Movie Review The Boy in the Striped Pajamas

The Boy in the Striped Pajamas (2009) 

Directed by Mark Herman

Written by Mark Herman 

Starring Asa Butterfield, David Thewlis

Release Date November 7th, 2009 

Published November 24th, 2009 

Is there a more heartbreaking idea for a movie than little children in concentration camps? No doubt, you are tearing up just thinking of it. The movie is called, get this, The Boy in the Striped Pajamas. Try and keep it together till you actually see the movie you blubbery mess.

John Boyne wrote the book which quickly became a bestseller. Writer-director Mark Herman brings the story to the screen with the efficiency of any good mimic. His Boy in the Striped Pajamas benefits from the use of music and set design to leave the dreary dread that words can only hope to rise above when telling such a story.

Indeed, the early portions of The Boy In the Striped Pajamas are anything but dreary. 8 year old Bruno (Asa Butterfield) is a playful little guy with a great big imagination. He dreams of being an explorer as he flies about pretending to be a German spitfire plane, the war defining much of the play of children when your side is winning.

Bruno is hurt badly when his father (David Thewlis) announces that the family is moving to the country. Bruno will have to leave his friends behind. In the country there is little to do but hope that those people over in that strange, fenced-in farm, have kids to play with.

Though forbidden by his mother (Vera Farmiga) to go to that farm just through the forest behind their country home, the explorer in little Bruno won't let him miss out on the adventure. And, indeed there is one child there, Leon (Zac Mattoon O'Brien), who strangely wears striped pajamas all day and is dirty all the time.

Bruno begins escaping everyday to that 'farm' with its electrified fence and razor wire tops. Leon quickly becomes a good friend, though the fact that he is hungry all the time means Bruno has to sneak food out of the house everyday, not an easy task. It seems almost everyday that Leon cannot find another family member.

These scenes are treated with the innocent curiosity of an 8 year old and only your adult sense of impending doom keeps your soul from soaring with little Bruno as he makes a new friend and enjoys the pleasures that only someone so young and of such great imagination can enjoy.

That sense of impending doom however, begins as a pull in your throat. Soon it drops to your stomach like a rock and as the film sails inexorably to its devastating finish, it becomes full of nausea pushing that bilous rock back up your throat. All of the childlike innocence in little Bruno soon becomes a brickbat to the audience's collective gut.

Mark Herman's direction is not outstanding really. More, cruelly efficient, in a good way. He uses light hearted music cues and set design that set us at young Bruno's forced perspective. As he looks up at his Nazi uniformed father so do we. As he scuffles at the hem of his mother's dresses, so do we.

When we occasionally get away from Bruno's perspective on things it is only for important information such as Bruno's grandmother's reticent acceptance of her son's politics. To help us understand Bruno's confusion about the camps we are witness to a propaganda film that paints the camp as a pleasant little temporary getaway.

These scenes are like the clever asides of a sadist setting the stage for the beating to come. Indeed, the ending is a gut punch like you would not believe. It's not so much moving as revolting in the most necessary fashion. You should be revolted from time to time.

On the subject of the holocaust, what other reaction can there be but revulsion. Some will argue that Herman's use of children in his holocaust drama stinks of  manipulation. They're right. But in this case, the manipulation is poignant, purposeful and effective.

You are manipulated into remembering how, well... words fail to describe the horrors of the holocaust. And yes, you must be reminded. We all must be reminded. This is one case where history cannot be allowed to repeat itself. If getting emotionally punched in the gut is the most effective reminder, then put on a big boot and get to it.

The Boy In the Striped Pajamas is devastatingly effective filmmaking and a must see among an oncoming avalanche of high profile world war 2 movies this holiday season.

Movie Review JCVD

JCVD (2009) 

Directed by Mabrouk El Mechri 

Written by Frederic Benudis 

Starring Jean Claude Van Damme, Francois Damiens, Zinedine Soualem

Release Date November 7th, 2009

Published February 10th, 2010

Here's an idea. Take an international action hero movie star and drop him into a hostage situation. It could be the set up to one really dopey action comedy. Instead, this idea is turned on its ear and comes out a brilliant meta dark comedy in which Jean Claude Van Damme clears the deck of his entire career and unveils a ballsy, thoughtful, theatrical side that no one could have expected.

JCVD stars Van Damme as Van Damme. Having returned from Los Angeles after a losing custody battle over his daughter, Van Damme finds himself penniless in Brussels and needing quick cash. He has money waiting in a money transfer at the post office. Unfortunately for JCVD he walks in on a hostage situation.

Circumstances break so that Van Damme comes to be the suspect and not one of the victims. Meanwhile, we in the audience wait patiently for the Van Damme ass kicking that never comes. What we get instead is an introspective monologue of such tortured soul truthfulness it's impossible to tell where JCVD ends and the real Jean Claude begins.

JCVD is a stunner of ballsy self parody, of honest to god suspense and terrific indie filmmaking. The film comes from Belgian writer-director Mabrouk El Mechri who allegedly inherited the action comedy I mentioned earlier and rewrote the thing as a black comedy with some serious drama and suspense.

Not knowing much about Van Damme aside from tabloid stories about his divorces and drug habit it's difficult to say what about his real life he brought to JCVD but you can tell some of the stuff he talks about is pretty real and Van Damme feels every inch of it.

The naked desperation of Van Damme's performance married to the exceptional tone, strong plot logic turns JCVD from a meta inside joke into a rollicking good movie that happens to include some serious self-flagellation from a star who has seen better days in Hollywood.

I cannot praise Jean Claude Van Damme enough for this supremely brave and compelling performance. I'm sure having some real life motivation may have helped him plumb the depths a little easier but it still takes guts for an action hero to be so nakedly desperate and vulnerable.

The DVD cover quotes Time Magazine's review which said "He deserves not a black belt, but an Oscar". Hyperbole? Maybe. But that assessment is much more true than you imagine. Snicker all you want my hipster friends, Van Damme kicks ass in this movie. Give JCVD a chance and he will kick your ass too.

Movie Review: Four Christmases

Four Christmases (2008) 

Directed by Seth Gordon 

Written by Jon Lucas, Scott Moore, Matt R. Allen, Caleb Wilson, 

Starring Vince Vaughn, Reese Witherspoon, Mary Steenburgen, Jon Favreau, Tim McGraw, Sissy Spacek

Release Date November 26th, 2008 

Published November 27th, 2008

It's just not that funny. I watch and I want to laugh. I feel for that tickle at the back my throat. I try and force it a few times. It just doesn't come. You know why? Because, Four Christmases starring Vince Vaughn and Reese Witherspoon just isn't funny. The trailer was funny. I laughed a few times during the two and a half minute teaser.

I watched the movie, nothing. No laugh. Not even a chuckle. I sighed deeply once and it could have been mistaken as a laugh. But no. The movie isn't funny.

Brad (Vaughn) and Kate (Witherspoon) have been together for three years with no want for marriage or children. They really aren't keen on family at all. Thus why every Christmas they lie to their families and escape to some exotic isle. This year, they are off to Fiji until weather grounds their plane and they are captured on TV being forced to stay in country.

Plot forces require that each of four parents, now all separated, see the same news report and press the guilt button. Each parent will be visited and each will bring about a new kind of torture.

Robert Duvall and Sissy Spacek are Vaughn's parents while Mary Steenburgen and Jon Voight act as Witherspoon's sires. Each offers opportunities for laughs and yet none provide. Director Seth Gordon assigns each of these legendary performers a personality but forgets to offer any plot assistance.

Duvall is a bully, as are the assigned brothers Jon Favreau and Tim McGraw, randomly assigned as cage fighters. Are you laughing yet? Spacek is a space cadet who has married again to one of Brad's friends (Patrick Van Horn in a 'hey that guy was in Swingers' cameo'). Are you laughing now? How about if mom and new boyfriend repeatedly mention their sex life? Nothing?

Steenburgen, as Witherspoon's Kate warns us, is a cougar. She immediately is welcoming to Brad, willing to humiliate her daughter to make Brad ever more uncomfortable. Ha! No. Yeah, me neither. What if I throw in the fact the cougar mom is also a jesus freak and is dating a pastor played by Dwight Yoakam? What if the pastor forces Brad and Katie to play Mary and Joseph in a church pageant? Still nothing?

Finally there is Jon Voight who apparently said no to his assigned persona. Instead Voight plays benign presence to play against the craziness of everyone else. It works only to highlight the irritating, over the top absurdity of the other characters. But atleast Voight doesn't embarrass himself, which is I'm guessing, his goal for this role.

Seth Gordon is a comedically tone deaf director who pays off would be jokes two minutes before they actually happen. Truly, if you cannot see these 'jokes before they actually happen you may be having a stroke, seek medical help. Predictability is a sin that few can be forgiven for. I expect it from say, The Transporter where I would be disappointed if Jason Statham didn't drive fast and blow stuff up good.

I doubt the makers of Four Christmases put even that much thought into making this movie. They merely manufactured an idea. Cut characters out of a book of personality traits, filmed them and assembled them in number order. Whether the result was funny or even modestly amusing not so much a concern as getting the Christmas set film into theaters by the holidays to capitalize on tired, turkey and shopping attled masses seeking mindless distraction.

Say, I can recommend this movie. If you are in a tryptophan coma or blinded by the blue light special, Four Christmases is playing in a theater where you can sit in peace and quiet and not be bothered for 90 minutes.

Movie Review: Australia

Australia (2008) 

Directed by Baz Luhrmann

Written by Baz Luhrmann 

Starring Hugh Jackman, Nicole Kidman, David Wenham, Bryan Brown 

Release Date November 26th, 2008

Published November 25th, 2008 

The modern audience is often accused of having a short attention span. It's undeniable of course that with half hour television and now bite size internet videos, the modern audience has shown a taste for constant stimulation. But that fact does not mean that a movie of a good length cannot succeed. I point you to Paul Thomas Anderson's Magnolia which floats through 3 hours without ever loosing its grip on the audience.

If you have seen a double feature of Tarentino's Kill Bill, which clocks in at nearly 4 hours you know the power a great movie has to glue you to your seat. The modern attention span isn't the issue, it's the modern epic. The fact is, too often, these 'epics' are not lengthy with a purpose but lengthy due to directorial indulgence. That is most certainly the case with Baz Luhrmann's 'epic' Australia. An at times exceptional display of visual craftsmanship. Australia overstays its welcome with 3 different endings and dangling subplots.

Australia stars Nicole Kidman as Lady Sarah Ashley, a British aristocrat who comes to Australia to retrieve her husband who moved down under months earlier to make money in the cattle business. Convinced he has taken up with another woman, Lady Ashley plans on selling the cattle interest and taking her husband back to England.

Sadly, upon arriving at the ranch, called Faraway Downs, she finds her husband murdered, allegedly by an aboriginal mystic named King George. On the other hand she finds that the cattle biz is for real and with an evil land Barron named King Karney looking to steal her land for a quarter of what its worth, Lady Ashley decides to stay on and garner the profit herself.

To do so she will have to drive the cattle to the coastal town of Darwin. Thus she hires the rough and tumble Drover (Hugh Jackman) to lead the way. He needs help and doesn't have it. Aside from two aboriginal friends, there is a drunk accountant, two maids and Lady Ashley herself whose experience riding show horses is her only qualification.

Then there is Nullah. Half white, half black, 11 year old Nullah (Brandon Walters) lives in constant danger. The state has a policy of rounding up mixed race children so that they can 'breed the black out of them' and train them to be servants. Nullah has lived at Faraway Downs in secret for years after being born to a maid and a ranch hand named Fletcher (David Wenham).

Fletcher works for King Carney and cannot afford to have anyone know he fathered a mixed race child. All of this melodrama unfolds in the foreground as World War 2 emerges in the background. In newsreels and conversations we overhear Germany's march, Hitler's call for Japan to join the war and the attack on Pearl Harbor that will soon lead to attacks on the Australian mainland where Americans begin arriving for an assault on Japan.

It's a sprawling, ambitious story that director Baz Luhrmann no doubt loves. It's also a flabby, unkempt mess of competing plots that amount to three different movies forced together. The first movie, playing out as act 1, is a tribute to old Hollywood, just after the introduction of color. Luhrmann uses CGI to give Australia the coloring of a movie made in the 1930's. The effort may dazzle lovers of classic film. But, modern audiences are likely to mistake the look for bad CGI.

At the death of Lady Ashley's husband Australia becomes a gripping western. The cattle drive scenes are the movies best moments with Jackman looking quite the hero, Brandon Walters delivering the compelling drama and Kidman holding her own in the saddle. Had Australia stuck with the western aspect, with a tighter narrative focus, we could be talking about a pretty good movie.

Unfortunately, the western is merely the second act. The third act brings World War 2 and Australia's disturbing racial politics into to the forefront and begins to drift. Trained moviegoers know that the 3rd act requires the lovers to separate and for good to turn to bad so that it can be righted in the end and Australia delivers it all in rote, mind numbing fashion.

Oh, did I mention that the film ends THREE TIMES! There are two false endings. Two spots where director Luhrmann could have ended the movie with a minimum of consternation. But no. Two endings stall and start and stall again only to drive one to the point of walking out by starting up one more time. I get what the director was going for but by the second ending I was almost to the door of the theater.

Australia is likely a case of too many cooks in the kitchen. Four screenwriters contribute to a movie that feels like three movies in both length and structure. It is rumored that Luhrmann only completed the final edit of Australia 2 weeks prior to worldwide release. That might explain the rushed necessity of a 2 hour 45 minute cut of a story that can only sustain maybe 2 hours, at most.

Tedious, overlong, flabby, Australia has the look of an epic and the feeling of a butt numbing disaster.

Movie Review: Transporter 3

Transporter 3 (2008) 

Directed by Olivier Megaton

Written by Luc Besson, Robert Mark Kamen 

Starring Jason Statham, Natalya Rudakova 

Release Date November 26th, 2008

Published November 27th, 2008

Memo to the producers of the upcoming Cannonball Run remake (I know you're out there): if you haven't already made Jason Statham an exorbitant offer to appear in your movie, don't bother making it. No, The Transporter is not exactly an iconic character on which makes such great demands. But, the Transporter movies having made a few hundred million combined at the worldwide box office, the character has earned enough cultural cache to deserve to be a one off punchline in a throwaway remake. It's the least you could do.

