy.

Miranda however never really seems all that tortured by her life. She has a great life and while it may have cost her several husbands, she is a strong independent woman with little time for the trifling matters of the male ego. This is not something to lament, not in the post-feminism era. Miranda Priestley, despite her seeming loneliness, is a success story and for the film to try and portray it any other way is yet another nod to old school values.

The most important thing one needs to know about The Devil Wears Prada is that Meryl Streep reaffirms that she is an American treasure. Ms. Streep's performance is just spot on, perfect. Nailing Miranda's bitter aloof nature while never allowing her bitchiness to become a cliche. Streep gives Miranda fierce integrity even as the film tries to position her as an arch villain desperate in her loneliness and unhappiness. Ms. Streep will simply have none of it.

Watch Streep's final scene, played just with her face as she gives an approving Mona Lisa smile to the new independent Andy and then just as quickly returns to being typical Miranda snapping her driver to attention with a withering whisper. This is one of the most entertaining performances of the year and the second brilliant performance from Ms. Streep in a matter of weeks, she was exceptional in A Prairie Home Companion as well.

A film that desperately wants to be as hip and edgy as the haute couture it models fails because it lacks the originality of the clothes on its characters' back. The Devil Wears Prada is simply too conventional a fairy tale to be set in and around an industry, fashion, that while fatuous is often very original, forward thinking and ahead of its time. Mary Tyler Moore meets Cinderella as a plot is so mid-seventies.

On the other hand, Ms. Streep is so good I can give a partial recommendation to The Devil Wears Prada based on her performance alone. Just dim your expectations of the film and sit back and enjoy an American treasure at work.

Movie Review: Waist Deep

Waist Deep (2006) 

Directed by Vondie Curis Hall 

Written by ? 

Starring Tyrese, Meagan Good, Larenz Tate, The Game 

Release Date June 23rd, 2006 

Published June 24th, 2006 

The trailers and commercials for Waist Deep give the impression of a gritty, stylish, inner city gangsta pic. Then, you find out it was directed by the same guy, Vondie Curtis Hall, who directed Mariah Carey's Glitter and much of the cool of the trailer slips away. Waist Deep is not nearly as bad as Glitter but it is nearly as vapid and overwrought with an attempt at a relevant, uplifting message that is laughably out of sync.

Brainless gunplay with a melodramatic twist, Waist Deep stars pop star Tyrese Gibson as O2 a recent parollee looking to avoid his third strike and life in prison. He has one other good reason to stay out of trouble, a six year old son named Junior (H. Hunter Hall, the directors son).

Trouble ensues for father and son when they are driving to their home in South Central Los Angeles and get carjacked. Dad is tossed out of the car while Junior is kidnapped with the car. The kidnapping was orchestrated with the aid of a street hustler named Coco (Meagan Goode) who was working on behalf of a gang kingpin named Big Meat (The Game).

Taking Coco hostage, O2 finds that Big Meat is still holding a grudge from a robbery they worked years ago in which O2 walked away with all the loot. Meat was actually the reason O2 was sent to prison the second time, for six years, but apparently that was not enough payback. He wants the money O2 took or he will kill Junior.

Now a few logical questions. Why if O2's cousin, played by the usually terrific Lorenz Tate, works for Big Meat was O2 unaware Meat still had a grudge against him? Why does O2 spend a large portion of the film pretending not to know who Big Meat is if Meat was the reason he went to prison? And why would O2 stay in Los Angeles if he knew that Big Meat was the biggest, baddest gangster in the city? Did he think a guy as crazy as Meat was going to forget a guy who ripped him off? Meat cuts guys hands off with a machete, anyone who knows him should know the guy holds grudges.

These are questions that the movie never answers. Instead, director Vondie Curtis Hall and writer Darrin Scott attempt to distract us with a convoluted series of heists, one more over the top ridiculous than the next, and a rushed, though not entirely unappealing, sex scene.

Along the way Hall and Scott attempt to give Waist Deep a social conscience. In the background of the many scenes of violence are extras who are marching for peace on the streets and more police presence in their neighborhoods. Hall and Scott seem to believe it was wildly ironic and hysterical to have a gang member beaten and kidnapped as a take back the streets rally happens in the foreground. Are they making fun of clueless protesters? No, because Hall and Scott also want the protests to be sincere and the movies anti-violence message is earnest. That is what makes the choices made in presenting these scenes so curious.

What may be most shocking about Waist Deep is the fact that it's soundtrack stinks. This may be some kind of weird stereotype but, generally speaking, urban dramas like Waist Deep have really good hip hop or hardcore rap soundtracks. That is not the case here where Ghostface Killah is the soundtracks big name, but most of the music in the film comes from Kon Artis and Terrence Blanchard and acts as a greek chorus to the action on the screen. That means that the music is as overwrought and dull witted as the film itself.

Tyrese Gibson is really far to good for such weak material. Unfortunately he is making his living on garbage like Waist Deep and his last picture Annapolis, films that fail to take full advantage of his raw intensity and presence. The guy has some real star power, as he showed in his debut film Baby Boy and last years Four Brothers, but it's muted in Waist Deep by a script that is not nearly as smart as he obviously is.

Meagan Goode is one of the most beautiful women in movies today. However, like Gibson, Goode cannot seem to choose the right movies. Breakout stardom remains just out of her grasp in low rent flicks like Deliver Us From Eva and Roll Bounce and Waist Deep is a step backward for this promising talent.

In the end, the blame for the failure of Waist Deep falls on director Vondie Curtis Hall. The actor turned director, best known for his work on TV's Chicago Hope, has an eye that aims for schmaltz and uplift when it should simply begin with story logic and maybe work it's way toward some uplifting message. There is nothing wrong with trying to be socially relevant but a film cannot simply assume relevance it must be earned through good storytelling and compelling characters, Waist Deep has neither.

Cool looking trailers are almost always a letdown and Waist Deep is yet another sad example of a trailer that is far better than the film from which it is culled. Director Vondie Curtis Hall has done little to improve his skills since Glitter. His skills in direction are good enough in terms of keeping his camera trained on the action but he has a tin ear for character development and plotting, two rather important elements in filmmaking.

Movie Review: Click

Click (2006) 

Directed by Frank Coraci 

Written by Steve Koren, Mark O'Keefe

Starring Adam Sandler, Christopher Walken, Kate Beckinsale, David Hasselhoff 

Release Date June 23rd, 2006 

Published June 22nd, 2006 

Adam Sandler and Frank Coraci have worked together enough to have developed an assembly line approach to their work. From The Wedding Singer, to The Waterboy and now Click they have developed a certain formula to their work that is undeniably popular with the Sandler cult but has grown more than wearying for the rest of us.

The sad thing about their latest teaming, Click, is that such a promising idea gets chewed up and spit out in the Sandler-Coraci assembly line; turning a clever high concept into just another lowbrow Sandler disappointment.

Adam Sandler stars in Click as Michael Newman; a harried architect whose main focus in life is success. Feeling that being highly successful in his career will someday earn him the time he needs to spend with his family, Michael ignores his family in order to provide for them. His wife Donna (Kate Beckinsale) is rather clueless to Michael's need for success and her constant nagging about spending time with the family is Michael's main source of stress, outside of work.

One night when Michael actually gets a few moments of peace and intends to watch a little TV he finds that there are so many remote controls in the room he can't even turn on the TV let alone watch. This leads to a trip to Bed Bath & Beyond (in the ultimate bit of brand placement), and a trip to the Beyond section where a wild haired scientist named Morty (a perfectly cast Christopher Walken) sets Michael up with the ultimate universal remote control.

Once home with his new remote Michael slowly discovers its amazing abilities. The mute button can mute real sounds, like the dog barking or his kids screaming. The pause button can stop time and coolest of all the fast forward button allows Michael to skip those moments of his life that are keeping him from getting his work done.

Unfortunately for Michael he did not realize that he is in the comic version of a Twilight Zone episode. He doesn't realize that such a gift has to come with certain flaws and drawbacks. After fast forwarding through everything from getting ready for work in the morning to fights with his wife to even sex with his wife, Michael finds the remote jumping ahead for him. Like setting the preferences on a TIVO the remote learns and assumes Michael's preferences and soon large chunks of his life have passed unknown to him.

Click has a killer premise that Sandler and director Frank Coraci fumble miserably because of their slavish devotion to the juvenile behavior that made them so successful and an inability to really dig beneath the surface of this potentially fascinating idea. They seem to understand that they have a great idea but beyond that they have no interest in or no idea how to dig into it.

Click spends it's first two acts showing us the various little things that the remote can do, like Sandler using the color mapping to turn himself into The Hulk, or stopping time so his son can get revenge on a nasty little kid. Then in the third act, once it's revealed what the dangers of the remote are, rather than dig deeply into the sad, inherently tragic elements of this device; the film simply turns maudlin. Sandler and Coraci imitate depth without ever achieving it.

