Monday, October 10, 2011

IDES OF MARCH

“IDES OF MARCH” (Ryan Gosling, George Clooney, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Paul Giamatti, Evan Rachel Wood, Marisa Tomei & Jeffrey Wright)

An impressive cast gives an impressive over-all performance in this politically-charged film, but it is Ryan Gosling’s character & portrayal that makes this a potential Best Picture contender.
I can see where a criticism for being TOO political would turn some viewers off, but I enjoyed the predicament that Steven Myers (Gosling) finds himself mired in as he found himself wading thru muck that kept getting thicker & thicker as the plot unraveled against him.
The set-up; George Clooney plays Governor Mike Morris, a democrat front-runner in the next presidential election. His lone opponent is an older, less exciting politician named Pullman (& as we Washingtonians all know – there is nothing duller than Pullman – Sorry, Cougar fans, but it’s true & you know it)
What Pullman has going for him is a savvy campaign organizer named Tom Duffy (Paul Giamatti) who sees Steve Myers as being the difference between his candidate winning the party’s nomination or losing it, as Myers works for the charismatic, able to connect with the younger voters Governor Morris.
Philip Seymour Hoffman, flawless as always, plays Paul Zara, Morris’s chief advisor. Paul has been-thru-the-campaign-wars-many-times as well & is appalled when Steven tells him that he met with Duffy and how the opposition strategist tried to steal him away from the Morris team.
Evan Rachel Wood is Molly Stearns, the daughter of a current U.S. Senator who goes to work as an intern in the Morris-For-President campaign headquarters. She takes a shine to handsome Mr. Myers & throws herself at him. He catches her & the second time that they have sexual relations Molly’s cell phone goes off at 2:00 in the morning while she’s sleeping. Steven picks up the phone, which then goes dead. He asks about any ex-boyfriend’s that he has to worry about & she tells him there’s no one...
Jeffrey Wright is kind of boring as Senator Thompson, a man who holds the key for either candidate to succeed in winning the state of Ohio & more-than-likely propelling them to the democratic nomination. Gov. Morris dislikes the Senator & doesn’t want to ‘give in’ to the sleazeball’s demand of attaining a cabinet post in exchange for his endorsement. And I don't mean to demean Wright's performance, it is spot on as most Senator's are exceptionally boring...
Throw in Marisa Tomei as a reporter that will do anything to dig up any inside scoops, or dirty laundry to make a name for herself & this cast of characters makes for an intriguing stew in which to boil a pot full of plot.
The person who was on the other end of the 2:00 AM phone call & what he shared with Molly becomes the focal point which gets Steven embroiled in a scandal which could win or lose the nomination for either candidate.
How Steven decides to ‘fix’ the situation is what ends up costing him his career & possibly his life. The driving question running thru my mind during this film was – How is he going to get out of this mess?
Where “Ides Of March” failed on me though was in the final scene. I hated the way it ended. I wanted to hear the answer to the question that was asked just before the screen went black & the credits started to roll. Yes, I felt a bit cheated by the failure to disclose how this story was going to be ‘spun’ by the professional spinners, yet still, I did enjoy the ride up until I was cut off from any further communication by the filmmaker...
Bastard.

REAL STEEL

“REAL STEEL” (Hugh Jackman & Dakota Goyo)

AKA “Rock ‘em, Sock em Robots – The Movie”.
Set a mere nine years in the future, “Real Steel” takes place in 2020 & Charlie Kenton (Jackman) is a washed up ex-boxer that had a mediocre-at-best career & has delved into the ‘robot boxing’ biz that has taken America by storm (albeit mostly in remote backwoods places like run-down county fairs & dilapidated zoos)
Charlie is a hopeless ‘get rich quick’ schemer who always over-estimates the capabilities of his robots & always gets them destroyed – Thanks also in part to his lackadaisical operating skills. In the first robo-fight we see, Charlie’s latest acquisition is pitted against a live rodeo bull. The robot has the match well in hand until Charlie gets distracted by a hot little number in the stands that keeps winking at him. Charlie loses the bout & his life savings by thinking with his pecker rather than his brain.
Charlie then receives word that his ex-wife has died & he needs to show up in court to sign over his rights to the son they had to the boy’s Aunt Debbie (Hope Davis)
Charlie sees dollar signs in Debbie’s elderly spouse & makes a deal with the man behind Debbie’s back to take the 11 year old kid for three months so the old guy can take his wife to Italy. Upon their return, Max (Charlie’s son, played by the unfortunately named Dakota Goyo) will be turned over to Aunt Debbie & Charlie will receive a second cash paymeny of $50,000.
After purchasing & destroying another ‘legendary’ robo-boxer, Charlie takes Max on a trip to rob a robotic junkyard looking for usable parts to rebuild his fighter. After all, what better way is there to bond with your 11 year old than to show him you’re not only a hopeless loser, but a thief as well?
Showing off his parenting skills, Charlie nearly gets Max killed in the junkyard but they do happen upon an intact robot literally stuck in the mud. Charlie, ever the wise judge of robo-boxing talent sees a hunk of junk, but Max sees potential in Atom, the ‘sparring bot’ that he digs out of the mud (& steals – like father, like son)
Evangeline Lilly plays Bailey, Charlie’s on again/off again girlfriend & even though I initially thought she wasn’t good looking enough to attract a Hugh Jackman – She works because she is pretty enough to put up with a completely incompetent loser like ‘Charlie’.
Although ‘Real Steel’ turns into a sweet and mushy father & son bonding tale, it still has moments where you don’t want to start popping all the zits that form while you’re viewing this celluloid version of a Hershey’s Kiss.
The predictable finale was fun to watch – as a fan of Muhammad Ali, I had to admit that I enjoyed the way Atom 'rope-a-dopes' World Champion Boxing Robot Zeus in the Rocky-esque bout that Max helps to set up by being an annoying little braggart brat.
The thing with ‘Real Steel’ is that it comes up with a formula to entice all manners of movie-going masses into wanting to check it out – Chicks will enjoy the estranged father learning what it’s like to feel an emotion as his unknown offspring turns out to be a better ‘robot-trainer’ than the old man. Dudes will get off on the rock’em sock’em robot battles... Chicks will get to fawn over dreamy Hugh Jackman whenever he takes his shirt off, while dudes will get off on the rock’em sock’em robots. & chicks will giggle & go ‘aww’ when Max teaches Atom how to dance like an 11 year old white kid with absolutely no rhythm whatsoever & dudes will get off when Atom enters the ring & pulverizes his opponents.
For me, it was actually the relationship between Charlie & Atom that made this better than I expected; for Charlie gets to redeem his unfulfilled boxing career by showing his son’s fighter-bot how to box like a human.
So it has something to appeal to all ages, sexes & I. Q.’s – which means the public will love it, while I just found it to be mildly enjoyable...

DREAM HOUSE

“DREAM HOUSE” (Daniel Craig, Rachel Weisz & Naomi Watts)

Normally I steer clear of haunted house movies, but the upper echelon cast made me hopeful that this one would be better than the norm. It is, but it still has drawbacks.
For one thing, there aren’t enough characters – I knew the ‘actual’ killer had to be one of two people - & the only reason I was slightly surprised is that it turned out to be the most obvious of the two – the other possible character would have made for a more interesting outcome.
But it did set up nicely. Daniel Craig as Will moves into a new home with his wife, Libby (Rachel Weisz) & two young daughters. Goth teens appear in their basement one night holding a ritual for the family that was murdered there.
Naomi Watts plays Ann, the next door neighbor who constantly looks at Will as though she’s either deathly afraid of him, or deeply concerned for his well being.
Will finds out that Peter Ward is the name of the man who murdered his family in the house and that Ward was recently released from the local insane asylum. When he goes to the facility for the criminally insane to find out why Ward was set free, he is shown a video of the man when he was first brought in – A gruesome looking being with an ugly bullet wound scar in the back of his head is seen having a violent reaction to his incarceration – when the killer turns toward the camera, Peter Ward turns out to look exactly like Will. Is it the old ‘just a coincidence’ ploy or the tired ‘evil twin’ device?
Or is friendly easygoing Will actually Peter Ward; & if he is – who are those three females living with him in his house acting as though they are his wife & daughters?
It’s a potentially interesting plot – but unfortunately there aren’t enough characters introduced to make it a conundrum as to what the truth might actually be.
So this is basically a decently acted haunted house/ghost story that doesn’t challenge the viewer all that much. It’s O.K., but it had the potential to be much better...

