Movie Review Hall Pass

Hall Pass (2011) 

Directed by Peter and Bobby Farrelly 

Written by Peter and Bobby Farrelly, Pete Jones, Kevn Barnett 

Starring Owen Wilson, Jason Sudeikis, Jenna Fischer, Christina Applegate, Richard Jenkins

Release Date February 25th, 2011 

Published February 24th, 2011

Peter and Bobby Farelly haven't been relevant since they rode the public's brief fascination with Jack Black in the early 2000's to a hit with “Shallow Hal.” Since then the brothers have floundered half focused on new material and half obsessed with making a movie about the Three Stooges. The Stooges movie has been gestating since the late 90's with a variety of acting combinations dropping in and out with nothing to show for it.

Finally, the guys who started the man-child comedy revolution with movies like “There's Something About Mary” are back at full strength and making the kind of movie that was their forte. “Hall Pass” is a small miracle of outrageously raunchy humor with a good heart that made ``Mary,’ “Kingpin” and “Shallow Hal” hits.

Owen Wilson stars in “Hall Pass” as Rick, an early 40's father of three happily married for more than 15 years to Maggie (Jenna Fischer). Three kids have taken the spark out of the marriage lately and more and more Maggie is catching Rick lusting after other women like a horny old teenager.

More troubled are Rick and Maggie's best friends Fred (Jason Sudeikis) and Grace (Christina Applegate). They have no kids and no spark; leaving Fred to masturbate in the front seat of their minivan lest she catch him. (If you're wondering how that bit of information pays off, see the movie.) Rick and Fred commiserate over their troubled love lives at a local coffee shop while lusting after an Aussie barista named Leigh (Nicky Whelan) whose nubile-ness represents everything they fantasize about.

After speaking to a mutual friend “The View's Joy Behar in an unshowy cameo) Maggie and Grace come up with the idea of a Hall Pass. The concept is simple, one week off from marriage to do whatever the guys want, guilt free. Either they will spend the week striking out or they will get whatever cheating they were going to do anyway out of their systems.

This is the kind of simple, straight forward set up that Ron Howard and Vince Vaughn botched in “The Dilemma.” The Farrelly Brothers demonstrate that it takes more than just the idea to make the movie; you need characters and big gags that pay off to really make it work.

Owen Wilson shows a heretofore untapped talent for playing a middle aged dork. Usually cast as the life of the party guy, Wilson slips effortlessly into the role of Rick like one in the long line of 80's rock 'n roll t-shirts Rick thinks is cool. What Rick and Fred think is cool goes a long way for laughs in “Hall Pass.”

Jason Sudeikis is a real scene stealer in “Hall Pass;” offering the same kind of randy, goofy, raunch-ridden asides that he brought to his equally funny supporting role in last year's “Going the Distance” with Drew Barrymore and Justin Long. Sudeikis plays a great douchebag but when the role calls for him to morph into a good guy you believe it fully.

The gags in “Hall Pass” range from the classically Farrelly bathroom jokes, including some truly explosive diarrhea, to more self aware stuff reflecting the ways in which guys really talk. A scene taking place in the home of a mutual friend that neither Rick or Fred really like demonstrates that guys can be as catty as women are about the people they envy, they just have a more blunt and colorful way of being catty.

”Hall Pass” is uproariously funny with big gags mixing with strong characters and in the end a believable amount of heart minus the treacle that most other, similar films pack on when they don't have the goods to really earn audience sympathies. The Farrelly Brothers haven't been this funny in over a decade. See “Hall Pass” and rejoice and who knows, maybe that Stooges movie will actually come out someday.

