Mike Judge has made a career of creating characters who are perfect caricatures of the people who populate everyday life. In “Office Space” he created a whole cast of them, people who were cartoonish enough to be funny, real enough to become pop-culture staples. If you hear someone end a sentence with “that’d be greeeeat” or slowly say “I’m a Michael Bolton fan” you have that instant flash of recognition.
After all, Judge’s strength has always been about highlighting the most annoyingly idiotic tendencies of us all, mostly to comic effect. So when the trailers for “Extract” started dropping, and the scene had shifted from a white-collar office to a blue-collar factory, it looked like Judge was primed to make another blip on the pop culture radar.
Jason Bateman plays the manager of a factory that manufactured flavor extracts. Stuck in a rut with his wife (Saturday Night Live’s Kristen Wiig), Bateman has his eyes out for a woman who is interested in flavor additives.
Bateman plays the same character that was so well received on television’s “Arrested Development,” a normal character trapped in a world of people too dumb to be real.
His factory is populated with the type of secondary characters that usually make such an impact, but most of them aren’t on screen nearly enough to get big laughs, and the two women with the most lines are too annoying to laugh at.
Bateman finds solace at the local bar, where Ben Affleck serves his cocktails and a sympathetic ear for his problems. After a horse tranquilizer or two enters the mix one night, Bateman sets in motion a chain of events that leaves him fighting to save his marriage.
Like “Office Space,” this movie deals with a man whose dissatisfaction about where his life is going takes a strange turn after an altered state. But in “Extract,” the trouble in Bateman’s marriage takes him away from his place of business, and also shoves many of the goofy characters into the background.
It’s too bad. J.K. Simmons plays Bateman’s second-in-command, and he has far too little screen time. He calls the men at the factory “dinkus” and the women “what’s-her-face” but aside from that funny exchange in the beginning, Simmons isn’t featured nearly enough.
The two secondary plots dance in and out of the film, but they aren’t developed enough to be anymore than afterthoughts. Mila Kunis plays a beautiful con artist, but after a great first scene she only pops in on random occasions and is pretty much irrelevant.
It’s a hard movie to classify. It’s funny, but it’s not going to be quoted by generations of teenagers in the years to come.
Unfortunately, and despite the title, “Extract” seems to be a diluted version of what Judge has made his career doing. The characters are funny, but not that funny. The laughs are there, but they’re not the same quality of laugh.
You’ll probably laugh throughout most of the film’s 90 minutes, but afterwards you’ll be hard pressed to remember the funniest scene, or a specific joke that made you laugh.
Rating - $7.00
Friday, September 4, 2009
Friday, August 7, 2009
G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra
Unless you’ve been living under a rock this summer, you know about the G.I. Joe movie. Between the massive marketing campaign and the nostalgia held by anyone under the age of 40, it was bound to evoke reaction from people.
Given Hollywood’s spotty history with remakes, plus the noticeable changes to the franchise that are evident in the trailer, it’s easy to assume the worst.
As someone whose toybox was dominated by G.I. Joes (more than thirty of them by my count), I can identify with those who were upset to see the standard camouflage replaced with some sort of robotic suit that seems to put its wearers into the matrix, where the laws of physics don’t apply.
“G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra” is not an action movie, it is THE action movie. From “Star Wars” through “Spiderman,” the influence of every action movie that came before it is evident in every scene.
The dogfights may feature submarines instead of X-Wings, a robotic suit takes the place of a radioactive spider, but the action is very much the same.
The ensemble cast is made up of very talented actors from across the spectrum, from Channing Tatum and Marlon Wayans to Dennis Quaid and Sienna Miller. While they are all talented actors, there are written with hardly more depth than their plastic counterparts.
Tatum is the gung-ho Soldier who is always ready for the next fight. Wayans is his wise-cracking partner with a heart of gold. Dennis Quaid is the grizzled yet vulnerable leader and Miller plays both the scorned lover and the villainess.
The movie piles action cliché on top of action cliché, but it does so in a way that seems more of a tribute than just lazy writing. There is every sort of conflict you can imagine. Childhood rivalries, old lovers’ quarrels and past family drama all come into play through a series of flashbacks.
