Ed's Review Dot Com

Funny Business Productions, Home Box Office

Will Ferrell, Michael Delaney, Pia Glenn, Adam Mucci, Patrick Ferrell

“This is a one-man Broadway show about George W.  Bush”, to paraphrase Mr. Dickens,  “This must be distinctly understood, or nothing wonderful can come of the story I am about to relate.”   I have read many reviews of others and I found several reasons why they hated this.  First and foremost because they don’t know what a one man Broadway show is supposed to be.   They figured because it was Will Ferrell that he would be acting like a stand up comic and do jokes all night.   That’s not what this is.  A one man show is a caricature of the life and times of G.W. and not just a series of jokes.   Most that hated it would rather they played SNL clips all night.   The others who hated it fall into two major groups.  Those that love G.W. and wanted a love fest with the man, and those that hate him and wished that Michael Moore had made the film.  It’s neither.  It’s sometimes bawdy and rowdy, and sometimes loving and gentle, but it’s certain not all bashing or praising, nor is it a series of skits from a Late Night TV show.

This was filmed by HBO for broadcast (hence no rating) and contains nude photos and lots of harsh language and questionable subject matter.  But it’s also a look into the life of Ex-President Bush.   It was filmed at the first performance on the Inaguration Day of his successor.  So some of the material is a little dated here nearly two years away, but it’s recent history and most will be able to put it into the time frame of the last day of G.W.’s presidency.  It covers George’s early years, in school, in the National Guard, and as Governor of Texas.  It has material about the election, selecting a cabinet, and things that happened during the 8 years that we all remember.  Most is fiction, of course, but there are some truly humorous moments.  It’s not a series of jokes, so it’s not funny like “fall down on the floor laughing” funny, but it has some very funny moments.

This is not as spot on as the impressions in a 3 minute SNL skit.  You can’t keep that up for 90 minutes.  But Will stays in character through the show, and you always know who he’s trying to portray.  He tries to get into the essence of the man, and for the most part does it very well.

There are times when we understand G.W. for what he was trying to do, and sometimes realizing his faults and foibles, and sometimes we watch him mocking himself for what he wishes he could do over.   I think this helps the show a lot, as you don’t have a one sided slant of hate or love that ruins the show.  Nobody is black and white, we all have lots of grays.

So as far as rating the film version of the show,  I didn’t think it was fantastic, but I didn’t think it was bad either.  I enjoyed watching it, and seeing a portrait of George W Bush behind the scenes, even though fictional, it could have happened.

Summit Entertainment

Brendan Fraser, Ricky Garcia, Brooke Shields, Eugene Cordero, Patrice O’Neal, Jim Norton, Mat Prokop, Billy Bush, Ken Jeong

Oh, brother!  I usually try to find something positive.  This time I’m trying really hard to find something.   If you have a 7 or 8 year old boy, maybe younger, they might enjoy this.  Girls might like the cuddly animals, probably not.   I knew going in this was going to be bad, and truthfully it’s not as awful as I expected, but it’s pretty bad, just the same.  As I said, the kids might enjoy the slapstick humor and childish pratfalls, but it’s probably going to be pretty annoying to adults, unless you’re in a really happy mood (Think chemical alteration).

The stories are all the same.    Nice guy who moves to a new home, and the family hates it.  He works for a stupid jerk boss who makes him do things that are wrong.  He ends up standing up to his boss, and fighting for the right thing to try to win back the family.   But this is not only the story line of many other movies, but several tv sitcom episodes.  (Remember the Brady bunch movie where Mrs Brady is out picketing the house that Mike has architected).  In this case, as the title suggests, they’re going to tear down the forest and the animals all object.

Then, of course, there’s Ken Jeong.  This poor guy is the Korean dude in every show anymore.  He’s the guy in the trunk in Hangover, and the Asian Spanish teacher on TV in Community, and just about every other movie made in the last few years!  In this one, he is the evil boss, but doesn’t do much with it.  He’s not really bad, and he’s not redeemable, and he’s not very funny.  Probably the script, but this annoying wise ass character that he gets in every movie is not

Then to make matters worse, in the DVD they have the nerve to put a special feature about how nobody will notice the fake animals if we scream a lot and shoot it close up and spray the junk all over his face (skunk).   Throw in some bird poop and you’ve got a cheap movie.   Actually Brendan Fraser has a much funnier line in the special feature than he has in the movie.  “Think how much dough in CGI they saved on that one”

Brooke, dear Brooke.  Nice to see you again, but trust me, you were better off back in TV.   Sorry.   And be forewarned.   Even the gag reel is not funny!

