Movie Review Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist

Nick and Nora's Infinite Playlist (2008) 

Directed by Peter Sollett

Written by Lorene Scafaria 

Starring Michael Cera, Kat Dennings, Ari Graynor, Jay Baruchel

Release Date October 3rd, 2008

Published October 2nd, 2008 

One goal of a good critic is to try not to judge a movie before seeing it. That isn't so hard for me except when I really want to like a movie, sight unseen. I really wanted to like Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist before I saw it. I like the cast, I liked the premise. As I watched the movie I ignored my niggling doubts and kept track of the things I liked. Now, as I sit to write the review, the flaws are crisper and my lingering doubts have replaced much of things I tried hard to love.

Michael Cera is one of the most likable actors to come along in years. From his adorable George Michael Bluth on TV's Arrested Development to his breakout in Superbad and Juno, Cera has grown before our eyes and is prepared to become a huge comic star in the classic Tom Hanks vein. For his latest starring role he plays Nick a musician in a gay rock band.

Nick is not gay but his two bandmates are. Nick, as we meet him, is bumming over the end of his relationship with Tris, a bubble -headed private school girl who abruptly dumped him on his birthday. Thankfully, Nick's bandmates won't let him sit home and cry, they drag him off to New York City where they have a gig and then a quest to find a legendary band performing in secret.

Kat Dennings plays the Nora half of the title, a dyspeptic music loving soul who happens to be an acquaintance of Tris. As Tris has discarded Nick's many mixed cd's Nora has picked them out of the trash and found Nick a kindred musical soul, though they have never met. That changes that night in New York City when Nora, her best friend Caroline (Ari Graynor) and even Tris head into the city and happen upon Nick's band and a mutual quest for this mythical band "Where's Fluffy".

I won't give away Nick and Nora's meet cute other than to say the contrivance is pretty weak even by romantic comedy standards. Once together there is no question that they are meant to be together. The question then for director Peter Sollett is how to believably keep them apart until they are supposed to be together. Thanks to Cera and Denning's prickly repartee this is one of the few things that really works.

What doesn't work, quite shockingly, is the film's music conceit. In a movie called Nick and Nora's Infinite Playlist one would quite fairly expect a lot of really great music. What you get is a lot of mediocre indie bands from some yet printed insert in Paste Magazine. The songs on Nick and Nora's Infinite Playlist sound remarkably indistinguishable from one another, whiny alt-rockers too hip indies, gay rock. No R & B. No hip hop, this soundtrack has a remarkably white, bourgeois sensibility for an 'infinite' playlist.

Worse yet from my perspective was the filmmakers inability to craft one singular music/movie moment. In the best movies with strong musical sensibilities the filmmakers craft a scene that combines music and film in a way that transcends both expressions. Who can forget Say Anything and Peter Gabriel's In Your Eyes, Moulin Rouge and the performance of Roxanne, every second of Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova's sublime duet in Once.

Nick and Nora's Infinite Playlist needed a moment like that, an expression of the way Nick and Nora's musical souls were entwined. It is referred to and indeed assumed but it doesn't exist in the movie. I have many issues with Nick and Nora's Infinite Playlist but none with stars Michael Cera and Kat Dennings. Cera and Dennings spark terrific chemistry first as strangers, then as sparring partners and finally as love interests. Dennings has toned down the goth persona that had driven her type casting as recently as August's The House Bunny, and the change serves her well.

Here, Dennings is a leading lady with quirks that set her apart from the typical rom-com heroine. As for Dennings' co-star? What more can I say about Michael Cera. The kid just gets better and better with each succeeding role. Even in this flawed teen-centric romance Cera crafts a thoughtful, humorous, well observed performance.

Both actors, as well as the tremendous, hard-working supporting work of Ari Graynor, are lost, adrift in a movie that knows the lyrics to every Judd Apatow, Cameron Crowe and John Hughes movie, but ironically not the music. Nick and Nora's Infinite Playlist plays like a mix CD of Apatow, Crowe and Hughes and while I am not adverse to a good classic mix, I was hoping for something more... original.

With Cera and Dennings Nick and Nora's Infinite Playlist has a lot working in its favor. Unfortunately, by recycling the best of teen-centric romance and coming up short on the music side of things, Nick and Nora's Infinite Playlist fails to rise above its many influences. The movie really failed for me however by not finding one song and one moment to transcend all of the whole. The best movies with a strong musical presence do that.

Movie Review: Avengers Endgame

Avengers Endgame (2019) 

Directed by Anthony Russo, Joe Russo

Written by Christopher Markus, Stephen McFeely 

Starring Robert Downey Jr, Karen Gillan, Chris Hemsworth, Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo, Scarlett Johannson, Benedict Cumberbatch, Chris Pratt, Tom Holland, Chadwick Boseman, Gwyneth Paltrow, Don Cheadle, Dave Bautista

Release Date April 26th, 2019

Published April 24th, 2019 

We’ve reached the Endgame, if not the finale of the Marvel Universe, the definitive ending of a chapter at the very least. One of the great tricks pulled off in Avengers Endgame by directors Joe and Anthony Russo is how they have crafted a story that is both a definitive ending and a new beginning that doesn’t leave you exhausted and dreading the future. When it was first announced that Avengers Endgame would balloon to just over three hours in length, I was among those who worried that the MCU was overstaying its welcome. That feeling is completely allayed after Endgame. 

Avengers Endgame picks up the story with Earth’s greatest heroes still reeling from ‘The Snap,’ Thanos’s victory and the wholesale destruction of half the people in the universe. Those left behind, including Captain America (Chris Evans), Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr), Thor (Chris Hemsworth), Black Widow (Scarlett Johannson) and The Hulk (Mark Ruffalo) along with disparate members of the MCU, the remaining heroes of Wakanda, the missing Clint Barton aka Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) are still spoiling for a fight. 

But first, Tony Stark needs to be retrieved from somewhere in deep space where food has run out and air will soon follow. Tony and Nebula (Karen Gillen) were the only survivors of The Snap in a group that included Spider-Man (Tom Holland), Dr Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch), and The Guardians of the Galaxy, Peter Quill (Chris Pratt), Mantis (Klemm Pomentieff), Groot (Vin Diesel) and Drax (Dave Bautista). Near death, Tony spots a light in the sky that proves to be a savior. I won’t spoil the fun, you can see for yourself who has the honor. 

Nebula knows where Thanos has gone and with her information the Avengers are able to locate him and make a play to regain the Infinity Gauntlet and those incredibly powerful stones. The Russo Brothers are smart to have this scene take place very early in the movie as it raises the stakes to infinity when you find out that the Gauntlet won’t be so easy to wield and that time may not be so easy to manipulate. 

I will stop there in my plot description as I don’t want to spoil anything for you. Just know that Avengers Endgame goes to some wonderfully unexpected places and gives you solid reasoning how we end up where we end up. This is quite a smart movie with many unexpected twists and turns. The writers, Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely wonderfully lay out the story with roadblocks and detours that force the story into unexpected yet logical places. 

The issues I had with Avengers Infinity War are pretty much made up for in Avengers Endgame. I was annoyed that Infinity War ended on a few highly predictable and cynical notes. There was no real tension or suspense in the ending of Infinity War as it was easy to predict that Endgame would simply undo all that happened in Infinity War rendering that film a 2 hour and 45 minute anti-climax. I also did not care for the careless fashion in which certain characters were treated by the screenplay that had little room for the many characters. 

Somehow, those problems are relatively minor in Endgame. The more than 3 hour runtime has left plenty of room for our main characters and the many side characters whose fates we’ve come to care about over 22 Marvel movies. The best compliment I can give to Avengers Endgame is that even at 3 hours long, the movie never drags, it never feels like 3 hours. I did not check my phone during the entire run of Avengers Endgame because I was engrossed by this movie. 

It is remarkable that the Russo Brothers have crafted a story that is satisfying as an end point for the story they’ve helped to tell over 22 movies and a beginning for new stories to be told. We have new Spider-Man, Black Panther and Captain Marvel adventures to look forward to. We have more Guardians of the Galaxy in our future with a whole new look and new Captain America adventures and that is not a spoiler, you will have to see Avengers Endgame to see how that is not a spoiler. 