It’s a very efficient way to inject drama into each battle, but it does so without letting plot get in the way of explosions.
The movie takes place in a world where the laws of physics don’t always apply, a karate fight could break out at any minute and every vehicle has at least a half-dozen missiles attached to it, just in case.
There are very few breaks in the action, another car chases, gun battle or highly choreographed fight is always right around the corner.
While all this is going on, enough plot points are planted for a long run for the franchise, the final scene indicates that a sequel is probably already in pre-production.
A particular highlight of the film is the battles between Snake Eyes and Storm Shadow. Snake Eyes never talks and Storm Shadow probably spends much of his paycheck on throwing stars.
Both martial artists (one always in black, one always in white), they have a personal history going back to their childhood. Their battles are the highlight of the film, even if you can see it coming from a mile away.
In fact, most of the plot can be plotted within the first ten minutes, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. The money that could have gone to an overcomplicated plot line instead went to some absolutely breathtaking scenes.
G.I. Joe purists who still remember getting their first Snake Eyes action figure might not be on board with the movie and its various liberties with the established characters, but if you’re looking to turn off your brain and watch explosions for two hours, there aren’t many movies better suited for that.
Rating - $8.00
Given Hollywood’s spotty history with remakes, plus the noticeable changes to the franchise that are evident in the trailer, it’s easy to assume the worst.
As someone whose toybox was dominated by G.I. Joes (more than thirty of them by my count), I can identify with those who were upset to see the standard camouflage replaced with some sort of robotic suit that seems to put its wearers into the matrix, where the laws of physics don’t apply.
“G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra” is not an action movie, it is THE action movie. From “Star Wars” through “Spiderman,” the influence of every action movie that came before it is evident in every scene.
The dogfights may feature submarines instead of X-Wings, a robotic suit takes the place of a radioactive spider, but the action is very much the same.
The ensemble cast is made up of very talented actors from across the spectrum, from Channing Tatum and Marlon Wayans to Dennis Quaid and Sienna Miller. While they are all talented actors, there are written with hardly more depth than their plastic counterparts.
Tatum is the gung-ho Soldier who is always ready for the next fight. Wayans is his wise-cracking partner with a heart of gold. Dennis Quaid is the grizzled yet vulnerable leader and Miller plays both the scorned lover and the villainess.
The movie piles action cliché on top of action cliché, but it does so in a way that seems more of a tribute than just lazy writing. There is every sort of conflict you can imagine. Childhood rivalries, old lovers’ quarrels and past family drama all come into play through a series of flashbacks.
It’s a very efficient way to inject drama into each battle, but it does so without letting plot get in the way of explosions.
The movie takes place in a world where the laws of physics don’t always apply, a karate fight could break out at any minute and every vehicle has at least a half-dozen missiles attached to it, just in case.
There are very few breaks in the action, another car chases, gun battle or highly choreographed fight is always right around the corner.
While all this is going on, enough plot points are planted for a long run for the franchise, the final scene indicates that a sequel is probably already in pre-production.
A particular highlight of the film is the battles between Snake Eyes and Storm Shadow. Snake Eyes never talks and Storm Shadow probably spends much of his paycheck on throwing stars.
Both martial artists (one always in black, one always in white), they have a personal history going back to their childhood. Their battles are the highlight of the film, even if you can see it coming from a mile away.
In fact, most of the plot can be plotted within the first ten minutes, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. The money that could have gone to an overcomplicated plot line instead went to some absolutely breathtaking scenes.
G.I. Joe purists who still remember getting their first Snake Eyes action figure might not be on board with the movie and its various liberties with the established characters, but if you’re looking to turn off your brain and watch explosions for two hours, there aren’t many movies better suited for that.
Rating - $8.00
Friday, July 31, 2009
Funny People
“Funny People” could easily describe the reason for Judd Apatow’s success over the last few years. It’s a simple, but effective formula. Put funny people on screen together, let them have conversations that range from the awkward to the obscene and don’t let the plot get in the way of the people.
