They Came Together (2014)

As it's Galentine's Day, this review can appear here today.

Amy Poehler and Paul Rudd star in this spoof of romantic comedies that manages to have its cake and eat it, thanks to the mix of smart gags, fun performances, and moments of extreme silliness.

Poehler is Molly, a typical rom-com lead. She's a bit of a klutz, runs a little candy store, and is mostly content with her life. Rudd is Joel, also a typical rom-com lead. He's "handsome, but in a nonthreatening way. Vaguely but not overtly Jewish." He also works for CRS, a major company that's just about to potentially put Molly out of business. The course of true love is not destined to be smooth for this couple, and the film shows their ups and downs.

Directed by David Wain, who also co-wrote the screenplay with Michael Showalter, this gets everything right when it comes to emulating the style of the movies being spoofed. New York is a major character, as pointed out a number of times, the protagonists start off by disliking one another, assorted friends are pigeonholed as nothing more than varying viewpoints for the leads to use as sounding boards, there's a montage or two, and the climax involves a bit of a race against the clock, a standard for most rom-coms.

This is all well and good, but the masterstroke comes from the fact that the movie is presented as a tale being told by Molly and Joel while they enjoy a dinner date with two friends, Karen (Ellie Kemper) and Kyle (Bill Hader). This allows for plenty of comments on the unfolding events, and also one or two details that we discover may simply be the result of overactive imaginations. 

Poehler and Rudd are both perfect in their roles, of course, and Hader and Kemper both have fun either pointing out, or sometimes missing, the obvious while being told this particular love story. Jason Mantzoukas and Melanie Lynskey play the two friends who think that they're about to bring two lovely people together to form one lovely couple, Teyonah Parris is the one woman working for Molly who also offers helpful advice, and there are a few great cameos to make you smile. Christopher Meloni is the big boss at CRS, and shows once again how great he is at comedy, Michael Ian Black is a grade-A douchebag (and a lot of fun with it), Cobie Smulders is the girl with Rudd at the very start of the movie, and Ed Helms is someone who may try to win over Poehler's character, despite not really having any chemistry with her. At all.

Not all of the gags hit, which is almost inevitable in a comedy like this, but you're never far away from something that could make you laugh out loud. Fans of those involved will certainly have a good time, and fans of romantic comedies may also find that there's still enough here to keep them amused, even as the conventions and cliches are being mocked at every turn. 

7/10

http://www.amazon.com/They-Came-Together-Christopher-Meloni/dp/B00KVFHBLK/ref=sr_1_2?s=movies-tv&ie=UTF8&qid=1415555914&sr=1-2&keywords=they+came+together

Hell Baby (2013)

A horror comedy written by, directed by, and starring Robert Ben Garant and Thomas Lennon, Hell Baby is a fairly amusing movie that could have been improved by two things. One, a better cast. Two, some sharper gags.

Rob Corddry and Leslie Bibb are the couple who move into a home that has seen a lot of bad stuff, to put it mildly, within its walls. Bibb is quite heavily pregnant, and the parents-to-be hope to fill the place with good vibes and start making a rosy future. Keegan-Michael Key plays a man who keeps popping up to remind them of how unlikely that is, while two priests (Garant and Lennon) start down a trail that may well lead them to the very same house. Well, okay, it's obvious that it will. This isn't a mystery. It's obvious almost from the very beginning that the pregnancy is far from a normal one, which makes it just a matter of time until the priests get there and try to defeat any evil forces in the third act.

With a cast that also includes Riki Londhome and Michael Ian Black, this certainly has enough comic talent in front of the camera to help make the ridiculousness more palatable, but it's just a shame that there weren't a few more well-known names in the mix. The film doesn't actually have too many characters, which is a shame, because an extra cameo or two might have been enough to make this that bit more enjoyable. Bibb and Corddry are fun leads, Garant and Lennon work well together, and Key does well enough with a character that could have easily been far too grating.

But the biggest problem that the movie has is over-indulgence. I laughed quite a few times, but there were just as many occasions that started with me laughing and ended with me just wishing that everything had been wrapped up a bit quicker.

There are some easy jump "scares" here and some good gore, mixing with the easy laughs to result in something that defies the odds to become a surprisingly decent horror comedy at times. Unfortunately, it's all undone by a finale that ditches any semblance of intelligence for an overlong and unfunny riff on pass the parcel.

If you like the people involved then you'll like Hell Baby. It's fun. It's just a shame that Garant and Lennon didn't try a bit harder to tighten everything up and pack a bit more in to each act. And it's a great shame that they didn't seem to put any effort at all into thinking up a decent finale.

6/10

http://www.amazon.com/Hell-Baby-Blu-Ray-Leslie-Bibb/dp/B00EP2SN62/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1390658933&sr=8-2&keywords=hell+baby

Take Me Home Tonight (2011)

Based on a story by Topher Grace and Gordon Kaywin, Take Me Home Tonight is a 21st century John Hughes movie in the mould of Sixteen Candles and Ferris Bueller's Day Off and that, in case you didn't know it, is a good thing.

As well as coming up with the central idea, Topher Grace also stars in the film as Matt Franklin. It's 1988 and Matt has never realised his potential since he left MIT. He just can't bring himself to be passionate about the materialism surrounding him. Thankfully, there's a BIG party to attend that should take his mind off things for a while. He goes along with his friend Barry (Dan Fogler), who was JUST fired, and his sister Wendy (Anna Faris), who is considering throwing away a potentially great future to settle into the role of supportive partner to her boyfriend. The party should be a lot of fun but, more importantly, it should also be graced by the presence of Tori Frederking (Teresa Palmer), the girl with whom Matt has been in love with for many years. Everything is in place for a wild and crazy night and the four partygoers may just find that they look at the world a little differently in the morning.

Directed by Michael Dowse, with Jackie Filgo and Jeff Filgo responsible for spinning the story into a full screenplay, Take Me Home Tonight is energetic, funny and also quite sweet in places. But if you like your comedy a bit more raucous and illegal then never fear - there's also car theft, a LOT of cocaine and a weird sexual encounter between Barry and a character played by Angie Everhart.

The cast all do a great job. I've always liked Topher Grace and he's never turned in a performance yet that's changed my mind (do check out the excellent In Good Company f you've not seen it already). Anna Faris can do the light comedy stuff in her sleep but she doesn't go over the top here and her character is one to root for, as are all of the leads. Fogler is just hilarious and gets the lions share of the best lines, most probably due to some great improv. He also gets a great dance off sequence. Teresa Palmer is required to look lovely enough for Matt to desire so badly and she does that easily. She also acts just as well as anyone else onscreen even if she has the least to work with, in terms of character development (her character is already set, pretty much, but Matt has to find out about her while also aiming to impress). Michael Biehn is excellent as the father just wanting his son to try to do something with his life, even if he screws up in the process, while Lucy Punch and Michelle Trachtenberg play two very different party attendees. Oh, and Angie Everhart takes part in that hilariously weird encounter already mentioned above.

Just writing this review has brought a smile to my face and made me want to rewatch the movie and if that's not one of the best recommendations for a comedy then I don't know what is. I'm going to be buying this one ASAP and rewatching it whenever the mood strikes. I advise others to do the same. Or at least give it a watch if it pops up on the TV schedules.

8/10

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Take-Me-Home-Tonight-Blu-ray/dp/B004V2U4IQ/ref=sr_1_2?s=dvd&ie=UTF8&qid=1348996092&sr=1-2