Movie Review The Kids Are Alright

The Kids Are Alright (2010) 

Directed by Lisa Cholodenko 

Written by Lisa Cholodenko, Stuart Bloomberg 

Starring Mia Wasikowska, Annette Bening, Julianne Moore, Mark Ruffalo, Josh Hutcherson

Release Date July 9th, 2010 

Published August 1st, 2010 

An unconventional family in an unconventional movie; “The Kids Are All Right” tells the story of a lesbian couple named Jules (Julianne Moore) and Nic (Annette Bening) and their teenage son and daughter, Laser (Josh Hutcherson) and Joni (Mia Wasikowska). The picture of modern domestic bliss in their comfortable upper middle class niche; this family is in just the right moment to be upended.

Upended they are when the kids seek out the man who donated the sperm that impregnated their moms. The donor daddy was Paul (Mark Ruffalo) a bachelor restaurateur living the California ideal of wine, women and organic coop farming. He's shocked to hear from Joni and Laser but willing to meet and after meeting them he becomes a part of their lives. Naturally, though they put on a brave face, Jules and Nic are a little hurt and a little threatened by Paul. With Joni leaving for college soon they are concerned about losing precious moments with her to Paul. To rectify the situation they attempt to connect with Paul and it goes well for Jules, not so well for Nic.

You may be able to guess what happens next but not the way these characters react to these changing circumstances. Writer-director Lisa Cholodenko has gathered an expert cast into a modern and unique story of love, family, sex, heartache and self discovery. Surrounding these dramatic developments are comic moments that are painfully awkward yet somehow round the corner from embarrassing to shockingly funny.

In a cast filled with standouts Annette Bening is the star. Though some may find her control freak character shrill, Ms. Bening turns this around with one touching and brilliant scene that is arguably the finest bit of acting in any movie this year. An uncomfortable dinner at Paul's house finds Paul and Jules finally sharing a common interest, singer Joni Mitchell, and Ms. Bening heartachingly warbling a piece of her favorite song.

In the film's timeline this scene arrives at a turning point and as the scene plays out we become lost in this moment of pleasure tinged with sadness. It's a moment that sets the pace for everything to come after it and the moment bonds you not just to Ms. Bening's Nic but to the film and the emotional journey of all of these characters.

While Ms. Bening is the star, Mia Wasikowska is the film's MVP quietly holding the emotional center while all around her grow chaotic and emotional. She too will have her moment of emotional breakdown but her center is strong and her recovery quick. Best known for her role as Alice in Tim Burton's unctuous “Alice in Wonderland,” this is the first time Ms. Wasikowska has been allowed to stand apart from the background and she really proves her dramatic chops.

”The Kids Are All Right” is not flawless. The story grows restless and the awkward comedy is, at times, wearying but for the most part this is a wonderfully adult dramatic comedy with a good head and a better heart. Lisa Cholodenko has a strong sense of character and place and with this cast there was simply no going wrong.

Movie Review The Island

The Island (2005) 

Directed by Michael Bay 

Written by Alex Kurtzman, Roberto Orci, Caspian Tredwell-Owen 

Starring Ewan McGregor, Scarlett Johansson, Djimon Hounsou, Sean Bean, Steve Buscemi 

Release Date July 22nd, 2005 

Published July 21st, 2005 

If you cannot appreciate the exquisite irony of director Michael Bay remaking a film, Parts: The Clonus Horror, that was a feature attraction on the cult TV classic "Mystery Science Theater 3000", then clearly we are not on the same page. Here you have the single most hackneyed director of all big budget directors taking on material that is already bad with the chance to actually make it worse. That is just beautiful.

(Note: According to recent litigation, Michael Bay and Dreamworks are fighting a copyright lawsuit from the Director of Parts: The Clonus Horror)

My enjoyment however is short lived. Because, though I still despise the work of Mr. Bay, I cannot hate his new film The Island, a film that inspires admiration for being the rare remake of a bad film into a moderately watchable film. There is something praiseworthy about not remaking a good film and instead making a bad film better. That doesn't mean The Island is a great film but it is at least much better than I had expected.

