Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Nate Parker, Minnie Driver, Colson “MGK” Baker, Danny Glover, Darryl Stephens, Elaine Tan, Tyler Christopher
Noni (Gugu Mbatha-Raw) is blessed with a beautiful voice, but cursed with a mother (Minnie Driver) who is well beyond the usual stage mom. From an early age when Noni was proud to have won second place in a pageant, her mother told her to throw it in the dumpster because coming in second is losing. Now Noni is grown and has become a huge pop diva success. But she’s tired of her life and stands on a hotel room balcony deciding whether to jump. At the last second a security officer, Kaz (Nate Parker) is there to save her with the words, “I see you”. This intrigues Noni and makes her wonder “Who does he see”? Kaz has a father (Danny Glover) who has big plans for him as well, but as Kaz and Noni begin to fall for each other, they both may have to give up a lot to be together in this story of fame and fortune versus love and respect.
This is a film that I thought would do well when it was released, but it seemed to sputter. I guess there are a number of reasons why it didn’t do so well. There are some basic flaws in the movie that are not fatal, but probably caused folks to spend their movie dollars on something else. First of all, it’s very formulaic to a flaw. This is a number of other films (Glitter anyone?) almost scene by scene. The only thing a little bit unique is that they both have a bright future, and usually in these films one of them is poor and unworthy, but the other loves them anyway. But I suppose that is not enough to propel this film. The acting isn’t all that bad, and the story is predictable to a fault, but not too badly constructed. The actors are pretty good, so it’s kind of a mediocre feeling I got from watching it. I didn’t have anything exciting to make me remember it, or to encourage my friends to go see it, but on the other hand it wasn’t that bad, really. So I guess in this case it’s up to you. It’s a romantic drama of a star who is tired of being on all the time. Watch it if you’re interested, but I’m not going to give it a glowing recommendation.
Evan Rachel Wood, Scott Speedman, Treat Williams, Kate Burton, J.K. Simmons, J. Omar Castro, David Jensen
Jay Wheeler (Scott Speedman) was always the bad kid. He got no respect from his father (Treat Williams) and is the only one of the family estranged from the rest of the family. Jay’s brother is about to be married, and Jay mouths off about his new girlfriend who’s a nurse, and promises to bring her home with him to meet the family for the wedding. Jay’s screwed up again, and is doing community service mopping floors in the city’s psychiatric hospital, but he can’t find anyone willing to be his date to the wedding. But when he meets a young mental patient Daisy Kensington (Evan Rachel Wood) who has fallen for him, when she decides to run away from the hospital, he decides to take her to the wedding. Of course she has been raised by a mother (Carrie style) who kept her locked away from the world, so this pretty young girl is absolutely not prepared to meet this judgmental family and try to fit in to their rich lifestyle.
This is a raucous comedy, mostly due to the work of Evan Rachel Wood. I have always been a fan of her work, but she really shines in this film. She’s the real humor and fun in the whole story. She is so awestruck by everything that happens, and her attempts to try to fit in a hilarious. This is a real hidden gem of a movie, as the humor is really good. There were a lot of laughs throughout, and it’s lighthearted and fun. We get to grow with Jay as he learns what he really is, and that he’s not what his father has always told him he is, when he meets someone with a worse mother and his father was to him. It has a lot of heart and is very comfortable, but with a great dose of good humor. As a PG-13, this film could have gone way too far, but as it is, it’s not vulgar or rude in any way. I obviously had never heard of this movie, and as a small independent film, it is way off most people’s radar, but I was really pleasantly pleased with this, and I have to recommend this one as a very well done indie comedy.
Escape Artists, LStar Capital, Media Rights Capital,
Cameron Diaz, Jason Segel, Rob Corddry, Ellie Kemper, Rob Lowe, Jack Black, Randall Park
Annie (Cameron Diaz) and Jay (Jason Segel) were a hot pair in their early days, but 10 years and 2 kids later things have gone stale. They still love each other, but are just too tired for much alone time. They just want to get the spark back, but their secret rendezvous goes wrong a bunch of different ways and they’re about to give up. But then Annie has an idea. Let’s make a home-made sex tape featuring all the positions in the joy of sex in a three hour marathon. But naturally Jay is hesitant to delete it, and his backup software sync’s it along with his music collection, to all their friends. So now they’re on a mission to figure out how to recapture it before anyone sees it.
