November 21, 2009

2012

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Believe it or not, Roland Emmerich actually explores a common theme in most of his disaster movies. He is very concerned with how people unite during a catastrophe and is interested in how they come out of it as human beings. Now there’s obviously nothing nuanced about Emmerich’s approach and his conclusions aren’t every very logical or meaningful, but there is a method to the madness beyond blowing stuff up real good.

With 2012, Emmerich blows things up real good and then some in creating one of the biggest and baddest disaster pictures of all time. It is a ridiculous motion picture in just about every sense of the word, but it delivers a thrilling first half and packs a slew of awe-inspiring visuals into its colossal runtime before running out of gas when Emmerich tries to put too fine a point on things.

2012 is of course Emmerich’s take on the various disasters predicted for the end of the world. It invokes a host of myths about our planet’s grand finale, ranging from the Mesoamerican Long Count calendar to the beliefs of the Mayans. The earth starts to get in trouble due to solar flare bombardment, we are told, and that causes a series of events that plunge the world into destruction. California falls into the Pacific, for instance, and a slew of earthquakes and tsunamis wreck the joint with style.

Through it all, Emmerich has us follow a cast of unnecessary characters. John Cusack is one, playing a writer from Los Angeles that manages to make it through a zillion improbable circumstances with his ex-wife (Amanda Peet), two kids and his ex-wife’s new man (Thomas McCarthy). Danny Glover gets to be president, too, and Thandie Newton is the president’s daughter. There’s also a host of scientists and crazies warning the planet, including Woody Harrelson as a hermit/conspiracy theorist.

2012 manages to roll its improbable, silly scenario out for quite a good long while thanks to some absolutely dazzling effects. Watching the destruction of Los Angeles is especially thrilling, as Emmerich lets the ground gobble everything up in brilliant light and colour. The tsunamis and earthquakes do their stuff and give the characters lots of cool crashing stuff to fly around and drive through. This provides copious amounts of popcorn-munching entertainment and should be seen on a big screen to truly appreciate it.

Of course, Emmerich does eventually drop the ball. Things get a little fuzzy and repetitive when the various large-scale attempts to survive start emerging. There’s a whole bunch of “arks,” apparently, and they were built by the private sector to ensure the survival of society’s elite. This was done in secret until the last minute, amazingly enough, and their existence generates the movie’s ethical quandaries.

Emmerich just isn’t very good at the ethical stuff, though, and the film stumbles when he starts to thin things out. Telling the “human story” doesn’t particularly work with this disaster flick, especially when it involves more dogs and kids than Independence Day. The problems emerge when it becomes obvious as to where certain characters are gravitating, making for many a groan-worthy moment in what was a pretty slick, deadly disaster pic.

In the end, 2012 gets a pass because it delivers the goods in a big way. It’s worth a look or two just to see how cool the effects look and how well Emmerich can blow stuff up when he really wants to. His patience and timing with the destruction is especially admirable, as he doesn’t “Michael Bay” it with overwhelming motion. The Los Angeles scenes are incredible. But when things start drawing to their conclusion, don’t be surprised if you find yourself looking at your watch.

5.9/10

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November 21, 2009

Obsessed

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When it comes to trashy movies, there are generally two different categories. The first is the trashy movie that knows it’s a trashy movie, while the second and much, much worst category is the trashy movie that has no awareness of its trashiness. Luckily, Obsessed falls into the former category and builds to the climax that everyone who’s anyone wants to see. It also manages to reach the inexorable apex of its story without being boring along the way, which certainly earns it some points.

Directed by Steve Shill, who has worked on some pretty terrific HBO programs, Obsessed picks up on the scenario from Fatal Attraction somewhat and builds it to a knock-down-drag-out fight in the final sequences. This is a movie that is all about the build and all about the tension of what will happen and it uses every resource imaginable to do so.

