Power Ballad (2026)

If you want a film mixing some heart, some humour, and some very good tunes then you want a film from writer-director John Carney (here sharing the writing credit with Peter McDonald). Not only does Carney know how to entertain viewers, he knows how to give you one or two fantastic earworms when the plot requires it.

Paul Rudd plays Rick, a singer in a wedding band. He used to be in a very different kind of band, but life offered him a different path. He might spend some time trying to relive his past glory days, but he's also very happy with a life that includes a beloved wife (Aja, played by Beth Fallon) and a beloved daughter (Rachel, played by Marcella Plunkett). He's also very happy when he gets to spend an unexpected night of drunken reminiscing and song-writing with the famous Danny Wilson (Nick Jonas), an ex-boyband member trying to ensure that his solo career hits the heights needed to keep him relevant. The two part ways, and life goes back to normal . . . until Rick hears the latest hit single released by Danny. It's VERY familiar. It's his song. But can he prove it?

While it was advertised in line with the plot summary I've just written there, Power Ballad has a bit more to it. Not that the core idea isn't enough. It's a fun premise, a fantastic dilemma for a man who wants to be grateful for all he has, but also doesn't want to be stiffed out of what he might be due. The real beauty of the film is in conveying the power of authenticity in art and creativity though. Rick isn't just bothered by the idea that someone rich and powerful may have stolen his work. He's bothered by the idea that someone has repurposed part of his story without them even recognising the true meaning of it.

Carney knows the power of music. It's the theme that has resonated throughout every one of his films. The impressive thing is that he seems to be able to find so many variations on a central theme. He's shown us how music connects people, he's shown us how music provides an escape and a chance for growth, and now he's shown us how it remains attached to memories and core emotions from every stage of our life.

Rudd is a great choice for the lead role. He's always easy to like, and feels believable as a man who once tried to make it as a rock star. Both Fallon and Plunkett are very good alongside him. They're slightly sidelined as the focus stays on Rudd and Jonas, but they're allowed to become frustrated by the man in their life becoming a bit obsessed over one song without ever being portrayed as unsympathetic and too harsh. Jonas also does well, particularly in the scenes that have him being a bit cold and harsh to a man who believed that they shared a common love of music and one memorable night of mutual appreciation. As well as his co-writing credit, McDonald also delivers some fun moments in the role of Sandy, a bandmate and die-hard bestie. It's also worth mentioning another great performance from Jack Reynor, this time playing a cynical and hardened music producer named Mac.

Many who end up watching this may find themselves tougher nuts to crack. Not me. I was smiling often, I was sniffling occasionally, and I had a conflicting mix of chuckles and lip-quivering during some final scenes that were predictable enough, yes, but also hugely satisfying. Looking at it objectively, it's a bit weak compared to the better films from Carney. I struggled to look at it objectively while being moved by the titular power ballad though, and that's why I still highly recommend it to those wanting something sweet, and enjoyable . . . and surprisingly beautiful when everything opens up like a blooming flower in the third act.

7/10

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Anaconda (2025)

If the world was crying out for a comedic reboot of the Anaconda movie series then nobody decided to mention that to me. There's a chance that the world wasn't crying out for such a thing, but then . . . why would this exist otherwise?

Jack Black plays Doug McCallister, a man stuck making wedding videos when he really wants to be directing movies. His long-time friend, Ronald Griffin Jr. (Paul Rudd), is an actor unable to really gain any momentum in his career. Ronald doesn't have much going for him, but he does have the rights to Anaconda, apparently, which leads to him convincing Doug, Claire (Thandiwe Newton), and Kenny (Steve Zahn) to travel to the Amazon and rework a movie they all have a strangely strong connection with. They meet Ana (Daniela Melchior) once over there, a capable woman who ends up being added to the small cast of their movie, and eventually also meet a very real, and very large, anaconda.

Written by Kevin Etten and directed by Tom Gormican, who both entertained me with their last collaboration, The Unbearable Weight Of Massive Talent, this is one of the strangest and least satisfying mainstream movies I have watched in some time. Okay, I wasn't exactly hyped for this when I first heard about the tonal change in the series, but I still assumed that my appreciation of the main cast members would allow me to get some enjoyment from it. I was VERY wrong.

Jack Black can be very funny, Paul Rudd is someone I consider a bit of a treasure, Steve Zahn has been delivering delightful turns for decades now, and Thandiwe Newton has done enough good work by now to make me forgive her stilted performance in the second Mission: Impossible movie. I want to be clear about how much I like all of these people in the right movies. This is not the right movie. It's a tonal mess that doesn't do well enough with the jokes about film-making, doesn't deliver any proper snakey thrills, and doesn't have anything else going for it, with the exception of a couple of fun cameos. Zahn is a highlight, but Dan Silveira upstages everyone as a snake-handler named Timo who has the advantage of possessing a snake that he claims is friendly and obedient, despite the size of the thing. Melchior, and the entire sub-plot that she's involved with, feels completely unnecessary, and I would have much preferred the movie to concentrate on the other added conflict that is brought up at just around the halfway mark before being fumbled and discarded within the space of a few scenes.