This is a raunchy romantic comedy featuring two guys who aren’t afraid to let it all hang out. It’s not real naughty, but there’s lots of skin, and some really adult topics, so it’s really worthwhile to respect the R rating this film earned. But for all of us who have seen the years chip away the love life we once knew, we’ll identify with their problem. They are both very comfortable actors, so they fit into the role seamlessly and it seems natural to them. Rob Lowe has a supporting role as a possible future boss to Annie, and he’s mastered the quirky off the wall guy from Parks and Recreation that allows him to really play this unexpected and unpredictable part. You never know what he’s going to come out with next. All in all, it a typical race to stop someone from getting something they shouldn’t that is always pretty much the same. But they really have a lot of fun with this film, it’s obvious, and it’s funnier than most, even if it is a bit racy from time to time. I still enjoyed it, and if you’re comfortable with the R content, I recommend this for a loose and light comedy.
Michelle Monaghan, James Marsden, Liana Liberato, Luke Bracey, Gerald McRaney
Amanda (Michelle Monaghan) and Dawson (James Marsden) met as teenagers, but they came from very different backgrounds. Amanda comes from a wealthy and well respected family, whereas Dawson comes from a white trash family headed by an abusive father and a bunch of know-nothing brothers. Aside from their different lives, they fall madly in love. Things happen to pull them apart, but when 20 years later a coincidence brings them back to together for a weekend, they will have to look deep in their heart to find the pain and determine what fate has in store for them.
Nicholas Sparks certainly has a style of writing. He gets a lot of criticism, which I can understand, but the ladies seem to love everything he writes. I had a coupon from the local theater that I got from their loyalty program. It provided two free tickets plus a medium popcorn and two medium drinks. Since I could not pick one of the most recent films due to the restriction on the ticket, we picked The Best of Me. I got a bit worried when the theater started filling up with humans of the female persuasion. As it got a little closer to showtime, a few couples came in and I knew I would have some company. Seriously though, the first 90% of this movie was an excellent story. It did go a little bit overboard in the last 10 or 15 minutes. There was more crazy stuff happened in the last few minutes than in the rest of the film altogether. This is really the only complaint I have with the film. Sparks has a good story, then he has to go too far. But again I must say that for the fans, that’s probably what they wanted. So guys, I gotta warn you that this is a lady film, 100%. If you do have to watch it, be prepared to be disappointed in the ending. The acting was really good, and the five main characters were really very good together. There’s a lot of excitement and suspense, a lot of romance and heartbreak. It’s a love story, and what you’d expect from this type of film. I have to rate it highly because of the quality of the production and performances, but truthfully I would have enjoyed it so much more if it hadn’t turned silly in the end. It turned into a 19th century melodrama there.
Amy Poehler, Paul Rudd, Ed Helms, Cobie Smulders, Max Greenfield, Christopher Meloni
When Joel (Paul Rudd) met Molly (Amy Poehler) sparks flew, but the wrong kind of sparks. They hated each other. Joel owned a huge conglomerate candy company and Molly owns a quirky little neighborhood candy store. This funny little romantic comedy certainly copies “When Harry Met Sally” as well as “You’ve Got Mail” and “Sleepless in Seattle” and a host of other similar type films. But it’s certainly more of a homage to the genre than it is a rip-off. They know they’re copying those films and poking fun at the same time. Joel and Molly are out to dinner with their friends and over the course of the evening tell the whole story of their journey together.
This is not hilarious, but it is very funny. They poke fun at all the classic Rom-Com films that we know and love, and enjoy having laughs at their expense. They’re almost all here, and it’s typical Amy Poehler type humor that we loved in SNL and has a “Parks and Recreation” type of humor throughout. This actually was fun to watch though, especially recognizing and naming all the films represented. They have their own Wayans Brothers style of topping the originals with an extra punch. I found it to be enjoyable, and although I didn’t find it laugh out loud funny, I was entertained. Be aware though, that some people will probably hate this because of the fact that it’s stealing (on purpose) from all the other films. Some people don’t get the joke. So those that hate Naked Gun, the Scary Movie series, and other parody movies probably won’t like this either. But I had fun with it and I think it was a pretty harmless little romp over familiar turf, but with people who appreciate the originals and lovingly skewer them all the way through. I enjoyed it.