The comic potential of Click is at times well realized. The scenes in which Christopher Walken as the wacky scientist explains the various features of the remote are very clever, especially the commentary feature with James Earl Jones (though nowadays Morgan Freeman would be the funnier reference). I also loved the trip back through Michael's life as Walken explains the rewind function. Sandler's exaggerated response to watching his birth and conception are terrifically funny moments in an otherwise laugh free film.

Christopher Walken nearly steals the picture as the wacky professor. Though he does not get one of his classic oddball monologues, Walken still manages to be Walken-esque. With the wild hair and wilder eyes, Walken, along with Sandler veteran Henry Winkler as Michael's dad, seem to be the only actors really having fun with this material.

If someone can tell me why Kate Beckinsale was cast in this film, aside from her obvious beauty, you are a better man than I. Beckinsale's role is barely more than a cameo. When Sandler's Michael isn't fast forwarding through their time together; she is relegated to the role of the whining wife belaboring the point that Michael is never home and is abandoning his family. Beckinsale is far too talented and far too interesting for such a minor role.

One of the biggest problems I have with Click is likely something that Sandler fans were perfectly satisfied with. That is Sandler and Coraci's inescapable need for juvenile bathroom humor. As in every Sandler film you have a dog that humps everything, actually this time I believe it's more than one, and in another scene Sandler can't help but stop time so he can jump on his boss's desk and fart in his face.

Oh, did I mention that the boss is played by David Hasselhoff, something Sandler and Coraci seem to believe is funny simply because he's David Hasselhoff.

Then, in the third act, the film wants to be credibly dramatic. Are you kidding me! How am I supposed to feel sympathy, empathy or even pity for such a wretched character and such a wretchedly juvenile picture. Click simply asks far more of an audience than anyone, save the Sandler cult, is likely willing to give.

What a waste. A smart concept in the hands of a pair of lowbrow millionaires, Click is a sad waste of time and talent, atleast the talents of Beckinsale and Walken. The lowbrow aesthete of Click is perfectly suited to Sandler who seems content to waste his gifts on dogs humping and fart jokes. It's a shame he had to waste this terrific idea for a movie with him.

Movie Review Nacho Libre

Nacho Libre (2006) 

Directed by Jared Hess

Written by Jared Hess, Mike White, Jerusha Hess

Starring Jack Black, Peter Stormare, Moises Arias 

Release Date June 16th, 2006 

Published June 15th, 2006 

Jared Hess broke big with his debut feature Napoleon Dynamite. The cult that has grown from Napoleon has raised the stakes on Hess's young career. Expectations for his future success are huge and his follow-up, new to DVD, Nacho Libre is just the kind of oddly humorous, entirely offbeat, flick we might have expected.

Teaming Hess with another rising cult star Jack Black and his pal;writer Mike White is the kind of wonderfully inspired comic combination that Napoleon fans could have dreamed. Nacho Libre is a rare sort of movie made for a cult audience by cult figures. Whether the film can reach beyond the cult is a big question.

In Nacho Libre Jack Black stars as Ignacio, an orphan who grew up in a monastery and became a monk. He's in charge of the food which is just a notch below the kind of gruel described in a Dickens novel. Serving food has never been first and foremost on Ignacio's mind. Even as a child he was drawn to the dramatic spectacle of the Mexican wrestling ring and the masked heroes known as Luchadores.

One night the orphanage's food is stolen; Ignacio decides the only way to get the money to feed the children is to wear stretchy pants and become a luchadore. To do this he seeks out the very thief who stole the food, a skinny naif named Esqueleto (Hector Jimenez). With his speed and surprising strength, Esqueleto is the perfect partner for the newly dubbed Nacho.

Of course becoming a luchador is not easy. In fact Nacho and Esqueleto make a regular habit of getting their butts kicked by every possible combination of luchadore, fat, skinny even lilliputian luchadores. On the bright side they are paid even when they lose. The question becomes will the fame of the wrestling world go to Nacho's head or can he remain a humble monk and win the heart of a beautiful nun, Sister Encarnacion (Ana DeLa Reguera). Or can he possibly do both.

The plot description sounds far more straightforward than it actually is. In fact most of the comedy does not come from the oddball wrestling scenes but rather from Jack Black's unique persona. To get the humor of Nacho Libre you must be a fan of Jack Black and familiar with the kind of madcap insanity that entertains him.

Indeed it seems that much of the premise of Nacho Libre and the idea of Jack Black playing an outsized mexican wrestling champion extends from an idea that maybe only Jack Black and writer Mike White thought was funny. Then came director Jared Hess who took the unusual premise and filtered it through his deadpan comic perspective and the idea became even less accessible.

Esoteric doesn't begin to describe the humor of Nacho Libre. Sure there are plenty of the pratfalls and physical humor that Jack Black specializes in, but much of the film is an earnest examination of a man and a dream to become a luchadore. The humor then comes from Jack Black playing a character whose dream is to become a luchadore and if you don't think that is funny then Nacho Libre is not the movie for you.

To enjoy Nacho Libre you have to enjoy Jack Black and his manic energy, odd gesticulation and in this film, a funny accent. The story of Nacho Libre is earnest and oddly straightforward, the humor comes from Jack Black being a Mexican wrestler. I found it funny, but I can understand where some people might not.

For me, as a fan of Jack Black's strange sense of humor, his odd tics and verbal dynamics, Nacho Libre is a terrifically funny film. If however you are uninitiated to the cult of Jack black then Nacho Libre may be a trying experience, a series of earnest, deadpan examinations of the very odd life of an odd man who wears stretchy pants and dreams of leaping off the top rope. You have to smile at that last description to be part of the audience of Nacho Libre.

Movie Review: Cars

Cars (2006) 

Directed by John Lasseter

Written Dan Fogelman, Joe Ranft, Jorgen Klubien

Starring Owen Wilson, Larry the Cable Guy, Michael Keaton, John Ratzenberger, Paul Newman, Bonnie Hunt, George Carlin

Release Date June 9th, 2006 

Published June 8th, 2006 

The vanguard of computer animation is Pixar. No company, not Dreamworks (Shrek, Madagascar), not Universal (Ice Age 1 & 2), not even corporate partner Disney can compete with the level of artistry and commerce that comes out of Steve Jobs extraordinary company. The list of Pixar triumphs reads like the hall of fame of the genre from the Toy Story films to Monsters Inc. to Finding Nemo to The Incredibles.

The latest effort from Pixar, the animated automobile adventure Cars, may not be the triumph that past Pixar films are but by the standards of the genre it far outpaces anything any other company has released.

Cars stars the voice of Owen Wilson as Lightning McQueen a rookie on the Piston Cup racing tour. Lightning is poised to become the first rookie racer ever to win the Piston Cup championship. Unfortunately, his arrogance selfishness has driven away his closest friends and teammates and nearly cost him the biggest race of his career.

Now forced into a single race challenge against the legendary 'King of racing, voiced by real life legend Richard Petty, and the nasty Chick Hicks (Michael Keaton) -the only racer more arrogant than lightning himself- Lightning must find his way to California and fend for himself in the race of his life.

Getting to the California speedway however turns out to be Lightning's biggest problem. When his 18 wheeler pal Mack (John Ratzenberger) falls asleep on the road, he accidentally lets Lightning fall out of the back of the truck and leaves him along a lonely stretch of road called Route 66. Lost in the middle of the night with no headlights, just stickers, Lightning winds up in the small town of Radiator Springs and in even deeper trouble.

Radiator Springs used to be a big deal back in the sixties, before the highway cut it out of the main artery of America. Now the lonely stretch of route 66 sits in decay awaiting the day when a tourist will remember it's there. Among the small town denizens waiting for customers for their road side attractions are Mater the tow truck (Larry The Cable Guy), Sarge (Michael Dooley) a military vehicle, Luigi (Tony Shalhoub) owner of the tire store and  Filmore (George Carlin) a hippy bus selling organic fuel.

When Lightning accidentally tears up mainstreet on his way to California the small town judge, Doc Hudson (Paul Newman), at the behest of the town's only lawyer, Sally (Bonnie Hunt), forces Lightning to repave main street before he can leave for his race.

If you think that the small towners will teach Lightning valuable lessons about humility, friendship, family and teamwork.. well.. your not wrong. Yes, the story is relatively predictable and old fashioned in the vein of very typical kids movie conventions and formulas. However, it is important to note that formulas are not inherently evil. It is how a typical plot formula is employed that makes or breaks a formula film.

Cars works because directors Joe Lasseter and Joe Ranft take this formula concept and improve upon it by delivering great characters and funny dialogue. The humor is warm and a little more gentle than the usual Pixar fare. It lacks that sly, intellectual edge of most Pixar films but it is not dull. Don't be mistaken, Pixar's usual pop culture riffs and self referential humor is in good supply it's just somehow a little quieter here than in the past.

