Ed's Review Dot Com

Big Indie Pictures, ShivHans Pictures,

Al Pacino, Annette Bening, Jennifer Garner, Bobby Cannavale, Christopher Plummer, Josh Peck

Danny Collins (Al Pacino) is a rock and roll legend of the 1970’s. He sang some garbage songs that become hugely popular, and here 40 years later, drugs and booze have taken their toll. Danny is still singing the same songs, and wasting as much money as he can. But things are getting rough, and Danny’s best friend and manager Frank Grubman (Christopher Plummer) has set him up with another world tour to bring in some much needed cash. But he has a surprise for him. Frank just got his hands on a letter that was written back in the 70’s from John Lennon himself after a televised Danny Collins concert with some really good advice and invited Danny to call John and discuss it. The letter had never been delivered. Danny was struck deeply by the letter and the advice John gave him and cancels the tour, heads to a hotel in New Jersey to stay long term to change his life around and make thing better. But there are a few other secrets that made Danny choose New Jersey as his estranged son and his family live nearby. With the help of hotel manager Mary Sinclair (Annette Bening) who Danny took a liking toward, he’s trying to change things around. This story is loosely based on a real person who received such a letter from John Lennon that had been undelivered for many years and is based upon his experiences trying to live up to the advice John really did give.

Al Pacino really nailed this role. I was not expecting him to be able to pull this off. Michael Corleone, yeah, or even Satan himself, but a 70’s rock star? Really? He gave it a great deal of effort and played it amazingly. He was extremely funny and quite believable, and really did carry this film. But he had some excellent help. Annette Bening was also very good in her role and it was very nicely done. Jennifer Garner also played the wife of Danny’s son and she had a wide eyed innocence in trying to deal with the whole issue that really added a lot to the film as well. And of course Christopher Plummer was also perfect in his role as the long suffering manager but more of a best friend who really wants to help. All in all, this is a fantastic cast, and I was really blown away with the film. I enjoyed it very much, and highly recommend this movie. I’m not sure how I missed hearing about this one, but this is a great DVD rental and a really enjoyable evening watching this. I was very impressed.

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog

Gary Sanchez Productions, Warner Bros.,

Will Ferrell, Craig T. Nelson, Kevin Hart, Alison Brie, T.I.

James (Will Ferrell) is the luckiest guy in the world. Engaged to the daughter of the boss, Martin (Craig T Nelson), James is rolling in dough and doing a great job in the finance business. Allissa (Alison Brie) pushes him hard, but he’s doing well until the cops barge in on their engagement part and James is arrest for fraud and facing a long stint in San Quentin. Though James insists he’s innocent, he’s really afraid as he has no idea how he will survive in the Pen. But though the guy who run the car wash in the parking garage, Darnell (Kevin Hart) is as gentle and good as they come, he needs some cash in a hurry and when James assumes he’s gangsta because he’s black he hires James to “Get Hard” and prepare for life in prison.

This is a typical Will Ferrell comedy and it is his usual character. Whether Buddy the Elf or Ron Burgundy or any of his sport characters, it’s pretty much the same guy. No stretch here. James is a bumbling innocent eyed guy who is doing his best, but nothing goes right for him. But I must admit that I did enjoy this film quite a bit more than a lot of the other Ferrell films. A lot of that is Kevin Hart who is really funny, and his gang of relatives who are the real gangsters who make friends with James as they seek their help. They are really funny too, and a great add to the film. Craig T Nelson plays the SOB Father of the Bride who is really a jerk. Alison Brie rounds out the picture as the spoiled brat daughter and she does a good job too. Actually there are no bad actors in this film, and they really all gave their best which shows. The humor is funny. Unless Ferrell just irritates the heck out of you (which a lot of people report), the movie is pretty good. I enjoyed this and thought it was a relaxing and funny DVD and well worth recommending for a good slapstick comedy.

