Ed's Review Dot Com

ChubbCo Film, Blackbird, Code Red,

Richard Gere, Laura Linney, Steve Coogan, Rebecca Hall, Chloë Sevigny, Adepero Oduye

Former Teacher Paul (Steve Coogan) and his wife Claire (Laura Linney) meet for a very fancy dinner with his older brother, politician Stan Lohman (Richard Gere) and his wife. But there is another reason for the meeting and it’s not social. Their children have committed a horrible crime that has the city in an uproar, as it was caught on a security camera. But the kids have not yet been identified, so the problem is for the parents to decide what to do about it. How far are they willing to go to protect their kids, and what is the truth about the event? Was it a stupid mistake, an evil deed, beyond their control, or something that just got a little out of control. There is a lot to think about and a lot to decide, and the four people have four different opinions on what to do.

This is another example of a great story gone to waste. As this started out, I really expected it to be an interesting movie, but boy was I disappointed. The longer this movie went on, the more boring it went. The story is that the writer of the novel would not even attend the premier because he was so disappointed with the way the film was made. I wish I had skipped this one. The actors are really talented, and I don’t really know why this failed so bad for me. It just never got rolling and it was really dreary. I wanted to smack them all as time went on. I’m not sure if it was the screenplay or the directing, or what, but it simply didn’t work. Worst film I have seen n long, long time. Skip this one.

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Blackbird, Cold Iron Pictures, Movie Plus productions,

Richard Gere, Lior Ashkenazi, Hank Azaria, Steve Buscemi, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Michael Sheen, Dan Stevens, Josh Charles

Norman (Richard Gere) is a fixer. Head of the Oppenheimer Agency, Normal sets up meetings. He talks really, really big, has no fear of annoying everyone, and basically talks a big game! He befriends an starting out Israeli politician. Lo and Behold, in a few years he becomes the Prime Minister of Israel and he needs his buddy Norman to help him putting Norman on the precipice of destruction and on top of the world at the same time.

This is a very quirky and off-beat movie that features Richard Gere in a very cerebral and thoughtfully put together movie. I would think a lot of folks are going to get into this. It’s a character study, and Norman Oppeenheimer is truly a remarkable character. He lies without missing a bit, and not much that he says is not filled with hyperbole and exaggeration. He’s a nice guy inside, but is really crass on the outside. I once worked for a guy who used to always tell customers “I am not honest because of any moral reason, but I am honest because it’s simply good business>” Trouble is there wasn’t an honest bone in his body. Guys like Norman can be patting you on the back and heaping praises left and right while he’s picking your pocket. So what can I say about this movie? Well, I have mixed reactions to it. There’s no doubt that Richard Gere’s performance is really very expertly done. He does an amazing job of bringing this guy, we’ve all known at one time or another, to life. But the movie isn’t filled with much excitement. It’s mostly like a one man show. It’s slow paced, and I never did figure out how all the other characters fit in to this story as it lost me a bit, so if you tackle it, pay a lot of attention. However, if you like slow character development and enjoy a masterful performance like Gere turns in, you’re going to be a fan of this film. But it is really hard to classify this film, as it’s not that funny and not that serious, and there’s not that much going on here. For that reason, I hesitate to praise it too much.

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Audax Films, Big Shoes Media, Celerity Pictures,

Richard Gere, Dakota Fanning, Theo James, Clarke Peters

Franny (Richard Gere) was close friends with a young couple, but a tragic accident killed both the husband and wife. Franny has done very well for himself and is very wealthy, but plagued with guilt for what he thinks is his fault, so he injects himself in the life of the family’s daughter, Olivia (Dakota Fanning) and her new husband Luke (Theo James). By trying to help them in every way he finds it doesn’t remove the guilt and simply makes things worse and worse.

This is another flawed movie, sorry to say. Richard Gere gives a really good performance, but it appears the whole movie was written about him. There is incessant narration instead of dialog, and the other characters are really shorted in the rest of the movie. They should have a lot to add, but they are not given a chance to perform. It’s a shame, as with a little tweaking of the script, this could have been a much better film. It’s funny, in a way, that Richard Gere here played a Al Pacino role. He was so Al Pacinoish that when I remember it back, I see Al Pacino rather than Richard Gere in my mind. Not this Richard did not do a good job, he really did, but this role was built for Pacino. Anyway, the film ends up being kind of slow and low energy and a bit over the top. I didn’t particularly enjoy it as it is, and as I have said, it’s a shame, as with a bit of additional work on the script, they could have made a good movie. The story has potential, but the opportunity was wasted. Not really recommended unless you are a huge Richard Gere fan. Not enough to make up for the flaws.