In these days of the cookie-cutter romantic comedy or the interracial buddy comedy, it’s
refreshing to watch people that are just plain funny.
Adam Sandler, someone who has starred in many of those same clichés, now takes on a role that is basically a caricature of himself. He plays George Simmons, a once-groundbreaking stand-up comedian, who has earned his fortune by starring in terrible movies. Pay attention to the various movie posters in the background and you can see that Simmons has starred in movies that look so bad they could have been made.
He wakes up every day alone in his mansion, with only his staff to keep him company. But we aren’t meant to get to know the old George Simmons, because five minutes into the film, he learns that he has a rare disease that will more than likely kill him within months.
Living at the other end of the spectrum is Ira Wright, played by Seth Rogen. Rogen is crashing on a couch, working in a deli and trying to make it in the world of stand-up. He takes advantage of the chance to get laughs at Sandler’s expense, and gets a gig writing jokes for him.
Rogen also helps Sandler navigate his illness, encouraging him to tell his friends and family, including the woman that got away, played by Leslie Mann.
The film balances the fine line between comedy and drama, going back and forth between the two often within seconds of each other. There are times when people crying is the funniest part of the scene, and times when things get so real that all you want to hear is a dick joke.
The film comes in at a sturdy two hours, 26 minutes. A little long for anything but an epic, but when you’re first two directorial efforts gross almost $400 million, I guess you can have some leeway.
For a movie of its length, it moves very well. It doesn’t slow down very much, because you don’t know what’s coming next, you’re always on your toes.
The secondary cast is great, with Eric Bana, Jonah Hill and Jason Schwartzman providing a lot of humor at the expense of themselves and the main characters.
Almost every stand-up comedian worth his salt from the ‘90s has a cameo in the film, and while some are more memorable than others (Ray Romano), they add to the texture of the film.
Since Sandler and Apatow were roommates before striking out in different directions (one in front of the camera, one behind), this movie is sort of a "What If?" for them.
The only thing different is that both men are married with children, and one would like to hope both men have more satisfying lives than anyone in the film. I guess it goes to show the stabilizing influence of family.
And for a movie, a director, and actors that have roots in the simple act of telling jokes, that's pretty deep.
Rating - $9.50
In these days of the cookie-cutter romantic comedy or the interracial buddy comedy, it’s
refreshing to watch people that are just plain funny.
Adam Sandler, someone who has starred in many of those same clichés, now takes on a role that is basically a caricature of himself. He plays George Simmons, a once-groundbreaking stand-up comedian, who has earned his fortune by starring in terrible movies. Pay attention to the various movie posters in the background and you can see that Simmons has starred in movies that look so bad they could have been made.
He wakes up every day alone in his mansion, with only his staff to keep him company. But we aren’t meant to get to know the old George Simmons, because five minutes into the film, he learns that he has a rare disease that will more than likely kill him within months.
Living at the other end of the spectrum is Ira Wright, played by Seth Rogen. Rogen is crashing on a couch, working in a deli and trying to make it in the world of stand-up. He takes advantage of the chance to get laughs at Sandler’s expense, and gets a gig writing jokes for him.
Rogen also helps Sandler navigate his illness, encouraging him to tell his friends and family, including the woman that got away, played by Leslie Mann.
The film balances the fine line between comedy and drama, going back and forth between the two often within seconds of each other. There are times when people crying is the funniest part of the scene, and times when things get so real that all you want to hear is a dick joke.
The film comes in at a sturdy two hours, 26 minutes. A little long for anything but an epic, but when you’re first two directorial efforts gross almost $400 million, I guess you can have some leeway.
For a movie of its length, it moves very well. It doesn’t slow down very much, because you don’t know what’s coming next, you’re always on your toes.
The secondary cast is great, with Eric Bana, Jonah Hill and Jason Schwartzman providing a lot of humor at the expense of themselves and the main characters.
Almost every stand-up comedian worth his salt from the ‘90s has a cameo in the film, and while some are more memorable than others (Ray Romano), they add to the texture of the film.
Since Sandler and Apatow were roommates before striking out in different directions (one in front of the camera, one behind), this movie is sort of a "What If?" for them.
