Movie Review Speed Racer

Speed Racer (2008) 

Directed by Lilly and Lana Wachowski

Written by Lilly and Lana Wachowski 

Starring Emile Hirsch, Matthew Fox, John Goodman, Susan Sarandon, Roger Allam

Release Date May 9th, 2008 

Published April 3rd, 2025 

YouTube video essayest Patrick H. Willems is dropping a new video, an epic defense of the remarkably underrated 2008 flop, Speed Racer. This visionary effort from Lana and Lily Wachowski was too far ahead of its time when it was released in 2008. It's no wonder that people who are revisiting Speed Racer today are finding that the film was, indeed a masterpiece far ahead of it's time. I watched and loved Patrick's essay on the creator owned streaming service, Nebula. It will be on YouTube soon as well. Subscribe to Patrick H. Willems on YouTube or subscribe to Nebula to watch this epic. Meanwhile, I decided to revisit my love for Speed Racer. 

The team behind The Matrix, Lana and Lilly Wachowski, had been away from the big screen for four years before they returned with Speed Racer. The film was their follow-up to what some saw as a disappointing pair of Matrix sequels. Regardless of the critics, those sequels were wildly successful, enough so that WB gave the Wachowski's a massive budget for Speed Racer while also taking a hands off approach to allowing the Wachowski's to make the movie they wanted to make, a big budget, wildly inventive adaptation of the boomer anime retro strip Speed Racer. They then turned that I.P into an eye popping effects extravaganza. This candy colored action-racing smorgasbord was a feast for the eyes and a triumph for modern special effects, that bombed at the box office.

Find my full length review at Geeks.Media, linked here. 

Movie Review Soul Surfer

Soul Surfer (2011) 

Directed by Sean McNamara

Written by Sean McNamara, Douglas Schwartz, Michael Berk

Starring AnnaSophia Robb, Carrie Underwood, Helen Hunt, Dennis Quaid

Release Date April 8th, 2011

Published April 8th, 2011

Bethany Hamilton's story is one of courage and perseverance deeply rooted in faith. Bethany's story of becoming a teenage surf champion, losing her arm in a shark attack and coming back to be a surf champion again is remarkable and with so many compelling elements in place it should have easily translated to a moving big screen experience.

Yet, we have "Soul Surfer" , a facile, dull witted take on Bethany's remarkable story. Terrific actors like AnnaSophia Robb, Academy Award winner Helen Hunt and leading man Dennis Quaid wilting in the face of a script so wildly simpleminded that only an amateur actor could have made any of it seem remotely real.

Underwood succeeds where the real actors fail

In fact, one amateur actress in the cast of "Soul Surfer," country music superstar Carrie Underwood, actually makes my point perfectly. Underwood succeeds where the real actors fail by blithely delivering her homily choked dialogue without affect and without the glaring obviousness of discomfort that the real actors are choking on.

AnnaSophia Robb is Bethany Hamilton. At 16 years old Bethany is a champion surfer in a family of surfers. Her father, Tom (Dennis Quaid) is her coach, her brother Noah (Ross Thomas) is her videographer and her mom Cheri is her biggest cheerleader. Bethany's best friend Alana (Lorraine Nicholson) is also her top surfing competitor.

Better as a documentary

Bethany was surfing with Alana, her brother and Alana's dad Holt (Kevin Sorbo) when a shark attacked and tore Bethany's arm off. This sequence of Soul Surfer is moving but once it ends we are thrust back into a story populated by stick figure versions of what we can only imagine are far more complex and interesting real people.

I have no doubt that a documentary about Bethany Hamilton would be thousands of times more interesting than anything in the shallow "Soul Surfer." This simplistic version of Bethany's story insults the audience and the real Bethany by delivering a superficial version of Bethany's extraordinary story.

Sticky, syrupy platitudes

Barely a moment of "Soul Surfer" rings true emotionally. Director Sean McNamara, who also wrote the script with the aid of several other writers, presents Bethany's story with such thick layers of sticky, syrupy platitude that it's a wonder any real emotion escapes the screen.

You could wait for "Soul Surfer" to come out on DVD but a more productive employment of your patience would have you wait for someone to license the footage of the real Bethany used over the closing credits of "Soul Surfer" for a documentary that might give her story the kind of telling it deserves.

Movie Review Sorry to Bother You

Sorry to Bother You (2018) 

Directed by Boots Riley

Written by Boots Riley 

Starring LaKeith Stanfield, Tessa Thompson, Danny Glover, Terry Crews, Patton Oswalt, Armie Hammer, David Cross, Steven Yuen, Omari Hardwick, Jermaine Fowler

Release Date July 6th, 2018

Published July 6th, 2018

Sorry to Bother You is among the most bracing and stupefying movies of this century. Directed by Boots Riley, no film aside from perhaps Get Out, has felt this alive in this moment of our shared American history. This absurdist masterpiece about identity politics, corporate greed, liberal guilt and moral licensing, works on so many unique levels of satire it can be hard to keep up with but it’s damn sure worth trying to keep up with.

Sorry to Bother You stars LaKeith Stanfield, a star of the aforementioned Get Out along with equally of the moment series Atlanta on FX. Stanfield plays Cassius Green, a lean and hungry young man, quite literally hungry, he has almost no money, who we meet as he attempts to lie himself into a new job. Cassius is applying to work at a telemarketing firm and once hired he finds himself struggling to make sales.

Then, an older telemarketer, Langston (Danny Glover), gives Cash some very important advice, use your white voice. Here’s where the transgressive kick of Sorry to Bother You kicks in. Immediately, Langston gets on the phone and the surreal voice of Steve Buscemi is coming out of the mouth of Danny Glover. Soon, Cash gives his white voice a shot and he’s a natural with the voice of David Cross laying over that of LaKeith Stanfield.

This is the first layer of the identity politics satire at play in Sorry to Bother You. It gets a great deal more intense after that, after Cash realizes how powerful he can be with his ultra-confident white voice. Soon, Cash is promoted to Power Caller and is working in a pampered office with a six figure salary while his friends, including Union organizer, Squeeze (Steven Yuen) and girlfriend, Detroit (Tessa Thompson) are left behind to try and fight for more pay without the power of Cash’s earning power to help their position.

Cash’s rise through the ranks is rapid and he soon catches the attention of the company’s biggest client, a slave labor corporation known as WorryFree. WorryFree CEO Steve Lift (Armie Hammer) is a psychotic mashup of Martin Shkrelli and Elon Musk, with just a dash of Jeff Bezos’ union busting egotism. Whether intentional or not, the notion of Worryfree signing workers to lifetime contracts that offer them room and board in exchange for permanent employment feels like a shot at Bezos and the conditions he’s rumored to have created for Amazon warehouse workers.

Then again, the way it is framed, the corporate satire could play off of any number of modern, soulless, labor busting CEOs. Where this satire winds up is a stunner of transgressive ideas that are terrifyingly and yet hilariously staged. Sorry to Bother You is wildly unpredictable  and boldly weird, a refreshingly artful and funny mix. A scene featuring a party at Lift’s house features one of the most explosive and uncomfortably real scenes I have ever witnessed.

The scene is textbook moral licensing, a concept wherein people, or a group of people, excuse their worst behaviors by doing something they feel is moral or selfless. In this case, allowing Cash into their world gives the white people at Lift’s party, in their minds, the moral license to ask him to demean himself and his race for their amusement and it's okay because they claim he is now one of their peers.

We aren’t finished though with the multiple levels of transgressive satire in Sorry to Bother You. Boots Riley turns social science into a gorgeous work of art. With an incredible cast that also includes a stellar performance by Tessa Thompson and a horrifyingly pitch perfect villain turn from Armie Hammer who combines the worst qualities of the billionaire class and amps them with eye-bulging energy.

President Calvin Coolidge famously said of D.W Griffith’s Birth of a Nation that it was “History written with lightning.” I’m taking that statement away from Griffith’s racist screed and giving it here to Boots Riley Sorry to Bother You. THIS is history written with lightning, just history that is in progress, as we speak. This film is a bolt of lightning to our collective soul, an electrifying and vital work of art.

The more we allow corporate greed to separate itself from moral guidance, the closer we get to Sorry to Bother You. The more we condone or fail to recognize moral licensing, the closer we get to the vision of Sorry to Bother You. We need to recognize these things and Sorry to Bother You is a clarion call to recognize these vital issues and its artfulness is a hilarious and horrifying guide to the kind of moral rot that could be our future if we fail to change.

Identity and politics and satire all in one package, Sorry to Bother You deserves Academy Awards for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor for Lakeith Stanfield, Best Supporting Actress for Tessa Thompson, Best Supporting Actor for Armie Hammer, Best Director for Boots Riley and Best Screenplay, among other awards. That’s how incredibly brilliant Sorry to Bother You is. I haven’t seen a movie this excitingly, scathingly, bravely, transgressive as this in my life and I am excited this exists.