The new Marvel Universe is perhaps even more exciting than what we have seen before. The stars that this franchise has booked are the best of the best and even the heroes who won’t be returning will have a lasting impact via the actions of Avengers Endgame. The trick of Avengers Endgame is intricate and well detailed and its based on a strong and brave approach to storytelling and a group of characters who are irresistibly charming and compelling. 

Movie Review: A Perfect Getaway

A Perfect Getaway (2009) 

Directed by David Twohy

Written by David Twohy 

Starring Milla Jovovich, Timothy Olyphant, Marley Shelton, Chris Hemsworth, Steve Zahn

Release Date August 7th, 2009

Published August 7th, 2009

Beware the movie trailer/commercial that tells you of a 'heart-stopping' twist. Right then and there the marketing has spoiled the movie. Now the experience of the movie is waiting for the twist to happen or, in the case of the new thriller A Perfect Getaway, guessing the twist well before it happens. A Perfect Getaway isn't a great movie to begin with. Having the ending spoiled is merely the moldy cherry on top of a melted sundae.

Steve Zahn and Milla Jovovich star in A Perfect Getaway as Cliff and Cydney Anderson, newlyweds in Hawaii for their honeymoon. Having decided to hike to a secluded beach on a very remote part of Kauai they think they are in for some romantic alone time. Instead, they are quickly jolted out of their fantasies by two pairs of strangers. 

The first are a dangerous looking pair of hitchhikers, Kale and Cleo (Chris Hemsworth and Marley Shelton), who look fresh from a parole hearing. Then there are Nick and Gina (Timothy Olyphant and Kiele Sanchez). Nick is ex-special ops and unafraid of telling tales of murder and injury. Gina meanwhile, is a little too good with a knife and fearless. When Nick brings a dead goat back to the couple's shared campsite, Gina guts and cleans it, much to the disgust of both Cliff and Cydney.

Soon, news arrives that a murder has taken place. A newlywed couple has been murdered on the island that both of the newly arrived couples have just left and police suspect the killer are a man and a woman and that they may have jumped islands. Naturally, Cliff and Cydney come to suspect Nick and Gina are the killers. Ahh, but what of the Kale and Cleo, the nefarious looking couple?

Cliff is a screenwriter by trade and this leads to an inside baseball conversation between he and Nick that the movie thinks is exceptionally clever. Director David Twohey (Pitch Black, Chronicles of Riddick)  seems to think that by having his characters talk so openly about thriller clichés in mocking tones that that will excuse his movie from taking advantage of those clichés. The meta trick doesn't pay off, we can still see the wheels of the plot turning quite obviously.

Now, it's likely that I have seen too many movies and thus am more difficult to fool than those who don't see so many of the same movies over and over again. Indeed, I can see a less experienced audience taken in by A Perfect Getaway. Me, I wasn't fooled for a second. The clumsy plot fails to hide very particular details that are relatively easy to discern, especially if you aren't taken in by these characters and this dimwitted story. 

That said, A Perfect Getaway isn't without some charm. I did love the detailed stories that Nick tells about his many wild exploits. Timothy Olyphant oozes charismatic danger. He's just off kilter enough to keep you afraid of him but humorous and engaging enough to make you want to root for him, whether he's the killer or the one about to be killed. Steve Zahn and Milla Jovovich on the other hand? Ugh. Trying to bust out of their acting molds, she as a badass action heroine, he as a goofball comic relief sidekick, the pair desperately overplay the yuppie-ness of their characters. That may or may not be by design but that doesn't make it any less irritating.

So, what of this 'pulse pounding' twist? The film does everything it can to cheat around uber-aware audience members like me, even throwing out knowing dialogue about red-herrings, or as Olyphant mistakenly calls them 'red snappers'. The cheats are bothersome and rather than forcing call backs to earlier in the movie, as I am sure they are supposed to, they cause one to reconsider the whole movie and realize how much of a cheat the whole thing really is.

A Perfect Getaway needed to settle one aspect of the essential nature of its story and it could have succeeded in a modest way. Instead, the film cheats and hopes you won't notice. I did notice, repeatedly, and that combined with the irksome performances by Jovovich and Zahn make A Perfect Getaway a chore to endure.