Idris Elba is good as the happily married Derek Charles. He’s a successful executive vice president of a successful company and he’s living the dream. Derek’s marriage to Sharon Charles (Beyoncé Knowles) is a happy one and their child, Kyle, is the centre of their universe. As one might expect, everything changes when temp Lisa Sheridan (Ali Larter) steps into the picture. She meets Derek in an elevator and instantly becomes envious of what he has.

Lisa obsesses over Derek, using all of her assets to get at him in any possible way. She aims to seduce him initially, but the obsession grows and she begins to want to be in his life as a permanent fixture. Derek is having none of it, however, and this puts a significant strain on her plan. She works hard to get at him, drugging him at a business retreat and taking advantage of him. This leads to difficulty between Derek and Sharon, but the truth eventually comes out and leads to Sharon “asserting herself.”

One doesn’t go see a popcorn flick like Obsessed to ruminate about the nuances of the performances or the direction. Shill does work some nice tricks, though, and his approach to the material is clean and unfussy. He builds objects well, like a drink with a drug in it or a glass table, and knows how to draw our attention to the right places.

The match-up between Larter and Knowles is every bit as good as it should be, invoking every piece of cheesy fight cliché to get the job done in a sequence that literally tears the house apart. The two women really go at it and it works as a fun, thrilling sequence that ends as it should. It is the main event of the picture and Shill delivers the goods with a combination of timing and over-the-top glee. It’s a hell of a lot of fun to watch.

Obsessed is really a simple motion picture. Everybody holds up their end of the bargain and nobody comes up short, including the supporting cast. This is a movie that doesn’t stretch, doesn’t move mountains and doesn’t overreach. It certainly knows its boundaries and Shill does well to work within his parameters, taking few risks and delivering an entertaining, satisfying guilty pleasure of a picture that boasts a really cool fight scene to close things off aptly.

The film doesn’t bore along the way, either, and it’s fun to watch Larter attempt to scoop Elba’s character with a variety of sneaky attempts. She plays a good villainous woman here and matches up well with Knowles’ assertive but happy Sharon. There are also some good early moments that allow each actress to try their hand at subtle digs. Overall, Obsessed is just good fun. It’s a good matinee or drive-in picture that goes down easy with a soda and a nice big tub of popcorn.

5.9/10

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November 20, 2009

Funny People

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A meandering mess of a movie, Funny People is all the more disappointing because early scenes sparkle with brilliant potential, crisp comedy and poignant drama. The movie is Judd Apatow’s third directorial project, continuing the producer/director/screenwriter’s tendency for overlong pictures with its 145 minute runtime.

One of the key problems with Funny People is its uncanny ability to kill its own momentum. Apatow starts with an interesting, humorous and touching premise and sets it up beautifully, drawing characters we care about and letting us into the world of stand-up comedy with some unique sequences. He uses his stars well, too, having them perform comedy in front of live crowds and shooting the reactions. But it’s when Apatow creates a mountain out of a subplot that Funny People loses everything it could have been.

Adam Sandler stars as comedian and actor George Simmons. He is, essentially, playing a slightly different version of himself. Simmons’ career has been built on a series of lowbrow comedies and he lives a luxurious lifestyle. The problem is that George is suffering from a rare blood disease and is, as a result, expected to die. He’s isolated himself from family and true friends, so he decides to use the situation to better himself.

In bettering himself, Simmons takes an interest in a young comic, Ira Wright (Seth Rogen). Wright is working a day job at a deli and lives with roommates who are in various stages of success in the entertainment industry. Simmons eventually hires Ira to write some jokes and the two bond with George telling Wright about his medical predicament. This relationship develops and remains an interesting component until Apatow forces an angle with George’s ex-wife (Leslie Mann) and her Aussia husband (Eric Bana) that drags things to a standstill.

When Funny People focuses on George’s return to his roots as a stand-up comic and with his relationship with Ira, it is actually a good movie. Unfortunately, Apatow abandons the premise for something else only weakly linked to Simmons’ illness and this abandonment makes for a bizarre, unfunny, boring second half punctuated by Mann’s abysmal performance and Sandler’s inability to drum up chemistry with her.

There are a ton of guest spots here, too, but those are confined to the better portions of the movie. Eminem shares a hilarious moment with Ray Romano, while comics like Norm MacDonald, Sarah Silverman and Paul Reiser drop by. There’s also a performance by James Taylor in the mix, which helps cement the aura of celebrity Sandler’s Simmons exists in. It helps things feel real that Sandler tries his best, too, but in the end there’s little to be done with Apatow’s bloated script.

Rogen keeps to his usual self, never quite reaching for much and never quite hitting it, but he does reasonably well when he works with Jonah Hill and Jason Schwartzman. He’s tossed an unnecessary bone in the form of a small romantic angle with comedian Aubrey Plaza’s character, but this goes nowhere and remains completely uninteresting after it’s swept up by Apatow’s need to give his wife something to do.

In the end, Funny People is its own worst enemy. It becomes a bloated waste of talent, completely abandoning the momentum drawn up by a pretty good first half. It’s ambitious, overly so, and tremendously long all things considered. While it does have the support of a good Sandler performance, there’s just not enough other stuff here to recommend this movie.

3.9/10

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November 19, 2009

Cries and Whispers

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For Ingmar Bergman, most of his visions came in black and white and, therefore, most of his films were reflected in black and white. An exception is 1972’s heart-wrenching Cries and Whispers. The use of saturated crimson speaks volumes in this generally quiet motion picture. It is, according to Bergman, the colour of the interior of the soul.

Without question, Cries and Whispers is no easy experience. The markings of Bergman are present, but this picture is almost exceedingly bleak. There is a sense that the movie is coated in despair and in suffering, as though Bergman is pressing these themes harder than ever before. Hope appears but seems fleeting, as though it has long since been abandoned by both the characters and the man behind the camera.

Cries and Whispers revolves around four women. There is Agnes (Harriet Andersson) and she is dying a painful death. Her pain is excruciating to watch, as she struggles for air and writhes in continual anguish as she essentially waits to die. Tending to her are her two sisters, Maria (Liv Ullmann) and Karin (Ingrid Thulin), and her maid, Anna (Kari Sylwan).

Bergman uses flashbacks to return to the lives of the characters as they deal with the inevitable passing of Agnes. We learn about the rift between Karin and Maria, of the anguish of their individual lives as borne out through bizarre and violent action and stifled emotional distress. Neither sister is particularly close to the dying Agnes nor can neither offer much comfort. It is only Anna who, in her selflessness, can bring peace to Agnes.

In essence, Cries and Whispers is a film about suffering. Each woman encounters it in her own way and each deal with the emotional and physical impact in her own way. The male characters are on the sidelines, for the most part, serving to only torment or ignore the female characters. The women, despite Bergman’s basic honour towards them, represent varying degrees of monstrosity. Purity is hard to find in Bergman’s vision here, save for the elegance of Anna who manages to remain innocent due to her faithfulness and compassion.

When one considers Karin, for instance, and the vile act of mutilation she performs on herself as revenge against her husband, the painful selfishness is exemplified in the most grotesque of fashions. And Maria, too, drives her husband to suicide due to her own sexual issues. It is suggested that Agnes has cancer related to her own sexual anatomy, which is another sign of Bergman’s designs towards impurity in his characters.

What the characters do share is agony and anguish, of course, and Bergman’s picture is very clear as to how poisonous this concept is. His use of colour paints the soul a vicious, sudden red. His use of carefully designated camera angles further sets up his exploration, illustrating closeness to Agnes’ tortured existence or distance between Karin and Maria.

Religion, too, remains one of Bergman’s points of exploration. Cries and Whispers holds Anna’s faith in the highest regard, but there appears to be a sense of resentment towards her faithfulness in the darkest and bleakest of hours. As a director, Bergman often dealt with the theme of religion’s inability to offer legitimate comfort in true hours of need. Cries and Whispers makes this point clearly and then some.