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog

Pure Flix Productions, Greg Jenkins Productions, Pure Flix Entertainment,

Kevin Sorbo, Shane Harper, David A.R. White, Dean Cain, Newsboys, Willie Robertson, Korie Robertson

Professor Raddison (Kevin Sorbo) is a university philosophy professor who is a confirmed atheist who is well known on campus as a hard lined and tough teacher. He begins the first class of the semester with instructions to the class that anyone that is not stupid would know that there is no God and that he can save the class a lot of time trying to argue the fact if the the entire class would unanimously sign a paper with the words God is dead and their signature. It must be unanimous. One student, Josh Wheaton (Shane Harper) is undecided as to whether he can sign that paper or not. Though everyone around him is in favor of him just signing the paper, he cannot find it in his heart to sign it, so he is assigned to spend the last 20 minutes of class holding a trial where he will defend God and the professor will be the prosecutor, and the class will be the judge while he tries to convince the class that there still is a God.

This film has been around for a while, and I’ve just never got around to watching this. Now that it’s on Streaming on NetFlix I finally got a chance to see it and review it. First off, it’s definitely a religious movie. It will take you to church every few minutes and it’s very in your face, so if you get put off by the zeal of the proselytizers, stay away from this film. But if you can deal with that, and are interested in the subject, it is rather well put together. It features a couple cameo appearances by the Duck Dynasty gang. There are a number of back stories going on in parallel and they all come together in the end. This seems to be a plot device they use in religious films so they can have many characters who have many different issues that all come together for good or bad in the end. The folks here sure have white hats and black hats and they seem to be too good or too evil and nowhere in between. Maybe that’s not a fair assessment, but it sure felt that way to me. The different stories and figuring out how they all tie together is one of the highlights of the story, and and many of the tales are really interesting on their own. On the other hand, the end is so very over the top that it was a big minus for me. Obviously the professor has something wrong with him, and he has to find it and kind of deal with it so he can end with some peace of mind, but just like all the evil disbelieving anti-Christmas business man (or Jack Frost) who’s trying to destroy Christmas because he didn’t get his wish when he was 8 years old, this one ends with the evil Grinch (or Jack Frost) coming to realize why he hates Santa (I mean God). In fact, I’m surprised they really tried to pull off this ending without realizing it’s just like Santa Claus. At any rate, it’s better than a Davey and Goliath cartoon or a Goofus and Gallant story, but it has it’s similarities. So feel free to skip it if you just don’t want to deal with the preaching and tacky ending, or watch it if you are interested as the story itself isn’t half bad (until the ending).

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog

Emmett/Furla Films, Aperture Entertainment, Grindstone Entertainment,

Jason Patric, Bruce Willis, John Cusack, Rain, Jessica Lowndes, Johnathon Schaech, Gia Mantegna, 50 Cent

Paul (Jason Patric) used to be a mafia hit man, but has gotten away from the mob and is living peacefully as a mechanic. His daughter is in college, or he thinks she is, but he soon finds she has dropped out. Trying to track her down, he finds she has gone with a guy to New Orleans and has dropped out of sight, so Paul has to head back to New Orleans to find her. He soon finds out that an old rival leader, Omar (Bruce Willis) is behind the plot to kill Paul and he sends his best goons out to take him out.

This is not a big budget film by any means. Bruce Willis is in it, but not that much, and though he’s good when he’s on screen, most of the time he’s just a threat. John Cusack is also a bad guy in this film who isn’t bad, but isn’t that great either. Jason Patric has the largest role, but though the movie starts out pretty well, it slowly turns to a crawl. It’s not a horrible film at all, but it’s probably not worth the effort to seek it out. I can say that it’s very predictable, and the ending has no surprises. Also when it should be building up to a big finish it’s petering out to a fizzle. This is available in streaming and on cable, so if it came on, I wouldn’t mind watching it, but I was not overly impressed. Basically a few days after you’ll think of The Prince and can’t remember what it was about. It’s highly forgettable.

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog

Movie Rentals Releasing Tuesday August 4, 2015

• Adult Beginners
• Barely Lethal
• Burying the Ex
• The Casual Vacancy
• Child 44
• Chocolate City
• The Divergent Series: Insurgent [Click here for Ed’s Review]
• Do You Believe
• Every Secret Thing
• Far From the Maddening Crowd
• Into the Grizzly Maze
• Jackie & Ryan
• A La Mala
• A Little Chaos
• Madame Bovary
• Ride
• The Salvation
• True Story
• Wyrmwood