The Campaign

PLOT (spoiler alert!!!):

Democratic Congressman Cam Brady (Will Ferrell) of North Carolina’s 14th District is running for his fifth term unopposed. However his campaign is damaged by the revelation of his affair with one of his supporters, when Cam accidentally leaves a sexually explicit voice message on a local family’s phone.

Corrupt businessmen, brothers Glen (John Lithgow) and Wade Motch (Dan Aykroyd), use this opportunity to convince Marty Huggins (Zach Galifianakis), tourism director for the town of Hammond and son of one of their associates, Raymond Huggins (Brian Cox), to run against Cam on the Republican ticket, as part of a plan to profit from illegal dealings with Chinese companies. Cam at first underestimates Marty and humiliates him by playing a video biography highlighting Marty’s dim-witted nature. The Motch brothers then hire Tim Wattley (Dylan McDermott) to be Marty’s campaign manager. Tim reinvents Marty as a successful entrepreneur and family man. Marty’s popularity rises due to his effective campaign while Cam’s is further damaged when he accidentally punches a baby when intending to hit Marty. Cam later runs a campaign portraying Marty as an Al Qaeda terrorist, and Marty exposes Cam as a fake Christian by asking him to recite the Lord’s Prayer, which he fails to do. Cam attempts to restore his religious image by visiting a church of snake handlers, but he gets bitten by a snake. A video of the bite is leaked into the Internet and goes viral, increasing Cam’s popularity.

When Cam’s son plans to slander his competition for class president, Cam realizes he has set a bad example and visits Marty to make peace. A drunken Cam tells Marty that he originally became a politician to help people, citing that as class president he had a dangerous, rusty slide removed from the playground. After Cam leaves, Wattley convinces Marty to call the police and report Cam for driving while drunk. Cam is arrested and his campaign is again damaged. Marty later airs a TV ad of Cam’s son addressing Marty as “dad”. Cam gets revenge on Marty by seducing his neglected wife Mitzy (Sarah Baker) and recording the act. The released sex tape humiliates the Huggins family and causes Cam’s campaign manager, Mitch (Jason Sudeikis), to abandon him. Marty retaliates by shooting Cam in the leg on a hunting trip, increasing his own popularity.

As the election nears, Marty meets with the Motch brothers and learns of their plans to sell Hammond to their Chinese business partner and turn the town into a large series of factories. Marty realizes he has been used and rejects the Motch brothers’ support. The Motch brothers offer Cam their support instead to preserve their plans. Marty meanwhile reconciles with his family.

On election day, Cam’s victory appears to be certain until Marty comes forward and exposes the Motch brothers’ intent and promises to preserve Hammond if elected. Cam still wins and remains congressman due to rigged voting machines owned by the Motch brothers. While Cam gloats, Marty shows his large scars to Cam and reveals that he looked up to Cam in school for getting rid of the dangerous slide. Realizing he has swayed from his true objectives as a politician, Cam withdraws from the election and Marty wins by default. Cam earns back Mitch’s respect, and Marty later appoints him his chief of staff.

Six months later, Marty and Cam expose the Motch brothers’ scandals and the brothers are called to appear before Congress. The Motch brothers point out that everything they did is legal under Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, but they are arrested for their association with Wattley, who is actually an international fugitive.

REVIEW:

So, isn’t it about time we had a Will Ferrell flick (in English)? Well, we got it with The Campaign. Some people may avoid this flick because of its two leads, Ferrell and Zach Galiafianakis tend to rub them the wrong way, but together they make magic!

What is this about?

Plenty of mud gets slung when an inexperienced contender backed by two plotting benefactors goes up against a longtime North Carolina congressman in a ruthless battle to win a House of Representatives seat.

What did I like?

Chemistry. Ferrell and Galifiankis seem to really gel together as political rivals. Their distinctive brands of comedy really played well in contrast to each other, as did their portrayal of these characters.

Satire. You can say I’m a conspiracy theorist for this, but I don’t care. It is hard to not believe there are certain powers behind the scenes pulling the strings with nearly every politician from the local school board member all the way up to the President himself (as soon as I post this, I’m sure the Secret Service will be at my door). That being said, it is good to see a film take the ludicrosity of the enormous powers these people, I use that term loosely, have and skewer it. No person, or group of person should be allowed to wield such power!

