Movie Review Paul

Paul (2011) 

Directed by Greg Mottola 

Written by Simon Pegg, Nick Frost

Starring Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Seth Rogen, Jason Bateman, Kristen Wiig, Bill Hader 

Release Date March 18th, 2011

March 17th, 2011 

"Paul" is the "Citizen Kane" of nerd humor, the movie all other nerd movies will be compared to for years to come. "Paul" stars beloved geeks (I use the term Geeks with love) Simon Pegg and Nick Frost as a pair of sci-fi loving Brits on holiday at Comic-Con who decide to road trip to their favorite alien hot spots. Along the way they meet a real alien named Paul (Seth Rogan) who takes them on an exciting and very funny adventure.

Paul was directed by Greg Mottola whose nerd credentials include "Superbad" and the cult romance "Adventureland." Mottola infuses "Paul" with unexpected heart and sensitivity that coexists surprisingly well with uproarious R-rated gags. The script comes from stars Simon Pegg and Nick Frost whose geek humor knowledge is seemingly limitless. You will have to see "Paul" twice to capture all of the nerd references packed tightly into the 104 minute runtime.

The geek chic extends to the supporting cast including Jason Bateman from the cult TV series "Arrested Development," Joe Lo Truglio from the cult comedy troupe "The State" and Kristen Wiig and Bill Hader who bring SNL's loyal fan base to the film. Finally, "Paul" ends with a cameo that the trailer spoils but I will not. Let's just call it a shocking and gory appearance by a geek goddess and leave it at that.

"Paul" is an uproarious R-rated comedy that manages to be funny and sweet without lapsing into cloying or pandering. Much of the film's surprising maturity comes from the voice of Seth Rogen who brings his typical foul mouth shtick to the film but also a newfound warmth and tenderness to his voice. Rogen offers a reassuring vocal performance that grounds "Paul" within its wacky alien universe of geek references and broad physical humor.

Paul is one of the funniest movies you will see in 2011, and even though it is early in the year, it will remain one of the funniest movies of 2011. "Paul" is a brilliantly funny sci-fi comedy that never fails to be outlandish and raunchy and sweet at once. Simon Pegg, Nick Frost and the voice of Seth Rogen are a terrific comic trio and with all of the geek cred they bring to the film you have the makings of a cult classic to which all other nerd movies will be compared.

Movie Review Win Win

Win Win (2011) 

Directed by Tom McCarthy 

Written by Tom McCarthy

Starring Paul Giamatti, Burt Young, Amy Ryan, Bobby Cannavale 

Release Date March 18th, 2011 

Published March 17th, 2011 

Mike Flaherty (Paul Giamatti) is struggling. His law practice is not making any money and the stress has begun to manifest itself in breathless panic attacks that mirror heart attack symptoms. Mike needs money and when he stumbles across an opportunity to make some money through an ethical loophole with one of his clients (Burt Young) he takes it.

Since "Win Win" is a movie we know that Mike's decision will have very particular consequences or it wouldn't be in the story. What writer-director Thomas McCarthy creates in order to arrive at those consequences and the wealth of emotions involved in when and how Mike's ethical lapse is revealed is the hook of "Win Win," a small human story about a good man whose flaws cannot mask his true nature.

Paul Giamatti is spectacularly well cast as Mike Flaherty. His unique face communicates worry and sadness while his clipped line delivery makes him sound desperate and close to out of breath even when he's in a relaxed moment. Giamatti's nervous energy has been his calling card since his breakthrough performance in Howard Stern's "Private Parts" through his rise to stardom in "Sideways."

Alex Shaffer plays Kyle in "Win Win." Kyle is the main complication to Mike's money making scheme. Having run away from home and being only 16 years old, Mike and his wife Jackie (Amy Ryan) are forced to take Kyle in while they sort out the situation with his mother and his Alzheimer's afflicted grandfather. The connections between these characters are something I want you to discover by seeing the movie.

