** Happy Christmas

Lucky Coffee Productions,

Anna Kendrick, Melanie Lynskey, Mark Webber, Lena Dunham, Joe Swanberg


Kevin (Mark Webber) and Kelly (Melanie Lynskey) are a young married couple with a small apartment and a small son. Kevin’s sister, Jenny (Anna Kendrick) suddenly shows up at their door. Jenny is a 20 something woman with no rules. She’s recently broken up and homeless and wants to live with Kevin and Kelly. They’re happy to allow her to live in their basement room but Jenny and her best friend Carson (Lena Dunham) are not ready to be responsible adults. She still has a drinking and drug problem and cannot be trusted. At first Kelly is put off by Jenny’s nonsense, but the hard role of wife and mother has gotten in the way of her love of writing, and she is attracted to Jenny’s free and easy lifestyle.

First of all, I feel bad about classifying this film as a Christmas movie. It does occur around the holidays and trees and presents are there to be seen in the film, but it’s a very dark relationship film about dysfunctional family issues. Jenny has very little going good in her life, and though she wants to do better, she’s too weak. Kevin should step in as straighten out his little sister, but he’s so non-aggressive that he can’t find anything to say. Kelly is the happy-go-lucky Mom who loves her husband and son so much, but soon begins to be very jealous of the life Jenny has and wants to be included. All in all, these folks are messed up, and trying to get by. The other problem I really have with this movie is the ending. This is a movie without an ending, and nothing is gained by watching it. I was sorely disappointed at the end, as I despise movies that just end without any change or resolution at all to the story. There’s really not much I can recommend to this DVD, and I am sorry I wasted a spot in my queue for this. I am not sure why Anna Kendrick chose this script, perhaps it was just an exercise in making the most of a bad story, but she’s been a few of these losers lately. I guess it’s hard to switch over from teen flicks to adult roles, but this was not a good choice to move her career forward. I really didn’t like this movie, and please don’t expect a “Happy Christmas” movie as it is anything but that!

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog

 

 

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Freedom Films, Palo Verde, Hannibal Classics,

Brian Presley, Kurt Russell, Melanie Lynskey, Marc Blucas, Christine Lahti, Sarah Wright, Drew Powell, Steve Turner, Kevin Covais, James Duval, Sianoa Smit-McPhee, Austin Ross, Jacquelyn Evola

Fifteen years ago, Scott Murphy (Brian Presley) was on top of the world. He had a full ride scholarship to college, and as the small town hero quarterback, he had one more game to play. This game was against a team much bigger and stronger than them, and they were outmatched, but on the last play of the game, Scott is injured and it put an end to his career. Fifteen years later, Scott is still stuck in the small town, trying to eke out a living on his farm, and facing serious financial trouble. He gets the chance to go back in time 15 years and relive the week of the big game and come to a conclusion of whether to sit out the game and take the scholarship, or to play and risk injuring himself all over again. He looks to Coach Hand (Kurt Russell) for advice in determining what’s the right thing to do.

This is a familiar film in a lot of ways. We’ve seen a lot of these kinds of movies. We’ve had the Mr Destiny film where Jim Belushi gets a chance to hit the home run on that pitch where he struck out the first time, and change his life. This has a different look at it though, and I kind of liked the way they addressed it. Of course there’s the flashback in time, and the confusion of being 15 years younger and going back to high school, naturally. But the focus isn’t on how his life will change if he does it differently. It’s more on what decision should I make? How will it affect me? How will it affect my coach and my teammates? What will it do to my character? What is the most important thing to me, really? It’s very introspective about the choice, and not so much on what happens after. Additionally, this was a really good football movie. I think they did a great job of showing the football games without overdoing it, but with enough technical detail that football fans who really understand the games will not feel like they’re watching a movie version dumbed down for the non-football crowd. I think it’s really well done for anybody to watch.

The serious questions are handled well, and it does make you think, but but it’s also highly entertaining. The film is very well put together, and I am really glad I rented this. It’s new on DVD even though this is a couple years old, and I’m glad they decided to release it on DVD. It was a pleasure to watch.

