THE BOSS Review

Melissa McCarthy is more or less unstoppable. She is a movie star unlike anyone else at the moment and in a few years will likely look back on 2015-2016 as her prime years of output thus the reason we are not only being treated to another McCarthy/Paul Feig (Bridesmaids, The Heat, SPY) collaboration this year in the Ghostbusters reboot, but also have the second offering from McCarthy and her producing/directing/writing husband, Ben Falcone, in The Boss. Taken simply as a follow-up to their last directorial effort, 2014's Tammy, this is a huge leap forward in terms of quality. It was a strange transition of sorts as Tammy was the first project where McCarthy used her much-earned name above the title to pull some strings and make a project that would seemingly be close to her heart. This could only signal that the comedy and story would be something that was carefully cultivated by the husband/wife team and would certainly come across with more of an edge and better developed characters than most comedies these days, right? One would think so, but for all the optimism I held for Tammy McCarthy and Falcone let me down in the toughest of ways in that not only did it not make me laugh, but the entire affair felt pointless. And so, when I caught wind that McCarthy and Falcone would get the opportunity to make another movie off of Tammy's $100 million worldwide haul on a $20 million budget I didn't expect much. Maybe it was those tempered expectations that led to the more enjoyable experience I had with The Boss, but I have to believe the overall improvements in every aspect had more to do with this than grim assumptions. There is real structure to the story, actual punch lines to (most) of the jokes, and character development that felt due more to the storytelling than the improvisational skills of the actors. In short, The Boss feels like an actual movie. It may feel like a picturesque romantic comedy in its aesthetic with raunchy male anatomy jokes thrown in for good measure, but an actual movie nonetheless.

TAMMY Review

There was and seemingly remains something off about Tammy. Not just in the case of the titular character that Melissa McCarthy portrays, but in the nature of the film itself. After following up her breakout in Bridesmaids with successful runs in Identity Thief and The Heat along with a slew of smaller, supporting roles in major comedies and two stints on Saturday Night Live it became clear McCarthy was the real deal. Still, the idea she next chose to venture out on a low-budget road trip comedy directed by her husband Ben Falcone and was a project they wrote with one another seemed completely understandable. There was an intimacy to it that no doubt was unheard of in the mainstream crowd-pleasers she was taking part in before. McCarthy had earned her name above the title and so she was going to use that power to make something closer to her heart. This could only signal that the comedy and the execution of the story would be something that was cultivated by the husband/wife team and would certainly come across with more of an edge and better developed characters than most comedies these days, right? One would think so, but for all this pent-up optimism I held for Tammy she let me down in the toughest of ways in that not only did she not make me laugh or love her, but that there is essentially no reason for this movie to exist. That probably sounds a little more harsh than it should because it isn't the characters or even the situations that don't come up with anything it's just that they don't come up with anything new. I didn't really know what to expect from the film upon walking into the theater, but when it instantly became clear that this would be a film of self-discovery and redemption for a life without risk and full of regret through the format of a road trip comedy I was done. We've literally seen McCarthy go through this same evolution in the same way in the aforementioned Identity Thief so what was it that drove her and Falcone to make this movie over anything else? Likely a question we'll never get a satisfactory answer to, but nonetheless the point of Tammy was to capitalize on McCarthy's brand of humor and persona and while she is all over the place here she does no favors for herself or anyone around her as any laughs that came from the audience were more out of sympathy than anything else.

BAD WORDS Review

Jason Bateman seems like he could easily be a bit of a jackass; not necessarily because he carries a rude demeanor but simply because he seems to expect a lot out of those he comes into contact with and doesn't care to waste his time if the other party isn't up to task on an objective the actor has in his sights. In his latest film, Bad Words, Bateman had many objectives on the docket he wanted to accomplish for besides just acting in and producing the film he has also made his directorial debut with the project and it seems right in line with the kind of dry, narcissistic wit that has infused his characters since taking the role of Michael Bluth in 2003. While Mr. Bluth might not necessarily be classified as a narcissistic presence what he did best for Bateman's career was to give him the everyman status a la Paul Rudd while supplying an explicitly dry style that was so prominent in his delivery and tone that he was given the ability to relate to the inner-most thoughts and complaints that those of the same mind set have against the different annoyances of society and family that he expanded on in a weekly series. While his character in Bad Words, Guy Trilby, is explicitly more narcissistic than Michael Bluth he comes from the same point of view where he has tried to comply his entire life with the rules of what define a moral and corjile society, but has finally decided to go off the rails and simply say and do whatever he feels like doing. Obviously, there was a breaking point for Trilby and that moment, or secret as the film tends to keep it, is what spurns this whole ridiculous and convoluted situation into being. The upside? Trilby knows how ludicrous and fittingly childish his actions are, but he simply cannot help himself. He sees the outcome of his run at beating out the aspiring children of a typically friendly spelling bee as the only way to come to terms with a certain event in his past and while he may be right in wanting (and deserving) some kind of vindication for what he experienced he still realizes what he's doing isn't right or fair in any sense of the word. It is in this caveat of what is at first presented as a purely smug mask that we come to sympathize with Trilby which gives us reason to not completely be offended by him and his movie while the outer shell he perpetrates is reason to divert any and all expectation.

ENOUGH SAID Review

There were several factors that seemed to weigh in on the idea that Enough Said might not be more than a film anyone would ever care to talk about, but would serve as a pleasant diversion only to end up somewhere down the road all but forgotten with its simple poster and intentionally low-key indie status. Both stars of the film, Julia Louis-Dreyfus and James Gandolfini, are well-respected names with extremely strong credentials as far as television work goes, but neither of them had ever become more than recognizable supporting characters in most of their big screen roles, though for some reason I always believed Gandolfini would grow into more of that unconventional leading man that attracted a built-in audience. All of this to say that the film took on much more weight with the passing of Gandolfini this past summer. Suddenly, this was not only one of his last movies, but his very last starring role. Upon first seeing the trailer I didn't think much as it looked to be little more than an adult romantic comedy that explored love lives after divorce and while likely intelligently written it also possessed a plot device that seemed rather hokey and something that might serve as the basis for a half-hour sitcom rather than an entire movie. What comes to be surprisingly effective about Enough Said though is that it isn't at all what you expect it to be. It doesn't play into the conventions of that otherwise despised genre that makes love look like an accessory rather than a necessity in life, but it takes on the emotion and all the baggage that comes with it in the varying relationships one has as they're passing through the middle section of their lives. This is as much about being a parent as it is a developing relationship, this is just as much about friendship and the different dynamics of every relationship as it is about a crazy coincidence that brings several different people together who share a common friend, and in some cases more than that. This is a film that subtly and comfortably approaches getting old while embracing the younger generations around it and while maybe not learning something from them, at least gaining a new experience that gives them a new perspective on life. Again, all of this to say that Enough Said is cute, often very funny, and one of the more purely enjoyable experiences I've had at the movies this year.