Yes Transporter fans (I know your out there, put down the Grand Theft Auto for a moment) Frank Martin is back. Who the hell is Frank Martin? He's the Transporter. Nevermind. He's Jason Statham in the Transporter movies. Nevermind. He's the bullet headed guy who beats people up and drives fast. You're really making this too difficult.

Back behind the wheel of his newest edition Audi, Frank Martin has a new 'package' to deliver. Her name is Valentina (Natalya Rudakova) and she is the daughter of the head of the Russian equivalent of the EPA. The russkie dad doesn't want to let some American industrialist park nuclear waste in his back yard so the industrialist has thugs kidnap the russkies' daughter and give her to Frank.

Why Frank? Who knows. She is a hostage? Yes. Why don't they just hold on to her until they get what they want? Because then we couldn't have cool car chases and scenes where Jason Statham beats people up for asking such questions about this ludicrous plot.

Anyway, before I so rudely interrupted myself with unwelcome logic, Frank will drive the girl across Europe to Asia. If he doesn't do as he is told he will blow up. He was drugged and had a bracelet attached that will go boom if he gets 75 feet away from his car. No points for guessing that that whole 75 feet from the car thing will come back in the final face off with the bad guys.

The Transporter 1,2 and now 3 are not about logic. If they were then Frank wouldn't have been so surprised to find his package is a beautiful woman, as has been the case in each of the other Transporter movies. Logically? Pattern recognition might kick in and Frank would consider moving somewhere where people don't know where he lives and thus can't drug him and place exploding bracelets on him.

Logically.

But this isn't about logic, coherence or even a movie. It's about stunts and lots of them. Frank jumps a car off of a bridge and uses James Bond's classic underwater tire breathing trick. Later, Frank drives that water logged car off an over pass and on to the top of a moving train. Later, still on the train, he jumps the car from one car through the roof of another one.

Who needs logic when you don't give a rats ass for even the basics of physics.

It reads as if I hated Transporter 3. I didn't. It's not bad as far as cheap thrills go. I'm generally not a 'turn off your brain' kind of guy. However, catch me in the right mood and I can be forgiving of even the most illogic of leaps. Transporter caught me in just one of those moods and I found myself smiling my way through much of the blasted ludicrousness.

I particularly enjoyed the work of French actor Francois Berleand as Frank's French cop pal. As the only character who seems to remember having been through this before his nonchalant attitude toward Frank's astonishing acts is charming. He is either bored or simply unimpressed with his old friend's antics and his manner is quite amusing in the brief glimpses of him we get in between the driving and the beatings.

Transporter 3 was directed by someone  named Olivier Megaton. The explosive name is a fake, for those you with zero cognitive activity. He bestowed the moniker on himself to describe his audacious style. He may well have only got this gig based on that name. That he delivered big explosions is only him living up to the promise of his name. His next film should just be called 'Explosion'. As demonstrated in Transporter 3, he needs not a plot, just pyrotechnics and he can dazzle the willing masses.

Again, I implore you Cannonball Run producers, a cameo or even a starring role. Either works. Just make sure he drives an Audi A1 and gets to beat on someone. It's comic gold. You'll thank me later.

Movie Review: Cadillac Records

Cadillac Records (2008)

Directed by by Darnell Martin

Written by Darnell Martin

Starring Adrien Brody, Jerffrey Wright, Gabrielle Union, Columbus Short 

Release Date December 5th, 2008 

Published December 12th, 2008

Without Muddy Waters there is no Mick Jagger, there are no Rolling Stones. The hardest working band in Rock N' Roll heard Muddy Waters when they were just passing puberty and were so effected by it that their whole lives have been shaped by the experience.

Thus the extraordinary influence of a man and a genre of music that has too long gone unnoticed. Cadillac Records is a far from perfect tribute that comes up short of truly honoring the history the history of Chess Records and the Blues but as a reminder of it does an effective job of getting your attention and making you at least hear the music.

Leonard Chess (Oscar winner Adrian Brody) was a Chicago nightclub owner whose club mysteriously burned to the ground leaving him just enough insurance money to build a recording studio and found a record label. Having just met and heard Muddy Waters (Geoffrey Wright) and his protege Little Walter (Columbus Short) for the first time, I'm sure the fire was just a coincidence.

Chess got Muddy and Walter in the studio and with a little grease for the local DJ's, Chess Records started making big money. The nickname Cadillac Records because instead of paying his artists royalties, early on, he gave them Caddies paid for with their royalty money.

From there Chess went on to discover Howlin Wolf (Eammon Walker), Willie Dixon (Cedric The Entertainer), Etta James (Beyonce) and his most famous find Chuck Berry (Mos Def). After introducing the actors and the artists they portray we are treated to a song or two some manufactured melodrama and then it's over. Say this for Cadillac Records, it's efficient and to point.

The pre-packaged drama is as weak as I imply but director Darnell Martin smartly doesn't dwell on it to much, Martin knows where the bread of Cadillac Records is buttered, it's all about the tunes. Geoffrey Wright, Beyonce and Mos Def sing these indelible classics themselves and the performances capture the passion of live performance like few music movies have.

This is powerful stuff and though many will be distracted by Beyonce's celebrity, all reservations about her taking on the role of Etta James will be alleviated when her performance of "I'd Rather Go Blind" is belted out through tears and deep, deep subtext.

Mos Def gives the film a jolt of joy as the ebulliant Chuck Berry. The irreverent, duck walking Berry is the perfect role for Mos Def an actor who does childlike joy and mischief like few other actors working today. Even portraying the darkest moments of Berry's life, Mos Def captures the roll with the punches style that has sustained Berry to this day.

Cadillac Records is not the tribute that people like Muddy Water, Etta James or Leonard Chess deserves, not to mention Chess' brother who was shamefully left out of the movie over life rights issues, he's still alive, but it is a solid reminder of these legends collective greatness and it gives us a chance to hear these songs again.

That alone is worth the price of admission.

Movie Review: Doubt

Doubt (2008) 

Directed by John Patrick Shanley 

Written by John Patrick Shanley 

Starring Meryl Streep,, Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Amy Adams

Release Date December 12h, 2008

Published January 5th, 2008 

I did not attend Catholic School but some of my favorite people have and the experience shaped their lives. The most famous example is George Carlin whose catholic school experience fostered the rebellious spirit that would lead comic explications of the churches and indeed religions many failings.

Doubt, the film version of John Patrick Shanley's stage play, displays catholic school as it was just after Carlin left. Set in 1963 we witness the clash of 50's parochialism and the mind expanding 60's and the result is surprisingly fair to both sides. If you believe completely in the discipline of the 50's or subscribe entirely to the freedom of the 60's you will leave this movie with doubts.

Meryl Streep stars in Doubt as Sister Aloysius the principle of a New York catholic school in flux. The school has its first african american student, Donald Miller (Joseph Foster), and the parish home of the school has a priest. He is father Flynn (Philip Seymour Hoffman) and his approach to catholicism and to the school is open minded and compassionate.

The approach rankles Sister Aloysisus who believes in fear as the best teacher and motivator. The interesting thing is that both approaches really have merits. In fact both are demonstrated by Sister James (Amy Adams). Caught in the middle of the changing times, Sister James is an example of the balance that could be struck if both sides weren't so intransigent.

