Ed's Review Dot Com

Nicholas Sparks Productions , Relativity Media , Temple Hill Entertainment,

Josh Duhamel, Julianne Hough, Cobie Smulders, David Lyons, Noah Lomax, Red West, Ric Reitz, Cullen Moss, Mimi Kirkland

Katie (Juianne Hough) is a young woman on the run. Hunted by police from Boston, she hops a bus and rides toward Atlanta. At a 15 minute stop in a little village on the coast of North Carolina, she gets off the bus, and stays behind. Southport is her Safe Haven, where she can try to blend in and disappear. But fate has more in store for her as she develops two close relationships. First, a young widower named Alex (Josh Duhamel) and his two children, a boy and a girl. The second relationship is with a young single woman living down the road from her named Jo (Cobie Smulders) who is dark and mysterious, yet doesn’t pry into Katie’s story and is a good friend when she needs one. Filled with romance, heavy drama, and suspense, this Nicholas Sparks novel (same guy who wrote The Notebook, a somewhat similar type romance story) this movie will keep you interested from start to the surprising end.

My wife an I were anxious for an evening out a the movies, but we just missed the movie we wanted to see. We decided since it’s a Friday night, to catch a different movie. We decided on Safe Haven because neither of us though Julianne Hough could act (ex. Rock of Ages), and we were curious to see what she could do with a decent novel. Well, we were really surprised. Josh DUhamel was really good as a sensitive, single dad, struggling to get over the death of his wife, and keep his children safe and sane. Julianne came in with an excellent performance as both the troubled fugitive on the lam, as the detached woman, trying not to get close to anyone, who can’t help being swept away by Alex’s charm. The scenery is breathtaking in this beautiful North Carolina seashore town, and the story is really good. The surprise ending probably isn’t necessary to the story, but doesn’t hurt. Now critics have (and will) blast this film as being too predictable and cheesy, but pay them no mind. They watch way too many movies and have gotten too jaded. Come into this one fresh, without prejudgements, and appreciate the beautiful story. I can name other movies that are very similar to this, but I won’t, as I don’t want to ruin the story, because if you go into it, like I did, without any knowledge of the plot, the suspense is really pretty good.

I think this guy is a hell of a writer, and this story did not disappoint me. I felt the casting was good, especially the kids, and the people were as friendly and charming as Southerners actually are. It was a chick flick, for sure, but one that is strong enough to keep me riveted to the screen from start to finish.

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Movie Rentals Releasing Tuesday February 19, 2013

• Argo
• Sinister [Click here for Ed’s Review]
• Anna Karenina
• Fun Size
• Atlas Shrugged Part 2
• Undefeated

Summit Entertainment, Mr. Mudd,

Logan Lerman, Emma Watson, Ezra Miller, Mae Whitman, Kate Walsh, Dylan McDermott, Melanie Lynskey, Joan Cusack, Paul Rudd, Nina Dobrev, Johnny Simmons

Charlie (Logan Lerman) is a young boy, dealing with the suicide of his best friend, and very sad and alone. He has a hard time making friends, as he’s a freshman and just starting out, but he meets two Seniors who take him under his wing. Sam (Emma Watson) and Patrick (Ezra Miller) who show him the ropes and become friends. Charlie falls hard for Sam, but with his own issues, he just doesn’t know how to get along. Charlie has a lot of problems, and is fighting himself all the way in this quirky coming of age drama.

This movie surprised me a bit. I was watching it through the first 3/4 of the film, and it seemed like a typical teen trying to grow up and fit in movie, and a boy trying to win over the girl of his dreams. But the ending totally broke my mind as we find out that things are not the way they seem, and Charlie has some real issues. It turned the whole movie around, and though it was interesting throughout, the ending really sparkled. I was caught by surprise and the ending made the rest of the movie make a lot more sense. Emma Watson was really good in this movie, and has turned into a really good actress. I hope she continues, as she really did a great job in this movie and is getting better and better. I didn’t know Logan Lerman, but he was actually really good as Charlie in this film. The rest of the cast was also really good, although the story is really about the 3 friends. The rest of the people fit in and add the to depth and richness of the story. Paul Rudd is a teacher who inspires and helps Charlie a lot. Joan Cusack has a small role as Dr. Burton, and although it’s a relatively small role, it’s adds a lot to the understanding.