Sunday, October 2, 2011

50 / 50

“50 / 50” (Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Seth Rogen & Anna Kendrick)

If ever there was a feel good cancer film, this is it. I’ve always liked Gordon-Levitt, but this is the second humorous performance by Rogen this year - & the first where he’s actually playing someone who looks just like Seth Rogen.
“50 / 50” is based on the true story of what happened to an actual friend of Seth Rogen’s – so that makes it even more amazing since Rogen is basically playing himself & is the main reason this cancer drama is pretty damn funny.
My cousin’s 17 year old son asked me last week if I could make any film, as the director, which one would I have liked to have made. Being a narcissist, I answered “A Flickering Of Inner Light” (the title of my second novel) But of films that have already been made, I said “One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest” because it ran the gamut of emotions – it was seriously dramatic, hilariously funny and had a poignant, lump in the throat finale. “50 / 50”, though not anywhere near being on par with the quality of ‘Cuckoo’s’ does that as well. Nicholson had to do it all in ‘Cuckoo’s’, but here the load is shared by the three leads mentioned above.
Joseph Gordon-Levitt plays Adam – his best friend Kyle (Rogen) is kind of a dickhead, but even though he tries to use Adam’s illness to get them both laid, there’s an underlying concern that Kyle shows that makes him acceptable. They both work at Seattle Public Radio, where unlike the radio station I worked at for 18 years, they never seem to air anything. But Adam’s working life is a minor portion of this film – what makes it beat are the relationships he has / had / & hopes to live long enough to get.
Bryce Dallas Howard plays Rachael, Adam's artist girlfriend who is just on the verge of becoming Adam’s permanent room mate when the tumor is discovered on Adam’s spine.
With cackling glee Kyle helps to bring that relationship to a crashing end, leaving Adam to fight off both his over-protective mother (Anjelica Huston) & the bimbos that Kyle wants to score with by using Adam’s sickness as an aphrodisiac.
Anna Kendrick gives another pleasant performance as Katie, Adam’s appointed psychologist/therapist who doesn’t exactly install a lot of confidence in Adam by revealing he’s her third patient... ever. But it is Katie who puts things in perspective for Adam on many levels.
The title comes from Adam’s research of his illness on a website that had ‘50/50’ as the chance of survival for this disease. As Kyle tells him, “Hey, if you were a casino game, you’d have the best odds!”
This is an excellent film, even with the hokey ending, which, I’ll be honest, if it didn’t end the way it did, I would have been disappointed, so I’m guilty this time of wanting the stereotypical ending & then not being disappointed when I got it. Some films earn my respect by giving me the unexpected, but I don’t think this one would have worked by doing that.
Not a bad performance in the cast – but I am concerned with Opie Cunningham’s daughter giving her second performance of 2011 playing a total b*tch! Okay, Bryce, we get it, you can play unlikable, now gives us someone friendly please!
Like ‘Dolphin Tale’ this is one of those films that if you say anything bad about it, you’re just mean...





