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TAKERS – A Review by Gary Murray

Gary Murray
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TAKERS – A Review by Gary Murray

TAKERS By Gary Murray Starring Chris Brown, Hayden Christensen and Matt Dillon Directed by John Luessenhop Written by Peter Allen & Avery Duff and Gabriel Cassues & John Luessenhop Running time 107 min MPAA Rating PG-13 Selig Film Rating Matinee

The heist film has been a part of the American cinema landscape from the beginning. The first real film, The Great Train Robbery, was essentially a heist flick. While the genre has twisted and turned in a thousand different directions over the years, the basic plot remains the same, A bunch of people decide to break the law and do that one big score. The latest flick to attempt this is Takers. The story of Takers concerns a group of bank robbers who are perfect in their execution. After a number of jobs over a number of years, the police are no closer to finding out who is behind the crimes. The police are represented by Jack Welles (Matt Dillon) a hard nose who has no problems with roughing up a few suspects to get his information. He wants these guys and he wants them served on a silver platter. Into the mix comes Ghost (Tip ‘T.I.’ Harris) a con from a botched job in 2004. On his release from the joint, he contacts his old gang. It seems that while he was inside, Ghost made contacts with the Russian Mafia and have secured their services in pulling of a major armored car heist. There in only one problem, the event has to take place in five days, barely enough time to make plans much less execute them. The guys are tempted by the payout, over 25 million dollars. As the men begin to plan out the heist, we start to learn about each individual member. The leader Gordon (Idris Elba) has a sister Naomi ( Marianne Jean-Baptiste) just out of rehab. Jake (Michael Ealy) has something special going on with Rachel (Zoe Saldana) who had something going on with Ghost. Jesse (Chris Brown) is the bragger all full of swagger and A.J. (Hayden Christensen) just wants to have fun. It is how all these elements tie together with the heist is what drives the action in Takers. Director John Luessenhop steals from everybody in making Takers. There are the slow-motion gun battles straight out of The Magnificent Seven. He uses Godfather style music and some Green Zone camera techniques to tell his tale. There is more flash than substance with the finished product, but as an entertainment it stays on a laser focus.. The film is more of a showcase for Chris Brown than any other actor of the piece. He has the giant chase scene in the middle of the flick, the big action set piece. The running and jumping goes on and on but never loses the intensity. This flick may help some to forget the negative press that Mr. Brown has generated over the last two years. The rest of the robbers never give us a solid reason to root for them, no feeling of revenging justice. They are all just hoods trying to beat the system. As much as I like Zoe Saldana, her performance here in badly written and phoned in. Matt Dillon is such a great actor that he can make the phone book sound interesting. His cop character has been used time and time again but he does seem to put some fresh spin on a stock role. The biggest find of Takers is Tip ‘T.I.’ Harris as Ghost. I don’t remember ever seeing him before this film, but he just stands out as the guy up the river who keeps all the wheels in motion. His big reveal in Takers is never telegraphed throughout the flick. He just keeps his cards too close to the vest. The entire exercise of Takers is a low rent cross between The Godfather and Butch and Sundance, all male bonding with guns and cash. While not the best flick of the summer, it is better than most and a nice little bit of action to end out the season.

THE LAST EXORCISM – A Review by Gary Murray

Gary Murray
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THE LAST EXORCISM – A Review by Gary Murray

THE LAST EXORCISM By Gary Murray Starring Patrick Fabian, Ashley Bell, Louis Herthum and Iris Bahr Directed by Daniel Stamm Written by Huck Botko and Andrew Gurland Running time 87 min MPAA Rating PG-13 Selig Film Rating Cable