Movie Review: Drive Angry 3D

Drive Angry 3D (2011) 

Directed by Patrick Lussier

Written by Todd Farmer, Patrick Lussier

Starring Nicolas Cage, Amber Heard, William Fichtner, Billy Burke, Tom Atkins, Charlotte Ross

Release Date February 25th, 2011 

Published February 25th, 2011 

Didn't Nicolas Cage already play a guy who escaped from hell? What movie was that? Didn't “Con Air” guy escape from hell? What about that “Bangkok Dangerous” hitman character? “Ghost Rider?” I don't remember or really care. Nicolas Cage is the only actor on the planet who could so nonchalantly play a guy who escaped from hell and leave you wondering if he's done it before.

”Drive Angry 3D” stars Nicolas Cage as John Milton and if you get the reference in the name you are not likely the target audience for this movie; an almost delicious bit of irony. Milton, as he prefers to be called, John is just too ordinary, is hunting for a cult leader (Billy Burke) who murdered his daughter and has taken Milton's baby granddaughter hostage with the intent on sacrificing her in order to literally raise hell to earth.

How intent is Milton to save his granddaughter? Well, he literally escaped from hell and to top that off, he stole Satan's very own God Killer shotgun. After torching his own muscle car in order to kill some bad guys, Milton needs a ride. Enter Piper (Amber Heard) who has a 69 Charger and enough bad attitude to match Milton bad guy for bad guy.

Together Milton and Piper set on the cult leader's trail all the while being tracked themselves by a cryptic man in a suit who calls himself 'The Accountant' (William Fichtner). We learn that 'The Accountant' works for the Dark Lord Satan but whether he is out to help or hinder Milton's quest is debatable until the end.

”Drive Angry 3D” is directed with great energy by Patrick Lussier who brought a similar edgy, low brow, ugliness and grit to his remake of “My Bloody Valentine.” Unfortunately, that film was a million times more inventive than anything in “Drive Angry 3D” which plays like a series of car chases broken up by Nicolas Cage grunting and standing slump shouldered, lost in thoughts none of us could even imagine. Don't get me wrong, there is a heavy amount of kitsch to be mined from Cage in “Drive Angry 3D” but not the so bad its good kind.

Cage brings zero humor to the role of Milton and co-star Amanda Heard is similarly far too earnest for this material. “Drive Angry 3D” cries out for the kind of over the top Nicolas Cage that drove his “Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans” to heights of manic, lunatic, craziness. Instead, a subdued Cage in “Drive Angry 3D” cannot make even a scene of fully clothed love making while shooting bad guys work as a comic set piece.

There is a good deal of effort on display in “Drive Angry 3D,” especially from Director Patrick Lussier who deserved better from his star. “Drive Angry 3D” has the elements in place for some seriously B-Movie fun but Cage refuses to have any fun and the movie sinks under the weight of his seriousness.

Movie Review The Adjustment Bureau

The Adjustment Bureau (2011) 

Directed by George Nolfi 

Written by George Nolfi 

Starring Matt Damon, Emily Blunt, Anthony Mackie, John Slattery, Terence Stamp 

Release Date March 4th, 2011

Published March 3rd, 2011 

Fate versus free will is the debate at the heart of “The Adjustment Bureau,” or so the movie wants you to believe. There is little ambiguity about the side the film comes down on: Both Sides. Surprise! A mainstream entertainment that tries to be all things to all sides; hey taking a side might cost a potential ticket buyer.

As irksome as the compromised plot of “The Adjustment Bureau” is, I can't stay mad at the movie because the makers placed Matt Damon and Emily Blunt at the center of their faux conflict. Damon and Blunt have such wonderful, unforced romantic chemistry that “The Adjustment Bureau” adjusts from a bad idea to a not terrible bit of romantic goofery.

Matt Damon stars in “The Adjustment Bureau” as Congressman David Norris, a rising star and bad boy Democrat. We meet David as he is running for Senate from the great state of New York and falling victim to one of the lamest scandals ever to befall a politician, especially one from New York.

With his campaign derailed, David is preparing his concession speech in a hotel men's room when he meets Elise (Blunt), hiding out in said men's room to avoid hotel security. She hears much of David's lame speech and unintentionally nudges him toward something slightly more genuine.