Help. For all the talk of the guys running for office, we can’t ignore their assistants, played by Jason Sudeikis and Dylan McDermott, respectively. It is their job to be the proverbial straight men and keep things running smoothly. Oh, and hey also have to see to their guy getting elected.

What didn’t I like?

Release. I really question the timing of the release of this film. Seems as if it could have really capitalized on the election hoopla, rather than the late summer scraps. I can just see how this would have been a nice break from all the dark, evil feelings that came about during the election last month.

Is he or isn’t he. The way Zach Galifiankis’ character had a very effeminate way about him didn’t really sit right with me, especially since it turns out he is a Republican, a party not known for welcoming those who act “differently”. In a way it is kinda funny, but at the same time, not so much. It is just one of those things that works for a little while, and then you either begin to ignore it or grow weary of it.

Wives club. The wives seem to be forgotten. Ferrell’s wife has a bit more development, though she does run off with the children, but given his sexual indiscretions, that’s alright. Galifiankis’ wife, though, is as sweet as can be, but she is lost in the shuffle, save for a couple of scenes where she laments about how the election is changing and taking her husband away from her.

The Campaign is a nice little flick that is sure to bring a smile to those who watch it. As it is a satirical film, though, there are sure to be those that are offended by its view of politics. Rest assured, though, I don’t believe it veers to the left or right with its topics. I recommend this, especially around election time. It is the perfect flick to lighten things up.

3 out of 5 stars

Puss in Boots

PLOT (spoiler alert!!!):

Years before Puss (Antonio Banderas) meets Shrek and Donkey in Shrek 2, he goes on a heroic adventure teaming up with mastermind Humpty Dumpty and street-savvy Kitty Softpaws. He learns that the outlaw couple Jack (Billy Bob Thornton) and Jill (Amy Sedaris) have the magic beans he’s been looking for most of his life, beans that can lead him to a giant’s castle holding valuable golden goose eggs. When Puss tries to steal them from the outlaws’ room, a masked cat (Salma Hayek) interrupts. Both fail and escape, and Puss follows the cat back to the Glitter Box, a club, where they have a dance-off and a sword fight, ending when Puss hits the masked cat in the head with a guitar. He learns that the masked cat is Kitty Softpaws, and is shocked to learn she is a girl. She is allied with Humpty Alexander Dumpty (Zach Galifianakis), a talking egg and Puss’ long-estranged childhood friend from the orphanage where he was raised. Puss tells Kitty of his feelings of betrayal for a youthful misadventure when Humpty tricked Puss into helping commit a crime. Humpty attempts to convince Puss to join them in finding the beans and retrieving the golden eggs, which he does.

The trio steals the beans from Jack and Jill and elude the angry outlaws in a canyon chase. As Humpty leads his compatriots to the spot where they must plant the beans, Puss and Kitty’s relationship begins to grow from rivalry into friendship. The trio ride the fast-growing beanstalk into the clouds where, Humpty explains, they’ll find the castle of the late giant, while trying to avoid a fearsome monster called the Terror who guards the Golden Goose. When they realize the golden eggs are too heavy to carry, they steal the Goose — which is just a gosling — and escape the castle and the Terror. While celebrating their victory, the group is ambushed by Jack and Jill, who knock Puss unconscious.

When Puss wakes up, he tracks Jack and Jill back to his old hometown, where he learns that the entire heist was a plot by Humpty to lure him home to be captured, as revenge for abandoning him to the authorities when Humpty’s youthful heist went bad. Jack, Jill, and even Kitty were involved in the con. After pleas from his adoptive mother, the head of the orphanage, Puss turns himself in to the guards while Humpty donates many golden eggs to the town and becomes a hero.

While in prison, Puss meets the original Jack from the “Jack and the Beanstalk” (a.k.a. Andy Beanstalk) story who warns him that the Terror is in fact the Golden Goose’s mother, and it will stop at nothing to get its child back. A repentant Kitty helps Puss break out of prison and tells him that she loves him more than gold. Puss convinces Humpty to help him fight off the Terror, saying he knows Humpty is a good person at heart, and he will be forgiven if he helps save the town. The Terror arrives, revealing itself to be a giant goose, aka Mother Goose. Using the Golden Goose as bait, Puss and Humpty lure the Terror out of the town, but Humpty and the Goose are knocked off a bridge with Puss holding on to them. Humpty knows Puss cannot hold both of them, and he lets go, sacrificing himself to save the Goose and the town. Humpty’s shell cracks open to reveal that he was a golden egg on the inside. The Terror then takes the Goose and Humpty away back to the giant’s castle.

