Directed by Ruben Fleischer (Zombieland) and starring hot young things Ryan Gosling, Emma Stone and Josh Brolin (ok not so young but definitely hot in my books), this movie is gorgeous to look at. Dapper suits, proper hats, suspenders and tommy guns for the boys and Jessica Rabbit gowns for the girls, this pays homage to 1940s Hollywood noir but with a violent edge.
Irish immigrant and former boxer Mickey Cohen is the king of gangsters with big dreams to own not just Los Angeles but the whole west coast of America. The cops and judges in his pocket aren't doing anything about it, so the police chief sets up the Gangster Squad as a secret no-holds-barred . Josh Brolin and his disapproving but very helpful wife put together a crew of the last few cops with honour and the guts to take on the king. They can't just kill him or another head will grow in its place, so they set about smashing up his operations and taking his money with gleeful abandon and no solid plans. The ending ramps up the action even further, it was a super fun ending.
The film has something good to say about morals and fighting for what you believe in regardless of the personal cost, but ultimately the style wins over the substance. The violence is fairly brutal (including in the shocking opening scene) but incredibly well shot and not gratuitous. It looks pretty and the acting is solid all round. Goddamn what a cast actually now that I think of it - on the good side you had Brolin, Gosling, Robert Patrick (Terminator 2), Michael Pena (End of Watch), Giovanni Ribisi (Ted), Anthony Mackie (Notorious), Nick Nolte and on the other side Sean Penn as Mickey Cohen (slightly overacted in parts but I enjoyed it), Emma Stone as the gangster's moll, Aussie Sullivan Stapleton as a loan shark, Jon Polito and a host of familiar faces as the gangsters and crooked judges.
Verdict: It doesn't beat LA Confidential for smart Hollywood cops vs gangster noir, but it sure gives it a bloody nose in the process of trying.
Monday 20 May 2013
Sunday 19 May 2013
Movie #14 Evil Dead (yep a remake)
Let's get the business side of things out of the way now. This is technically a remake of the cult 1981 horror-comedy The Evil Dead. But it has a different set of characters, different angle for why they are at the cabin, and different outcome. For this reason, I suggest you give it a chance even if you don't like remakes, as it's really not the same movie, although there are some nods to scenes from the original scattered throughout. It was also produced by Sam Raimi (the original's writer and director), Bruce Campbell (the original lead actor) and Rob Tapert (original producer) and they handpicked the new director, so obviously this is not just a rip-off money making scheme. Fans of the original could still enjoy this, and people who've never seen it could also enjoy it. As long as you like full-blown gory horror movies!
A group of five friends gathers at a remote cabin in the woods to help one overcome her addiction to hard drugs once and for all. A week of withdrawal somewhere she can't get her hands on more drugs and where she can chill out should do the trick. Until one of the gang uncovers a strange book in the cellar, dusts it off and reads out the inscription despite all warnings in the book not to - which unleashes a demon who needs to possess 5 souls to unleash hell on earth and raise the dead.
The crew we have on board for this adventure is:
Mia - the drug addict and still sad about her mother's recent death. Played by the luminous Jane Levy who I love as Tessa on the TV show Suburgatory.
David - Mia's brother who has moved away and isn't really up on the latest family issues but has come back to help Mia recover.
Natalie - David's girlfriend. Yep, that's as much as we know about her!
Olivia - Mia's best mate and a nurse, so she's highly qualified for the medical side of the withdrawal symptoms.
Eric - friend of Mia and Olivia and a tad angry at David for not being around lately. Yep, that's as much as we know about him too!
Like any good horror movie, the film spends very little time on developing the characters' backstories before plunging into the action, and it has them undertake some very illogical behaviour which puts themselves or the others into danger. Example A - reading from a very scary looking book against all reason. Example B - walking down stairs/into dark scary places. Without these actions there are no horror movies and we can't yell at the screen "don't go down there/turn around/grab a weapon for God's sake"! We get to do all of these in Evil Dead.