Movie Review: Anchorman The Legend of Ron Burgundy

Anchorman (2004) 

Directed by Adam McKay 

Written by Will Ferrell, Adam McKay 

Starring Will Ferrell, Christina Applegate, Paul Rudd, David Koechner, Steve Carell, Fred Willard

Release Date July 9th, 2004 

Published July 8th, 2004 

In the early 1980's, my older sister became a reporter for a local TV news station. At that station were the last bastions of 70's TV anchors, guys who could clearly remember a time when there were no women in the newsroom. One of those guys could be the template for Will Ferrell's ingenious Ron Burgundy character in the new movie Anchorman. This guy smoked during commercials, sipped scotch during sports, and partied like a college kid when the show was over. He was also legitimately clueless without a teleprompter in front of him. He was a character, like him or not, and now that character has a loving tribute in Anchorman. 

Ron Burgundy (Will Ferrell) is San Diego's most trusted newsman. His evening news broadcast is the most watched in the city. Ron Burgundy and his news team, sports guy Champ Kind (David Koechner), Weatherman Brick Tamland (Steve Carell), and roving reporter Brian Fantana (Paul Rudd), are the envy of every station in San Diego. They are also quite a hit with the ladies. 

Their idyllic boys club newsroom, presided over by producer Ed Harken (Fred Willard), is thrown into chaos when network execs force them to hire a female reporter. Veronica Corningstone (Christina Applegate) is no mere reporter, she has her eye on the anchor desk and on the man behind it. After attempts by each of the news team to try and bed the new girl, Veronica falls for Ron. However, when she gets her shot at the anchor spot the competition tears them apart. 

Oh and there is also a massive brawl between San Diego's news teams that features so many cameos you will need a scorecard to remember them all. Who knows why there is a brawl, who cares, it's funny. What else stands out are the names of the characters, which have the perfect mixture of realism and pomposity. Brick Tamland! Brian Fantana! Champ Kind! Ron Burgundy! There is also a rival character named Wes Mantooth! Brilliant. 

That is the best plot description I could come up with. In reality there is not much of a plot but rather a series of strung together sketches that would have made a legendary Saturday Night Live character. This makes sense since the film was directed by former SNL writer Adam McKay who also collaborated on the script with Ferrell. When I say that Ron Burgundy is like an SNL character I mean that to be more in the Wayne's World quality of SNL character and not in the It's Pat sense. Anchorman is far better than most of the film trash produced from any SNL characters. 

The gags in Anchorman are a scatological patchwork of 70's newsroom parody and obviously improvised dialogue. It's almost hard to believe there was an actual script considering the number of improvised scenes. This amazingly talented cast can riff with the best of them though the improvising does occasionally take a little while to find a punchline. 

Will Ferrell proves once and for all that he will not be resigned to the Rob Schneider comedy ghetto, Will is a star. It helps that he has found a group of comedy all stars to call on for backup. Listing the number of hysterical cameos would take awhile and ruin the surprise. Needless to say, there are some you expect and one or two that really surprise you. Who is that guy in the ‘fro working for the public television news team? You might take a second to recognize him. 

If you’re looking for a message about gender equality, woman’s lib, or just the minor victory of integrating of the newsroom, you won't find it here and you wouldn't want it here anyway. It would get in the way of the juvenile slapstick humor. The juvenility is intentional, it's a Will Ferrell trademark and it works for him. 

Anchorman is about the same thing that this summer's other big hit comedy Dodgeball is after, and that is off the wall scatology. Whatever the actors, writers and directors think is funny, goes. And if somewhere we stumble upon a plot, so be it. It's not great filmmaking but for the most part it's very funny.

Movie Review: Crazy Stupid Love

Crazy Stupid Love (2011) 

Directed by Glenn Ficarra, John Requa 

Written by Dan Fogelman 

Starring Steve Carell, Ryan Gosling, Emma Stone, Julianne Moore 

Release Date July 29th, 2011

Published July 28th, 2011 

Will Steve Carell ever grow up? In The 40 Year old Virgin Carell played a man-child who needed the help of friends to get him laid for the first time. Now, some seven years later, Carell is playing a slightly more grown up man-child who still needs help getting laid, this time after his wife of 25 years, Emily (Julianne Moore), has divorced him.