What we see of the speech doesn't really warrant the political superstardom the movie claims for David but maybe the better stuff is on the editing room floor. It doesn't really matter, the film's depiction of politics is not central to the plot which really kicks in after David takes a private sector gig, working for his pal Charlie (Michael Kelly).

Men in hats played by Anthony Mackie and Mad Men's John Slattery have been shadowing David since we met him and after he loses they step in to inform us that David has to have his path adjusted. It will be Mackie's job to slow David down on his way to work so an adjustment can be made at work. When that slowdown doesn't happen, David winds up meeting Elise again and his path gets out of control.

The man in charge or the Chairman or God or whatever, doesn't want David and Elise together; it's not part of David's life plan which may or may not involve the Presidency. Should David choose to continue pursuing Elise he will be lobotomized and the process will begin all over again, just with someone other than David.

Unfortunately, David's attraction to Elise is more powerful than the threat to becoming President or potential frontal lobe dismemberment. He chases her down and when one of the adjusters decides to help him out, plans begin to diverge toward chaos.

The ideas in “The Adjustment Bureau” are interesting but they are not all that well explored. The film is based, not surprisingly, on a short story by Phillip K. Dick which explored the theme of fate versus free will in a more thorough and concise manner in a much shorter amount of time.

Writer-director George Nolfi appreciates the ideas of Dick's story but his movie doesn't really explore the themes. Instead, we get a lot of chase scenes and scenes between Matt Damon and Emily Blunt that do well to distract us and then scenes with Damon and Anthony Mackie that remind us that the movie isn't very good.

Nothing against Mackie, it's not his fault that his character is more functionary than character. The same goes for John Slattery and Terrence Stamp who don't so much have character arcs as spots they have to hit in order to throw a wrench in Damon's plans. That wouldn't be so bad if they at least had interesting things to say, maybe if they were funny or brought any real energy to their work. 

But no, these adjuster characters have few emotions beyond being tired from their ungodly workload; there are several billion people with paths to adjust. Their dialogue is mostly expository with Mackie coming off, at times, like he has one of those videogame bubbles over his head in order to illustrate the instructions Damon must have for his next move in the game. 

Now, it sounds like I hated “The Adjustment Bureau” but I don't. Despite the major plot issues I walked out of “The Adjustment Bureau” smiling thanks to stars Matt Damon and Emily Blunt. Damon is at his charismatic best investing David Norris with the oily charm of a politician and the ability to convert genuinely into an average guy. 

When Damon is opposite the beautiful Ms. Blunt his eyes light and the whole movie seems to perk up. Emily Blunt has that essential quality of a star ingenue; beauty combined with that something behind the eyes that holds an audience in rapt attention to whatever she is trying to communicate. These two brilliant people together are irresistible and when the rest of the plot gets out of their way, it works. 

Is that really enough to recommend “The Adjustment Bureau?” Well, for me it is. It's hard to say whether this appeal will be there for all audiences; fair to guess that many people will be so disappointed with the failed sci-fi plot that they can't like the movie. For me, Damon and Blunt are worth the price of a ticket and in the future, easily worth a look at the Redbox.

Movie Review: Take Me Home Tonight

Take Me Home Tonight (2011)

Directed by Michael Dowse 

Written by Jackie Filgo, Jeff Filgo 

Starring Topher Grace, Anna Faris, Teresa Palmer, Dan Fogler 

Release Date March 4th, 2011 

Published March 3rd, 2011 

Nostalgia is a great selling point; so long as the seller knows truly what is being sold. You are essentially selling memories back to those who had them. You are selling familiarity and the comfort of things remembered. The makers of “Take Me Home Tonight” are aware of what they are selling and the pitch is funny enough that you won't regret buying it. 

Topher Grace is the star of “Take Me Home Tonight” as confused underachiever, Matt Franklin. Sure, Matt graduated from M.I.T but he's now back home in California and working at Suncoast Video at the mall. Matt has no idea what to do with the rest of his life but his day takes shape when into his store walks his high school crush, Tori Fredericking (Teresa Palmer.) 