Puss is forced to flee because he is still an outlaw, but his efforts to save the town make him a hero among the townspeople. Puss and Kitty escape the guards once more, and Kitty says she will see him again soon, showing that she has taken his boots. In the epilogue, Jack and Jill are recovering from their injuries after being crushed by the Terror, Humpty is shown once again in his regular egg form, wearing a golden egg suit, as he rides the Terror into the clouds, and Puss and Kitty head back to dance at the Glitter Box, where they finally kiss.

REVIEW:

From the moment we were first introduced to Puss in Shrek 2, it was quite obvious this was a character destined for bigger and better things, such as his own spinoff. The wait for this film has been a long and tedious one, filled with a couple of exceedingly bad and unnecessary Shrek film, but finally we have Puss in Boots!

I don’t recall what the original tale of Puss involved, but I’m pretty certain it didn’t involve an orphanage, Humpty Dumpty, and of course Jack & Jill. However, while this isn’t a Shrek picture, it is still taking place in the same universe where fairy tale creatures all live together. There are some out there who thought this was going to really deviate from the franchise’s formula, so rest assured it doesn’t.

Let’s cover the good first, shall we? It was great to see, um, hear Antonio Banderas back with Salma Hayek. With the great chemistry these two have, you’d think we’d see them together as often as audiences of yesteryear got to enjoy Ginger Roger and Fred Astaire.

Animation is top-notch, though not Pixar level, and just goes to show how far technology has come since our first introduction to the character.

The action scenes are awesome! Seriously, do you expect less from Puss in Boots? The best one, though, has to be the initial, for lack of a better term, catfight between Puss and the mysterious masked cat (who turns out to be Kitty Softpaws).

Some may not agree with me on this, but I like how this film was totally removed from anything to do with Shrek. There wasn’t a cameo, poster, or anything involving any of those characters. While some may think it may have been nice to see them, I happen to think it would have been nothing more than beating a dead horse, especially after the last two films proved that Shrek should have been left alone after 2 films. There is also the little fact that this takes place long before Puss is hired to assassinate Shrek, and is also in what appears to be a different country, so why would Shrek be foisted upon us in Puss’ feature film?

Now, onto the bad…

The story was alright. I actually liked it, but when they started going into flashback mode, I started dozing off. Ironically, Kitty does the same thing. I’m not saying anything needed to be changed in the way the plot went, but they could have done something to make the flashbacks more interesting.

Humpty Dumpty just did not appeal to me. Firstly, he doesn’t quite fit in. If you will notice, everyone speaks with some sort of Hispanic accent, yet Humpty is as American as they come! This really took away the believability of his character for me. Couple that with the fact that Zach Galifianakis is slowly but surely becoming more annoying than Jack Black, if that’s possible. As much as studios seem to like using George Lopez, Cheech Marin, or even Danny Trejo, you would think they’d have used them instead.

Keeping on the topic of Galifianakis, the guy just does not have any kind of charisma and definitely lacks chemistry with Hayek and Banderas. In other words, he’s severely miscast, in my opinion.

Jack & Jill are the secondary antagonists, but they are underused. With this gross re-imagining of them, one would think the filmmakers would have taken advantage and done something really interesting with the characters, but that wasn’t the case.

If there was one flashback we could have used, I think we all agree seeing Humpty Dumpty fall off the wall and learning how he got put back together again would have been great. Also, I’m curious how the goose survived up there on the beanstalk if the giants have been long dead.

So, as you can see there are plenty of good and bad things about this film, but the most important thing is that, despite its faults, it really is an entertaining flick, and a much-needed breath of life in the Shrek franchise. I haven’t heard of any sequel in the works, but if they do decide to go that route, they better not ruin Puss in the same way. All in all, this is a great film that I hope you all take the time to check out!