Undemanding viewers should still find one or two chuckles here, but they're too few and far between throughout the 99-minute runtime. Other than those fleeting bright spots, nothing else works. At all. And it's saying something when you watch a 2025 Anaconda movie and start thinking fondly of the uneven special effects in the 1997 film.

Maybe not the worst mainstream movie I've seen this decade, but I am currently struggling to think of one I would rank below it. 

3/10

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Prime Time: Death Of A Unicorn (2025)

Despite the general negative reviews I saw for Death Of A Unicorn, I held out hope that I would enjoy it. There's a decent idea at the heart of it (some people hit a unicorn with their car, and it's not long until some mono-horned revenge seems to be on the cards) and a great cast. In fact, my hopes would have been even higher for this if I'd known in advance that it not only included Paul Rudd, Jenna Ortega, Téa Leoni, and Richard E. Grant, but also Will Poulter, Sunita Mani, Anthony Carrigan, and Jessica Hynes.

Rudd and Ortega play Elliot and Ridley, a father and daughter heading to an important weekend event which could improve Elliot's earning potential. He has to schmooze his super-rich boss (Grant) and his family (his wife, played by Leoni, and son, played by Poulter). Things are complicated by the fact that Elliot hits and kills a unicorn on the drive there. Well . . . he THINKS he has killed it. There's no time to mourn for the beast though, nor appreciate the majesty of it, when the assembled rich folk realise that unicorns have magical healing properties.

The first full feature helmed by writer-director Alex Scharfman, this is full of amateur errors, although it must also be said that Scharfman does well with the visuals and his ensemble cast. He cannot nail down the tone though, starting things off with an emphasis on black comedy, trying to then deliver some scenes of tension and gore, and then swerving back to the comedy, but not without shoe-horning in some unearned emotional moments in the third act. The 107-minute runtime makes the whole thing feel a bit baggy, most of the dialogue lacks a required sharpness, and the very end scenes add to a feeling of the whole thing just being ever so slightly pointless.

Rudd is good, even if he is asked to dull his light slightly, while Ortega strives to make more of her part than just being "moody girl who sees the truth ahead of everyone else". Grant and Leoni are effortlessly enjoyable in roles that they could do in their sleep, and Poulter has the most fun of anyone onscreen, playing his part with a hilarious mix of selfishness, stupidity, and attempted menace. Hynes is an interesting choice for her character, and I must admit to being so delighted to see her in such an unexpected role that she didn't have to do any more than be present onscreen to keep me happy, and both Mani and Carrigan are used to highlight the huge chasm that exists between the haves and the have-nots (aka the employees).

This could have been so much more. Some decent creature design aside, it's a visually unappealing film, the main message running through it has been conveyed so much better in a number of better movies released in the past few years, and I would even say that the music by Giosuè Greco and Dan Romer is sadly lacking something. All of the ingredients are here, but only one or two can still be tasted by the time the lacklustre end result is served up.

4/10

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Friendship (2024)

Paul Rudd is someone I would like to be friends with. I've thought that for decades, but it was a notion strengthened by his turn in the wonderful I Love You, Man. Despite the turns taken here, Friendship is a film in line with my way of thinking. In fact, the heart of the whole thing is best summed up by asking yourself how far you would go to make things right if you became firm friends with Paul Rudd for a brief time before awkwardly spoiling the whole thing.

The feature debut of writer-director Andre DeYoung, Friendship is arguably more about the main star, Tim Robinson, who deserves to have a major moment after the brilliant and inspired lunacy of his sketch show, "I Think You Should Leave with Tim Robinson". Robinson does surrealism, he delivers brilliant commentary on modern life, and he isn't afraid to make things awkward. If you are familiar with his style then Friendship is not going to disappoint you. DeYoung may be in charge behind the camera, but it all feels tailored to the unique talents of Robinson.

Craig (Robinson) is a man who doesn't really do much. You would think that his wife, Tami (Kate Mara), recovering from a battle with cancer would give him a bit of oomph, but no. Craig doesn't seem to have any friends, doesn't really have any hobbies, and doesn't spend too much time outside his own headspace. That all changes when he meets Austin (Paul Rudd), a friendly neighbour who starts to show Craig some ways to start enjoying his life. But the friendship doesn't last too long, it's ended after Craig makes a bit of a fool of himself after enjoying an evening with Austin and others. Much like any sudden break-up though, someone doesn't want things to end. Not without one last chance to make amends anyway.

Brilliantly in line with the other recent work of Robinson, Friendship is both a perfect examination of the madness that affects those who suddenly find their feelings of affection/friendship/love not reciprocated and an exploration of self-confidence, masculinity, and the effort it takes to maintain a strong and enduring relationship. It IS about friendship, particularly the struggle to deal with that slightly childish concept once you're a man of a certain age, but it's also a look at how easy it can be to slide into, and become mired in, laziness and bad habits, as well as the lengths that some people will go to in order to avoid/make up for some awkward social interactions.