The movie poster shows Kyle in wrestling gear sitting next to Mike. Wrestling appears in Win Win as both literal, Mike coaches a High School wrestling team and as a clever undercurrent to the main story as Mike wrestles with his conscience over his scheme, and, more importantly, about how not to get caught while Kyle wrestles with his past including his recovering drug addict mother (Melanie Lynskey) who also has a connection to Mike's scheme.

Writer-director Thomas McCarthy has an eye for small human stories. He was the writer and director of "The Station Agent," a small highly observant and smart picture about unique characters who form an odd family. McCarthy then directed "The Visitor," another film about unlikely family ties, this time an older white college professor and a young, immigrant African man and wife.

McCarthy approaches these stories with compassion and a thoughtful curiosity about how his characters live from day to day and how they interact with changing circumstances that are mundane by movie standards but are things real people are experiencing everyday. "Win Win," like "The Station Agent" and "The Visitor," is a warm, kind and modestly funny movie that compels you with great characters who reflect lives you can relate to, sympathize with and still be entertained by.

Movie Review Knives Out

Knives Out (2019) 

Directed by Rian Johnson

Written by Rian Johnson 

Starring Daniel Craig, Chris Evans, Ana De Armas, Jamie Lee Curtis, Michael Shannon, Don Johnson, LaKeith Stanfield, Toni Collette

Release Date November 27th, 2019

Published November 26th, 2019 

In a season when movies are doing their best to reach your emotions and move you in order to earn awards consideration, it is bold to release a movie that has little or no meaning. Knives Out is simply entertainment. There is no deeper meaning, no revelation about the core of humanity and no deeper message about existence. Knives Out is simply an entertaining, at times highly convoluted, mystery for entertainment purposes only. 

Knives Out tells the story of an elderly mystery writer named Harlan Thromby (Christopher Plummer). It has rather recently dawned on Harlan that his family is a miserable and selfish clan who’ve been thriving off of his success while never making anything of their own. At 85 and seeing his life coming to a close, Harlan decides that he’s going to cut off his family and everyone else except for his nurse, Marta (Ana De Armas), a genuinely kind woman who’s become his one true friend. 

On the morning following Harlan’s birthday, his maid finds Harlan dead in his study. Harlan has cut his own throat and bled to death. Though not the type many would peg for a suicide, it appears to be an open and shut case until a private investigator arrives. Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig) has been hired by someone in the family to find out whether or not Harlan did kill himself and whether or not an expert level murder and cover up has taken place. 

The suspects in Harlan’s death include his daughter, Linda (Jamie Lee Curtis), her cheating husband, Richard (Don Johnson), Linda and Richard’s spoiled son, Ransom (Chris Evans), Harlan’s son Walt (Michael Shannon) and Harlan’s daughter in-law from a son who passed away, Joni (Toni Collette). Investigating the case for the cops is Detective Lt Elliott (Lakeith Stansfield) and Trooper Wagner (Noah Segan). 

Each of the family members attended Harlan’s 85th birthday and each informs the police and detective Blanc about their interactions with Harlan and what their motive might be to kill him. Holding the key to everything is Marta who is so innately good-hearted that she physically cannot tell a lie. You will have to see the movie to understand what that means but it is a wonderfully clever device in a movie filled with clever devices. 

Knives Out was written and directed by Rian Johnson who became famous for directing Star Wars: The Last Jedi but has always been a mystery director at heart. Johnson’s debut feature, Brick, was a noir mystery that transposed a Phillip Marlowe-esque story into the hallways of a suburban high school and did so with ingenious technique. With Knives Out, Johnson is aping the style of Agatha Christie to equally strong effect. 

Johnson’s hallmark is playfulness, a genuine delight with the mechanics of mystery. You can sense in the way he structures and paces his mysteries that he deeply enjoys leading audiences one way while taking his story the other way and bringing us around only when he’s ready. All the while, his wonderful characters keep us on edge with their colorful recriminations, shifting motivations and alliances. 