There is this new style of film making that was made popular by The Blair Witch Project. The style consists of making a film feel like a documentary, with bouncing camera work and no tripod to keep the acting fixed. It has been used in Clover field, Paranormal Activity and to a lesser degree The Green Zone. I guess that the moving camera is to give the film an ‘in the moment’ beat. The latest to use the technique is the horror flick The Last Exorcism. The film is of the Reverend Cotton Marcus (Patrick Fabian). He is a former kid preacher from Southern Louisiana who has been passing down the world of God to congregations for a number of years. As he explains what he does, one gets the feeling that he is a man who has lost the faith, spewing words that he himself does not believe, more an entertainer than a man of God. His father is also a pastor and the elder man has focused his work with exorcism, removing demons from the bodies of victims. Dad has a very old tome that tells the identity all the cast out demons and how to defeat them. Cotton believes that there are no demons and that the entire exercise known as the rite of exorcism is much more curing a mental disorder than casting out demons from the unwilling. Cotton has decided to hang up the racket of exorcism but wants the film crew to document the last one, just to show how it is done. Cotton decides to answer the letter of Lewis Sweetzer (Louis Herthum) a widowed father who suspects his youngest child Nell (Ashley Bell) has been taken over by an evil spirit. As Cotton and the crew make their way to the farm, they come across Caleb (Caleb Landry Jones) a kid with a chip on his shoulder who warns the Reverend to stay away. We soon discover that Caleb is Nell’s brother. Cotton meets with the family and senses that something is amiss with the young girl. He performs the exorcism, using a prop cross and various little stage tricks. Caleb, in an aside, busts Cotton letting the Reverend know what a fraud the man is. That night, Nell shows up at Cotton’s hotel room, wild and screaming. Cotton has no idea how she knew where he was staying. This little discrepancy leads Cotton and the crew back to the Sweetzer farm and to a conclusion that Cotton doesn’t expect. I hate this style of film-making because it makes me nauseous. I’ve watched documentaries for years and they never have this style of amateurism. The bouncing camera doesn’t make the film feel frightening, just irritating. Maybe I’m getting to old to enjoy this style but all I get is motion sickness from a film like The Last Exorcism never actual frights. Director Daniel Stamm would have made a more effective film if he just would have let the camera sit still on a solid surface. As much as I hated the production of the film, I loved some of the performances. Ashley Bell as Nell Sweetzer is a perfect mix of innocence and ostracism needed for the role. She changes every aspect of her physicality on a dime, giving a performance that is both chilling and honest. Patrick Fabian does a fine job as Cotton Marcus, the lost soul who never realizes that he is lost until it is too late. He gives a realistic reading to his minister, a logical person thrown into an illogical situation. The rest of the Sweetzer clan comes from central casting Hell. We’ve seen these characters in about a billion movies. They bring nothing new to the show, no break-through characterization. Iris Reisen has a very underwritten role as our film-maker. She just reacts to each scene, never giving a solid acting job with the material. If you have seen Rosemary’s Baby, you’ve seen The Last Exorcism, following the latter almost beat for beat. Blend that little 1970’s gem with the other 1970’s scare fest The Exorcist and you have this film. I would say to wait and see the film on television rather than at a theater, the smaller screen and the ability to pause can save more than a few lunches that The Last Exorcism will bring-up. If you go to the theater to see this just don’t forget the Dramamine.

LOTTERY TICKET – A Review by Gary Murray

Gary Murray
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LOTTERY TICKET – A Review by Gary Murray

LOTTERY TICKET by Gary Murray Starring Bow Wow, Ice Cube, Brandon T. Jackson, Loretta Devine and Naturi Naughton Written by Abdul Williams and Erik White Directed by Erik White MPAA Rating PG-13 Running time 105 Selig Film Rating Cable