Cries and Whispers is a difficult motion picture. It is excruciating to watch at times and is exceptionally shot and performed. Nominated for five Academy Awards including Best Picture, marking an unusual moment for a foreign language picture, this is a film that takes attention, time and emotion to fully appreciate. It is bleak and painful, just like the lives and deaths of Bergman’s core characters. Finding a glimmer of hope, while difficult, is not impossible here.

It should be noted that Cries and Whispers isn’t a depressing piece of work, but rather that it requires a deep emotional well from which to draw. Films such as this are never depressing in that they represent such terrific filmmaking and performing, so it’s hard to walk away from this piece feeling anything but flabbergasted as though having spent time in the presence of something truly great.

9.8/10

 

November 15, 2009

Yes Man

Posted by Jordan Richardson under 2008, comedy, entertainment, movies, romance, trailers | Tags: , , , , , , , , , |
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yes man

I’m not sure why, but I’ve never found Jim Carrey all that interesting. Watching Yes Man last night, I couldn’t help but find myself appreciating his effort while simultaneously not liking the results. Carrey is certainly the type of comedic actor gifted with the ability to sell himself and his shtick on a wide scale, that’s for sure, but what’s he’s offering is often lukewarm rubber-faced nonsense with little context or substance.

It stands to reason, then, that he needs one hell of a script to deliver something special. Unfortunately for Carrey, Yes Man doesn’t have it. Directed by Peyton Reed (The Break-Up, Bring It On), this 2008 comedy is loosely based on a rather interesting true story and life experience by British humourist Danny Wallace. In Wallace’s experienced, published in his book of the same name, he took it upon himself to “say yes” to things he’d ordinarily “say no” to. The results were surprising, as you might imagine.

Carrey stars as a loans officer named Carl Allen. Since his divorce, he’s become withdrawn and has turned into quite a “no” person. Always ducking out on plans with friends and generally keeping to himself, Carl’s negative outlook on life is threatening his relationships. One day, he is convinced to attend a motivational seminar led by Terrence Bundley (Terence Stamp). The idea is to enter into a covenant with himself that causes him to accept the affirmative and, of course, to become a “Yes Man.”

This sends Carl on a remarkable series of comic adventures, starting with saying “yes” to a homeless guy who wants a ride. This leaves Carl in the middle of nowhere, but as we all know the middle of nowhere is the best possible place to locate a film’s love interest. Upon meeting the eccentric scooter-riding Allison (Zooey Deschanel), Carl realizes that accepting the affirmative has had a positive effect on his life and proceeds to transform things by saying “yes” to everything, including bank loans. The usual complications occur, of course, and are resolved by the third act to much cheesy fanfare.

Yes Man is generally going to please people who are fans of Carrey’s stuff, but it probably won’t earn him any new looks from those on the fence. The unfortunate thing about the movie is that it doesn’t really put Carrey in any conflict, even with himself. He takes on the affirmative because he wants to and because he desires the results, whereas other similar “behaviour comedy” pictures often leave the main character more conflicted and/or estranged from societal norms.

While Liar Liar will certainly come to mind for some as being similar to Yes Man, the comedy also shares some points with the underrated Shallow Hal. But unlike both of those films, Yes Man enters in to its quandary willingly and is a tale of sudden, willing transformation more than it is a truly comic tale of reluctant change. This gives the picture a fluffy, weightless quality, creating little energy or consequence.

Deschanel is probably the movie’s bright spot, as her performance as the weird but likeable love interest helps draw things out away from the formula. While their love is certainly unrealistic and feels forced, she manages to pull off something special thanks to her natural charisma and charm. Her scenes with Carrey work well enough but remain elusive and unconvincing overall, although that’s not her fault. Perhaps with a stronger script, Yes Man could have made more out of the romantic angles.

Overall, Yes Man is far from an awful picture. The problem is that it’s far from a good one and is about as middle-of-the-road as it gets for a comedy. Carrey simply kind of exists on screen, drawing on his well of tricks as per usual and offering little of consequence to the film. While there were some chuckles here and there, this movie is far from memorable or impactful as a comedy.

