For It Is Man's Number: owen wilson

Showing posts with label owen wilson. Show all posts

Thursday, 16 May 2024

Ani-MAY-tion: Cars 3 (2017)

Here I am at last, at the end of my journey through the cinematic world of Cars. I now have to decide whether or not I want to check out both Planes movies, which are also set in this world, as far as I am aware. We all know I will check them out, it’s just a matter of exactly when I will get to them.

Considering how disappointed I was by the second movie, I am happy to say that Cars 3 was a film that I really enjoyed. Yes, it returned to the more formulaic plotting of the first film, but it felt like a natural and worthwhile story that returned the focus back to the main character of Lightning McQueen.

Having maintained his successful career for many years, McQueen (once again voiced by Owen Wilson) finds himself on a bit of a losing streak. He cannot figure out how to beat the fast and cocky Jackson Storm (Armie Hammer), who has both superior technology and youth on his side. McQueen believes that he can still learn a trick or two to avoid ending his career on a low, but he needs to be willing to see and hear the lessons from his newly-assigned trainer, Cruz Ramirez (Cristela Alonzo). He also misses being able to learn from Doc, but the one way to re-establish that connection is perhaps to find the car that trained his late friend and mentor. That would be Smokey (Chris Cooper).

Brian Fee takes over the directorial duties here, also helping to brainstorm the story idea that would be shaped into a screenplay by Kiel Murray, Bob Peterson, and Mike Rich. It’s a simple premise - the sports star struggling to accept his inability to stop the advancing years from taking their toll - and it’s handled well, with a consistent message about friendship and hard work being more valuable than fancy technology and large amounts of cash. Falling out of love with something, whether it is a sport, a hobby, or yourself, can lead to a better appreciation when you manage to remember what you loved about it.

While the voice cast all do a great job, and Nathan Fillion is a fun addition (playing a character who only really considers the potential earnings ahead of the real thrill of the racing life), the star here is the animation. That is to be expected, considering the team involved in making this, but I didn’t expect this to be as good as it is. Not only is it colourful and gorgeous throughout, the sense of proper speed is very impressive, and every main racing sequence, of which there are a few, is a real visual treat.

The more I think about this film while writing this review, the more I realise it is my favourite of the three. Easily. The main characters are more appealing, the pacing and plotting is better, and it works as both an entertaining standalone tale and a fitting conclusion to a wildly uneven trilogy. I can see myself rewatching this already, which isn’t a thought I had about the previous movies.

8/10

If you have enjoyed this, or any other, review on the blog then do consider the following ways to show your appreciation. A subscription/follow costs nothing.
It also costs nothing to like/subscribe to the YouTube channel attached to the podcast I am part of - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCErkxBO0xds5qd_rhjFgDmA
Or you may have a couple of quid to throw at me, in Ko-fi form - https://ko-fi.com/kevinmatthews
Or Amazon is nice at this time of year - https://www.amazon.co.uk/hz/wishlist/ls/Y1ZUCB13HLJD?ref_=wl_share

Friday, 10 May 2024

Ani-MAY-tion: Cars 2 (2011)

While I was pleasantly surprised by my recent, long overdue, viewing of Cars, I knew that I shouldn’t get my expectations too high for either of the sequels. Although I have forgotten the full conversation, I remember hearing that one was dire and one was a pleasant surprise. I hope the third Cars movie is a pleasant surprise, because this one wasn’t very good.

When Lightning McQueen (Owen Wilson) rises to the challenge of racing Francesco Bernoulli (John Turturro) he ends up unwittingly amidst a scheme that could lead to the death of many cars. It’s all to do with selling fuel, but a couple of secret agents (voiced by Michael Caine and Emily Mortimer) are on the case. Unfortunately, a misunderstanding leads to them thinking that Mater (Larry The Cable Guy) is working alongside them. There are chases, there are death traps, and there are many moments that have Mater defying the odds to make progress in his “mission”.

While I understand the need to avoid a complete replay of the first movie, Cars feels like a movie series with a limited number of plot options. And, let’s face it, many successful franchises have managed to repeat a formula over and over again, with minor tweaks, including a certain other huge Pixar title. Kids are especially pleased by repetition, which makes the road taken here (no pun intended) all the more bizarre.