The only thing different is that both men are married with children, and one would like to hope both men have more satisfying lives than anyone in the film. I guess it goes to show the stabilizing influence of family.
And for a movie, a director, and actors that have roots in the simple act of telling jokes, that's pretty deep.
Rating - $9.50
Friday, July 10, 2009
Bruno
Let’s get one thing out of the way first. This is not a family film, nor anything close to it. Regardless of who you see it with, it will make you uncomfortable in several parts throughout the film.
That being said, “Bruno” offers laughs more consistently than actor Sacha Baron Cohen’s last work, “Borat.” The awkwardness is there. The bigotry is on full display. And Cohen, too much of him, is there.
Bruno is a flamboyant host of an Austrian fashion show who loses his credibility when his all-velcro suit leads to a fashion show disaster. Not knowing what to do with his life, Bruno sets his sights on America with an assistant, in order to become a celebrity.
If there’s one thing American can do, is make a celebrity out of people with no discernable talent. Cohen whittles it down to an almost step-by-step guide on how to become a celebrity. Reality shows, controversial statements, illicit video tapes, he tries them all.
Various celebrities make appearances, and it’s clear that most of them are unwitting accomplices to Cohen’s assault. 2008 presidential candidate Ron Paul, singer Paula Abdul and actor Harrison
Ford are all caught on tape, and their reactions range from the confused to the profane.
Ironically, as much as the movie seems to mock celebrity, the real people that come off the worst.
The ignorance displayed by some church offcials, a mixed martial arts audience and a group of hunters, to name a few, is startling. Some of them could be forgiven, for they only crack in the face of Bruno’s onslaught, but others seem perfectly willing to make themselves look like fools with little provocation.
For example, a stage mother offers to get her baby’s weight down from 30 pounds to 20 pounds within a week to get a job. By being so off the wall himself, Cohen allows these people to open up and let out their own faults, and one wonders why on earth they would agree to sign releases to appear in the film.
“Borat” brought about a slew of lawsuits after it became a smash hit, most likely from people trying to cover themselves after the world saw what they had to say, and “Bruno” figures to have similar claims brought against it.
There’s a reason that Cohen isn’t known just as a simple gross-out comedian. Through his caricatures of stereotypes, he is able to unearth something that’s not funny at all: there are people even more ignorant than the characters he plays out there, and unlike Cohen, these people are 100 percent real.
Rating - $9.00
That being said, “Bruno” offers laughs more consistently than actor Sacha Baron Cohen’s last work, “Borat.” The awkwardness is there. The bigotry is on full display. And Cohen, too much of him, is there.
Bruno is a flamboyant host of an Austrian fashion show who loses his credibility when his all-velcro suit leads to a fashion show disaster. Not knowing what to do with his life, Bruno sets his sights on America with an assistant, in order to become a celebrity.
If there’s one thing American can do, is make a celebrity out of people with no discernable talent. Cohen whittles it down to an almost step-by-step guide on how to become a celebrity. Reality shows, controversial statements, illicit video tapes, he tries them all.
Various celebrities make appearances, and it’s clear that most of them are unwitting accomplices to Cohen’s assault. 2008 presidential candidate Ron Paul, singer Paula Abdul and actor Harrison
Ford are all caught on tape, and their reactions range from the confused to the profane.
Ironically, as much as the movie seems to mock celebrity, the real people that come off the worst.
The ignorance displayed by some church offcials, a mixed martial arts audience and a group of hunters, to name a few, is startling. Some of them could be forgiven, for they only crack in the face of Bruno’s onslaught, but others seem perfectly willing to make themselves look like fools with little provocation.
For example, a stage mother offers to get her baby’s weight down from 30 pounds to 20 pounds within a week to get a job. By being so off the wall himself, Cohen allows these people to open up and let out their own faults, and one wonders why on earth they would agree to sign releases to appear in the film.
“Borat” brought about a slew of lawsuits after it became a smash hit, most likely from people trying to cover themselves after the world saw what they had to say, and “Bruno” figures to have similar claims brought against it.
There’s a reason that Cohen isn’t known just as a simple gross-out comedian. Through his caricatures of stereotypes, he is able to unearth something that’s not funny at all: there are people even more ignorant than the characters he plays out there, and unlike Cohen, these people are 100 percent real.
Rating - $9.00
Friday, March 27, 2009
Duplicity
From the trailers, “Duplicity” seems like “Ocean’s Two,” where Clive Owen and Julia Roberts replace Danny Ocean and his crew in swindling some titan of industry. The first five minutes of the film would lead you to believe the same, with moving split screens, a pseudo-electronic soundtrack and the presence of a sultry Julia Roberts.
Then the opening credits roll, and you get a sense that this movie might be something different. Two jowly men (Paul Giamatti and Tom Wilkinson) spend the entire six-minute sequence wrestling, and the ridiculousness of it all opens up the film right away.
What follows is a movie that shifts between romantic comedy and spy film almost effortlessly, and the star-studded cast of Roberts, Giamatti, Wilkinson and Clive Owen (“Inside Man,” “The International”) pull it off quite nicely.
Owen and Roberts, who meet in the opening scene that takes place a few years before the main action, seem to have an attraction for each other beyond their mutual love of good champagne. The questions of whether or not this attraction is merely a means to accomplishing their mission is what the entire movie hinges upon.
Owen is working for Giamatti’s company, trying to steal a miracle product from Wilkinson’s rival company. And did I mention that Roberts is the head of security for Wilkinson’s company?
It is very interesting to observe two people who are in the business of not trusting anyone, try their hands at a real relationship, and the trust that becomes necessary when you’re in one. Their relationship can be summed up by one of Roberts’ quotes in the movie, “Admit it. You don’t trust me either.”
One of the interesting themes of the movie is how the distrust that comes with espionage is so close to the distrust that relationships can breed. By the end, it has almost become a staring contest between the two, the only question is who will blink first.
Roberts and Owen have a very good give-and-take throughout the film, as it takes almost half an hour for the viewer to know the exact nature of their relationship. As they move forward in the present, flashbacks clue us in, one step at a time, just how these two people got to where they are and what they are doing.
“Duplicity” is one of those films where the viewer doesn’t see everything, plot elements are carefully portioned out when necessary. This can at times be jarring, sometimes it seems as though when the plot is finally picking up, there is another flashback. At first it seems to derail the building suspense, but as we learn more about the characters’ past, we can begin to guess as to where it is going.
The cinematography of the film is different than a standard spy flick. Offices can be as vast as canyons, and cityscapes can feel as claustrophobic as a plastic bag. Many of the more intense scenes are visually striking, whether is it the play of shadows, the view outside of a window or
There are some genuinely funny moments, some painfully awkward moments and moments when everyone but the characters can see what’s about to happen.
On one hand, by combining a romantic comedy with a spy film, one could say the movie tries to do too much, that it spreads itself too thin. On the other hand, it could be seen as an interesting take on the nature of relationships and trust in the most trying of circumstances.
Either way, it keeps you guessing until the last cork is popped, literally. The ending might not satisfy everyone, but the ride is more than worth it.
Rating - $9.00
Then the opening credits roll, and you get a sense that this movie might be something different. Two jowly men (Paul Giamatti and Tom Wilkinson) spend the entire six-minute sequence wrestling, and the ridiculousness of it all opens up the film right away.
What follows is a movie that shifts between romantic comedy and spy film almost effortlessly, and the star-studded cast of Roberts, Giamatti, Wilkinson and Clive Owen (“Inside Man,” “The International”) pull it off quite nicely.
Owen and Roberts, who meet in the opening scene that takes place a few years before the main action, seem to have an attraction for each other beyond their mutual love of good champagne. The questions of whether or not this attraction is merely a means to accomplishing their mission is what the entire movie hinges upon.
Owen is working for Giamatti’s company, trying to steal a miracle product from Wilkinson’s rival company. And did I mention that Roberts is the head of security for Wilkinson’s company?
It is very interesting to observe two people who are in the business of not trusting anyone, try their hands at a real relationship, and the trust that becomes necessary when you’re in one. Their relationship can be summed up by one of Roberts’ quotes in the movie, “Admit it. You don’t trust me either.”
