Ed's Review Dot Com

Screen Gems, Spyglass Entertainment,

Rachel McAdams, Channing Tatum, Sam Neill, Scott Speedman, Jessica Lange, Sarah Carter, Dillon Casey, Jeananne Goossen, Rachel Skarsten, Kristina Pesic

Paige (Rachel McAdams) and Leo (Channing Tatum) are husband and wife who are marvelously in love with each other for the last four years. Paige is an artist, her dream, and Leo is living his dream, running a recording studio in Chicago. They are very happy, when suddenly Paige is seriously injured in a traffic accident. After being in a medically induced coma, Paige wakes up to find there is a four year hole in her memory. She has no recollection of Leo, their life together, or anything that happened since she left home four years before. Leo is left with a wife that doesn’t remember him, and she is ready to jump back four years to the life she had before. What future is there for a relationship where one party doesn’t even recognize the other?

Yes, this is a Valentines Day tear-jerking chick flick most of all. It’s timed perfectly, and did a huge box office volume it’s first weekend. However, it’s not as simple minded as you might think. Comparisons to “The Notebook” are inevitable, but it’s not the same movie, by any means. First of all, it’s based on a true story. One of those “true story” kinds of films where they show you the real Paige and Leo at closing trailers. This is good news and bad news though. Parts of the story, in real life are not as shocking as they would have been had a Hollywood screenwriter taken a crack at it. There is a family crisis that happened after the point in time where Paige’s memory lapsed, so she had no memory of what caused her to change her whole life which made it possible for her to have met Leo in the first place. They could have come up with a pretty awesome crisis were it fiction, but it real life, Paige had just grown past the point where her parents were, and found out she wanted something different in life. In real life, the crisis is not quite so earth shattering. But the best part of the story is how real it is. Knowing it really happened, and what the eventual true story was, shows that it was an amazing story. How the brain works is a mystery to all of us!

The story is very touching, and Rachel McAdams was awesome. Channing Tatum, I guess is doing the best he can. I don’t totally get him in this role, but I guess the young ladies (and gay guys) are in awe of him. To me, he’s a little too much a cross between Adam Sandler and Jason Segel, and not exactly right, but he did his best, and it’s probably my problem, not his. The parents are ok, Sam McNeil and Jessica Lange. They don’t have a lot to do, and the play the same evil parents we’ve seen before. But the star here is the story itself, and Rachel is certainly outstanding and very convincing in making us believe she has really lost her memory. If you’re a guy, suck it up, and take your girl to this movie. Be ready to wipe a tear or two, so nobody will notice you, and there is enough of a break at the end to compose yourself before the credits are through.

Excellent Valentine’s Day Date Night movie! It’s worth the money it’s going to rake in.

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TriStar Pictures, Stage 6 Films, Our Stories Films,

Angela Bassett, Paula Patton, Laz Alonso, Loretta Devine, Meagan Good, Tasha Smith, Julie Bowen, DeRay Davis, Valarie Pettiford

It’s culture war when Jason Taylor (Laz Alonso) invites his mom (Loretta Devine) who are down home poor southern family from very humble settings to his wedding to Sabrina Watson (Paula Patton) at her rich family’s Martha’s Vineyard mansion. Things start off badly when they don’t arrive to meet Mama, but send someone to pick her up. From there it goes bad to worse, as Jason’s mother is offended by the French speaking mixed racial and uppity Watson family, so she does her best to break them up before they start. At first the Watson’s are appalled at Mama’s behavior, but as it turns out, they have a few secrets and problems of their own. In the end, it’s too much for them to take and Jason and Sabrina figure it’s time to call off the wedding.

This is a very funny movie. The characters are well developed. It’s a black movie that isn’t really. As a white person, I can completely understand the problems and issues of these families. It’s easy enough for this old Caucasian to understand, because the same problems face us all. The details may be different, but at some time or another we feel like we’re out of our element, trying to fit in with someone who feel is above us or below us. Either way, it’s comfortable. I didn’t understand the meaning of “Jumping the Broom” and I didn’t know this custom existed. It was nicely explained by Mrs. Taylor, and was a defining moment in the film. We have problems and challenges no matter how high on the horse we think we are.

The whole rest of the characters too are very interesting, and there’s enough meat and potatoes to the storyline to make it interesting all the way through the film, but the bottom line is that it’s very funny. It’s also very PG-13, so there is no nasty stuff in this film. It’s good for all but the very young ones who will probably be bored. Otherwise it’s a really fine film. Very well done, and well worth putting this in your queue!

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The Weinstein Company,

Sarah Jessica Parker, Pierce Brosnan, Greg Kinnear, Christina Hendricks, Kelsey Grammer, Olivia Munn, Seth Meyers

Kate Reddy (Sarah Jessica Parker) is a finance executive who is the primary breadwinner for the family. She has a great job, and a husband (Greg Kinnear) and two children. Kate is the epitome of the working mom. But things just got worse when the task of a lifetime comes along. She’s worked hard to put together a proposal for a big company, and she has another worker, Chris Bunce (Seth Meyers) who is waiting to take over for her and grab the credit for the job. But Jack Abelhammer (Pierce Brosnan) is her counterpart at the other company, and it requires Kate to travel often. Jack is handsome, a widower who is really attracted to someone like Kate. Things are tough all around, as Richard is sick and tired of his wife being gone all the time, and distracted and distant when she is home, and Kate really loves her job, and the attention. If this sounds like a recipe for disaster, it is in this 180 degree turn on the workaholic husband who neglects his wife.

