AIR Review

A film of conversations, processes, and considerations. Ben Affleck directs with ease allowing the inherent intrigue of the story to pull its weight while everyone else lathers on the charm. Plenty to dig into thematically if you so choose especially the icky territory of giving a certain level of underdog merit to what was already a million dollar corporation in 1984, but the thing is...that's not really what this movie is about. 

Affleck knows the terrain he's venturing into when he takes on a movie about said massive corporation finding a way to market an inessential product (shoes are essential, sure, but $200 shoes are not) to underpriveleged and marginalized communities. He knows this isn't a story of the American dream the way he undoubtedly knew it would be marketed as, but rather how companies and brands had become such obscure ideas behind the recognizable spokespeople they put in their commercials that it took a company doing the inverse - making said spokesperson the face of their brand (and changing the business around it as they did so) - to make middle class Americans comfortable with the idea of throwing down that kind of dough on sneakers. It's also a movie that revels in the aforementioned processes - showing people who are good at what they do doing it well - which makes for some of the films best scenes. Like the song that serves as Affleck's thesis here, we see the desperation and the details in the small moments and hear the energy - the hope, if one might be so kind - in the big, sweeping speeches. 

My favorite part of AIR though is that it - at the very least - encourages ideas of boldness, of taking the big bet, of striking out on your own, even if in this particular story that only means signing a well-compensated endorsement deal. Alex Convery's screenplay is intent on emphasizing time and time again that in 1984 Nike was the least popular shoe in professional basketball and that it's only thanks to the fortuitous eye of Sonny Vaccaro (Matt Damon) who, with a little help from Arthur Ashe, came up with the idea to hang Nike's entire basketball line on the promise of Michael Jordan. Simple facts: Nike wasn't cool, but they had the most soul (sole?) and Jordan, with strong guidance from his mother Deloris (a wonderful Viola Davis), no doubt liked the idea of being a pioneer; a simultaneous rule-breaker and trendsetter. It also doesn't hurt that AIR is a sturdy and entertaining old school drama that hits all the right spots when simply viewed as a triumphant story even if that story is more about making a living than how to live.

OFFICE CHRISTMAS PARTY Review

What is there to say about a movie that knows exactly what it is and executes itself in competent fashion? Turns out, not too much really-especially when one is talking specifically about something as frivolous as Office Christmas Party. After watching this hour and forty-five minute comedy my friend and co-host at Initial Reaction summed up what we'd just experienced perfectly. Describing the "here for a good time" flick that actually ends up overstaying its welcome as a raunchier version of one of those holiday themed, multi-plotted, department store advertisements as directed by the late Garry Marshall, Office Christmas Party piles on the recognizable names and faces (Hey! There's Jennifer Aniston again!), juggles a handful of plotlines, and ultimately comes off as trying too hard to have some kind of genuine heart when we all know the only reason it actually exists is to cash in on certain weekends of the year when viewers seek reminders for how they should/would like to feel around the holidays. This wouldn't be so bad considering Office Christmas Party has a more than capable cast and isn't nearly as hokey as those aforementioned Marshall pictures, but the film ultimately tries to do too much with very little when it would have been fine had it simply allowed its talented comedic ensemble to feed off one another. While Marshall's films more or less turned a holiday of its choosing into a combination of Crash and any Hallmark movie ever Office Christmas Party at least has a driving plot that keeps the focus on only the characters involved in the central narrative and has each of them chasing and contributing to the same goal. There are no extraneous stories that have to strain to connect all the random characters together, but that doesn't mean every subplot should have been kept either. It is in its inability to restrain from both following one too many superfluous factors as well as devolving into something it clearly had no intention of being until it realized the credits had to roll at some point that Office Christmas Party suffers, but when it is having fun, making jokes, and letting the comedic talent it has enlisted to roam freely it's a consistently hilarious time that delivers on what its promotional campaign promised.

CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE Review

When I see that Rawson Marshall Thurber is directing a movie and more specifically, a comedy, I feel I know what to expect. That may sound like something of a criticism, but when what you're expecting is a large scale comedy with broad appeal and a surplus of solid laughs expecting something specific isn't necessarily a bad thing. And so, with the release of his latest, the director of Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story and We're the Millers has indeed stayed on track with what we've come to expect from him proving he has a formula and by sticking to it he will continue to produce fun if not forgettable comedies that have strong replay value and serve as a launching pad for on the edge talent or, in this case, interesting duos. It is the combination of Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson and Kevin Hart in this particular situation that elevates Central Intelligence from being more than a serviceable comedy to something of a fuller comedic experience than it might have been in lesser hands. With the standard secret agent premise meaning very little, which is something of a disappointment considering We're the Millers was a stellar comedic idea and not to mention the fact Ike Barinholtz was a contributor on the screenplay, the movie sometimes is overly reliant on the chemistry of its two marquee stars, but it never feels as if the film buckles under the strain of these two guys having to pull stuff out of their asses because the story isn't strong enough to hold up, but more the chemistry between the two leads, the dynamic they create, and the downright hysterical and restrained characters they have crafted for themselves so overpowers the weaker narrative that Johnson and Hart more or less render the plot unnecessary. I mean, of course it is necessary considering we need a beginning, a middle, and an end with a source of conflict to drive our characters to a climactic point in which they might both conquer their personal and professional fears and come out all the better for it in the end, but that is to be expected. What can be hit or miss is just how fun the journey can be made to this familiar destination and with the confident comedy hand of Thurber guiding them, the dynamite chemistry blowing up in every scene, and The Rock absolutely giving it his all Central Intelligence easily becomes one of those comedies that will be looked back on fondly as the best kind of comfort food.

THE FAMILY FANG Review

Note: This is a reprint of my review for The Family Fang, which originally ran on September 16, 2015 after seeing it at the Toronto Film Festival. I am publishing it again today as it hits select theaters and VOD this weekend.

I rather enjoyed Jason Bateman's 2014 directorial debut Bad Words. I think I've watched it more times than I initially imagined I would given I thought it was fine, but little more. That said, I was really excited to see what Bateman would do next in the director's chair and boy does he deliver. While I had tempered expectations for The Family Fang it was clear after the films cold open that we were in for something pretty unique. This is in fact the strongest element the film has going for it in that you never quite know where it's going. Eventually, given the circumstances presented, we understand the themes of family and liberation that are being touched upon, but never do we know exactly what will happen next. This is due largely in part to the fact the premise is so different and off the wall. Adapted from a 2011 Kevin Wilson novel by screenwriter David Lindsay-Abaire (Rabbit Hole, Oz the Great and Powerful) The Family Fang is a film that is telling a dysfunctional family story through the conduit of performance art. With this material Bateman has taken advantage of the dark comedic tones the story highlights and is really able to explore not only his growth as a filmmaker (you can feel the more assured hand at work), but a more complex range of emotions. Bad Words was very on the nose for the sarcastic, cynical straight man, but The Family Fang requires more layers and it is layers he has provided as his latest film never stops evolving and the characters only grow out of the demons they're forced to come face to face with.

ZOOTOPIA Review

Zootopia is something of a combination of an analogy for our real world and the hopes and dreams of where we might one day end up-a utopia if you will. In Zootopia everything is indeed perfect and as animals have risen up to become responsible citizens of the planet it is of course, imagined. Still, this world is portrayed as a place where animals have evolved to the point there is no dividing line between the once vicious predators and the meek prey they once hunted, but rather both groups have moved beyond these primitive ways to conduct a society where everyone has the same opportunities and where all species get along with one another no problem. Of course, there are minor cracks of prejudice between certain sects of animals, but these seem to only be apparent in some of the more backward thinking individuals who still hold old traditions to be of an absolute truth. Sound familiar? Disney seems to be making no qualms about drawing the parallels between this imagined world where cute, animated creatures roam free and our own society where we too have trouble letting go of lessons drawn from a world of different circumstance and experience and not applying them to our current cultural landscape. That Zootopia is willing to display such faults is telling in the first place, but that it goes so far to make this desire to return to the old ways of thinking and ultimately existing by some tells even more. With a group of five writers and directors the film is primed to start many a discussions after viewing it as the film itself seems to have naturally come out of many a long conversations between its creators and their staff. If you're one who doesn't care to have your animated films relevant or culturally-charged rest assured the final product is still very much in the vein of what most parents and families will be expecting from the film, but with the added weight of such apt comparisons and broad resolutions of love and equality with acknowledged caveats to each situation there is certainly an added layer of meaning to the proceedings if you care to look.

New Trailer for Disney's ZOOTOPIA

As Pixar has been working to re-establish it's dominance on the world of computer animation Walt Disney's own animation house has been turning out both commercial and critical successes one after another since the 2010 resurgence of Tangled brought the Mouse House firmly into the twenty-first century. Followed up by the likes of Wreck-It Ralph, Frozen and last year's Big Hero 6 the studio looks to continue their streak by going back to a formula that has always seemed to be a reliable staple of children's entertainment: talking animals. With Zootopia we have a world that is being called a "modern mammal metropolis" and features the likes of a fast-talking fox, Nick Wilde (Jason Bateman), who's trying to make it big and goes on the run when he's framed for a crime he didn't commit. Zootopia's top cop, a rabbit named Judy Hopps (Ginnifer Goodwin), is quick to jump on the suspected criminal's tail trail, but when both become targets of a conspiracy they're forced to team up and eventually discover that even natural enemies can become friends. Like with Big Hero 6 Disney's marketing team have chosen to go the route of releasing what is more or less a clip from the film rather than a traditional trailer. The scene we are treated to has a hilarious spin on DMV's with the reassurance that no matter what world we're in it's always as terrible an experience as one can imagine. Zootopia also features the voice talents of Shakira, Idris Elba, J.K. Simmons, Nate Torrence, Jenny Slate, Tommy Chong, Octavia Spencer, Alan Tudyk, and opens on March 4, 2016.

TIFF 2015: THE FAMILY FANG Review

I rather enjoyed Jason Bateman's 2014 directorial debut Bad Words. I think I've watched it more times than I initially imagined I would given I thought it was fine, but little more. That said, I was really excited to see what Bateman would do next in the director's chair and boy does he deliver. While I had tempered expectations for The Family Fang it was clear after the films cold open that we were in for something pretty unique. This is in fact the strongest element the film has going for it in that you never quite know where it's going. Eventually, given the circumstances presented, we understand the themes of family and liberation that are being touched upon, but never do we know exactly what will happen next. This is due largely in part to the fact the premise is so different and off the wall. Adapted from a 2011 Kevin Wilson novel by screenwriter David Lindsay-Abaire (Rabbit Hole, Oz the Great and Powerful) The Family Fang is a film that is telling a dysfunctional family story through the conduit of performance art. With this material Bateman has taken advantage of the dark comedic tones the story highlights and is really able to explore not only his growth as a filmmaker (you can feel the more assured hand at work), but a more complex range of emotions. Bad Words was very on the nose for the sarcastic, cynical straight man, but Family Fang requires more layers and layers he has provided as his latest film never stops evolving and the characters only grow out of the demons they're forced to come face to face with.

THE GIFT Review

In 2008 I was really beginning to dig into all kinds of films, exploring more of the independent material that was coming to light than ever before. I remember 2008 mainly for the remarkable summer at the theater that it was, but I also find it easy to recall a small film from a pair of brothers that was making waves. It was a little film called The Square that was co-written by a guy named Joel Edgerton and directed by his brother Nash. As far as I'd heard, it was a solid contemporary example of film noir and concerned itself with betrayal, revenge and cheating couples. It was a film that I felt somewhat more interesting for checking out simply because I was willing to go out on a limb and see what this buzzed about Australian production had to offer and indeed it was a well-executed thriller. I came to recognize Joel for his work over the next few years in Animal Kingdom and what could be considered his break-out American film in Warrior that led the way to him starring in more major Hollywood productions. It seems after building some solid ground beneath him in the industry though, Edgerton has returned to the thriller genre to write and direct for the first time. With The Gift, Edgerton has delivered a tense and slow-boiling psychological drama that stems from a thesis of how an idea can take hold of a person and tear them down. From the moment we meet Edgerton's Gordon Mosley we can sense that there is something slightly off about the guy, but having Edgerton play his own creation lends the perfect tone to what could have otherwise been an over-the-top showing that would lessen the effect of the final act in the film. That is all to say this product feels like the result of a singular vision, a focused and finely tuned story with specific characters and even more labored over depictions that come to show the audience how both credibly and expertly such genre pieces can be pulled off with the right amount of skill and vision. Edgerton feels at the top of his game here and with this technically being his feature directorial debut, I can't wait to see what he does next.