The plot of Doubt centers on Father Flynn's relationship with Donald Miller. He immediately takes the boy under his wing. Donald is an alter boy and I know your mind has already jumped to a particular conclusion. Sister James and Sister Aloysius jump to the same conclusion only Sister Aloysius is certain of her suspicions, Sister James is conflicted.

When Father Flynn is confronted about these suspicions the scenes are explosive and Doubt becomes a fiery, passionate battle of wills. Streep and Hoffman are perfectly cast as two willful personalities incapable of conceding. In Father Flynn's case conceding is inconceivable not just because he is willful but because of what conceding means.

For Sister Aloysius self doubt is a sin. Her life is lived in service of a belief. When she comes to believe her suspicions about Father Flynn she cannot allow herself to be proven wrong. To be wrong would be as if to prove God himself were wrong.

Streep is cast as the villanous in much of the press about Doubt. In reality her Sister Aloysius is just a fervent defender of what she believes and if you concede that she has something to be worried about in Father Flynn's relationship with her students then you must sympathize with her even if her severity is off putting.

Shanley doesn't aim to make Doubt a mystery. There are no gotcha moments. You will likely leave the theater debating Father Flynn's guilt as much as you talk about whether you liked the movie. I will keep my thoughts to myself on the matter. If you want to talk about it off the blog where spoilers can be shared, please email.

Doubt is one of the best movies of 2008. A powerful, thought provoking and moving drama that has numerous levels to its drama and passion. Meryl Streep will win and deserve to win Best Actress for her role. The greatest actress of her time has once again shown why she is worth such hyperbolic praise.

Movie Review: The Tale of Despereaux

The Tale of Despereaux (2009) 

Directed by Sam Fell, Rob Stevenhagen

Written by Gary Ross

Starring Matthew Broderick, Emma Watson, Dustin Hoffman, Robbie Coltrane

Release Date December 19th, 2008

Published December 22nd, 2008

The Tale of Despereuax is a Newberry award winning children's book now transported to the big screen. You know how they say the book is always better than the movie? I've never read The Tale of Despereaux but I am willing to bet it's better than the snoozefest movie version.

Matthew Broderick gives voice to Despereaux a mouse who is very different than the rest. Mice are supposed to cower in fear and run from... everything. Not Despereaux. His days are spent reading books about knights and bravery and being a gentleman and saving princesses and this has given him the courage to be more than just another mouse.

Searching the castle where his family and friends live under the stairs, Despereaux meets Princess Pea (Emma Watson). The sad young princess takes a shine to the brave little mouse who makes it his quest to turn things around in the sad kingdom.

A dark cloud has hung over the country since the Queen died. She died during the annual soup festival when a rat dropped into her soup and scared her to death. That rat was Roscuro (Dustin Hoffman) who now lives in the sub basement with a group of disgusting scavenging rats lead by  Botticelli (Ciaran Hinds). Roscuro lives everyday hoping he could someday apologize to the princess.

If that sounds like a pretty big downer well, it plays like one. Despereaux the character is fun but the sadness around him and the gloom topped off with some serious weirdness; that includes a character made entirely of vegetables, makes The Tale of Despereaux depressing and off putting.

This is one exceptional voice cast from Broderick to Hoffman to Sigourney Weaver as the soft toned narrator. But the best voicework in the world cannot rescue a story that is as unpleasant as the vermin who make up the cartoon cast.

Movie Review: Yes Man

Yes Man (2008) 

Directed by Peyton Reed 

Written by Nicholas Stoller, Jarrad Paul, Andrew Mogel 

Starring Jim Carrey, Zooey Deschanel, Bradley Cooper, John Michael Higgins

Release Date December 19th, 2008 

Published December 18th, 2008 

In Liar Liar Jim Carrey played a lawyer who could not tell a lie. This, naturally, lead to a number of awkward situations that allowed Carrey to whip himself into a comic frenzy. Now in his latest feature Jim Carrey plays a loan officer who must say yes to everything. If you think this premise allows Carrey to once again whip himself into a wild comic frenzy, you may as well skip the rest of this review. I'm kidding, please keep reading.

Carl has been a sadsack since his wife left him 3 years ago. He rarely leaves his apartment and when he does it is just to rent videos. His best friend Peter (Bradley Cooper) is getting married and expects him to be there for him but even his best pal can't drag him out his funk.

It is not until he attends a self help seminar, at the urging of a strange former acquaintance, Nick (John Michael Higgins), that Carl finally comes out of his shell. The seminar is hosted by Terrence Bundley (Terrence Stamp) whose schtick is getting people to say yes to every opportunity.

With some further prodding from Nick, Carl says yes to giving a homeless man a ride miles out the way. The homeless guy uses up Carl's cell battery and the drive runs him out of gas. However, while filling a gas can Carl meets Allison (Zooey Deschanel). They have instant chemistry and Carl finds the yes to everything strategy could have some real perks.

From there we get a series of scenes that allow Jim Carrey to act more and more goofy and have more and more good things happen to him. That is until, the predictable scene where saying yes finally gets Carl in trouble. A valuable lesson in moderation will be learned while Carrey all the while flips and flops about in search of laughs.

To be fair, Carrey finds plenty of laughs in Yes Man. The guy is a natural comic talent who can't help but stumble into laughs and Yes Man is a movie designed specifically to play into Carrey's strengths. Each scene gives Carrey reason to launch into some kind of comic riff. Some of them are laugh out loud, some, like a Harry Potter themed costume party, lay there in search of a punchline.

The structure of Yes Man may play to Carrey's strengths but the choppy, predictable narrative is in the end terribly unsatisfying. A series of set ups and punchlines fail to serve as a character arc or really a story. There is romantic chemistry between Carrey and Zooey Deschanel but that too is undercut by the lack of a compelling narrative.

Funny in bursts but short one compelling story, Yes Man is a movie for hardcore Carrey fans and no one else.

Movie Review: Did You Hear About the Morgan's?

Did You Hear About The Morgans? (2009) 

Directed by Marc Lawrence 

Written by Marc Lawrence

Starring Hugh Grant, Sarah Jessica Parker, Sam Elliott, Mary Steenburgen, Elisabeth Moss

Release Date December 18th, 2009

Published December 18th, 2009

Hugh Grant's usual charm combines with Sarah Jessica Parker doing a variation on her Sex and the City persona to craft an overly familiar romantic comedy in the uninspired “Did You Hear About the Morgans?” Directed by Marc Lawrence, this witless fish out of water story invites more scorn than it deserves as it limps to its conclusion.

The Morgans, Meryl (Parker) and Paul (Hugh Grant), split up several months ago. Paul cheated while on a business trip and Meryl rightly gave him the boot. Paul, despite his one time indiscretion, wants desperately to get his wife back or, at the very least, have dinner with her. When Meryl finally relents the two have an exceptionally awkward dinner followed by a walk in the rain that seems only to divide them further.

Unfortunately for both Morgans the walk ends with them witnessing a murder and, having got an up close look at the killer, they are now prime witnesses in a major murder case. How major? The feds want the Morgans in witness relocation. Over their repeated objections the Morgans are soon on a plane for Ray Wyoming a town that would comprise about two blocks of New York City.

The Morgans are welcomed by their new protectors, the town Sheriff Clay (Sam Elliott) and his deputy and wife Emma (Mary Steenburgen). Let the fish out of water fun commence! If by fun you mean listening to Meryl complain about everything that is not New York and watching Paul attempt to charm a grizzly bear into not eating him.