Knives Out also finds time to be genuinely funny with Daniel Craig delighting in not being under the yoke of his James Bond performance. Taking on a theatrical southern affectation, Craig’s foghorn leghorn act is wildly entertaining in ways Craig has rarely shown in his career. I grew tired of his stoic yet emo Bond after his first adventure and I’ve mostly tolerated him since then. Here however, Craig is effortlessly charming. 

Ana De Armas is also a stand out as a young woman desperately in over her head. There isn’t much I can tell you about her arc in the movie, everything she does could be considered a minor spoiler. What I can tell you is that De Armas is brilliant in her wide-eyed, increasingly frenzied manner. Marta drives the plot more than any other character in Knives Out and it takes a strong actress to hold that center against a wide array of bigger name, more colorful performers. 

Knives Out may be empty calories as a movie but who doesn’t love a few tasty empty calories. When something is this delicious it’s okay to indulge a little. It’s not a four course meal of Oscar worthy direction or performance but it is a wonderfully, singularly entertaining mystery populated by colorful characters and helmed by a director of impeccable taste and talent. If there is room on your Thanksgiving table for leafy greens, there is also room for pie. Consider Knives Out a delicious custard at the movie theater table. 

Movie Review Push

Push (2009) 

Directed by Paul McGuigan

Written by David Bourla 

Starring Chris Evans, Dakota Fanning, Camilla Belle, Ming Na, Cliff Curtis 

Release Date February 6th, 2009

Published February 5th, 2009 

Director Paul McGuigan directed the clever, funny, con-man comedy Lucky Number Slevin. It was his first feature and it should have portended great things for his career. Sadly for his Slevin follow up McGuigan chose Push, a terribly goofy comic book movie about psychic superheroes and a government conspiracy. Where Slevin was endlessly inventive, Push is predictable and sloppy.

What a shame.

Handsomely mild actor Chris Evans stars in Push as Nick a man on the run since his father was hunted down and murdered by a mysterious  government entity. Since then Nick has lived off the grid in Japan hoping to keep a low enough profile to be left alone. That all changes when Nick is discovered by a teenage psychic named Cassie (Dakota Fanning) who has had a vision about him and her and their deaths.

On the bright side, she's also had a vision about a young woman named Kira (Camilla Belle) who may be able to save them. Kira is the only person ever to escape from the shadowy government forces chasing Nick and Cassie and if they find her she could be the key to bringing the conspiracy down. Add in a helpful psychic con man (Cliff Curtis) and another more powerful psychic hiding out as a fake psychic (Ming Na) and you have a misfit team ready for battle.

The premise of Push plays not at all unlike the TV series Heroes. Both are about shady conspiracy, hunting down people with special abilities and wild special effects. Both are also wildly divergent in quality, Heroes can vary from week to week with good episodes and not so good ones. Push has one chance to work and fails.

I have been a little dismissive of the story potential of Push. There is certainly nothing wrong with a comic book style movie about superheroes. The key is making those heroes compelling and their journey interesting beyond their powers. Director McGuigan and screenwriter David Bourla fail this by vaguely defining the powers and muddying the government conspiracy premise.

Not that a cleaner narrative might have made much of a difference. The super powers on display, people pushing other people with their minds or controlling objects with their minds or seeing the future, simply are not all that interesting. The best superheroes have powers that comment on their personality. The abilities reflect the man (or less often the woman) and we learn something about them through their uniqueness.

No such comment or reflection emerges from Push. Instead we have a series of dull, uninspired effects scenes.

I expected much more from Director Paul McGuigan. Lucky Number Slevin was the kind of debut that promises so much more from a director's future. It was a far from perfect movie but a clever, funny, imaginative film. Push is nearly the complete opposite. Derivative and uninspired, Push is disappointing beyond Director Paul McGuigan. It's disappointing to have to have sat through such a lacking effort.