Ewan McGregor stars in The Island as Lincoln Six Echo, one of only thousands of survivors of some sort of plague that has contaminated the earth. Forced to live in an underground facility, Lincoln and his fellow white-jump suited neighbors have their every whim catered to and every action monitored. After surviving the plague, with the help of Dr. Merrick (Sean Bean), each of the survivors had to relearn how to read, write and do generally anything that may have come easily to them before.

This is not exactly the most exciting way to live. In between being re-educated, Lincoln cannot eat what he wants, a computer monitors his every action, and he cannot interact with the opposite sex for fear of.... well we aren't sure. It is just forbidden by the powers that be that the survivors cannot be involved with one another. This is hard on poor Lincoln whose best friend is the beautiful Jordan Two Delta (Scarlett Johannsson) who seems to share Lincoln's forbidden attraction.

The only real excitement in the facility is a nightly lottery where one person is selected to leave for the final unspoiled place in the world, The Island. It's a dreamlike paradise in place to keep people doing their jobs and not rocking the boat out of fear they will never be allowed into paradise. Lincoln, however, seems unconcerned about the island.  That is not to say he is not interested in the outside world, but he prefers the earthy meanderings of one of the facilities utility workers, McCord (played by Steve Buscemi), the rare person with a good memory of the world before the plague

It is while visiting McCord that Lincoln stumbles upon a frightening secret:  there is no island and his life and the lives of everyone he knows are not at all what they believe. The film's commercials give away what should have been a surprise twist.  There was no plague.  Lincoln, Jordan, and everyone they know, aside from Dr. Merrick and his staff, are clones. Lincoln and everyone he knows have been created as spare parts for rich people just in case they find themselves needing a kidney or liver or other body part. A trip to the Island is really a trip to execution after whatever necessary body parts are harvested.

The Island has a very intriguing sci-fi setup that establishes a classic sci-fi story in just the first third of the film. It's unfortunate that Bay abandons this direction after only 40 minutes or so. From there the film reverts to the classic Michael Bay formula: run, scream, boom! Lincoln is able to rescue Jordan right before she is to be shipped to the island and once they escape it's all explosions and chase scenes as Dr. Merrick hires ex-military mercenaries lead by Djimon Hounsou to track them down and kill them before they can reveal the secrets of the facility.

What I cannot deny is that much of The Island is very entertaining even after its most interesting scenes are long forgotten. Bay's explosions and chases are bigger and louder than ever. Stylistically, Mr. Bay has never evolved from his days directing commercials and music videos, however he has become more professional.  His work is tighter and better executed than it ever has been before. Now if he could only evolve past the need to stuff his film with product placement, maybe more of his films would be as watchable as The Island.

Mr. Bay's work on The Island is greatly aided by a story that is better than any Bay has ever attempted to tell. The sci-fi premise is intriguing and though it is too quickly abandoned, the two stars, Ewan McGregor and Scarlett Johannsson deliver winning performances that carry the audience through Bay's usual special effects bonanzas. There has been a little buzz about the film having a message involving cloning but this is still a Michael Bay movie and messages or morals are really not welcome.

Working with Bay for the first time on The Island is Cinematographer Mauro Fiore and the teaming is a strong one. Deep cold blues and darkness fill the indoor scenes but it is when the characters leave the sci-fi prison that Mr. Fiore really shines.  Mr. Fiore's sun baked visuals mimic the feeling of the protagonists who have never seen the sun before.  At first it is bright, almost blinding, and then slightly burned but focused.  

Fiore was perfectly prepared to work with Bay after working twice with another music video veteran Antoine Fuqua, first on Training Day and then on Tears of the Sun. Both of those films featured a similar slightly washed out or burned look that played well against the stories being told. As strong as Mr. Fiore's work is Bay's visual style still tends toward the facile perfection of music videos, though that likely owes more to his quick-cut editing style and lemming-like loyalty to slow motion under and up camera moves.

The Island is not a great film but by the standards set by Michael Bay's previous films, it is a regular magnum opus.  I still don't hold a great deal of optimism for Bay's future career, so I might be inclined to even say this is his Citizen Kane.  About as close as he'll get at least.  By realistic standards, The Island is an entertaining but flawed sci-fi action piece with two terrific stars who make the film better by the force of their charisma and star power. For Mr. Bay, hopefully it's a sign that his next movie, an adaptation of the kids cartoon "Transformers", might not completely suck.

Movie Review The Invisible

The Invisible (2007) 

Directed by David S Goyer 

Written by Mick Davis, Christine Roum 

Starring Justin Chatwin, Margarita Levieva, Marcia Gay Harden

Release Date April 27th. 2007 

Published April 26th, 2007 

The Invisible is one of the more abused Hollywood releases of the last year. The teen centered, metaphysical thriller was to be released in late 2006. It was then dumped into the mire of early January. Then, with little notice, the movie was bumped to April. How little care was taken with this latest rescheduling? Trailers for The Invisible ran, even a week before the film's April 27th release, touting the film's January release. Ouch!

Released without being shown to critics, another unkind cut, The Invisible is a sad case of a studio that did not know what it had. This is a smart, thoughtful, spiritual thriller with a star making performance from Justin Chatwin and from director David S. Goyer. Star making; had the studio not screwed things up so badly.

Nick Powell (Justin Chatwin) is a privileged teen who has every material comfort he could want. Smart, good looking and popular, Nick is even on his way out of the country having been accepted into a prestigious English writing school. Unfortunately, before he can board the plane for London; Nick is involved in a case of mistaken identity.

A group of thugs led by the troubled and abused Annie (Margerita Levieva); through a misunderstanding, come to believe that Nick has turned them over to the cops after they were busted for a robbery. Seeking him out late at night on a dark empty street they drag him into the woods with the intent of just beating him up. They end up beating him to within an inch of his life and hiding the body.

Nick is not dead but he's also not alive. Emerging from the forest seemingly unscathed; Nick arrives at school and finds that no one can see or hear him; he is Invisible to the living. After some soul searching, Nick realizes that he may still have a chance to live if he can convince Annie to help him find his body and save his life.

Directed by David S. Goyer, the writer behind the Blade movies and Ghost Rider, The Invisible is a surprisingly thoughtful and involving melodrama. Spiritual, though not religious, The Invisible unfolds a metaphysical mystery that explores human nature, compassion and forgiveness in the guise of an average teenage ghost story.

Justin Chatwin, who played Tom Cruise's son in War of the Worlds, looks and carries similar mannerisms to a young Tom Cruise. It is uncanny; the ways this kid evokes Cruise circa Taps, The Outsiders and up to The Color of Money, his pre-scientology phase. The kid is charismatic, handsome, and carries that indescribable star magnetism that should make him a big star.

Chatwin brings a thoughtfulness to Nick that is unexpected from a character in a b-movie teen ghost story. But then, thankfully, nearly everything about The Invisible defies expectations. It's supposed to be another teen horror movie from the marketing. It's supposed to be a B-movie because it has no recognizable stars and it's supposed to stink because the studio didn't show the film to critics ahead of time. The Invisible turns all of these expectations on their ears and comes out a smart, meditative and immersive moviegoing experience.

Based on a novel by Swedish writer Mats Wahl, The Invisible is; not surprisingly, an existentialist meditation on the philosophy of existence. Nick falls into the cracks between life and death and is forced to examine why he wants to live and take action to save his own life. Annie on the other hand is uncertain about her wanting to exist. She has lived in the shadows of life; going unnoticed, in her own way; Invisible, unless she was crossed. She confronts her dark existence in dealing with Nick and finds the meaning of her own life.

Heavy stuff for what was expected to be just another teen movie. That is what is so great about this picture, the way director David S. Goyer and screenwriters Mick Davis and Christine Roum never settled for just a ghost story, just a horror movie or just a mystery. The Invisible has a rich inner life, a subtext that is so often missing from modern, mainstream Hollywood movies.