She is attending an annual party being thrown by Matt's twin sister Wendy (Anna Faris) and her jerk boyfriend Kyle (Chris Pratt), a party Matt has always skipped. He will be attending this year however because tonight he will finally ask for Tori's number. Along for the ride will be Matt's only friend Barry (Dan Fogler) who skipped college but is intent on getting the experience of college back in a single night. 

It's an epic night with fights and drugs and sex and all kinds of classic 80's music from the title song, courtesy of Eddie Money, to The Safety Dance, to INXS and even a breakdancing scene. I think I heard a little Duran Duran in there as well; you can't have an 80's set movie without Duran Duran can you? 

Continuity nerds may want to skip “Take Me Home Tonight” as there are plenty of anachronisms to catalog but for those who don't know what year a particular song was released or when a particular TV show debuted, you should be able to focus on the more charming elements of this warm bit of Nostalgia.

Of all of the cast members on “That 70's Show,” another warm bit of nostalgia, Topher Grace has always been my favorite. Grace has an every guy quality, a nebbishy charm, that makes him more relatable than Ashton or Danny Masterson and the rest who all seemed to work very hard at appearing cool. 

Grace did yeoman's work on “That 70's Show” demonstrating how ‘trying’ to be cool is a futile effort. Called upon to continually sacrifice his dignity, Grace did so with a genuine comic flair. He has brought that same genuine quality to his film work, though few have noticed, his movies like “Win a Date With Tad Hamilton,” “In Good Company” and “P.S” have been almost universally ignored. 

Box office success however is not the measure of a good performer and Grace shows in “Take Me Home Tonight” why he is so damn likable, he works harder at it than most do. Grace is funny; he has a good instinct for the laugh. He's handsome in a non-threatening way, i.e. you could leave your girlfriend alone in a room with him without worry. 

It all adds up in “Take Me Home Tonight” to a lead character who is easy to like and easy to root for and it's shocking when you realize how many movies fail at creating that character. On the weekend “Take Me Home Tonight” hits theaters so does a movie called “Beastly” where not one thoughtful, interesting or even modestly likable character emerges. 

See “Take Me Home Tonight” for that warm, nostalgic feeling it offers and for Topher Grace, a funny guy who deserves a better box office fate than some of his former co-stars who have seen so much unearned adulation and star-power despite having a lesser resume.

Movie Review: Beastly

Beastly (2011) 

Directed by Daniel Barnz 

Written by Daniel Barnz 

Starring Alex Pettyfer, Vanessa Hudgens, Mary Kate Olson, Neil Patrick Harris, Dakota Johnson

Release Date March 4th, 2011 

Published March 3rd, 2011 

Take the legendary French faery tale “Beauty and the Beast” and cross it with the elegant and joyous Disney cartoon and Jean Cocteau's artist's rendering of the story from 1946 and then throw all of it in the trash save for the very barest bones of the original premise and you find “Beastly,” a dreary rendering of a 2007 novel that was already a shallow recreation of what came before.

”Beastly” stars Alex Pettyfer as Kyle an ugly on the inside Big Man on Campus who tells anyone who will listen how easy life is when you are incredibly good looking. He's ‘Zoolander’ without the irony and dumber. Kyle is cursed by Kendra (Mary Kate Olson), a witch, who sentences Kyle to magically become as ugly on the outside as he is inside.

Suddenly, Kyle has scars all over his head and weird tattoos that cohere to the seasons as they pass. Kyle has one year from the beginning of his curse to find a woman who will love him despite his hideousness.  The top candidate for this gig is Lindy (Vanessa Hudgens), a not so popular but pretty girl who cares about the environment.

How Lindy comes to live in Kyle's posh riverside digs, paid for by his news anchor daddy (Peter Krause), is one of a litany of contrivances in “Beastly.” Briefly, Kyle becomes a stalker Batman who rescues Lindy from drug dealers and saves her druggie dad from a murder rap. The filmmakers craft this scenario with a deathly seriousness that only underlines how over the top nutty it all is.