Movie Review Sorority Row

Sorority Row (2009) 

Directed by Stewart Hendler 

Written by Josh Stolberg, Pete Goldfinger

Starring Briana Evigan, Leah Pipes, Rumer Willis, Jamie Chung, Audrina Partridge

Release Date September 11th, 2009 

Published September 12th, 2009

If you have seen the 90's horror flick I Know What You Did Last Summer then you have no reason to see Sorority Row. Aside from the more risque R-rating for Sorority Row the plots are basically the same: A group of attractive young people commit an accidental murder and attempt to cover it up and are subsequently stalked and murdered themselves. Choose the prettiest ones to survive and boom, same movie.

The girls of Theta Pi are the meanest mean girls on campus. Their parties are as legendary as their bitchiness and it is during a party that the bitchfest goes haywire. The boyfriend of one Theta gal has cheated. His punishment? His girlfriend and her sisters plan to fake her death right down to dumping her body down a mine shaft to cover it up. The joke goes too far when at the mine they talk of cutting up the body and the boyfriend goes first.

He stabs her in the chest with a tie iron and this time she's really dead. Rather than risk their futures as trophy brides and the best friend's of trophy brides; they decide to go ahead with the fake plan from before, the old' mine shaft drop. One sister is against it but when the remaining sisters frame her for the murder, she has no choice but to go along.

Cut to 8 months later, graduation night. The sister blamed has left the house but returns for the final night. As soon as she is reunited with her former friends bad things begin to happen. A texted photo of the tossed away tire iron, the appearance of the dead girl's jacket, oh and a series of murders in the sorority house, lead to the conclusion that either their late friend has risen from the grave (or shaft if you prefer) or somebody knows what they did last sorority mixer.

Not one surprise or twist lands in Sorority Row. If you can't see every telegraphed scare coming, you just aren't trying. Reading ahead in an actual copy of the script would be less obvious than the lame set ups of Sorority Row. Each character is dispatched in less and less interesting ways until we accrue just the right number of survivors appropriate for a sequel.

The is a less than stellar assemblage of beauties. Yes, all are attractive and in various states of undress from beginning to end but you can get that on any late night cable movie. The only thing notable about the cast is that Rumer Willis is the daughter of Bruce Willis and Demi Moore, Ashton's step-daughter. And, Audrina Partridge of the MTV un-reality series is the gal on the wrong end of the tire iron prank.

Otherwise, there isn't much to remember or give a damn about in Sorority Row. If you are in the mood for lame horror, rent I Know What You Did Last Summer. It's basically the same plot and that one, at the very least, is lifted by the talents of Jennifer Love Hewitt, Ryan Phillippe and Sarah Michele Gellar.

You can always catch Sorority Row at 3 Am on late night cable in a few months, a milieu appropriate for the film's tired attempts at sleaze horror. 

Movie Review Something Borrowed

Something Borrowed (2011) 

Directed by Luke Greenfield 

Written by Jennie Snyder Urman

Starring Ginnifer Goodwin, Kate Hudson, John Krasinski, Colin Egglesfield

Release Date May 6th, 2011 

Published May 6th, 2011

Ginnifer Goodwin stars in the new romantic comedy "Something Borrowed" as Rachel, a mousy gal who has long been bossed around by her best friend from childhood, Darcy (Kate Hudson). Despite being best friends Darcy unknowingly stole the love of Rachel's life Dex (Colin Egglesfield) and is going to marry him soon.

Cheaters

The marriage plans hit a bit of a speed bump when everyone has a little too much to drink and Rachel and Dex end up sleeping together. While they at first agree to keep things quiet, Dex eventually tells Rachel that he's in love with her while Rachel confesses the affair to her other best friend Ethan (John Krasinski.)

Weekends in the Hamptons

As all of this drama is happening oblivious Darcy invites everyone for weekend's in the Hamptons throughout the summer where Rachel is treated to listening to the soon to married couple have sex while she fights off the advances of Dex's skeevy cousin Marcus (Steve Howey). Will Dex tell Darcy he wants to leave her? Will Rachel tell her? Will Ethan tell her? Do you really care?

Secret revealed

By the time the secret was revealed in "Something Borrowed" I certainly didn't care. Director Luke Greenfield and writer Jennie Snyder's ingenious plan for trying to make us not hate Rachel for sleeping with her best friend's fiance is to make D'arcy so unbelievably self centered and obnoxious that we won't mind so much that she gets hurt.

Impossible to endure

The writing and direction however, only serve to make Ms. Hudson's performance almost impossible to endure and relieves the movie of anything emotional at stake. Darcy is so amazingly awful that we really don't mind so much when the two closest people in her life conspire against her. Who thought that was a good premise for a movie?

Prolonged agony

John Krasinski is the only modestly entertaining character in "Something Borrowed;" an island of reason and humor in a movie mostly devoid of both. Unfortunately, Krasinsky gets played off early in the final act and we are left with the three awful characters who prolong our agony for several long and irritating scenes.

"Something Borrowed" is one of the worst movies of 2011.

Movie Review Gulliver's Travels

Gulliver's Travels (2010) 

Directed by Rob Letterman

Written by Joe Stillman, Nicholas Stoller

Starring Jack Black, Jason Segal, Emily Blunt, Amanda Peet, Chris O'Dowd, Catherine Tate

Release Date December 25th, 2010 

Published Deember 25th, 2010

The thing about "Gulliver's Travels" is that there isn't all that much wrong with it and I still can't recommend it. The cast headed up by Jack Black is uniformly game and hard working. The story is a classic hence why Jonathan Swift's story has lingered for more than 200 years. So, what really kept me from liking this harmless, desperately wanting to be loved movie? I'm still working on that.

Gulliver (Jack Black) is the head of the mailroom at one of New York's largest newspapers. He's been at this job for a while, something that would not satisfy most adults. When Gulliver finds out that the new guy, Dan (T.J Miller), that he has trained for a single day is now his new boss, Gulliver vows to do something with his life.

That something is finally asking out the paper's travel editor Darcy (Amanda Peet) who Gulliver has had a crush on for years. Unfortunately, Gulliver chickens out on the asking out part and in his haste to escape social mortification accidentally backs into a writing assignment. After faking a writing sample Gulliver is off to Bermuda where the infamous triangle awaits.

Of course we know that soon after Gulliver boards his boat he will be arriving in Lilliput, the island home of the miniscule Lilliputians lead by King Benjamin (Billy Connelly), his daughter, Princess Mary (Emily Blunt) and her betrothed, General Edward (I.T Crowd genius Chris O'Dowd). After being captured by the General and imprisoned, Gulliver makes a friend, Horatio (Jason Segal) who happens to be Princess Mary's true love, imprisoned by the jealous General.

From that set up we get Gulliver becoming a hero defending Lilliput against other mini invaders, Horatio released from prison and wooing Mary with Gulliver's modern diffidence and the surprise arrival of Darcy in search of Gulliver after discovering his faked writing samples lifted from Fodor's among other sources.

There is a battle against a giant robot and an island where Gulliver is dwarfed by even larger beings. These ideas are introduced by director Rob Letterman and just sort of happen and are discarded. There is no lingering effect. Some of this stuff is funny, most of it might bring about a smile or a chuckle but mostly the humor of "Gulliver's Travels" evaporates as quickly as it appeared.

The thing is though; there is nothing really wrong with that. Chuckles and half smiles aren't bad when you want a minor distraction. A movie should aspire to a great deal more but when so many other movies rob audiences of life force, I'm looking at you Fockers, one is tempted to grab a giggle wherever you can find them.

Also, it's fair to say that "Gulliver's Travels" meets every expectation of its underwhelming trailer. Jack Black tumbles and riffs, Emily Blunt and Amanda Peet are pretty and the 3D is completely meaningless and unnecessary. Jack Black gets the same laughs in the movie that he does in the trailer and a few more half smiles and giggles here and there. It's everything the marketing promises.

I am hesitant to give even a half hearted recommendation to "Gulliver's Travels" in part because of a quote from the legendary, and greatly missed, Gene Siskel who once asked "Is this movie as good as a documentary about these same actors having lunch together?" Gulliver's Travels fails that test miserably. Listening into the lunch conversation of Jack Black, Jason Segal, Chris O'Dowd, Billy Connelly and Oscar nominee Emily Blunt would be infinitely more entertaining than "Gulliver's Travels."