What has not changed is the quality of Pixar's extraordinary animation. The pioneers in this field, Pixar continues breaking down the barriers of what can be done with computer animation. The films opening scene is a mindblowing series of race scenes that look beyond real until you get closeup and see the anthropomorphized race cars with soft human features, bumpers for mouths, eyes in the windshield et al.

The Cars of the title are so well animated that they take on truly human personas. You obviously never forget they are automobiles but at a certain point you stop pondering the mechanics of humanistic vehicles and just laugh along with the compelling characters.

Look at the details of the Hudson Hornet voiced by Paul Newman. Watch closely for the ways this stately vehicle evokes the real life Paul Newman in the animated eyes and lips. What an awesome piece of work this is.

It pains me to admit this but it's the truth..... Larry The Cable steals nearly the whole picture. The terribly unfunny redneck comic who has already delivered arguably the years worst film, Larry The Cable Guy Health Inspector, somehow morphs into a lovable, cuddly, teddy bear of a character in Cars. His voice slightly elevated and the rough edges of his persona worn down to a fine rust colored sheen, Larry The Cable Guy delivers the films most entertaining performance.

All of the voice actors are strong but it is Larry as the rust bucket tow truck Mater -get it tow-mater- who truly steals the film. Mater's sweet clueless demeanor and undying optimism are so winning that you nearly forget Larry's vile real life persona. Credit writer-director John Lasseter who knew just how to draw the right performance out of the non-actor while letting him be just enough of himself to be comfortable. You didn't think they would let the movie end without Larry's catchphrases did you.

Be sure to stick around during the credits for what may be Pixar's finest self referential moment. John Ratzneberger, the only actor to play a role in every Pixar feature, as Mack Truck visits the radiator springs drive in for a take on how Pixar would exist in the Cars universe. Very funny stuff.

Cars is not the creative home run that Finding Nemo and The Incredibles were but it is certainly lives up to the standards of the Pixar brand. And, of course, when compared to genre competitors it's absolutely no contest, Cars leaves'em in the dust.

Movie Review The Break Up

The Break Up (2006) 

Directed by Peyton Reed 

Written by Jeremy Garelick 

Starring Jennifer Aniston, Vince Vaughn, Joey Lauren Adams, Judy Davis, Vincent D'Onofrio, Jon Favreau

Release Date June 2nd, 2006 

Published June 1st, 2006 

When Jennifer Aniston split with Brad Pitt she had the sympathy of the celebrity obsessed world. Pitt left Aniston for his Mr. & Mrs. Smith co-star Angelina Jolie who in her looks and manner is the perfect villainess foil to Aniston's all american girl. Sympathy however, does not mean much at the box office. People may have been annoyed with Pitt and Jolie for breaking poor Jenny's heart but that did not stop audiences from making Mr. & Mrs. Smith a box office blockbuster.

The sympathy has done little for Aniston's own films. Both the thriller Derailed and the high profile romantic comedy Rumor Has It were box office non-starters and this spring's Friends With Money was barely a hit by small scale indie standards. Aniston's box office troubles should end with the new comedy The Break-Up, co-starring new beau Vince Vaughn, but that does not mean that Aniston's astonishing career slide is anywhere near over. The Break-Up is a dyspeptic, almost angry anti-romance featuring two lead characters more unlikable than most horror film villains.

In The Break-Up, Aniston plays Brook, an artist who works in one of Chicago's swankiest Gallery's. While attending a Cubs game, Brook meets Gary (Vaughn), a bus tour guide, who boorishly forces an unwanted hot dog on Brook and her loser date before accosting and encouraging her into dumping the boyfriend for him.

Two years later the fastidious Brook and the disorganized Gary are living together in a beautiful condo but all is not well. Ego-centric Gary cannot seem to do anything but play video games and leave his clothes on the floor. Brook on the other hand, cannot stop nagging Gary about the ballet, doing the dishes and other such activities he hates and she enjoys. A major meltdown following a dinner with their respective families leads to a break up. However because both Gary and Brook are on the condo lease neither wants to move out. Worse yet for Brook, she does not want to give up on Gary and the relationship.

This is where I part ways with the picture. Aniston's Brook seems like a reasonably sane person. When she breaks up with Gary she has a number of good reasons for doing so, and yet, the film forces her to hope that he will simply apologize and they can get back together.This renders Brook a rather silly person. At one moment she’s standing up for herself against a slovenly and seemingly uncaring partner and the next she’s forced to whip herself into wanting to stay with the guy. 

Gary is never anything other than obnoxious, self centered and egotistical. He never shows an ounce of caring for Brook, aside from the opening montage of photographs over the credits that serve as the couple's two year backstory. He is a major jerk who puts a pool table in the dining room the day after the break up and follows that up with a stripper party in the living room to make Brook jealous. The film gives neither Brook nor us a reason to like Gary other than the fact that he is played by Vince Vaughn. That is just not enough, unless you believe Vince Vaughn is god's gift to women.

That said, Brook is no prize either. Just simply wanting this jerk back is off putting enough but the way she parades men through the apartment to make Gary jealous is just sad and pathetic. Watching her I wanted to call in Dr. Phil to sit Brook down for a talk on self esteem and bad judgment. Hurting Gary’s feelings is not something I cared about but the guys she was using for that purpose were innocent bystanders. It’s just not funny watching her so obviously use these men for such unseemly purposes.

Peyton Reed is a fascinating and challenging director. His Bring It On was a tart little comic truffle with more bite than you expect from the teen comedy genre. And more interesting, his Down With Love was a stylish, ballsy attempt to recapture the camp romance of the fifties Doris Day-Rock Hudson flicks. Neither Bring It On or Down With Love succeeded fully but both films are risky in ways most mainstream films are not.

The Break-Up too is risky in very unexpected ways. The film has a very serious edge to it. A very unexpected level of realism comes in the arguments that Vaughn and Anistons characters engage in. The fights sound like real couples arguments and not the cute banter of the usual rom-com. The fights are nasty and personal in the ways only intimate partners can be. This is very bold but also very out of place. Fans showing up for light funny romance tinged with Vince Vaughn's usual acerbic wit and outlandishness will be dazed and confused by the film's daring realism.

What is good about The Break-Up? There are a number of very funny supporting characters. Jon Favreau, as Vaughn's best friend, steals a couple scenes by giving Gary some awful advice. And John Michael Higgins, best known as one of Christopher Guest's regulars, is funny as Brook's in the closet brother who sings pop tunes acapella with his singing group 'The Tone Rangers'.

Both Favreau and Higgins characters are funny in individual scenes but they are so far apart from the central plot that they are almost from another, far funnier, movie. When The Break-Up takes its major turn toward drama in the final act both Favreau and Higgins are left behind and nearly forgotten. There is no place for their broad characters in what suddenly and quite unfortunately becomes a nasty and borderline abusive situation. 

I cannot forget to mention the brilliant Vincent D'onofrio who plays Vaughn's brother. D'onofrio is a mess of ticks and gestures in a role similar to his Law and Order Detective character but gone to pot. Disheveled and disturbed, D'onofrio makes this oddball character the most likable person in the entire film in just a few scenes. He too is lost in the wake of the film's dramatic turn and the film is worse for his loss.

Both Jennifer Aniston and Vince Vaughn are naturally likable actors. However, in this film not even their maximum charisma can overcome the nastiness that is at the heart of The Break-Up. The film is far too mean spirited and angry to be entertaining. The ad campaign positions the film as a so-called anti-romantic comedy, whatever that means. The film is certainly anti-romantic but it's also anti-humorous and anti-entertaining.

I credit the film and especially director Peyton Reed for being daring but the mixture of broad comedy and the nasty realism just doesn't come together. The characters are too poorly sketched and rely far too heavily on the real life likability of Vaughn and Aniston. As characters Gary is an egocentric dick and Brook is a simpering wimp. There is nothing romantic or comedy in this pairing. It's just sad.

Movie Review Over Her Dead Body

Over Her Dead Body (2008) 

Directed by Jeff Lowell 

Written by Jeff Lowell

Starring Paul Rudd, Lake Bell, Eva Longoria, Jason Biggs

Release Date February 1st, 2008 

Published October 10th, 2008 

Why such an inelegant title? Over Her Dead Body is a phrase that conjures up images of a fumbling, olde timey Catskills comic. The film however, is meant to be a modern romantic comedy about ghosts, psychics and the afterlife. Written and directed by first timer Jeff Lowell, Over Her Dead Body combines a bit of the plot of Ghost with a dash of every other random rom-com you have ever seen. And, unfortunately, the familiarity of this enterprise isn't its biggest problem. An overmatched cast of low watt stars fails to spark any tension or romantic chemistry.