Ethnic films have a definite built-in audience. Ever since the explosion of Black-exploitation films of a few decades ago, independent film-makers knew that with a black cast they could be assured a solid box office in certain geographic areas. But as these film professionals began to gain more clout, the films began to get better. The Friday series and all the Tyler Perry films have generated a huge following with all audiences. Trying to build on those gains is the newest urban comedy, Lottery Ticket. The film is of Kevin Carson (Bow Wow) a good kid in the projects. His entire existence is centered around shoes, both in the wearing and the design. He works at the local Foot Locker and dreams of going to design school. His still has his two best buddies Benny (Brandon T. Jackson) and Stacie (Naturi Naughton). Both are loyal to a fault and wanting to build a life away from their existence. Everybody in the projects is abuzz with lottery fever, a jackpot of 370 million. All the talk is what one would do with all that money and all the stuff that they would buy. Kevin wants no part of the discussion and feels that the lottery is just a tax on poor people. But as Kevin buys a ticket for his grandmother (Loretta Devine), he buys a ticket for himself using the number from Stacie’s fortune cookie. The next morning the projects are going crazy. It seems that the local convenience store has sold the single ticket, the big winner. Checking his ticket, Kevin finds that he has those winning numbers. He and Benny go down to the lottery office to claim the prize only to find out that the office is closed for the Fourth of July holiday. So, Kevin must keep the secret of winning the ticket until he can claim his prize in a few days. The little secret gets out very quickly and everyone in the area wants a piece of Kevin. The local hottie wants to date him, the local godfather Sweet Tee (Keith David) want to be connected with him and the local out of jail thug just wants the winnings. Everybody in the hood wants a piece of him, all the way down to the local minister. All of these elements build to a confrontation and the realization that Kevin can change the circumstances of everyone by not being selfish. Mike Epps as Reverend Taylor just steals his scene, giving a sermon of what God wants him to have, a giant church, a big house and a sexy young wife. Ice Cube plays Mr. Washington the local hermit who hasn’t been out of his apartment in years. He is almost the father figure for Kevin, showing him what a true man is. Ice Cube is becoming a fine character actor, stepping up the effort. Bow Wow is showing some promise as a young actor. He delivers his lines with a ‘gee whiz’ quality that is both effective and charming. He’s this pure of heart kid, not some ghetto thug rolling with his homebodies. There is just this sincerity in the performance that rings true. Both Brandon T. Jackson and Naturi Naughton show commitment in underwritten roles, making the most of weak material. Loretta Devine is just charming as Grandma, giving a solid punch to her comedy lines. Charlie Murphy as Semaj comes across very weak, the comic showing a lack of giving a funny performance. A film like Lottery Ticket is made just for the audience intended, not the critics or the Academy. It is an entertainment and it succeeds on that level. . Director Erik White mixes humor and the more serious elements in a patchwork that works more often than not. While not a great movie, it is an interesting diversion.

THE SWITCH – A Review by Gary Murray

Gary Murray
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THE SWITCH – A Review by Gary Murray

THE SWITCH

By Gary Murray

Starring Jason Bateman, Jennifer Aniston, Jeff Goldblum, Patrick Wilson and Juliette Lewis

Written by Allen Loeb

Directed by Josh Gordon and Will Speck

Running time 104 min

MPAA Rating PG-13

Selig Film Rating Cable

I am starting to think that the romantic comedy has run its genre course. It has had a decades long traverse, but all good things must come to an eventual end. In the last few years, the idea just seems old and tired. Films like Leap Year and Letters to Juliet have won over few new fans and done just fairly at the box office. The latest film to try and rescue the genre is The Switch..

The Switch starts out seven years ago in NYC with two mismatched friends, Kassie Larson (Jennifer Aniston) and Wally Mars (Jason Bateman). Both had put the other in the friends zone, but Wally still pans for Kassie. He a doom-and-gloom, ‘bleary-eyed little man-boy’ kind of guy with a good heart and she’s more of an opposite.

Since Kassie is getting ready to turn the big 4-0, she decides that with Mister Right not coming and her biological clock clanging, she must take matters into her own hands. Kassie decides to use artificial insemination to give her a child. Wally offers her his sperm, an offer she instantly refuses. She wants her baby batter to be from someone who is better looking, smarter and with a more positive view of life. The guy she chooses is a married Woman’s Studies professor Roland (Patrick Wilson). He’s doing it for the money.

The night of the insemination party, Wally gets really drunk. Half out of his mind, he goes to the bathroom and sees the Roland semen. While messing with the fluid, he spills it down the drain. In a panic, Wally substitutes his seed for the Roland variety. Soon after Kassie gets pregnant, she moves away. Wally has no memory of what he has done.

We now go to today and Kassie is moving back to NYC with her son Sebastian (Thomas Robinson). Wally has never been around the boy and on their first meeting he is struck by how much the two have in common. Kassie has also changes, seeing Wally more as a man than a friend. Sebastian has all the necrosis that Wally shows and even more quirks. It seems that Sebastian likes to collect picture frames but leaves all the original display photos inside. He lives on Web MD, thinking he has every disease listed.

Kassie contacts Roland and finds that he is very recently divorced. It becomes obvious that he’s looking for a new family and begins to pursue Kassie. At the same time Wally begins to piece together that night from seven years ago and comes to the realization of what he’s done. He also recognizes that he needs both Sebastian and Kassie in his life. The wanting and the eventual dissemination of information to interested parties drives The Switch to its inevitable conclusion

The kid Thomas Robinson just steals your heart in every bit of film he’s in. With his wide eyes and shy smile, he’s a heart-breaker in the making. He delivers his lines with such puppy dog sadness one just wants to take him in your arms and hug away all the hurt.