Enter Jacob played by Ryan Gosling. Jacob looks like he walked out of the pages of GQ carrying the swagger of a pro athlete and the ladies man rap of The Game author Neil Strauss. Jacob takes pity on Carell's Cal after repeatedly listening to Cal whine about his wife cheating on him. Naturally, this leads to a montage of Carell trying on clothes while Gosling hits on the various women assisting in their clothing choices. Soon, Cal has a swagger and for the first time in 25 years he's having sex with a woman who is not his wife, in fact, he's having sex with a number of women.

Jacob meanwhile, finds himself in an entirely new place in life. Hannah (Emma Stone) is the rare woman to reject his advances but after she gets a surprise from her would be fiancée she decides she wants the bar-hopping bad boy. Thinking that it would be just a one night stand, Jacob and Hannah have one of those first nights together that you end up telling your kids about.

Crazy, Stupid, Love was written and directed by the team behind the hit 2010 comedy Easy A, Glen Ficarra and John Requa. The duo has a good ear for the way people speak and an excellent feel for the comic rhythm with which people in movies speak. Carell and Gosling have a terrific comic rapport; quite surprising given Gosling's talent for drama and Carell's comic tendencies.

Also excellent is the chemistry between Gosling and Emma Stone. Ficcarro and Requa did great things with Stone in Easy A and the actress continues to show the promise of a budding superstar in Crazy, Stupid, Love. The Jacob-Hannah love montage would be typical, even perfunctory, were it not for the chemistry of these two terrific performers.

Crazy, Stupid, Love is far from perfect; the film goes off the rails a little late in the film after revealing an unnecessary plot twist and a ludicrous plot involving Cal and Emily's babysitter, Jessica (Analeigh Tipton.) That said, young actress Analeigh Tipton is a total sweetheart who has a terrific sub-plot with Cal and Emily's son Robbie played by Jonah Bobo.

The good things about Crazy, Stupid, Love greatly outweigh the bad. Steve Carell and Ryan Gosling are terrific together as are Gosling and Emma Stone. Add in small roles for Kevin Bacon and Marisa Tomei and you have a recipe for a terrific movie that cannot be spoiled by minor imperfections.

Movie Review: Dan in Real Life

Dan in Real Life (2007)

Directed by Peter Hedges

Written by Pierce Gardner, Peter Hedges

Starring Steve Carell, Dane Cook, Juliette Binoche, Dianne Wiest, John Mahoney, Emily Blunt

Release Date October 26, 2007 

Published October 25th, 2007 

Peter Hedges' film  Pieces Of April was a funky little indie feature about family and togetherness, secrets and lies. The visual style was risky in how disjointed and even at times ugly and stylishly amateur it was. Now, Peter Hedges is moving up to big time mainstream filmmaking and it seems that the move to the studio has taken away his flair for the risky and the funky. His latest, Dan In Real Life, could not be less risky or funky. A straight laced genre romance, Dan In Real Life is a warm but extraordinarily dull little mainstream sitcom, something of a disappointment for a rising star director.

Steve Carell stars as Dan Burns, an advice columnist raising three daughters. Dan lost his wife years ago and is convinced that he is done with relationships. That changes on a family trip to Rhode Island where his parents (Diane Wiest and John Mahoney) live in a lovely beach house where the entire extended family gathers for a week every year.

While getting away for a few hours from his daughters, each of whom are upset with dad for different reasons, Dan meets Marie (Juliette Binoche). The two spark a conversation about books that leads to coffee and scones and eventually to Marie giving Dan her phone number, despite the fact that she is town with her boyfriend and is meeting his family. What a shock then, that the boyfriend happens to be Dan's brother Mitch (Dane Cook). Now Dan must decide whether he should risk everything and pursue his brothers girl or deny the first new love he's felt since his wife passed away.

Nearly everything about Peter Hedges' charming directorial debut Pieces of April is missing from the machine like Dan In Real Life. Churning through the required scenes of a romantic comedy, Dan In Real Life feels forced throughout. The fake vibe of the whole enterprise rises to levels of smarm that are nearly stomach turning.