When Kate (Eva Longoria Parker) was killed on her wedding day she had no idea that she would be sent back to earth to take care of unfinished business. A difficult woman, Kate refused to listen to the heavenly messenger who was to give her an assignment back on earth. Thus, Kate takes things into her own hands. Feeling that it is her job to keep her would-be fiance, Henry (Paul Rudd) safe from any woman who might replace her in his regard, Kate begins tormenting poor Ashley (Lake Bell). Ashley claims to be a psychic, she performs readings in her apartment between gigs as a caterer.

Ashley was approached by Henry's sister Chloe (Lindsey Sloane) who is determined to get Henry out of his funk over Kate. Her theory is that if Henry could contact Kate one last time maybe he can finally move on. Henry however, is not a believer and needs some convincing. With the aid of Kate's diary, Ashley manages to know enough to get Henry's attention. Soon both are distracted from the psychic stuff because they are falling for each other. Then, enter Kate with her unfinished business.

Jeff Lowell wrote and directed Over Her Dead Body and despite the clunky, obvious title, his writing shows a good deal of potential. His direction is a bit slipshod and he misses some important moments, but it is easy to see that there could be some very strong work in Jeff Lowell's future. Where Lowell needs improvement is in his direction of his actors. The performances of each of the three leads are often flat and thus fail to stoke what should be a tensely comic situation. Each of the actors is affable and good natured but many of their most important and dramatic moments are played as if the actors didn't realize it was a real take.

Paul Rudd is an actor who has really grown on me in the past few years. His spot on wit and timing honed with help from the absurd school of New York comics from the Stella crew to the long unheralded Eugene Mirman. The improv shows, some of which can be found on YouTube among other video sharing sites, have given Rudd a coat of ironic armor that he puts to good use in Over Her Dead Body. His slightly detached air keeps him somewhat above the fray, allowing him to comment slyly on the other characters.

Lake Bell is a young actress I'm not very familiar with. Over Her Dead Body is her first starring role and though she is often lost and overwhelmed, she is likable with a light in her eyes that portends talents not on display in this minor trifle of a movie. She may never grow into an Oscar nominee, but the next Julia Roberts, Meg Ryan tag is perfectly placed. As for Ms. Longoria Parker, she plays the diva well but the role is underdeveloped for an actress of her limited appeal. By limited appeal I don't mean she is unappealing really, rather that she is just not a big star.

Rounding out the cast is Jason Biggs as Ashley's best friend and partner in the catering biz. I've always liked Biggs but his choices have not been the best since he was so very good in the minor Woody Allen comedy Anything Else. In Over Her Dead Body Biggs is the victim of unending indignities that culminates in a moment that threatens the balance of this already awkward little movie. You will know the scene when you see it, try not to wretch as I did.

Imagine for a moment Reese Witherspoon going head to head with Halle Berry, their names alone evoke more tension than anything sparked between Bell and Longoria. But then, that is reviewing the movie that over Her Dead Body isn't. Over Her Dead Body really isn't that bad a movie. In fact, if you wait for it on DVD in just over a month from now, you likely won't be disappointed. TV is likely the best format for this. 

Movie Review Poseidon

Poseidon (2006)

Directed by Wolfgang Peterson

Written by Mark Protosevich

Starring Josh Lucas, Kurt Russell, Richard Dreyfuss, Emmy Rossum, Mike Vogel, Mia Maestro

Release Date May 12th, 2006

Published May 11th, 2006

The 1972 original The Poseidon Adventure was a dopey all star marathon of water logged cheesiness. From Gene Hackman's turtleneck to Shelley Winters swimming, to Red Buttons closeted fabulousness, there is nothing but pure camp fun to be found in this ludicrous disaster epic.

This is why I was not so vehemently opposed to the film being remade. I find it refreshing to find filmmakers leaving the classics alone and attempting to make a bad movie into a good one. The attempt is a miserable failure but at least we aren't left with a shot for shot remake of Psycho haunting video store shelves as the shame of shame.

Poseidon stars Josh Lucas as an inveterate gambler named Dylan who boards the ocean liner Poseidon looking for rich victims to play poker with. Dylan cares about no one but himself, so, of course, when the supposedly unsinkable ship is flipped by a freakishly large wave it is Dylan who must lead potential survivors to safety.

Why Dylan and not, say, the former Mayor of New York and hero fireman Robert Ramsey (Kurt Russell)? Probably because Lucas is younger, better looking and studios think he is a star on the rise. At Least that is the cynical answer. The plot however says that Dylan is simply luckier in finding conveniently placed maps of the ship that he uses to find the one spot where people can escape.

Along for the ride, as cannon fodder mostly, are Robert's daughter Jennifer (Emmy Rossum) her fiancee Christian (Mike Vogel), single mom Maggie (Jascinda Barrett) and her son Conor (Jimmy Bennett), Richard (Richard Dreyfuss) a suicidal gay man and Elena (Mia Maestro) a stowaway.

Together they navigate the upside down ship through fiery galleys, explosions above and below and most perilous of all some of the worst dialogue ever enunciated by professional actors in a major motion picture.

The first Poseidon had some serious cheeseball dialogue, especially from Ernest Borgnine and Stella Stevens as the bickering Roggo's, a pairing that has seen more than one brilliant send up on The Simpsons. Unfortunately even Borgnine and Stevens would be embarrassed by the kind of tripe served up as meaningful dialogue in the new Poseidon.

As an example, check the exchange between Richard Dreyfuss's inappropriately flamboyant Richard and Freddie Rodriguez's Marco as poor Marco is navigating a particularly dangerous corridor. Richard picks this moment, as fire and steam and a quickly falling apart bridge threaten poor Marco, to come flying out of the closet and hit on Marco. It's bad enough to make one wonder if Marco chose the fiery depths of the inflamed water over survival. 

The exchanges between Kurt Russell, usually quite reliable even in a garbage picture, and Josh Lucas are just as ludicrous. Listen as Dylan establishes his rebel persona as Russell asks the question we all want to know as the ship begins to sink "Don't you care about anyone other than yourself!". No he doesn't, except maybe Maggie aka the plot device love interest put in place to humanize him, as if a flipped over cruise ship just were not enough motivation.

As bad as Poseidon is, director Wolfgang Peterson is far too talented to make a film so bad it's good. Thus we get some very competent action scenes and some exceptional CGI effects. These elements add up to nothing except incongruity. The competence feels out of place amongst the shoddy whole of Poseidon.

Forget about the media garbage that the disaster in Poseidon is anything akin to the real life disaster of the tsunami or that the passengers' escape is anything akin to watching people flee the twin towers on 9/11. Poseidon is far from a cheeseball for that kind of analysis. Even a wry allusion to these real life disasters in comparison to Poseidon feels crass.

After watching Sony try to sell us Josh Lucas as the hero of Stealth last summer and now watching Josh in Poseidon I've come to the conclusion that Josh Lucas is the New Coke of action heroes. We never asked for him, we don't know where he came from, all we know is that when we went for the new Schwarzenegger or Gibson all we could find on the shelf was this guy.

It's not that Lucas is a bad actor, he was terrific in the little seen dramedy Around The Bend with Christopher Walken, it may just be that action hero is not his thing. Much like his near twin brother Matthew McConaughey, Lucas has that lackadaisical, laid back slacker thing going on. It's an affectation that just does not play in the macho genre but suits him well in movies like An Unfinished Life or his small role in A Beautiful Mind.

As for Kurt Russell in a better movie he could have been a very effective lead. Unfortunately, saddled with a script that gives him one note to play, protective father, he cannot escape the dreariness around him. For me he was the film's most entertaining player but only because during the many, many moments of boredom in Poseidon I would drift off and imagine what Snake Plissken would do on an upside down, exploding boat. I imagine there would be alot of killing and at least one scene of Snake lighting a cigar off of a flaming corpse. Call it Escape From The Exploding Upside Down Boat.

You know a movie stinks when you are dreaming of your own movie while watching it.

It is the rare disaster epic that makes you root for the disaster. Poseidon is that disaster epic.

Movie Review Mission Impossible 3

Mission Impossible 3 (2006) 

Directed by J.J Abrams 

Written by Alex Kurtzman, Roberto Orci 

Starring Tom Cruise, Michelle Moynihan, Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Ving Rhames, Maggie Q

Release Date May 5th, 2006 

Published May 4th, 2006 

If Mission Impossible 2 was the height of slick and shallow action fantasy, Mission Impossible 3 is the height of the series becoming something more than just slick fantasy. Mission Impossible 3 is completely awesome with more genuine suspense and thrills than either of the two previous Mission Impossible movies. Director J.J Abrams, before he manned the Star Trek and Star Wars franchises, grabbed the reins of the Mission Impossible franchise and transformed it from thinly plotted, style over substance action into a full fledged movie that also happens to be a great action movie.

Mission Impossible 3 picks up the story of Impossible Mission Force Agent Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) five years after the action of MI2. Now, Hunt is in semi-retirement, busily training the next generation of IMF Agents. Hunt is also soon to be married to Jules (Michelle Monaghan), who has no idea what Ethan did or currently does for a living. Her appeal to him is that she is completely outside the espionage sphere.