The most solid performance comes from Jeff Goldblum as Leonard. This former leading man has taken on the best friend role but steals just about every scene he’s in with Jason Bateman. He delivers comic blow after comic blow with subtle grace that one never notices how deft his placement of lines is in the piece.

It is in the leads were one has the most problems. Jennifer Aniston is a former TV star who just cannot find the right vehicle to put her on the A list of acting. Her performance is more of the same, much more like her Rachel from Friends. She has done some solid work but there is no challenge in this role. The same can be said for Jason Bateman. This is his Extract character with a dash of quirks. Finally, Juliette Lewis brings nothing to The Switch.

The entire exercise of The Switch feels more like a Lifetime movie or an overblown episode of a TV show. Directors Josh Gordon and Will Speck never build on their comic foundation delivering a product that is much more charming than out-and-out funny. Without Goldblum there would have been a dearth of laughs. The film starts well, means well but never conveys on the promise set forth at the premise.

SCOTT PILGRIM VS THE WORLD – A Review by Gary Murray

Gary Murray
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SCOTT PILGRIM VS THE WORLD – A Review by Gary Murray

SCOTT PILGRIM VS THE WORLD By Gary Murray Starring Michael Cera, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Alison Pill, Anna Kendrick and Ellen Wong Written by Michael Bacall and Edgar Wright Directed by Edgar Wright MPAA Rating PG-13 Running time approx. 2 hrs Selig Film Rating FULL PRICE

To be perfectly frank, watching hundreds of films over a number of years, one gets jaded to the entire process. With sequel after sequel and genre upon genre of sameness, one starts to crave anything just a little bit different, challenging and out of the box. Critics eventually go either for the foreign route or the obtuse route, looking for something that just feels fresh. The latest contender is a wonderful little quirky gem called Scott Pilgrim Vs The World. Based on a graphic novel, the story of Scott Pilgrim (Michael Cera) a Toronto bassist with a broken heart and a new high school girlfriend Knives Chau (Ellen Wong). It is an almost platonic relationship where they haven’t even kissed yet, just play an interactive kung-fu fighting game like those arcade dance games. He’s trying to integrate her both into his life and the band dynamic. The band mates are Kim Pine (Allison Pill), Stephen Stills (Mark Webber) and Young Neil (Johnny Simmons). Everyone knows that Knives is the rebound relationship and that he still is not over his former girlfriend, who has moved on to Montreal and a greater degree of fame. One night in his dream, he sees a rollerblading girl, the perfect woman. At a party he sees Ramona (Mary Elizabeth Winstead), his dream vision of dyed hair and attitude. Everyone tells him that she is too cool for him but he pursues her. The next day he gets an e-mail that says he must fight for Ramona. We soon find out that Ramona has seven evil exes and that in order to win the love of Ramona, Scott must take on and defeat each one of them. The film is of the great lengths one has to go through to find true love. Even though Scott more of a victim, the play unfurls a darker side to him making him much more of a player than love-sick puppy. Though it may seem that Ramona has a deep-dark past; some of the relationships are little more than long ago flirtations. The film is built along the lines of a video game where Scott earns bonus points and different skills as he travels up the ladder of battling until he gets to the Number One Ex. Scott Pilgrim is stylized beyond belief, yet there is this certain naive charm. It is also rife with quotable lines that one will be hearing from the kids for years to come. It just jumps across the screen in a blend of 500 Days of Summer and Moulin Rouge. The film blends techniques and images more in the style of Quentin Tarantino, with cartoons and asides being used to tell a tale. Director Edgar Wright has created a work that will be watched over and over again by the youth, finding deeper meaning in each viewing. Even though Michael Cera has been playing this same character for years, it does work in the right circumstances. Though he brings nothing new to the role, he does have a certain appeal. Anna Kendrick does a slight variation of her Rocket Science character. Mary Elizabeth Winstead comes across with a sad charm, the victim in breaking hearts, not wanting to hurt anybody but causing destruction in her path. The biggest find is Ellen Wong as the love sick girl in a world of young adults. She pulls laughs and sympathies in the same scenes, putting a true face on heartbreak. It is rare to see a film that will instantly be a cult classic, the type of flick that the kids will be watching twenty years from now. Scott Pilgrim Vs The World is that film, going into that same niche as The Rocky Horror Picture Show, Monty Python and the Holy Grail, Eraser-head and Fast Times at Ridgemont High. This is one of those ‘cool kids make a movie’ kind of movies, something that will be fondly remembered by a generation.