HORRIBLE BOSSES 2 Review

What do you get when you take an outlandish premise that every middle class American can relate to, mix it with a cast chock full of more diverse talent than any other comedy in recent memory and let them both free to wander where the wind takes them? That would be the original Horrible Bosses which, back in 2011, stuck out to me as one of my favorite comedies so far that year. It was just effortless. And that is saying a lot in a summer that also counted Bridesmaids among its hits. The film was immediately funny and fast paced with a cleverly written script that gave the summer season a feeling the raunchy R-rated comedy was here to stay. Naturally, after this type of high came the downslide with the less broad, but not as bad as everyone says Bad Teacher and the truly terrible Change-Up in which Jason Bateman also starred. Every year we get this slew of raunchy summer comedies intended for the masses that studios have thought we craved since Wedding Crashers truly revitalized their appeal, but only a couple, if any, ever break out to become genuinely funny over time or command real staying power. I liked Horrible Bosses the first time I saw it and probably watched it two or three more times once I bought it on blu-ray, but did it have the staying power of such recent classics that have also commanded sequels such as 21 Jump Street or Ted? Maybe not, but much like with the fellas from the Hangover series I simply like having the opportunity to hang out with these characters so a sequel seeing Kurt (Jason Sudeikis), Nick (Bateman) and Dale (Charlie Day) get into more mischief was completely acceptable and more than justified if not really necessary. At all.

THIS IS WHERE I LEAVE YOU Review

Director Shawn Levy's This is Where I Leave You is a film elevated wholly by the talent of the cast involved and the stock they decide to put in their characters. To that point it would seem that the material is the weak point here, but that isn't apparent until the last act of the film when the amount of drama and issues incorporated into one family becomes too much to the point of inauthentic. We can only buy into so much drama before it all seems to become a little too convenient to make certain points. That said, this is a film nowhere near as hokey (in both its sentimentality and contrivances) as it made itself out to be in the trailers. Levy is a more than capable filmmaker who has shown time and time again he has an aptitude for crafting features the entire family can easily enjoy (junk food movies to a certain extent) so why not turn the tables on himself and make an honest, R-rated movie about those he so often entertains? I don't know if that was the directors intent or if he just loved the Jonathan Tropper novel this is based on, but either way he has put together something that both older family members will likely enjoy and be able to relate to. This is Where I Leave You is a film that is at least willing to find the comedy in every situation, the laughs that would naturally be thought of as inappropriate are appreciated thus making the family at the center all the more endearing despite the mountain of baggage each member brings to the table. It is a film made more fun and more enjoyable by those you share in the experience with as I'm sure it is more affecting when seen with siblings or parents than it would be with a group of friends. There is little in the way of outside influence sans significant others as this is a story fully focused on the family unit and how the dynamics between different individuals of different status within that unit relate to one another and mean a certain extent to one another depending on the situation. It brings to the surface not just the comedy of "the friends you can't choose" scenario, but also the intricacies of how these relationships differ which is interesting. While not being a completely genuine or necessarily heartfelt piece, it is a melodrama of the more credible degree mostly because we like the people playing the people we're watching.