That’s unfortunately about to change as Ethan is drawn back into the field and his new bride is soon to be drawn in as well. Ethan is brought out of retirement by a friend and agent named Musgrave (Billy Crudup) who wants Ethan to go to Germany and rescue one of the agents he trained. Agent Lindsey Farris (Keri Russell) had been tracking an arms dealer named Owen Davian (Phillip Seymour Hoffman) when she was captured.

The rescue sequence, featuring Hunt’s latest Impossible Mission team, Luther Stickell (Ving Rhames, in his third Mission appearance), Declan Gormley (Jonathan Rhys Meyers), and Zhen Lei (Maggie Q), is an incredibly tense, fast paced and exceptionally well shot sequence. It’s a nail-biting series of scenes with Keri Russell getting a moment to shine next to Cruise and show the chops that would take her to Emmy leading lady status as another kind of spy on The Americans.

Here, Russell was not long from the fluffy television series Felicity but the gun battle here put any questions about her range as an action hero and actress to rest for good. Russell is every bit the badass Cruise is in this scene and J.J Abrams captures the scene brilliantly with remarkable camera work, editing and scene setting. The tension in this scene is almost unbearable as the perfectly timed events play out., I can’t praise this scene enough, and I haven’t even mentioned the gut-punch payoff to this sequence.

From there we move the plot on to Phillip Seymour Hoffman’s big bad, Owen Davian. The Academy Award nominated Hoffman is not playing around with the role of action movie bad guy, he’s deeply invested in this dangerous character. Davian is maniacal but it’s Hoffman’s measured tones and invective that make him scary and not the kind of blustering we get from so many other action movie bad guys.

A sequence in which Cruise and his team invade The Vatican to capture Davian is another stand out series of scenes filled with the kinds of things we’ve come to love about the series, the speculative technology, the expert timing and the thrilling last minute saves. Director Abrams could teach a master class in action movie suspense and just show people this sequence with its expert timing and clever twists and turns.

After the disappointment of the first Mission Impossible and the shallow but exceptionally fun Mission Impossible 2, I was once again surprised by the Mission Impossible franchise with Mission Impossible 3. Instead of adopting the shallow, thrill a minute style of the modern action movie, J.J Abrams set out and made an action movie with a brain, a careful thriller that uses strong cinematic technique to build suspense in a plot that is the perfect mix of action movie thrills and genuine, edge of your seat suspense.

With all of the negativity aimed at Tom Cruise these days I wonder if I am the last Cruise fan left. For me, Tom is one of the golden gods of movie stardom. The man can do no wrong... on the big screen. His charisma, magnetism and that pulsing vein in the middle of his forehead simply hold me at rapt attention.

Call it a heterosexual man crush if you wish, I prefer to think of it in the classic Hollywood star parlance. The classic Hollywood idiom about great stars, Women want to be with him and men, like me, want to be him.

It is that quality that drives his blockbuster flicks to stratospheric heights at the box office and it is that quality that often rescues some questionable films from flopping like a dead fish. His latest film, the third in the mindlessly entertaining Mission Impossible series M.I:3, succeeds solely because of Cruise's star magnetism.

M.I:3 returns Tom Cruise to the role of IMF agent Ethan Hunt, newly retired and soon to be married to the lovely Julia (Michelle Monaghan). She knows nothing of his past or of his current job as a part time trainer of new IMF agents, he told her works for the D.O.T on traffic patterns, a job just boring enough that no one asks for details.

Ethan is pulled back into the IMF fold when one of his trainees, his star student Lindsey (Keri Russell), is captured in Berlin while on the trail of an arms dealer named Owen Davian (Phillip Seymour Hoffman).To get her back Ethan hooks up with his old pal Luther Stickell (Ving Rhames) and a new crew of IMF'ers including Declan (Jonathan Rhys Meyers) and Zhen (Maggie Q) and a new pair of bosses Brassell (Laurence Fishburne) and Musgrave (Billy Crudup).

Together they infiltrate one of those classic action movie mileu's, the factory that produces sparks and steam, and fight through several hundred nameless henchman.The raid is successful or seemed to be but unfortunately the bad guys inserted a timebomb in Lindsey's brain which detonates killing only her. These scenes sound as cheeseball as they truly are, and yet, through sheer hardcore adrenalin, they work.

Indeed the entire movie, as directed by TV genius J.J Abrams, is a series of over the top action scenes that dangle Cruise precariously from varying heights, fires gazillions of bullets, destroys millions of dollars worth of property and never stops entertaining.

The remaining plot involves Ethan and his team catching Davian, being double crossed in classic Mission Impossible fashion and, of course, along the way poor Julia will be kidnapped and have a near death experience with the big bad Davian.

I will freely admit that M.I:3 is a brainless action flick. Utterly mindless, with a plot that falls apart with too much scrutiny. However if you can forget the plot for awhile and just get into the spectacle and bathe in the star powered charisma you will be entertained thoroughly by M.I:3.

This film is just pure adrenalized joy. J.J Abrams and Tom Cruise revel in upping the ante on the action spectacle with every passing scene. They turn the experience into something akin to the X-Games crossed with James Bond and a little David Blaine magic, awe inspiring at times and cheesy as all get out.

I absolutely loved Mission Impossible 3 and I recommend it completely as a must see for people who love the classic Hollywood blockbuster. If you want your mind expanded I recommend Akeelah and The Bee. If you want your pulse to race and heart to pound then see M:I3 and leave your brain in the car.

Movie Review: An American Haunting

An American Haunting (2006) 

Directed by Courtney Solomon

Written by Courtney Solomon

Starring Donald Sutherland, Sissy Spacek, James D'arcy

Release Date May 5th, 2006

Published May 5th, 2006

The ineptitude of director Courtney Solomon is seemingly boundless. After taking what had the potential to be a Lord of the Rings style series of blockbusters in the Dungeons and Dragons, and dragged it into the depths of hellish mediocrity, it seemed Solomon was finished as a director. Sadly Solomon was merely recovering from that massive failure and accumulating material for a property he had purchased around the time of D &D, a horror novel called An American Haunting.

Some five years later Solomon's vision is finally on the biggest screen and hellish ineptitude would be a kind description for the jaw droppingly awful period horror flick An American Haunting.

Donald Sutherland, whom the director must have incriminating photos of, stars in American Haunting as John Bell the head of a small rural Tennessee household with his wife Lucy (Sissy Spacek, another likely blackmail candidate) that somehow becomes afflicted by a spirit. Thought to be the curse of a neighbor who the Bell's wronged in a land deal, the spirit attacks in the middle of the night, knocking over furniture, moaning loudly and taking an unseemly interest in the Bell's young daughter Betsy (Rachel Hurd Wood).

The ghost is especially violent with Betsy while afflicting John with ever worsening health. Friends and neighbors visit and confirm the Bell's haunting, the only holdout being Betsy's school teacher Richard Powell (James D'Arcy) who believes science can explain the phenomena, that is until he witnesses the spirit firsthand.

An American Haunting is based on the popular novel by Brent Monaghan called The Bell Witch: An American Haunting. That 2000 novel was a controversial bestseller that purported itself to be a non-fiction account of the only murder ever attributed to a spirit. Monaghan's central thesis that spirits are created by bad energy within homes serves as a pseudo-scientific explanation of the supposedly real haunting. Essentially the family's negativity manifested in an angry violent ghost.

An interesting but thoroughly non-scientific theory that Monaghan, I'm told, spins into quite a compelling yarn. Unfortunately the script by director Courtney Solomon deviates wildly from Monaghan's thesis in favor of a more familiar brand of horror genre hokum. Looking to get audiences jumping out of their seats, Solomon relies on the tired act of loud unexpected noises. Yup, that's it. Just the occasional animal knocking over furniture amped to ear splitting decibels. This is what passes as horror in An American Haunting.

Worse yet Solomon crafts the film in such a way that he forgets to create any mystery as to why the family is being haunted. He retires the film's one and only red herring, a neighbor suspected of witchcraft, early in the story and never allows the skeptical teacher to develop into a formidable enough character that his debunking skills might introduce some mystery.

The storytelling is so awful that at one point we are lead to believe the family was being punished because they charged a usury tax that was well above the established law. USURY! As a horror film device!

The Usury Tax thing is a big laugh but unfortunately An American Haunting does not have enough of that kind of unintentional humor to make it any kind of guilty pleasure. No, sadly the film just sucks and nothing more.

It may have taken Courtney Solomon five years to get another less than mediocre feature on the big screen but don't think for a moment that just because An American Haunting was even worse than his Dungeons & Dragons, that Courtney Solomon is finished. Uwe Boll has stunk out loud on four pictures and has several more in the pipeline. If Hollywood won't throw a leash on Boll why would they stop Courtney Solomon from stinking up movie theaters for the foreseeable future.

