Ed's Review Dot Com

Paramount Pictures, Denver and Delilah Productions, Indian Paintbrush

Charlize Theron, Patrick Wilson, Patton Oswalt, Elizabeth Reaser, J.K. Simmons, Emily Meade, Collette Wolfe, Brady Smith, Louisa Krause, Jenny Dare Paulin

Mavis Gary (Charlize Theron) is a girl who left the small town where she was raised to become a writer of fiction. She is under pressure for the next book when she receives a baby notification from her old boyfriend and it really makes her MAD. It really bugs here that her ex, Buddy Slade (Patrick Wilson) and his wife Beth (Elizabeth Reaser) would have the gall to send a new baby notice to an ex sweetheart, so she becomes obsessed with him and heads off back home Buddy has no idea why she’s back and he doesn’t see what coming on the horizon. Happily married, he is not interested, but Mavis is so persistent that she is not going to let him escape. Patton Oswalt plays a fried to both of them who is caught in the middle.

To call a movie quirky is easy, but this one fits that description better than most! It is not really a outstanding movie, but it’s definitely not bad. It was well worth watching. To be honest, Patrick Wilson was kind of wooden, and I am not sure why she wants him back so bad. But her life is a mess, and I guess she’s trying to go back to a happier place. Patton Oswalt plays his character very well. He has a back story that is as funny as it is tragic, and he plays this guy very well and brings a lot to the film. The character he plays reminds me of the guy he played in Showtime’s US of Tara series. He’s the same kind of lovable looser that he plays so well.

All in all, Young Adult is really about a girl who never grew up who has a lot to learn about herself, and it’s fun watching all the destruction and devastation along the way. I enjoyed it, and if you you’re up for a romantic comedy with more comedy than romance, but not fall off the couch, roll on the floor laughs, but a more grown up look at a girl who is coming to know herself, then this is the one. I enjoyed this.

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GK Films,

Zana Marjanovic, Goran Kostic, Rade Serbedzija, Branko Djuric, Nikola Djuricko, Dolya Gavanski

In this story about the Bosnian War, Danijel (Goran Kostic) has a relationship with Ajla (Zana Marjanovic), a Bosnian who’s now a prisoner in a camp he oversees. Their relationship started at a dance club, but a bomb attack suddenly changed everything. Danijel uses his position in the camp to protect Ajla by giving her a special task of drawing portraits of the camp leaders. But as Ajla gains strength, and Danijel’s position is compromised, things get very complicated and it’s very difficult to carry on a relationship when they are on different sides in this horrible war.

This story was directed by Angelina Jolie in her first attempt at directing. She took on a very powerful story for her attempt, and she was, I’m pretty sure, trying to put a human face on the terrible atrocities that took place over there in the 90’s. Well, in many ways she succeeds, but in some ways the film falls short. In many ways the story is hard to believe, and it’s difficult to follow sometimes. It’s hard to accept that it’s really an accurate depiction of the situation, but some reviewers who lived through it swear that it was just like it was shown. It just seems a bit too set up to be historical fiction, and it’s more like taking a historical event and putting a fictitious story behind it to make your point.

The realistic thing about this is that the actors are really from this area. The down side of that is that it made them hard for me to understand. I tried to put the subtitles on and follow it closely, but if you miss reading a line or two, it’s hard to follow along with what’s going on.

All that being said, I didn’t hate the movie in the least. But I did not come out of it all fired up and ready to march against the war either. It just left me a bit too ambivalent. If you’re interested in the historical facts, and want to know more about the holocaust that happened here, then by all means rent the film. But if you’re looking for a strong romantic drama, this will probably leave you wishing for a better story. I came down in the middle, not sorry that I watched it, but not very excited about it either.

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NALA Films, Polymorphic Pictures,

Michael Angarano, Uma Thurman, Reece Thompson, Lee Pace, Rebecca Mader, Jake M. Johnson, Brooke Bloom, Harper Dill

Two friends, Marshall (Reece Thompson) and Sam (Michael Angarano) are off on a weekend outing to a town by the seashore. Marshall thinks it’s to renew their friendship and enjoy some brotherhood time catching up on their friendship, but Sam has an ulterior motive. Sam is out to crash the wedding of his ex, Zoe (Uma Thurman) who he’s still in love with and who is about to marry a boorish documentary filmmaker.

This is one of those “off the beaten path” films that come along once in a while. It’s an independent film, and not very high budget. It has a lot of dialog and not a whole lot of action. But as is common with a lot of this type of indie film, it has great character development and a decent story. As usual, Uma Thurman does a pretty good job. Marshall feels a lot of betrayal of being sucked into coming along an a brotherhood weekend only to find that he’s being used by Sam to get his lost girl back. The range of emotions he goes through is similar to any situation where you thought someone was doing something nice with you, only to find out you’re being used. Russell is either a saint or a whining crybaby, and it’s hard to figure out which way he’s going.

It’s a quirky romantic comedy/drama that isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, but as an indie rom/com, this one isn’t half bad and has a lot of redeeming qualities. It’s often found on cable, or is available for streaming from most systems, including NetFlix Watch Instantly. It’s worth catching if you’re a fan of the genre.

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Incentive Filmed Entertainment, Handsomecharlie Films, Is or Isn’t Entertainment,

Natalie Portman, Lisa Kudrow, Lauren Ambrose, Anthony Rapp, Scott Cohen, Charlie Tahan, Daisy Tahan, Elizabeth Marvel, Debra Monk, Mary Joy, Maria Dizzia

Emily Greenleaf (Natalie Portman) has a crush on her boss, Jack(Scott Cohen) and she sets out to win him away from his wife Carolyn (Lisa Kudrow). But he comes with some baggage in the part of William, Jack’s son (Charlie Tahan) who has been badly poisoned against Emilia by his mother. As Emilia sets out to try to win him over she finds she herself carries some heavy baggage and help comes to her in a way she could never expect.

This romantic drama, heavy on the drama is a fairly dark story of love and loss, tragedy and forgiveness. Each of the characters is not exactly black and white, but different shades of gray, and it’s a realistic look at the foibles of real human beings. This is not a stunning film, and is not overly engrossing. You might find it a bit slow and boring were it not saved by the acting of Natalie Portman and Charlie Tahan (the young son) who bind together to attempt to save this film. As such, it’s a pretty decent dark independent romantic drama with a lot of redeeming qualities. You can find much worse than this, and it’s kind of a fresh look at real people and real problems. Infidelity is never easy, and when you come into it with such issues in tow, it makes it even harder. The original title of this work is “Love and Other Impossible Pursuits” which is a good stab at a proper title for this story. It is very difficult, but as I stated, help comes from where you would least expect it.

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Chydzik Media Group, Voodoo Production Services, Scion Films,

Mandy Moore, Kellan Lutz, James Brolin, Jane Seymour, Jessica Szohr, Michael Weston, Marta Zmuda, Richard Reid, Christopher Lloyd, Alexis Denisof, Alyson Hannigan

Ava (Mandy Moore) is a marriage councilor. Things are going smoothly when suddenly her parents announce that Mom (Jane Seymour) wants a divorce, based upon an affair Dad (James Brolin) has 20 years ago. Now Dad is embracing his Jewish side, and Mom wants to travel the world. But Ava feels the need to bring them back together while her own marriage is struggling due to the stresses of trying to deal with her parents. Suddenly everything she believes in is falling apart, and she’s got to question whether she’s been a Pollyanna all along and life and love really does suck!

This is a cute little romantic comedy with a lot of great actors. It’s a small film, and available as a streaming film from Netflix and often available on cable or in a host of other ways. This looks like they certainly had a great deal of fun making this! This is like a big “Love Boat” episode, with lots of side stories and lots of great actors and actresses having a ball. It’s cute watching Ava’s most sincere plans go up in smoke. It’s not a heavy film, in the least. Just a simple rom-com with a good mix of both humor and romance. It’s like visiting old friends. Not a bad movie at all. There is a pretty surprising twist in the end. If you don’t see it coming, it’ll be worth the effort to watch it just for that! Hint: It takes place in the hospital. 🙂

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