All Nighter (2017)

All Nighter begins with a very familiar scenario. It’s the young man (Martin, played by Emile Hirsch) meeting the father (Mr. Gallo, played by J. K. Simmons) of his girlfriend (Ginnie, played by Analeigh Tipton). That meeting does not go well. It is, in fact, a bit of a disaster. Which makes it more of a surprise when, months later, Mr. Gallo turns up on the doorstep of Martin’s home to catch up with Ginnie. Martin and Ginnie broke up a few months previously, and it’s not been an easy time for Martin. Mr. Gallo has remained oblivious to this because he’s often too busy and/or self-centred. Regardless of the awkwardness of the situation, Mr. Gallo still needs Martin’s help to locate his daughter, which sees the two of them journeying together through an evening of mishaps and, yes, some unexpected bonding.

There’s nothing here in the main premise that will stand out to viewers. Director Gavin Wiesen is competent enough, without showing any real flair, and writer Seth Owen knows that he needs to get from A to B, but the film lacks any great dialogue or strong supporting turns. What it does have, however, are two excellent lead characters who are nicely sketched out by Owen, and enhanced by the winning performances from Hirsch and Simmons. The former is playing an imperfect, but sweet, young man who also plays the banjo (which is initially played as a flaw before being used as a way to deliver a "be happy doing something you are really good at" message) and the latter is a guy not used to not getting his way, and always able to grease the right palm in order to get to wherever he wants to go.

Hirsch is very good. I've not really known him to be anything less than enjoyable in his film roles but he definitely plays this perfectly, passive for much of the runtime, and sometimes seeming like a complete pushover, but eventually altering the initial view that he's a complete loser. Simmons is equally perfect, not actually hating the young man his daughter has been dating, more just exasperated and unimpressed by his lack of drive and aim. Tipton isn't in the film anywhere near long enough, although she is welcome in the few scenes that she has. Varying supporting turns come from Meta Golding (who is fine), Jon Daly (also fine), Taran Killam (pretty bad, but that seems to stem from the poor writing making his character a one-dimensional idiot), and Kristen Schaal (as good as ever), and there are other people who come and go without making much of an impression.

From the opening scenes, All Nighter feels like an obvious and predictable comedy you have seen many times before. That feeling doesn't change once the rest of the plot actually kicks into gear. When it does change, and when it improves, is when you start to see the dynamic between Simmons and Hirsch transform into something enjoyably different from the expected constant dislike and abrasiveness. That's when it becomes a decent little watch, even if it never does enough to be truly memorable. And banjo music fans will enjoy a couple of moments on the soundtrack.

6/10

You can buy a disc here.
Americans can pick it up here.

Lucy (2014)

Luc Besson wrote and directed a movie back in 2005 called Angel-A. It was pretty damn great. As slick and visually stylish as his other work, with a kickass female character, and one or two interesting ideas embedded in the tale. Nobody watched it, as far as I can tell. Which made it completely unsurprising when Besson went back to his more comfortable stomping ground, producing a number of generic, yet also enjoyable, action movies that fit comfortably in the dumb fun section of any movie collection.

Fast forward almost a decade, ironically enough (considering certain plot elements of this film), and it seems that Besson has tried something different once again. Something that, this time, has managed to find an audience. Whether or not that audience will be there after a strong opening remains to be seen. Lucy has been marketed to many as a sci-fi action flick when it attempts to be something more interesting and thought-provoking than that. Sadly, it's also pretty bad. In fact, there are many times when it's just downright laughable.

Scarlett Johansson is the titular character, a woman who happens to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. She ends up being put to sleep, and wakes up to discover that she's had a bag of drugs placed inside her body - making her a perfect mule. But when this bag is ruptured, the drugs enter Lucy's system and start to change her. Instead of only using 10% of her brain (yes, yes, it's that old chestnut), she starts to use more and more, becoming more aware and powerful with each stage of ultrafast evolution. Knowing what this is all leading up to, she tries to track down Professor Norman (Morgan Freeman), and also the other drug mules, all now carrying a drug that she may well need to survive. A cop (Amr Waked) tries to apprehend her, but soon realises that he doesn't stand much chance, so ends up helping her instead.

Mining similar ground to Limitless, but going off on a very different tangent, Lucy stumbles from the very beginning, then starts to fall down completely, in between fleeting moments of great entertainment. People have been getting angrier lately at the regurgitation of the whole "we only use 10-20% of our brain" myth, but it's not something I've ever been bothered by, as a plot device. Admittedly, I used to think it was true, but even nowadays I think it's a fun idea, as long as you buy into it in the name of fun fun fun. But Lucy isn't content to provide you with fun. It wants to have depth, it wants to make you think. And that's when it falls down.

Don't get me wrong. Dumb fun can be great. Smart entertainment can be great. Smart dumb hits me right in the funny bone. But when a movie really seems to think it's smart, despite throwing dumb moment after dumb moment at the audience, then it becomes difficult to like. Besson shows his hand early - clumsily editing a sequence in which Lucy is asked to meet some men with wildlife footage showing a predator chase down some prey (because she's put in the position of the prey - get it? GET IT??) - and continues to use the same tricks again and again, as he shows the evolution of Lucy once the drugs begin to work on her.

The frustrating thing here is that Lucy IS a potentially great character, with Johansson effortlessly exuding cool confidence once she's really able to kick ass and manipulate her environment. Freeman may be Mr. Exposition, but does perfectly well in his role, and Waked moves through the whole thing with an amusing expression of fear and awe. Choi Min-Sik is the main villain, the man responsible for the state in which Lucy finds herself, but he pales in significance when compared to how the woman is struggling inside her own mind and body.

All of the failings here are caused by Besson, whether it's his inane script (and, believe me, there's a reference in the final scenes that may well cause a few fans of true, classic sci-fi to cry out in disgust - Kubrick would not be impressed) or his horrible, slapdash approach to the half-baked material. The editing choices, the gaping plot holes, the groan-inducing lack of anything approaching logic (not REAL logic, obviously, but even simpler movie logic), the poor CGI, the aspects of Kabbalism mixed in. Besson, as writer and director, can take the blame for all of it.

But, hey, it's already a bit of a hit at the box office. Although, just perhaps, that may say more about our own evolution than anything in the movie itself.

4/10

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