THE EXPENDABLES – A Review by Gary Murray

Gary Murray
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THE EXPENDABLES – A Review by Gary Murray

THE EXPENDABLES By Gary Murray Starring Sylvester Stallone, Jason Statham, Terry Crews, Randy Couture, Dolph Lundgren. Eric Roberts and Jet Li Written by Sylvester Stallone and Dave Callaham Directed by Sylvester Stallone Running time 105 min MPAA Rating R Selig Film Rating Matinee

The 1980’s was the heyday for action films. Both Arnold and Willis staked claims of being the top action hero, but Sylvester Stallone is the once, still and future king. Not only is he an Oscar winner, but between his Rocky and Rambo flicks, Sly is a billion dollar industry. Though he has had a wide degree of success with some of his other roles and choices, the action flicks he puts on the screen have always been drive-in treasures. With his newest flick The Expendables, he should win another group of young action junkies. Our little drama opens with a hostage situation on an oil tanker. Barney Ross (Sylvester) and his crew are contract mercenaries who are tasked to save a group of hostages. After the rescue, it becomes apparent that one member needs to cut loose. The entire sequence feels more like the James Bond teaser that opens the adventure. Back in the States, our guys are approached by a a very mysterious man called Church (Bruce Willis). Both Ross and another mercenary (Arnold in a cameo) are offered a job. Of the two, only Ross accepts the mission. The team is to go down to South America and take out General Gaza. Unknown to our heroes, the general is backed by a former CIA agent James Monroe (Eric Roberts) who has gone rogue Ross’ team consists of Lee Christmas (Jason Statman) as an expert with knives but not with women. Jet Li is Yin Yang a master of hand to hand combat. Toll Road (Randy Couture) is the man with the detonation devices and Gunnar (Dolph Lundgren) is the sniper on the edge. It has a Dirty Dozen feel, with men not being whole but their lacking is compensated by another. Of course, the flick is peppered with different women who help push the actions of the men. This is a very macho man’s world with the gals being a small but driving force. The film is structured very simply. We get the action set-up, meet the gang, get the mission, find out the mission isn’t as cut and dry as first thought, and finally the massacre of all the bad guys. What a blood bath it turns out to be. The Expendables makes the last Rambo flick look like a Care Bears movie. We get metric tons of decaying, bullet-riddled flesh with every appendage rolling at some point in the melee. At one time, Sylvester Stallone was a writing wonder boy. It seems that fame and fortune have tainted his the more literary aspects of his talents but he can still spin an exciting yarn. It is as a director that Sly shows that he still has it. He gives us action piece after action piece with little chance to catch ones breath. It almost feels as if this were his last gasp at being able to put something on the screen and he want to throw every bit from his directors toolbox at the screen. We get so many earth shattering explosions upon explosions that the screen becomes awash in degrees of red and yellow. He also gives his giant cast of action heroes moments to shine and Dolph Lundgren is granted the widest berth of acting prowess. With so many different performers, someone has to get the short stick on screen time. Those short sticks are given to Mickey Rourke and Jet Li. The former is almost a cameo performance and the latter just isn’t given much to do other than show off a few quick moves here and there. Arnold and Bruce are just in one scene, both looking tickled pink to be in a single scene with Sly Stallone. Watching this little bit makes one realize how much Hollywood and the audience misses the Terminator Governor. The Expendables is just a simple action flick, just like those of decades past. It wants nothing more than to entertain and does so to a stellar degree. This is a drive-in style of entertainment and is just a popcorn-chewing, grind-house, head-rolling, blood-churning action chunk of fun. Nothing to be taken seriously but it is a gas to watch it spill across the screen.

THE OTHER GUYS – A Review by Gary Murray

Gary Murray
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THE OTHER GUYS – A Review by Gary Murray

THE OTHER GUYS By Gary Murray Starring Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg Written by Adam McKay and Chris Henchy Directed by Adam McKay Running time 107 MPAA Rating PG-13 Selig Film Rating Cable