Movie Review: United 93

United 93 (2006)

Directed by Paul Greengrass

Written by Paul Greengrass

Starring Ben Sliney, Gregg Henry 

Release Date April 28th, 2006

Published April 29th, 2006

A normal film review includes a description of the film's plot. That seems a bit trivial when discussing United 93. The first theatrical release to take a head-on look at 9/11 just does not need much description of it's plot. The essential information is ingrained in the memories of all Americans. To attempt to give a typical description of a movie plot in terms of United 93 seems vulgar but then much of what surrounds the idea of 9/11: The Movie is rather vulgar.

What you need to know about United 93 is that Director Paul Greengrass takes a pseudo-documentary look at the events of that day from the perspective of the real life air traffic controllers and executives in charge of our airways.

And most importantly Greengrass takes us inside the final hijacked plane, United 93, and through the evidence gathered from 911 calls, air traffic control logs and the testimony of family members who received horrifying final phone calls from loved ones, reconstructs what likely happened just before United 93 crashed into a field in Pennsylvania.

Paul Greengrass, the director of Bloody Sunday and Bourne Supremacy, is a highly skilled filmmaker with a documentarians eye for realism. His approach to making United 93, a film with as delicate a subject matter as this, is restained and eloquent. His aim is to pay tribute to the heroes who died on United 93 and he accomplishes that goal. I cannot dispute, in anyway Greengrass's goal in making this film or the high quality of his accomplishment. And yet I cannot recommend this movie.

For me, this wound is still too raw. Watching United 93 is not an experience I can recommend to anyone. It is so visceral and so surreal, it is like watching 9/11 happen all over again. Only this time you are closer than ever. You are right over the shoulder of Ben Sliney the man in charge of the airspace over the eastern seaboard on 9/11.

Sliney plays himself in United 93 and his authenticity brings the horror of our futility on that day closer to home. There is no question that Ben Sliney is one of the few heroes of that day, he made the call to close all American airspace despite having questionable authority to do so. While the President of the United States was not heard from by anyone until 25 minutes after United 93 crashed, Ben Sliney was the only man in the country making decisions to save lives that day.

Paul Greengrass makes no overt political statement with United 93. Reality however, does make a statement about the President's involvement that day and the facts are presented without comment in United 93.

The fact is, after the second plane hit the world trade center, military leaders -represented in the film by actor Gregg Henry and several real life military officers and enlisted personnel- tried to get the president to give them the rules of engagement. They needed to know if they had the authority to shoot down a hijacked commercial airliner. They could not find the president or vice president. No orders were given.

As a historical document United 93 is a powerful reminder of our nations greatest tragedy and an example of our greatest asset, individual heroism. The film cements the legacy of the brave people who died trying to take back flight 93 before it could get to its target. Their example is a legacy that will live forever.

There will never be another 9/11 style attack on this country. Because of the passengers on United 93 the rules of engagement for hijackers have changed forever. Our complacency has been forever shaken and in the future terrorists will not take over planes without a fight from the passengers and crew. No new FAA regulations or leadership from Washington will be needed. Nothing but the will and bravery of individuals will keep this from happening the same way again. That is the legacy that is so well documented in United 93.

And yet I must again say I don't recommend this film. It is just too painful. It's, I'm sorry to say, too soon. As I watched crowds lining up to watch United 93 it occurred to me how bizarre the whole idea of a 9/11 movie is. I could not escape the thought of how vulgar it is that people are reliving 9/11 with a bag of popcorn on their lap and a bucket of soda. That is just appalling.

Movie Review Stick It

Stick It (2006)

Directed by Jessica Bendinger

Written by Jessica Bendinger

Starring Missy Peregrym, Jeff Bridges, Kellan Lutz

Release Date April 28th, 2006

Published May 15th, 2006

If all juvenile delinquents could get the kind of court treatment that Hayley, the heroine of the new Disney comedy Stick It got, the world would be filled with extremely limber criminals. Hayley, the heroine of Stick It,  has had numerous run-ins with the law in her short life; but now she finds herself in real deep trouble. After damaging property she is being sent off to, horror of horrors, gymnastics camp!

That ought to show her.

Stick It is the kind of wish fulfillment comedy that Hollywood is convinced that we love. Filled with sitcom characters and Saved By The Bell style dialogue, Stick It is a stylish but rarely amusing teen comedy.

Hayley Graham (Missy Peregrym) has been sentenced by a judge to go to gymnastics camp. Luckily she happens to have once been a world class gymnast before she walked away in the midst of a big meet or match or whatever the hell they call it. Needless to say, she is not popular with her fellow gymnasts at the Vickerman gymnastics academy.

Run by the tough loving Burt Vickerman (Jeff Bridges); the academy is better known for major injuries caused by Burt's hardcore training than for major gymnastic stars. Naturally, Hayley and Burt clash immediately. She doesn't want to be there, he doesn't care, they clash until valuable lessons are learned and naturally a big meet(?) bonds the team to Hayley and she to them.

Jessica Bendinger, who wrote the amusing script for the cheerleader comedy Bring It On, directs her first feature and brings a rebellious attitude to Stick It but, like most teenage rebellion, it's mostly just childish posturing.

Missy Peregrym gives a free spirited performance that is restricted by a script that puts really stupid words in her mouth. The dialogue is filled with dopey sub-sitcom zingers that undermine any character development. Not one of these characters feels like a natural human being because everything they say seems as if it should be followed with canned laughter.

I hope Jeff Bridges makes good use of the paycheck he picked up for Stick It. If the audience is bored  watching Stick It they are just reflecting Bridges who could not be any more bored with this material. He knows this movie is no good and he reflects it with an attitude of disaffection.

So, does anything about Stick It work? Yeah; kind of. Director Jessica Bendinger establishes a candy colored palette in the background of her candy coated story. Using low grade special effects Bendinger makes gymnastics about as interesting as it can possibly be without having someone in your own family competing.

There is a certain camp humor found in Jeff Bridges' tired, bored, performance in Stick It. His character's almost constant exasperation is supposedly linked to the untamed rebelliousness of his charges, but you can easily read it as Bridges real life response to this lifeless exercise in teen appeal sit-comedy.

Jessica Bendinger is not an untalented director. She crafts some clever visuals with overlapping photography in the gymnastics scenes and makes good use of CGI. Bendinger makes gymnastics more interesting than I've ever found it before, but having never found it all that interesting to begin with, this is a minimal accomplishment.

Bendinger, at the very least, has enough talent to make me interested in what she will do next. Anything she does now will have to be better than the forgettable teen tripe of Stick It.

Movie Review RV

RV (2006) 

Directed by Barry Sonnenfeld

Written by Geoff Rodkey 

Starring Robin Williams, Cheryl Hines, Jeff Daniels, Kristen Chenoweth, Josh Hutcherson

Release Date April 28th, 2006

Published April 28th, 2006 

Robin Williams stopped being cool around the time he cleaned up and got off drugs. That is a horrible thing to say but it's true, his maniac comic genius was fueled by cocaine and though at times it was too far out it was often remarkably, vibrantly, brilliant and he has only rarely captured that brilliance since getting cleaned up.

I'm glad he got off drugs, it saved his life. And that maniac part of Williams is still there occasionally, especially in his most recent comedy special on HBO in 2003. In movies those occasions of Wiliams' brilliance have become few and far between. Reduced now to the neutered family comedy genre like his once brilliant colleague Eddie Murphy, Williams stars in R.V, a mainstream machine meant to convert safe forced comic melodrama into cash.

In R.V Williams stars as Bob Munro, father to two ungrateful kids, daughter Cassie (JoJo Levesque) and son Carl (Josh Hutcherson) and husband to a loving stay at home wife Jamie (Cheryl Hines). Sad that his family has grown so far apart that they watch TV in four different rooms and I.M each other that dinner is ready. He launches a plan to bring the family close again.

Canceling a planned vacation in Hawaii, Bob puts the vacation funds into renting an R.V for a cross country family camping trip. What Bob doesn't mention to the family is that part of the trip includes a stop in Colorado for a business meeting.

If you guessed that along the way the family reconnects, lessons are learned and hugs shared, congratulations, you've seen a movie before. Predictable doesn't begin to describe the plot of R.V. Golly do you think Bob's secret business meeting will drive a wedge in the family? Do you think that maybe that weirdo family headed up by the mugging duo of Jeff Daniels and Kristen Chenoweth will turn out to be good people and great friends?

Garsh!

Director Barry Sonnenfeld has hit a rather unexpected career low. After Get Shorty and two pretty good Men In Black movies, Sonnenfeld seemed to have a golden touch. However, having been away from directing since the last Men In Black film, Sonnenfeld's golden touch has turned to lead. Lead that Sonnenfeld and Williams use to pound home every predictable slapstick joke.