--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Saturday, October 1, 2011

The GUARD

“The GUARD” (Brendan Gleeson, Don Cheadle & Mark Strong)

Sgt. Gerry Boyle (Brendan Gleeson) is the Archie Bunker of Irish cops; he routinely spouts out racial insults, but in a way that makes you laugh – You know he’s just saying them for shock value and always raises his eyebrows with a quizzical, ‘Did I say something wrong?’ expression.
The main reason Brendan Gleeson makes Boyle acceptable is that you soon discover Gerry isn’t exactly a racist because he hates EVERYBODY no matter what color their skin happens to be. Which should make him a humanist, but somehow it doesn’t work THAT way...
The body of an unknown man is found in an abandoned apartment with a bullet hole in his forehead, passages from the bible stuffed into his mouth and the number ‘5 ½’ written on the wall in the victim’s blood, ala ‘Helter Skelter’.
The chief suspect is shown on video surveillance knocking the then living corpse out in a bar fight the previous evening. But the suspect, though a definite hot head with violent tendencies has an alibi for the rest of the evening and is released.
When American FBI agent Wendell Everett (Don Cheadle) arrives to brief the local law enforcement officials about a quartet of drug smugglers who are planning a 500 million (“That’s half a billion,” someone always has to add) heroin shipment in Ireland, Sgt. Boyle interrupts the briefing with racial comments that make it seem as though he wants to be dismissed for insubordination by his superiors. Just when Agent Everett has had enough of Boyle’s inappropriate behavior, Gerry informs the FBI man that one of his heroin smugglers was found in an apartment building with a bullet in his head...

Things get even rockier between the pair when Boyle informs ‘Wendell’ that he’ll get started on the case in two days as tomorrow is his day off.
At one point Wendell tells Gerry, “I don’t know if you’re the dumbest cop I’ve ever met – or the smartest.
Gleeson & Cheadle play well off of one another, but this is Gleeson’s baby from start to finish. The serious plot of two officers of the law trying to track down a trio of drug smugglers that will kill anyone that crosses them isn’t taken all that seriously by the script – In fact, oftentimes, the bad guys are just as funny as the good guys – which made them hard to dislike.
Mark Strong plays another mega-villain with relish as Clive, the no nonsense member of the drug smuggling ring. & pretty Katarina Cas plays Gabriela, the wife of Gerry’s missing partner, Aidan. Gabriela’s relationship with her husband is as unorthodox as the rest of the film and despite the many odd characters & situations, ‘The Guard’ pulls you in and holds your interest.
But again, everyone bows to Gleeson here; Gerry, an unmarried, weary policeman uses ‘escorts’ on a regular basis and so he is constantly fondling his privates as though he has unwelcome guests in his pubic region. One of the more memorable scenes comes when Boyle uses his itching problem to his advantage after being placed into a dangerous situation.
There are no wasted scenes in ‘The Guard’, the story is compelled forward at a good pace leading up to the climax when Gerry & Wendell find themselves going up against an entire drug cartel without any backup. Although it is easy to tell that this production is ‘low budget’ – the entire production isn’t as slick as a ‘Hollywood’ film, the soundtrack sounds like someone brought in a bunch of old vinyl records and slapped them on the turntable when a musical interlude was necessary, but I thoroughly enjoyed ‘The Guard’ and the main reason was Brendan Gleeson’s performance. Mock me if you will, but I’d say he should get a best actor nomination because this is my favorite performance of the year so far...

**I want to apologize to anyone that reads my reviews - I have been having trouble getting into my Google account lately, which is why my blogs have been so sporadic of late. If you know of anyone that likes films & might enjoy reading my sarcastic ramblings, please invite them to Google 'Terry's Movie Reviews', just in case
they're thinking of dropping my account due to lack of interest! THANKS!**

DOLPHIN TALE

“DOLPHIN TALE” (Nathan Gamble, Winter, Harry Connick, Jr., Ashley Judd & Morgan Freeman)