The Invisible is a thoughtful, entertaining, even exciting movie that defies all expectations. Hollywood Pictures, the Disney subsidiary that released The Invisible, may have had no confidence in the film but no matter. The Invisible thrives despite its studio indifference. The movie thrives on smart storytelling, good action and terrific direction from rising filmmaker David S. Goyer.

Don't judge a book by its cover and don't judge The Invisible by its studio indifference. This is a terrific movie that deserves your attention.

Movie Review The Invasion

The Invasion (2007) 

Directed by Oliver Hirschbiegel 

Written by David Kajganich 

Starring Nicole Kidman, Daniel Craig, Jeremy Northam, Jeffrey Wright

Release Date August 17th, 2007

Published August 16th, 2007 

The latest incarnation of The Invasion of the Body Snatchers, that legendary cold war parable based on the novel by Jack Finney, is one those mythically troubled Hollywood productions. Not quite the historic Hollywood disaster of Bonfire of the Vanities or Ishtar, but with more than a little in common with the recent disastrous Exorcist prequel(s), The Invasion was once directed by an up and coming director, Oliver Hirschbiegel, before being almost entirely reshot by V For Vendetta helmer James McTiegue, with guidance from his producing partners Lana and Lilly Wachowski, The Invasion is a bizarre hybrid of failed ideas and pieces that just don't fit. 

Now, this compromised, reshot version of Hirschbiegel's take on the Body Snatchers legend is finally on the big screen and the result is, as predicted, an utter disaster. The Invasion is a nonsense movie comprised of half baked political ideas and lame, over the top action set pieces. The last time Nicole Kidman starred in a big budget remake the result was the dreary, nonsensical recreation of The Stepford Wives. Working on that highly troubled production should have taught the Oscar winner a lesson yet here she is in The Invasion starring as psychiatrist Carol Bennell. This mother of one son, Oliver (Jackson Bond), is a dedicated mother and doctor

Dad, Tucker (Jeremy Northam) is a scientist for the Centers for Disease Control and when the space shuttle Patriot crashes leaving debris spread across several states he is surprised to be called to the scene. It seems the ship is coated in some sort of alien ooze. When Tucker is accidentally cut by a piece of debris he is soon changed and an alien virus is set loose on the planet. Beginning as what many feel is a flu epidemic, Tucker uses his position at the CDC and his access to the President of the United States, to spread the alien virus and his first target is his son.

It will soon be up to mom and her scientist boyfriend Ben (Daniel Craig) and another scientist, Dr. Galleon (Jeffrey Wright) to discover the virus, uncover the conspiracy and stay uninfected long enough to discover a cure. There are germs of many ideas in The Invasion and a good deal of high minded ambition as well. Unfortunately, not even two talented directors, Oliver Hirschbiegel (Downfall) or pinch hitter James McTiegue (V For Vendetta), and a script overhaul by the Matrix team can seem to wrangle these ideas or ambitions into a cohesive story.

It's clear that the makers of The Invasion desperately wanted the film to be relevant, even political. However, lacking any idea of what metaphor it wants to represent or political philosophy it supports, The Invasion flails in many different directions with no real target to aim at. Allusions are made to the genocide in Darfur, the roiling conflict between Israel and Palestine, and to the war in Iraq but the film doesn't really have a discernible opinion about any of these issues. Rather, each is used as an unsettling plot point in a truly confusing final act that will have some wondering if the aliens are really the bad guys. Yes, the film is so bad, you may just root for the destruction of humanity.

Even through the morass of a thoroughly confused plot, the talented cast of The Invasion manages to make the movie rather gripping. Nicole Kidman is an actress of tremendous strength and fortitude and she sells the tension of the alien invasion extraordinarily well. Though she is a little too convincing as an icy, emotionless, zombie, Ms. Kidman's tenacity and the well calibrated action of The Invasion do manage, from time to time, to move you to the edge of your seat.

