De Line Pictures, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM), New Line Cinema,

Morgan Freeman, Michael Caine, Alan Arkin, Joey King, Matt Dillon, Ann-Margret, Christopher Lloyd, Kenan Thompson, Siobhan Fallon, John Ortiz, Peter Serafinowicz, Josh Pais, Maria Dizzia, Anthony Chisholm, Jeremy Bobb

Joe Harding (Michael Caine) has been a hard worker for the same company all his life along with his friends, Willie Davis (Morgan Freeman, and Albert Garner (Alan Arkin). Joe is having financial trouble and his daughter’s debts are going to cause his house to fall into foreclosure, but while he’s in the bank a robbery takes place and the masked bandits take off with the money. Joe is very impressed with how easy it was to pull off. When the last straw falls, and the old friends learn their company has been sold and thew owners are cancelling their pension, they decide to rob the bank themselves, in their own style, and steal enough money to get back what they’re owed so that they can live out their days in style. But this is an extremely dangerous operation for the senior citizens to pull off, and when something goes wrong, it starts snowballing into a huge disaster.

This film is a remake of the 1979 film with George Burns, Art Carney, and Lee Strasberg which was very, very well done. This one updates the story a bit, but is in many ways the same idea. The concept of growing old and forgotten in the U.S. is something that haunts a lot of older folks. They simply want what was promised to them and the young businessmen just don’t get it. It’s not a really over the top comedy, and it has real friendship and a lot of the kind of morality older folks still maintain today, and so there’s a lot to take in. It’s interesting, and it’s entertaining, and this is a great bunch of actors. The three main characters are stupendous, but the rest of the cast really helps them deliver the best they could with this retread of a movie. I found it interesting, and fun to watch, so I wouldn’t want to discourage you from watching, but don’t expect a side splitting comedy, as it’s much more subtle and gently done than that. If you like really great acting from accomplished actors, give it a try though as it’s a nice rental film that is worthwhile to see.

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog

 

 

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Paramount Pictures, De Line Pictures,

Mark Wahlberg, Dwayne Johnson, Rebel Wilson, Ed Harris, Ken Jeong, Anthony Mackie, Rob Corddry, Tony Shalhoub

Based on the true story of Miami body builder Daniel Lugo (Mark Wahlberg) who felt like he was tired of just trying to get by. He looked at all the good stuff everybody else seemed to have and figured it was a good idea for him to get a piece of it. So he enlisted the help of two of his fellow body builders Paul Doyle (Dwayne Johnson) and Adrian Doorbal (Anthony Mackie) to pull off a kidnapping and extortion plan. Of course, nothing goes right for this bunch of inept guys, and everything that could go wrong does. But one thing you have to give these guys credit for is they’re persistent! The most amazing thing about this hilarious adventure is that it really happened. The statement about truth being stranger than fiction surely applies to this story.

This is a really funny story. I’m not a big fan of Markie Mark, but he really did a good job in this film. This film has a bit of a Monty Python feel to it, although if it was fiction I would probably be complaining that it was too unbelievable. These guys make the Marx Brothers look sane. This is a very funny story, after all. But The Rock is the big surprise in this film. This was something he could sink his teeth into, and here he is, an ex-con, now a Christian, and finally sober, and the other guys pull him into everything that is against what he’s trying to be. His loyalty is tested, and he has some troubling choices to make, but that just adds to the comedy. I think the secret to this movie is director Michael Bay. This is a bit of an unusual film for him, I think he must have enjoyed having this tiny budget, and such a dark story that is so damn funny, to play with, and seeing what he could do with it. Essentially, what he did was bring his style of directing to this comedy and turned it into an “action/comedy” where there is a lot of stuff going on in a really funny way. All in all, it was a funny movie, though these guys did some really sleazy things. It appears they are basically good guys, that got sucked up in this caper simply for a lack of good sense. If you like dark crime comedies, this is a good one, and well worth the time!

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog

 

 

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Warner Bros. Pictures, De Line Pictures, DC Entertainment

Ryan Reynolds, Blake Lively, Peter Sarsgaard, Mark Strong, Temuera Morrison, Jenna Craig, Jon Tenney, Tim Robbins, Angela Bassett, Jay O. Sanders

There is a group of superheroes, the Green Lantern Intergalactic Corps, who watch out for the entire galaxy. They are chosen and are up against an evil called Parallax. a super-powerful being who feeds on fear who has broken out of his prison. The Green Lanterns are chosen by their inability to feel fear. Hal Jordan is a hot shot test pilot who is in a bit of trouble for crashing a jet and destroying his companies ability to sell jets to the government. He is chosen as a green lantern, and given a ring and a lantern and super abilities to fly and fight. But the GL’s are in trouble and just maybe Hal is the “human” for the job.

I debated on seeing this film in the theater. The 3D was inviting, but the reviews and the box office of this film was dismal. So I decided to use my hard earned bucks on the other superhero movies of the time. Then, I paid my penance in the 30 day delay punishment that certain members of the movie industry have place on us humble Netflix customers, and finally Saturday the film arrived. I decided to pop it in the DVD and give it a try.

Well, first let me say it wasn’t a BAD as I expected from the horrible reviews and the lack of attendance at the film. It’s a better rental than you would expect. But by the same token, it’s not a very great movie either. I tried really hard to get into the story, and just couldn’t get involved in it. I even tried rewatching the first hour to see if maybe I was wrong, but I wasn’t. Ryan Reynolds was an emotionless nerd throughout most of the film. No matter the unbelievable and remarkable things that happen to him, being yanked away from Earth to receive the ring, and to be trained as a superhero. Throughout it all, his face is frozen, with no emotion. I guess it’s to show no fear, but no fear is a little different than reckless and arrogant which he is most of the time.

Furthermore, Parallax is the most evil thing in the universe, but he’s quickly forgotten when Hal sets off on a different quest after a different bad guy. They are going to destroy Earth, and though none of the other Lanterns object, Hal sets off on his own to save the Earth. When we get pack to Parallax, nobody cares much. The CGI is popping off all over the place, but there’s not much heart. I was very underwhelmed with the story. Granted I’m not a big fan of superhero stories to begin with, but there were many better than this, in the current year alone. I don’t recommend this unless you’re a big fan of the story, or a big superhero movie fan to start with. It was less of a disappointment than I feared, but just not good enough to keep my attention.

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog

 

 

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