Brilliantly awkward and goofy, Robinson is perfect in the lead role. He's so easy to laugh that it's only much later in the movie that the neglect/mistreatment of his wife becomes crystal clear. He may not mean to cause harm, but his need to keep extinguishing his own flame ends up darkening the living space for someone who desperately needs some more light and warmth. Rudd is equally good, very much at ease playing his easygoing character with a hint of smugness and smarm that comes out more once he tries to put an end to his latest friendship. And he DOES make things clear, interestingly enough, which allows the film to focus on the escalating actions of someone suddenly spurned, as opposed to the more farcical slice of "hide and seek" it could have been. Everyone else onscreen does good work, especially considering how they have to play things fairly straight while Robinson is being consistently hilarious, but the other two I will mention are Jack Dylan Grazer (as Steven, Kate's teenage son) and Billy Bryk (a young mobile phone store worker, who also has access to some good drugs), both getting a chance to shine in a couple of scenes that have them being a bit more mature and a bit wiser than the male adult standing in front of them.

From the soundtrack choices to the editing, the production design to the lead up to various punchlines, everything here is designed to keep you on edge, but also keep you ready to laugh. If you don't like the opening scenes then you're not going to have a good time. But if you're a fan of Robinson's work . . . I cannot imagine you coming away from this disappointed. It's everything you could want, and then some.  

9/10

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Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire (2024)

Ghostbusters is forty years old now. Forty years old. It is, in my view, an enduring classic, and one of my favourite blockbuster comedies. And yet . . . the fact that it IS now forty years old makes it all the stranger to see how much of it is repeated and/or repurposed in this latest release, officially the fifth movie in a franchise that has maintained a presence in our pop culture thanks to the various movies, videogames, toys, cartoons, etc.

FIRE STATION!

There is probably a right way and a wrong way to write a proper review of Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire, but I hope doing things in the wrong way will highlight how the film itself was so mishandled.

SLIMER!

Some time has passed since the events of the last movie. Our main characters (played by Finn Wolfhard, Mckenna Grace, Paul Rudd, and Carrie Coon) are now based in New York, much to the chagrin of the current mayor (played by William Atherton, reprising the character of Walter Peck, of course). But the containment system is perilously close to being overloaded, a big new threat is looming, and the character played by Grace ends up spending a lot of her time with a friendly ghost (Melody, played by Emily Alyn Lind).

LIBRARY GHOST!

Co-written once again by Gil Kenan and Jason Reitman, with the former also being allowed to direct this time around, it’s easy to see why certain choices were made here, and just as easy to see how this film could have been greatly improved. It’s too busy creating moments that will remind you of the first movie that it forgets to make good use of most of the main characters, and the decent finale is a case of too little too late when viewers have slogged through the mess preceding it.

DAN AYKROYD!

There’s some good stuff here, much better than the return of a familiar villain we got in the last movie. The opening sequence is great, everything looks set to be spectacular and thrilling, and then it is all largely abandoned in favour of callbacks and cameos, which is all the more frustrating when you get a treat like the new character, Lars, played by James Acaster with a hairstyle not entirely dissimilar to the one sported by Egon Spengler in The Real Ghostbusters. I also have to say that Lind is fantastic as the forlorn and regret-filled Melody.

STAY-PUFT MARSHMALLOW MAN!

It is hard to give my opinion on a cast who are so often wasted in their roles. Grace remains a very watchable talent, but her sub-plot here ensures that her character is unwisely kept moody and lonely until the third act. Acaster is a fantastic addition, it’s nice to see some more of Ernie Hudson, Patton Oswalt comes along to be Mr. Exposition, and Kumail Nanjiani isn’t given a chance to be as funny as we all know he can be. As for the other familiar faces, they are all pretty unnecessary.

BILL MURRAY!

This is a series that seems intent on restricting itself to tales that are now just frames to hang a load of nostalgia on. It’s not a good approach, and this review emulated the structure of the film. You have everything punctuated by a cameo that is supposed to bring some extra happiness to the viewers, but it doesn’t work when there is no other reason for those cameos to happen. It’s the equivalent of some SNL sketch being hate-crashed by a celebrity who just comments on their own celebrity and their bemusement at being on SNL. That could be amusing, but you would soon tire of it if it was every SNL sketch. And you will soon tire of it here.

BILL MURRAY AGAIN!

Each time I think this movie series cannot get any worse I end up being proven wrong. It has become a depressing cycle of ever-diminishing returns now, and I am always sucked in by the trailer and the optimistic idea that “maybe this time they will get it right”. This is the worst yet, and actually feels embarrassingly desperate at times.

I will still watch another one, but you may as well search for my spark of hope in the ecto-containment unit, because that is well and truly dead after watching this.

3/10

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Ant-Man And The Wasp: Quantumania (2023)

I have enjoyed the Ant-Man movies, despite them always feeling like lesser Marvel movies. While everything was building towards grand Avengers-based adventures, being taken on tangents with Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) and co. felt refreshingly small-scale (no pun intended) and more simplistically fun. And I own them on 3D Blu-ray, which is the best way to get maximum enjoyment from them, as far as I’m concerned.