Is this really the film that Daniel Craig meant to follow up James Bond with? Not really, actually he was given the role of 007 during shooting of The Invasion. It was only after he completed work on Casino Royale that Craig was called back to reshoot scenes for The Invasion that would hold the film until after Casino Royale. A bummer for Craig who I'm sure wishes he could have had a stronger follow up for Bond than playing second fiddle in a tragic sci fi misfire like The Invasion.

On a more disturbing note, whose awful idea was it to bring the alien virus to earth on a crashing NASA space shuttle? A crash that is not merely reminiscent of the 2003 crash of the space shuttle Columbia but so obviously modeled on the details of that tragedy that a lawsuit would not be out of the question. The crash in The Invasion is spread predominantly over Texas with debris that spread over several southern states. This was the near exact fate of Columbia.

Shame on the producers of The Invasion and the studio for including something of such poor taste and utter disregard for the brave men and women of Columbia and their families. They deserve far better than to have their tragedy be a plot device in some B-movie sci fi schlock-fest. Will we ever see director Oliver Hirschbiegel's original cut of The Invasion? Maybe, maybe not. No one expected to see Paul Schrader's Exorcist prequel or Ridley Scott's Blade Runner but both are now widely available. Hirschbiegel's version no doubt still exists somewhere and will likely be sought after by many a curious sci fi fan due to how uproariously terrible the reshoots clearly are.

Let us keep in mind however, that there is nothing in what is left of The Invasion that holds much promise for a better version to exist in the shadows. The whole misguided enterprise looks more simply like a case of a movie in search of an idea that never really found one. Covering the holes and the cracks with skillful car chases and  well staged gunplay, the Wachowski's and director James McTiegue likely did all that they could with the materials on hand.

Don't hold out too much hope sci fi fans. Let's try and put this Invasion behind us.

Movie Review: The Matrix Revolutions

The Matrix Revolutions (2003) 

Directed by The Wachowskis 

Written by The Wachowskis 

Starring Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne, Carrie Ann Moss, Gloria Foster 

Release Date November 5th, 2003 

Published November 4th, 2003 

I was not of an age of reason when Return Of The Jedi was released. I did not understand the historical significance of Godfather Part 3. Now, years later and hopefully much wiser, I see those two films for what they are, the weakest films of two historically brilliant trilogies. So it should come as no surprise that the third film in The Matrix franchise, that one Critic I know called “Our Star Wars” is the weakest film of the three. Matrix Revolutions may not have anything as disappointing and sad as Ewoks in it, but its many flaws are almost as egregious.

Picking up exactly where The Matrix Reloaded left off, Revolutions begins with Neo on an operating table, comatose. Across from him is Agent Smith (Hugo Weaving), now in human form having just sabotaged a number of Zion's defenses. From here we learn that Neo is trapped in between the Matrix and the real world. With the advice of the Oracle (Mary Alice, taking over for the late Gloria Foster) and under the protection of Seraph (Collin Chou), Morpheus (Laurence Fishburne) and Trinity (Carrie Ann Moss) enter the Matrix to save Neo.

To re-enter The Matrix and rescue Neo, Morpheus and Trinity must battle the Merovingian (Lambert Wilson), an all powerful evil inside the machinery of The Matrix, and track down a new character called The Trainman (Bruce Spence). This is done in no more than 20 minutes into the movie and we are once again out of the Matrix and headed for Zion. First however we must wade through another 20 minutes of dull exposition before we reach the first of the films to major set-pieces, the battle for Zion.

Here is the odd thing about the battle: it takes place without Neo, Morpheus, Trinity or any other character that we have come to identify with The Matrix. This major sequence leans entirely on Nona Gaye's Zee and Clayton Watson as The Kid. There is also plenty of screen time for Nathaniel Lee as Captain Mifune, and though he is quite the badass fighter, we have had no time to invest anything in his fate until now. Without the major players involved, the battle for Zion feels like a completely different and far less involving film.