The ONLY complaint I have about this film is that it plays the handicapped card to death – but what is more sympathetic than a wounded soldier and a little wheel chair bound girl with one leg? Well, for one thing, a dolphin that had to have its injured tail amputated, & this movie throws them all into the mix in a tearjerker extravaganza.
Harry Connick, Jr. & Ashley Judd were previously matched in the bizarrely interesting “Bug” – THAT was not a family-friendly flick – “Dolphin Tale” is SO family friendly it should have a rating that insists no one Over the age of 17 not be admitted without a child in tow.
Nathan Gamble plays Sawyer, a fatherless boy that looks up to his swimming champion cousin Kyle (Austin Stowell) When Kyle joins the army and is sent overseas, Sawyer retracts into his room – venturing out only to take a summer school class.
Sawyer’s life changes dramatically when a man on the beach calls to him and asks if he has a cell phone. Sawyer sees that the man has found a beached dolphin tangled in the ropes of a crab trap. Using the Swiss army knife that Kyle gave him, Sawyer does the best he can to free the dying creature. When the sea animal rescue squad shows up to take the dolphin to their compound, Sawyer tracks down their location to see if the dolphin survived.
Befriended by Hazel (Cozi Zuehlsdorff) the daughter of the doctor that runs the facility, Sawyer is invited to join the crew when it becomes obvious that Winter (the dolphin) responds positively when Sawyer is nearby – recognizing him as the one that cut her free of the crab trap.
Other than Morgan Freeman, as Dr. McCarthy, a physician who specializes in prosthetics, “Dolphin Tale” doesn’t have a single impressive actor – Ashley Judd is given little to do as Lorraine, Sawyer’s mom and Rufus, the pelican that provides the comic relief from all the drama succeeds mainly due to his goofy appearance rather than his acting abilities.
Harry Connick, Jr. as Dr. Clay Haskett doesn’t have to act – In fact no one has to as it’s the dolphin that makes this film special.
This is one of those films that if you don’t enjoy it, you’d better go have an EKG examination because you may not have a heart. The only ‘bad guy’ is the unseen billionaire that wants to buy the compound & turn it into something profitable. But that dilemma always seems to be on the backburner as Winter’s survival is everyone’s major concern.
Now that I think of it - there are two rather sexually explicit scenes involving Sawyer & Winter - but it's consentual, so I guess that keeps it 'family' friendly...
A sweet, touching, emotional film – I had to keep flicking tears out of the corners of my eyes, which is very troublesome for me since my father was one of those macho guys that couldn’t stand cry babies. But something tells me even the old man would have had a hard time keeping his eyes dry during this charming ‘tale’ of an innocent & adorable ‘fish’ (as Dr. McCarthy keeps mis-labeling Winter) that has to learn how to swim with a prosthetic tail or be put out her misery.
I just hope Hootie isn’t in the theatre when you see ‘cause he’s gonna be bawling his head off...

CONTAGION

“CONTAGION” (Matt Damon, Jude Law, Laurence Fishburne, Gwyneth Paltrow, Kate Winslet & Marion Cotillard)

This film is meant to frighten hypochondriacs and germophobes. Not being either of those, I wasn’t frightened at all by this so-called ‘gripping’, ‘pulse-pounding’ film. What made the movie even slightly interesting to me was the political aspect it brought forth – That in this country the gap being the ‘haves’ and the ‘have-nots’ is widening with every breath a Republican politician takes.
So while the film is full of well-known actors playing bit roles as people who are probably going to die, the only one I found intriguing was Jude law’s Alan Krumwiede; a conspiracy theorist blogger who catches the disease, gets a hold of an experimental drug that counteracts the virus and begins to expose the medical profession and their link to the filthy rich that controls the government. “Why isn’t this drug being given to the people?” Alan asks Laurence Fishburne’s Dr. Cheever during a nationally televised debate.
“Because it hasn’t passed safety regulations,” the doctor replies, obviously lying as the sweat forms on his brow.
Of course Alan’s proclamations don’t help matters as riots break out across the country from the filthy poor that are told there isn’t enough vaccine – for them...