Writer Ben Queen does what he can with the premise, presenting a kid-friendly James Bond adventure with Mater being the accidental hero of the piece, but he ends up delivering something incredibly weak. The main lesson feels overwhelmed by the secret agent shenanigans, and the secret agent shenanigans pale in comparison to almost any other film in this vein that you can think of. It doesn’t help that co-directors John Lasseter and Bradford Lewis don’t seem to have any interest in elevating the material, relying on the voice cast to make up for the many weaker elements.

That would be okay if the voice cast was better, but it’s not great. Caine and Mortimer ARE great, but they are absolute highlights here. Wilson is fine, but sidelined in favour of everything else going on, Turturro is equally undone by his relatively limited dialogue (he is fun when he gets time to chatter away), and the likes of Eddie Izzard, Joe Mantegna and others are wasted in supporting roles that don’t give them enough to do. The person who gets to do plenty is Larry The Cable Guy, who is enjoyable enough as Mater, but also quite an acquired taste (although there’s a chance that younger viewers will just lap up everything he says and does).

I didn’t absolutely hate this, mainly thanks to the slick visuals and a couple of small gags that made me chuckle, but it was very disappointing. Am I wrong for wanting another plot that saw Lightning McQueen having to learn some new tactics for a different kind of racing? Probably. Could that have been better than this bit of silliness though? Probably. It gets bonus points for the casting of Caine though, who is the best thing about it.

4/10

Thursday, 2 May 2024

Ani-MAY-tion: Cars (2006)

I heard about Cars being made. I wasn’t interested. I saw the trailer for Cars. I wasn’t interested. Cars came and went at the cinema. I wasn’t interested. So why do I own all three Cars movies? Well, I decided I would get them for free when Disney still offered a decent reward scheme on their website. I used points on them, but still couldn’t work up any enthusiasm to actually watch any of them. That changes now. I am determined to watch all three this month, for better or worse. Considering how much I enjoyed this, it may be for the better.

Owen Wilson voices a car named Lightning McQueen, a cocky young racer who is frustrated when his latest race ends in a 3-way tie. The winner will be decided in another race in California, which means a long journey across the country. There’s an unplanned diversion though, and McQueen ends up stuck in the small town of Radiator Springs, where the pace of life is quite a bit slower. Taking things a bit slower can give you plenty of time to learn more and plan ahead better, but that isn’t how McQueen views the situation, despite the patience and determination of the locals.

Directed by John Lasseter and Joe Ranft, who also co-wrote the screenplay with a handful of other writers, Cars isn’t the sharpest Pixar movie, nor is it the wittiest. That’s a high bar though, and I will usually find plenty to enjoy in every one of their animated treats. The main pleasure here comes from the different characters surrounding our misguided lead, voiced by the likes of Paul Newman, Bonnie Hunt, Larry The Cable Guy, and Tony Shalhoub. There’s also a gorgeous visual style throughout, as you would expect, with the characters and environment in perfect simpatico, presenting a world that is so well-realised that viewers can easily accept everything onscreen without any questions, at least until after the end credits have rolled.

Wilson is a good choice for the lead role, his particular vocal style softening the edges of a character that could have been much more annoying throughout the first half of the film. Newman is used well as the elder who offers some sage advice to someone who needs to start listening to others. Both Bonnie Hunt and Larry The Cable Guy are great in main supporting roles, the former being very sweet while the latter delivers plenty of laughs, and Shalhoub gets to steal one or two scenes as Luigi, a huge fan of Ferraris. There are also delightful performances from Paul Dooley, Michael Keaton, George Carlin, Edie McClurg, Richard Kind, and John Ratzenberger (in what I would say is his biggest Pixar role, and allows him to deliver a superb set of meta gags over the end credits).

The pacing is slightly off, just slightly, and there’s an uninspired soundtrack, as well as a clumsy attempt to shoehorn in an extra narrative strand about the small towns that have suffered when new road developments were planned to bypass them, but the sweetness and humour always work well enough to keep you smiling as you wait for the predictable, and rewarding, finale. AND you get a number of cameos that should please motor-racing fans.

It may all be downhill from here, I have heard bad things about at least one of the sequels, but I am now temporarily optimistic about finally making time for this trilogy. I recommend this one to Pixar fans, but (as ever) . . . mileage may vary.

7/10

Friday, 13 October 2023

Haunted Mansion (2023)

Is there really any point in discussing the plot of Haunted Mansion? I am going to say no. The whole thing is summed up by the title. Most people are aware of it, either from the previous movie version or the theme park ride, or both, and all you need is a good enough reason to trap a group of characters, both living and dead, in the titular location.