4 1/2 out of 5 stars

The Hangover part II

PLOT (spoiler alert!!!):

Two years after their escapade in Las Vegas, Stu Price, Phil Wenneck, Alan Garner and Doug Billings travel to Thailand to celebrate Stu’s impending wedding to Lauren. Much to Alan’s dismay, they are joined by Lauren’s younger brother, Teddy. During Lauren’s father’s toast, he shows his disapproval of Stu by comparing him to congee. At the end of the night, Stu hesitantly joins Phil, Doug, Alan and Teddy for a beer. Sitting at a campfire and roasting marshmallows, the group toast to Stu and Lauren’s future happiness.

The following morning, Phil, Stu and Alan, along with gangster Leslie Chow – whom Alan befriended after Las Vegas – and a chain-smoking capuchin monkey, awaken in a dirty hotel room in Bangkok. Stu has a face tattoo (a replica of Mike Tyson’s tattoo), and Alan’s head is completely shaved. However, they cannot find Teddy, only discovering his severed finger. Chow begins recalling the events of the prior night, but he dies after snorting a line of cocaine. Panicked, the trio dispose of Chow’s body in an ice machine.

Through a tip from Doug who is still at the resort, they go to a prison to pick up Teddy but are given a wheelchair-bound elderly Buddhist monk, who knows more about what happened, but does not reveal anything: he has taken a vow of silence, and rejects also an alternative such as writing something down. After finding a business card, they travel to a neighborhood smouldering in ruins. They enter a nearby tattoo parlor where Stu got his tattoo, and they learn that they had started a fight that escalated into a riot. The trio then return the monk to his Buddhist temple, where they are encouraged by the head monk to meditate. Alan is able to recall that they had been at a strip club. There, they learn that Stu had engaged in sex with a kathoey prostitute. Upon exiting, the trio is attacked by two Russian mobsters from whom they had stolen the monkey, and Phil is shot in the arm.

After Phil is treated at a clinic, Alan confesses that he had drugged some of the marshmallows from the previous night with muscle relaxants and ADHD medication in order to sedate Teddy but accidentally mixed up the bags. After noticing an address and time point for a meeting written on Alan’s stomach, the trio meet up with another gangster, Kingsley, who demands Chow’s bank account code and password by the next morning in exchange for Teddy. They return to the hotel to try to find Chow’s password, only to discover that he is still alive. They steal the monkey (who had the code given to him by Chow inside his jacket for safe-keeping) back from the Russian mobsters through a violent car chase, during which the monkey is shot and injured. After taking the code and leaving the monkey at a veterinary clinic, the group complete the deal with Kingsley. Suddenly, Interpol agents appear and arrest Chow. Kingsley turns out to be an undercover agent, who tells the trio that the police have searched all day for Teddy but were unable to find him.

Desperate and out of clues, Phil once again calls Doug’s wife Tracy. Stu then has an epiphany and the trio rushes back to the hotel and find Teddy in the elevator unharmed (albeit still missing a finger). Teddy had woken up in the middle of the night to get more ice for his severed finger (after the first bucket of ice had melted) but became trapped after the power went out. The four use Chow’s speedboat, the keys for which were in Teddy’s pocket, to travel back to the wedding reception. Arriving on land just as Lauren’s father is about to cancel the wedding, Stu makes a defiant speech where he rejects being boring and instead states that he is in fact quite wild. Impressed, Lauren’s father gives the couple his blessing. After the wedding continues on, Alan presents Stu with a special gift at the post-reception dance: a musical guest performance by Mike Tyson. Teddy later discovers that he had taken many pictures during the night on his mobile phone. The group, along with Tyson, agree to look at the pictures together once before erasing the evidence of their exploits once again.

REVIEW:

A couple of years ago, this little film called The Hangover came out of nowhere and surprised everyone. Now, it has spawned a sequel, The Hangover part II.

I’ve been reading some of the critics’ complaints about this film and the biggest, most recurrent one is that it is basically a carbon copy of the first, only darker. Now, as I was sitting here watching this film, I did see some similarities and parts taken, but that the whole point of the movie! Everything is sort of happening again, just in a different city (Bangkok instead of Las Vegas).

With that said, there are different things that happen as well and it is the combination of new and old that keeps this fresh and from falling into that trap the Home Alone movies did.

As far being darker than the first…well, I wouldn’t go so far as to say that, but it is set in Bangkok, a city not known for being especially friendly to those that come into its borders. On top of that, their 16 yr old compatriot loses a finger (the reason why is shown in the pictures that roll during the credits, but for the film, we think it is something far worse).