”Did You Hear About the Morgans?” was a bad movie from the moment that writer-director Marc Lawrence chose the hoary conceit that is witness protection. The ‘been there-done that’ factor of witness protection comedies is off the chart. Only the least inventive of filmmakers would attempt to plumb these depths. Then again, Marc Lawrence did write the script for both Miss Congeniality movies.

I could sit here and take potshots at “Did You Hear About the Morgans?” all day, that would be easy. The fact is, however, that even with the ancient plot device the film is somewhat pleasant in tone and Hugh Grant can still bring it even in the weakest, most familiar of roles. Yes, he could play Paul in his sleep and launch the same self-deprecating jibes but you will laugh at them.

You won't laugh loud, long or all that much but you will laugh and smile a few times during “Did You Hear About the Morgans?” Grant is a star whose ability to poke fun at himself seems an endless well of material. That said, the whole of “Did You Hear About the Morgans?” remains stale, predictable and not worth the price of a theater ticket.

Movie Review: Alvin and The Chipmunks Squeakquel

Alvin and The Chipmunks Squeakquel (2009) 

Directed by Betty Thomas 

Written by Jon Vitti, Jonathan Aibel, Glenn Berger 

Starring David Cross, Jason Lee, Justin Long, Zachary Levi

Release Date December 23rd, 2009

Published December 22nd, 2009

2007's Alvin and the Chipmunks was an ugly exercise in low humor that had no business appealing to our children but succeeded thanks to the laziness of American parents, those unyielding masses who refuse to check what they expose their children to. That inability to nip the Chipmunks in the bud after one movie has lead to a second film, not so cleverly dubbed 'The Squeakquel.'

So, now the Chipmunks are back and somehow I am not clawing my eyes out. Don't misunderstand, I still am not willing to recommend the experience of these CGI rodents latest adventure but under the middling talents of director Betty Thomas The Squeakquel is far superior to the execrable original.

As we rejoin the Chipmunks they are still huge international stars performing sold out shows in front of screaming teenagers. Naturally, Alvin (voice of Justin Long) remains his mischievous self, vamping for the crowd and generally calling attention to himself ahead of all else. Alvin's antics at a benefit concert in Paris get really out of control and lead to his adoptive dad Dave (poor, poor Jason Lee) nearly being crippled by an Alvin sign. 

With Dave laid up in Paris for a while the boys are sent home to the care of their Aunt Jackie (Kathryn Joosten) until she too is laid up by accident, this one involving her layabout nephew Toby (Zachary Levi). This leaves Toby to care for Alvin, Simon (voice of Matthew Gray Gubler) and Theodore (Jesse McCartney) as they go off to school for the first time.

Yes, the Chipmunks are going to High School where they will encounter bullies, sports and most importantly girls and not just any girls, oh no dear reader, the Chipettes. Brittany (Christina Applegate), Jeanette (Anna Faris) and Eleanor (Amy Poehler) are talking female Chipmunks who also happen to be talented singers. Unfortunately, the girls are under the control of the nefarious record exec Ian (David Cross) who plots to use the girls to gain revenge on the Chipmunks (Ian was the villain of the first film, for those who were not aware).

All things come to a head, naturally, at a singing competition and charity performance that pits the Chipmunks vs. the Chipettes. Meanwhile, Alvin's ego after joining a popular click puts the boys performance in jeopardy. Can the Chipmunks overcome the odds to win the contest? Will Alvin learn a valuable lesson about family, loyalty and respect? Do you really give a damn?

There is only one question an adult should be asking themselves about a movie like Alvin and the Chipmunks and that is : Will it somehow corrupt my children? The simple answer is no, it will not. Though I find the film to be another dreary example of the decline of children's entertainment, Alvin is mostly inoffensive.

The very typical, simpleminded value reinforcement that is Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel is just the kind of mild, forgettable distraction that works to anesthetize children for 80 minutes without turning them into murderers or thieves, a condition I honestly do believe involves exposure to lesser forms of entertainment like the previous Alvin and the Chipmunks movie.

Director Betty Thomas has never been a great director but she is a professional and far more caring than the director of the first film who shall remain unnamed by me (It's not really a protest, I just don't feel any inclination to actually seek the name of the director of Alvin and the Chipmunks, really if you care to know, why are you reading this.) Thomas, at the very least makes this Alvin and the Chipmunks one that doesn't make me want to vomit, that's something.

Ms. Thomas even made this film a charitable event. Making cameos in Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel are a version of the wonderful Save the Music Foundation, a group dedicated to keeping the arts in school, and Toys for Tots, a tremendous organization that gives free toys to poor children.

Exposing these two groups in a major studio blockbuster damn near makes the mess of Alvin and the Chipmunks worth it. I still cannot recommend the film, especially while it competes with far superior family entertainment like Princess and the Frog and The Blind Side. However, for those so inclined to see Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel you won't be offended and your kids will likely have forgotten about it by next week. That's really the best anyone can ask of this budding franchise.

Movie Review It's Complicated

It's Complicated (2009) 

Directed by Nancy Meyers 

Written by Nancy Meyers 

Starring Meryl Streep, Alec Baldwin, Steve Martin, John Krasinski 

Release Date December 25th, 2009

Published December 25th, 2009

Director Nancy Meyers has cornered the market in romantic comedies exploring the love lives of older women and the flawed men who love them. She created the template with her “Something’s Gotta Give.” Now with “It’s Complicated” starring the radiant Meryl Streep, Meyers has perfected her easy going formula romance.

Streep stars as Jane, a 50-something divorcee preparing for her last child to leave the nest. Meanwhile, she is still dealing with her divorce some ten years later. Her ex-husband Jerry (Alec Baldwin) left her for a much younger woman (Lake Bell in a thankless, under-written villain role) but remains a part of her life.

On a trip to New York for the graduation of her son, Jane finds herself alone in a bar with Jerry when some of the old sparks flare up. The two end up in bed together and at the beginning of, no kidding, an affair. Jane is cheered on in the affair by her circle of girlfriends, including Rita Wilson, Mary Kay Place and Alexandra Wentworth, who love the idea of her getting a little revenge on the younger woman.

As the affair heats up Jane finds another opportunity for romance in Allan (Steve Martin). He is her architect, planning a new kitchen for her already fabulous home. The way he seems to know everything she wants sparks first a friendship and then a romance that is threatened by her dalliance with Jerry and Jerry’s growing new love for his old flame.

The title offers the idea that these two romances will offer something ‘complicated’ but there is nothing much complicated at all in Nancy Meyers’ very simple, straight-forward narrative that sets characters on very particular paths and leads them to easy conclusions and warm, easygoing laughs.

“It’s Complicated” is formula romance in the best possible fashion. It does not reinvent the genre but it does deliver the formula in such a charming fashion that you eagerly forgive the familiarity. The goodwill stems from a cast filled with charmers and led by the legendary Meryl Streep.

It is one of the more remarkable stories of the decade; how Meryl Streep has evolved from respected actress to respected box office superstar. At an age where other actresses are searching for work, Streep has become a bigger star than she was when she was repeatedly being nominated for the industry’s highest awards.