Movie Review Somewhere

Somewhere (2010) 

Directed by Sophia Coppola 

Written by Sophia Coppola 

Starring Stephen Dorff, Elle Fanning

Release Date December 22nd, 2010 

Published December 18th, 2010 

A dejected movie star drives his car in circles for a 2 or 3 minutes to begin Sophia Coppola's “Somewhere” and things only grow more elegiac and confounding from there. Stephen Dorff stars in “Somewhere” as movie star Johnny Marco and for the first 20 minutes of the film he is a most irritating and off-putting presence. After the driving in circles we are treated to a scene of the despondent star in his posh Chateau Marmont apartment being entertained by twin strippers before he simply falls asleep watching them.

The scene is noisy and goes on and on and on with Marco never leaving the bed and the girls never leaving their poles until the end and only then to offer a kiss goodbye to the sleeping star. These scenes will test the patience of even the most forgiving fan of writer-director Sophia Coppola and yet as you stick with “Somewhere” something strange begins to happen. A strange fascination arises even as Johnny Marco barely rouses from his stupor.

Conventionally, the story kicks in when Johnny's pre-teen daughter Cleo (Elle Fanning) arrives for a visit. At first she is just a visitor and Johnny is welcoming but with an eye on the clock. After another interlude with the twins, Cleo returns, this time with plans to stay for a while longer. In a more typical story Johnny would be the diva father who learns how to be a better dad through the course of an adventure with his daughter. That however, is not this movie.

Sophia Coppola takes this story in a unique and fascinating direction by seeming to give it no direction at all. Somewhere has a hazy, dreamy feel and it builds fascination by avoiding the typical movie narrative expectations and instead allowing “Somewhere” to unfold in a mercurial fashion that feels natural even as nothing seems to be happening.

It's a daring approach as scenes begin with the chance that something might happen to break the dreamy monotony of this story and then the scene plays out and the dream continues. The ending is near perfection as it plays out in a way that fits the shapeless, prosaic nature of all that came before it. The ending is ambiguous and unusual and leaves the viewer wanting to know more and yet ready to leave Johnny Marco be.

”Somewhere” is one of the most divisive films of 2010. Many will walk out in the first 20 minutes; many will make it to the end and be left agape. But for those who find this film's groove and feel its vibe, “Somewhere” is a real trip, a memorable unendingly fascinating mind wipe that drifts away like fog lifting from your psyche. I hated “Somewhere” for a solid 20 minutes and by the end I loved it. If you can find the groove, you will love this movie too.

Movie Review: True Grit

True Grit (2010) 

Directed by The Coen Brothers

Written by The Coen Brothers 

Starring Matt Damon, Jeff Bridges, Hailee Steinfeld

Release Date December 22nd, 2010 

Published December 18th, 2010 

A strange thing has happened near the end of 2010. Some of the most daring and different directors are being tamed by the Hollywood system. Whether it's a moderation toward the notion crafted by Ben Affleck and Matt Damon years ago; 'One for them, one for me,' or merely an acceptance of the terms that Hollywood dictates to all filmmakers in these tough economic times, directors like David O. Russell (The Fighter) and John Cameron Mitchell (Rabbit Hole) have crafted their most conventional and studio friendly films in their esoteric careers.

The same could be said of the Coen Brothers whose latest film is a straight as an arrow adaptation of the Charles Portis novel “True Grit.” Though artful and entertaining, “True Grit” is easily the most straight-forward, audience friendly film in the otherwise odd and fascinating careers of Joel and Ethan Coen. There is nothing wrong with convention, especially when it is as moving and amusing as “True Grit.”

John Wayne won his only Oscar for Best Actor for his take on the role of Rooster Cogburn in 1969. 41 years later Jeff Bridges brings new energy and life to the role of the reprobate US Marshall Rooster Cogburn. Hired by 14 year old Mattie Ross (Hailee Steinfeld) to track down the villain Tom Chaney (Josh Brolin) who killed her father, Cogburn never ceases being a debauched yet heroic man with strong wit and as Mattie recalls in voiceover, True Grit.

Joining Marshall Cogburn and Mattie on the trail of Chaney is Texas Ranger Lebeouf (Matt Damon). Having been on the trail of Chaney longer than Mattie, he intends to return Chaney to Texas for a reward a move that runs counter to Mattie's intent to have Chaney hanged in Arkansas. Lebeouf is also intent on convincing Mattie to return home something she refuses to her detriment as danger lurks around every turn of the bend.

True Grit is not the movie many may think it is. From the dark and foreboding trailer with its ominous Johnny Cash tune, "God's Gonna Cut You Down," that has been playing for the past six months, one would miss the fact that “True Grit” is witty and entertaining as it is violent. The PG-13 rating is far less misleading than the trailer, indeed “True Grit” is as safe and conventional as the John Wayne original.

Again, I know this reads like harsh criticism but it's more of an observation; it's surprising to see director's like the Coens make a movie as standard and practiced “True Grit.” The film has the skill of the typical Coen brand, the fabulous cinematography of Roger Deakins as well as the music of Carter Burwell, two regular Coen's contributors, but it does lack the Coen Brothers brand of quirk that has highlighted their best work from the beginning. 

Just as surprising however is how effective this standard approach is. Jeff Bridges delivers a Rooster Cogburn every bit as iconic as John Wayne's while young Hailee Steinfeld steals the film with her steely, thoughtful and sensitive performance. Matt Damon is highly effective in the role essayed by singer Glen Campbell. I could see Oscar nominations for each as well as for the directors, cinematographer and, if it hadn't been ruled ineligible, Carter Burwell's exceptional score. 

”True Grit” may be shockingly conventional as a film by the Coen Brothers but it is still a highly entertaining and in the end moving film populated by excellent performances. In a career that has spanned nearly the length of time since the original “True Grit,” Jeff Bridges has evolved from handsome charmer to leading man and now to elder statesman and perennial Oscar contender. “True Grit” may give Bridges back to back Oscars following last year's “Crazy Heart” as a deserving Best Actor winner. 

14 year old Hailee Steinfeld was found in a nationwide search, a remarkable find. Steinfeld stands toe to toe with Jeff Bridges and Matt Damon and more than holds her own even as she chews over ancient dialogue in a rhythm that even long time trained actors would struggle with. Steinfeld's performance alone would be enough to recommend “True Grit” but with Bridges, Damon and highly effective direction of the Coen Brothers, True Grit is more than merely recommended, it is a must see film.

Movie Review How Do You Know?

How Do You Know? (2010) 

Directed by James L. Brooks

Written by James L. Brooks 

Starring Paul Rudd, Reese Witherspoon, Owen Wilson, JackNicholson

Release Date December 17th, 2010 

Published December 17th, 2010

George (Paul Rudd) is an honest guy, he prides himself on that; too bad for George that his father Charles (Jack Nicholson) is not an honest guy. Worse yet for George, his dad is also his boss and his dishonesty now has George facing the prospect of a healthy prison stay. The how and the why are not well spelled out but we do know George is very likely to be indicted soon.

Lisa (Reese Witherspoon has just gotten some bad news of her own. She's just been cut from the US Women's Softball team and now must enter the real world of jobs and other such things. Cushioning the blow is a frivolous relationship with Matty (Owen Wilson) a multi-millionaire major league ballplayer with monogamy issues. Sure, Matty is no good cheat but he is sweet and surprisingly honest about his proclivities.

These two downtrodden people, George and Lisa stumble over one another amidst the chaos of their lives and after an awful sort of date, she's seeing Matty still, they seem to part ways for good. Ah but this being a romantic comedy we know a chance encounter will reunite them and when that chance comes indeed the romance begins.

Where is all of this going you might wonder, I know I did. Well, keep wondering; veteran writer-director James L. Brooks has a lot of ideas going into the romantic comedy “How Do You Know” but not much of an idea where any of it should go. We know he likes these characters and he and this terrific cast are good at getting us to like these characters but there really isn’t much beyond that likeability.

The trouble comes with Nicholson and Wilson's supporting characters. Both are more colorful and humorous than the two leads. They are the one's driving the story for the two leads who seem only to react to what they do instead of reacting to each other. It's not that Rudd and Witherspoon lack chemistry, they are cute together, rather it's that they aren't as interesting as Nicholson and Wilson who have more to play with in the colorful 'bad guy' roles.

Bad guys are a stretch, they are merely less restrained by the morality of right and wrong. They are roguish and their willingness to ignore the rules is more interesting than Rudd's scrupulous good guy and Witherspoon's needy mess. Unfortunately, even as they are more interesting they also lack emotional heft because their bad deeds are portrayed as charming and carry no real stakes.

”How Do You Know” could use some stakes. There seems to be nothing really on the line for these characters. Sure, George could be going to jail but it never really seems likely that will happen. The payoff of George’s possible indictment is handled in a most unbelievable fashion but it does lead to one of Jack Nicholson’s biggest laughs ever, one he earns with just a flicker of his face.