New Trailer for HORRIBLE BOSSES 2

I was pretty taken in the dead of summer 2011 when Horrible Bosses showed up and gave us an original comedy that delivered moreso than the comedy sequel we'd been waiting on that year, The Hangover Part II. There was just something about the ensemble cast, the films carefree tone and slapstick roots that meshed brilliantly with the chemistry the three leads were able to pull together. In short, it became one of those comedies I could watch over and over again once it hit home video. In the days of short attention spans and legacies that never last though, if one wants to remain relevant they must continue to deliver and so this year, when we've already had both a successful original comedy (Neighbors) and a successful sequel to a comedy (22 Jump Street) it feels we're a bit spoiled by the fact we get another high profile comedy sequel, but unfortunately it also feels (at least on first impression) totally unnecessary. Don't get me wrong, like The Hangover trilogy, I wouldn't mind watching another one of these movies simply as an excuse to hang out with the leads, but the first film was such a solid single entry it seemed making a follow-up with the same characters having just as wild an experience would do nothing but devalue the memory of the first film. As is typically the case though, this new trailer for the film makes our boys look qualified for a comeback as kidnappers rather than murderers in pretty funny fashion. Horrible Bosses 2 stars Jason Bateman, Jason Sudeikis, Charlie Day, Jennifer Aniston, Jamie Foxx, Christoph Waltz, Chris Pine, Kevin Spacey and opens November 26th. Check out both the new trailer and poster after the jump.

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.

DISCONNECT Home Video Review

Crash dealing with technology. This simple four word description is what I believed Disconnect to be before sitting down and giving it a shot. I liked Crash when it arrived back in 2005. Do I agree with it winning best picture? No, not necessarily, but it was a solid movie nonetheless and it elicited some genuine emotion from me and clearly other audience members throughout the film going community. This piece isn't about Crash though, but what I thought about that film likely informs how I feel about Disconnect because though it is not the carbon copy my expectations believed it to be it certainly has many of the same intentions and goes about accomplishing them in somewhat similar ways. In all honesty, I was engaged in this film from very early on. There are some films in which you embark on and immediately know you aren't ever going to really get into the material this visual interpretation is exploring and yet there is the other end of the spectrum where you become so wrapped up in the events of what is happening to the characters on screen that you hate to see the signals that the film will soon be coming to an end. That latter reaction is what happened with Disconnect. It was a very interesting play because it opens with the storyline that ends up becoming the least resolved, but is the most immediately shocking and gets your attention only to segway into the main title sequence that introduces us to our second set of characters against the backdrop of Awolnation's "Sail". Whether it was due to the use of this familiar yet still powerfully resonant song or simply to the supreme confidence director Henry Alex Rubin (Murderball) and writer Andrew Stern seem to have had in their material there was something immediately gripping and slightly epic about the way the film presented itself and to say the least, I was intrigued. Disconnect is a sprawling film that never loses its footing and digs deep into the human psyche and past the technology that its title suggests is the main cause of the rifts in the relationships documented here. That not only are these tools that are intended to keep us all connected separating actual human contact further, but allowing us to take advantage of one another in the least humane of ways.

IDENTITY THIEF Review

It is a tough world for comedies in this critical world. Whereas it seems to be much harder to pull off genuine laughs than it does a satisfying drama it also makes it that much more obvious when people aren't laughing when the complete intention is in fact that. As you've likely heard concerning the latest Jason Bateman vehicle that also features the first headlining act for Bridesmaids breakout star Melissa McCarthy, Identity Thief does a poor job of eliciting as many laughs from its audience as it has the capability to do. Here's the strange thing: I didn't hate it. Call me delusional, but I laughed a few times and had a rather average movie-going experience that dragged a bit, but wasn't unbearable. Both of these lead actors are more than charming, more than able to spin a joke, and are clearly dedicated to the material and making it work. Bateman has a knack for playing the everyman and an ear for how to deliver certain lines with lovely comedic timing. McCarthy is the opposite kind of comedian; she is loud and physical. Her character here is a perfect vehicle for her to exercise her strengths as a leading funny lady and if it weren't for her the film would have no purpose. Good news for us, McCarthy is present in almost every scene of Identity Thief and despite the strong premise (that likely has much more to offer in the way of comedy) the film quickly dissolves into a standard road trip comedy I ultimately didn't mind going along with because I love the people involved. That is my excuse with most comedies that critics tend to bash (The Watch, The Hangover Part II) and yes, I recognize their shortcomings, but I can't say I despised the film or those films for their attempts. I can appreciate Identity Thief for trying and I liked it well enough not to be angry I spent two hours with the characters.