That’s the interesting part of “Contagion”, unfortunately the bulk of the film centers on the disease – how fast it’s spreading and how did it get into the United States.
And in doing that the film frequently feels like a documentary. Maps with large red blotches are shown and it’s just as dangerous as during presidential elections as the red blotches are bad. Newscasters smile wistfully as they project the number of humans expected to die from the virus in millions.

Mitch Emhoff’s wife, Beth, played by Gwyneth Paltrow, returns from a trip to Hong Kong looking pale and weak. Soon she goes into convulsions and Mitch (Matt Damon) rushes her to the hospital. When the doctor comes out and informs Mitch that he ‘did all he could do’ to save his wife, Mitch responds, “Well, can I talk to her?”
A few days later, Mitch’s son gets sick and dies. Although Damon does a decent job playing someone who is immune to the disease, his character doesn’t seem to get all that angry or does much grieving after losing his wife & son suddenly and mysteriously. He has a daughter that wasn’t home when mom brought the disease into the house, so he has to protect her and I guess he makes that his main focus instead of going into shock with grief.
Marion Cotillard as Dr. Lenora Orantes is put into a dangerous position (I won’t reveal why) but just as her predicament intensifies, the movie leaves her story dangling without coming back to check on what’s happening to her. When she finally returns to the screen, there isn’t much revealed on what she’s been going through with her dilemma and the resolve just kind of fizzles out...
Big names, such as Demetri Martin (seriously, someone hired him to ‘act’ in a film after ‘Taking Woodstock’?) & I-thought-he-died-years-ago, Elliott Gould play doctors (the latter more convincingly than the former)
& Bryan Cranston, becoming quite the bit player in his burgeoning film career, plays the head of the military that’s forced to keep the undeserving of medical treatment paupers in line...
As I said, if you’re one of those people that won’t shake hands with anyone or wears gloves all the time in fear of catching something nasty from your fellow diseased-riddled humans, you’ll probably be horrified by this non-gripping, pulse slowing, non-action flick. But if you like to see one over-rated actress bite the big one before her bland acting style starts to annoy you, then there’s at least one scene in ‘Contagion’ that you’ll enjoy as much as I did..
Otherwise, it’s a showcase for Jude Law to look unattractive (I couldn’t keep my eyes off of that crooked tooth!) and act quite the oddball even though he’s the only voice of reality in this film. It has its moments, thanks to Jude, but overall, it’s kind of boring...

I DON'T KNOW HOW SHE DOES IT

“I DON’T KNOW HOW SHE DOES IT” (Sarah Jessica Parker, Greg Kinnear, Pierce Brosnan & Olivia Munn)