Movie Review Scott Pilgrim vs The World

Scott Pilgrim vs The World (2010)

Directed by Edgar Wright 

Written by Edgar Wright, Michael Bacall 

Starring Michael Cera, Ellen Wong, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Chris Evans, Brandon Routh, Anna Kendrick

Edgar Wright has done something few directors will ever accomplish; he created his own visual language. In Scott Pilgrim Vs the World' Edgar Wright brought together the worlds of video games, comic books, and movies in a way that many have dreamed of but no one else has achieved. It is a blindingly entertaining combination. Even more than a decade later Scott Pilgrim vs the World remains the ultimate uniting of the movie, comic book and video game genres. 

Michael Cera stars as Scott Pilgrim, a bassist in a Toronto pop rock group whose name is some incomprehensible combination of Sex and Bob and something. They are awesome. Scott's real story however is that he is dating a teenager, Knives Chau (Ellen Wong), to the endless mocking delight of his band mates (Allison Pill, Mark Webber and Johnny Simmons) and his sister, Stacy (Oscar nominee Anna Kendrick).

The relationship is doomed however, not by the derision of his friends and family but rather by Scott's encounter with Ramona Flowers (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) an American girl with pink hair, a punk sensibility, and no apparent interest in him. This does not stop Scott from pining for her and eventually getting a chance to hang with her. That Scott is a genuinely good guy keeps this from being one of those creepy, nice guy irritates a girl into dating him stories. 

Naturally, this new relationship comes with obstacles. Emotional scars from our past almost always affect our current relationships but for Ramona, her emotional past comes in the physical form of seven evil exes. Scott must fight and defeat all 7 of Ramona's evil exes including former Superman Brandon Routh, the current Captain America, Chris Evans, a pair of twins, one bisexual surprise, a pair of DJ'ing twins, and Jason Schwartzman as the ultimate d-bag.

Plucky and in love as Scott is, he is a bit taken aback by the challenges involved in dating Ramona but he's also up for a fight and Scott Pilgrim Vs the World flies on Michael Cera's laconic neurotic approach to being a comic/video game superhero. Cera is at his best when he can relax and react as opposed to having to manufacture the laughs as he did in the abysmal Year One. He's very relaxed in Scott Pilgrim and it allows his natural comic instincts and charisma to shine through.

The supporting cast is top notch especially Kieran Culkin as Scott's gay roommate, Wallace, who shares a bed with Scott and his boyfriend who he calls Other Scott. Culkin matches Cera's energy perfectly and his gags register big laughs whether he's texting in his sleep or adding a second boyfriend to his stable of bedmates. Scott Pilgrim vs The World was ahead of its time in giving time to omni-sexual characters who aren’t defined by their sexual identity. 

Mary Elizabeth Winstead does a remarkable job of making Ramona more than merely the motivation for Scott. She has a presence that holds the center of the movie together and is believable as a woman who could inspire people to fight to the death for her. Until her role in Scott Pilgrim vs the World Winstead had struggled to stand out amid a bevy of young stars appearing teen horror movies. Scott Pilgrim may not have broken her out into superstardom but it did help her establish a place where she could grow up and find better roles. 

And, of course, there is Chris Evans. Scott Pilgrim vs the World provided Evans with the best role of his pre-Captain America career. Spoofing blow dried, doofus action heroes, Evans earns some of the biggest laughs in the movie and demonstrates range and charm that was missing from his vacant, lummox roles as teenage morons. I wholeheartedly believe that Captain America would not be possible for Evans if he hadn’t shown so much talent in Scott Pilgrim vs the World. 

Scott Pilgrim vs the World is hilarious from beginning to end while also having a big romantic heart. Michael Cera is just so much fun in this role and paired with Edgar Wright's incredible visual sensibilities, we have a can't miss pairing. Then there is that supporting cast. It's not hard to imagine the cast of Scott Pilgrim vs The World as part of the future of Hollywood. 