3.7/10

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November 12, 2009

The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard

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Goods_live_hard_sell_hard

Muddled and terrifically unfunny, The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard is a completely inconsequential comedy with little redeeming value other than to prove that Jeremy Piven can, in no way, carry a movie. Directed by Neal Brennan, The Goods is an ode to capitalism and obnoxiousness with a nice slice of Americana on the side. Its reliance on outdated “shock” comedy doesn’t score it any points, either, and it lumbers through its relatively short runtime despite the appearance of some truly unique comic talents.

Brennan is the latest in a line of bland comedy directors, confirming with The Goods the notion that a handful of sketches tied loosely together by a core plot doesn’t make for a good complete picture. Brennan is entirely useless as a director, as anyone could have been behind the camera and produced the same results. It’s a mishmash of sideplots and lines, many of which have cruel foundations in homophobia, racism and rah-rah American jingoism.

Piven stars as a slick car salesman named Don Ready. He has a team of salespersons and they’re like nomads in that they cruise around from town to town trying to sell cars for dealerships that really need it. (Plots don’t get more captivating than this, do they?) Ready and Co. wind up taking an assignment in a small town in an effort to save Ben Selleck (James Brolin) and his family dealership.

Along the way, a series of entanglements attempts to interest us in the respective plights of the characters. Selleck, for instance, has a crush on salesman Brent Gage (David Koechner) while saleswoman Babs Merrick (Kathryn Hahn) chases around Selleck’s young son (Rob Riggle). Jibby Newsome (Ving Rhames) is looking for love, too, and Don’s also dealing with his own romantic complications with Selleck’s daughter Ivy (Jordana Spiro). There’s also a boy band and an old racist guy in the mix, just for fun.

Now, right out of the gate it’s hard to imagine that a flick with the plot of The Goods is going to be any, well, good. It’s a plot that doesn’t really sell itself. Watching a bunch of car dealers finagle various customers using cheating and deception is, after all, supposed to be hilarious given the economic condition the world is in at the moment and, don’t forget, we’re supposed to also care about the con artists selling these vehicles. On top of it all, we’re supposed to respect them a lot because, hey, they really like America.

It’s all a little much to begin with, but then writers Adam Stock and Rick Stempson pack things with a whole whack of homophobia, racism and weird twists on other crap nobody but 13-year-old wrestling fans are interested in anymore. Of course, that’s probably the target audience for this hard R-rated comedy anyway, but I digress.

I can’t say that this movie fails because of the cast because everyone actually does do what they’re asked to do. Piven does about all he can to pull off a big screen version of his character from Entourage and the other actors do what they’re supposed to do too, but that’s part of the problem: what they’re “supposed to do” just isn’t funny. Jokes feel forced and idiotic, with a lot of mean-spirited and misplaced crassness highlighted all the angles.

Look, one expects a movie like The Goods to be rude and crass. But most films, like this year’s I Love You, Man, manage to balance the crassness with a little something those of us over the age of 13 like to call “substance.” The Goods not only flounders in delivering any significant laughs, but it also fails to deliver any sort of reason for its existence. It’s an entirely meaningless, ultimately forgettable comedy.

0.7/10

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November 9, 2009

Pillow Talk

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pillow talk

Incredibly dated and oddly creepy, Pillow Talk is a vehicle for Rock Hudson’s good looks and Doris Day’s charm. Directed by Michael Gordon, the picture floats a truly weird story along with some outdated concepts about sex, women and relationships. It also features one of the most invasive and obnoxious soundtracks I’ve come across in quite some time.

This is 1950s gloss working its magic, attempting to convince us that there’s a reason for the attraction between the characters and that the good looks and charm of even the most obnoxious, creepy, sexist individuals should be enough for love. We’re supposed to fall in love with the coupling of Day and Hudson because the music says so, not because it actually makes any sense. In reality, what happens in Pillow Talk is quite sickening.

Day stars as Jan Morrow, a successful interior decorator. There’s a problem with her, though, as she lives alone and goes out and has fun. See, she’s much too old to be an independent woman with a good job and a nice apartment, so something’s gotta give. Her alcoholic maid (Thelma Ritter) makes sure that Jan knows her life is incomplete, too, which is always helpful advice when coming from someone whose drinking problem is played up for shiny chuckles.

Hudson is Brad Allen, a Broadway composer and “playboy.” He and Jan share a party line (Google it) and they don’t like each other much because Jan keeps wanting to make calls while Hudson is courting various women via telephone. One day, Brad sees Jan dancing and falls in love with her. He does what any normal person would do and invents a personality to court her so that she won’t know he’s the guy on the party line. Oh, and he also dupes a friend (Tony Randall) in the process while taking advantage of pretty much everyone who crosses his path. What a charming man!

That Brad completely fakes his way into Jan’s life is treated with the utmost respect. His square jaw and broad shoulders and good looks tell us that he’s doing the right thing, after all, and the annoying music reinforces the point. To make matters worse, Brad’s interest in Jan seems slightly predicated on the fact that his friend is in love with her. That piques his interest to discover who this delicate little flower might be and, before you can say “split screen,” we’re off on a road to romantic entanglement.

All of this might actually be hilarious were it not so creepy to think about. Jan has a streak of rebellion and independence that must be dealt with, which is, at least in part, why Rock Hudson’s character has to enter into the fray of fakery. When he essentially kicks her door down and abducts her towards the end of the picture, he’s doing the poor clueless dame a favour, after all, and she’s more than happy to oblige even if he has a creepy switch in his pad that locks the door. Try not to put too much thought into the fact that a policeman simply chuckles as Rock passes carrying a screaming Day, too. It’s the 50s.

The conception that draws this film to a close is downright disgusting. Day’s character is being “dealt with” because she had the audacity to right the wrongs against her in the way she knew how. Hudson’s Brad essentially gets everything in the end, while Day’s Jan is barefoot, pregnant and loving it. It is the ultimate reflection of vile, puritanical 1950s values and reeks of sexism and cruelty.

On top of all that, it’s actually a pretty horrible picture for other reasons. The Frank De Vol score is absolutely terrible, for one thing, and dominates each scene with its invasive need to pile instruments on top of other instruments. It’s one of the most obnoxious displays of music in a picture I’ve heard in quite some time. And the use of split screen and fade shots is just cheesy and tacky, too.

Overall, there’s really no good reason to see Pillow Talk. It only reinforces why progress is so important in today’s world and remains an example of a time and an attitude that keeps women in their places. It calls on a time when men were men, even if they were gay men pretending to be straight men mocking gay men, and has little to no redeeming value either as a film or as a piece of art.

0.7/10

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November 9, 2009

Jaws

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Steven Spielberg made Jaws when he was in his mid-twenties and, in my opinion, he’s never eclipsed the raw tension and terror since. The movie also started the trend of the summer blockbuster, some say, and is considered one of the best films of all time by the AFI. It is truly a picture that works its elements efficiently, utilizing a haunting John Williams score and Bill Butler’s tremendous sea level cinematography to tell its tale to great effect.

Based on Peter Benchley’s novel of the same name, Jaws became Spielberg’s fifth motion picture and marked a turning point in his early career by transforming him into one of America’s greatest thriller/adventure storyteller filmmakers. From the success of Jaws, Spielberg was able to seamlessly transition to the ambitious Close Encounters of the Third Kind and eventually to Raiders of the Lost Ark.

Jaws takes place at the small resort town of Amity Island. There’s a new police chief, Martin Brody (Roy Schneider), and he is notified that a woman is missing. Upon discovering the body, it appears that she had been attacked by a shark. Not wanting to scare the locals or thwart any success for the upcoming tourist season, Amity’s mayor (Murray Hamilton) ensures that Brody can’t close the beach while they look for the shark.

After another attack, the town grows tense and Brody is blamed for not closing the beach. He calls ichthyologist Matt Hooper (Richard Dreyfuss) to help investigate the shark problem. The pair form a close bond while battling the stubborn mayor and the shark, eventually turning to Quint (Robert Shaw), a gruff shark hunter, to help bring in the giant beast before it does further harm.