The first film was a riot, but I actually think this was one was even funnier. I don’t know, maybe it is because these guys have more chemistry now, or the writing is more seasoned after seeing what worked in the first film and what didn’t, but this one had me on the floor laughing more often than not.

The scenery is breathtaking. It goes from a virtual paradise to the slums of Bangkok and back, showing us what Thailand has to offer, without actually being some sort of Thai tour brochure, of sorts.

No chemistry has been lost among the returning leads, as a matter of fact, it seems as if the time away from these characters has allowed them to grow. Yes, that includes Alan, as well.

The story is great, but I especially liked the way they showed how Alan views himself and his “friends” and little boys. It sort of makes you feel sorry for the guy. I do wonder, though, and this just may be something I forgot from the first film, why it is he seems so attached to Phil. If you notice, everytime they meet, he says “Hi guys! Hi Phil!” I don’t quite know what to think of that, especially after the look he gives him in the final scene, but that is something you have to see and interpret for yourself.

If I do have one piece of negativity about this film, is that it didn’t capitalize on the hotness of the female cast. They were on the beach, so someone please tell me why they couldn’t have had at least one scene with Jamie Chung and Sasha Barresse in a bikini! Kind of negates the whole reason for having them there, if you ask me. They could have just as well hired some schlub actresses from some random acting class to read these lines and such.

So, this summer, we had a bridal shower gone bad in Bridesmaids and a bachelor party turned into a sting operation/kidnap and rescue mission in The Hangover part II. What was my verdict on it? Well, I loved it. Everything from man-child Alan to the drug dealing monkey to everytime they said “Bangkok has him now” (a phrase that I don’t believe was every explained). This is a hilarious picture and a must-see for all of us that need or could use a laugh. I highly recommend it!

4 1/2 out of 5 stars

Gigantic

PLOT:

Unhappy with his life, mattress salesman Brian Weathersby (Paul Dano) pursues his lifelong obsession with adopting an infant from China. But when attractive customer Harriet (Zooey Deschanel) catches his eye, he starts pursuing her instead. Soon, Harriet’s overbearing father (John Goodman) and Brian’s parents (Ed Asner and Jane Alexander) become involved in their relationship, pushing Brian to take drastic action in this quirky romantic comedy.

REVIEW:

I’ve always had an issue with independent film, and that is that many of them are just flat-out boring. Before you all jump down my throat about how all filmmakers have to start somewhere…blah, blah, blah….I know that, but Gigantic was a gigantic bore in my book.

As I was watching this film, which was supposed to be fun and quirky based on the reviews I read, there was an overwhelming need to go crawl in the bed and sleep. It isn’t very often a film puts me to sleep when I’m fully awake and aware, but this one nearly did it.

The plot, if you can call it that, seems to be a bit pretentious. For some reason, this films seems to be one of those that wants to be important, but just isn’t. I think it probably could have been if it had something coherent about it, but it doesn’t.

There are too many random pieces here, from the homeless guy that follows Brian around constantly and jumps him, to his obsession with adopting a Chinese baby, then there’s this whole thing about Happy being a prostitute and her dad’s back problems. It was all just bit too much for even I.

This film isn’t all bad. Paul Dano isn’t horrible in his role, neither is Zooey Deschanel, although this is pretty much her schtick, so there was no real stretch there for her. John Goodman and Ed Asner are great as well.

I guess if I were to sm this film up in one word it would be wearisome, because that is all this mind-numbing 98 minute thing was. There are very few redeeming qualities about it. You would think they cold have found a way to at least get the audience’s attention, but they don’t, which is really a shame.

2 out of 5 stars

Due Date

PLOT (spoiler alert!!!):

Peter Highman (Robert Downey, Jr.) is a high strung, type A yuppie on his way home from Atlanta to Los Angeles to be present at the birth of his first child, a scheduled C-section, with his wife, Sarah. Once on the plane, Peter learns that Ethan Tremblay (Zach Galifianakis), who had accidentally run his car through his door is sitting behind him in first class. After inadvertently using the words “terrorist” and “bomb”, Ethan has Peter shot by an air marshal with a rubber bullet. Both Peter and Ethan are forced off the plane before take-off.