Then there is Kyle and Lindy's eventual romance which happens as they spend several months with Kyle's tutor, played by Neil Patrick Harris as a blind man, studying one single poem. Now, to be fair, with the amount of depth given to these two characters one cannot be surprised that it would take them several months to read a single poem but one would think they would eventually move on to the meanings and themes at least.

Now, no one wants to watch these two pretty folks learn anything; we want to watch them fall in love. And what a treat that is as after their months of poem reading, Kyle and Lindy do fall in love but her daddy gets in the way leaving Kyle only days to get her to say 'I love you.’ This leads to the film's next bizarre contrivance called 'why doesn't dorko just answer his stupid phone instead of waiting to confess his love at the last minute of the last day.' But that is a little too spoilery, so I won't go into it.

”Beastly” is a serious bit of foolishness, a post-ironic love story that begs for a little knowing wink and someone other than Neil Patrick Harris to puncture the pompous sincerity on display. Nothing against Mr. Harris who has the film's only sense of humor but he is merely playing his ‘How I Met Your Mother’ character as a blind guy. It's a lazy performance but then Harris is likely the only one who saw the writing on the wall and figured 'why bother with my best effort.'

Alex Pettyfer sure is pretty and with “Beastly” and last month's “I Am Number 4” Hollywood seems dedicated to making him happen. That's lucky for Mr. Pettyfer because if Hollywood were merit based rather than 'look at me' based he might be struggling for a TV pilot right now. Instead I am sure Mr. Pettyfer is readying some sort of summer or fall picture that will once again show off his shirtlessness.

In fairness to Alex Pettyfer, Hollywood did the same thing to Johnny Depp and Heath Ledger and both reacted by going into their heads, rebelling against the system and finding depths that no one expected of them. Mr. Ledger's sad fate aside, Mr. Pettyfer still has a chance to rebel against the image makers and craft his own path to real stardom.

Movie Review: Battle Los Angeles

Battle Los Angeles (2011) 

Directed by Jonathan Liebesman

Written by Chris Bertolini 

Starring Aaron Eckhardt, Ramon Rodriguez, Michelle Rodriguez, Bridget Moynihan 

Release Date March 11th, 2011 

Published March 10th, 2011 

The sci-fi action flick "Battle: Los Angeles" has me quite torn. On the one hand, it is a brutal exercise in poor filmmaking techniques and terrible writing. On the other hand, the chaotic intensity of "Battle: Los Angeles" builds to a surprisingly rousing conclusion that any red blooded American can only cheer for.

Aaron Eckhardt stars in "Battle: Los Angeles" as Master Sgt. Michael Nantz, a 20 year Marine veteran who has just filed his retirement papers. Sgt. Nantz is plotting life after the marines when a meteor shower begins impacting off the coast of Santa Monica. Unfortunately, these are not meteors but rather alien beings intent on war.

With forces stretched thin Nantz joins a unit led by the much younger and very green, Lt. William Martinez (Ramon Rodriguez). The rest of the unit is populated with war movie stereotypes much older than the actors playing them and is more notable for its PC multiculturalism than for any one of the performances. However, Michelle Rodriguez joins the film late and offers a dash of tough chick vitality.

The unit is tasked with rescuing civilians trapped at a Santa Monica police station. The civilians include a veterinarian played Bridget Moynihan and a father (Michael Pena) protecting his son. Two other children are present as well though the film does a poor job of mentioning who they are or why they are present.

The task at hand for the unit is laid out like a videogame and, as shot by director Jonathan Liebesman (Darkness Falls), it feels a lot like a first person shooter game. The camera whips about as if it were being controlled by a caffeine addled gamer preventing the audience from gaining any perspective on the action at hand. Audience members prone to motion sickness might want to bring medication.