This was a surprisingly cute movie. I didn’t go in expecting much, and I’ve never been a big Sarah Jessica Parker fan, but she was really perfect for this movie. I have to admit, I enjoyed her here more than any film I have seen of hers. Greg Kinnear was really good as the Dad who’s trying to keep his family together in spite of the hardships. It was good to see Pierce Brosnan who was excellent as the lonely widower. Then throw in Kelsey Grammer as Kate’s boss, and a bunch of other great characters, and it was a really fun movie. It’s cute, and it’s touching, and it does show the challenges of being someone who loves their family and loving their job. She doesn’t want to choose between either job, but the stress of trying to do everything is just too much.

I was very pleasantly surprised by this film, and I have to say I really enjoyed it. The time flew by watching one challenge after the other. Though things progress pretty much as you would expect, there are a lot of surprises here. This could have ended really ugly, but it stayed suspenseful up to the closing credits. Truly I don’t know how she does it.

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Screen Gems, Castle Rock Entertainment, Zucker Productions,

Justin Timberlake, Mila Kunis, Patricia Clarkson, Jenna Elfman, Bryan Greenberg, Richard Jenkins, Woody Harrelson, Andy Samberg, Emma Stone

Jamie Rellis(Mila Kunis) is a New York head-hunter trying to get Dylan Harper (Justin Timberlake) to take a job with GQ Magazine in New York and move from the Los Angeles, the area which he loves. When he takes the job and makes the move to the Big Apple, he doesn’t know anyone and is kind of lonely. He and Jamie quickly become friends. As they become friends, they both realize that normal “romantic comedy” stuff is not for them. Sex is great, but the problems and jealousies of the relationship wreck everything. They find they both agree that becoming Friends With Benefits is perfect and they agree not to let any feeling wreck the connection they have. Jamie is emotionally damaged and Dylan just doesn’t want to get attached to anyone. But as time passes, they find they cannot help but develop feelings for each other, and if that is not cut off at the start, it may destroy everything after all.

This is basically the same story as “No Strings Attached” [Click here for EdsReview], but this one had the misfortune of coming second. Both movies are very similar, and I couldn’t really tell you which one is better. I enjoyed the first one because it was fresh. This then, seems similar. But if it were the other way around, this could easily have the 4 rating and the other one the 3.5. 🙂

This film has a lot of funny moments, and Justin and Mila pull it off pretty good. There are some really great supporting characters here too, Patricia Clarkson, Jenna Elfman, Woody Harrelson, Andy Samberg, and even Shaun White playing himself. It’s textbook romantic comedy, and has some very touching moments. So perhaps, not quite as good as No Strings Attached, it’s able to stand on it’s own fairly well. If you’re looking for a decent romantic comedy with a few really good laughs, you could do much worse than this one.

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Goldcrest Pictures, Gigi Productions, Mint Pictures,

Freddie Highmore, Emma Roberts, Michael Angarano, Elizabeth Reaser, Sam Robards, Rita Wilson, Alicia Silverstone, Blair Underwood, Sasha Spielberg

George Zinavoy(Freddy Highmore) is one of the teens that seems to have no focus. He’s just skating by doing the least possible to get by. He’s obviously got smarts, but doesn’t have the impetus to use them. He wears the ever present trench coat, and tries to blend into the background. Obviously his mother has her own issues. She’s in a relationship with a guy whose business is failing, and she’s losing everything trying to hold on to him and help him out. But when George gets a chance to be friends with Sally (Emma Roberts) he jumps into it with both feet. They find a connection over similar circumstances, but decide to remain platonic friends. George is in trouble in school again, and may not be able to graduate, so the principal introduces him (and Sally) to an artist alumni Dustin, (Michael Angarano) a successful painter, and he is a guide to George into finding out what is really important to him, but distractions cause George to once again resort to just getting by, and he may not be able to graduate after all.

This is an interesting film. George is like many teens today, who seem to have this fatalistic view of life where nothing is worth anything, and just getting by is truly an art. George gets a chance with Sally, but is afraid to pursue it. Then when he decides it’s worth it, the chance has passed. It’s the same with school. By the time he decides it’s worth it, the chance has passed, and he finds himself in a really tough bind. He loves art, but doesn’t know what to do with it, and if he tries, he may fail, so he lets that slide. That’s how many of us do with just doing the least we have to do to get by. This is a film of lost chances.

The acting is solid. It’s not outstanding, and the script is, like the theme of the movie, just getting by. It’s not a classic work of art, but for the film that it is, it’s just right. I enjoyed watching this film, and it was interesting as I went trhough it, but it’s not extremely memorable. I think it’s ironic that the theme is “just getting by” and the film seems to do the exact same thing. Either it’s lazy on the part of the filmmakers, or it’s a brilliant strategy in itself. I’m really not sure which. So I rate this film right down the middle, as it seems appropriate. Emma Roberts does a fine job. I know her dad, actor Eric Roberts is very proud of her, and she is one of the highlights of the film. Alicia Silverstone plays a teacher. She’s really wasted in this film. She only has a few scenes, and they are not significant. I think it’s an attempt to attach another known name to the project, but her effort is just one more example of “The Art of Getting By”.

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