After being questioned by security, Peter discovers that he has been placed on the No Fly List and will have to find another way to get to California. After realizing that he had left his wallet on the plane, Peter reluctantly agrees to travel with Ethan, an aspiring actor hoping to make it in Hollywood, to Los Angeles. Ethan is on his way to Hollywood after the funeral of his father, and is carrying his father’s ashes in a coffee can on the trip.

After stopping in Birmingham, Alabama to purchase marijuana, Peter and Ethan realize that they collectively only have $60 in cash. Peter decides to have his wife transfer him money. Since he does not have his identification card, Peter has his wife transfer the money in Ethan’s assumed last name. Once at Western Union, Ethan recalls the fact that the money has been sent to his stage name and therefore not his real name, Ethan Chase, which is on his only government-issue I.D. The Western Union employee (Danny McBride) doesn’t accept Ethan’s head shot as proof of ID and declines the transfer. Frustrated and on edge, Peter verbally attacks the man who, even though he is a wheel chair-bound Iraqi war veteran, attacks Peter in retaliation, firmly beating him. Peter is at first contemptuous of Ethan, mocking his acting abilities in a highway rest area bathroom, but begins to soften when Ethan actually breaks down because he misses his father.

After spending the night at the rest stop, Peter waits for Ethan to go to the restroom. Once Ethan is gone, Peter empties the rental car of all Ethan’s items and steals the car, leaving Ethan behind. The plan almost works until Peter notices that Ethan’s coffee-canned ashes of his father are still in the car. Feeling guilty, Peter returns to the rest stop to and acts like he was always going to come back.

Ethan drives while Peter gets some rest. After a while of driving, Ethan falls asleep at the wheel and the car crashes. At a Dallas hospital, Peter, who has a broken arm and three cracked ribs, is picked up by his friend Darryl (Jamie Foxx). Peter reluctantly decides to take Ethan along. Stopping at Darryl’s house, Peter discovers that, nine months ago, Darryl and Sarah spent some time together. This information leads Ethan to accuse Darryl of being the possible father of Sarah and Peter’s unborn child.

Peter notices that the coffee Darryl made them tastes funny. After questioning Darryl, he reveals that he used the coffee that Ethan had in his car. Realizing that the ‘coffee’ is really the ashes of Ethan’s father, they spit it out. In a panic while retrieving them from the coffee filter, Ethan accidentally spills his dad’s ashes all over the floor. This further saddens him. Peter helps him scoop up the remaining ashes and they leave Darryl’s house.

Driving Darryl’s Range Rover, Ethan smokes marijuana while Peter is dozing, and the smoke collects in the cabin, intoxicating Peter, as well. The two accidentally end up at the United States-Mexico border in El Paso when Ethan mistakes the security checkpoint for a gas station. Ethan flees from the border checkpoint and leaves Peter to be arrested for possession of the marijuana purchased earlier by Ethan. After being taken into custody by the Mexican Federal Police, Peter is broken out by Ethan who steals a border patrol truck in the process.

The duo stop at the Grand Canyon where Ethan spreads his father’s ashes. Peter confesses that he did try to leave Ethan back at the rest area. Ethan then decides to also make a confession: he has had Peter’s wallet since the plane. Peter attacks Ethan in rage. Sarah calls during the attack to inform Peter that her water has broken. Peter and Ethan immediately begin to rush toward California. Along the way, Ethan accidentally shoots Peter with a gun he had found in the truck’s glove compartment. Peter does not stop to receive medical attention for his gun shot wound.

Once at the hospital where Sarah is in labor, Peter and Ethan witness the birth of Rosie, Peter and Sarah’s healthy Caucasian baby girl, revealing that it wasn’t Darryl’s baby. Peter passes out in pain from his wounds. Ethan later recounts to Peter that Ethan had assisted in Rosie’s birth by cutting the umbilical cord, something that Peter had allegorically dreamed earlier in the film. The two go their separate ways with the promise that Peter will e-mail Ethan to keep their friendship intact.

At the end of the film, Peter, Sarah, and their new baby girl watch an episode of Two and a Half Men, in which Ethan has landed a role.

REVIEW:

 Was Iron Man 2 really so bad that Robert Downey, Jr. felt he had to go this far to get his fans back? 

I say that jokingly. Iron Man 2‘s biggest fault was sequelitis, not Downey. However, this film seems to be beneath him.