“It’s Complicated” will likely join “Mamma Mia” and “The Devil Wears Prada” as massive hits and it is due to Streep’s wonderfully relaxed star power. Her ease with every role allows audiences to settle in with her, their sympathies won over by Streep’s mere presence. While the appeal is fairly limited to women in her age range, it is quite a thing that she has brought so many of them to the box office.

Alec Baldwin and Steve Martin provide ideal foils for Ms. Streep’s radiance. Baldwin hasn’t been this winning on the big screen since his role as a fallen star in David Mamet’s “State and Main.” As for Martin, he continues to cultivate the sensitive good guy persona he copped in the otherwise execrable “Shopgirl.”

“It’s Complicated” is formula romance done right. Played out with style and professionalism by a terrific set of leads, “It’s Complicated” is the perfect balance of romance and comedy for empty nesters searching for a movie just for them.

Movie Review: The Soloist

The Soloist (2009) 

Directed by Joe Wright 

Written by Susannah Grant 

Starring Robert Downey Jr, Jamie Foxx, Catherine Keener, Tom Hollander

Release Date April 24th, 2009 

Published April 23rd, 2009 

The sound of Beethoven played oddly but beautifully on a violin with just two strings echoed through the stone and steel canyons of Los Angeles and altered the life of journalist Steve Lopez forever. That is the very simply, very basic premise of The Soloist which accumulates the sum of Lopez's real life experiences on the big screen.

In The Soloist Robert Downey Jr plays Steve Lopez as a wounded soul. Literally wounded, when we meet him his is soon flat on his back with an ugly road rash following a bike accident. Subsequently, writing a column about his accident earns Steve the requisite sympathy of his readers and a day of peace from his editor/ex-wife playewd Catherine Keener.

The sympathy lasts about a day before he needs a new story to keep the wolves at bay, The Soloist is set in 2005 but reflects the modern newspaper business. Lopez finds his next big story in Nathaniel Anthony Ayers Jr (Jamie Foxx) a street musician battling schizophrenia. Encountering Nathaniel playing a two string violin and hearing him mention something about Julliard, Lopez's reporter instints are awakened.

Indeed, Nathaniel did attend Julliard in 1970 but dropped out when mental illness began to take hold. The story Lopez writes inspires people wanting to help Nathaniel. One older woman sends along her old Cello for Lopez to give to Nathaniel. This keeps Steve returning to Nathaniel's life and slowly finding himself compelled to take responsibility for him even as he himself is not one who has been successful with relationships of any kind.

Directed by Joe Wright, Oscar nominated for Atonement, The Soloist tends to underline points a little too much. With Steve's bike accident one can infer the hand of the director placing Steve's scarred emotional state on Steve's face to make sure we get a visual of how Steve feels inside, scarred.

Much of Jamie Foxx's Nathaniel act is pitched to the classic magic negro stereotype. That is the type where a salt of the earth black man helps a well off white man learn a valuable lesson. That may be a little simple and slightly unfair given the non-fiction nature of The Soloist but it is no less there.

Jamie Foxx does his best to fight off the typicalities of the stereotype role and I did love his commitment to showing Nathaniel's tortured psyche and how music briefly chased away the voices but, as I said, Director Joe Wright cannot resist underlining even the most well communicated point or unceasing cliche and Foxx is undercut by that approach.

The Soloist is for the most part about Robert Downey Jr. and his continuing to grow as a star. Downey has always been talented but as he showed in Iron Man, Downey has that kind of 'what will he do next' charisma that makes you want to follow his next move.

The Steve Lopez played by Downey doesn't need road rash to communicate his wounded soul. Downey conveys psychic wound with effortless ease. Watch Downey resist Foxx's Nathaniel. Watch him sense a good story but have to force himself to remain only an observer and how that approach has hampered each and every relationship in his life.

So much of what Downey does is not in the screenplay but rather in his manner, in his eyes. One is left to wonder if Joe Wright saw what I saw or not. Judging from the way Wright underlines even the quiet, subtle moments of Downey's performance, I guess not.

The Soloist is in many ways exceptional, especially in the performance of Robert Downey Jr, but the proceedings are too often bogged down by Joe Wright's need to make sure the audience gets it. It in this case is how uplifting the idea of Steve Lopez helping Nathaniel Ayers is and how brave Nathaniel is in attempting to make a life for himself through music and despite his illness. We get it Joe. We get it.

See it for Downey Jr, if you're a fan.

Movie Review: Fighting

Fighting (2009) 

Directed by Dito Montiel 

Written by Robert Munic, Dito Montiel 

Starring Channing Tatum, Terrence Howard, Luis Guzman, Brian White 

Release Date April 24th, 2009

Published April 24th, 2009 

Fighting is one of the stranger moviegoing experiences of my short career as a critic. I was really, really impressed with the work of director Dito Montiel in creating characters and a universe for them to exist in that felt immediate and real. I was impressed with star Channing Tatum's natural charisma masked within the role of a kid whose a little slow witted but has a big heart. Tatum alongside Oscar winner Terrence Howard deliver performances pitched well above the B-movie grit of the story.

Then an odd thing happens. The end of Fighting arrives and you realize that the story and many of the character motivations made absolutely no sense and moreover, no one seems to have cared to script the ending in any kind of believable fashion. So irritated was I by this complete disregard for storytelling that I cannot even recommend the movie despite being so impressed with so much of what I saw.

In Fighting Channing Tatum plays Shawn McArthur a homeless kid who sells used Ipods and fake Harry Potter books on street corners. One day as he is selling his wares a group of teens attempt to rob him and Shawn defends himself with serious brute force. His fighting style catches the eye of the man who sent the teens to rob him.

His name is Harvey (Terrence Howard) and he happens to work somehow within the shady world of underground fighting and gambling. He finds fighters to bet on or against, depending on whether they are willing to throw fights or are good enough to win fights. Shawn is good enough to win repeatedly though throwing a fight has more of a guarantee of getting paid.

The world of Fighting really comes together in these strange underground worlds where Shawn is brought to fight. They could be the setting for a very cool videogame but they are dressed up well enough that we are convinced of their otherworldly reality and as Shawn fights we are absorbed into the crowds and the bloodlust and we come to cheer for Shawn.

That the fighting scenes are the best in a movie called Fighting is rather the way it should be. That the performances in and around the fights are so intriguing and compelling is a pleasant surprise. Director Dito Montiel infuses life and energy throughout all of Fighting and not just the fight scenes.

So, why do we get to the end and feel so astonishingly short changed? It's truly bizarre. It's as if the production stopped paying screenwriter Robert Munic 2/3's the way through filming and were forced to just make up the rest as they went along. That is literally how slipshod the final scenes of Fighting play. The compromised storytelling is so bad I can't recommend this otherwise exceptionally well made B-movie.

What a shame.

Movie Review: Crank 2 High Voltage

Crank 2 High Voltage (2009) 

Directed Neveldine and Taylor 

Written by Neveldine and Taylor

Starring Jason Statham, Amy Smart, Bai Ling, Dwight Yoakam

Release Date April 17th, 2009 

Published April 19th, 2009 

Warning: This review gives away the final image of the new movie Crank 2: High Voltage. If for some misguided reason you want to see this excremental awfulness in theaters, unspoiled, you may want to wait to read this review. I don't recommend you see this movie at all so keep reading.