So after Eric stupidly utters the magic words and tells nobody, Mia is quickly possessed by our demon friend who has quickly worked out the weakest link. And this is where the 'intervention' framing device becomes very clever, as Mia's initial descent and desire to leave is written off as withdrawal symptoms or quitting rather than coming across as the frightening issues they really are. This lends some much needed believability and tension as events quickly spiral out of control before anyone knows what is really happening. Demonic possession seems to be more catching than avian bird flu!
The main thing to know about this movie is that there will be buckets of blood dispersed before it is over, so don't go if you don't like the colour red. It is rated 'R' for extreme violence and gore - there were at least 5 scenes that had us all squirming and giggling at ourselves squirming. That is where the laughs end though, as the 'comedy' has been left right out of this version of the tale despite Diablo Cody (Juno) doing a script polish which ended up being largely unused.
The poster says "the most terrifying movie you will ever experience" but I didn't really think it was that terrifying. More suspenseful. There is very good use of sound though which will probably help you with some nightmares. I lied when I said good horror movies don't spend time on character development - the scariest movies I've seen have always spent time on character and made you really care for them or put yourselves in their shoes (Pan's Labyrinth, The Descent, Paranormal Activity 1).
Despite the lack of terror, I feel that this movie stands on its own merits and should be seen if you enjoy gory horror movies. It has enough differences to warrant a viewing, and it has some very clever framing and references to elevate it beyond the usual 'dumb teens bumped off one by one' type of film. The tension that is wrung out of a lot of the scenes also had me gripping the arms of the chair or my boyfriend's hand for lengthy periods of time. I give this 3.5 buckets of blood out of 5!
A group of five friends gathers at a remote cabin in the woods to help one overcome her addiction to hard drugs once and for all. A week of withdrawal somewhere she can't get her hands on more drugs and where she can chill out should do the trick. Until one of the gang uncovers a strange book in the cellar, dusts it off and reads out the inscription despite all warnings in the book not to - which unleashes a demon who needs to possess 5 souls to unleash hell on earth and raise the dead.
The crew we have on board for this adventure is:
Mia - the drug addict and still sad about her mother's recent death. Played by the luminous Jane Levy who I love as Tessa on the TV show Suburgatory.
David - Mia's brother who has moved away and isn't really up on the latest family issues but has come back to help Mia recover.
Natalie - David's girlfriend. Yep, that's as much as we know about her!
Olivia - Mia's best mate and a nurse, so she's highly qualified for the medical side of the withdrawal symptoms.
Eric - friend of Mia and Olivia and a tad angry at David for not being around lately. Yep, that's as much as we know about him too!
Like any good horror movie, the film spends very little time on developing the characters' backstories before plunging into the action, and it has them undertake some very illogical behaviour which puts themselves or the others into danger. Example A - reading from a very scary looking book against all reason. Example B - walking down stairs/into dark scary places. Without these actions there are no horror movies and we can't yell at the screen "don't go down there/turn around/grab a weapon for God's sake"! We get to do all of these in Evil Dead.
So after Eric stupidly utters the magic words and tells nobody, Mia is quickly possessed by our demon friend who has quickly worked out the weakest link. And this is where the 'intervention' framing device becomes very clever, as Mia's initial descent and desire to leave is written off as withdrawal symptoms or quitting rather than coming across as the frightening issues they really are. This lends some much needed believability and tension as events quickly spiral out of control before anyone knows what is really happening. Demonic possession seems to be more catching than avian bird flu!
The main thing to know about this movie is that there will be buckets of blood dispersed before it is over, so don't go if you don't like the colour red. It is rated 'R' for extreme violence and gore - there were at least 5 scenes that had us all squirming and giggling at ourselves squirming. That is where the laughs end though, as the 'comedy' has been left right out of this version of the tale despite Diablo Cody (Juno) doing a script polish which ended up being largely unused.