It’s not that “How Do You Know” is a bad movie, the actor’s involved are far too enjoyable for this to be a bad movie. It’s just that it’s not a very good movie. The story carries no stakes and the narrative is flabby, carrying a lot of unnecessary supporting players who, though almost as charming as the leads, add little to the story. Katherine Hahn is wonderful as Rudd’s assistant/best friend and Mark Linn Baker is funny in an odd way as one of Nicholson’s cronies but the film pauses to give both time that could have been better spent tightening up the main story.

My guess is James L. Brooks fell in love with a lot of the superfluous laughs these characters earn in “How Do You Know” and lost track of the fact that the overall story was weak. Sure, he finds the laughs, he finds the heartfelt moments but they are all just pieces that fail to create a complete puzzle.

I can recommend “How Do You Know” for the less discerning fans of romantic comedies and of these charming actors but you have to keep the expectations low. “How Do You Know” is not as sharp as James L. Brooks’ “Broadcast News” or as endearing as “As Good As It Gets” but it has a number of strong moments, a few big laughs and a cast filled with charmers.

I wanted more from “How Do You Know,” a more satisfying emotional payoff would have been nice, but on deftness alone it gets by for a partial recommendation.

Movie Review: Yogi Bear

Yogi Bear (2010) 

Directed by Eric Brevig

Written by Brad Copeland, Joshua Sternin, Jeffrey Ventimilia 

Starring Dan Akroyd, Justin Timberlake, Anna Faris, Tom Cavanaugh, T.J Miller

Release Date December 17th, 2010 

Published December 19th, 2010

Straight to the point, Yogi is a talking bear living in Jellystone Park with his pal Boo Boo. Together, they execute radical schemes to steal picnic baskets, or in Yogi's parlance 'pic a nik' baskets, from park patrons. Attempting to stop them is Ranger Smith (Tom Cavanaugh) and his doofusy second in command Ranger Jones (T.J Smith). Along for the ride is a nature documentarian named Rachel (Anna Faris) with whom Ranger Smith has puppy dog crush.

Those are the good guys just having fun with Yogi's shenanigans while keeping the park open. The bad guys are Mayor Brown (Andrew Daly) and his sycophant Chief of Staff (Nate Corddry). They plan to plug the holes they created in the budget with their extravagant spending by closing Jellystone Park and selling the forest to logging interests.

Naturally, the good guys will have to try and stop the bad guys and along the way many more shenanigans will occur, people and bears will fall down and big laughs will be had by all. Give credit to director Eric Brevig, his narrative is clean, concise and to the point. That's better than a lot of other kid’s movies that waste a lot of time just to fill feature length.

So, is “Yogi Bear” funny? Yes, at times all of the goofy effects come together to create moments that you cannot help but laugh at. Also, Tom Cavanaugh is an actor that, for me anyway, has an endless amount of charm even when saddled with a CGI talking bear and T.J Miller. Anna Faris is sweet and cute and can pull off a pretty good flying tackle while pretending to be a snow leopard, I'm not kidding.

There are minor pleasures to be found in “Yogi Bear,” not the least of which is in the special effects which have become so commonplace that even an effect as ridiculous as Yogi and Boo Boo melts into the background and becomes unquestionably part of the action. I'm not saying the effects are great but merely that you can accept them with ease and that's rather something isn't it.

In the end, you could take your kids to something far worse than “Yogi Bear” a goofy but inoffensive little movie with an appealing cast, a few minor laughs and best of all, a throwback cartoon short at the beginning. Right in front of Yogi is a terrific little Roadrunner and Wile E. Coyote cartoon that puts you in just the right mood for the low watt loopiness of “Yogi Bear.”

Movie Review The Fighter

The Fighter (2010) 

Directed by David O. Russell

Written by Paul Tamasy, Eric Johnson, Scott Siliver 

Starring Mark Wahlberg, Christian Bale, Amy Adams, Melissa Leo

Release Date December 10th, 2010 

Published December 7th, 2010

'Irish' Mickey Ward's battles with Arturo 'Thunder' Gatti are three of the greatest in ring wars that the boxing world has seen in the past 2 or 3 decades. These two warriors bloodied and battered each other for 12 rounds in three consecutive fights, two of which were named by Ring Magazine as fight of the year. The second fight likely would have also won fight of the year if it had not taken place the same year as the first.

How Micky Ward rose to those fights against Gatti, the apex of his career, is the story of “The Fighter” a sports drama from director David O. Russell and starring Mark Wahlberg in a role that he trained for four years for; all while trying to wrangle a director, turned down by Scorsese, abandoned by Darren Aronofsky, and a studio to make the movie.

As we join the story of “The Fighter” Micky Ward (Wahlberg) is a scuffling welterweight fighter in the midst of a losing streak. Many in the boxing world peg Ward's troubles to his brother/trainer Dicky Eklund a failed pro fighter who peaked in the late 70's in a fight with the legendary Sugar Ray Leonard before succumbing to crack addiction.

More than a decade after his boxing peak Dicky holds out hope of making an in ring comeback, a lie perpetuated by Micky and Dicky's mom/manager Alice (Melissa Leo). For now however, Dicky wastes hours and days in a dingy crack house when he is supposed to be prepping Micky for a bout on national television in Atlantic City.

The fight is a debacle as the fighter that Ward was supposed to face dropped out due to illness. The replacement is a full weight class above Micky but because no one will get paid if he doesn't fight, Dicky and Alice push Micky into the ring and Micky's career is nearly ended. This conflict unfolds in the first act of “The Fighter” and director David O. Russell elegantly flows these burgeoning conflicts into the second act where Dicky gets arrested, Micky gets hurt in the melee around Dicky's arrest and the family is shattered.

What separates “The Fighter” from your average sports movie? Not much really, despite a heavyweight cast “The Fighter” is essentially, at its heart, a classic sports movie. Director David O. Russell's challenge then was to find little ways for “The Fighter” to break the mold of the typical and he finds that in an indie style, low budget look that fits the rundown setting of aging Lowell Massachusetts, Micky and Dicky's longtime hometown.

Another departure from the typical sports movie comes in the clever mimicry of Micky Ward's actual fights. David O. Russell teamed with the real life sports director from HBO for scenes depicting Micky's Championship fight against Brit Shea Nealy. Using the actual call of the fight from the HBO boxing announcers brings an extra bit of authenticity to the brutal fight scene and underscores the reality of what we are seeing in the ring.

So many boxing movies amp up the noise of the punch or speed up the action to a point where two men could not possibly punch each other continuously without passing out from exhaustion; but not here, not in this movie. Restrained by Mark Wahlberg's strict adherence to the way Micky Ward actually fought and kept in pace by the actual call of the fights as they happened back in the late 90's, the boxing in “The Fighter” looks and feels true.

Also feeling true in “The Fighter '' is the family of Micky Ward. David O. Russell could not have been more blessed with a cast. Oscar nominees Melissa Leo and Amy Adams, who plays Ward's tough as nails girlfriend Charlene, are an electronic duo who clash personalities like a car wreck on the Lowell Parkway. Melissa Leo is backed up by an army of unknown actresses who take on the roles of Micky and Dicky’s sisters and their authentic look, just slightly behind the times, and their raw trailer park energy make their scenes as lively as any in “The Fighter.”

Christian Bale is the stand out as Dicky, a flashy role that Bale nevertheless makes real with his mastery of the real Dicky Eklund a gregarious yet troubled soul who maintained a strong sense of humor and self even as he was in the grips of addiction. That is attested to in a 1994 documentary that aired on HBO about Dicky's addiction to crack. "High on Crack Street" played a big part in Bale's research of the role as did the presence of the real Dicky Eklund who Bale bonded with off-screen.

The underrated MVP of “The Fighter” is Mark Wahlberg not for his performance which is hampered somewhat by being the least colorful of a group of colorful characters but for the work he did in dedicating himself to telling this story. Wahlberg grew up not too far from where Micky Ward did and like Micky he found trouble early in his own life only to get things turned around in a big way.

Wahlberg had to tell this story and you can see his blood, sweat and tears determination to get Ward right in every frame of “The Fighter.”

If the film is ultimately a conventional sports movie so be it, “The Fighter” has the heart and energy of the best of the genre but with David O. Russell, Christian Bale and Mark Wahlberg breaking their backs to tell this story there is something more here, an intangible quality that sets “The Fighter” apart and lifts it well above just a sports movie.