Movie Review Mr. Brooks

Mr. Brooks (2007) 

Directed by Bruce A. Evans 

Written by Bruce A. Evans, Raynold Gideon 

Starring Kevin Costner, Demi Moore, Dane Cook, William Hurt, Marg Helgenberger

Release Date June 1st, 2007 

Published May 31st, 2007

The career of Kevin Costner has had many ups and downs. He has been one of the biggest stars in the world and People Magazine's sexiest man alive. He's also been the most reviled man in Hollywood and a grand punch line after his triple failures, Waterworld, The Postman and Wyatt Earp. He has recently tried to reinvent himself as a character actor and a comeback kid, a perception fed by well received performances in The Upside of Anger and Open Range.

Now however, as he tries to reclaim leading man status; Costner is once again flailing. First, there was the disastrous Rumor Has It, a pseudo sequel to The Graduate with Costner as a middle aged Ben Braddock. Now comes Mr. Brooks a disaster of a different kind, one that isn't really Costner's fault.

"The Hunger has returned to Mr. Brooks, it never really left"

That is the opening title card to the new thriller Mr. Brooks, a title card that thrusts us into the midst of the madness of a man named Earl Brooks (Kevin Costner). Earl is a proud father, a loyal husband and a respected businessman who runs a major box company. However, in his spare time he is the thumbprint killer, a maniac who likes to pose his victims after killing them and then get off over the photos he takes.

He has been at this for years and for years has been careful to not get caught. He even managed to stop killing for 2 whole years with the help of  weekly A.A meetings, though alcohol never played a part in his compulsion. Then the hunger returned and he selected a pair of victims. Unfortunately, he wasn't as careful as he used to be. He left the curtains open and across the street, an amateur cameraman saw him commit murder.

Luckily for Mr. Brooks the cameraman, call him Mr. Smith (Dane Cook), is a sick puppy like himself. Smith doesn't want to turn Brooks over to the cops, rather he wants to learn from Mr. Brooks, he wants to kill. Thus sets up an uncomfortable partnership between the steely, calculating Mr. Brooks and the unnerved novice Mr. Smith.

That is just one of several plots running concurrently in this rather misguided take on the Dr. Jekyll, Mr Hyde mythos. Also jammed into this plot is a backstory and sub-storyline for Demi Moore as the cop investigating the thumbprint killer and another different killer and a credulity stretching plot for Danielle Panabaker as Mr. Brooks' daughter who may have inherited the serial killer gene.

A glance at director Bruce A. Evans' resume offers a few clues as to why Mr. Brooks  turned out so goofy. Evans wrote the lauded screenplays for epics like Cutthroat Island, Jungle 2 Jungle and Kuffs, a Christian Slater guilty pleasure that he also directed. Curiously, Evans hasn't directed since Kuffs. Maybe he was waiting for something that could match the goofball pleasures and squirm inducing discomfort of that early nineties crime comedy.

Mr. Brooks is certainly goofy but it's not supposed to be. It's intended to be a thriller but thrills are in short supply compared to the unintentional laughter induced by some of the bizarre choices made. There are more than a few moments of unintended humor such as watching comic Dane Cook attempt to appear credible as an actor opposite the veteran Costner. The disdainful glare of Costner's Mr. Brooks towards Cook's Mr. Smith plays like Costner's silent commentary on his co-star.

Despite the loopy plots and unintentional humor there are a few honest pleasures in Mr. Brooks, not least of which is the chemistry between Kevin Costner and William Hurt. These two veteran actors are so in sync and so on the money that you hate the movie for the constant interruptions of their interplay. Taking time out for Demi Moore's lame backstory and a search for another serial killer aside from Mr. Brooks and the daughter's story and Dane Cook's story all serve to upstage the film's one and only asset, the Costner-Hurt duo.

In the few moments that Costner and Hurt get to play we actually get to dig into Mr. Brooks' character and find out how he ticks and why he does what he does. The potential is there for a very unique take on the classic serial killer picture, a movie from the killer's perspective. Few killers are as uniquely villainous as Mr. Brooks, the upstanding businessman and father who happens to be a serial killer.