The final image of the new action disaster Crank 2: High Voltage is star Jason Statham on fire flipping the middle finger to the audience. Standing with the skin burning and peeling away from his bullet like skull, Statham's Chev Chelios finds the strength to extend his middle finger and smile in one last salute to an audience that has already wasted more than 80 minutes of their precious lives and 8 to 12 of their precious dollars.

For co-directors Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor this is what passes for clever and or subversive. Just don't confuse it for entertaining boys. Then again, I am sure that was never your intention. The fact is Neveldine and Taylor, juvenile pranksters that they are, approach Crank 2 not unlike Tom Green approached Freddy Got Fingered, not as a privelege to be able to make a movie but as a licence to see how far the moneyed class will let them go in spreading filth all over film screens.

In that instance Neveldine and Taylor are heedless. They dive headlong into the idea of being allowed to do whatever they want onscreen. From disturbing violence, a man cuts off his own nipples, to outright pornography, Statham's Chev Chelios has sex with his girlfriend played by Amy Smart in graphic fashion on a horse racing track, in front of a cheering crowd. Amy Smart, I'm sure your parents are very proud of you today.

The naughty bits are pixellated during the sex scenes, the one likely nod to studio oversight. But the nipple thing, that was OK. Now, as I write this I can imagine Neveldine and Taylor giggling like school children. Why? Because this kind of puritanical reaction is just what they were hoping for. However, when even someone as liberal as myself is offended by a movie it says something.

So what is the value of making a movie with the intent to offend? Provocative for the sake of provocative is something akin to making a movie inside a vacuum. Like filming an inside joke. I am certain that Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor are somewhere laughing. The rest of us I gather got what we were intended to get from Crank 2 in that final image.

Movie Review: 17 Again

17 Again (2009) 

Directed by Burr Steers 

Written by Jason Filardi 

Starring Zac Efron, Matthew Perry, Leslie Mann, Thomas Lennon, Michelle Trachtenberg 

Release Date April 17th, 2009 

Published April 18th, 2009 

Zac Efron is a star. Granted, his fanbase hasn't passed the 6th grade yet but still. The kid has got It, that indefinable quality. That thing that draws people to you and makes them want to follow you wherever you go. Zac Efron has that talent and when he masters it he will be a huge star, 6th Grade and up.

17 Again stars Zac Efron as Mike who in High School was captain of the basketball team on the fast track to a scholarship, college and who knows from there. Then, his girlfriend Scarlett, played as a teen by Allison Miller, tells him she's pregnant. Mid-game Mike throws it all away and leaves to be with Scarlett.

20 years later and 2 kids later Mike, now played by Matthew Perry, is miserable. He regrets walking out of that game and not getting his scholarship. Having immediately taken a miserable job right out of high school, he finds himself a sales driod at a pharmaceutical company where he is passed over for promotions by people just out of college.

His misery has cost him his marriage and kids. Scarlett (Leslie Mann) resents being treated as the reason Mike is a failure. Thus, she has started divorce proceedings. His kids, 17 year old Maggie (Michelle Trachtenberg) and 16 year old Alex (Sterling Knight) are basically strangers. She's dating the high school bully while Alex is getting beat up by said bully.

Tossed out of the house, Mike is staying with his best pal from high school Ned (Thomas Lennon), a nerd turned multi-millionaire nerd. Ned sleeps in a replica Speeder from Stars Wars, what does that tell you. He too is somewhat irritated by Mike's sadsack qualities but is thankfully more tolerant than most.

One day when Mike goes to his old High School to see his kids he meets a kindly janitor (Brian Doyle Murray) and confesses he would give anything to do it all over again. Later, seeing the janitor on the ledge of a bridge in a heavy rainstorm, Mike races to stop the old man only to fall in the river himself. The next morning he finds he is 17 Again only he didn't go back in time.

Now, he has the chance to be the Big Man on Campus again while really getting to know his two kids and see what modern high school is like. Oh, and then there is Scarlett and some very awkward moments where the word cougar and and the vulgar term Milf are uttered. Ugh.

Ok, so the movie 17 Again is not a very original or smart movie. You can get that quite easy from my description. And yet, I still recommend it. Yes, I recommend 17 Again. I do it because Zac Efron is a star. The kid comes into his own in this movie. He has presence, charisma and a terrific talent for self deprecating humor.

The self deprecation can be deceiving among the very good looking. For some it can seem condescending. For Efron it's an effortless goofball quality that plays very genuine. Indeed there is an earnestly unaffected quality to Efron in this film that is missing from the skill-less High School Musical films.

Those movies were directed with a minimum of talent for storytelling and character development. Director Burr Steers on the other hand has little to rely on other than storytelling and character development and thus coaxes from Efron a performance that carries 17 Again over even the largest of pitfall cliches.

Do not be mistaken, 17 Again is far from great. It's far too pat and predictable to break out of its genre constrictions. It comes down to Efron entirely to make this work and that he pulls it off is a true test of his talent and star power. He may have become well known thanks to High School Musical but Zac Efron becomes a star in 17 Again.

Movie Review Sugar

Sugar (2009) 

Directed by Anna Boden, Ryan Fleck 

Written by Anna Boden, Ryan Fleck 

Starring Algenis Perez Soto, Michael Gaston

Release Date April 3rd, 2009 

Published April 10th, 2009 

Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck make an exceptional team. Their work on the indie flick Half Nelson earned Ryan Gosling an Oscar nomination not long ago. Now, they are back behind the camera for Sugar, a movie that is ostensibly about baseball but is far more thoughtful and observant than any sports movie you've likely ever seen.

Algenis Perez Soto stars in Sugar as Miguel 'Sugar' Santos, a 20 year old working his way through a Dominican Republic Baseball Factory. Many real life major league ball clubs have this kind of factory where Dominican boys as young as 14 begin training with hopes of some day getting the call to go to America.

Sugar is one of those young men who gets the call and finds himself first in Arizona and eventually in Bridgetown Iowa where stays on a vast farm, owned by a kindly couple who have made a habit of hosting foreign up and comers for the local minor league club, the Bridgetown Swing.

Though it centers on a ballplayer, Sugar is not necessarily a sports movie. It carries none of the cliche scenes of success and failure on the field. Each and every scene, baseball or not, are about revealing more about this character and his immersion into a world he never imagined.

Upping the ante on the drama is the fact that the star of Sugar is a first time, novice actor who just two years ago was an immigrant ballplayer hoping to work for the majors. Algenis Perez Soto is a bright eyed kid whose experience in real life minor league ball and Dominican factory prep ball no doubt prepared him to tell this story.

Having that experience and being able to communicate it on screen are two very different things. Just because he lived it doesn't mean he can compel us with it. That's where acting comes in and Soto proves himself a natural at that as well. In the biggest and most pleasant surprise of all, Algenis Perez Soto shows himself as a charismatic presence who compels us with ease. Our sympathies are with him from the opening scenes in the Dominican Republic to the open ended conclusion that doesn't so much resolve Sugar's story as give us a sense of a life in progress.

Observant, moving, empathetic and true, Sugar is a powerful piece of character based storytelling and an absolute must see picture.