The performances in Jaws are surprisingly good, especially for this type of genre picture, and they help elevate the movie to its legendary status. The chemistry between Dreyfuss, Shaw and Schneider as the film draws to its climax is especially compelling, as the differences between the characters really get drawn out with subtle shifts in the action. Each man has his method for catching the shark based on his life experience and it’s interesting to watch them go about their work.

Jaws required three mechanical sharks to be made for production. In today’s day and age of CGI, the shark does look a little dated in some scenes, but there’s also something truly cool about how the whole thing came together. Spielberg’s direction makes the shark, strange as it looks sometimes, into a truly menacing force in the picture and it becomes more about the tension and less about what the shark looks like.

Of course, we can’t talk about Jaws without talking about the great John Williams score. Everyone knows the eerie suggestive music when the shark is approaching, as it has become among the most famous few notes in film score history. But Williams also does remarkably well when he’s fleshing out the movie’s smaller moments and driving some of the characters into heroism (or stupidity). It really is one of the greatest scores in the movies and helps drive this picture into greatness.

Spielberg really shows his stuff handling the whole project, as it was a stormy one from the first day. Shooting on water is no easy task, especially with the constant threat of movement, so Jaws stands as a testimony to the stick-to-itiveness and moxie of the director in his younger days. Whenever I need to remember how great Spielberg can truly be when he’s telling pure stories and using natural tension to go places, Jaws is the movie I reach for.

9.2/10

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November 8, 2009

I Love You, Man

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i love you man

As good a comedy about male friendship as I’ve seen, I Love You, Man captures the essence of relationships with brilliant comic timing and hilarious dialogue. Directed by John Hamburg, this is a movie that pokes fun at what it means to be a grown-up male in a time where strong friendships are hard to come by. The plot is actually quite original, too, and the performers have tremendous chemistry together.

Connection is important, of course, and it works in spades with I Love You, Man. Stars Paul Rudd and Jason Segel have worked together in two Judd Apatow projects and have displayed natural chemistry, especially during those hilarious surfing sequences in Forgetting Sarah Marshall. And Hamburg worked with Segel on Apatow’s Undeclared TV show, furthering the behind-the-scenes connections. Due to the comfort the performers have with one another, the film itself naturally becomes a very snug prospect.

Rudd stars as Peter Klaven, a real estate salesman in the high end of the business. He has just gotten engaged to Zooey Rice (Rashida Jones) and has got things working quite well. Zooey, naturally, calls all of her friends with the news of the engagement and, as the process carries itself out, Peter realizes that he has a shortage of friends to call his own. It turns out that he has dedicated all of his time and energy to his relationships with women in life and, as Peter’s brother Robbie (Andy Samberg) explains, his friends have “fallen by the wayside.”

Thus begins a hilarious mission to find some friends. Peter hits all the angles searching for a platonic relationship and ends up in some interesting predicaments, proving that it’s actually pretty difficult to make friends in this day and age when there are no strings attached. He eventually gives up on the whole thing, only to meet Sydney (Segel). Peter and Sydney strike up a friendship almost immediately and go through all of the awkward complications of getting close as two heterosexual males. This leads to, of course, a bit of trouble that all gets resolved neatly by the time the credits roll.

Rudd knocks this movie out of the park as a charmingly clueless guy trying to be cool to gain friends. There’s nothing wrong with Peter, of course, and his reason for not having other close male friends is simply by accident of circumstance. Opportunities for male companionship have vanished in favour of Sunday HBO nights and other special experiences with Zooey and other women in his life, which is something I found myself personally relating to.

I Love You, Man makes great comedy out of the awkwardness felt between two men pursuing a new platonic relationship. There is this strange societal implication that we are supposed to be set in our friendship ways by the conclusion of high school and that we are damned to a life of acquaintances and office pals after that. It’s strange how hard it is for a straight man to walk up to another straight man for a conversation and maybe a beer, but what this film delivers actually rings true.

