Ed's Review Dot Com

Burn Later Productions, Duplass Brothers Productions, Through Films,

Celia Weston, Joel McHale, Paula Garcés, Jeffrey DeMunn, Josh Charles, Bobby Cannavale, Jason Mantzoukas, Caitlin Fitzgerald, Jane Krakowski, Sarah Steele, Bobby Moynihan, Mike Birbiglia, Nick Kroll, Rose Byrne, Julie White

Jake (Nick Kroll) is an entrepreneur, but when everything goes wrong at once, he loses everything. With nowhere else to turn, he leaves New York City and shows up on the doorstep of his married pregnant sister Justine (Rose Byrne) and her husband Danny (Bobby Cannavale). They take him in for a little while, but eventually he becomes their Nanny, babysitting his 3 year old nephew.

This isn’t a great movie, nor is it a horrible one. This is somewhere in between. Bobby Cannavale and Rose Byrne are actually pretty good together, as they are in real life I think, but their parts are not all that much of the film. There are some other smaller characters who also add to the whole, but basically it’s not funny or dramatic and is somewhere in the middle most of the time. I think perhaps the script is the weak part that pulls everything else down. There are lovers and haters, but most people seem to fit about where I sit right in the middle. I didn’t mind watching it, but it was not a moving or memorable movie, and when it was over, it was over. Watch if you’re a Nick Kroll fan, but there’s not much to drag you to watch this indie film other than that. Waste of time, really and I would say, skip it.

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog

Burn Later Productions,

Olivia Wilde, Jake Johnson, Anna Kendrick, Ron Livingston, Ti West, Jason Sudeikis, Mike Brune, Frank V. Ross

Luke (Jake Johnson) and Kate (Olivia Wilde) are co-workers in a brewery. They spend their days drinking beer and flirting with one another Though sparks fly, both of them are in serious other relationships, but when the spend the weekend together with both significant others at a lakeside retreat, things really get out of hand in this romantic comedy.

This is an interesting concept for a film, but unfortunately it wasn’t an extremely clever script. As a result, it kind of falls flat. There is a good cast of really good actors, but they can only work with what they’re given. I have heard people defend this movie as “real life” and that may be exactly the problem. Sometimes real life is kind of boring. You need a little creative writing to make it sparkle. This film just doesn’t sparkle. It’s not that funny, not that engrossing, and though they do carry of the job of getting us to know a little about the characters, nothing really exciting happens and it just kind of sits there. I can’t help but think that with a better script they could have pulled of a much better film. But it is what it is. There are some who really enjoyed it, but I didn’t find it worth the effort.

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog