Ed's Review Dot Com

Total Recall, Original Film, Rekall Productions,

Colin Farrell, Kate Beckinsale, Jessica Biel, Bryan Cranston, Bill Nighy, John Cho, Bokeem Woodbine, Will Yun Lee

Douglas Quaid (Colin Farrell) is bored with his life. Things are ok, but he feels like he’s destined for more. When he hears an ad from a company called Rekall, which offers vacations to exciting places without leaving home, he has to check it out. You are attached to a chair by a collection of wires and they push the memories into your brain. You remember you wonderful exciting trip, but never leave the chair. Douglas chooses to be a secret agent, but suddenly things go horribly wrong, and Douglas is off running for his life. He finds out he is really someone else, and there’s no one he can trust. Douglas sets out to find out the truth before it’s too late. The future of the world may hang in the balance.

This is a new version of the Arnold Schwartzenegger film from 1990. This is not a “remake” as it’s a good bit different. They want back to the book and based the movie on the original work rather than copying the 1990 version. So you do need to look at this film as a new movie and not a remake. The years have been good to this story. Today the special effects and tricks of trade make this an exciting roller coaster ride of suspense and thrills. The special effects are stunning, and the action is non-stop. It is a little hard to follow sometimes, and of course one huge question looms as we wonder what’s real and what isn’t. The world is well developed in this film, and Collin Farrell, Kate Beckinsale, and Jessica Biel do a great job bringing this adventure to life.

This is far better than I expected it to be. I was looking for a cheesy remake, as the original certainly had it’s corny side, but it didn’t even nod to the original. They went back to the source and developed a really good screenplay. I was very pleasantly surprised, and found myself riveted through the whole film.

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DreamWorks Animation, Pacific Data Images (PDI),

Ben Stiller, Chris Rock, David Schwimmer, Jada Pinkett Smith, Sacha Baron Cohen, Cedric the Entertainer, Andy Richter, Tom McGrath, Frances McDormand, Jessica Chastain, Bryan Cranston, Martin Short

At the end of #2 the animals were left in Africa (Remember: it was called Escape 2 Africa, right?). Now Alex and the friends want to get back to the United States, but have no way back. But serendipitously they bump into a traveling circus (which always has room for some new animals) and the join up to travel Europe, hoping to be discovered so they can get a gig back in New York City. But as usual, there are a lot of trials and tribulations along the way.

This is a nice little cartoon film that is very typical of this genre. I felt like they didn’t put a whole lot of work to this, just went the usual Dreamworks method of getting a gang of famous actors who don’t do voices, but just play themselves in their own voice. The story is not really unique, and not very interesting for those over 10. I’m sure the kids will love it, and you can certainly put it on the DVD to keep them entertained (and stop them from driving you nuts) on a rainy Saturday afternoon, but this is simply not classic cinema. Pixar they aren’t. Dreamworks has just not put it all together just yet. The Shrek series was very popular, due a lot to an very original story, but even that has kind of worn out and they’re struggling to find something fresh and unique again I’m sure, but things like Madagascar 3 are just holding the place to keep the animators (or are the programmers now?) working until that fresh and new idea comes along.

Lacking in excitement and wonder, this is just a Saturday Morning TV Cartoonish revisit to the characters with such original music as Katy Perry “Firework” and Edith Piaf’s 1960 “Non, regrette rien”. Not shabby songs, in their own right, but not very original. I say, unless you’ve got little ones who need some entertainment, give this one a pass, as there’s just not enough there to keep an adult interested in the meager plot.

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Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation, Lucasfilm, Partnership Pictures,

Cuba Gooding Jr., Terrence Howard, Nate Parker, David Oyelowo, Ne-Yo, Elijah Kelley, Bryan Cranston, Tristan Wilds, Lee Tergesen, Method Man, Andre Royo

Terrence Howard and Cuba Gooding star in this biographical documentary about the famous WWII Tuskeegee Airmen, part of the 332nd Fighter Group, and all black World War II unit that were the best escort pilots in the service of their country. Known as Red Tails, they fought the Nazis in Europe while they fought racism at home. This true story covers the fight they had to gain respect in a time when black men really didn’t get to be a part of the real military, but were assigned to less significant roles. These brave heroes fought the for the right to fight like the real ace pilots they were.

This is not a perfect movie by any means. If you want to pick it apart you surely can find lots of things to complain about. Cliche ridden, with a very mediocre score, and with some really corny scenes, it’s not overly exciting. I think if they really failed on this script it was because they are trying too hard to tell a story that needs to be told. This is a lot like the old documentaries we used to see and not like the big budget WWII fighting ace films that came along a lot later. I think the actors gave it a commendable try, but the script wasn’t quite crisp or fresh enough to make this a great little film. But it was, as I said, probably a story that needed to be told. The feeling I got was similar to the religious broadcasting that they used to put on TV in Sunday Mornings in the 50’s and 60’s. It was a requirement to keep their license for the stations to broadcast so many public service hours every week, and the relegated these to Sunday morning and very late at night (think “Sermonette”). They did it because they had to, and it was a good thing to do, but they didn’t really put their heart and soul into it. It was sort of just done in order to get it out of the way. That’s how this film felt to me. I think it’s well worth the time watching it as a rental, but it won’t be really exciting unless you are really a WWII buff and already know the story. Still, I’m glad I saw it, and it was worth the effort. I give it a lukewarm recommendation at best.

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Bold Films, Odd Lot Entertainment, Marc Platt Productions,

Ryan Gosling, Carey Mulligan, Bryan Cranston, Albert Brooks, Oscar Isaac, Christina Hendricks, Ron Perlman

Ryan Gosling, in this film just known as “Driver” is a mysterious guy. He’s an excellent stunt driver who is able to pull off some awesome driving stunts. But in his down time, he’s an excellent getaway driver. If someone hires him, he will pick you up at the scheduled time, and get you away from the crime within a 5 minute window. But Driver meets another resident of his building, lovely Irene (Carey Mulligan) who is a single mom raising her young son. They become friends, and Driver helps her out, only to learn that her husband is in prison and just being released. Her husband is in a bad way, owing money to the mob, and so to free himself and his family from their influences, sets out on a simple robbery with Driver to pick them up, when everything goes wrong. Neither had any idea what a horrible mess they were getting themselves into, and it will try all Driver’s skill to stay one step ahead of everyone who’s after him.

This is actually a very good action film. As you may know, I’m not a fan of speed driving, car stealing films, but this has much more meat to the story than the typical “Gone in 60 Seconds” type of film. Ryan Gosling is a very introverted and shy person in this film who doesn’t speak much. This helps to make him much more mysterious. He’s got a lot going on, getaway driver, auto mechanic, stunt driver, he has a lot of jobs! He’s perfectly cast in this film, and it’s easy to identify with his plight as we go through the film. The rest of the cast is good too. There is plenty of story to go around, and yet there are breathtaking suspenseful car chases that are as good as any I’ve seen. This is an excellent rental for people who love action movies, especially the car chase movies. I can recommend it if you’re in the mood for a good action film.

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Universal Pictures, Vendome Pictures, Playtone Productions

Tom Hanks, Julia Roberts, Bryan Cranston, Cedric the Entertainer, Taraji P. Henson, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Wilmer Valderrama, Pam Grier, Nia Vardalos, George Takei, Rob Riggle, Rami Malek

Larry Crowne (Tom Hanks) was a navy man for 20 years. He’s the superstar at a big retail corporation, and when his names is called, he’s expecting to be named Employee of the Month — Again! Instead, he’s being laid off because he doesn’t have a college degree. Downsized, he starts looking at his options, but there are no jobs anywhere, and he’s upside down on his mortgage, and there are no options other than to walk away from the house, get a small apartment and go back to college. Larry reinvents himself and finds some new meaning in his life, including a few new friends, Mercedes Tainot (Julia Roberts) his speech teacher, Lamar (Cedric the Entertainer) his neighbor, and a Hispanic biker girl, Alvarez (Roxana Ortega), who teaches him some style. Larry finds that when everything goes wrong, you can still turn things around an reinvent yourself.

I looked forward to a Tom Hanks, Julia Roberts movie when I saw posters in the theater, but somehow it came and went before I got a chance to go see it. Now I can see why. This has to be the worst Tom Hanks movie since Joe vs. the Volcano!! I didn’t hate the movie. It has a bit of humor, and a bit of romance. It’s just not extremely interesting, and pretty unrealistic. Tom Hanks wrote the film, and perhaps some people are correct in assuming that because Tom Hanks hasn’t experienced the economic impact of what’s happening to people today, he can’t write it very accurately. I don’t know if that’s true or not, but it really seems more like a TV movie than a Hollywood blockbuster. Larry is kind of annoying, and Julia has certainly done better work. The funniest thing in the movie is George Takai as a really narcissistic economics professor who is so full of himself he’s hysterical. As for Larry, I wish him well in the life he has chosen, but I am not very concerned about him. There are some people who are very excited by this film, mostly because they identify with one of the characters. There’s either Julia Roberts who is a teacher with a boring lump of a husband who she is dumping for good cause, or Larry who is an older 50’s guy going back to school. I think the ultimate summation of the mood of this film is Cedric the Entertainer’s character who when his wife points out that he stood up on his own and hasn’t called anyone his boss for years, has Larry remind her that winning the lottery may have something to do with that.

Everything just kinds of happens in this film, and nothing is very exciting or meaningful. It’s not an awful film, but I was just kind of disappointed that it wasn’t nearly as good as it should have been. That’s why it was in and out of the theaters in a very short time.

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