PHOTOS
Jeff Boam
Opening This Weekend
The Proposal
Sandra Bullock, Ryan Reynolds
In the PG-13-rated romantic-comedy The Proposal, Bullock plays a high-powered executive who fakes an engagement to her assistant (Reynolds) at the threat of being deported back to her native Canada. The Plus: The players. Bullock’s career has definitely had its share of blockbusters (Speed, A Time to Kill), but her comedies seem to consistently yield the best box office returns (While You Were Sleeping, Miss Congeniality, Two Weeks Notice). Reynolds, however, seems genre-proof after a recent hot streak (Definitely, Maybe; comedy; X-Men Origins: Wolverine, action). Pairing these two in a romantic comedy with Mary Steenburgen (Four Christmases), Betty White (Lake Placid), Craig T. Nelson (The Incredibles) and Malin Akerman (Watchmen) almost seems like a sure winner. The Minus: The odds. One weekend … at least six films already in release … two PG-13-rated comedies opening. It doesn’t take the guy from A Beautiful Mind to see that both films cannot end up as out-and-out hits.
Year One
Jack Black, Michael Cera
In regards to comedy, there is no doubting the credentials of director Harold Ramis. He helmed such memorable laugh-riots as Caddyshack, National Lampoon’s Vacation, Groundhog Day and Analyze This. He scripted such unforgettable classics as National Lampoon’s Animal House, Stripes and Ghostbusters (he also acted in the latter two). So, what does Ramis do for a follow-up to his latest? Along with his fellow Year One screenwriters Gene Stupnitsky and Lee Eisneberg (both from TV’s The Office), he will be developing Ghostbusters III. In his PG-13-rated comedy, a pair of village idiots (Black, Cera) embarks on the first road trip ever, wandering through Biblical times and many misadventures. The Plus: The players. Ramis is directing bona-fide funnymen Black (School of Rock, Tropic Thunder) and Cera (Superbad, Juno). But Year One’s supporting cast reads like a comedic “Who’s Who”— Hank Azaria (The Birdcage), David Cross (TV’s Arrested Development), Horatio Sanz (TV’s Saturday Night Live) and even Ramis himself. The Minus: The competition. The Hangover dominated the box office for two weeks running, proving that Americans want to yuk it up at the theater … but that particular film was very well reviewed. Year One will have to wow audiences and critics to show some Biblical returns.
Now Playing
Imagine That
Eddie Murphy, Thomas Haden Church
Like a well-oiled door-to-door salesman, Eddie Murphy’s likeable shtick proves so compelling that he could pretty much sell ice cream to an Eskimo pie … but not bad movies to a discerning public (Exhibit A: Meet Dave). For more than 100 minutes, he mugs, sings, dances, pratfalls and mugs some more — for what reason, your reviewer hasn’t a clue. Though his comic talents hard sell Imagine That like a politician working a room full of fat cat investors, Murphy ultimately can’t pawn off this predictable drivel on filmgoers. Because of its clever hook, the movie is certainly not the worst of its ilk. For a film called Imagine That, however, it’s amazing how unimaginative this property ends up even with the good graces of Murphy.
In the PG-rated Imagine That, Murphy plays a financial investor who normally has no time for his daughter. When her make-believe friends start to spot profitable trends in the stock market with alarming regularity, however, this exec suddenly takes a newfound interest in his daughter.
The doe-eyed tot is cute, Murphy goes about his knockabout Daddy Day Care man-against-tot routine, and the audience is just supposed to buy it hook, line and stinker. Though the concept proves winning, the follow-through is just too pre-packaged and cloying to feel genuine. Murphy is a driven exec, but filmgoers ultimately know more about the daughter’s fantasy world than they do about the main character. The characters — save for Thomas Hayden Church as an opportunistic faux-Native American — are merely paper dolls in a connect-the-dots activity book. Bottom line: Little imagination.
The Taking of Pelham 123
Denzel Washington, John Travolta
It sure takes a lot of Ibuprofen to enjoy a Tony Scott movie. With the attention span of a gnat, director Scott whisks filmgoers from angle to angle and shot to shot … unfortunately, it’s all the very same scene and rendered with the frenetic abandon of an ADD-riddled brat on Ritalin. If his intention was to make the audience lose focus and rub their temples in utter pain, Scott certainly succeeds. In regards to the rarely exciting Taking of Pelham 123, however, his frenzied style amazingly doesn’t derail this remake of a little-remembered 1974 Walter Matthau/Robert Shaw thriller. It certainly doesn’t help matters either, but top honors for said derailment falls on a half-baked script with about as much punch as a comatose boxer.
In this R-rated remake, a New York City subway dispatcher (Washington) becomes the unwitting pawn of a criminal mastermind (Travolta) out to hijack a subway car full of civilians.