As much as I dislike R.V I must admit to a few laughs all of which come from Williams whose hard work does occasionally wring laughs from this lame script. That hint of mania behind William's eyes is still there and when he isn't suppressing it in an ill-fitting dyspeptic character like Bob, he can't help but let loose a few non-sequiturs. Robin Williams is a comic genius. That madness is still there just below the surface. That madness that makes him a brilliant, at times uncontrollable comic whirling dervish, still simmers inside him. Movies like R.V do not bring out his best side but when he finds the right project he will back.

Movie Review: Akeelah and the Bee

Akeelah and the Bee (2006) 

Directed by Doug Atchison

Written by Doug Atchison

Starring Keke Palmer, Laurence Fishburne, Angela Bassett, Curtis Armstrong

Release Date April 28th, 2006

Published April 27th, 2006

On the surface Akeelah and The Bee is the inspirational tale of a young girl overcoming the odds to make it to the national spelling bee. However, the real driving inspiration for the film is the continuing educational strife in the inner city that see's gifted students, like the one portrayed in the film, being left behind in schools ill suited to nurture their gifts.

Akeelah and The Bee may indeed play a little like an After School Special on steroids but its deeper message gives the film depth and the lead performances of stars Keke Palmer as Akeelah and Laurence Fishburne as her coach help Akeelah and the Bee become more than the sum of its plot. Akeelah Anderson (Palmer) is an 11 year old overachiever in the Crenshaw school district in Los Angeles. Having been skipped ahead a grade, she is expected to be the schools star in terms of academics.  Unfortunately, Akeelah is floundering. She has been missing classes and is failing.

Things begin to turn around for Akeelah when her principle, Mr. Welch (Curtis Armstrong), forces her to enter the school spelling bee. Mr. Welch has invited his friend Dr. Joshua Larabee (Fishburne), a professor at USC and former spelling champion, to observe the bee and especially Akeelah. When Akeelah wins the bee she is offered the chance to train with Dr. Larabee in hopes of making it to the national spelling bee.

At home Akeelah is living with the loss of her father, he was killed when Akeelah was only 6 years old, whose love of words drives her own love of words. Her mother (Angela Bassett) is hard working but absent. Her oldest brother Devon (Lee Thompson Young) has joined the military while her other brother Terrence (Julito McCullom) has joined a gang. The specter of violence is inherent in the neighborhood though not prominent in the film.

The inadequacy of her school curriculum has limited Akeelah's ability to learn. Worse yet, the prevailing attitude of the people in her life, that education is a fixed, white man's game, has infected her own attitude. She must discover her love of learning or she will not succeed.

Akeelah and The Bee addresses a real hot button issue in inner city schools by directly addressing the prevailing attitude among African American youths that education is a white mans game. Many young African Americans have come to believe that the game is fixed against them in terms of education, so why bother with schools. This is not an unreasonable attitude. In fact, it's supported by how little financial support appears to be given to inner city schools as opposed to schools with predominantly white attendance. 

That this attitude can prevail upon even someone as gifted as Akeelah is an issue that political and community leaders across the country, but particularly in the inner cities, must address and soon before another generation is lost. Every year it seems that the education budgets go up and yet inner city schools remain looking rundown and short on cash. Where is this money going and why isn't more money the answer as so many conservative critics have preached.

Akeelah and the Bee doesn't dig quite that deep into this issue. The requirements of mainstream filmmaking requires that the plot stay closer to its characters and their personal stories rather than becoming a documentary. The films accomplishment is raising the issue for you and I and everyone else to address and deal with..

Laurence Fishburne's performance as Dr. Larabee is a return to form for him after drifting through the Matrix sequels and Biker Boyz, simply picking up paychecks. His arrogant, authoritative performance, softened by Keke Palmer's Akeelah, captures the complex emotions of a man who has succeeded in the face of similar, if not more difficult circumstances than Akeelah. I call the character arrogant because he is, but it is the kind arrogance that one earns through achievement. Some people simply have the right to be a little arrogant and that is part of Fishburne's complicated and heavily shaded performance.

Fishburne's performance early in the film is so good that the backstory he is saddled with proves unnecessary in making this character, and the dramatic choices he makes later in the film, work. The backstory, I'm sure, was meant to further humanize Dr. Larabee but because it is so contrived and is used as such an obvious dramatic device it plays far too melodramatic.

The real key to Fishburne's performance may just be the performance of his co-star, 13 year old Keke Palmer. Giving a performance that is easily comparable to Keisha Castle Hughes Oscar nominated performance in Whale Rider, Palmer nails Akeelah's initial hopelessness and sadness as well as her feistiness and innate gifts. Akeelah is a sweetheart character but she is not above childish behavior and petulance and Palmer combines these traits into a fully formed young character.

Palmer and Fishburne develop terrific chemistry that carries us over many if not all of the films minor structural problems, including Fishburne's unfortunate backstory and a stretch of the picture that gets a little too into the uplifting vibe of a TV movie. The montage sequence of Akeelah inspiring her entire neighborhood is more than a little played out.

I think I may have made Akeelah and The Bee out to be heavier than it really is. Writer-director Doug Atchison is not merely using this film to preach, he leaves plenty on the screen for entertainment purposes. For instance, Akeelah gets a boyfriend, Roman (George Hornedo), who she meets along the way to the national spelling bee. The pre-teen romance is very charming and not overdone.

Also the films final minutes at the national spelling are so well put together that there is real drama. The scenes are perfectly paced and develop in surprisingly suspenseful manner. Akeelah and the Bee is far from perfect but as a conversation starter on very important issues and as an entertaining character piece, the film is more than worth the price of admission.

On a side note, Akeelah and the Bee is the first film from the Starbucks Film company. Yes that Starbucks, the coffee people. It is a little disconcerting when you first see that Starbucks logo pop up in the opening credits but no one in the film is seen drinking Starbucks coffee so the synergy is thankfully not blatant. It is nice to see a major corporation putting its cash to good use and not merely crafting a film as an ad for their product.

Movie Review: Wall Street Money Never Sleeps

Wall Street Money Never Sleeps (2010) 

Directed by Oliver Stone

Written by Allen Loeb, Stephen Schiff

Starring Michael Douglas, Carey Mulligan, Frank Langella, Shia LeBeouf

Release Date September 24th, 2010

Published September 23rd, 2010 

Director Oliver Stone has long been a fearsome critic of Wall Street greed. His Frankenstein character Gordon Gekko from 1987's “Wall Street” was meant as a stinging rebuke of Wall Street greed but became the progenitor of a new generation of real life Wall Street sharks who idolized Gekko's 'Greed is Good' philosophy.

More than 20 years later Stone looked set to take on Wall Street again as massive financial machines came crashing down before the government stepped in to save them. The financial meltdown seemed to provide the perfect background for the return of Gordon Gekko and an opportunity for Stone to provide the ultimate artistic polemic damning the Greed is Good generation. So what happened?

“Wall Street” Money Never Sleeps” stars Shia LeBeouf, picking up on the Wall Street wunderkind role essayed by Charlie Sheen in the original “Wall Street.” Shia is Jacob Moore, a 20 something who has risen fast at a powerful banking firm that stands on the verge of collapse. His mentor, the company CEO (Frank Langella), has leveraged the company on a lot of bad debt.

In a mirror image of Lehman Brothers, the company collapses and the rest of Wall Street rushes in to pick the bones. Soon, Jacob's mentor has taken his own life and Jacob is looking for revenge against the snake-like CEO of a rival company, Bretton James (Josh Brolin), who was responsible for his company’s downfall.

Jacob happens to have an unlikely ace in the hole; he's engaged to Winnie Gekko (Carey Mulligan), daughter of disgraced but re-emerging Wall Street titan Gordon Gekko. With a new book coming out and prison in his rearview mirror, Gekko too is in the revenge business, seeking the people who helped send him to prison. Seeing that he and Jacob may have a common enemy, Gekko offers sage advice and inside information all the while poking the kid to help repair Gekko's strained relationship with his daughter.

It is in the private lives of Jacob and Winnie where “Wall Street” Money Never Sleeps” goes awry. Carey Mulligan is a wonderful actress, always very compelling but here she is reduced to whiny caricature and plot creation. Winnie Gekko doesn't exist fully as a stand alone character and whenever she's onscreen you are left longing for what's happening in the boardrooms and backrooms where the billions of dollars are changing hand.

Director Oliver Stone, unfortunately, uses the relationship stuff as a place to hide from the Wall Street stuff. Where audiences come in expecting the controversial director to come out swinging against Wall Street greed monsters, we are shocked to find how often Stone turns tail and runs to the softer ground of father daughter and boyfriend girlfriend melodrama.

Yes, the relationship stuff does tie back to the main plot but it's more distracting than compelling. Josh Brolin and Frank Langella provide the film's best scenes as they battle for the soul of Wall Street and the politics of money within the walls of the Federal Reserve building. In Langella we see the failed dream of the honest man and in Brolin the mindless consumption that nearly drowned us all.