Movie Review Love and Other Drugs

Love and Other Drugs (2010) 

Directed by Edward Zwick

Written by Charles Randolph, Marshall Herskovitz

Starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Anne Hathaway, Oliver Platt, Hank Azaria, Josh Gad

Release Date November 24th, 2010

Published November 25th, 2010

I have long believed that the best movies reveal something not just about the characters on screen but the audience watching them. The new romance “Love and Other Drugs” starring Ann Hathaway and Jake Gyllenhaal and directed by Ed Zwick has moments that reached into my soul and revealed things to me that I have been trying to hide. The movie is far from perfect but for a few minutes, “Love and Other Drugs” is very touching and for that it's worth the ticket price.

Jake Gyllenhaal stars in “Love and Other Drugs” as Jamie Randall a good for nothing horn dog who gets fired from his job for having sex with his boss's wife while the boss is in the other room. Based solely on charm and good looks Jamie falls into an even better job with even more promise of sexual conquest, working as a drug rep for Pfizer.

Drug rep, as we are informed, is the only entry level position with a starting pay in the six figure range. The job plays to Jamie's strength as it involves no skill other than being charming, the only real skill he has. With the help of his new partner Bruce (Oliver Platt), Jamie has only to get sales up a little and he will move on from the lowly depths of the Ohio River Valley to the big time in Chicago.

Jamie is on the fast track when he meets Maggie (Ann Hathaway) , a beautiful 26 year old artist/waitress with early onset Parkinson’s disease. At first she is the perfect woman, her disease makes her only seek a sexual relationship with little emotional involvement, seemingly Jamie's dream relationship. It doesn't take a rocket scientist however to figure out that eventually the heartless hound dog will fall for Maggie and she will push him away.

Director Ed Zwick, with script assists from Marshall Herskovitz and Charles Randolph, uses the bones of the book "Hard Sell: The Evolution of a Viagra Salesman" by Jamie Reidy to craft a love story about an emotionally stunted man who slowly evolves the soul he had buried so deeply within himself. It's a story that will be painfully familiar to a lot of men who have hidden behind charm in order to keep real feeling at bay.

Jake Gyllenhaal captures the emotionally stunted Jamie perfectly; hiding behind quick wit and a sheepish smile that hides a wolf's intentions. Jamie is constantly on the prowl until he meets Maggie who gives him exactly what he wants while telling him it's what he wants and with unintended consequence teaches him the well worn lesson 'be careful what you wish for.'

On the periphery of this love story is the story of the pharmaceutical business and its many disquieting practices. In this part of the story Director Zwick vacillates between wanting to damn and shame the industry and stay true to Jamie Reidy's book which is neither damning or shaming but merely observant and humorous.

Zwick includes scenes where Maggie takes a group of seniors to Canada in order to buy drugs. If this is meant as a stick in the eye to the industry it doesn't land because it doesn't seem to phase Jamie in the least as he ends up going on a trip with her that is only part of their love montage, that series of scenes set to a love theme that acts as shorthand for movie characters falling in love.

Was Zwick meaning to allude to the problems we all seem to have with Pharmaceutical companies these days or elude criticisms of those who would argue he did not damn and shame the industry enough? Whatever he was trying is the biggest failure of “Love and Other Drugs” as it merely seems a distraction from the film's more interesting elements, the lovely chemistry between stars Jake Gyllenhaal. 

These two wonderful actors bring out the best in each other. The scenes they shared, all too briefly, in “Brokeback Mountain” crackled with life and were sorrowful reminders of that film's tragic themes. In “Love and Other Drugs” Gyllenhaal and Hathaway lay each other bare literally and emotionally and let the audience in as if it were some sort of emotional three way. 

 Given Maggie's condition and her side gig taking seniors to Canada for drugs, one would assume the Pharmaceutical industry would be in for something of a beating in “Love and Other Drugs.” Instead, either Ed Zwick didn't really have the nerve for an indictment or didn't have the goods for a solid take down. Zwick force feeds the minor jabs at big pharma in “Love and Other Drugs,” they really weren’t part of Jamie Reidy’s book, as a way of satisfying those who would be upset about a love story in this setting that doesn’t address real concerns about drug companies and their supposedly unethical practices.

In the end, “Love and Other Drugs” is a good movie that gets in its own way trying to answer critics who may or may not exist. I'm sure someone might have attacked the film for ignoring the alleged abuses of the pharmaceutical industry but that should not have been a concern for Zwick and the creators of “Love and Other Drugs.” The point here is the love story and the good humor and watching a boy become a man under tough emotional circumstances.

The story of Jamie and Maggie on its own is worth the price of a ticket. The rest of “Love and Other Drugs” is unfortunately unfocused and greatly lacking. I recommend the film but with reservations.

Movie Review: Burlesque

Burlesque (2010) 

Directed by Steven Antin

Written by Steven Antin

Starring Cher, Christina Aguilera, Kristen Bell, Cam Gigandet, Stanley Tucci

Release Date November 24th, 2010

Published November 23rd, 2010 

There is a near overdose of camp in Steven Antin's “Burlesque.” Whether it's Cher or Christina Aguilera or a story of a small town girl in the big city with big dreams, everything seems to come up kitsch in this tremendously familiar story. Camp is not such a bad thing; especially when it is accompanied by some good tunes and some big unintended laughs.

Christina Aguilera takes the role of the typical small town girl with the surprisingly big voice and even bigger dreams (blech). Ms. Aguilera plays Ali who escapes her tiny Iowa town for the bright lights of Los Angeles where she hopes to find work as a back up singer or dancer. One day as she is wandering the streets with what is apparently a 'dancers wanted' newspaper page in hand, Ali comes across a place called Burlesque.

Inside there is a show going on starring the club's owner Tess (Cher) who literally sings as Aly walks in "Welcome to Burlesque.". At the bar Ali meets Jack (Cam Gigandet) who strikes up a flirtation hindered by the fact that she thinks he's gay. Taken backstage she begs for a job and ends up a waitress. Eventually, Ali ends up on stage and blah, blah, blah.

”Burlesque” is not about plot, it's about massive excess and outrageous everything. “Burlesque” is pure camp from the ludicrously cheeseball story to the outlandish stage presentation and especially to the friendship between Tess and her gay best friend Sean (Stanley Tucci) which is every stereotypical gay man's wet dream. The camp is at near overdose level from beginning to end in “Burlesque” and it's up to you if that is a good or bad thing.

Myself, I enjoyed “Burlesque” in the sort of so bad its good fashion. My favorite part is how the club is suffering serious financial troubles and may be about to close. I'm just guessing here but I think the reason the club is going under is because they spend as much on massive stage spectacles as your average Broadway spectacular and their wardrobe budget likely exceeds the mortgage on the building which allegedly houses this club. Hell, the wig budget alone could probably pay off what is owed to keep the club open.

We aren't supposed to think practically about what happens in “Burlesque” and really why would we? There is no reality even attempting to take hold in this fabulized version of “The Wizard of Oz” crossed with “A Star Is Born.” Someone in the media described “Burlesque” as a 'gay fantasia' and really I cannot top that word perfect description of “Burlesque.”

I could complain that Cam Gigandet is miscast or that Alan Cumming is in the cast but barely used and that Kristen Bell is far too cardboard to be a proper villainess but none of that matters and by the end I didn't care about the movie-ish things that were wrong with “Burlesque;” I was too busy smiling and giggling to care about practicalities.

”Burlesque” is just self serious enough to pity and self aware enough not to be completely terrible. I think all involved had an idea that they were creating kitsch but hedged a little in hope that maybe there was a chance it could all be taken seriously. It cannot be taken seriously but it still works in its very unique, camp fashion. You have to be a fan of over the top, so bad its good fun to enjoy “Burlesque” but if that is your humor, you will love this movie.

By the way, does anybody know if Cher is a fan of the musical “Dreamgirls?” I ask because in “Burlesque” Cher sings a song called “You Haven’t Seen the Last of Me” that is a near perfect knock off of Effie’s “And I’m Telling You, I’m Not Going.” Knock off or not, the song shows that Cher probably could pull off that extraordinarily difficult “Dreamgirls” standard even at 62 years old. That alone might be worth the price of admission to “Burlesque.”

Movie Review: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Pt 1

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Pt. 1 (2010)

Directed by David Yates 

Written by Steve Kloves

Starring Daniel Radcliffe, Michael Gambon, Emma Watson, Rupert Grint, Robbie Coltrane, Tom Felton

Release Date November 19th, 2010 

Published November 18th, 2010

“Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part ..1”.. is by far the most disappointing of the Harry Potter series. Deathly Hallows Part 1 is a dreary series of strung together chases, deaths, deathly amounts of waiting for something important to happen while hidden behind magical walls and plot saves that a first time student of Robert McKee would find cliche Certainly, much of what is wrong with Deathly Hallows Part 1 is a function of being the first half of a full film, Deathly Hallows Part 2 arrives next summer, but what excuse is there for a series that has so far been so strong to offer up such weakness now.