What a waste, Mr. Brooks had all sorts of potential and wasted it all on dopey, distracting subplots. Director and co-writer Bruce A. Evans is not a bad director really, just inexperienced with a seeming lack of confidence. Evans lacked the courage to jettison what was clearly not working and focus things where they were working, with Kevin Costner and William Hurt riffing and roaring.

Oh, what might have been.

Movie Review: 28 Days Later

28 Days Later (2003) 

Directed by Danny Boyle

Written by Alex Garland 

Starring Cillian Murphy, Noah Huntley, Naomie Harris, Brendan Gleeson, Christopher Eccleston

Release Date June 27th, 2003 

Published June 27th, 2003

While the masses seek out mindless entertainment in Charlie’s Angels amongst others, real film fans have been anticipating the release of this much buzzed about British horror film that portends the end of the world. Oh yeah and it's got zombies. 28 Days Later, the newest work from Trainspotting auteur Danny Boyle, was actually released some 6 months ago worldwide. Only now reaching the States, it has not lost anything of the buzz and in fact, it's one of the rare films that surpass the buzz to become something even more than expected.

In a scenario that will have Republicans smiling, a group of animal activists break into a research facility and release a group of monkeys who they believe are being abused. Unfortunately, the monkeys happen to be infected with a disease that the doctors call the rage virus. The infection is passed by blood and when the monkey bites a human, it takes little more than 30 seconds before that person becomes a mindless flesh-eating zombie. The zombies can be killed like any normal human being but they are also excessively quick and strong.

Within 28 days, the virus has spread throughout the whole of Britain. Only a few lucky people remain uninfected. One of the uninfected is Jim (Cillian Murphy) who has just awakened from a coma to find the hospital entirely empty. He then finds the neighborhood around the hospital empty, then finally all of London. That is until he stumbles into a church filled with zombies.

Jim escapes with the aid of a pair of survivors, Mark (Noah Huntley) and Selena (Naomie Harris). They give Jim the 411 on what has happened since his coma and then accompany Jim to his parents home where he finds his parents dead. It's not long before the zombies arrive there and Mark is killed by Selena after he is bitten. As she has explained to Jim, if someone is infected you have only seconds to kill them before they turn. She won't hesitate to kill Jim if the same happens to him.

The two then venture out to find new shelter and stumble upon a father and daughter (Brenden Gleeson and Megan Burns) who are hiding out in what remains of their apartment building. Though they have had little to no interaction with the outside world, they have heard what they believe is a recorded message on the radio about some military officers who may have a cure for the virus. Whether that is true or not, the soldiers at least offer protection from the zombies and that is good enough to get them on the road. Once arriving at the military base, they find a ramshackle crew who is no more well prepared than they are.

It's best to stop there because to give away too much would ruin what is a terrifying, brilliant story. The conceit is a frightening one, a virus that could wipe out a large group of people in a short amount of time is a concern right out of our Homeland Security department. In the time of Anthrax and Monkeypox, the story put forth in 28 Days Later is more immediate and frightening. Though the zombie thing gives the film a far-fetched feeling, the reality comes in Boyle's camerawork that has a mind’s eye feeling to it. It's  very unsettling the way Boyle's camera becomes like a dream from your own mind.

28 Days Later is the rare horror film with actual horror in it. There is very little of the camp that marks most modern horror films. There is wit to it, a welcome black humor amidst a sea of jarring horror imagery. Boyle never allows the film to rollover into parody even in it's odd Lord Of the Flies style climax in the military base.

The buzz that accompanied 28 Days Later is well deserved, it's an art house horror film that has real scares and real behind the scenes talent in director Danny Boyle. I wasn't a big fan of Boyle's previous work, but 28 Days Later has me seeking out his other films for re-evaluation of what looks to a great director for years to come.