These scenes are achingly compelling and offer a glimpse of the Wall Street sequel many felt we would be getting. Sadly, it is only a glimpse as LeBoeuf's Jacob is never remotely compelling as Langella's sad mentor character. Once Langella is gone, Brolin and Douglas suck the air out and leave LeBeouf gasping in their wake, unable to support the edgy, critical side of Wall Street that we thought we were getting.

It's fair to theorize that LeBeoef's cypher like performance may be why Stone backed off on the more biting and dangerous critiques of modern day Wall Street. Lebeouf simply couldn't carry the weight. Stuck with him, Stone reverts to the romance and family plots, kicking in Susan Sarandon as Jacob's mom for extra help, and leaving “Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps” shockingly soporific.

As for the return of Michael Douglas as Gordon Gekko he is sadly trapped by director Oliver Stone's wimping out. Gekko could have been, should have been the ultimate rebuke, the hammer that came crashing down on modern Wall Street greed. Instead, Gordon Gekko is softened and chastened by the need for the love of his daughter. Stone does well to isolate Gekko into his own plot and evoke the things we remember from the original “Wall Street,” but I can't be the only one who was hoping for something more than mere nostalgia.

For whatever reason, Oliver Stone pulled up short in “Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps” either unwilling or unable to pull the trigger on the kind of crushing polemic that many had hoped the ultra-left wing director would deliver upon the criminals who robbed America and left the economy in tatters for their own gain.

Movie Review Lucky You

Lucky You (2007) 

Directed by Curtis Hansen

Written by Curtis Hansen, Eric Roth

Starring Eric Bana, Drew Barrymore, Robert Duvall 

Release Date May 4th, 2007

Published May 5th, 2007

We all have things we are passionate about. Filmmakers are lucky enough and talented enough that they can expose their passion to the world. For writer-director Curtis Hanson, that passion is for the world series of poker where he sets his latest work Lucky You. Focusing on the intricate ways in which the compulsive poker player assesses the table and bets on the strengths and weaknesses of his opponents, Hanson often creates great tension and rooting interest.

Unfortunately, we could get the same involvement watching Texas Hold'em tournaments on ESPN 2 and without the laconic Eric Bana and miscast Drew Barrymore interrupting the action with clichéd banter that incorporates the lingo of poker into a lame romantic aphorism. 

Eric Bana stars in Lucky You as Huck Cheever, a professional gambler who has won and lost fortunes without flinching. Prowling the Vegas strip on his motorcycle, the one thing he refuses to hock for gambling cash, Huck will do anything to find a game; even if it means hocking his mother's wedding ring for a quarter of what it's worth and then betting the pawn recovery slip when the ante is beyond his means.

Huck's father L.C (Robert Duvall) is also a gambler and they have traded this priceless heirloom a few times since Huck's mother passed away, which was not long after L.C left to become a gambler himself. L.C is the one man Huck can't seem to beat and has lost fortunes to the old man; beyond just the ring. He will, in the course of Lucky You, continue losing to his old man, even when he has the better hand.

Huck's personal life is non-existent until he meets Billie Offer (Drew Barrymore) a tourist in Vegas, visiting her sister (Debra Messing), who falls for Huck's gamblers charm. Billie quickly learns that Huck can't be trusted, he steals from her after they spent the night together, but all too soon she is giving him another chance and then another.

These characters are messy and realistic, something writer-director Curtis Hanson is good at writing. However, when compared to the indelible characters that Hanson has had a hand in creating in the past, the characters in Lucky You are just forgettable. Hanson adapted Wonder Boys with Michael Douglas's career best performance. He directed Cameron Diaz and Toni Collette in a pair of winning performances in In Her Shoes and let us not forget the brilliance of his Oscar nominated L.A Confidential.

Those films were lively and intelligent. Lucky You is laconic and messy and while that may relate well to these characters, that doesn't make you want to spend any time watching it. It also doesn't help that Eric Bana's lead performance is lazy and incomprehensible or that Drew Barrymore is woefully miscast as a wannabe Vegas chanteuse.

Only the great Robert Duvall is able to elevate things to a watchable level but he is only a supporting character. When Duvall is off-screen the film loses the beat and we wait patiently for him to come back or at least for another card game to begin.

When Robert Altman directed The Company I described it as a masturbatory exercise in directorial self indulgence. Altman loved the ballet and wanted the opportunity to film it. He assembled a cast and a semblance of a story and then restlessly waded around the obstacles of his plot to get back to the stage and the ballet.

Curtis Hanson does his best Altman impression in Lucky You, taking the opportunity to indulge his love of Texas Hold'em Poker. Though ostensibly a romance, Lucky You only becomes vital and engaging when the action is on the tables. Hanson sets the film around the World Series of Poker and blatantly abandons his dull romance in favor of a solid thirty minutes of nothing but bluffs, antes and folds.

The poker scenes are involving and dramatic as Huck gets the opportunity to face off with his dad at the final table. However, aside from the father-son showdown, there really is nothing in Lucky You that you couldn't get by staying home and watching poker on ESPN 2.

Curtis Hanson's passions seem to run hot and cold. He was passionate about the corruption and deceit of L.A cops in the forties and fifties and that led to L.A Confidential. He was passionate about Michael Chabon's terrifically unique characters in the book Wonder Boys and that led to, arguably, the best work of his career.

Then again, he was also passionate about the art of rapper Eminem and that led to the lead, un-hip, hip hop movie 8 Mile. In Lucky You, Hanson's passion for Texas Hold'em has led him to another slow-witted melodrama. Let's hope that Curtis Hanson's next passion is more inspiring than that on display in Lucky You.

Movie Review King of California

King of California (2007)

Directed by Mike Cahill

Written by Mike Cahill

Starring Michael Douglas, Evan Rachel Wood

Release Date September 14th, 2007

Published December 12th, 2007

So many movies look the same, act the same and tell us all the same things. Rare is the movie that truly walks to its own beat. That peculiar kind of movie that may not even be a great movie, is at the very least one that keeps its own beat and maintains its own peculiar rhythm. That is something the movie King of California does. Directed by first time filmmaker Mike Cahill, this modern treasure hunting tale stars Michael Douglas as a manic depressive jazz artist seeking lost gold beneath a Southern California chain store.

The description may actually be better than the film itself but what is terrific and recommendable about King of California is the film's unique energy, a nervy performance from young Rachel Evan Wood, and a willingness to walk to a beat that is far off the beaten path. A little bit of jazz tossed over the wall of mainstream pop filmmaking. A much needed change of pace.

Charlie (Michael Douglas) is the kind of unpredictable personality that makes life interesting, if nearly impossible. His flights of fancy from becoming a holistic healer to selling his possessions to retrieve his beloved stand up bass and continue his attempt at a career as a jazzman were what kept his daughter Miranda's life out of control for so many years. His commitment to a mental institution when she was 15 was really just the rest she needed. Scamming her parents and the department of child services, she has somehow managed life on her own for two years and when Charlie is released, she braces for having her newfound routine upended.

Seems Charlie has spent his commitment time reading about treasure and is now a committed treasure hunter. The gold of a Spanish priest is what he's after and he claims to know where to find it. This means late nights spent in forests with a metal detector and days with shovels and even a backhoe. It also means losing her car when Charlie can't find a way to pay for the backhoe. The strain of father and daughter's relationship gives juice to the early scenes of King of California but it is only when Charlie feels he has located the treasure, beneath a Costco in the valley, when things really get interesting.

Mike Cahill wrote and directed King of California under the guidance of producer Alexander Payne, among others, who is the mind behind some of the most unique and quirky films of the last decade. The influence can be felt in the film's unique rhythms and jazzy soundtrack. King of California is Cahill's vision, I have no doubt, but the filmmaking has a distinctly Payne-like feel, and that is not a bad thing. The feel of the film, the warm southern California visuals, are quite similar to the dusty sun drenched eves of Payne's masterpiece Sideways.

Then there is the mind freaked, tweaked performance of Michael Douglas. Buried beneath a bums beard and looking his age like never before, Douglas gives his all to this character and the effort shows. That is a double edged sword. At once, the character is entertaining and a little too much to take. The character edges toward crazy caricature a few times and it threatens to tip the delicate balance of this rhythmically odd little movie. He is leavened by the steady star performance of Evan Rachel Wood but Douglas would have been well advised to dial back the Don Quixote for a more natural kind of crazy.

That is a minor quibble however with what is a sweet, charming and slightly peculiar little movie, one that will delight renters for a night in front of the TV. Not life changing art by any stretch, King of California delivers just a nice change of pace from the typical. Like a night of jazz instead of your usual diet of predictable mainstream pop, King of California is the kind of movie we need once in a while to show us what else is out there. To show us that not every movie has to be factory made to entertain the masses. For that I say thank you.