Netflix And Chill: The Lovebirds (2020)

Director Michael Showalter reteams with star Kumail Nanjiani (after their success with The Big Sick) for this comedy thriller that concerns a couple (Nanjiani and Issa Rae) who have the potential end of their relationship interrupted by an untimely murder. Not that there's ever such a thing as a timely murder.

Rae and Nanjiani are two solid leads, even as we meet them in the midst of growing tension. While in their car, a stranger (Paul Sparks) commandeers their vehicle, using it to kill a man on a bicycle that he was chasing, and then flees. Leilani (Rae) and Jibran (Nanjiani) do not want to stick around at the crime scene. They know things look bad for them, which means they need to show some initiative and try to find the killer. This brings them into contact with other bad people (such as Edie, played by Anna Camp), forces them to make up a story as they get friends helping them, and obviously has them reappraising how they view one another.

Written by Aaron Abrams and Brendan Gall, The Lovebirds is a film that doesn't do enough to help the talented leads. The main premise is very familiar, and could be used to add on a whole load of jokes, but it's all put together in a way that feels very paint-by-numbers. There's no tension here, which wouldn't be so bad if the laughs kept coming, but there's also not enough comedy, so little of it that the leads feel restricted by the way the script doesn't let them be as funny as fans know they can be.

Showalter goes through the motions with his direction, but he is equally responsible for failing his leads. Set-pieces are too low-key, the pacing feels off, despite the film coming in at just under the 90-minute mark, and the plot just feels like it's getting in the way of the characters being able to act in a way that could be much more entertaining.

I feel a bit patronising going on about how good both Rae and Najiani are, despite being hampered by the material, but they make the movie watchable. I have liked Nanjiani for a good few years now, but I wasn't familiar with Rae, who works wonderfully both on her own and alongside her co-star. Sparks is fine, with limited screentime, and Camp does her best to steal the scenes that she features in, and Andrene Ward-Hammond is a typically stolid cop trying to catch a criminal as some innocent people complicate the matter more than they should.

I did laugh, now and then, and there's a fun little punchline at the very end of the movie to pay off a small gag from earlier, but I spent most of the runtime just willing The Lovebirds to be better, for me and for the cast. It doesn't manage that. It just manages to be above average. Just. Not far enough above average to make it worth recommending though.

6/10

https://ko-fi.com/kevinmatthews

Bachelorette (2012)

Kirsten Dunst plays Regan, a tense, controlling young woman who starts to fret when she finds out that her friend, Becky (Rebel Wilson), is about to get married. Becky wasn't supposed to be the first one of the group to get married, as Regan reminds Gena (Lizzy Caplan) and Katie (Isla Fisher). Things weren't supposed to happen that way. Regardless, the time comes around for the bachelorette party, something that Becky wants to be a quiet affair. It doesn't pan out that way, of course.

Written and directed by Leslye Headland, based on her own play, Bachelorette is saved from being completely unwatchable by Kaplan and Adam Scott (playing Clyde, the ex-boyfriend of Caplan's character). James Marsden also puts in another great performance - the more I think about it, the more I like Marsden - and Rebel Wilson is likable enough in her role. But that's where the good stuff ends.

While I watched this movie I started to suspect that it was from a first-time director. Some of the mistakes here aren't that bad, but then there are glaring flaws that unsettle the whole thing, and ultimately sink it completely.

First of all, most of the characters are loathsome. Movies can feature loathsome characters, but this lot really take the biscuit. And there's no reason to believe that they would be friends. As the old saying goes: "with friends like these, who needs enemies?"

Second, stemming from the first, everything that goes wrong and puts the characters under pressure is caused by the characters themselves. Everything onscreen here could have been easily avoided if the lead characters weren't so selfish/stupid.

None of the drama is effective, none of the comedy is funny, and you may spend most of the movie, as I did, just wishing for it to end. It doesn't help that Dunst and Fisher aren't on good form, although they may have simply been unable to overcome the weak material.

The silver lining for Leslye Headland is that she can only get better from here.

2/10

http://www.amazon.com/Bachelorette-Blu-ray-Wilson/dp/B00B17U2VS/ref=sr_1_3?s=movies-tv&ie=UTF8&qid=1399528406&sr=1-3&keywords=bachelorette

Remember, I watch a lot of films so that you don't have to. YOU can help me feel better about that by spending just a few pounds/dollars/*insert currency here* on TJ's Ramshackle Movie Guide, as every copy of my book sold gets a few pounds in my pocket, and gets you a good read (if I say so myself).

The UK version can be bought here - http://www.amazon.co.uk/TJs-Ramshackle-Movie-Guide-Reviews-ebook/dp/B00J9PLT6Q/ref=sr_1_3?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1395945647&sr=1-3&keywords=movie+guide

And American folks can buy it here - http://www.amazon.com/TJs-Ramshackle-Movie-Guide-Reviews-ebook/dp/B00J9PLT6Q/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1395945752&sr=8-1-fkmr0&keywords=TJs+ramshackle+mov

As much as I love the rest of the world, I can't keep up with all of the different links in different territories, but trust me when I say that it should be there on your local Amazon.