Try as I might, however, I could not work up any enthusiasm for this third instalment in the series. Marvel have been wildly inconsistent after achieving an astonishing modern cinematic success with the finale of the Infinity War saga, and I wasn’t thrilled to think of an entire movie set on the quantum realm. We have been there before, very briefly, and it’s visualized as an alien landscape in which people can very easily lose their minds.

But here we are. Things start very quickly. Cassie (Scott’s daughter, now played by Kathryn Newton) has been working on a device to map the quantum realm. It works by beaming a signal down there, which causes a problem when something locks on to that signal and drags Cassie, her dad, Hope Van Dyne AKA The Wasp (Evangeline Lilly), Hank Pym (Michael Douglas), and Janet Van Dyne (Michelle Pfeiffer). The quantum realm is even more dangerous than ever, thanks to the looming presence of Kang The Conqueror (Jonathan Majors).

Peyton Reed may be an experienced pair of hands back in the director’s chair, and he may have his cast happy to work with the usual large amount of invisible environments to be added in later, but writer Jeff Loveness is the one trying to fit everything into the film in a way that mixes humour and tension as it sets up the new main villain of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Sadly, he isn’t up to the task, leaving the cast floundering and the screen full of garishly overdone CGI that wouldn’t look out of place in some of the Star Wars prequels.

The only thing this gets absolutely right is the build-up for Kang, and that is as much down to the performance of Majors as it is to the script. Jokes are very hit and miss, with way more of the latter than the former, and it’s strange to even think of a whole movie set in the quantum realm when previous movies had delivered such dire warnings about accidentally going there. Then you have the issue of scale, changing scale often being a vital fun factor for these movies. It isn’t as enjoyable to watch someone shrink and supersize, depending on the situation, while they are in a world with less substantial reference points to help underline the rapid changes.

It isn’t necessarily ALL the fault of Loveness, who I am sure will have been given plenty of notes and plot points to hit, but the script here, in every way, keeps this bogged down near the very bottom of the Marvel movie pile.

Rudd is still a great choice for our hero, arguably even better at portraying an reluctant everyman hero than Tom Holland in the Peter/Spider-Man role. Newton is a great addition, playing her socially-conscious teen with an energy and naïveté that stops her from ever becoming too annoying. Douglas, Pfeiffer, and Lilly are all as good as you would hope, and all get involved in some of the action set-pieces, and there is a surprising reappearance in the series for Corey Stoll, although I am still making up my mind on whether I liked or disliked his character. Majors is the other highlight though, as I have already said, and the third act at least does well to give viewers an idea of how this character should so effectively threaten, and could even change, heroes, timelines, and realities.

There are some fun cameos, and one that feels a bit too smug and irritating (for some reason), and an intriguing moment at the end, as expected, and I will admit that some of the third act came close to making up for some of the lacklustre scenes that preceded it. Close, but not quite close enough. Visually, tonally, and even conceptually, this is a mess. It’s a shame that it couldn’t at least manage to be a consistently entertaining mess.

4/10

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Ghostbusters: Afterlife (2021)

It's no wonder that mainstream moviegoers are so often given the same product recycled again and again and again. It would seem that many, understandably, crave the comfort of familiarity over any attempts to strike out on some new directions. Sold on the line that "this is the sequel that the fans deserved"and "this is what fans really wanted", Ghostbusters: Afterlife is, essentially, a clumsy rehash of elements from the first movie. It relies so much on nostalgia, and has a plot that comes perilously close to simply being "evil dies tonight", that it's arguably closer in form to Halloween Kills than the first Ghostbusters movie.

I'm going to try to avoid spoilers here, but you can all rest easy in the fact that there are a number of satisfying cameos in this film. One such cameo is Egon Spengler. Well, it's the spirit of him. Due to Harold Ramis having passed away a few years ago, the writers of this film (Gil Kenan and director Jason Reitman) decided to kick things off with the death of his character, allowing for plenty of extra button-pushing and emotional manipulation throughout. With Spengler deceased, his property is handed over to his estranged daughter, Callie (Carrie Coon), and her children, Trevor (Finn Wolfhard) and Phoebe (Mckenna Grace). Things start to get spooky, old equipment is discovered (including the ECTO-1, of course), and there's a local teacher, Mr. Grooberson (Paul Rudd), who can provide exposition and become directly involved in the whole escapade. 

I enjoyed many parts of Ghostbusters: Afterlife, and that includes many parts that worked for me by simply making reference to the first film. It's fun to see people practising their aim with a proton pack. It's great to see the engine of the ECTO-1 starting up. And a decent part of the plotting actually works well as a direct continuation of previous events. The good work, however, is undone by the feeling of laziness, smugness, and disrespect by the time everything if thrown at the screen in the third act to placate viewers who deserved much better. A large part of the problem is the reliance on the spirit of Egon, which would have worked better if it was just, as it is in much of the movie, a vague and undefined thing. There are another couple of major issues though, and they will be brought up shortly.

