Ben Affleck, Olga Kurylenko, Rachel McAdams, Javier Bardem, Tatiana Chiline, Romina Mondello, Tony O’Gans, Charles Baker
Neil (Ben Afleck) is an American, traveling in Paris, when he meets Marina, a beautiful Ukrainian divorcee with a child. They quickly fall in love when Neil has the chance to come back to Oklahoma, and he decides to bring Marina with him. She is very excited to begin her new life in the U.S., but eventually their love cools, and Neil is attracted to an old flame, Jane (Rachel McAdams) while Marina finds he life is falling apart and returns to Paris and hard times.
This is a very artistic film. It’s a beautifully shot artistic adventure through fields of wheat and flowers mixed with the dusty dreary homes of Oklahoma. It’s very slow moving, half in French, half in English, with not a lot of movement. There’s no excitement or adventure. It’s written like one of the old Gothic novels with less dialog and more self analyzing via narration of the characters. That being said, this movie was not really for me, and I didn’t enjoy it very much, but I was able to enjoy some of the beauty of the scenery. I found it all rather depressing as everyone seems so unhappy all the time, and I guess life can be like that. Although I think I would enjoy the film a little more if wasn’t so darn sad. I just feel bad for everybody in this movie. I know there will be a lot of people who simply love this kind of story, but I found it really discouraging. I would stay away from it if I were you!
Julianne Moore, Michael Angarano, Greg Kinnear, Lily Collins, Nathan Lane, Fiona Shaw, Norbert Leo Butz, Jessica Hecht, Charlie Saxton, Nikki Blonsky, Sophie Curtis
Linda Sinclair is a 40ish English Teacher in a small town High School. Her life is obviously rather empty, and she’s just getting by, though things are going pretty well. A chance meeting with one of her former students reveals that he is a graduate in creative writing and gave his shot as a playwright, but has failed. He lets her read his latest play, and she is really touched, even more when she finds out it’s his story of a missing Mom, a domineering Father who forced him to go to Law School. So she decides to take him in, perform his play in the High School, mostly at her own expense. But this is where things get complicated. Linda is attracted to the guy, but mostly just lonely. She’s very jealous of his other girlfriends, and strikes up a hate relationship with the boy’s father (Greg Kinnear) who she blames for ruining his son’s life. Things turn for the worst in this romantic comedy, with a lot on the comedy side.
This is a chick flick, for sure. But the background of putting on the school play is kinda funny, and having Nathan Lane show up as the producer of the play is a great add. He plays his usual bubbly self and adds a lot of comedy to the film. Julianne Moore does a bang up job as the lonely spinster teacher, and she keeps getting herself in deeper and deeper by making bad decisions. The relationships between the characters are very well developed. We get to look at each one’s personal issues and why they do what they do. This is a decent little comedy, and worth a spot in your queue.
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.
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.
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.