The poster says "the most terrifying movie you will ever experience" but I didn't really think it was that terrifying. More suspenseful. There is very good use of sound though which will probably help you with some nightmares. I lied when I said good horror movies don't spend time on character development - the scariest movies I've seen have always spent time on character and made you really care for them or put yourselves in their shoes (Pan's Labyrinth, The Descent, Paranormal Activity 1).
Despite the lack of terror, I feel that this movie stands on its own merits and should be seen if you enjoy gory horror movies. It has enough differences to warrant a viewing, and it has some very clever framing and references to elevate it beyond the usual 'dumb teens bumped off one by one' type of film. The tension that is wrung out of a lot of the scenes also had me gripping the arms of the chair or my boyfriend's hand for lengthy periods of time. I give this 3.5 buckets of blood out of 5!
Monday 6 May 2013
Movie # 13 - Warm Bodies
Date movie! Warm Bodies is a zom-rom-com (zombie romantic comedy - a more populous genre than you might expect!) but the emphasis is firmly on the "rom". This movie is just really sweet and I really liked it.
There's no long introduction to the apocalyptic events that have turned a large part of the world's population into zombies, it just is the state of current affairs in this movie so you just get stuck into it. Most people are zombies, but there are two distinct kinds - the ones that are dead and hungry for brains but can still kinda remember what life was like 'before', and the ones who've given up and let go and become true walking corpses. These second ones are called "Bonies" and they are fast, mean and move a little bit like terminators. A small group of humans is still alive and living behind a large wall hoping to keep the corpses out.
Our narrator and guide through this apocalyptic future is R (played beautifully by Nicholas Hoult who was the boy in 'About a Boy' and was young Beast in X-Men: First Class) who can't remember his name but can still function a little beyond groaning, stumbling and eating brains. At first I was very annoyed with this non-zombie like behaviour but I was soon saying 'a-ha' when I realised that is exactly the point. Not all zombies are created equal in this scenario, and it seems that change is possible when R kills a young guy called Perry and eats his brain which results in him getting Perry's memories and thoughts, in particular about his beautiful girlfriend Julie (played by Aussie Teresa Palmer who is slowly building up a portfolio of Hollywood movies).
When R doesn't kill Julie, instead rescuing her from his zombie pals by taking her deep into the heart of zombie and bonies territory, it sets the scene for our rom-com as he tries to communicate his feelings to her and she gradually lets down her tough-girl barrier. But there's only so long that human flesh can be disguised from a discerning bonies nose, so Julie and R have to go on the run. A very slow run! This takes the action up a couple of levels as we switch from cute romance tropes to a survival story with a twist - could R and Julie's 'relationship' be inspiring the zombies to become more human? And if so, can they survive long enough to triumph against the bonies and the humans, including Julie's hard-hearted father who is the General of the surviving human population?
I was slightly disappointed at the low level of gore on display for a zombie movie, but the sweetness won me over so that it really just felt like a smart rom-com. Director Jonathan Levine has previously won me over with the movie 50/50 and this is similarly smart and sweet. Nicholas Hoult does a great job at portraying the oh so subtle physical changes taking place in R and gets all the warmly funny bits where he expresses the frustration at being locked inside a zombie body. Teresa Palmer gets to play tough but sweet as Julie and the couple definitely makes sense. John Malkovich is completely wasted in the tiny role of Julie's Dad (check out 'Red' if you want more of this Malkovich) and Rob Corddry (Lou from 'Hot Tub Time Machine') also doesn't get to do much of his usual messed up funny stuff. Dave Franco as Perry gets more time in flashbacks/memories than he does in actually being alive in the film, and is getting more like his brother James all the time.
This is a movie you should definitely ask that guy or girl that you like to go and see. It's got a bit of everything that's cool, it's actually pretty smart and puts a different enough spin on the apocalypse that you should have a fun time. And it's not too scary or gory if your date isn't into that.