When last we left the Potter series our hero Harry Potter had witnessed the death of his mentor and protector Professor Dumbledore (Michael Gambon). Now, with magical travails spilling over into the real world, Harry is on the run with almost nowhere to hide. Thanks to spies within the Ministry of Magic an early plot to move Harry ends with the death of one key character and the maiming of another beloved supporting player.

This leads Harry wanting to strike out on his own in order to protect the people he cares about. Harry, however, will not be alone as his pals Ron and Hermione are required by plot law to join him on the run as they head for London and eventually into some unknown, magical forest. All the while Snatchers are on the hunt and our beloved trio is at each other's throats over horcruxes, the magical pieces of the soul of the One Who Shall Not Be Named, Lord Voldemort (Ralph Fiennes).

Part of the fun of the Potter series is that kind of pomp and circumstance (“He Who Shall Not Be Named”) and portend. Few films intended for young audiences can sustain as much self seriousness as the Potter series has. Then again, if that self seriousness bogs down as it does in Deathly Hallows Part 1 then what you get is stagnant drama and a whole lot of waiting around while supposed heroes fight the urge to do something heroic.

The angst of child Harry Potter has become the self doubt of the alleged chosen one and while I understand Harry's fears I cannot help but wonder just when Harry will accept fate and become less of a reluctant savior and more of a warrior spoiling for a fight?

There is a scene between Harry and Hermione, in one of their many magical forest hiding places, where Hermione floats the idea of giving up and living out their days in this place. Never mind that the people they supposedly care about are dying and the civilization that Dumbledore gave his life for is being destroyed.

These quibbles do not prevent Deathly Hallows Part 1 from delivering some solid action, drama and a little romance (Harry and Ginny share a lovely, unexpected kiss) from time to time. A showdown with Belatrix Le Strange (Helena Bonham Carter, in full on weird) comes to mind as an example of fine suspense, but this scene takes awhile to arrive.

The budding romance between Hermione and Ron continues to hold promise. There is a wonderful scene in which Ron, seemingly by accident, reveals his love for Hermione without actually saying he loves her. It’s the best piece of acting Rupert Grint has delivered in the series.

Sadly these few pleasures cannot make up for Deathly Hallows Part 1's most damning and surprising failure, a heavy reliance on contrivance. To reveal these contrivances would require spoilers so let me just say that the return of Dobby the House Elf, while it is a wonderful piece of CGI, is among the more convenient elements of the film's final act.

Again, and to be fair, many of the issues I have with Deathly Hallows can be explained away by the fact that the film is really only half over and that we have a whole other movie waiting to finish what this one started. Still, each of the previous six films has managed more drama, suspense, romance and carefree wonders than is in a single frame of Deathly Hallows Part 1. And each of the first six films surely did not fall back on such convenient solutions as Deathly Hallows Part 1 does.

The least of the of the seven Harry Potter films, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 is an overlong bore filled with portent but no great drama. Laziness takes the place of invention as Deus Ex Machina is employed for what I believe is the first time in any of the Potter films.

Here’s hoping that Director David Yates and writer Steve Kloves work out the kinks for Part 2 because a series as brilliant as the Potter series has been deserves an extraordinary send off. Deathly Hallows Part 1 is hopefully just a minor mishap on the way to something brilliant.

Documentary Review: Client 9: The Rise and Fall of Eliot Spitzer

Client 9: The Rise and Fall of Elliot Spitzer

Directed by Alex Gibney

Written by Documentary

Starring Elliot Spitzer 

Release Date November 5th, 2010

Published December 22nd, 2010

Eliot Spitzer does not easily earn your sympathy. A child of privilege, Spitzer used a combative, bombastic style of politics to battle his way to the top of New York state political apparatus. Then, at the apex of power, he allowed his weakness for sexual encounters unencumbered by emotion, those that could be paid for without an emotional toll to pay, to end what should have been a merely colorful but deeply impactful career to be derailed.

Alex Gibney’s documentary Client 9: The Rise and Fall of Eliot Spitzer tells the three track story of Eliot Spitzer’s life from his rise to Attorney General of New York in the late 90’s to his crowning himself the ‘Sheriff of Wall Street’ where he battled corruption and dirty financial dealing in ways that few had done before to his astonishing fall from power.

Track one of Client 9 is about the exciting and sexy world of high end escorts. As Wall Street rode the boom of the late 90’s internet explosion and the rise of deregulation in Washington, high end escort services boomed to service a new crop of mini-millionaires riding high on the filthy lucre of derivatives trading and mutual fund meddling.

The best of the best of this new era of the whorehouse was New York’s Emperor’s Club where models, athletes and wannabe starlets paid their bills by offering what was dubbed “The Girlfriend Experience” to Wall Street’s elite. The Girlfriend Experience is package that allowed clients to act as if their escort was really a date, merely one that was guaranteed to end in sex.

Whether Eliot Spitzer signed up for The Girlfriend Experience or not is up for debate. What is known is that as Governor of New York; Spitzer somehow managed to set up thousands of dollars worth of escort’s services through The Emperor’s Club under the nomme de plume George Fox and that at least one of these trysts with an escort named Ashley Dupre, variously known as Veronica or Kristen depending on the client, was captured on a wiretap.

Track two of the story of Client 9 lays out the background in front of which the Eliot Spitzer’s story became the ultimate distraction. As Wall Street’s self appointed Sheriff Eliot Spitzer led a crusade against powerful Wall Street fat cats with massive bonuses and the shadiest of shady practices among traders and trading firms. In his fight Spitzer made powerful enemies such as former NYSE Chairman Kenneth Langone, former AIG CEO Hank Greenberg and longtime Republican dirty trickster Roger Stone.

These three men, two powerful and one who knows how to manipulate that power, each had a serious bone to pick with Spitzer as their money was at stake in Spitzer’s crusade against the dirty deals on Wall Street. As Alex Gibney lays out the story each of these men emerges as unabashed bad guys in interviews, in their own words they admit with relish the joy they took in watching Spitzer fall and leave plenty of evidence behind of what they may have known and even influenced in the case against Spitzer.

Spitzer’s story became the perfect distraction from the trouble Wall Street was in 2007 and 2008. AIG, with Hank Greenberg as CEO, certainly needed a distraction what with their illicit practices leading to a massive collapse that required a multi-billion dollar bailout from Washington. That they could distract from that story by watching the man who started the investigation of them seems almost too perfect, a point not missed by director Gibney.

The third track of Client 9 is Eliot Spitzer in his own words and here is where the story stumbles. In his words Spitzer is not a man prone to introspection. Thus, Spitzer is not as forthcoming as many would hope. His inability to open up combined with the roughhewn political style demonstrated throughout the story make Spitzer a less than sympathetic central figure.

Does he own what he did? Yes, but he also doesn’t offer any apologies and while he refuses to speculate or lay blame on others for what happened to him, Spitzer is enigmatic about what drove a man with his powerful enemies, high profile and so much at stake to take such ridiculous chances for mere sexual favors. These are the things of which a sex addiction is made yet, slightly to his credit; Spitzer avoids a simple diagnosis for why he did what he did.

The most controversial figure in Client 9 is not Spitzer or his powerful enemies but rather an actress. Wrenn Schmidt plays the role of Angelina the fake name of the real escort who was Spitzer’s most often paid for companion. When the real Angelina agreed to talk with Alex Gibney off camera with assurance that her name and face would never be revealed, Gibney made the controversial decision to have Ms. Schmidt act out a transcript of his interview with Angelina.

The information is revealing and it applies to all three aspects of the story of Client 9. It’s fair to say that the information she reveals is necessary to the outsize, ambitious narrative Gibney paints, one of conspiracy meeting flawed humanity in the form of a Modern Greek Tragedy. But, having an actress play act the words of Angelina leaves one feeling a little uneasy as if on slightly shaky ethical grounds.

Thankfully, Alex Gibney does not push the ethical envelope too much and admittedly there is a certain humorous irony to pushing the bounds of decency in a story about Eliot Spitzer. Nevertheless, Client 9: The Rise and Fall of Eliot Spitzer is, if at times uncomfortable, an engrossing story told with a bold voice and a grand vision, a flawed man, a flawed story and a near perfect documentary.

Movie Review: Tyler Perry's For Colored Girls

Tyler Perry's For Colored Girls

Directed by Tyler Perry

Written by Tyler Perry

Starring Tessa Thompson, Phylicia Rashad, Anika Noni Rose, Thandie Newton, Kerry Washington, Whoopi Goldberg, Janet Jackson

Release Date November 5th, 2010

Published November 5th, 2010

For all of his faults as a filmmaker, Tyler Perry has guts. Perry is a principled artist who delivers stories his way on his terms and has made a mint doing it. Critics be damned, Tyler Perry is one of the most successful filmmakers of the decade and he’s never had to compromise his vision to get there, whether you enjoy his vision or not.

Perry’s latest daring bit of storytelling is easily his biggest gamble, even bigger than dressing in drag to play Madea. “For Colored Girls'' is an attempt to corral a 20 piece stage poem into a single dramatic narrative. Nearly a dozen different actresses, often breaking out in poetic verse, going through some of the ugliest trials ever brought to screen for dramatic entertainment. It’s bold, it’s daring and it's a massive failure but it’s Tyler Perry’s unquestioned vision onscreen.

There are seven lead performances in “For Colored Girls.” They include Janet Jackson as a tyrant magazine editor dealing with a distant, possibly gay husband. Jackson’s assistant played by Kimberly Elise is an under-employed woman carrying a jobless, abusive husband and two kids. Her neighbor played by Thandie Newton is bartender who deals with childhood trauma with an endless line of sex partners.

Newton’s sister is played by Tessa Thompson and is an aspiring dancer with an accidental pregnancy. Their mother played by Whoopi Goldberg is a damaged woman whose own childhood drama sent her spiraling toward lunacy in some cultish religion. Thompson’s dance teacher, Anika Noni Rose, is a loving trusting soul who finds herself on the wrong side of the wrong man. Finally, Phylicia Rashad stars as an apartment manager slash den mother.

There are other roles as well for Kerry Washington as a social worker struggling to conceive and singer Macy Gray as a back alley abortionist as frightening as such a figure likely should be. Wrestling all of these characters into one narrative is a Herculean task. Add to that some spontaneous poetry and crushing dramatic turns involving murder, rape, abortion, Aids and spousal abuse and you have movie incapable of withstanding its own weight.

“For Colored Girls” is what you might call emotion porn. Tyler Perry crams every possible trauma into “For Colored Girls” and pummels the audience with poetic glimpses of women in the darkest depths of despair until even the most remote audience member can’t help but shed a tear. It’s the false emotion of manipulation but even if each tear is surgically extracted, they are there.

The cast of “For Colored Girls” is phenomenal with veteran Rashad as the stand out. Rashad’s character is Perry’s own invention, a narrative convenience used to tie otherwise disparate characters together. Her apartment is located right between those of Elise and Newton’s characters and she hears everything. Still, Rashad gives this character a rich emotional life. She is the beating, broken heart of “For Colored Girls.”

The rest of the cast is too busy being decimated by the Jovian burdens each is asked to carry. The despair visited upon these characters is an anchor that cannot be raised. Each actress at the very least is given a moment to shine but because that moment comes in poetic verse it resonates more as a stand alone monologue than as part of a narrative.

This is the bridge that Tyler Perry cannot cross in “For Colored Girls;” trying to make actresses breaking out into spontaneous poetic monologue feel like a natural dialogue in a typical narrative drama. He would have been better off breaking convention; take the poetic moments to a stage and break the fourth wall. Instead, Perry chooses to try to make it just like any other film drama and the effect is disjointed and unsatisfying.

Undoubtedly moving, “For Colored Girls” finds moments of great emotional force. All is undone however by a conventional approach to highly unconventional drama. “For Colored Girls” is bold and daring but fails because it was not bold and daring enough. Attempting to force all of this emotion into a singular narrative, especially one as conventionally staged as this, is a fool’s errand and it sinks an otherwise powerful idea.

Tyler Perry wildly misses his target in “For Colored Girls” but you have to respect the attempt. Few filmmakers would have the guts to even attempt to bring a complex, Female led, stage poem to the big screen. It’s fair to wonder if other filmmakers recognized how un-filmable this material is but it took a lot of guts to try and Perry’s effort has to be praised. Perry fails in “For Colored Girls” but he failed fearlessly and spectacularly.

Movie Review: Vampire's Suck

Vampire's Suck (2010) 

Directed by Jason Friedberg, Eric Seltzer

Written by Jason Friedberg, Eric Seltzer 

Starring Jenn Proske, Matt Lanter, Ken Jeong 

Release Date August 18th, 2010

Published August 20th, 2010

There is a style of comedy that has failed to develop over the past decade and yet it is still widely practiced. Call it the comedy of association. By mentioning something or mimicking something you are automatically doing something funny. That's the theory. In practice, this style has lead to a series of abysmal movies from “Epic Movie” to “Date Movie” to everything except the first “Scary Movie.”

The makers of these movies are convinced that if they make mention of something, or mimic it well, then the act of doing so is automatically funny. In the new comedy Vampire's Suck this style means mentions of Tiger Woods and Lady Gaga but nothing particularly funny about either of them.

The premise is a humorous take down of the “Twilight” series. Becca (Jenn Proske), get Becca-Bella, anyway, is the new girl in Sporks Washington, again Sporks-forks, anyway. Becca is a sad, lonely outcast as demonstrated by the music on her IPod titled Sad, Lonely, Outcast music.

At school Becca meets Edward Sullen (Matt Lanter), get it Sull... oh nevermind. Edward is a Vampire and he and Becca are destined to fall in love. Also falling for Becca is Jacob (Chris Riggi) who happens to be turning slowly into a dog, I won't give away the big brilliant reveal of what kind of dog but I'm sure things like Edward Sullen give you a strong impression of the kind of humor we're dealing with here.

There really is nothing terrible about “Vampire's Suck.” The cast is game and seems up for any kind of humiliation. Actress Jenn Proske does an exceptional imitation of Kristen Stewart nailing the tics and vocal manners that so many have noted in Stewart's performance as Bella. Sadly, the imitation is better suited for a dinner party bit than for a feature film.

Once the premise is established, in the first 2 minutes of the film, the makers of “Vampire's Suck” tick through references to the first two “Twilight” movies from Edward's introduction to Becca; he wears a hazmat suit because of her scent, to Edward's first visit to Becca's bedroom which ends with an epic blast of gas, as seen in the film's trailer.

One cannot complain when an intentionally dumb movie turns out dumb. What can be complained about is that the film is dumb without wit or purpose. Writer-directors Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer demonstrate a comic theory that states if something is funny then just mentioning it is automatically funny. Mention Tiger Woods scandal, automatically funny. Mention Lady Gaga, automatically funny.

The theory does not require some witty reference to Woods' troubles or for the film's Lady Gaga surrogate to do anything funny, just featuring them is funny enough. The film fails to offer funny exaggerations of these pop culture memes, the only aim seems to glom on to the existing cultural cache, the seeming agreement among us all that these people are funny to talk about. This theory is a massive failure.

The same theory applies to the film's central fodder, the “Twilight movies.” Friedberg and Seltzer assume that just dressing their characters like those in Twilight and giving them variations on the “Twilight” character names, then automatically these characters are funny.

The “Twilight” movies with their overwrought angst, new style vampires and pretentious Puritanism are ripe for a good send up. It's a big wide target that “Vampire's Suck” somehow misses by a mile. There is no insight, no attempt to understand and expose the flaws of the series. There is merely pale imitation and dull reference.

I laughed once during “Vampire's Suck.” The scene involved the Becca character posting something on Stephanie Meyer's Twitter feed. Sadly, one good joke is not nearly enough to recommend Vampire's Suck. There are still opportunities in this genre. “Airplane” and “The Naked Gun” movies remain cultural touchstones because this type of send up movie has so much potential. That potential is unrealized in “Vampire's Suck.”

Movie Review: Eat Pray Love

Eat Pray Love (2010) 

Directed by Ryan Murphy 

Written by Ryan Murphy, Jennifer Salt

Starring Julia Roberts, Billy Crudup, Viola Davis, Richard Jenkins, Javier Bardem

Release Date August 13th, 2010 

Published August 13th, 2010

“Eat Pray Love” has one perfect scene. Julia Roberts is staying at an Ashram in India and seeking peace from the love life that has been her obsession, preventing her from finding clarity. Needing to forgive herself for leaving her loving but forgetful husband played by Billy Crudup, Julia as writer Liz Gilbert flashes back to her wedding and imagines an alternate history where instead of the comic dance he'd done at their wedding, the song they intended to dance to, Neil Young's extraordinary "Harvest Moon," plays. T

he Liz of now takes the place of the younger more frightened Liz and tells her husband all that he will not let her say in real life. The moment moves elegantly between New York and India and the song captures the scene beautifully.

It's a rare moment in what is an otherwise pedestrian film but it's so good that it brought me peace with the film and allows me to tell you now that, despite a wave of my fellow critics trashing “Eat Pray Love,” this is not a bad movie. It's no masterpiece but in its mellow, adult contemporary way, “Eat Pray Love” brings an easy smile, a few laughs and that one perfect moment.