The action buddy comedy had its heyday a few decades back. Flicks like Bad Boys and the Lethal Weapon assaulted the Cineplex screen, giving laughs and explosions in equal measure. Like all genres, they eventually ran their course. In the last few years, the films have been more the fodder of parody. With Hot Fuzz and Cop Out the genre has become more of a wink and a nod than a straightforward bit of film-making. Now late into the game, comes The Other Guys. The film starts with two detectives played by Samuel L. Jackson and The Rock. As our little play opens, they are in high pursuit of a car load of suspects. Our guys are driving a perfect classic little Cutlass SS, so everyone knows that it will not survive the chase. In a stunning bit of cars jumps and bus explosions, the bad guys are apprehended. Our cops confiscate the illegal gains, a quarter pound of marijuana. Following this misdemeanor crime that caused millions of damages, the detectives are back in the station. Too cool to do all the paperwork, the details fall on The Other Guys, detectives who work in the background The butt of the department are Alan Gamble (Will Ferrell) and Terry Hoitz (Mark Wahlberg). Yes, there are losers among the losers. When a tragedy occurs, there is an opening for two cool, rear-kicking detectives. Terry sees this as a chance to redeem himself but Alan wants nothing more than to be a police accountant. It seems that both have an event in their past that has caused them to be in the background. Alan notices a code violation on a series of buildings and it sends up a red flag with a foreign investor (Steve Coogan) which leads to a confrontation with a bunch of hired guns. The twisting and turning plot is more of an excuse to discover the back story of the two leads. We are also introduced to Alan’s wife (Eva Mendes) who is there to be a lust reaction for Terry. The three of them having dinner is a highlight in the story. The two cops use their skills in deduction and law enforcement to discover the nefarious plot. Along the ways we get all the cliche plot points and hacked scenes that make up the genre. The one part that nails down the parody vs reality is when a building blows up and the two cops have a true, non-Hollywood reaction to the event. It is the single funniest moment of the film. There is the biggest flaw with The Other Guys, the lack of funny moments. While a few scenes put a sizzle on the comedy griddle there are giant lapses where the laughs are few and far between. Some of the comedy bits are weak to the point sticking out. When one waits and waits for a daub of humor and it falls flat, the level comes across as inconsistent. Adam McKay and Chris Henchy have turned in some humorous stuff on the screen before but with The Other Guys it all feels like to much of the same thing. Car crashes as punchlines went out with The Blues Brothers. Mark Wahlberg gave a surprisingly decent reading playing a low key version of the Mel Gibson character from Lethal Weapon. The problem is that his character is a bit schizo, pining for his partners woman in one scene and trying to get back with a former love in another. It is as if he were just playing different parts in different skits based on the same idea. I know that Will Ferrell can be funny. His SNL days were some of the best moments on television. His film career has not be as solid. Though he makes tons of cash for the producers of his films, few are gems of comedy. With every one great role, he delivers about 5 weak ones. This is another weak one. Eva Mendes is given anything more to do than be stunning in a tight dress, which she does with a filled out grace. Michael Keaton is the head of the department and has a moment of ‘Hey, isn’t that Michael Keaton?’. It is a total waste of his talents but is is great to see him on the big screen. The Other Guys is not so much a film as it is a ride. It is planned to be a diversion, something to take ones mind off the hot Summer days while being in the cool of a theater. It is nothing one has see, just something to waste time with.

DINNER FOR SCHMUCKS – A Review by Gary Murray

Gary Murray
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DINNER FOR SCHMUCKS – A Review by Gary Murray

DINNER FOR SCHMUCKS By Gary Murray Starring Steve Carell, Paul Rudd, Zach Galifianakis and Jemaine Clement Written by David Guion and Michael Handelman Directed by Jay Roach Running time 105 min MPAA Rating PG-13 Selig Film Rating Matinee