There's no long introduction to the apocalyptic events that have turned a large part of the world's population into zombies, it just is the state of current affairs in this movie so you just get stuck into it. Most people are zombies, but there are two distinct kinds - the ones that are dead and hungry for brains but can still kinda remember what life was like 'before', and the ones who've given up and let go and become true walking corpses. These second ones are called "Bonies" and they are fast, mean and move a little bit like terminators. A small group of humans is still alive and living behind a large wall hoping to keep the corpses out.
Our narrator and guide through this apocalyptic future is R (played beautifully by Nicholas Hoult who was the boy in 'About a Boy' and was young Beast in X-Men: First Class) who can't remember his name but can still function a little beyond groaning, stumbling and eating brains. At first I was very annoyed with this non-zombie like behaviour but I was soon saying 'a-ha' when I realised that is exactly the point. Not all zombies are created equal in this scenario, and it seems that change is possible when R kills a young guy called Perry and eats his brain which results in him getting Perry's memories and thoughts, in particular about his beautiful girlfriend Julie (played by Aussie Teresa Palmer who is slowly building up a portfolio of Hollywood movies).
When R doesn't kill Julie, instead rescuing her from his zombie pals by taking her deep into the heart of zombie and bonies territory, it sets the scene for our rom-com as he tries to communicate his feelings to her and she gradually lets down her tough-girl barrier. But there's only so long that human flesh can be disguised from a discerning bonies nose, so Julie and R have to go on the run. A very slow run! This takes the action up a couple of levels as we switch from cute romance tropes to a survival story with a twist - could R and Julie's 'relationship' be inspiring the zombies to become more human? And if so, can they survive long enough to triumph against the bonies and the humans, including Julie's hard-hearted father who is the General of the surviving human population?
I was slightly disappointed at the low level of gore on display for a zombie movie, but the sweetness won me over so that it really just felt like a smart rom-com. Director Jonathan Levine has previously won me over with the movie 50/50 and this is similarly smart and sweet. Nicholas Hoult does a great job at portraying the oh so subtle physical changes taking place in R and gets all the warmly funny bits where he expresses the frustration at being locked inside a zombie body. Teresa Palmer gets to play tough but sweet as Julie and the couple definitely makes sense. John Malkovich is completely wasted in the tiny role of Julie's Dad (check out 'Red' if you want more of this Malkovich) and Rob Corddry (Lou from 'Hot Tub Time Machine') also doesn't get to do much of his usual messed up funny stuff. Dave Franco as Perry gets more time in flashbacks/memories than he does in actually being alive in the film, and is getting more like his brother James all the time.
This is a movie you should definitely ask that guy or girl that you like to go and see. It's got a bit of everything that's cool, it's actually pretty smart and puts a different enough spin on the apocalypse that you should have a fun time. And it's not too scary or gory if your date isn't into that.
Friday 3 May 2013
2012 BIFF Follow Up - movie releases
For those of you who followed my adventures at BIFF (Brisbane International Film Festival) in November last year, I'm pleased to share with you that a lot of the big or good movies from the festival are now available for you to see.
Flipping through Bigpond Movies at my brother's house the other day, I realised how many of the BIFF films are now out, sadly skipping our cinemas but at least they are available in Australia. In previous years, many films have never become available so I've never seen some of them again. Here is what you can now enjoy (refer back to my BIFF reviews in November if you need a review although I didn't actually see all of these):
Flipping through Bigpond Movies at my brother's house the other day, I realised how many of the BIFF films are now out, sadly skipping our cinemas but at least they are available in Australia. In previous years, many films have never become available so I've never seen some of them again. Here is what you can now enjoy (refer back to my BIFF reviews in November if you need a review although I didn't actually see all of these):
- The Queen of Versailles (GFC doco)
- Robot and Frank (on Bigpond Movies)
- Miss Bala (out on DVD)
- God Bless America (available to buy on DVD)
- No (drama based on final stages of Pinochet's dictatorship) - in selected cinemas now
- The Man with the Iron Fists (available on DVD)
- American Mary (out on DVD)
- Sound of my Voice (out on DVD)
- Liberal Arts (out on DVD)
Thursday 2 May 2013
Movie # 12 - Iron Man 3
Massive! Epic! Explosive! Spectacular! All good words for this highly anticipated sequel which I admit I had built up some pretty huge anticipation for. Not one bit of disappointment though!