I don’t know how they green lit this. However, I was expecting it to be the leading candidate for worse movie of 2011 & it’s not that – It’s Bottom 10 material, but not the worst - & the reason for that is Olivia Munn – her character (& attractiveness) save this from being total dredge.
Olivia plays the unfortunately named ‘Momo’; Sarah Jessica Parker’s assistant at the banking firm she toils for night & day, on weekends & holidays 24/7 a week, 365 per year. Parker’s Kate is married with children; Momo is single & happily unattached. Hence, Kate is annoying, Momo is sarcastic & likeable. But the main reason Momo/Munn save this film is simple; they are seen onscreen together frequently, giving the viewer something pleasant to look at instead of Horseface. I’m sure the females in the crowd of 9 (Myself & an obviously senile invalid being the only males) were concentrating on the horse that used to be on “Sex & The City” – And I’m not all that sure that the muddleheaded old-timer wasn’t gazing at the woman with the enormous proboscis as well, but I found it to be a great relief to be able to gaze upon Ms. Munn instead of Sham during scenes involving Momo.
Okay, chauvinistics aside, this movie brings nothing new to the chick flick stable. And I use that word to make Ms. Parker feel at home. SJP’s Kate is the reason for the title – she has two small children, an unemployed husband (who acquires a well paying job early in the story) and works for a demanding boss named Clark (Played by Frasier Crane of TV fame)
Kate’s already hectic life of pretending to be a good mother (she buys a pie & tries to pass it off as one she baked for her daughter’s school bake-off) is further complicated when Clark assigns her to work with Jack Abelhammer (Pierce Brosnan) a V.I.P. out of New York to help them land a big client.
The so-called comedy in this farce runs along these lines – Kate receives two emails; one from Jack saying he’s looking forward to meeting her & one from her best friend, Alison (Christina Hendricks) asking what she’s up to. Kate replies to the second email first saying she ‘has to go to New York and blow somebody’ – then she replies to Jack saying she’s looking forward to meeting him as well... Gee, can anybody guess what happened next?
Other than saying ‘thank you’ repeatedly, Kate isn’t the type of person that uses phrases like ‘blow somebody’ – so this lame attempt at humor doesn’t even fit her character.
After husband Richard (Greg Kinnear) gets a full time job, Kate’s lists of things to do, which she concocts in the dead of night while everyone else is sleeping, keep her up for hours... the strange thing is, there’s nothing on these lists that really mean anything. Take kids to school, get balloons for party, blow Jack in New York... Okay, I made that last one up – but you get the idea – her lists are mostly things that are done on a daily basis – you don’t have to make a list of things you do routinely.
In another lame comedic effort, Kate enters a crowded elevator with about 2 dozen balloons (for the aforementioned party) She pleads for someone to hold the elevator for her while she crams in with her massive display of blown up rubbery things; While I’m thinking, “Just wait for the next elevator you selfish dingbat,” Gramps and his keeper sitting in front of me are laughing their butts off as the balloons begin to pop... That’s when I began to wonder; “What is it that I’m not getting here?” Then it dawned on me, “Oh yeah, I’m not senile... yet.”
What else bothered me? On a drive to Grandma’s house for Thanksgiving, Richard encourages his family to sing along with Bill Withers’ “Lovely Day” . . . Like anyone on the planet knows any of the words to f***ing “Lovely Day” other than the title, which is repeated as often as “I know” is in Bill Withers’ “Ain’t No Sunshine”
Seems I always have to take a shot at the music when it irritates me, but that’s just the way I am...
Seth Myers plays Kate’s nemesis at work, Chris Buntz, and he makes one of the dumbest statements I’ve ever heard; “No one goes to a pet store and says ‘I want a bird that cannot fly.” Huh???? EVERYONE who goes to a pet store says they want a bird that cannot fly otherwise the bloody thing will fly away first chance it gets & you’re out the cash you spent on the bird, you twit!
Several characters are shown after scenes as though they are being interviewed documentary-style as they comment on what just happened to Kate – a lot of the dialogue from these scenes seems forced (as the above bird commentary) except when delivered by Olivia’s Momo – the few lines that made me chuckle slightly were Ms. Munn’s.
Is this ‘style’ of interviewing characters an attempt to draw in reality show viewers? I ask because I don’t watch reality shows, but when I see clips of them on the shows that make fun of reality shows (Chelsea Lately & Talk Soup) this seems to be a major tool among the trashy TV veneers.
So I disliked this film for several reasons - let’s not forget the absurdity that decent looking guys like Greg Kinnear & Pierce Brosnan would find Sham attractive – but thanks to Olivia Munn there is something about it to like.
Okay, let’s all singalong with Bill; “It’s going to be a lovely day, lovely day, lovely day, lovely day. Gonna be a lovely day, lovely day, lovely day, lovely day. We’re going to have a lovely day, lovely day, lovely day, lovely day. Let’s all have a lovely day, lovely day, lovely day, lovely day...”
Sorry, those are the only words I know I know I know I know I know I know I know I know I know I know I know I know I know I know I know I know...
Bill Withers . . . the master of redundancy!