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.

TRAINWRECK Review

Judd Apatow is something of an enigma due to his seeming omnipotence over the comedy world in television and film. In truth though, he's only made five feature films and directed a handful of TV episodes for series he had a hand in creating. I understand the complaints lodged against Apatow and his comedies, but regardless I'm a big fan of his. In a strange way, Apatow seems to want to do with comedy what Christopher Nolan is doing with mainstream blockbusters. His movies are large in length, deep in character and entrusted with themes bigger than just those intended to make people laugh. Apatow is telling human stories and including the humor so often involved, but so difficult to naturally convey. To capture the genuine way we exchange laughs and cultivate jokes through piles of conversation and inside references is no easy task, but Apatow is attempting to crack this the best he knows how and, if nothing else, he should be applauded for the effort. Apatow wants to make comedy as epic and cutting to others as it is to him. While his last two features (Funny People and This is 40) didn't receive the warm critical reception of his first two (The 40-Year-Old Virgin and Knocked Up) I couldn't help but feel I understood the journey he was on and the goal he was trying to reach. With his latest, Trainwreck, Apatow has ventured into new territory which is likely for the best when considering his career trajectory while simultaneously keeping his legacy intact. Trainwreck, though, doesn't feel like an Apatow film. This is due to the fact that it really isn't. Trainwreck is an Amy Schumer film through and through and there is nothing wrong with that, but any seasoned comedy director could have delivered this product. This is Apatow's first feature directing gig where he didn't also write the script and the lack of investment becomes apparent. Beginning with a shot that elicits the quality of the photographs produced in the early eighties I imagined we were going to get a full throttle collaboration between two solid, comedic minds that understand perception and honesty to the point of delivering it in a funny manner. The comedy isn't the problem, the characters aren't an issue and the story is fine for what it is, but the directing seems to default to autopilot rather quickly so as to competently document The Amy Schumer Show. Apatow let's Schumer take the reigns and doesn't infuse the project with his own flavor, making him feel more like a director for hire than a collaborator.

First Trailer for Judd Apatow's TRAINWRECK

I remember watching the "Finding Ben Stone" featurette on the Knocked Up DVD and wondering what it might have been like were Judd Apatow not clearly positioning that film as the breakout lead for Seth Rogen. This featurette included a handful of mock auditions of other major and up and coming comedians in the role of the lead character. The audition I remember the most was that of Bill Hader's. He had just started his run on Saturday Night Live at the time and instead of acting like a regular guy kept doing different impressions in each take. Ever since Hader left SNL as one of the more celebrated players of that shows illustrious history I have been waiting for him to take a leading role in a major comedy that might allow him that transition from cast member to movie star. While the latest from Apatow, after the commercial and somewhat critical failures that were Funny People and This is 40, is his first film he hasn't also written it does come from the mind of and stars Amy Schumer. Schumer has become well-known and regarded for her stand-up comedy and Comedy Central show, Inside Amy Schumer, but I have not listened to or seen the show so have no opinion on her outside of what I just saw in this first trailer. Needless to say, this makes my anticipation for the project based more off the inclusion of Hader as a headliner and Apatow at the helm, but will admit it's nice to see a change of gender roles in the rom-com as the girl is the one slaying the guys this time around and I'm anxious to see what else Schumer may have done with the rom-com formula that we aren't being shown in the trailer. Trainwreck also stars Colin Quinn, Brie Larson, John Cena, Marisa Tomei, Ezra Miller, Tilda Swinton, Vanessa Bayer, Mike Birbiglia, LeBron James and opens on July 17th.