The plot of Due Date is that a man from L.A. is in Atlanta for business. He is in a rush to get back home because his wife is due any day now. On the way he has a chance meeting with a wannabe actor. On the plane, said actor says the two words you should never say on a plane in the US, “terrorist” and “bomb”, which results in the pair getting thrown off and placed on the no-fly list. Of course, now they have to find a way to get across country. Hilarity (supposedly) ensues as the film takes off from there.

This film is from the same creative mind hat brought us The Hangover. Unfortunately, whatever magic he used to make that film so great, must’ve run out, because this one seems like one bad joke after another. You can tell Downey is miserable the whole film. Jamie Foxx, who probably coud have brought some real funny to this film, was just a glorified cameo that they brought in to add some unnecessary drama. I will say, though, that there are some funny moments sprinkled here and there, but for the most part this film should be labeled more as a horror film than a comedy.

Seriously, can you imagine having to go from Atlanta to L.A., where your wife is due any day now, with some guy who is the living embodiment of everything you loathe and despise in the world? That is what Downey had to endure throughout this film. You can debate whether he was acting or not, but the disdain on his face in almost all of these scenes with Zach Galifianakis had me believing he really didn’t want to be anywhere near the guy.

Speaking of Galifiankis, this guy is good in this role as the annoying guy. He should be, he seems to do it in every film he’s in, just about. He really is one of the bright spots of the film, even if he is freakin’ annoying.

You know, for a movie about a woman’s due date, there sure was a significant lack of the pregnant wife, played by Michelle Monaghan. Granted, this is supposed to be more about the road trip and all, but I just felt there could have been more of her. Nothing too major, just a couple more scenes with her would have been nice, perhaps.

In conclusion, Due Date is not one of those flicks that is for everyone, but I can see how some people would like this. Personally, I didn’t care for it, but I’ve seen worse. I’m more offended with how Robert Downey, Jr. and Jamie Foxx, who were great together in The Soloist, could attach themselves to this schlock. I guess they owed the filmmakers a favor or something. I won’t tell you to stay away from this film, but I warn you that it isn’t as good a road trip film as say, Road Trip. You have been warned, so watch at your own risk.

2 1/2 out of 5 stars

Dinner for Schmucks

PLOT (spoiler alert!!!):

Tim Conrad (Paul Rudd) is a mid-level financial executive, who acquires a negotiation over special novelty lamps with wealthy Swiss businessman Martin Mueller (David Walliams). Impressed by Tim’s ingenuity, his boss Lance Fender (Bruce Greenwood) invites him to a “dinner for winners” in which he must find and bring an eccentric person with a special talent; the winner earns a trophy and the executive that brought him or her gets glory. He soon learns it is more of a “dinner for idiots”, and the partygoers will be mocked mercilessly. Meanwhile, Tim’s girlfriend Julie (Stephanie Szostak) lands a curator deal for eccentric artist Kieran Vollard (Jemaine Clement), and Tim unsuccessfully proposes to her, as he has done several times before. After learning of the cruel nature of the dinner party, Julie becomes upset and asks him not to attend and he agrees.

The next day, Tim accidentally hits IRS employee Barry Speck (Steve Carell) with his car when Barry tries to retrieve a dead mouse in the road. Witnessing Barry’s bizarre behavior (he taxidermies mice and arranges them into elaborate dioramas), Tim realizes he is the perfect loser for the dinner. That night, Barry shows up at Tim’s apartment unannounced and accidentally invites over Darla (Lucy Punch), who had a one-night stand with Tim years ago and has been stalking him. Barry decides to guard Tim’s apartment from Darla to make up for inviting her. When Julie arrives at his apartment, Barry mistakes her for Darla and sends her away, giving Julie the mistaken impression that Tim is cheating on her. Barry decides to call Vollard and finds the number saved in the phone. While talking to him, he and Tim think they hear Julie in the background and head to Vollard’s apartment. Barry tosses Tim’s keys through Vollard’s apartment window and must break in, only to find Kieran preparing to make love to two girls dressed like animals (neither of them are Julie) and head back home.