Writer Katie Dippold and director Justin Simien may not seem like the first choice for this kind of thing, but they work together brilliantly to deliver something that has the perfect mix of heart, humour, and ghostly delights. A lot of this is thanks to the cast (and this is a movie that even finds a role for Jared Leto without making him seem so obviously Jared Leto), but there should be an equal amount of praise given to everyone behind the camera, from the costumers and special effects teams to the production designers, sound crew, and beyond.

Rosario Dawson and Chase Dillon are the mother and son who end up in the haunted mansion, enlisting the help of others when they realise that they cannot leave. Well, technically, anyone who sets foot in the mansion CAN leave, but they end up taking a ghost home with them, being haunted and spooked until they return themselves to the mansion. That happens to the characters played by LaKeith Stanfield, Owen Wilson, Tiffany Haddish, and Danny DeVito, each one becoming coming along to the hub of paranormal activity with some of their own baggage in tow.

Each to their own, but I am surprised that this seems to have been dismissed, and even disliked, by so many. I cannot help wondering if more people need to actually sit down and watch this, perhaps letting their opinion of the film be tainted by the previous one. I admit that I also found enough in that Eddie Murphy vehicle to enjoy, but I am starting to think less of it now that I have had so much fun with this version. If you have younger viewers who are already wanting some spooky viewing choices then this gets things pretty spot on, with the ghostly goings on nicely tempered by moments of humour that don’t unbalance and upset the atmosphere.

Stanfield is a very good lead, working hard to portray someone equally mystified, scared, and buoyed by the idea of such active spirits. Viewers know from very early on that he has been drowning in grief, and the mansion may give him a way to deal with that. Dawson is in protective mother mode, Wilson does his familiar optimistic schtick, and both DeVito and Haddish add to the fun in a way that keeps things lively without ever stealing the focus away from the main characters. Dillon is the one most likely to steal any focus, giving a performance that is sweet and entertaining, and his nervousness is often the funniest part of the first half of the film. Leto gets to be the villain of the piece, a ghost scarier and meaner than the others, and Jamie Lee Curtis is a good casting choice for the role of Madame Leota (mainly seen as the head in a large crystal ball).

I had a great time with this. The more I think about it, the less I can think to criticise, and this is coming from someone who isn’t exactly a big fan of Leto or Haddish. The emotional manipulation works, the ghosts are a perfect mix of phantasmagorical fun and age-appropriate scariness, and the comedy kept me chuckling away when it was supposed to. All in all, this is great family entertainment for those brave enough to wander through the mansion.

8/10

Sunday, 3 October 2021

Netflix And Chill: The Haunting (1999)

If there's one film that epitomised all of the worst decisions made by people remaking horror movies in the '90s and start of the 21st century, it's The Haunting. This is a film that I remember being bad, but revisiting it showed me just how much I had managed to block out of my memory in the two decades since I last gave it a watch.

Liam Neeson plays Dr. David Marrow, a man wanting to conduct an experiment in the effects of fear. But he doesn't want any of his subjects to know that, which is why he advertises for people to take part in an experiment on sleeping problems. He gains access to a large house, and a trio of characters played by Catherine Zeta-Jones (Theo), Owen Wilson (Luke), and Lili Taylor (Nell). Nell is the most timid of the three, but she also seems to be the one that the house takes the most interest in. Because the house definitely has a heartbeat within it, a spirit, and an agenda. Or is that just how Nell is viewing things?

The first screenplay written by David Self, working from the source material by Shirley Jackson, it's obvious from very early on that this is a film intending to be very different from the original. The focus is on the CGI used here, and the movie plays out as if nobody involved is even aware of the original (with its superb way of creating atmosphere and tension without showing too much, and sometimes not showing anything at all).

Despite Self's wobbly script, however, the blame seems to lie more squarely on the shoulders of director Jan de Bont (a man who went into a serious downward slide after such a great directorial debut, Speed). The Haunting has some nice camerawork, and the production design looks gorgeous when it's not being marred by the CGI, but nothing else to recommend it. Even the central performances are disappointing.