Movie Review: Duplicity

Duplicity (2009) 

Directed by Tony Gilroy 

Written by Tony Gilroy 

Starring Julia Roberts, Clive Owen, Tom Wilkinson, Paul Giamatti

Release Date March 20th, 2009

Published March 20th, 2009

Say what you will about the choices Julia Roberts has made over the years, she is a welcoming screen presence. She has the radiance of a 30's and 40's heroine combined with a very modern sexuality and sensuality. Call her America's Sweetheart if you like and attach whatever wholesome qualities you want to that title, the fact is, no one really likes to ponder what draws a man to 'America's Sweetheart'. Here's a hint, it's the same thing that draws us to the girl next door.

Duplicity is the rare Roberts vehicle to acknowledge, if not fully, take advantage of exactly the qualities I am trying to be vague about. The spy thriller/romantic comedy places Roberts at odds and in bed with the always smoldering Clive Owen and the chemistry is alchemic.

Roberts is Claire, maybe her real name, maybe not. When we meet her she is being scoped by Owen's Ray. They hit it off quickly and soon she is showered and heading for the door with something belonging to him and he is unconscious on the bed. Cut to a few years later, Ray, now fully awake, is in Rome and runs across Claire. He, and now we, know she is CIA. He is MI6, British intelligence. He's a bit ticked off about the obfuscation and the robbery but mostly he just wants to see her naked again.

The two spend three days in a Rome hotel making love and a plot is launched. The two spies will get out of the covert ops biz and go private, corporate snoops. Find an industry, discover the deepest secrets and sell the results to the highest bidder. They finally settle on two companies with somewhat complicated ideas about what they are. All we know about Equikrom and Burkett & Randle is that the CEO's, played brilliantly by Paul Giamatti and Tom Wilkinson, loathe one another. They loathe one another to the point that each keeps a corporate spy team on the payroll to steal the other's R & D secrets. This is Claire and Ray's way in.

Duplicity however, is not really about the corporate types but rather about the unique and duplicitous relations between to well trained spies. Roberts and Owen are given by writer-director Tony Gilroy the opportunity to play a pair of screwball romantics who happen to be spies. There craft is deception and trying to figure when the one they love is deceiving them, for business or pleasure, is what they truly delight in.

Gilroy loves, LOVES writing witty repartee for these two characters. He loves it so much that by the end of the movie he seems to have run out and just stops. After exhausting his way through a timeshifting malaise of plotting, Gilroy comes to a certain point and simply ends the movie. It is as unsatisfying as it sounds. One character wins, the others lose and that's all folks.

What remains is a series of sexy, funny, playful scenes between Roberts and Owen that are nearly enough to make this whole mess work. Roberts matches Owen's constant smolder with the effect of tossing a gas can into a fire. These two actors truly enjoy each other's company and we enjoy them together. If only they weren't trapped in a time shifting maze of plot complications that we just don't care about.

Of course, a filmmaker likely couldn't make an entire movie about Julia Roberts and Clive Owen in bed together, but the idea is ten times moe entertaining as any two scenes in Duplicity. Roberts has always been sexy but we tried to forget that for some reason. She was caught with the label America's Sweetheart which had the effect of neutering her and rendering her more an icon of virtue than as a woman. Tony Gilroy and by extension Clive Owen certainly know Roberts is a woman and each is very interested in further examining her feminine qualities. Unfortunately, there is that whole spy thing that keeps getting in the way.

Movie Review I Love You Man

I Love You, Man (2009) 

Directed by John Hamburg 

Written by John Hamburg 

Starring Jason Segal, Paul Rudd, Rashida Jones, Andy Samberg, Sarah Burns

Release Date March 20th, 2009

Published March 20th, 2009

Have you ever seen two straight guys try to hug each other? It's more awkward than bad racial humor. There's that whole bend at the waste, the handshake pulling each other in and the light fist pound on the back and then the quick snap back as if holding this position too long would automatically turn the man gay. The new comedy I Love You Man captures the exquisite awkwardness of modern male bonding in ways even the man-hug cannot.

Paul Rudd stars in I Love You Man as Peter Klaven, a desperately normal, boringly nice guy who is about to get married. We join the story on the night Peter asks his girlfriend Zooey to marry and she says yes. As she is calling every human being she has ever met, Peter has no one to call.

As a painfully funny uncomfortable dinner the following night with Peter's parents (Jane Curtin and J.K Simmons) and Peter's brother Robby (Andy Samberg) makes clear, Peter has never really had any close male friends. He has never had a problem bonding with women but never guys.

In need of a best man, and in need of showing Zooey he has a life of his own, Peter sets out to meet a new best friend. Help from his mom and brother lead to a few more horribly awkward moments, including a dinner with a guy named Doug (Thomas Lennon) that goes horribly wrong -Peter ends up with Doug's tongue in his mouth- Peter finally meets a dude he can be slightly comfortable with.

Find my full length review at Geeks.Media

Movie Review Sunshine Cleaning

Sunshine Cleaning (2009) 

Directed by Christine Jeffs

Written by Megan Holley 

Starring Amy Adams, Emily Blunt, Jason Spevack, Mary Lynn Rajskub, Clifton Collins Jr, Eric Christian Olson, Alan Arkin

Release Date March 13th, 2009 

Published March 13th, 2009 

The opening scene of the dramatic comedy Sunshine Cleaning involves a man walking into a gun store, picking up a shotgun, placing a shell inside that he had brought with him and in the end this man shooting himself. The scene is contentiously at odds with the rest of the movie which attempts to make the cleaning up after such an incident a quirky romp. It's not.

Oscar nominee Amy Adams stars in Sunshine Cleaning as Rose Lorkowski, the head cheerleader turned maid for hire. Life hasn't worked out as Rose planned. She had planned on being with her high school sweetheart Mac (Steve Zahn), especially after he went and knocked her up. The two are still sleeping together but Mac is married to someone else.

Now, Rose works wherever she can to make money to raise her slightly odd son Oscar (Jason Spevack). Then there is Rose's sister, Norah (Emily Blunt) who's like having a second child. Norah cannot hold a job, cannot stand authority and is generally a drag on her big sister.

Then, an opportunity arises. Mac informs Rose that the guys who clean up after crimes make  really good money, more than enough for Rose to put Oscar in a private school. Rose enlists Norah's help and, after some brief whining by little sis, Sunshine Cleaning is born.

Director Christine Jeffs elicits strong performances from Adams and Blunt while getting solid supporting turns from Zahn and Oscar Winner Alan Arkin. The characters played by each are believable in the context of the film and each has that just slightly off center quality that fascinates an audience.

Unfortunately, the actors are often overshadowed by the film's wildly gyrating tone which bounces from an almost slapstick approach to Rose and Norah's early business going to deathly serious as Rose and Norah's past with their mother is revealed. Norah's ark becomes bizarre and awkward when she becomes determined to inform the daughter of a dead woman (Mary Lynn Rajskub) of her mom's death and finds the woman taking an interest in her.

Meanwhile Rose develops a platonic friendship with a cleaning supply store owner played by Clifton Collins Jr. The relationship doesn't really develop beyond her using him for his knowledge and eventually as a babysitter. These subplots fail to reveal much about either sister aside from their own helpless self involvement.

There are good things about Sunshine Cleaning from the cast to the few laughs elicited to the demonstration of a career that holds a morbid fascination for more than a few people. Sadly, the film never finds the right tone to unite the characters, the humor and the morbidity and thus Sunshine Cleaning feels unsatisfying in the end.