Once major fighting in The Battle for Zion halts in we get another agonizing 20 or so minutes of dull exposition as we wait for Neo and Trinity to make their way to the machine city and Neo's final showdown with Hugo Weaving's Agent Smith. There is a good deal of dialogue along the way meant to build Smith into the ultimate evil which I found deeply confusing because wasn't the Matrix itself the ultimate evil? Now, because the movie needs someone for Neo to punch, Agent Smith steps into the lead villain role and we lose the innate conflict of the first films in the trilogy, or at least that goes very much on the backburner in favor of ugly CGI fight scenes. 

Whether or not the Matrix is destroyed you will have to see for yourself and hopefully you will find something in it that I did not. This was an odd experience for me because I had given up on the metaphorical and philosophical ideas behind The Matrix after the slick, stylish The Matrix Reloaded showed the series to be merely about special effects. Yet as I watched Revolutions I couldn't help but search for those mythical metaphors and an inkling of the philosophy that so many said lay in the heart of the trilogy. To my disappointment, I was right. The philosophical roots of The Matrix are just not there and without that, The Matrix Revolutions and the franchise in general nothing but cold sterile computer generated special effects.

Movie Review From Paris With Love

From Paris With Love (2010) 

Directed by Pierre Morel 

Written by Adi Hasak 

Starring John Travolta, Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Richard Durden 

Release Date February 5th, 2010 

Published February 4th, 2010 

With so much butt-kicking and bullets fired in the new action movie, From Paris with Love, one still must marvel at the fact that what most people cannot get around is John Travolta's bald dome. The shaven skull of Mr. Travolta is the big buzz topic when anyone talks about From Paris with Love. This is despite the fact that it is the follow up from director Pierre Morel whose Taken was one of 2009's most popular films.

Travolta's dome is indeed a bit of a distraction but thanks to a solid turn by Jonathan Rhys Meyers and Pierre Morel's furtive action movie direction; it's not too hard to get around John Travolta's ham and cheese performance and bullet head. James Reese (Meyers) is a handsome kid who seems like he should be more than just a glorified bureaucrat's secretary at the American Embassy in Paris. It turns out; he is more, though not much more. Reese is also a secret agent but his career thus far has been mostly the busywork, laying foundations for real spies.

Reese gets his big break when a bombastic American spy, Charlie Wax (John Travolta), arrives in Paris. Though enlisted as Charlie's driver, James insinuates himself as Charlie's partner only to find himself desperately in over his head. Wax is a wildcard whose methods and motives are more than questionable.

Soon Reese is a little high on some high end cocaine, as is Wax, and his long suffering girlfriend Caroline (Kasia Smutniak) is beginning to suspect something about his job that he's not telling her. She has an important secret of her own, one that director Pierre Morel writer Adi Hasek use to strong dramatic effect.

From Paris with Love lacks the intensity and drive of director Pierre Morel’s Taken. Liam Neeson's frightening determination gave Taken an unpredictable and dangerous quality that kept audiences on the edge of their seats. From Paris with Love is much more of a classic, bombastic action film in the vein of the Rush Hour films, minus the intentional comic relief. Don't get me wrong, there is humor in From Paris with Love but only some of it seems intended. John Travolta chews the furniture, the scenery, his fellow actors, anything in his path in his most outlandish performance since Face/Off. Mostly, Travolta is entertaining. 

Occasionally, Travolta is so hammy and over the top it's embarrassing but not so often that it's a terrible distraction. Jonathan Rhys Meyers is well cast as the fish out of water wannabe spy and provides a welcome straight edge for Travolta's larger than life performance. You have to love how game Meyers is to follow Travolta and Morel's flights of bullet riddled fancy but his best work comes in giving From Paris with Love grounding in some sort of movie universe reality. When the film arrives at its dramatic conclusion it can only work with Meyers because Travolta lacks any pretense of believability in this universe or any universe.

There is plenty of fun to be had in From Paris with Love, especially if you are a fan of Travolta at his most balls out goofy. If however, you are looking for action and suspense along the lines of Taken, a relationship that TV ads are eager to sew in your mind, you will find yourself disappointed. From Paris with Love just isn't in Taken's league.