”Eat Pray Love” is director Ryan Murphy's adaptation of the Elizabeth Gilbert's real life bestseller. As played by Ms. Roberts, Liz Gilbert left behind a sad marriage to Stephen (Crudup), a bad timing boyfriend named David who she met and moved in with during her divorce and everything else that made her life miserable yet simple in New York.

The plan is to travel, first to Italy, for the food, then to India to live and pray at an ashram and finally a return trip to Bali where at the beginning of the film she met a medicine man who predicted much of how her life would turn out.

Along the way, of course, Liz meets a cast of colorful new friends, finds peace and self discovery and as the title spoils, she finds love. Whether that love can be balanced with newfound peace of spirit is a surprisingly well played and rather unique romantic obstacle. No doubt the best of Liz's new friends is Richard played by Oscar nominee Richard Jenkins. 

Liz and Richard meet in India and he glosses her with a rather precious nickname that sticks only because Richard Jenkins truly believes in how clever it is. Jenkins sells the Pray portion of Eat Pray Love like no other actor could and even saddled with a back-story monologue that strangle many other actors, he makes it work and the movie loses something important when he leaves. 

The last portion of the film is centered on Oscar winner Javier Bardem as Felipe and Liz's willingness to believe in love again. It sounds trite, it is rather trite but you will have to try hard not to like Bardem's big broad smile and his quirky, sweet way of expressing his love. Bardem has rarely been this free and easy on screen and it suits him surprisingly well. 

I don't see why men cannot be comfortable talking about love as a concept and a feeling. Why does this frighten us so much? I will boldly state here and now, I believe in love and while I have had my heart broken more than once, I wouldn't want to live in a world where the possibility of love is not right around the corner. Films made for women, like “Eat Pray Love,” are perfectly comfortable with this subject and part of the pleasure of the film is the ease and grace with which these ideas are assessed, mulled and demonstrated. 

”Eat Pray Love” comes up short as anything more than a minor pleasure. Though Eat Pray Love seeks answers to big questions the answers too often are general and easy on the palette, few hard truths here. “Eat Pray Love” doesn’t challenge the audience, it is neither bold nor aggressive about it's ideals, aside from the love of a great Italian past. 

That said, fans of the book should be satisfied and those who have not read the book can bask in the glow of Julia Roberts and Javier Bardem's beaming smiles and Richard Jenkins' exceptional wit and depth. And don't forget that perfect moment I mentioned. Neil Young fans especially will find themselves bursting with emotions and inspirations, thoughts of lost love. It's one of the best scenes in any movie so far in 2010.

Movie Review The Expendables

The Expendables (2010) 

Directed by Sylvester Stallone

Written by David Callaham, Sylvester Stallone 

Starring Sylvester Stallone, Jason Statham, Jet Li, Dolph Lundgren, Stone Cold Steve Austin

Release Date August 13th, 2010 

Published August 12th, 2010

Take your hands and press them against the sides of your head. Now, hold them there and press as hard as you can. Stay that way for the next 103 minutes and you will have an equivalent experience to having seen “The Expendables,” Sylvester Stallone's latest desperate attempt to remain relevant.

”The Expendables” stars Stallone alongside a rogue’s gallery of has-beens, wannabes, never-wears and Oscar nominee Mickey Rourke lending his rediscovered cool to the proceedings. The has beens include Jason Statham and Jet Li as Christmas and Yang, two of Stallone's, aka Barney, fellow mercenaries for hire, former military specialists now available to the highest bidder.

Also on the team UFC champion Randy Couture, former NFL player Terry Crews and sad, pathetic former B-movie star Dolph Lundgren. Together this ragtag band is off to some unknown isle to battle today's bad guy du jour, the rogue CIA agent. This time he's played by Eric Roberts in fine high camp form.

Stallone wrote, directed and stars in “The Expendables'' and much like his previous auteurist efforts like “Rocky ..2”.. through infinity and the recent “Rambo'' reboot, “The Expendables'' has flashes of inspiration but is mostly amateurish, off key and gut punching loud and violent. Clearly, this won't be an issue for the core of Stallone's audience, those already punch-drunk from months of UFC pay per views and neck vein popping work outs. For those seeking coherence or a story The Expendables is torturous. Call it water-boarding for the soul. 

There are times when “The Expendables” feels as if it is pummeling the audience's visual and auditory fists. Stallone and his editing team cut “The Expendables” in a fashion that will spin the heads of even the most cut friendly music video directors. Fight scenes are placed in a blender with images so randomly thrust forward it's impossible to tell whose head is being busted. 

This likely helped the aging cast look a little sprayer; Mr. Statham is the only member of the male cast under the age of 40. I say male cast rather unnecessarily as Charisma Carpenter and Giselle Itie are the only female cast members but neither is nothing more than a minor damsel in distress subplot. 

When “The Expendables” slows down for moments of dialogue the editing remains front and center thanks to Sly's bizarre angles; he really thinks angling off of mirrors is clever direction. If you manage to not be distracted by the editing be prepared for nonsense dialogue meant to make the characters seem quirky, instead it just makes the whole movie flaky and cheese ridden. 

I would love to say that you could enjoy “The Expendables” on a camp level, especially the scene featuring Stallone hanging off the side of a sea plane on take off in fine physics defying fashion, but sadly the whole of “The Expendables” is too harsh for any enjoyment to escape.

Even “The Expendables” centerpiece bit of camp, Stallone uniting his old Planet Hollywood pals Bruce Willis and Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, falls flat because  of Stallone's bizarre direction. Through odd camera angles and strange cuts it's impossible to tell if Schwarzenegger, Willis and Stallone were ever actually on screen at the same time. Willis and Stallone are in frame together briefly and Stallone and Schwarzenegger are as well but never all three unless Stallone's editing team was truly so horrible that they cut the three shots, that's possible.

What's more likely is that this meeting of the action hero minds never happened and was faked in the editing. To be fair, it was a cheap ploy anyway, hard to criticize it for that. Still, it's disappointing, especially when seeing Stallone, Schwarzenegger and Willis together on screen, even for 2 or 3 minutes of mindless exposition, was the one minor pleasure that might have escaped the dreariness that is “The Expendables.”

Movie Review: Cairo Time

Cairo Time (2010) 

Directed by Ruba Nadda

Written by Ruba Nadda

Starring Patricia Clarkson, Alexander Siddig

Release Date August 6th, 2010 

Published October 10th 

Each year there are a raft of adult romances that fly under the radar and land on DVD mostly unnoticed. Here's hoping Cairo Time starring the radiant Patricia Clarkson doesn't meet that same fate. A smart, subtle and sublime romance set against the exotic backgrounds of Cairo, Cairo Time is that rare movie that doesn't mind a little quiet contemplation a some terrific coffee talk to go with it's romantic longing.

Juliette (Clarkson) is an empty nester who, with her last child having just left home, can now visit her husband while he work in international aid. Mark (Tom McCamus) has worked in the Middle East through much of his marriage, currently in the troubled West Bank in the midst of the fight over Israeli settlements.

Juliette arrives in Cairo as Mark is trapped in the West Bank, cut off by an Israeli embargo. For now she is met by Mark's long time aide Tareq (Alexander Siddig) with whom she strikes an immediate chemistry. At the airport they meet one of Tareq's old flames, Yasmeen (Amina Annabi) and while Tareq seems flustered, the memories actually bond him with Juliette.

These two lonely people, longing for others find comfort in one another and end up spending more than expected time together. Meanwhile, Juliette, when not bonding with Tareq, takes in the sights of Cairo and her touristy ignorance provides further context for her isolation and loneliness. These scenes also help to establish the lush locations of Cairo which has rarely looked so romantic and yet forbidding.

Writer-Director Ruba Nadda has worked for the past five years, since the release of her well received debut feature Sabah, to craft Cairo Time. The time was well spent as she has created a gorgeous and moving romance for thinking adults. Patricia Clarkson is her usual compelling self, witty, sexy and elegant while co-star Alexander Siddig matches Clarkson smolder for smolder.

Ruba Nadda wrote the role of Tareq for Siddig and after years of being type cast as oil barons and or potential terrorist threats, Siddig settles comfortably into the role romantic hero. Siddig and Clarkson's forbidden romance in a forbidden land gives Siddig the opportunity to play elements of his personality he all to rarely gets to play.

Cairo Time is gauzy and laconic but in it's laid back chimera it plays as a warm and comfortable adult romance. I could watch Patricia Clarkson give Alexander Siddig simmering glances all day. These two amazing actors are a wonderful match with Ruba Nadda's excellent dialogue and gorgeous, exotic locales. Cairo Time should have had a chance to charm you at the box office, let it charm you now on DVD.