Cast-wise, everyone is fine. While I am not the biggest fan of Wolfhard, and he is the least of the younger players here, he doesn’t do a bad job. Celeste O’Connor does a bit better, playing a girl who catches his eye/heart. Rudd gets to play the character who is the most amusing and Coon has to simply be “the parent”, which she does fine with. But it’s the younger cast members who shine, with Logan Kim great fun as a young podcaster, imaginatively named just Podcast, and Grace being the best new Egon type since Kate McKinnon in the last Ghostbusters movie (oh stop pretending it doesn’t exist, it is a better idea overall film than this one). Grace is so good that she makes up for a lot of what Reitman and Kenan get wrong.

Directorially sound, everything wrong here stems from a script that is desperate to remind viewers of the original without the writers themselves remembering, Yes, people love the characters and the equipment, and we all want ghosts and beasties to create havoc at times, but there should also be a lot of laughs (which this is lacking). There IS, at times, a sense of fun, and it is often blended with that warm glow of familiarity, but there are very few actual laughs. What you also used to have were movies that stemmed from a legacy of films mixing chills and humour, so it wasn’t necessarily entirely original, but it felt entirely original. What we have here is a film that cannot go for more than a few minutes without repeating a well-known beat or referencing the cinematic past of the Ghostbusters business. That doesn’t seem so bad when it all feels effective (references to Shandor work well, and some returning faces feel like a logical choice for a big villain). It fails when you realise that it’s the height of laziness (cute they may be, and in the final trailers, but there is no reason for the mini-Stay Puft characters here, except for easy bonus points and merch).

It didn’t pain me while it was on. There are some nice shots, the soundtrack works well, and uses a number of familiar cues, and one or two set-pieces feel enjoyably cinematic and able to remind us all that “bustin’ makes me feel good”. It’s not a great film though, and I would argue that it’s the weakest Ghostbusters film yet. Maybe a sequel that doesn’t feel too beholden to the original film will work better. I hope we get to find out.

5/10

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Mubi Monday: Prince Avalanche (2012)

Written and directed by David Gordon Green, based on an earlier film by Hafsteinn Gunnar Sigur∂sson (and, yes, it took me a good ten minutes to figure out how to type that out on my standard keyboard), Prince Avalanche is very much in line with a number of his other low-key comedy dramas, especially his earlier works.

Paul Rudd is Alvin, a road worker who is painting yellow lines and placing roadside posts with Lance (Emile Hirsch), a young man who is also the brother of his girlfriend. These two individuals in the middle of nowhere find the isolation affecting them in different ways. Alvin likes the peace, Lance misses some of the relative hustle and bustle of small-town life. Their time is occasionally interrupted by a local truck driver (Lance LeGault), and Alvin also has an encounter with a woman (Joyce Payne) who shares a sad tale of loss that helps to underline what is worth holding dear in life.

Your enjoyment of Prince Avalanche will depend on a couple of main factors. First of all, how you feel about Rudd and Hirsch in the lead roles. I don't know of anyone who dislikes Rudd (and if anyone reading this hates the man then I just don't understand how you go through life with such darkness in your soul), but Hirsch has definitely lost a bit of goodwill over the years. I've always liked him onscreen though, even if he's rarely the best choice for any role, and he works well here, often annoying Rudd by doing nothing more than being a standard "kid" who struggles with what could be meditative time in nature.

The other main factor here is the direction from Green. After three comedies that were more brash and broad than his usual style, Prince Avalanche feels very much like an attempt to ground himself once more, to prove that he could go back to the quieter, more naturalistic, style of film-making that brought him to the attention of film fans at the turn of the century. It works, but I am sure it would be a bit disappointing to anyone hoping that they would be getting more stoner gags and silliness.

All of the main performances are very good, with the bulk of the runtime seeing the film carried by Rudd and Hirsch. LeGault and Payne may not have much screentime, but the script, and their performances, allows them to provide another angle of reflection for the leads. The same goes for the main work being done, the painting of the yellow lines and the other work making a quiet road into a safer route to travel. It's monotonous, quite thankless, and ultimately quite important to those who will get the benefit of it. Much like many other tasks in life.

Although the characters spend some time walking around, journeying through the quiet landscape around them, this could easily have been a stage play, and that's perhaps the best way to view it. It's a two-hander, for the most part, with a background of trees, quiet road, and lives temporarily left behind that will need to be faced up to again in the near future.

7/10

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Mute (2018)

There are many pros and cons to the immediacy and availability that Netflix gives to viewers. Many now prefer having some big titles that can be watched from the comfort of their own home (and I am one of them), many complain that it is taking us further away from the big screen experience. Many of their original movies, and titles they have acquired, have been interesting and enjoyable, although just as many people now see Netflix as a dumping ground for the dross that studios realise won't make them enough money at the box office. And everyone has an opinion ASAP, which can make it harder to fully form your own thoughts for a review without considering what others have already said.

Many of the reviews I have noticed so far for Mute have not been kind, and I will mention some of the criticisms here because they are, for the most part, fair. Regardless of the problems it has, however, I have to say that I really enjoyed Mute. It's far from perfect, but it's a stylish and enjoyable sci-fi thriller that takes some dark turns I really wasn't expecting.

