WHY HIM? Review

John Hamburg hasn't directed a feature film since 2009, but that film was I Love You, Man. Seven years and several television directing gigs later and Hamburg has delivered Why Him? Personally, I love I Love You, Man. It has become one of those reliable movies you can put on at any given time and are guaranteed to laugh and enjoy while having the added bonus of intelligently breaking down the barriers of masculinity and the weird culture surrounding male friendships. This automatically sets up an expectation that the follow-up won't be nearly as good, especially based on the rather outlandish trailers we received for Why Him? The thing is, it wasn't that I Love You, Man had a more seasoned or credible screenwriter, but in fact Hamburg himself seemingly had a lot to do with both screenplays with his co-writer on Why Him? admittedly having more promising if not limited previous works on his resume whereas Hamburg's co-writer on I Love You, Man, Larry Levin, has such credits as Doctor Dolittle and Dr. Dolittle 2 to his name. Of course, comedy does and doesn't have a lot to do with the writing as the funniest jokes in the world can be written down, but if they don't have the right people to execute them they'll still fall as flat as the worst types of jokes. What is on the paper provides only a basis for the type of comedy hoping to be obtained as well as a launching pad for talented comedians and improvisational actors to take the material to new heights. And so, it isn't that I Love You, Man necessarily had better writing going for it, but rather that it was a novel premise that thrived on the chemistry and appeal of its two stars. Why Him? doesn't necessarily have as interesting a dynamic at its core and its stars aren't nearly as charming as Paul Rudd and Jason Segel, but that doesn't automatically render the film a failure on the comedic front. By all accounts, Why Him? is a perfectly accessible broad if not rather crude comedy that utilizes said broadness to relate to whole families in Middle America, teenagers, and older parents that walk into the film because the trailers featured a scenario familiar to them or because they saw the guy from Breaking Bad being funny. Why Him? is a perfect example of why mainstream comedies both work on certain levels and why they can easily fail on so many others. Though it may not garner me much credibility I rather enjoyed Why Him? to the point I'm not grumpy enough to get mad at a movie for failing to be as introspective about the dynamics it means to document while instead making up for such a lack of substance with easy laughs.

THE WEDDING RINGER Review

Writer/director Jimmy Garelick and star Kevin Hart know what they have on their hands with The Wedding Ringer. It is clear from the first moment Hart shows up on screen and they wear it on their sleeve with a badge of honor. In what is essentially a mash-up of Wedding Crashers and I Love You, Man as well as any other movie you've ever seen with "wedding" in the title there is nothing innovative or unconventional about this film, but it has its laughs and that's all that really matters. With that, the film breezes through its expected beats with a care-free tone and consistent laugh factor that kept the audience I saw it with rolling (granted, they did get to see it for free). Still, this is a film that not much was initially expected of and, if anything, solidified the fact that studios were definitely trying to mold Hart into the next Adam Sandler as here the comedian is blatantly ripping on the title of Sandler's 1998 hit. Sandler is currently experiencing something of a slight drought in bankability and so the studios have moved in on who else they might turn to and Hart has proven a winning candidate so far. The man will allow them to throw together slapdash efforts of films that will turn huge profits on minuscule budgets year after year while trusting that the on-set riffs and improvisations are enough to satisfy audiences need for laughter. Yes, The Wedding Ringer is no doubt a film put together by a committee to appeal to as many people as possible and yes, it is predictable, slightly sexist with a cast of male chauvinist pigs at the core and never aspires to be more than it has to be, but in initially setting its bar so low it doesn't have as hard a time surpassing that bar. I realize this isn't high art, but it's not intended to be and so, for what it's worth, I found the film to be highly entertaining, extremely funny at parts and a raunch aspect that serves to ease the fact this is little more than a rom-com from the perspective of the fellas. The Wedding Ringer is what it is and if you buy a ticket knowing that, you'll get what you want. I wanted a mindless comedy and that's what I was given so consider me a happy customer, Mr. Hart.