I'm just going to assume that everyone has seen Iron Man, Iron Man 2 and The Avengers, which are pretty much pre-requisites to see Iron Man 3, so I'm not going to catch you up. Iron Man 3 begins where The Avengers left off - Tony Stark is back home and trying to deal with the rather overwhelming to anyone events that befell him in New York at the end of The Avengers. Yes folks, for once Tony Stark is not brash, bold, arrogant, egotistical and confident 100% of the time anymore. Only about 70% of the time with a few issues that could be categorised as Post Traumatic Stress. On the plus side, Pepper Potts has moved in with Tony full time as well as being head of Stark Industries.
The film opens with a flashback to happier times where Tony has some interaction with a promising botanist Maya Hansen (new to the IM series Rebecca Hall from "The Town") who is experimenting with modifying the DNA of plants but can't quite get it to work 100% of the time. Flash forward to today, when Pepper takes a meeting with an old friend, Aldrich Killian (new to the IM series Guy Pearce) who wants Stark Industries to invest in his program of modifying the human brain's DNA to enhance our potential. Pepper gives a firm "No" and sends him on his way, but newly promoted to head of security Happy (Tony's former bodyguard played in all 3 by Jon Favreau) is suspicious of what Killian and his cocky offsider are up to. Following them lands Happy in a very unhappy place though, as an explosion rocks Mann's Chinese Theatre in Hollywood and leaves Happy in a coma.
The explosion is one of a very large number of explosions in this movie (the most I've ever seen in one movie by a long shot) and they are linked to international terrorist The Mandarin (new to the IM series Ben Kingsley from "Ghandi") who has a very public agenda to wage war on the United States and particularly the President. Definitely a comment on the Osama bin Laden style of modern terrorism. Enraged, Tony makes a very public invitation to The Mandarin to "come and get me" which, wouldn't you know, is taken up! Tony ends up on the run, bereft of all of his systems and toys and very much alone as Iron Patriot (the former War Machine character with a new coat of paint and name) is off doing chores for the President.
Tony has to work on tracking down The Mandarin and does so by checking out a previous bomb site in a small town where the puzzle pieces start to come together with the help of a young local boy with some cool tricks. From here on in, the action just ramps up and ramps up even more as Tony's fleet of Iron Man suits eventually start to come back online and get in on the fight with the baddies.
The film works really well because it sticks to classic plot elements such as purely personal revenge. The stakes are really high for all involved, with the baddies trying to strike fear into the US with the aim of increasing their army of enhanced super-soldiers who make for fearsome, near invulnerable henchmen. Tony's stake is revenge for Happy and to rescue Pepper who sadly falls into the baddies hands. There are also a number of excellent twists which I won't reveal at all. The commentary on our perceptions of terrorism is also thought provoking.
Performances here are all really strong, with the returning players getting really comfortable in their skin. Robert Downey Jr can do vulnerable as well as brash. The newbies are great, with Ben Kingsley and James Badge Dale intimidating as The Mandarin and super soldier Savin respectively, and Guy Pearce in beautiful contrast between golden and glowing appearance and slimy inside. Rebecca Hall's role is fairly small but interesting, and Ty Simpkins is very endearing as cool kid Harley.
There is an absolute tonne of action and special effects this time around, but it's balanced out by the same blend of humour and heart that have made the previous ones so popular. I would say that it is a total waste of money seeing this movie in 3D, as it was not filmed in 3D but added later in post-production and adds very little other than a bit of depth here and there. Not worth the money or headaches for those of you who suffer. However, in 2D this movie is sensational value for money. Heaps of fun, still way cool and a great comic book movie. See it soon! And yes there is an end of credits scene as with all Marvel movies. Debateable whether it's worth sitting through the 10 minutes of credits though since it surprisingly doesn't lay any clues for future Avengers starring films.
I'm just going to assume that everyone has seen Iron Man, Iron Man 2 and The Avengers, which are pretty much pre-requisites to see Iron Man 3, so I'm not going to catch you up. Iron Man 3 begins where The Avengers left off - Tony Stark is back home and trying to deal with the rather overwhelming to anyone events that befell him in New York at the end of The Avengers. Yes folks, for once Tony Stark is not brash, bold, arrogant, egotistical and confident 100% of the time anymore. Only about 70% of the time with a few issues that could be categorised as Post Traumatic Stress. On the plus side, Pepper Potts has moved in with Tony full time as well as being head of Stark Industries.
The film opens with a flashback to happier times where Tony has some interaction with a promising botanist Maya Hansen (new to the IM series Rebecca Hall from "The Town") who is experimenting with modifying the DNA of plants but can't quite get it to work 100% of the time. Flash forward to today, when Pepper takes a meeting with an old friend, Aldrich Killian (new to the IM series Guy Pearce) who wants Stark Industries to invest in his program of modifying the human brain's DNA to enhance our potential. Pepper gives a firm "No" and sends him on his way, but newly promoted to head of security Happy (Tony's former bodyguard played in all 3 by Jon Favreau) is suspicious of what Killian and his cocky offsider are up to. Following them lands Happy in a very unhappy place though, as an explosion rocks Mann's Chinese Theatre in Hollywood and leaves Happy in a coma.
The explosion is one of a very large number of explosions in this movie (the most I've ever seen in one movie by a long shot) and they are linked to international terrorist The Mandarin (new to the IM series Ben Kingsley from "Ghandi") who has a very public agenda to wage war on the United States and particularly the President. Definitely a comment on the Osama bin Laden style of modern terrorism. Enraged, Tony makes a very public invitation to The Mandarin to "come and get me" which, wouldn't you know, is taken up! Tony ends up on the run, bereft of all of his systems and toys and very much alone as Iron Patriot (the former War Machine character with a new coat of paint and name) is off doing chores for the President.
Tony has to work on tracking down The Mandarin and does so by checking out a previous bomb site in a small town where the puzzle pieces start to come together with the help of a young local boy with some cool tricks. From here on in, the action just ramps up and ramps up even more as Tony's fleet of Iron Man suits eventually start to come back online and get in on the fight with the baddies.
The film works really well because it sticks to classic plot elements such as purely personal revenge. The stakes are really high for all involved, with the baddies trying to strike fear into the US with the aim of increasing their army of enhanced super-soldiers who make for fearsome, near invulnerable henchmen. Tony's stake is revenge for Happy and to rescue Pepper who sadly falls into the baddies hands. There are also a number of excellent twists which I won't reveal at all. The commentary on our perceptions of terrorism is also thought provoking.
Performances here are all really strong, with the returning players getting really comfortable in their skin. Robert Downey Jr can do vulnerable as well as brash. The newbies are great, with Ben Kingsley and James Badge Dale intimidating as The Mandarin and super soldier Savin respectively, and Guy Pearce in beautiful contrast between golden and glowing appearance and slimy inside. Rebecca Hall's role is fairly small but interesting, and Ty Simpkins is very endearing as cool kid Harley.
There is an absolute tonne of action and special effects this time around, but it's balanced out by the same blend of humour and heart that have made the previous ones so popular. I would say that it is a total waste of money seeing this movie in 3D, as it was not filmed in 3D but added later in post-production and adds very little other than a bit of depth here and there. Not worth the money or headaches for those of you who suffer. However, in 2D this movie is sensational value for money. Heaps of fun, still way cool and a great comic book movie. See it soon! And yes there is an end of credits scene as with all Marvel movies. Debateable whether it's worth sitting through the 10 minutes of credits though since it surprisingly doesn't lay any clues for future Avengers starring films.
Movie # 11 - Identity Thief
The premise is a good one: Family man Sandy (played by Jason Bateman) is on a roll after being asked to become vice-president at a new firm started by a former colleague, at the same time as his wife (Amanda Peet) is pregnant with their third child. But it all unravels pretty quickly after a random phone call from a "security" firm shares his data with professional fraudster Diana (played by Melissa McCarthy) who takes full advantage of Sandy's "girl's name" by racking up heaps of credit card debt and a few petty misdemeanours. To save his new job and family, Sandy decides to head to Florida to convince the fake Sandy to come to Denver to admit it was her. Thus begins what should be a hilarious mismatched buddy road trip but ends up being just amiable fun.
Seth Gordon would have to be one of the patchiest directors working now. His good stuff includes gamer doco The King of Kong and the consistently funny Horrible Bosses, but he also did the very so-so Four Holidays and now this patchy movie. I think the main problem is that it's pretending to be a raucous comedy but in reality it's a gently heart-warming cautionary tale. The tone is a bit all of the place. But the message is a good one - Don't be an identity fraudster kids, or nobody will like you and your life will be shallow, sad and dangerous. Money doesn't buy happiness!
I'm glad this was a free movie, because the laugh to dollar ratio was average based on a normal ticket price. For a free ticket though, the laugh to dollar ratio was pretty high. I think it would really help if you are a Jason Bateman fan, as I am. Watching him react to Melissa McCarthy (the funny friend from Bridesmaids and the TV show Mike and Molly) is what really brought the laughs for me. If you're not a fan, you might be a bit underwhelmed by this movie. McCarthy is so game with her comedy but at times you just feel like either she or the screenwriter's are just trying a bit too hard. She does make the character a little bit sympathetic by the end though, so kudos for that cause there's nothing more annoying than an unrepentant identity fraudster.
There are some pretty funny cameos from Robert Patrick (yep the T1000 himself) as a bounty hunter on the trail of Diana, Eric Stonestreet (Cam from TV's Modern Family, not playing gay here) and John Favreau as Sandy's nasty former boss. The rest of the cast are fairly blah. A few spectacular car based scenes add a bit of action and violence to really confuse the tone a bit further. Despite the confusion though, I still enjoyed myself and would suggest you see this on DVD.
Seth Gordon would have to be one of the patchiest directors working now. His good stuff includes gamer doco The King of Kong and the consistently funny Horrible Bosses, but he also did the very so-so Four Holidays and now this patchy movie. I think the main problem is that it's pretending to be a raucous comedy but in reality it's a gently heart-warming cautionary tale. The tone is a bit all of the place. But the message is a good one - Don't be an identity fraudster kids, or nobody will like you and your life will be shallow, sad and dangerous. Money doesn't buy happiness!
I'm glad this was a free movie, because the laugh to dollar ratio was average based on a normal ticket price. For a free ticket though, the laugh to dollar ratio was pretty high. I think it would really help if you are a Jason Bateman fan, as I am. Watching him react to Melissa McCarthy (the funny friend from Bridesmaids and the TV show Mike and Molly) is what really brought the laughs for me. If you're not a fan, you might be a bit underwhelmed by this movie. McCarthy is so game with her comedy but at times you just feel like either she or the screenwriter's are just trying a bit too hard. She does make the character a little bit sympathetic by the end though, so kudos for that cause there's nothing more annoying than an unrepentant identity fraudster.
There are some pretty funny cameos from Robert Patrick (yep the T1000 himself) as a bounty hunter on the trail of Diana, Eric Stonestreet (Cam from TV's Modern Family, not playing gay here) and John Favreau as Sandy's nasty former boss. The rest of the cast are fairly blah. A few spectacular car based scenes add a bit of action and violence to really confuse the tone a bit further. Despite the confusion though, I still enjoyed myself and would suggest you see this on DVD.
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