Ed's Review Dot Com

Ministry of Content,

Charlie Hunnam, Lizzy Caplan, Chris O’Dowd, Ron Perlman, Chris Noth, Whitney Cummings, Nora Dunn, Adam Pally

Frankie (Charles Hunnam) has been tortured by his big brother all his life. Bruce (Chris O’Dowd) has dreams of being a big time director, and he’s uploaded some really embarrassing videos to YouTube, but when Frankie meets Lassie (Lizzy Caplan) by “accident” and they attempt to hit it off together, Bruce once again films it and uploads it. From this point on, it gets worse and worse and worse as mishap after mishap happens.

This is a bizarre romantic comedy that is really off the wall. The best part of this film is the very fact that it is so absurd. Done with hardly any budget, mostly via ad-lib, it’s hysterical at times as the actors work hard to deal with the absurdity of the situation and trying to make sense out of it. It’s very “Napoleon Dynamite” in that way, extremely off the wall.

This is not a great film, but it is surprisingly funny, and yet has a few tender moments as well. It’s a lot about two brothers who can’t seem to get along, but it’s got a cute little romance thrown in, and topped by a thick layer of jokes all the way around. Well worth a rental if you’re looking for something off the wall.

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Gilbert Films, Instinctive Film, Night and Day Pictures,

Lizzy Caplan, Alison Brie, Martin Starr, Geoffrey Arend, Mark Webber, Melonie Diaz, Timothy Busfield, Gigi Bermingham

Sarah (Lizzy Caplan) and Beth (Alison Brie) are sisters, but complete opposites. While Beth is planning her wedding, Sarah abruptly turns down her boyfriend’s proposal, but almost instantly falls into an intense affair. Beth is furious for a number of reasons, but mostly it’s sibling rivalry. Meanwhile, Sarah has to take a good look at her own feelings and failings and what’s making her act like she is in this romantic comedy.

This is a fairly simple, straight-forward story. There’s a few minor surprises, but mostly this is just a sweet sister’s story. These two play very well off each other, and it’s a really sweet story. These girls have problems, but we know somehow they will get through it all. The acting is good, and it’s just a cute little story. No great drama here, but it’s kind of relaxing to see a film that just shows realistic people in realistic situations. Many sisters will find a lot in common with these two. This is definitely a girl’s movie, and guys are probably going to hate it, but for a girl’s night out, or a romantic evening with a guy who’s willing to put up with a chick flick, this is a cute story which is easy to watch with very little brain power required. Just a cute rom-com for a quiet evening.

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Likely Story, Olympus Pictures,

Hugh Laurie, Catherine Keener, Oliver Platt, Allison Janney, Alia Shawkat, Adam Brody, Leighton Meester

Life in The Oranges in New Jersey is good. Two families are neighbors and have been best friends for years. The daughters Nina (Leighton Meester) and Vanessa (Alia Shawkat) have been friends forever. Nina is coming home after a breakup to celebrate Thanksgiving, and the families decide to match her up with the neighbor’s son Toby (Adam Brody), but Nina decides Toby’s Dad, David (Hugh Laurie) is very attractive and they start into a top secret affair. As usual, they can’t keep the secret forever, and chaos ensues in a hurry. Both families about to be blown apart in this suburban family comedy also featuring Oliver Platt as Nena’s father.

This film reminds me a lot of the 1984 Michael Caine film, “Blame it on Rio”. Somewhere around here I have a VHS copy of that film as I rented it from Blockbuster (remember them?) way back in the day and misplaced it and forgot to return it. By the time I took it back, it seems I owned it. It was a funny film, and very similar to this in the plot. Basically this is a story about two families who are torn apart because their own broken relationships brought to the open by infidelity. But it’s done in a really funny way. The subject matter is dark and serious, but the humor is there throughout the way. The acting is superb. All of the leads are very, very good, and the daughters are two of the best actresses around, and also do a great job. All in all this is a really well done comedy/breakup movie that is interesting from start to finish. I enjoyed watching this movie, and though it was a small film that did not attract a lot of attention, it’s now available on video and well worth tracking down.