Denzel Washington and John Travolta have not been miscast so much as the audience has been misled. Like the overall story, their characters are never fully developed by the time the end credits roll. Each actor is fully capable of selling through the wares, but struggle to find actual substance. Scribe Brian Helgeland has given audiences great screenplays before (LA Confidential, Payback), but this rushed project is not one of them. Travolta’s villain seems remorseful one minute and full-tilt psychotic the next. Washington’s everyman cops to some bad behavior but this concession only hints at the intense drama that Pelham could’ve actually been. Bottom line: Chattanooga doo doo.
Drag Me to Hell
Alison Lohman, Justin Long
In this PG-13-rated horror flick, an ambitious loan officer (Lohman) shames a mysterious old woman and becomes cursed. While the film shows many of the telltale signs indicative of studio blockbusters, director Sam Raimi never forsakes fun for formula. It helps that he doesn’t curse the project with the distraction of superstar talent. Also, the film is as humorous as it’s intentionally sickening. If it veers into silliness, it’s with the same playful abandon that made Raimi’s Evil Dead such a howling success. However, in an age when a high-profile helmer like Jonathan Demme (Silence of the Lambs) can get back to basics and use low-grade hand-held to make a project more organic (Rachel Getting Married), it’s disconcerting that Raimi can’t channel his younger riskier self. Bottom line: Hella good — not great.
The Hangover
Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms
In this R-rated comedy, four friends (Cooper, Helms, Zach Galifianakis, Justin Bartha) head to Las Vegas for a raucous bachelor party only to wake up the next morning with a baby, a tiger and Mike Tyson in their hotel room … but no groom. Chock full of brilliantly played bits, laugh-riot The Hangover hammers home the point that it takes a good degree of intelligence to make (and enjoy) a great low comedy. The set-up is simple, but what results is classic “boys will be boys” monkey business. The movie begins to feel long as it winds into the home stretch, but viewers will be too busy mopping up the embarrassing damp spot where they wet themselves laughing to take proper notice. Bottom line: Hang 10.
Land of the Lost
Will Ferrell, Danny R. McBride
In the agonizingly bad PG-13-rated family adventure Land of the Lost, three explorers (Ferrell, McBride, Anna Friel) find themselves thrust into a strange world of dinosaurs, monkey people and reptilian Sleestaks. Frankly, your reviewer doesn’t exactly know for whom this big budget craptacular was intended. As family entertainment, the film fails miserably (boob-grabbing by cavemen, getting doused with dinosaur urine and Sleestak-screwing all play prominent roles). As a comedy, the film fails even MORE miserably (boob-grabbing by monkey men, getting doused … oh, you get the idea). As a vehicle for perennial frat boy Will Ferrell, the film fails MOST miserably. The original was so bad, it was good … this re-imagining is so bad, it’s painful. Bottom line: Lost cause.
Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian
Ben Stiller, Amy Adams
In this PG-rated family adventure, a former museum security guard (Stiller) goes into action when his exhibit friends (Adams, Owen Wilson, Robin Williams) are accidentally shipped to the Smithsonian Institute for storage in order to make way for new-age interactive displays … which is remarkable given the fact that the movie is a 105-minute computer-driven display devoid of much substance. Oh, don’t get your reviewer wrong — there is a lot going on with which to engage viewers … too much in fact. This shallow adventure simply tries to cram too many fine art references into its pop culture craw. The result proves dizzying and, in as much as its predecessor piqued kids’ interest in museums, this sequel will send them away screaming like they were in an Edvard Munch painting. Bottom line: Embattled.
Terminator Salvation
Christian Bale, Sam Worthington
In the PG-13-rated Salvation, John Connor (Bale) is leading mankind’s war against the machines just as the arrival of a stranger (Worthington) threatens to alter the future of humanity. The entertaining but robotic Salvation seems more concerned with aesthetics and pyrotechnics than such lowly human bents as soul-searching. Insomuch as the film looks gritty and real, the story pulls focus from the main character, John Connor. Worthington’s Marcus Wright suddenly becomes the focus of the film during the second act, leaving filmgoers with as much emotional investment as the action-driven screenplay. Bottom line: Terminated.
Up
Voices of Ed Asner, Christopher Plummer
In the latest G-rated Pixar film, a grumpy old man (Asner) and a stowaway (Jordan Nagal) head to a tropical paradise in a balloon-powered house. Building upon Pixar’s already amazing catalogue, the rollickingly fun Up indulges nostalgia and takes chances to boot. Perhaps, it could have been one of this studio’s very best were it not for some minor missteps. As much as director Pete Docter takes ample time to set up the plot’s intricate backstory, some other points escape their attention. Some supporting characters are underdeveloped (a friendly bird comes off like a cartoonish cliché) while others strain credibility even for a cartoon (some well-trained dogs speak with an electronic collar and even fly planes). Still, the adventure soars more than sours. Bottom line: Make Up yours.