Segel is the perfect match to Rudd’s uber-sincerity and matches everything with this sort of freedom-laced comic timing. There are no rules in his world: his tiny dog shits where it wants to and he’ll take on the Hulk if he so pleases. Interestingly, though, the friendship that blossoms between Segel’s Sydney and Rudd’s Peter is delicate, natural and interesting beyond the typical “buddy” sort of way and it feels good, for once, to see a film depict straight male relationships without resorting to stereotypes.

In the end, I Love You, Man turns out to be a very funny, very heartfelt comedy just perfect for guys and girls trying to understand their guys. Friendship, especially in these days, is a hard thing for a man to wrap his head around sometimes. And as the advancing tide of life pulls us into different relationships and away from lifelong connections, it can be a vital shock to the system to find that one guy who, by hook or by crook, just showed up for the panini.

8.8/10

Trailer:

 

November 6, 2009

Darby O’Gill and the Little People

Posted by Jordan Richardson under 1959, adventure, entertainment, family, fantasy, movies | Tags: , , , , , , |
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Walt Disney’s Darby O’Gill and the Little People is a charming little piece of work that celebrates the Irish folklore of Herminie Templeton Kavanagh. Directed by Robert Stevenson, Darby is a colourful motion picture that would eventually lead Sean Connery to his James Bond role and would feature some pretty darn advanced special effects for its time.

The movie ages well enough, surprisingly, and it’s fun to chuckle at some of the campier sequences. The use of “forced perspective” put the “little people” further away from the camera, thus making them appear small in the necessary leprechaun sequences. A whole lot of lighting was required to create the effects, too, and it is said that a substation blew its beaker due to the amount of power needed to light one of the film’s key sequences.

Albert Sharpe is the titular Darby O’Gill, an aging Irishman and caretaker of an estate. He lives in the estate with his daughter Katie (Janet Munro) and has become rather lonely since the passing of his wife. He spends much of his time at the public house, telling tales with friends and having a laugh. Eventually the time comes for O’Gill to be released from his post as caretaker, so he begins to fret when his replacement (Sean Connery) arrives.

Begging his replacement, Michael McBride, not to tell Katie he’s been canned is a matter of pride for Darby. He eventually works out a deal that has Michael keeping his secret, but as expected Michael falls in love with Katie. Meanwhile, Darby is captured by leprechauns (the “little people,” you see) and finds himself in a cat-and-mouse game with the leprechaun king (Jimmy O’Dea) that includes wishes, hopes and a whole lot of fancy Disney magic.

The plot of the film is a little bit busy to make it something easy to follow, but there’s enough charm with the performers and the setting to keep things moving at a fair click. Sharpe is especially cool to watch as Darby, offering a combination of Irish wit and trickery in the role. He’s just silly enough to pull it off, but we still manage to feel for him as he finds himself in various circumstances.

Connery was noticed by producer Albert R. Broccoli for his part in Darby O’Gill and the Little People. Connery does pull off the strapping young lad role rather well and it’s easy to see why he’d be ideal for the role of Bond commencing in 1962’s Dr. No. His chemistry with the other characters is pleasant enough, too, and he works the romance angle with the lovely Janet Munro like a seasoned pro.

Leprechaun-wise, there’s a whole lot of fun to be had with Darby O’Gill and the Little People. The wee people are never quite the whole focal point of the plot, so they never overtake things with a variety of songs and silliness. The majority of the picture is spent focusing on the tricky relationship between Darby and the leprechaun king, as both resort to whatever games they can get their hands on to fool the other. The effects come in handy here, especially when the time comes for a particularly catty incident.

Overall, Darby O’Gill and the Little People is simple escapist fun. It’s a terrific family movie for a rainy Saturday afternoon. It won’t change the world or move mountains, but there’s enough laughter and joy here to recommend it. It tells a nice selection of Irish folk tales, too, and manages to rise above its relatively convoluted plot high enough to be enjoyable.

7.0/10

 

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