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Blueprint Pictures,

Penelope Wilton, David Strathairn, Judi Dench, Celia Imrie, Ronald Pickup, Maggie Smith, Dev Patel, Bill Nighy, Richard Gere

Time has passed since “The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel” (2011) and Sonny (Dev Patel) the young entrepreneurial owner and manager of the hotel has big plans. Engaged now, and planning to expand the hotel with a second property he heads out to the U.S. to talk with some hopeful business partners. They are sending a secret inspector to visit the hotel before they make their decision, so Sonny is going crazy trying to figure out who this inspector is and how to impress him. Meanwhile, the residents from before are still there and are partners in running the hotel, although they have many side issues going on, and everyone is very busy. This fitting sequel to the original brings back the familiar characters and adds a few more for good measure.

The original was certain a surprise hidden gem of a movie. I thoroughly enjoyed it, and though I had never heard of it before, I was really impressed with the characters. Basically the first movie was about senior citizens from Britain who lost everything, and went to India answering an ad about this amazing retirement hotel which wasn’t exactly as promised. A lot of the humor of the first movie brought to our attention the problems with trying to settle in India and the issues that caused. We became very familiar with the characters in the original and got to know their quirks and character. This sequel is very different because now we are already familiar with the characters, so we don’t need to become acquainted with them in this film. Additionally, the issues with the hotel are already known to us, so we get to see how, in the years that followed, they made it better together. This is, however a good sequel with lots of activity going on to keep it interesting. We’re involved in Sonny’s wedding and the problems of trying to grow the enterprise and his problems in trying to do both at the same time. Additionally there are side stories going on with each of the characters that makes it quite worthwhile. There are some of the greatest actors of all times in this film and the quality of their acting abilities also adds to the wonderfulness of this movie. I would definitely recommend you watch the original 2011 film first to get really familiar with the characters, and then watch this right after when you’re still familiar with it. That way it’s a seamless transition and that would be one hell of a double feature. I believe the first film was the better of the two, but that may be mostly because of the newness and uniqueness of the many characters, but this one is darn near as good, and certainly feels a lot more comfortable with the relationship we already have with the characters. I highly recommend both films.

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Relativity Media, Virgin Produced, GreeneStreet Films,

Kate Winslet, Hugh Jackman, Liev Schreiber, Naomi Watts, Jeremy Allen White, Anna Faris, Chris Pratt, Kieran Culkin, Emma Stone, Jason Sudeikis, Justin Long, Leslie Bibb, Uma Thurman, Kristen Bell, Bobby Cannavale, John Hodgman, Halle Berry, Seann William Scott, Elizabeth Banks, Stephen Merchant, Nicole Polizzi, Johnny Knoxville, Richard Gere, Jack McBrayer, Kate Bosworth, Gerard Butler, Terrence Howard, Chloë Grace Moretz, Josh Duhamel

Charlie Wessler (Dennis Quaid) is a washed up producer who is going nowhere. He weasels his way onto the studio lot to pitch his latest idea for a blockbuster Hollywood film to producer Griffin Schraeder (Greg Kinnear). Unfortunately it is a series of extremely inappropriate sketches. This movie is basically a really far out series of unrelated stores tied together with the efforts Charlie makes to get his idea turned into a movie at all costs, even at gunpoint with hostages if necessary in this hilarious star studded off-the-wall comedy.

Outrageous is an understatement for this film. The sketches are the most inappropriate stuff you have ever seen. This movie has it’s roots in the classic 1977 “Kentucky Fried Movie” but rather than just being short sketches, this one ties it all together with Dennis Quaid’s efforts to get this piece of crap made, even though Greg Kinnear is going to do everything possible to make sure that doesn’t happen. What happens is a series of extremely funny bits with a TON of major stars. I don’t know how they talked all these people into being in this crazy film, but it must have been a real blast making it. It gets so out of hand, and goes where no film has gone before. I really enjoyed the craziness of this film. It is really out there. You have to be able to deal with the gross subject matter as nothing is off limits, and it’s really nasty sometimes, but the outrageousness of it is what makes it really funny. If you remember Kentucky Fried Movie, and if you enjoyed that, then you’re sure to crack up over this one.

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