One of the interesting themes of the movie is how the distrust that comes with espionage is so close to the distrust that relationships can breed. By the end, it has almost become a staring contest between the two, the only question is who will blink first.
Roberts and Owen have a very good give-and-take throughout the film, as it takes almost half an hour for the viewer to know the exact nature of their relationship. As they move forward in the present, flashbacks clue us in, one step at a time, just how these two people got to where they are and what they are doing.
“Duplicity” is one of those films where the viewer doesn’t see everything, plot elements are carefully portioned out when necessary. This can at times be jarring, sometimes it seems as though when the plot is finally picking up, there is another flashback. At first it seems to derail the building suspense, but as we learn more about the characters’ past, we can begin to guess as to where it is going.
The cinematography of the film is different than a standard spy flick. Offices can be as vast as canyons, and cityscapes can feel as claustrophobic as a plastic bag. Many of the more intense scenes are visually striking, whether is it the play of shadows, the view outside of a window or
There are some genuinely funny moments, some painfully awkward moments and moments when everyone but the characters can see what’s about to happen.
On one hand, by combining a romantic comedy with a spy film, one could say the movie tries to do too much, that it spreads itself too thin. On the other hand, it could be seen as an interesting take on the nature of relationships and trust in the most trying of circumstances.
Either way, it keeps you guessing until the last cork is popped, literally. The ending might not satisfy everyone, but the ride is more than worth it.
Rating - $9.00
Sunday, February 22, 2009
The International
Action-thriller movies have taken an interesting turn in the last decade or so. The action is always plentiful, but often the ‘thriller’ aspect is nothing more than a loose end that gets tied up by the end, but its purpose is to give a brief respite from the gunfire and fistfights.
The Bond franchise and even the Bourne movies have crossed that line. They used to be plot driven, with the occasional gunfight or car chase thrown in to show the audience that movies can still make magic.
Now the only break in action is to re-load and slap some bandages on, then it’s right back into the fray. While action seems to always bring in the big bucks, there is something to be said for the old model, where the plot sucks you in, and the action is just icing on the cake.
“The International” follows an older school of action movies, the school that gave us classics such as “Bullitt.” This type of movie doesn’t bludgeon you with over-the-top shootouts or car chases that destroy entire city blocks. Instead, it is like a volcano, slowly building pressure, erupting then the pressure starts building again.
The film is structured around these release points, and it provides a glimpse back to a simpler kind of movie, not the Jerry Bruckheimer explosion-fests, but a true action-thriller, with an emphasis on the thriller.
The premise is simple enough. Clive Owen (“Sin City,” “Inside Man”), an Interpol agent with a checkered past, and Naomi Watts (“King Kong,” “21 Grams”), a New York District Attorney with everything to lose, team up to bring down an international bank that is suspected of brokering conflicts around the world and profiting off them.
The bank is the classic shadow organization, with people everywhere, and you never know who might be working for them. A quick assassination at the beginning of the film, and the subsequent response by the authorities shows everything you need to know about how far this bank’s reach is.
Owen seems to be at his best when he plays someone that needs to act rather than mull options. His character’s shady past is hinted at, and that’s really all you need to find his motivation. He does a good job as the “wild card,” a role that has been missing from movies since Clint Eastwood’s Dirty Harry.
Rather than constant explosions, the movie features terse, intense conversations where everyone is lying, and everyone else in the room knows that. It is a remarkable way to ratchet up the tension without being overwhelming. There are also plenty of good, but slightly trite, one-liners, which add nicely to the vintage feel of the movie.
Parts of the plot are predictable, as they are in any action movie. There are subtle references to classics such as “The Godfather” and “Reservoir Dogs” that don’t leap of the screen, but they are there. The combination of cliché and intrigue make the film familiar yet fresh in an interesting way.
And then there is the shootout. A good shootout can make a bad movie better, and conversely, make a good movie worse. In this case, the seven-minute apocalypse that takes place in New York’s Guggenheim Musuem, it’s one for the ages.
What makes it better is that you don’t see it coming. What is supposed to be an eavesdrop on a meeting turns into a full fledged masterpiece of a shootout. The architecture of the museum lets the action breathe, as well as provide many different props for the characters to shoot at.
The movie’s problem becomes apparent as it starts winding down. Without spoiling anything, the film just kind of trails off in a whimper. It’s as if the producers had a few plot points and the idea for the shootout, and decided that it was enough.
Which begs the age-old question: is it about the destination or the journey? While the journey is very satisfying, by the time you get to the destination, you can’t help but look back and wonder, as The Strokes did in 2001,“Is this it?”
Rating - $8.50
The Bond franchise and even the Bourne movies have crossed that line. They used to be plot driven, with the occasional gunfight or car chase thrown in to show the audience that movies can still make magic.
Now the only break in action is to re-load and slap some bandages on, then it’s right back into the fray. While action seems to always bring in the big bucks, there is something to be said for the old model, where the plot sucks you in, and the action is just icing on the cake.
“The International” follows an older school of action movies, the school that gave us classics such as “Bullitt.” This type of movie doesn’t bludgeon you with over-the-top shootouts or car chases that destroy entire city blocks. Instead, it is like a volcano, slowly building pressure, erupting then the pressure starts building again.
The film is structured around these release points, and it provides a glimpse back to a simpler kind of movie, not the Jerry Bruckheimer explosion-fests, but a true action-thriller, with an emphasis on the thriller.
The premise is simple enough. Clive Owen (“Sin City,” “Inside Man”), an Interpol agent with a checkered past, and Naomi Watts (“King Kong,” “21 Grams”), a New York District Attorney with everything to lose, team up to bring down an international bank that is suspected of brokering conflicts around the world and profiting off them.
The bank is the classic shadow organization, with people everywhere, and you never know who might be working for them. A quick assassination at the beginning of the film, and the subsequent response by the authorities shows everything you need to know about how far this bank’s reach is.
Owen seems to be at his best when he plays someone that needs to act rather than mull options. His character’s shady past is hinted at, and that’s really all you need to find his motivation. He does a good job as the “wild card,” a role that has been missing from movies since Clint Eastwood’s Dirty Harry.
Rather than constant explosions, the movie features terse, intense conversations where everyone is lying, and everyone else in the room knows that. It is a remarkable way to ratchet up the tension without being overwhelming. There are also plenty of good, but slightly trite, one-liners, which add nicely to the vintage feel of the movie.
Parts of the plot are predictable, as they are in any action movie. There are subtle references to classics such as “The Godfather” and “Reservoir Dogs” that don’t leap of the screen, but they are there. The combination of cliché and intrigue make the film familiar yet fresh in an interesting way.
And then there is the shootout. A good shootout can make a bad movie better, and conversely, make a good movie worse. In this case, the seven-minute apocalypse that takes place in New York’s Guggenheim Musuem, it’s one for the ages.
What makes it better is that you don’t see it coming. What is supposed to be an eavesdrop on a meeting turns into a full fledged masterpiece of a shootout. The architecture of the museum lets the action breathe, as well as provide many different props for the characters to shoot at.
The movie’s problem becomes apparent as it starts winding down. Without spoiling anything, the film just kind of trails off in a whimper. It’s as if the producers had a few plot points and the idea for the shootout, and decided that it was enough.
Which begs the age-old question: is it about the destination or the journey? While the journey is very satisfying, by the time you get to the destination, you can’t help but look back and wonder, as The Strokes did in 2001,“Is this it?”
Rating - $8.50
Friday, January 23, 2009
Paul Blart: Mall Cop
When trailers for “Paul Blart: Mall Cop” started hitting the airwaves in late December, they didn’t exactly put members of the Academy on notice. The tale of an overweight mall cop who takes his job too seriously doesn’t seem like it would resonate too deeply come awards season. And it won’t.
But it is a comedy that provides good, clean laughs for what it offers, and sometimes that’s all it takes to make a decent movie. What starts as a standard dumb famly comedy evolves into a decent send-up of the over-the-top ‘80’s action movies.
