Ed's Review Dot Com

Dog Run Pictures, Park Pictures, TBB,

Frank Langella, James Marsden, Liv Tyler, Susan Sarandon, Peter Sarsgaard, Jeremy Strong, Jeremy Sisto

Frank (Frank Langella) lives alone out in the country. He’s an ex-jewel thief/cat burglar who’s way past his prime. He’s gotten old, and the memory is failing, and his hands are shaky, and his attitude has turned rather snarly. His daughter, Madison (Liv Tyler), travels the world for her work and never comes to see him, and his wife divorced him a long time ago. His son, Hunter (James Marsden) is married, has a family, but makes the weekly drive out to visit his Dad, just to see how he’s getting along, but it’s never pleasant for either of them. Frank refuses to go to the home, and so Frank comes up with a plan. It’s the near future, and Frank gives him a robot to take care of him, make sure he’s eating healthy, getting exercise, and doing all the right things. Frank hates the idea, and Madison is a member of a protest group against non-human slavery and doesn’t approve of a robot, but when Frank finds out the robot was not programmed with a sense of right and wrong, and that he is very adept at picking locks and stealing loot, Frank decides he likes the robot a lot. But as his health deteriorates, and trouble abounds at every turn, he has to take a look at how he’s going to survive his last years.

This is a little movie that has a awful lot going for it. It’s clever, very engaging, and filled with good performances. Frank Langella and Susan Sarandon play well off each other as a crotchety old relic of the past, and an obsolete librarian who is relegated to caretaker of a library museum, for the most part. James Marsden and Liv Tyler, as the grown children are also very good in their roles. They add a lot of spice to the plot. Peter Sarsgaard, as the voice of the robot who Frank refuses to name, is also adds a lot to the film. The robot is a very strong character, and his motives and intentions are very well defined. All in all, this was a very surprising little film that is one of the hidden gems that nobody has heard of, but is a pretty decent little film. I found myself intrigued by the story, even if the ending kind of let me down, the entire story was very good and I found myself very attentive and sad when it was over. This is a short film, a bit under and hour and half, but it is very good storytelling, and one of those forgotten films that you ought to give a chance. Hopefully now that it’s out on DVD many more people will get a chance to see it. It was pretty good.

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Movie Rentals Releasing Tuesday February 12, 2013

• Skyfall [Click Here for Ed’s Review]
• The Perks of Being a Wallflower
• Silent Hill:Revelation [Click Here for Ed’s Review]
• The Man with the Iron Fists
• The Sessions
• Robot & Frank
• Bully
• The Kid with a Bike
• The Thieves

Team Todd, Envision Media Arts, PalmStar Entertainment,

Rashida Jones, Andy Samberg, Chris Messina, Ari Graynor, Eric Christian Olsen, Will McCormack, Rebecca Dayan, Rich Sommer, Matthew Del Negro, Rafi Gavron, Elijah Wood

Young married couple Celeste (Rashida Jones) and Jesse (Andy Samberg) are separated. High School Sweethearts, now they’re getting a divorce. There’s only one problem. They’re best friends, and they’re roommates. To top it off, they are always together. This really freaks out their friend s who think it’s absurd that they’re getting divorced, but but spend every day together. There’s no separating these two. They understand each other perfectly, get each others jokes, and simply enjoy each others company. But when Jesse decides he’s in love with someone else, and about to get married, things get complicated. How can two best friends, formerly married, tolerate one of them falling for someone else? They need to look closely and see if there perhaps are still some feelings for each other that are getting in the way.

This was a surprising film to me as well. Another decent movie, considering these are not real big movie stars, but TV stars. Handling sketches on SNL or a half hour sitcom is very different than carrying a movie, but the did very good at it. The two of them played their roles flawlessly, and really suck you into the story. It’s hilariously funny, and sad at the same time. Basically this is a good Valentines Day movie, and having it out on DVD just at the season of love is a good thing, as this is a great romantic comedy to watch together at this time of year! Seriously, it’s a funny enough romantic comedy to keep the guys interested, and has enough romance and relationship material to keep the chick flick lovers happy as well. This is really not a guy film, but it’s one of those rom-coms that guys won’t mind sitting through. Especially if you’re a fan of Andy’s work on SNL, it’s the same kind of comedy you would expect him to handle. This was a surprisingly good romantic comedy that everyone should enjoy. It’s rated R, but I didn’t find it too raunchy, and I’m kind of surprised this wasn’t rated PG-13. I’m not sure how it earned the R rating, but still, it’s probably not as interesting for kids and young teens, but more appropriate for mature audiences. If you’re looking for a fun rom-com that you both can watch, and want something new, this is a good choice and probably one you have not heard of before.

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Exclusive Media Group, Panay Films, Primate Pictures,

Dax Shepard, Kristen Bell, Bradley Cooper, Tom Arnold, Joy Bryant, Kristin Chenoweth, David Koechner, Michael Rosenbaum, Beau Bridges, Jess Rowland

Charles Bronson (Dax Shepard) is a getaway driver living in the witness protection program. He’s under police protection and not able to leave the area, but when his girlfriend, Annie (Kristen Bell) gets a job offer from Los Angeles, Charlie breaks out of witness protection to drive her across the country to L.A. Along the way they are chased by police officer Randy Anderson (Tom Arnold), and the gang led by Bradley Cooper that he turned in.

What follows is one of the best of the cross country chases since Smokey and the Bandit. This is actually a really funny film. This is an ensemble piece, and all the different actors bring their own flair to the comedy. Dax and Kristen make a really cute couple, and of course they have their problems, but we can see he has a good heart. Meanwhile Tom Arnold is very Barney Fifeish and this actually is a pretty decent role for him. He plays a bumbling sheriff as good as anyone. There are a few smaller roles that are also really good. Kristin Chenoweth, David Koechner, and Beau Bridges have smaller roles, but bring a lot to the party. All in all, it’s really fun. The time flies by and there are really a lot of laughs. I didn’t expect a lot from this film, but I was really pleasantly surprised. It was much better than I expected, and I was surprised at how much fun it really was. If you like chase comedies like Rat Race and It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World, this is along those lines. Not a classic by any means, but a really good time. It’s great for a rental.

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Broken Road Productions, Columbia Pictures, Happy Madison Productions

Kevin James, Salma Hayek, Henry Winkler, Greg Germann, Joe Rogan, Gary Valentine, Charice, Bas Rutten, Reggie Lee, Mark DellaGrotte

Scott Voss (Kevin James) is a biology teacher who’s really burned out. Convinced that attending school is a waste of time for him and for the kids, he just gets by day to day. But budget cuts put and end to the music program and Marty Streb (Henry Winkler) is about to be put out of a job. Scott decides the only way to save the music program is to raise the money, $48,000, to save Marty’s job. But no one wants to help, so Scott and Marty, along with school nurse Bella Flores (Selma Hayek) set out on a plan to try to earn the money themselves since the rest of the teachers are not interested. What follows is an excellent adventure through ultimate cage fighting, as Scott learns the value of friendship and support, and the value of education.

This is a really funny film. Kevin James sometimes goes over the top with the slapstick humor, but his style is perfect for this movie. This is definitely a violent comedy, but it’s all in good fun. There’s a lot of heart too. The fighting scenes are really well done, and exciting, and Henry Winkler brings a lot to his part as well as the well-meaning manager to Scott. There is a cute side story of Scott trying to ask Bella out and constantly being shut down. This is a fun part of the movie as well. This is not the most hysterical comedy ever made, but it is a lot of fun, and does have plenty of laughs. I really enjoyed this movie, and I can recommend it for anyone who enjoys a good comedy with lots of sight gags.

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog