Ed's Review Dot Com

ClubNano Films, Ur-Mee, Imaginating Pictures,

Marla Gibbs, Ryan Spahn, Jake T. Austin, Tessa Thompson

Grantham (Jake T Austin) is a 17 year old boy in trouble. His father is dead, and his mom is a wreck, and he can’t stop getting in trouble. He’s been put into a reformatory where he immediately gets into a fight. He won’t listen to his parole officer and respects no one, but an elderly African American woman, Rose (Marla Gibbs) who volunteers at the facility makes friends, and offers him the chance of a lifetime. She takes him out on a road trip that turns into a drive to Atlanta. Along the way, they pick up a wandering stranger, Wallis (Tessa Thompson) who is very pretty, but just as lost. Once they arrive in Atlanta, all the secrets are revealed and the strange things really start to happen to everyone.

This is a road trip film that is much, much more. This is one of those hidden gems that come along by surprise. This has not yet been released on DVD but is available for sreaming on Netflix, and keep an eye out as it may be making an appearance all over the place as people start to find out who good this story really is. It’s not a slow movie. It moves right along. But the skill of the writers have given us really fantastic character development. All the major characters are very complex and have a lot of back stories which we learn along with the main storyline. Of course there is much more to Rose than this somewhat unstable nice old lady, and she has her own demons to deal with. And deal with them she does. She doesn’t preach, but instead she tells the truth. Without judging much, she states the facts in a way that you just have to follow. I have known folks who are small in stature, but who can command like a drill sergeant. I have had a few of them in school! The story is very well developed, and surprising up to the very end. I was really not expecting much from this movie, and was very pleasantly surprised. I have always been a fan of Marla Gibbs, but this was such a pleasure to see her again in such a deep and meaningful role. This is one movie I can recommend for young and old alike, and it’s a real gem of a nearly unknown film. If you can get a chance to catch this move, don’t miss it. It’s very good.

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Movie Rentals Releasing Tuesday August 23, 2016

• The Huntsman: Winter’s War [Click Here for Ed’s Review]
• Maggie’s Plan
• The Man Who Knew Infinity
• The Nice Guys
• Rachet and Clank
• Roots

Odyssey Media,

John Cusack, Thomas Jane, Damien Garvey, Zoe Ventoura, Christopher Morris

Peter Roberts (Thomas Jane) was a top notch race car driver. But his wife wanted him to quit as she was pulling in a decent salary and she was afraid he might get hurt. So he works part time as a driving instructor. One day he is requested to teach Simon Keller (John Cusack) and he sets out to teach him how to drive on the “other” side of the road since he is not familiar with driving on that side. But after a brief stop at the bank, Peter learns he is now the getaway driver of a massive bank heist, and they are running for their lives from both the good guys AND the bad guys in this exciting high speed adventure.

John Cusack is really good in this role that is just right for him. It was great casting. He’s perfect for those understated, overly calm, crazy people that is perfect for this role. Jane on the other hand, is very good at the broken down, self doubting husband, who is afraid that his wife doesn’t care for him anymore. He’s making choices to try to make her happy, but the more he tries, the more he fails, so even though he is appalled at being kidnapped and forced to drive on a trip that he probably won’t survive, on some level it’s the most excitement he’s had in a long time. This is an action packed adventure with some Fast and Furious style driving, gun fights, double crosses, and twists and turns all the way through. I saw this film on Netflix and I found it actually worth-while. It has been in my watch list for quite a while, and I’m glad that I finally got around to it/ I should have watched it sooner, as it was an exciting film.

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Apartment Two, Demarest Films, Flynn Picture Company,

Miles Teller, Analeigh Tipton, Jessica Szohr, Kid Cudi

Megan (Analeigh Tipton) is a lost soul. She moved to New York and majored in Pre-Med with no intention of ever finishing. She was in love and planned to quit school and get married, but when her boyfriend suddenly bailed on her, she found her self depressed and living with her roommate, without a job or a plan, and no intention of continuing school. Her roommate signs her up for an internet dating site and encourages her to pick someone for a one-night stand. So she finds Alec (Miles Teller) and heads off to meet him at his apartment. In the morning, she wants to get out of there, but a world class blizzard that shuts down the city, and they find themselves trapped inside for another day forcing them to try to get to know one another, if they don’t kill each other first.

This is an interesting concept for a movie, and it does work. Annaleigh is very good in her role, and she really does a great job. Miles is pretty good as well. These two play off each other really well. It’s a romantic comedy, for sure, but at the same time, it kind of has a good purpose. The story unwinds slowly, with a number of surprise twists and turns along the way. The city location is really nice, and this movie sort of executes as if it were a stage play. Most of the story takes place in Alec’s apartment, so there is not a lot of action, but that puts more emphasis on the dialog. The development of the level of knowledge Alec and Megan learn about each other is what makes this such an interesting character study. I enjoyed watching this, and I can recommend it if you like interesting character development and an intelligent script.

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Sweet Tomato Films,

Haley Joel Osment, Lorenza Izzo, Chris Williams, Glen Powell, Matt Walsh, Retta, Abby Elliott, Castille Landon, Lamorne Morris

Ed Cole is a teacher. He’s struggling to find a position though, as there are no jobs available. The only position he could get is to monitor the students who are put into detention, and as it’s an inner city type school, the kids there are a bit troubled. When a girl asks to go to the rest room, and then returns in a panic thinking she’s dying from a condition she was not prepared for, Ed thinks perhaps the kids really need to have someone teach them the things that they are ashamed to ask their parents about. So Ed begins a Sex Ed class where any question is open for discussion. But when Reverend Hamilton, father of one of the students who was in the class finds out about it, he complains to the school board about the unauthorized class being taught without parental consent. So Ed has to defend his work, but perhaps he’s the worst one to teach the class since he has no personal experience at all on the subject.

This is a comedy that is right out of the liberal vs. conservative arguments today about what schools should and not be teaching. But it’s also like an episode of “Where are they now” as many of us haven’t seen Haley Joel Osment since he saw dead people in Sixth Sense. He’s here, and he’s grown up into a very strapping gentleman and is a good actor. The film is mostly funny, but there’s a mix of romance as his roommate is a raunchy devil who seems insistent that Ed lower his standards for “the perfect girl” just to build his confidence, but of course about this time he meets the girl of his dreams who is already taken. The movie is a bit raunchy, and is Non-Rated, and it’s also rarely heard of, but it is currently streaming on Netflix and may be around in some other venues. It’s got a real message, and has some “redeeming qualities”, but is also filled with humor and jokes, and is certainly not boring. Certainly this is not going to be a popular film, but it’s not all that bad. It’s well constructed and not too bad.

NOTICE: THIS IS THE RED BAND TRAILER AND IS RATED R.

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