Steve Carell has been building his comedy career since The Daily Show. He and Steven Colbert were the glue that kept the Jon Stewart helmed show on the cutting edge. With The Office, he has cemented his place in television industry. Lately, Steve has taken roles in different kinds of film, winning critical reviews and major box office. His latest is the wild comedy Dinner for Schmucks. Based on Francis Veber’s The Dinner Game (Le diner de cons), the film opens with Paul Rudd as Tim, a guy on the sixth floor of an investment company who wants to be on the seventh floor, upper management. When an opportunity arises Tim shows that he has the ‘thinking outside of the box’ skills to impress his boss. Before being officially offered the job, he must come to a secret dinner. At this feast, every member of the upper management must bring a idiot, a person that they can all make fun of during the meal. When Tim tells his girlfriend Julie (Stephanie Szostak) about the dinner, she is appalled and doesn’t want him to have anything to do with it. She’s an gallery representative who is showing Kieran (Jemaine Clement) a photographer/painter who uses himself as the basic subject matter. He is a person who could easily have been a part of the dinner. Tim unsuccessfully explains to Julie that there are two Tims, one that they love and one that does anything to get ahead. The next morning as Tim is driving to work, he literally runs into Barry as Barry runs into the street. Barry is trying to save a rodent carcass for his taxidermy artworks. The pieces are based on famous paintings, personalities and events, all done with appropriate costumes and backgrounds. They are brilliant works of art. Barry gives Tim the centerpiece of his latest creation, The Last Supper. Holding the tiny rodent Jesus, Tim realizes that Barry is the perfect idiot for the dinner and asks him to the event because ‘everything happens for a reason’. The rest of the film is the next 48 hours and a tornado of destruction that is Barry. Tim is asked by his big boss to have a Saturday lunch date with the newest prospective client. Barry shows up at Tim’s apartment a day early, much to the chagrin of Julie. When Julie realizes what Tim is up to, she leaves. Barry sees infidelity in the situation, which drives an encounter with an old one night stand Darla (Lucky Punch). Events steer Barry and Tim to see Barry’s boss Therman (Zach Galifianakis) an IRS agent and part-time mentalist. All the events lead to our Dinner for Schmucks and a collection of some of the weirdest dinner guests ever assembled on screen. The amazing thing about the script is that even the throw-away lines uttered by different minor cast members get laughs. The film is directed my maverick Jay Roach, the guy who gave us both Austin Powers and Meet the Parents, both huge successes with millions of fans. This film should follow a similar path. While he knows how to get great performances from his stellar comedy cast, he never seems to build the laughter up in Dinner. Funny moments follow funny moments, but they are just there and never reach a stunning climax. The pacing just isn’t what he has delivered before. On the positive side, the acting could not have been better. Steve Carell just nails Barry, the IRS agent who may be a dweeb but has a mountain of sorrow on his small shoulders. He knows that he’s not the coolest guy on the block but it doesn’t bother him. He just lives the life he wants to. Paul Rudd gets a moment here and there to lay down some laughs but his job is more of the straight man, being the only sane person in the asylum. Both Zach Galifianakis and Jemaine Celment steal just about every scene they are in but the biggest praises have to go to Lucy Punch as the dumped upon gal. She just roars in this boys club of comics, getting a great reaction as the crazed lover. Stephanie Szostak is just there to be pretty and is given so little to do other than be the object of desire. While not on the level as the first two Austin Powers films, it is heads above all the Meet The Parents flicks. It finds a solid balance between slapstick and farce without ever going overboard on either side. Dinner for Schmucks is not one of the best films of the year but it is one of the most solid comedies of the summer.

CHARLIE ST. CLOUD – A Review by Gary Dean Murray

Gary Murray
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CHARLIE ST. CLOUD – A Review by Gary Dean Murray

CHARLIE ST. CLOUD By Gary Dean Murray Starring Zac Efron, Charlie Tahan, Amanda Crew, Ray Liotta and Kim Basinger Written by Craig Pearce and Lewis Colick Directed by Burr Steers Running time 93 min MPAA Rating PG-13 Selig Film Rating Matinee Zac