Movie Review Fright Night (2011)

Fright Night (2011) 

Directed by Craig Gillespie 

Written by Marti Noxon 

Starring Anton Yelchin, Colin Farrell, David Tennant, Imogen Poots, Toni Collette 

Release Date August 19th, 2011 

Published August 18th, 2011 

"Fright Night" is a mixed bag of a remake. On the one hand there are a few very effective scares and moments of skin-crawling creepiness. On the other hand, the two leads, Colin Farrell as Jerry the Vampire and Anton Yelchin as Jerry's teen neighbor turned Vampire Hunter, are on such awesomely different wavelengths that you're left laughing at Farrell's arch, over the top vamping and yawning at Yelchin's vanilla good guy.

The population of the Las Vegas suburb that is home to the 2011 "Fright Night" is not a very observant group. Their ranks have grown smaller and smaller ever since that handsome overnight construction worker, Jerry (Farrell), moved into the neighborhood. In fact, people keep not returning from his house whenever they visit. Charlie (Anton Yelchin) is among those who don't catch on quickly. Jerry is Charlie's next door neighbor and yet Charlie is quick to deny there is anything odd about Jerry. Charlie's nerdy ex-pal Ed (Christopher Mintz-Plasse) however, is onto Jerry from the get go. 

When Ed falls victim to Jerry it finally gets Charlie motivated to figure out what's going on with his unusual neighbor. "Fright Night" pits Farrell's Jerry against Yelchin's Charlie in a life and death battle in which Charlie must defend his mother, played by Toni Collette, and his hot girlfriend Amy, played by Imogen Poots, while trying not to tell them that Jerry is a Vampire. That notion lasts far too long and causes only a series of painfully awkward scenes where Charlie acts strange and then denies that he's acting strange.

Finally, Jerry puts an end to the awkwardness by flatly demonstrating his Vampire-ness in attempting to kill Charlie, Amy and Mom. This reveal leads to the best sequence of "Fright Night," a late night chase in which Farrell's Vampire chases down the trio in their minivan, gets dragged beneath said minivan, and is eventually stopped, for a few minutes anyway. It's a terrific sequence; unfortunately the rest of "Fright Night" lacks the energy and invention of this sequence and the film as a whole suffers. 

The biggest problem with "Fright Night" is the complete lack of chemistry between Farrell and Yelchin, each of whom is playing a vibe that is completely at odds with the other. In "Fright Night" Colin Farrell chews the scenery so much that Bela Lugosi might advise him to take it down a notch. Anton Yelchin meanwhile, is so staid and low-key you wonder if he has forgotten what movie he's making. Yelchin's entire Vampire fighting comes off as perfunctory as a result of his laconic performance, as if he were only roused to action because the script requires it.

When Yelchin is later partnered with David Tennant, as Vampire expert Peter Vincent, the mismatch of energies becomes even more pronounced. Tennant, a fine actor, best remembered as Dr. Who, sadly comes off as a prancing, slightly more serious version of Russell Brand. You can decide for yourself whether you think that is a good thing or a bad thing; the main point is that Tennant, like Farrell, is more energetic and attention grabbing than Yelchin's dull hero.

Fright Night was directed by Craig Gillespie, whose best work, Lars and the Real Girl, was an oddly sweet movie about an oddball in love with a sex doll. Gillespie used the strange energies of his lead actor, Ryan Gosling, to craft a movie that was unlike any other movie you've ever seen. Gillespie may have been attempting to find something strange in Yelchin's performance but neither he nor Yelchin ever finds that point of uniqueness and the film suffers for it.

Gillespie also, quite unfortunately, is not above hoary clichés like people running upstairs when they should look for a door or a window, or employing a cheap yet popular theme with modern Vampire movies, making up rules for Vampire behavior that are vague enough that Jerry and his Vampire minions can break some rules while adhering to others at the convenience of the plot. I cannot deny that moments of "Fright Night" are honestly scary and creepy but those scenes can't make up for all the stuff that just doesn't work in "Fright Night."