Alexander Skarsgård plays Leo, a young man who lost his voice in a childhood accident. He works in a bar, avoids most tech due to his Amish upbringing, enjoys crafting wood into little pieces of art, and is in love with a young woman, Naadirah (Seyneb Saleh). When Naadirah suddenly goes missing, Leo sets out to find her, taking himself deeper and deeper into murky and dangerous waters, populated by powerful criminals and lesser crooks, like the two characters portrayed by Paul Rudd and Justin Theroux.

Directed by Duncan Jones, who also co-wrote the movie with Michael Robert Johnson, Mute is a good idea that isn't realised to its full potential. In fact, it's a mish-mash of good ideas that aren't all handled as they should be. The whole idea of Leo being Amish isn't ever used as well as it could be, and in one scene he takes to driving almost as well as Michael Myers did. It's something that could have set this film further apart from others in this subgenre, but not enough is done with it. The same can be said about the world created onscreen, and the fluidity of gender depicted in a number of the characters. Jones has created a fine top coat, there's just nothing underneath to keep it there, leaving it to wear thin and eventually flake away to nothing.

The above paragraph won't be news to anyone who has read any other reviews of Mute. They are common criticisms, and I agree with them. What I don't agree with is the opinion that some of the darker and more disturbing moments are unnecessary. There's a character development in Mute that will make viewers very uncomfortable, and rightly so, and the pay off is huge. If this element hadn't been incorporated into the script, as horrible as it made me feel, then the final act would have had less tension and less impact.

I also disagree with anyone complaining about the acting from the leads. Skarsgård is superb in his role, he's so great at displaying both strength and vulnerability, those wide eyes ready to tear up when he is being hammered with truths he doesn't want to hear. Rudd is equally superb, playing his character with such energy and sardonic humour that you're often not sure whether to enjoy his company or simply loathe him, and Theroux does very well with arguably the easiest of the three roles. Robert Sheehan is impressive in his various incarnations, while Noel Clarke and Robert Kazinsky feel as if they have wandered in off the set of a very different type of film. And then we have Saleh, who is just . . . okay. Viewers have to buy into the central relationship by buying into the portrayal and appeal of Leo, otherwise this wouldn't work, mainly due to the fact that we don't get enough time to know Saleh. She is not the onlt female character given short shrift. The film, as a whole, doesn't give us many female characters at all, and those who do get screentime aren't handed anywhere near the best roles, to say the least.

But here's the thing about the problems with Mute. They don't matter so much while the film is playing. Jones paces things well enough, he incorporates some beeautiful shots (a sequence in a bowling alley is a real standout), and he clearly has faith in his actors to distract you from the weaknesses. Which they do, and that easily makes it worth a couple of hours of your time.

7/10

It's on Netflix now so there are no links here for shiny discs.

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

Bonus Review: Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues (2013)

Most people will already know whether or not they're going to like Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues. It reteams writer-director Adam McKay with writer-star Will Ferrell, it brings back all of the main cast member, and it fills the screen with many gags riffing on material from the first movie.

Ferrell is Ron Burgundy, of course, and this movie sees him at another crossroads in his life. He's having relationship problems with Veronica (Christina Applegate) and he's not the success he once was, but Freddie Shapp (Dylan Baker) comes along at just the right time to make him an interesting offer. 24 hour news. The idea seems ridiculous, but when Ron is allowed to get his old team back together he sees no reason not to at least give it a go. Which allows viewers to spend more time with Ron, Brick Tamland (Steve Carell), Brian Fantana (Paul Rudd), and Champ Kind (David Koechner).

I was hoping to love this sequel, and perhaps one day I will. But not today. It has some decent gags here and there, but too many moments feel either overdone and stretched out, with the film coming in at just under two hours, or far too reliant on replaying jokes from the first movie, with minor variations.

I must say, however, that when I first saw the first Anchorman movie I wasn't impressed. I didn't see what all the fuss was about. And then I ended up watching it almost every day for a fortnight, eventually coming to the conclusion that it was the funniest movie of the year. I'm not sure if the same thing will happen here, but I will allow for the fact that this may well grow on me.

As well as Dylan Baker, Meagan Good is a new addition to the sprawling ensemble, adding some more discomfort for Burgundy by being both a woman and black. Yes, you can imagine some of the awkwardness that ensues, but Good matches everyone in the cast with her fun, fiery turn. James Marsden gives yet another great performance in an increasingly long line of great performances (seriously, the guy is turning into quite the scene-stealer) as Burgundy's main rival in the studio, Greg Kinnear gets a few good moments as Burgundy's main rival elsewhere, and Kirsten Wiig bumps up the laugh quota as a female counterpart to Brick Tamland. Fans will also be happy to hear that there's another cameo-filled fight scene to liven up the third act.

McKay and Ferrell seems to bring out both the worst and the best in one another. They have some great ideas, and great running gags, but the self-indulgence on display sometimes outweighs the thin material, and an excessive runtime really doesn't help.

Of course, those who enjoy the whole thing more than I did will welcome every extra minute.

Those who want to stay classy for much longer will do well to pick up Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues on Bluray, which also contains the alternate version of the movie (complete with 763 new jokes, according to the advertising) and more extras than you can shake a glass of scotchy scotch scotch at.

5/10

http://www.amazon.com/Anchorman-Legend-Continues-Blu-ray-Digital/dp/B0083XXWRE/ref=sr_1_2?s=movies-tv&ie=UTF8&qid=1400860610&sr=1-2&keywords=anchorman

The Perks Of Being A Wallflower (2012)

Written and directed by Stephen Chbosky, adapting his own novel, The Perks Of Being A Wallflower is a good film with moments of greatness, helped enormously by a winning central performance from Logan Lerman as the main character. The fact that it ends up not as good as it could be stems from some tired cliches of quirkiness being trotted out, and also from one or two complete mis-steps (like having the cool kids who love cool music not be able to recognise the song "Heroes" by David Bowie - watch the film and you'll probably have the same expression of puzzlement and disdain that I had during that moment).

Lerman plays Charlie, a sensitive young man who doesn't really fit in with those around him at school. He enjoys reading and writing, and quickly finds out that he'll at least really enjoy listening to his new English teacher (Paul Rudd). He's also had some mental health problems, but whatever caused them is obviously going to be held back for viewers to discover as the movie builds to its finale. Anyway, Charlie starts to enjoy life a LOT more when he befriends Patrick (Ezra Miller) and Sam (Emma Watson). That also leads to him becoming friends with a few of their friends, and it soon gets easier for Charlie to keep the good days outnumbering the bad days. But the situation probably can't stay so stable, especially when Charlie has such strong feelings for Sam.

Chbosky does fine with the structuring and feel of the movie. There are details teased out as things build up to the climax, and there's fine line between the comedy and the dark tension always running underneath it. He's helped by a good cast, but few of the supporting actors are as good as Lerman. Watson tries hard, and I suppose does a pretty good job, but I just can't accept her as the sexy, cool, free spirit that she's portraying here because, well, I've never found her sexy or cool. She may be both of those things, and I know that she's certainly the former to some people, but she doesn't ever seem that way to me, therefore her character is bearable but unconvincing. Miller does a lot better, but his character is another cliche, alongside Watson's quirky object of desire. Miller is the exuberant gay male, spreading around enough love for everyone while hiding a lot of his personal pain deep inside. Mae Whitman is great for almost every moment that she's onscreen, Johnny Simmons adds another good turn to his CV, and Dylan McDermott and Kate Walsh play Charlie's parents, the two may not have much screentime but still do well with what they're given. And horror fans will be delighted by the small role that Tom Savini has in the movie.


There's nothing new here, and that may be the biggest problem that The Perks Of Being A Wallflower has, but a lot of what IS here is done well, and I can't praise that central turn from Lerman enough. But, honestly, the other big problem is . . . . . . . . . what kind of cool kids don't recognise a great David Bowie song when they hear one?

7/10

http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Perks-Being-Wallflower-Blu-ray/dp/B008OQ037W/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1391897925&sr=8-4&keywords=the+perks+of+being+a+wallflower

All Is Bright (2013)

Recently paroled ex-con, Dennis (Paul Giamatti), is so desperate for work that he ends up forcing himself upon his friend, Rene (Paul Rudd). Actually, Rene isn't quite the friend that he once was, considering the fact that he plans to marry Therese (Amy Landecker), the former partner of Dennis. Dennis and Rene travel to New York to sell Christmas trees, and it doesn't take long for things to get tense between them. Dennis just can't seem to let go of the past, despite his insistence that he wants to, while Rene doesn't help the situation with his far-too-laidback manner and inability to think of the best ways to make the business profitable. But things start to look up when Olga (Sally Hawkins) comes along to buy a tree, and ends up befriending Dennis.

This is a strange, strange movie, mainly due to the setting. Dennis and Rene are two men who live in a French Canadian area, but that isn't something that factors into the movie enough to really warrant its inclusion. I'm not saying that you can't have people from French Canadian territories making a trip to New York to sell Christmas trees as the core of your movie, but it just seems a bit unnecessary, when the film feels, in all other respects, like a film that could have been made about characters from anywhere. Okay, they may be selling a better quality of tree (I guess, I'm no expert on tree types) and there are a few moments when language proves to be an extra obstacle/irritant, but that's it. I'll admit it, during the first 20 minutes or so, I assumed that this was a clumsy remake of a superior film.

Giamatti and Rudd both do well together, with the former being the best thing in the movie, using his standard hangdog expression to great effect. Landecker isn't onscreen for all that long, despite her character being most important in the tension that's created, but she does well enough. Hawkins is a lot of fun as Olga, playing the quirky female who enters the life of the lead character without it feeling just like every other quirky female role to have popped up in a lot of independent dramas in recent years.

Director Phil Morrison doesn't really do much at all, or so it seems. Of course, I might have been offering him some praise if he'd deliberately kept everything low-key and natural, deciding on that as the best way to deal with Melissa James Gibson's script, but that's not how everything is. It becomes clear, at times, that the movie is trying to blend a grittiness with that magical, Christmas-time feeling, but it doesn't work. The horrible, distracting, score by Graham Reynolds is just one of many mis-steps as the movie plods along from start to finish. To list all of the others would take too long. A LOT of the problems come from the script, but Morrison certainly doesn't do anything to help.

If it wasn't for Giamatti, Rudd and Hawkins then I wouldn't recommend this to anyone. Their performances make it tolerable, while everything else in the movie conspires to get viewers to give up long before the end.

5/10

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Monsters Vs. Aliens (2009)

Monsters Vs. Aliens is a relatively enjoyable animated movie that will appeal more to sci-fi fans than anyone else, while keeping the kids easily entertained. The visual style isn't the best that you could hope for (it's certainly a few rungs below Pixar, for example) but it makes up for that with fun, energy and a multitude of references to classic science fiction movies.

Things start off with young Susan (voiced by Reese Witherspoon) getting ready for her wedding day with weatherman/wannabe anchor Derek Dietl (Paul Rudd). The wedding is spoiled, however, when a huge meteor lands on Susan and then transforms her into a giant. She is then whisked off by the military and wakes up in a facility that also houses Dr. Cockroach (Hugh Laurie), B.O.B (Seth Rogen), The Missing Link (Will Arnett) and Insectosaurus. Monsters, one and all. When Earth is invaded by a greedy alien (Rainn Wilson) then it's up to the monsters to potentially save the day, in case you couldn't guess from the title of the movie.

With the bright and brash style in every frame and the cartoon monsters in the lead roles, it's easy to dismiss Monsters Vs. Aliens but, to be fair, there's plenty to love in almost every scene. Homage follows homage, from the early moment that will make viewers of House Of Wax (1953) smile to the creatures and their backstories to a ridiculously entertaining scene that involved the president (Stephen Colbert) trying to communicate with an alien with a keyboard and one or two familiar tunes. Every little gag shows a knowledge and love for the material being referenced.

The script had a lot of people involved but that's often the case with animated movies so don't let that put you off. Directors Rob Letterman and Conrad Vernon do a great job (Letterman can now be forgiven for partially directing the horrible sub-par Shark Tale) and they're helped by a fantastic vocal cast that includes everyone already mentioned plus Kiefer Sutherland, Amy Poehler and others.

I was hoping to enjoy this movie when I sat down to watch it and by the time the end credits rolled I was wondering whether or not I had grown to love it. Nope, it wasn't quite that good. However, I really liked it and I'll buy it when I get the chance because it's something I know I will enjoy watching again and again. Admittedly, the first 10 minutes or so aren't great and you may start to wonder just why you've decided to give it a viewing but stick with it and you will be rewarded.

7/10

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Monsters-vs-Aliens-Blu-ray/dp/B002BH3IWM/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1343722258&sr=8-2

Reno 911!: Miami (2007)

While I never watched the TV version of Reno 911! I was somehow always aware of it. It was a parody of the "COPS"-style TV shows that have become so popular over the last decade or so and featured some great comedy from two people I really enjoy seeing onscreen - Thomas Lennon and Wendi McLendon-Covey. Maybe if I'd seen some episodes I would have enjoyed it. Maybe not.

The plot sees our hapless police officers invited to a big event in Miami. It's not that they're special, or that anyone actually wanted them there, but the fact is that this time around everyone was invited. Things start off as you would expect - the group are mocked and their details can't be found on the system - but things swiftly turn around the next day when a terrorist attack leaves every other officer quarantined inside the main event building. Law and order must remain and it's up to the folks from Reno to uphold it. Uh oh.

Directed by Robert Ben Garant (who also co-wrote the thing with stars Thomas Lennon and Kerri Kenney - and, I'm sure, everyone who was able to improv some lines), this movie suffers due to the fact that every single character is just slightly too dumb to be amusing for an entire film. The cops are dumb, of course, but The Rock pops up just to be dumb too. Then we have a dumb, though still amusing, Scarface-inspired baddie played by Paul Rudd. Patton Oswalt, as Jeff Spoder, does reasonably well until the big finale, in which he also becomes pretty dumb. It's a symphony of stupidity and that's a tricky thing to get just right, which is why the movie falls down slightly.

There are many individual moments that cause laughs (the aforementioned appearance from The Rock is one while attempts to remove the body of a beached whale is another) but there are many other moments that pile on the crudity and nonsense without success. Lennon is consistently great, as are Wendi McLendon-Covey and Kerri Kenney, but the other main characters are either undeveloped or just plain unfunny.

With a cast that also features David Koechner and Nick Swardson, and even a small and amusing cameo for Danny DeVito, there's enough stupidity thrown around to make this a passable time-waster but it's not one that I'll choose to watch again.

5/10

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Reno-911-Miami-The-Movie/dp/B000RGUN2W/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1341255680&sr=8-1