The characters are mostly forgettable; the dialogue is filled with atrocious cliches and malapropisms. The film style is so hectic in "Battle: Los Angeles" that you really don't know what's happening from one scene to the next. So, you're probably wondering: What is good about "Battle Los Angeles?"

Director Jonathan Liebesman makes up for many of the film deficiencies by establishing an intensely chaotic tone that despite awful dialogue and by the numbers characters can be quite compelling. The film's final act in which Eckhardt leads a ragtag crew back into action to take out an alien outpost that controls deadly, unmanned alien drones builds to a rousing finish.

The ending takes advantage, for better or worse, of our inclination toward patriotism. If you cannot be moved by our troops at their bravest readying for the biggest battle the country has ever seen, even if it is against fake aliens, then you are definitely not the audience for "Battle: Los Angeles" which doesn't literally wave the American flag but definitely salutes.

Hectic and at times completely awful, "Battle: Los Angeles" gains its appeal from star Aaron Eckhardt who commits fully to the premise and sells you on his guts alone. He believes in the action around him and because of him you do to, sort of. Most of the movie is pretty terrible but when Eckhardt leads the final battle you will work hard not to be moved to cheer, a little.

Movie Review Red Riding Hood

Red Riding Hood (2011)

Directed by Catherine Hardwicke 

Written by David Leslie Johnson 

Starring Amanda Seyfried, Max Irons, Gary Oldman, Billy Burke, Julie Christie 

Release Date March 11th, 2011 

Published March 10th, 2011 

Amanda Seyfried has yet to find the right movie for her particular talents. Seyfried mixes girl next door good looks, those amazing flying saucer-esque eyes, and inviting sensuality into one precocious package. She would be a dream come true in a Bertolucci movie or as captured by Antonioni's loving lens. Sadly, being a young American actress means offering her services for schlock such as "Dear John," ``Letters to Juliet," and her latest "Red Riding Hood."

Amanda Seyfried stars in "Red Riding Hood" as Valerie, the virginal daughter of a wood cutter (Billy Burke, Bella's dad from Twilight) who is promised in marriage by her mother, Suzette (Virginia Madsen) to Henry (Max Irons) the son of a wealthy family friend.

Valerie however, is in love with Peter (Shiloh Fernandez) and intends to run away with him. Their plans are thwarted sadly when Valerie's sister is murdered by a werewolf. Now, Father Solomon (Gary Oldman) is coming to the village to hunt the wolf and a dark secret Valerie did not know she carried will place her in the wolf's path.

"Red Riding Hood" was directed by Catherine Hardwicke, a talented director who has faltered under the weight of big budgets and special effects. Hardwicke is exceptionally talented in crafting warm and intimate scenes, as she demonstrated in her wonderful coming of age film "Thirteen" and in the quiet moments of her hit "Twilight."

Unfortunately, special effects simply are not Catherine Hardwicke's forte. The CGI in "Red Riding Hood," used to render the wolf and portions of the mid-centuries village, is amateurish in comparison to other CGI heavy films including such stinkers as "The Wolfman" and "Underworld: Evolution."

The Gothic air that Hardwicke attempts to bring to "Red Riding Hood" comes off campy rather than mysterious or forbidding. Attempts to mix period cliches with modern pop culture savvy feel forced and trite. What works is when Hardwicke focuses on smaller, intimate moments that take advantage of star Amanda Seyfried's innate eroticism.

The climax of "Red Riding Hood" is laughable as the filmmakers settle the allegedly mysterious identity of the werewolf by choosing a character at random. So indiscriminate is the choice of the identity of the werewolf that it is fair to wonder if the filmmakers knew the choice before they filmed it.

"Red Riding Hood" is a mess of feeble CGI and market tested pop culture. Though star Amanda Seyfried still manages to be radiant and alluring, the film is all Gothic bluster and teen targeted kitsch. Fans of Ms. Seyfried would be better served waiting for her next film, teaming with visionary director Andrew Niccol called "Now." That film hits theaters ..October 11th 2011.