If Steve Carell and Juliette Binoche weren't such terrifically lovable actors Dan In Real Life would be an absolute chore to sit through. As it is, Carell and Binoche have almost zero chemistry together but just enough likability for us not to be entirely bored by them. Without resorting to mugging or cuteness, Steve Carell still manages to squeeze a couple of laughs out of this story but not nearly enough to make Dan in Real Life worth watching.

As for Juliette Binoche the lovely French actress coasts on her talent in a role she could have performed in her sleep. There is nothing really challenging in this script, unless you consider pretending to want Dane Cook, a challenge, and some might. Dan In Real Life throws highly typical romantic comedy roadblocks in front of Binoche and Carell and both actors go through the motions of not being together before the inevitable and obvious conclusion.

Director Peter Hedges is far more talented than this sitcom in movie clothing suggests. I can't help but feel that Dan In Real Life and not Pieces of April is the anomaly of his career. Pieces of April was smart and funny and a little risky in both the storytelling and style. Dan in Real Life is the antithesis of risky. Nothing could be less risky than this puppy dog romantic comedy made from the leftovers of several other dull, forgettable romances.

Movie Review: Date Night

Date Night (2010) 

Directed by Shawn Levy

Written by Josh Klausner 

Starrive Steve Carell, Tina Fey, Ray Liotta, Common, Jimmy Simpson

Release Date April 9th, 2010 

Published April 8th, 2010

A couple of bored New Jersey-ites decide to mix up their routine with a trip to the big city and find themselves mixed up in a murderous plot involving gangsters, crooked cops and dirty politicians in the new comedy Date Night starring Tina Fey and Steve Carell and directed by mainstream machinist Shawn Levy (Night at the Museum 1 & 2).

Shawn Levy has never been what anyone would call an auteur. Levy is, without a doubt, a craftsman but more along the lines of an amateur carpenter than a master builder. Levy's films tend to unfold with a solid plan in mind and end up as rickety, half completed disasters. To be fair, the half completed parts can be quite entertaining and have proven exceptionally popular.

How nice then that Levy's latest rickety contraption, Date Night, actually shows the director becoming a better craftsman. Unlike the Night at the Museum movies, Date Night has a quick pace, oodles of charm, and more than a few really big laughs. It helps to have a pair of very, very funny leads to carry the audience over the trouble spots. As Phil and Claire Foster, Steve Carell and Tina Fey do a remarkable job of portraying a marriage with a little dust on it. The routine of once a week dinners, lame book clubs and time spent with fellow dusty married couples is so well evoked that you can't wait for the expected wackiness to ensue.

The wackiness arrives when Phil and Claire, frightened by the recently announced divorce of a longtime friends, break from their routine for a night in New York City. The couple want to have dinner at a swanky new restaurant in Manhattan but they don't have a reservation. When another couple doesn't show, Phil boldly claims the reservation and the identity of the missing couple.

That couple, unfortunately, happens to be the missing link between a mob boss (Ray Liotta) and some dirty cops (Jimmi Simpson and Common) and a shady politician. When the dirty cops come after the Foster's one wild night ensues as they evade the bad guys with the help of a hunky security expert played by a shirtless Mark Wahlberg.

The plot is creaky and as well aged as Claire and Phil's marriage routine. The key to making it work lies with Carell and Fey's ability to sell the goofball, over the top gags and sell they do, Carell and Fey make a top notch comic duo. Scene after scene, whether Phil and Claire are sharing a quiet meal, poking quiet fun at fellow diners, or running from a hail of bullets or in a wild car chase, Carell and Fey make the most of their terrific comic chemistry to draw big laughs.

If you like the Steve Carell and Tina Fey you know from TV then you will like Phil and Claire. Director Levy cleverly plays the story to the strengths of his stars and they reward him by taking thin characters and a well worn plot and make something surprisingly, hilariously more of it.

With any other cast Date Night would crash and burn. With Steve Carell and Tina Fey Date Night becomes a fast paced, laugh out loud riot; stay for the credits which tack on a few more big laughs in Carell and Fey's blunders and ad libs. Shawn Levy may never be a great director but with the right cast and the right material he is an effective director and that is all that was needed for Date Night.