Kevin James plays the rotund title character, a mall security guard who enjoys peanut butter on his pie and harbors dreams of being a real cop, channeling that ambition into his mall security job. A single parent, his daughter and mother spend their time trying to find him a girlfriend via an online dating site.
The role is similar to the one that made him famous, in “The King of Queens,” with Jayma Mays playing the part of the attractive woman that is inexplicably attracted to him.
The most serious part of the film is the opening credits, when a “JFK-“ like theme plays over close-ups of a mall security badge. From there it devolves into slapstick comedy, jokes so bad they’re funny and other staples of mediocre comedies.
The plot of the film is incredibly cliché, with the single-parent James falling for the doe-eyed woman who works at the wig kiosk, and he is forced to save her when she is taken hostage by the terrorists who take over the mall.
While the plot has more holes in it than , the jokes are solid. James provides the best segway humor since Will Arnett in “Arrested Development,” and he can take a pratfall with the best of them.
Since the movie is rated PG, it provides laughs without the nudity and profanity that so many comedies of late rely so heavily upon.
The villains are a group of terrorists who, for some reason, prefer to skate, leap or bike their way around the mall, and very rarely do they use their guns. The terrorists are so hackneyed at times that it’s painful to watch.
The supporting cast mostly drags down the movie, with the exception of Stephen Ranna zzisi, who plays a pen salesman in the mall. He draws laughs every time he is on the screen, and he is the perfect obnoxious foil to Kevin James’ goodhearted nature. Think of him as the Ellis character from “Die Hard.”
Throughout the course of the movie, James becomes a combination of John McClane and Rambo. Except in this case, the Nakatomi Tower has been replaced with the West Orange Pavilion Mall and the Vietnamese jungle is the Rainforest Café.
In a world of gross-out comedies, “Paul Blart” shows that you don’t need f-bombs or nudity to get laughs. Sometimes a fat man on a Segway running into the back of a minivan will do just fine.
Rating - $6.00
But it is a comedy that provides good, clean laughs for what it offers, and sometimes that’s all it takes to make a decent movie. What starts as a standard dumb famly comedy evolves into a decent send-up of the over-the-top ‘80’s action movies.
Kevin James plays the rotund title character, a mall security guard who enjoys peanut butter on his pie and harbors dreams of being a real cop, channeling that ambition into his mall security job. A single parent, his daughter and mother spend their time trying to find him a girlfriend via an online dating site.
The role is similar to the one that made him famous, in “The King of Queens,” with Jayma Mays playing the part of the attractive woman that is inexplicably attracted to him.
The most serious part of the film is the opening credits, when a “JFK-“ like theme plays over close-ups of a mall security badge. From there it devolves into slapstick comedy, jokes so bad they’re funny and other staples of mediocre comedies.
The plot of the film is incredibly cliché, with the single-parent James falling for the doe-eyed woman who works at the wig kiosk, and he is forced to save her when she is taken hostage by the terrorists who take over the mall.
While the plot has more holes in it than , the jokes are solid. James provides the best segway humor since Will Arnett in “Arrested Development,” and he can take a pratfall with the best of them.
Since the movie is rated PG, it provides laughs without the nudity and profanity that so many comedies of late rely so heavily upon.
The villains are a group of terrorists who, for some reason, prefer to skate, leap or bike their way around the mall, and very rarely do they use their guns. The terrorists are so hackneyed at times that it’s painful to watch.
The supporting cast mostly drags down the movie, with the exception of Stephen Ranna zzisi, who plays a pen salesman in the mall. He draws laughs every time he is on the screen, and he is the perfect obnoxious foil to Kevin James’ goodhearted nature. Think of him as the Ellis character from “Die Hard.”
Throughout the course of the movie, James becomes a combination of John McClane and Rambo. Except in this case, the Nakatomi Tower has been replaced with the West Orange Pavilion Mall and the Vietnamese jungle is the Rainforest Café.
In a world of gross-out comedies, “Paul Blart” shows that you don’t need f-bombs or nudity to get laughs. Sometimes a fat man on a Segway running into the back of a minivan will do just fine.
Rating - $6.00
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