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The Weinstein Company,

Bradley Cooper, Jennifer Lawrence, Robert De Niro, Jacki Weaver, Chris Tucker, Julia Stiles, John Ortiz, Shea Whigham

Pat (Bradley Cooper) has been in a mental hospital for 4 years after finding his wife in a compromising situation. Now he’s home, reluctant to take his meds, hit by a restraining order from his ex-wife, and living with his Dad (Robert De Niro) (who obviously has his own mental issues) and trying to keep it together, but not very well. He meets young cop widow Tiffany (Jennifer Lawrence) and falls into a tumultuous friendship/relationship with her. She’s really troubled as well, so it’s like the blind leading the blind. Pat is trying to win back his wife in vain, and Tiffany is not ready to face the sudden accidental death of her husband. The two are totally broken and trying to find a silver lining somewhere in the midst of all their problems.

This is a really good film, that really deserved all the awards heaped upon it in 2012. The story is a close look at messed up lives and an inspection of mental illness that is really straight on. The ending is really sweet, but the movie is relatively harsh. I think Bradley Cooper did a good job in portraying the highs and lows of bi-polar disorder, and Jennifer Lawrence is really awesome in this film. She plays the mix of fragile/easily hurt vs. loud obnoxious so well, that she’s really believable. This was an excellent role for her to show what she can really do, and she did an excellent job. De Niro was superb as always. His role is a great mix of drama and comedy, and he’s done such a great job in funny roles lately and is a really good comic, but obviously plays the straight roles really well.

This film has a little bit of nudity near the beginning (when there’s a flashback to Pat finding his wife in the shower) but it’s short and not overly done. There is also some violence in a couple bloody fights, but that is not overly done either, so it’s barely an R rating. Just to let you know it’s not overly bad. But the subject matter is rather harsh for kids to understand, so the R rating is not a big problem anyway as kids probably aren’t going to enjoy this anyway. But for grownups, it’s nice on several levels. One, watching these people will make you feel better about yourself! Secondly, we can surely identify with the issues these people are having, and realizing that if we let ourselves do what we wanted (No filter, as Pat describes it) we could be just a bad off as these folks are. All in all, it’s a pretty touching film, well made, and one I really enjoyed. It’s a great mix of comedy, drama, and romance.

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Gary Sanchez Productions, BCDF Pictures,

Kirsten Dunst, Isla Fisher, Lizzy Caplan, Rebel Wilson, James Marsden, Adam Scott

Becky (Rebel Wilson) is getting married. Her high school friends, Regan (Kirsten Dunst), Gena (Lizzy Caplan), and Katie (Isla Fisher) who used to make mock her in high school, decide they have to throw her a real bachelorette party. But the night before the wedding, the girls totally destroy the dress, come to the realization that they must somehow get the dress repaired and to the wedding on time. In the struggle to get the dress to the wedding before anyone finds out, the girls have a chance to look inward at their lives and see what’s really important.

This film really wants to be Bridesmaids. It’s not. But it’s not an awful film, and if you didn’t see Bridesmaids, then this will do. It’s a very similar story. The acting is great. Rebel Wilson is funny, and the “mean girls” led by Kirsten and Isla are good enough. There are a good many laughs, and it’s good fun. But the biggest problem with the film is that it’s just too derivative. If you’re in the mood for this kind of “girl” comedy, then it’s definitely adequate as a rental, but this is not nearly as funny as many others. It also is really mean which tends to make me feel a bit uncomfortable. You just don’t treat people like this. Of course, by the end they learned their lessons and felt bad about it, but if you’re really in the mood for a bridal comedy, certainly Bridesmaids or Bride Wars would be a lot more fun.

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