Basically this is a pretty good story, well portrayed. I enjoyed it for what it is, and though it has an “indie” feel to it, it was rather interesting all the way through. If you like dramatic movies with lots of dialog and little action, this is a good choice. I enjoyed it.

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Paramount Pictures, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM), Gary Sanchez Productions,

Jeremy Renner, Gemma Arterton, Famke Janssen, Peter Stormare, Zoe Bell, Thomas Mann, Derek Mears

Hansel (Jeremy Renner) and Gretel (Gemma Arterton) were taken out in the woods when they were little children by their father. He left them alone, lost and alone, where they wandered around trying to find their way home. Instead they came upon a cottage made of candy where they were captured by a witch who wanted to eat them. But they burned her up in an oven, and learned the ways to deal with witches. Well, many years have passed and they’ve become pretty good witch hunters. It’s a lucrative career, as the number of witches has continued to grow and they have a lot of business. But in one little town the number of missing children has skyrocketed, and it seems the town needs a lot of help.

This was a surprising film. It has been out a few weeks, and it was late Saturday night, so I expected the theater to be empty. Instead, it was at least 90% full. We all had a good time. This film had an amazing amount of action and adventure, and as an “R” rated film for violence, gore, and language, it was also very, very funny. It was a perfect mix of huge belly laughs, YUCK moments, and exciting battles and chases. This brother and sister duo has a wide range of spectacular weapons, and boy, do they know how to use them. Jeremy Renner is pretty funny as the big brother protecting his sister, while Gemma is perhaps the tougher of the two and rarely needs protecting. I must say I really enjoyed this movie.

If you haven’t had a chance to see this one yet, hurry up, before it’s gone . It’s a great comedy action film to see on the big screen. If you have to wait for it on DVD, be sure to invite lots of friends, make some popcorn, as the more, the merrier in this film will be. I really liked it, and I highly recommend this one. Warning though, it is very gross and extremely violent (in fun mostly), so leave the kids alone. Also Gretel has had a hard life, so she does have a bit of a foul mouth. 🙂 Enjoy this fun film. It was a real surprise to me, as I thought it would suck, but it surely didn’t!

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Walden Media, Gran Via Productions,

Maggie Gyllenhaal, Viola Davis, Holly Hunter, Oscar Isaac, Rosie Perez, Ving Rhames, Lance Reddick, Marianne Jean-Baptiste, Bill Nunn, Emily Alyn Lind

Jamie Fitzpatrick (Maggie Gyllenhaal) is a single Mom struggling with two jobs to make a better life for her 3rd grade daughter. But their inner city school is failing. Though there are some good teachers, Jamie has tried for months to get her daughter transferred to a different room since the teacher is really mean, and she can’t read. Meanwhile, Nona Alberts (Viola Davis) is a really good teacher, but worries about her own son who is not progressing properly. Jamie tries to enter her daughter in the lottery to go to the school she wants for her daughter, but they have 40 spots and over 400 applicants. So Jamie and Nona band together to fight the parents, the teachers, the administration, the union, and the school board to petition the board to allow them to take over the school and to allow the parents to run it. All in all it’s a long uphill battle, but the parents want what is best for their kids no matter how hard the fight.

This film is really an anti-union/anti-establishment film, but it’s trying to show some of the problems with the school district we have today. Unions appear more worried about keeping up their enrollment to get enough money in the pot to buy the government off to protect them, and the teachers who are awful, are protected by tenure. Tenure was a good thing back in the days where the teachers could be mass fired due to a change in the political environment in a town, but it’s gotten so bad, that unless you can convict a teacher of a serious crime, they can never be fired no matter how bad they perform. And when a whole school fails, year after year, what are parents to do? They don’t have the money to send their kids to private schools, and the public schools that are better are so overcrowded that it’s impossible to get in.

But back to the movie. It’s a definitely one sided view, so the good teachers and good parents are all good, and the union members, bad teachers, school board and union leaders are pure evil. I’m sure it’s not like this in real life, but it’s drama. So expect to see a one sided story, much like many similar films like The China Syndrome, The Help, Erin Brockovich, and numerous others where it’s the little man against the evil establishment, but what else would you expect. This is a drama, and not a documentary, and though it’s based on some factual stuff, most of the movie is fiction. So it’s a drama, well acted, and not to badly written. It’s an interesting film, and not too bad to watch, but it’s not going to get a glowing review because it just doesn’t take that additional giant step to greatness. It’s just a good film, and definitely worth watching, but with lowered expectations for content.

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