Neeson is at his blandest, Zeta-Jones is almost comically "in heat", or so it seems in some scenes, and Owen Wilson is someone I enjoy seeing onscreen, but fits a couple of other genres much more comfortably than he fits horror. Then we have Taylor, who is often good, yet she also struggles with the fact that her character is tense and hyper-neurotic from almost her very first scene. It's a performance without any real nuance, and again seems to come from the direction of the film.

You should never automatically dismiss a remake. We've had some interesting films over the past few decades that have shown how remakes don't have to be a complete failure, and nor do they have to be slavishly copying the original film. You should dismiss The Haunting though. It's not one of those films that is underserving of its reputation. If anything, it's worse than some people remember. The Jerry Goldsmith score is quite nice, as is a lot of the production design. The rest can be consigned to the wastebin of history.

3/10

Friday, 22 May 2020

Little Fockers (2010)

The third, and final (and I assume it is going to stay that way), instalment in what we can now refer to as the Fockers trilogy, Little Fockers is a perfect example of something perfectly competent, yet also perfectly in line with the law of diminishing returns.

All of the main cast members return. Greg Focker (Ben Stiller) and Pam (Teri Polo), his wife, now have some children of their own, and father/grandfather Jack Byrnes (Robert De Niro) visits to discuss the potential of making Greg the next family patriarch. This comes about after Jack has had a "mild" heart attack, the timing is as bad as it can be, making things more stressful for Greg as he tries to juggle a number of different responsibilities.

Paul Weitz takes over the directing duties, a talented director in the field of comedy who I wish would recapture the touch he had when dealing with 3/4 of his first four movies, and he seems to be happy enough to go through the motions set out by the script, written by a returning John Hamburg, and Larry Stuckey (who was an associate producer on the previous instalment). That wouldn't be so bad if the script had any life to it, but it's almost as if everyone knows they used up all of the gags in the first two movies. All that is required is to get everyone into place, to set up a couple of comic misunderstandings, and to let the actors all do their thing. And that's what happens. It's not funny. It's not entertaining. It's just dull. Really dull. It's even worse when it sets up obvious strands that don't play out to anywhere near their full comic potential (such as potential chemistry between the lead and a character played by Jessica Alba).

What saves it from being completely unwatchable is the cast. Although the leads look like they could sleepwalk through the whole film, and some might say they do, there's still some fun to be had from just watching De Niro and Stiller play off one another. Polo and Danner are sidelined even more here than they were in the previous films, Hoffman and Streisand are also underused, and the same can be said for a returning Owen Wilson, as well as newcomer Alba. The second instalment in the series added more characters in the mix, but at least it had things for them to do. This one just hopes that having enough names in the cast list will distract from the . . . redundancy of it all.

Everybody knows how easily pleased I am, it's clear from most of my reviews, as well as the fact that I repeat that statement often enough, and I know that I enjoyed both Meet The Parents and Meet The Fockers more than most people. So you should probably bear that in mind when deciding whether or not to give your time to this, a relatively innocuous mainstream comedy that somehow made me determined not to seem too generous with my rating of it. It's the epitome of Hollywood laziness from start to finish.

3/10

https://ko-fi.com/kevinmatthews

Tuesday, 19 May 2020

Meet The Parents (2000)

Before he became just as easy to dislike as many of his peers, and I am not entirely sure when that happened (I'm still a fan anyway), Ben Stiller scored a big hit with this enjoyable comedy of errors that harvested comedy gold from the fertile territory of that most potentially nerve-wracking of experiences, the meeting of people you want to be your future in-laws.

Stiller is Greg Focker, a nurse planning to propose to his partner, Pam Byrnes (Teri Polo). His plans have to change when Pam tells him that her sister has just agreed to get married, which then leads to the pair heading to Pam's home for the big family event. Pam's mother, Dina (played by Blythe Danner) is lovely enough, but her father, Jack (Robert De Niro), has a past that makes it impossible for him to trust those he doesn't know. And all he knows about Greg is that the man has designs on his daughter.

Based on a little-known 1992 comedy with the same premise, and title, Meet The Parents is a fantastic combination of a great cast working with an excellent script, helmed by an experienced comedy director who knows exactly how to make the most of every moment, be it big or small. Jay Roach is the person in the big chair, coming off the great success of the first two Austin Powers movies (and he'd also made Mystery, Alaska just before this, but I haven't seen that one yet), and he has enough experience to let things build progressively towards a finale that throws the characters into a perfect thunderstorm.