Efron is trying to make the transition from teen idol to serious actor. The former High School Musical star has been turning in some solid performances in different major motion pictures for the last few years with various degrees of success. With every big budget smash flick like Hairspray, he’s done some independent films such as Me and Orson Welles which saw a small box office but had critical acclaim. He latest is the specter melodrama Charlie St. Cloud. Zac plays the title character, a young sailing star who is about to graduate high school and go to Stanford on a sailing scholarship. He has a precious little brother Sam (Charlie Tahan) and an overworked Mom (Kim Basinger). The two boys fight and pick on each other, but deep down the two truly have a brotherly bond. On the weekend of his graduation, Charlie has to babysit his little brother instead of going to a farewell kegger thrown by his buddies who are off to war. Charlie decides to take Sam to a friends house, going against Mom’s wishes. Charlie promises Sam that they will spend every day at sunset practicing his baseball fundamentals if he goes along with the plan. On the way to drop Sam off, the two are in a terrible car wreck. Paramedic Florio (Ray Liotta) saves Charlie but cannot save Sam. With Charlie coming back from the dead, Florio believes that he has witnessed a miracle and that Charlie has been given a second chance at life. Flash forward five years and Charlie is a grounds keeper at the cemetery where Sam is buried. Mom is long gone, trying to build a new life in another city. When the cannon thunder signals nightfall, Charlie goes to the woods and Sam is waiting for him. It seems that Charlie can see dead people and Sam has refused to cross over to the other side. The two are in limbo, with Sam never going to the afterlife and Charlie never living his life. Charlie is known as the slightly cracked loner by everyone in the town. Enter Tess (Amanda Crew). She’s a former sailing competitor who has gone on to bigger fame. With her coach, they are planning to participate in an around the world sailing event. Tess has a striking command of the sea but cannot shake the competitive spirit she feels when she is near Charlie. One can tell that Charlie is envious about all that Tess has accomplished in a short few years. On the night of a bad storm. Tess shows up at Charlies small cemetery cabin and the two begin a relationship, much to the chagrin of Sam. How all these elements play out is what drives Charlie St. Cloud to its inevitable conclusion. As a starring vehicle, this is another strong performance from Zac. While the story is very simplistic and the twist seen a mile away, Zac does a good job at giving the audience a large range of emotions. We see him both laugh and cry, while never losing the basic tenants of his character. He proves that he can carry a heavy dramatic part while infusing a light touch to the proceedings. His scenes battling the geese near the cemetery show the lighter side of his character. Amanda Crew has a great chemistry with Zac, showing all the elements one wants in what is a basic, thumbnail part. She is the non-threatening girl next door, the kind of young woman that the teens in the audience can relate to and imagine falling for Zac. Though she does get a little chance to show some depth toward the end of the piece. The biggest find in Charlie St. Cloud is Charlie Tahan as little brother Sam. He just pulls at the heartstrings while delivering a reading that shows both warmth and humor. His is the hardest role, the one surrounded in mystery but he takes us in a solid direction. Our two big stars—Ray Liotta and Kim Basinger are basically cameo performances with Basinger almost being a ‘blink and you miss it’ turn. The second unit has to be praised for giving some of the most striking visual images of the year. The scenes of the sailing that pepper the film are breathtaking in composition and tone. The craftsmen who put these images on the screen are almost painting a picture with the elements, giving a warmth to the sea faring vistas. A film like Charlie St. Cloud will never win the Oscar but it should bring in the ‘tween audience it aims for, making back all the money put out. It is spiritual without being religious, heartfelt without being heavy handed. It is romantic without being sexual and morose without being morbid. And we get some e.e. cummings poetry. This is just the kind of film like The Notebook which will be watched over and over again by young women wanting a relationship like the one portrayed on screen. Charlie St. Cloud is not a bad little film but it is not made for an old guy like me.

THE DRY LAND – A Review by John Strange

John Strange
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THE DRY LAND – A Review by John Strange
THE DRY LAND
By: John ’Doc’ Strange
Written and Directed by: Ryan Piers Williams
Starring: Ryan O’Nan, America Ferrera, Wilmer Valderrama, Jason Ritter
MPAA Rating: R (for pervasive language, sexual content and disturbing violent situations)
Selig Rating: Full Price
Runtime: 92 Min.
James (Ryan O’Nan) has returned home from Iraq to his home in El Paso and his loving wife, Sarah (America Ferrera). He is deeply troubled by events that happened to him but unable to talk about it to his family and friends because he can’t remember any details. The more he tries to remember the worse he feels. His relationship with Sarah and his family deteriorates steadily as the days go by.
He receives a letter from Raymond Gonzales (Wilmer Valderrama), his fellow soldier and friend from Iraq. After Sarah leaves him to protect herself from James’ growing desperation to know the truth leads him to go on a road trip.
First stop, Raymond’s home, to convince his friend to accompany him on the trip. The two travel to Walter Reed Army hospital to talk to Henry (Diego Klattenhoff), the only other survivor of their squad. Henry tells James what Raymond refused to tell, what happened that fateful day.
This is a film that does not pull punches or shade the truth. It is not pro-war or anti-war. It is simply a statement of the troubles our young soldiers are experiencing when they go to war. This truth is not related to only one war or police action. It has existed since man fist battled against man. It is worse now because medical science is doing more to heal the bodies, if not so well at healing the minds of our soldiers.
The performances of Ryan O’Nan, America Ferrera, and Wilmer Valderrama are excellent. After listening to the Q&A which followed the screening I attended, I found that the script was researched by Ryan Piers Williams over several years. His script struck a strong cord with America and Wilmer. It struck a strong one with me, too. I think you will be affected by this film as well.
 
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