Movie Rentals Releasing on Tuesday August 24th, 2010

• The Back-up Plan
• City Island
• Group Sex
• Yoo-Hoo Mrs. Goldberg (Documentary)
• Ajami (Germany)
• The Square (Australia)
• Clash of the Titans (Netflix Release)
• Repo Men (Netflix Release)

Columbia Pictures, Plan B Entertainment

Julia Roberts, Billy Crudup, James Franco, I Gusti Ayu Puspawati, Hadi Subiyanto, Viola Davis

This is a major chick flick.  In fact, this may be the chick-flickiest movie I have ever seen.  It made me feel like I was watching a marathon of  Bridges of Madison County it was that painful.   This is the story of a woman who doesn’t know who she is and is trapped in a marriage she doesn’t want.   So she does what everybody does, takes a journey around the world.   This is a writer who never writes, so I truly don’t know where the money for this journey comes from, but around the world she goes.

This is a long film,  well over two hours, and it was painful to sit through the first part, for me.   I found myself halfway through this wishing something interesting would happen.  Then suddenly just before the end, I think I finally got it.

The words in the title Eat, Pray, and Love have to do with the 3 countries this lady visits.  It becomes obvious.  For a dense guy like me,  it took a long time till I caught on to the point of the story.   We are all sometimes looking for the wrong thing.  We look for peace, we look for love, we look for fame, we look for wealth.   But what we all are really looking for is balance.

There are other thoughtful things in this movie too.  During her journey she meets some pretty crazy people.   That’s part of the fun, and there are a few funny parts.  But this movie never got to a chemistry level like the other Julia Roberts movies, like Notting Hill for example.  It’s really hard to get into any of the characters in this movie.

So basically, if you’re into chick flicks, or if you read the memoirs of the writer of the novel this movie was made from and are interested to see the places in the story, (the cinematography is beautiful), then this will be a big hit for you.  But if you’re a macho guy, and your wife/girlfriend wants to drag you here, and you can’t talk her into a “girls night out”, make sure you make an especially great deal because guys are mostly not going to dig this.

I have to give this a rating in the middle, mostly because I know the number of women that are going to love it are going to be canceled out by the men who are going to hate it.   But I wish I could have talked my lady into seeing something different.

Touchstone Pictures

Miley Cyrus, Greg Kinnear, Bobby Coleman, Liam Hemsworth, Hallock Beals, Kelly Preston

Ok, I will give you that I probably rated this higher than I should have.  So sue me, I’m a sucker for this kind of movie.  Immediately some people will hate it because Billy Ray’s little girl is in it.  I would rather expect to hate it because Greg Kinnear is in it.  (He’s not one of my favorite actors).  But actually both did a pretty good job.  If you haven’t heard the story yet, then try not to hear the ending before you see it, and it will make it better.  I did, and I was not expecting the ending.

Ronnie Miller (Miley) is a 17 year old who has a tremendous grudge against her father and mother.  Yet she’s forced to go to the beach to spend the summer with her dad and her little brother.  Tough life hunh,  having to spend the whole summer in a beach house!  Well, anyway, she’s really mad, mostly because Mom and Dad aren’t together anymore?   Sound familiar?   Well, she meets a local volleyballer on the beach, and falls in love.  He’s very persistent and she’s as stubborn as they come, so naturally there is a lot of friction.  Also Ronnie has a soft spot for those in need whether they be the local “bad” girl, or the baby turtles on the shore.  She’s a nester, and has to nurture whoever needs some nurturing.

There are at least 3 or 4 major stories going on here, and relationships to break and mend everywhere.   Dad is a musician with a bad reputation on his back for a wrong he did the town that he is trying to make up for.  Ronnie’s volleyball playing sweetheart has a few secrets of his own he’s hiding, and everyone has ulterior motives it seems.  But it all works out in the end somehow.

I understand that this is taken from an excellent book, and some reviewers who were huge fans of the book were disappointed in the movie.  I can understand that, as it is tough to turn an excellent book into a 90 minute tearjerker of a movie, but I didn’t have that bias going in, and I truly enjoyed it.   Relationship movies are the kind I really like, and this one has a lot of souls to reform before it’s over.

All in all Greg Kinnear did a fine job as the father, and Kelly Preston is beautiful as ever as the mother, but Miley did a pretty good job carrying the lead.  I can understand some criticism of her acting skills, as she has a long way to go, but roles like this are pretty well suited for her, and though maybe she’s a little young for all the kissing and makeout scenes, she is growing up and will grow into these kinds of things.  But she showed the anger and the heartbreak,  the love and the hate, pretty well for a huge leading role like this.   The movie may have been better with a different lead actress, but the story is strong enough to surpass her immaturity in acting skills.

Well worth a watch, especially if you like “chick flicks”.