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog

 

 

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Summit Entertainment, Mr. Mudd,

Logan Lerman, Emma Watson, Ezra Miller, Mae Whitman, Kate Walsh, Dylan McDermott, Melanie Lynskey, Joan Cusack, Paul Rudd, Nina Dobrev, Johnny Simmons

Charlie (Logan Lerman) is a young boy, dealing with the suicide of his best friend, and very sad and alone. He has a hard time making friends, as he’s a freshman and just starting out, but he meets two Seniors who take him under his wing. Sam (Emma Watson) and Patrick (Ezra Miller) who show him the ropes and become friends. Charlie falls hard for Sam, but with his own issues, he just doesn’t know how to get along. Charlie has a lot of problems, and is fighting himself all the way in this quirky coming of age drama.

This movie surprised me a bit. I was watching it through the first 3/4 of the film, and it seemed like a typical teen trying to grow up and fit in movie, and a boy trying to win over the girl of his dreams. But the ending totally broke my mind as we find out that things are not the way they seem, and Charlie has some real issues. It turned the whole movie around, and though it was interesting throughout, the ending really sparkled. I was caught by surprise and the ending made the rest of the movie make a lot more sense. Emma Watson was really good in this movie, and has turned into a really good actress. I hope she continues, as she really did a great job in this movie and is getting better and better. I didn’t know Logan Lerman, but he was actually really good as Charlie in this film. The rest of the cast was also really good, although the story is really about the 3 friends. The rest of the people fit in and add the to depth and richness of the story. Paul Rudd is a teacher who inspires and helps Charlie a lot. Joan Cusack has a small role as Dr. Burton, and although it’s a relatively small role, it’s adds a lot to the understanding.

Basically this is a pretty good story, well portrayed. I enjoyed it for what it is, and though it has an “indie” feel to it, it was rather interesting all the way through. If you like dramatic movies with lots of dialog and little action, this is a good choice. I enjoyed it.

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog

 

 

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Everest Entertainment, Fox Searchlight Pictures, Groundswell Productions

Paul Giamatti, Amy Ryan, Bobby Cannavale, Jeffrey Tambor, Burt Young, Melanie Lynskey, Alex Shaffer, Margo Martindale, David W. Thompson

Mike Flaherty (Paul Giamatti) is a part time wrestling coach and a down on his luck lawyer. Business is bad, and he’s in financial trouble. But Mike is hiding it from his wife. One of his only clients is an elderly man whose about to be made ward of the state and sent to a nursing home, but it turns out he has a lot of money. Mike’s idea is to become guardian of the man, and keep the money provided in his role of guardian. But suddenly Leo’s (Burt Young) grandson shows up, and it turns out he’s a great wrestler. Mike thinks it’s the perfect situation where he can also take in the grandson, keep the old man’s money, and put the grandson on the wrestling team, keep the office open, and his wife will be none the wiser. That is until the old man’s daughter, fresh out of rehab suddenly arrives to derail everything.

I’m getting to be a big fan of Paul Giamatti. In fact, ever since I first saw him as “Pig Virus” in the Howard Stern film “Private Parts” I’ve been a fan. But he seems to get better and better appearing in very quirky films. This is one of those. Mike is a nice guy, who’s trying to keep everything rolling. But he’s taking advantage of everyone in the process and being dishonest to everyone. Mike’s got to take a good look at his flaws and decide if it’s worth the effort to clean up his life. But at the same time, it’s really funny. There is such humor in Paul’s character. Everybody here has an agenda, and the interplay between the two assistant coaches is hilarious. Also Leo and his Mom Cleo (played brilliantly by Melanie Lynskey) are really good. Leo hates his mom because she’s never been there for him, and loved her drugs and drinks more. Now she’s still in it for herself. It’s a twisted feel good film, and is strong in values, but the mix of comedy makes it really unique. Yes, it’s quirky, but very good. I really enjoyed this film, and so it’s a Win-Win for the producers/actors, and the audience. 🙂

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog

 

 

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