Jim Herzfeld and John Hamburg wrote the script, taking the main premise and ensuring that everything is more finely-tuned to make the most of the central cast, especially any moments featuring De Niro.

Stiller is perfect in the central role, focusing on being an unfortunate guy trying to do his best, with less of the angry outbursts that is such a firm part of his schtick in many other roles. Polo works well alongside him, with the two having enough natural rapport to make it believable enough that they might be able to maintain a serious relationship. Although not the focus of many scenes, Danner does well, but it's De Niro who gets most of the best moments, either on his own or directly opposite Stiller. His no-nonsense demeanour and lack of humour makes the comedic beats even funnier. You also get supporting turns from the likes of Jon Abrahams (a younger brother who causes trouble for our hero by hiding his weed in an unfortunate place), James Rebhorn, and Owen Wilson, great value as an ex-boyfriend who had nothing more than a very sexual and physical connection with Pam, as opposed to the stronger bond that she shares with Greg.

You also have a cat trained to use the toilet, a spycam or two dotted around to catch out liars, and a running joke about Greg not wanting to do a job more respectable than "just" being a nurse. It's all very safe and predictable, but that doesn't make it any less entertaining and funny.

8/10

https://ko-fi.com/kevinmatthews

Thursday, 17 April 2014

April Fools: Rushmore (1998)

Directed by Wes Anderson, who also co-wrote the script with Owen Wilson, Rushmore is a film perfectly poised as something that fans of the director will love, while also being one of his more accessible works for those unused to his preferred aesthetics.

Jason Schwartzman plays Max Fischer, a confident teenager who thinks that he's an excellent student at school, despite the fact that he's failing in a number of subjects. He is, however, involved in numerous extra-curricular activities. If there's a club for it then he'll often be a member. In fact, he'll often be the one who started up the club in the first place. But drama is his main love, as shown by the plays that he likes to put on for the school. Well, drama is his main love until he sees Rosemary Cross (Olivia Williams). Then she becomes his main love. Unfortunately, she is a teacher and he is just a fifteen-year-old boy, despite his attempts to show himself in a more mature light. Herman Blume (Bill Murray) likes Max, and the two become friends. Herman wishes that his own children were more like this determined, sensible young man. But that changes when he also meets Rosemary.

Rushmore is a hard film to write about, in some ways, because it's quite simply a near-perfect script that's being delivered by actors all perfect in their roles, and directed perfectly by Anderson. Job done. But it's in all the details that the movie excels, be it the nuance of a performance or the many pieces of set decoration showing the fastidious nature of Max when he puts his mind to something. The soundtrack is also, yep, almost perfect, with a finale that blends the onscreen visuals with some particularly good audio choices to make for a quietly effective, and surprisingly powerful, curtain call.

It's hard to believe that this was the first onscreen acting role for Schwartzman, so good is he in the role of Max. He's arrogant, sweet, annoying, precocious, pitiable, enviable, and stubborn, but he's also just young, and the movie allows viewers to see him grow, even if it's only by a small degree. Williams is wonderful as Rosemary, because she's easy to fall in love with. And then there's good ol' Bill Murray, putting in the kind of performance that would have stolen every scene he was in, had he not been in such an altogether strong film. Smaller roles for Brian Cox, Seymour Cassel and Luke Wilson all prove rewarding in their own way, and Sara Tanaka and Mason Gamble both make a great impression as youngsters beguiled by Max in slightly different ways.

Fans of Wes Anderson should love this, but this is also a film that can be enjoyed by those who don't think that they like the man's style. His stamp remains on almost every scene, but this is a slightly more subdued affair compared to the films that he would go on to give audiences over the next two decades.

Love or hate Anderson, I encourage you to check out Rushmore. It remains a high point in the filmographies of everyone involved.

9/10

http://www.amazon.com/Rushmore-Criterion-Collection-Jason-Schwartzman/dp/B00003Q42P/ref=sr_1_4?s=movies-tv&ie=UTF8&qid=1396677855&sr=1-4&keywords=rushmore

Thursday, 5 September 2013

The Big Year (2011)

Owen Wilson plays Kenny Bostick, the best birder in the world. His big year total stands as a record that looks almost impossible to beat, yet he's obsessed with defending his title. What IS a big year? Well, it's when birders (aka birdwatchers) head out to spot as many different species as possible in one year and then hand in their results to see just where they stand amongst their equally dedicated peers. Bostick may be the man to beat, but Brad Harris (Jack Black) thinks he can do it. As does Stu Preissler (Steve Martin). As do many other people. But how much do you have to sacrifice in a year that could lead to spotting over 700 different types of birds? These three men may find that out as they vie for the top spot.

