Ed's Review Dot Com

Screen Gems, Battleplan Productions

James Marsden, Kate Bosworth, Alexander Skarsgard, James Woods, Domenic Purcell, Laz Alonso, Willa Holland, Walton Goggins, Rhys Coiro

Hollywood Screenwriter David Sumner (James Marsden) and his wife Amy (Kate Bosworth) move to Mississippi to Amy’s hometown. But the locals there do not appreciate the hotshot LA folks moving into their town, and especially how Amy has changed. Troubles brew as her ex boyfriend tries to move in, and they take every opportunity to make fun of and play games with David to make him look foolish. He hires some local guys to do work on the house, but they mostly play around, drink beer, and make rude remarks to Amy. Every time they try to fit in a little, things get worse. Things escalate until eventually it all comes to a violent head.

This is a remake of the 1971 Sam Peckinpah film with Susan George and Dustin Hoffman. This is a remake that probably shouldn’t have been made, in my opinion. It pales to the original which was definitely shocking. The original is set in rural England, and David is a mathematician, so right away he’s really a nerd, not a decently cool screenwriter. The point of the movie (both versions) is that Amy is getting kind of fed up with the fact that her husband is kinda wimpy. She’s looking for a tough, bad boy, guy who will stand up and fight and be her knight in shining armor. In both movies, David would rather talk his way out of tough situations and use diplomacy and civility rather than violence. When he’s pushed to the limit though, and there is no way out, he turns into a vicious beast! Dustin Hoffman did this so much better.

Basically, they took the primary elements of the story and set it in Mississippi in 2011 without updating any of the rural England of 40-50 years ago elements (except for some computers and cell phones and new cars). The story is still fairly exciting, and if you had never seen the original, wouldn’t be too bad to watch, but do yourself a favor, now that it’s on DVD, and get the original 1971 version and be in “shock and awe” of Sam Peckinpah’s vision of a man defending his home from a bunch of hoodlums. Don’t bother with this weak revision fiasco.

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog

Universal Pictures, Vendome Pictures, Playtone Productions

Tom Hanks, Julia Roberts, Bryan Cranston, Cedric the Entertainer, Taraji P. Henson, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Wilmer Valderrama, Pam Grier, Nia Vardalos, George Takei, Rob Riggle, Rami Malek

Larry Crowne (Tom Hanks) was a navy man for 20 years. He’s the superstar at a big retail corporation, and when his names is called, he’s expecting to be named Employee of the Month — Again! Instead, he’s being laid off because he doesn’t have a college degree. Downsized, he starts looking at his options, but there are no jobs anywhere, and he’s upside down on his mortgage, and there are no options other than to walk away from the house, get a small apartment and go back to college. Larry reinvents himself and finds some new meaning in his life, including a few new friends, Mercedes Tainot (Julia Roberts) his speech teacher, Lamar (Cedric the Entertainer) his neighbor, and a Hispanic biker girl, Alvarez (Roxana Ortega), who teaches him some style. Larry finds that when everything goes wrong, you can still turn things around an reinvent yourself.

I looked forward to a Tom Hanks, Julia Roberts movie when I saw posters in the theater, but somehow it came and went before I got a chance to go see it. Now I can see why. This has to be the worst Tom Hanks movie since Joe vs. the Volcano!! I didn’t hate the movie. It has a bit of humor, and a bit of romance. It’s just not extremely interesting, and pretty unrealistic. Tom Hanks wrote the film, and perhaps some people are correct in assuming that because Tom Hanks hasn’t experienced the economic impact of what’s happening to people today, he can’t write it very accurately. I don’t know if that’s true or not, but it really seems more like a TV movie than a Hollywood blockbuster. Larry is kind of annoying, and Julia has certainly done better work. The funniest thing in the movie is George Takai as a really narcissistic economics professor who is so full of himself he’s hysterical. As for Larry, I wish him well in the life he has chosen, but I am not very concerned about him. There are some people who are very excited by this film, mostly because they identify with one of the characters. There’s either Julia Roberts who is a teacher with a boring lump of a husband who she is dumping for good cause, or Larry who is an older 50’s guy going back to school. I think the ultimate summation of the mood of this film is Cedric the Entertainer’s character who when his wife points out that he stood up on his own and hasn’t called anyone his boss for years, has Larry remind her that winning the lottery may have something to do with that.

Everything just kinds of happens in this film, and nothing is very exciting or meaningful. It’s not an awful film, but I was just kind of disappointed that it wasn’t nearly as good as it should have been. That’s why it was in and out of the theaters in a very short time.

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog