Film in Review

My Super Ex-Girlfriend



This Super comedy plays on a fantasy of most comic book readers where you get to date a heroine. Luke Wilson playing Matt Saunders, is our lucky man. He is encouraged to hit on a random girl on the Subway, by Vaughn Haige (Rain Wilson). The girl happens to non other than G-Girl as her alias Jenny Johnson (Uma Therman). The relationship takes off literally and we learn that G-Girl has a few issues. When Matt realizes he really loves a co-worker, Hannah Lewis (Anna Feris). Well this sets Matt to have the worst possible thing happen, a disgruntled girlfriend with super powers and a huge case of the revenges.
As you can guess the comedy is born out of the hilarious setup, but this film had a few issues. The development of character was lacking and especially between Rain and Luke. It would have been nice if there were a bit more substance to their relationship. It was a great film to watch but I don’t see myself watching it again. Just nothing special, and the jokes are kind off over once you know what happens. There is just not enough good humors parts.

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Rumor has it’s a success

Rumors are flying, and heads are popping, in this romantic comedy that develops from the pages and screen of one of the most defining movies in our pop culture.  "The Graduate" is the setting of this film, not so much a remake as a revisit to the characters some 30 years later. Jennifer Aniston (Sarah Huttinger) is a newly engaged struggling journalist who is trying to figure out who she really is. Seemingly a common role for Aniston she does wonders with the comedic timing for this film. It was nice to see her in role centered around comedy again.
Sarah on her way to stand in her sisters wedding is beginning to feel more terrified of the prospect of marriage everyday. Her fiancé is Jeff Daly, played by Mark Ruffalo, is a caring and genuine guy that buddies up to the family right away. Continuing to struggle with the place in her relationship, her family and her life Sarah is reunited with her grandmother (Shirley MacLaine). After a few drinks and some very casual remarks Sarah begins to doubt the memory of her mother. She sets off to seek the man who she things maybe her real father.  Taking into account that I tend not to like Kevin Conster (Beau Burroughs), he did bring a level of suave carefree billionaire character acting that was believable. Beau just happened to be very charming and charismatic, and in a whirlwind of dinners and drinks, planes and vineyards. He caused an already confused Sarah to rethink whether Jeff was the right man after all.
Everything worked in this film. Shirley MacLaine is absolutely gut splitting hilarious. The story leaves its gloves at the door and comes out swinging. This film is not to be  overlooked and is certainly not be counted out. The human drama is there when it is required and is so consuming that the jokes hit you even harder. Check it out soon.

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16 Blocks

Well, the only positive thing that came out of this film was Mos Def (Eddie Bunker). His character was inventive and a pleasure to watch. Although for the most part I like Bruce Willis, this role could have been done by pretty much any middle aged actor with heavy 5 o’clock shadow and a bottle of (insert preferred alcohol here). A washed up cop, seeing a little redemption, in his life of bad deals and taking a cut off the top, Jack Mosley (Bruce) sees Eddie as a chance to right a wrong he had lived with for a long time. A simple transport deal turns into a character building/revealing journey for both Eddie and Jack. As they dodge bullets and duck in and out of random apartments and rooftops in New York.  The poor un-fortunate ending of this film is the nail in the coffin for me. I am not a spoiler, but this film was better left alone and unmade. Not even a twist or a surprise to the end. The grand reveal happened to soon and the rap was poor. It is not worth renting or buying, wait and see it in a few years as it will be a TBS weekend film that they over play. 

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Thumbsucker

Off the beaten path, Thumbsucker takes us through the life of one Justin Cobb (Lou Taylor Pucci), who attempts to quit his addiction to sucking his own thumb. This not so normal 17 year old senior is ashamed of his addiction to which his father, Vincent D'Onofrio, is frustrated over. His mother, Tilda Swinton, is unable to show her feelings of acceptance and motherly love.  Justin works through his addiction with the help on his dentist, Keanu Reeves, and his hypnotic journey to find Justin’s power animal. When Justin begins to fall apart due to his lose of thumb sucking the school advises his parent to put him on drugs for ADHD. He experiences success on the school’s debate team sponsored by, Vince Vaughn, however this leads to a series of other drug uses and getting himself hurt by the only friend he though he had.  The story is interesting, not really captivating and not an amazing let down. It is slow and fairly plain. It takes a little while to get used to it, but I really enjoyed the journey that Justin takes, feeling ashamed of his life because of the thumb sucking to an acceptance of who he is. In some ways we all have something like thumb sucking in our lives, that we are ashamed or embarrassed by. Like Justin, learning to accept it and accept others problems is a huge thing. There is nothing wrong with sucking ones thumb it is just socially unacceptable, but why?

Enjoy this Movie.

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The Black Dahlia

Not enough can be said about this wonderfully intriguing film. The story, adapted from James Ellroy’s novel of the same name, is one of this country’s most infamous unsolved mysteries. The story well known is about a young struggling actress that is murdered in a most horrific way. Although that is the setting and title of the film, that story is second to the drama unfolding in our characters. The obsessions, emotions, and entanglement of  Ofcr. Dwight 'Bucky' Bleichert (Josh Hartnett), Sgt. Leland 'Lee' Blanchard played by Aaron Eckhart and one Miss Scarlett Johansson in the role of Kay Lake, bring an emotional realism to this film that is untapped in any other roles to which they have played. The buildup and tear down of their relationships and emotional states out weighs the over arching story. James Ellroy manages to capture the realism of the emotion and the nuances of time. Brian De Palma brings to life this rollercoaster ride with stunning brilliance and captivating story telling. This is truly an amazing film. The only draw back is the Dahlia story of it self. It is a gruesome graphic story of a real person. That is made real to us through this film. Unlike most horrors or scary films the emotional attachment you start to feel towards Elizabeth Short played wonderfully by Mia Kirshner drives an even eerier shrill through your heart.  If you enjoyed L.A. Confidential then you should enjoy this film. Set in a similar time period and both written by James Ellroy.

Happy Watching.  

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