Directed by David Frankel, and written by Howard Franklin (based on/inspired by a book by Mark Obmascik), The Big Year is one of those films that's hard to hate. The gentle humour works well, there are some nice moments that try to showcase individual birds to show just why the birders often view them as something so worthy of pursuit. Of course, it's so predictable and desperate to please that it's also a film that's hard to love. It just stays in a very safe middle ground.

Owen Wilson turns in another performance almost exactly like most of his performances from the last two decades, but Martin plays it pretty straight and Jack Black is surprisingly restrained in his role, making a decent average Joe that viewers should want to see actually succeed at the one goal he seems to have in his life.

The real pleasure here, however, is in the supporting cast. Rosamund Pike plays the long-suffering partner of Wilson, Rashida Jones is a fellow birder who isn't even aiming for her own big year, but is rather just doing it for the pleasure of doing it, Joel McHale and Kevin Pollak are two men trying to keep Martin focused on his successful company while JoBeth Williams is his supportive wife. Brian Dennehy and Dianne Wiest play Jack Black's parents, and there are small roles for Anthony Anderson, Tim Blake Nelson, Anjelica Huston, Corbin Bernsen and Jim Parsons.

Worth watching if there's nothing else to occupy your time, this is ultimately just a pleasant diversion that allows viewers to observe people who spend their time observing our feathered friends.

6/10

http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Year-Blu-ray-Jack-Black/dp/B004U5BJQ0/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1378377762&sr=8-2&keywords=the+big+year

Wednesday, 12 June 2013

I Spy (2002)

An action comedy that puts laid back Owen Wilson alongside fast-talking Eddie Murphy should be fairly enjoyable, right? Well, I Spy IS fairly enjoyable. It's just, sadly, not much more than that. And be warned, fans of the old TV series will find very little connection to it beyond the title.

Wilson is a U.S. government agent named Alex, and his latest mission is to find a top secret jet that can be rendered practically invisible. It has been stolen and will be sold to the higthest bidder, which will probably be someone who wants to use it as a highly effective bomb delivery system. To get close to the man (Malcolm McDowell) most likely to have the jet, Alex has to work alongside a civilian, a cocky boxer named Kelly Robinson, who doesn't like to be told what to do. Can the pair manage to get along long enough to complete the mission?

Director Betty Thomas, who has at least three much better movies in her past filmography (Doctor Dolittle, Private Parts and The Brady Bunch Movie), does competent enough work, but the movie is really undermined by the writing. Four people worked together on this screenplay, so I guess it's a limited success that they at least managed to contribute one laugh each.

Murphy may not be on top form, but he doesn't do a bad job. Owen Wilson also doesn't do a bad job, necessarily. It's just a shame that Wilson has somehow overplayed his schtick more than Murphy, as hard to believe as that is. McDowell does fine in the standard bad guy role, Famke Janssen is always a welcome addition to any cast, in my view, and Gary Cole occasionally swoops in to steal the movie as Carlos, the agent who actually looks and acts like someone who could be entrusted with top secret missions full of danger.

There are better buddy action comedies (I could name a dozen off the top of my head), there are better spy comedies (Get Smart is one of the best) and there are better movies you could pick starring any of the leads or supporting players. That doesn't necessarily mean that I Spy is a BAD film. It creeps just above average, but it should never be your top priority.

6/10

http://www.amazon.co.uk/I-Spy-DVD-Eddie-Murphy/dp/B00009B0QA/ref=sr_1_1?s=dvd&ie=UTF8&qid=1370935276&sr=1-1&keywords=I+spy

Friday, 19 April 2013

Hall Pass (2011)

The Farrelly Brothers have come a long way since their paean to all things dumb, Dumb & Dumber, cleaned up at the box office. From that great starting point we’ve had the good (There’s Something AboutMary), the bad (okay, they only produced Say It Isn’t So, but their names were all over the marketing) and the divisive (Me, Myself & Irene and Stuck On You are two movies I really like but not everyone feels the same way). And now there’s Hall Pass.

Owen Wilson and Jason Sudeikis play two married men who are given what seems like a fantastic gift from their loving wives - a hall pass. A hall pass is, in the context of the film, a week off from marriage. The guys can relive their days of bachelorhood and get everything out of their system before returning to the family home and settling back down for the rest of their lives. With no restrictions, the two men should obviously be able to live out those fantasies that they've been harbouring for years. Well, while the theory is sound it turns out that the two men are a bit rusty when it comes to actually making any real moves towards ladies.

Written and directed by those Farrelly funsters (Bobby and Peter, who were both helped out in the scripting department by Pete Jones and Kevin Barnett), Hall Pass is an amusing comedy very much in the vein of their past works. There's plenty of refreshing honesty mixed in with the laughs, at least one gross moment and many lines of dialogue guaranteed to offend anyone who wants to be easily offended. Sadly, there aren't any memorable set-pieces and the whole thing suffers from the presence of Sudeikis (he was okay in Horrible Bosses, but I have no idea why the man is being given lead roles - he may get to deliver funny lines but he's not a talented comedic performer).

Thankfully, the cast also includes the lovely Jenna Fischer, Christina Applegate, Nicky Whelan, Stephen Merchant and Richard Jenkins. And Owen Wilson, of course. Some people don't like his standard laid back schtick. I do. There are also appearances from Farrelly regulars such as Rob Moran and Danny Murphy, while Vanessa Angel, Lauren Bowles and even Alyssa Milano join in the fun.

I laughed quite a few times while watching Hall Pass, but there were only two gags that made me laugh hard - one involving Wilson and two naked men and the other moment took place at the very end of the film - and I just don't think that's good enough for a film with this cast and those men behind the camera (yeah, yeah, roll your eyes all you want, I have loved a number of their past films).

It would seem that, for a change, most audience members agreed on this one. It had a fairly high budget for a comedy ($36M, apparently) and didn't exactly provide a rip-roaring return on that investment. Meaning that we've probably been spared a Hall Pass 2. At least that is an extra reason to smile.

5/10

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Hall-Pass-Triple-Blu-ray-Digital/dp/B004MYF6YU/ref=sr_1_2?s=dvd&ie=UTF8&qid=1365989019&sr=1-2&keywords=hall+pass

Saturday, 18 August 2012

Drillbit Taylor (2008)

Written by Kristofor Brown and Seth Rogen and directed by Steven Brill, Drillbit Taylor is a fairly enjoyable comedy that won't become anyone's favourite but that passes the time pleasantly enough and has a few scenes that should make you grin.

Two young lads (Nate Hartley and Troy Gentile) are about to start high school and want everything to go right. But everything goes horribly wrong for them and they find themselves a) with a new friend (David Dorfman) who is also a liability and b) the main target of some insane bully boys (Josh Peck and Alex Frost, with the latter playing the more psychotic of the two). In desperation, the young lads decided to hire themselves a bodyguard. They want someone well-trained and up to the task but they can't afford the best of the best so end up thinking that they're bagged a bargain when they hire Drillbit Taylor (Owen Wilson). Drillbit Taylor, however, isn't quite the great man that he makes himself out to be. He's a homeless man who makes his money most days by begging amongst the slow-moving traffic. Maybe helping the kids out can give him a chance to help himself. Or maybe it will all end badly.

Based on a story idea by the late John Hughes, AKA king of the teen flicks, Drillbit Taylor coasts along thanks to a good, varied cast and a few highlights interspersed throughout. Owen Wilson plays the character that you've seen him play numerous times before, and it's a bit stale this time around, but the supporting cast includes some great turns from the younger cast members and fun moments for Danny McBride, Stephen Root and Leslie Mann.

Where the film falls down is the tone. It ranges from the light and funny to the twisted and the, at times, very dark. Annoyingly, both ends of the spectrum have moments that make for interesting and/or entertaining viewing but they're just not blended together well, leaving the film feeling more like an abstract and unsatisfying mosaic than a complete and satisfying work.

If you saw the trailer for this already then you'll already know if you're going to like it or not. It's exactly what you expect it to be. Fun cameo appearances from David Koechner, Frank Whaley and Adam Baldwin (wearing his jacket from My Bodyguard) help but the movie certainly never comes close to being unmissable.

6/10

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Drillbit-Taylor-Blu-ray-Nate-Hartley/dp/B001KOTNZ8/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1344333338&sr=8-3