Afterwards, Barry opens the door to find Darla waiting outside. Julie calls and asks Tim if he’s having an affair and Darla steals the phone and stuffs it down her pants. While Tim hides in his bedroom, Darla and Barry get into a bar-styled fight, scaring Darla away. Julie accidentally left her phone at Tim’s apartment and a voice message from Vollard reveals to Tim and Barry that Julie is leaving for his ranch. Barry works for the IRS and offers to take Tim to work to find Vollard’s ranch address, where they meet up with Barry’s boss and rival, Therman Murch (Zach Galifianakis) (who stole Barry’s wife), who displays his “mind control” power over Barry. Tim leaves the next day for his brunch with the Muellers but Barry crashes, with Darla pretending to be Julie, when he gets a call from Tim’s assistant telling him to bring a still missing Julie. Tim is pushed into asking Darla to marry him by Barry and Julie walks in during. Tim and Barry chase Julie down to Vollard’s ranch, where Tim accidentally offends Barry (which further hurts his and Julie’s relationship).

To his surprise, Tim found Barry already at Fender’s dinner party. Barry is a hit with the group and is a shoo-in for the trophy, but unexpectedly, Therman arrives, embarrassing Barry with his mind control. Tim then tells Barry everything and, after some encouragement, gets Barry to win with “brain control”, before causing his boss and fellow executives to reveal the truth. A guest reacts badly to the news and inadvertently causes chaos in the process, with Mueller losing a finger. A fire breaks out, while a bird brought by one of the guests flies away with Mueller’s finger. Tim is fired, as is Julie after Barry makes Vollard realize it would be a problem to have her continue working for him. In the end, Tim marries Julie, Barry enters into a relationship with Darla, does some artwork with Vollard, and hosts a monthly “breakfast for champions” for all of the losers. Therman writes a new book in the mental hospital and Tim gets a new museum started in Switzerland for Mueller. After the closing credits, it is revealed Fender’s company has gone under and the Forbes magazine has named him “Wall Street’s Biggest Loser.”

REVIEW:

One of the films that was overshadowed by the summer’s blockbusters (and flops) had to have been Dinner for Schmucks. Now, I purposefully waited until this was released on DVD to see it because it just didn’t seem like the kind of film one would need to waste the money for the skyrocketing price of a ticket on. Not to mention that I’m not really a fan of Paul Rudd. He annoys the living bejesus out of me!

This film is about a guy who is trying to get ahead in his stock firm. One day, in a meeting, he impresses his boss, who invites him to dinner and tells him that he needs to bring a “winner”. A while later, said guy accidentally hits his “winner” with his car, thus forming an uncomfortable friendship that makes the rest of the film.

The comedic pairing of Rudd and Steve Carrell really works here. I think this is some of their best work (sorry for you fans of The Office). They play off each other so perfectly, yet uncomfortably, that the audience really feels sorry for both of them.

Unknown actress, and hottie, Stephanie Szostak made a nice little debut in this film, though I didn’t really care for her character. I don’t know, she just seemed to be more of a nag or worrywart than anything else. I know there may be some of you that think otherwise, but that’s how I saw her.

Zach Galifiankis is only a supporting actor in this flick, but the brief time he’s on-screen, you definitely take notice…maybe even moreso that when the main cast is doing anything.

Jemaine Clement is another supporting character, like Galifiankis, who only is on-screen for a brief few minutes, but those are some of the most memorable moments in the film. Oddly enough, I just saw this guy in what I thought was over the top performing in Gentlemen Broncos, but this took that to another level.

The true highlight of this film has to be the dinner. After all, it’s in the title, right? The mixture of eclectic personalities there, including a cameo by Jeff Dunham and the return of Zach Galifianakis’ character from earlier in the film just made for quite the enjoyable, yet sad and pathetic, time.

Dinner for Schmucks is one of those film that will make you laugh and feel uncomfortable at the same time. Having said that, I did actually enjoy this flick, and I really didn’t think I would. Is it anything to brag about? No, but it does what it was meant to do and that is entertain the audience. After all isn’t that the primary objective of movies, anyway? I hope you check this one out.

4 out of 5 stars

G-Force

PLOT:

The film revolves around a special FBI organization of trained secret agent animals, equipped with advanced tools including an advanced earpiece that allows the mammalian members to talk to humans. In addition to a team of cockroaches, the primary field team consists of guinea pigs Darwin (Sam Rockwell) (team leader), Juarez (Penelope Cruz) (martial arts), Blaster (Tracy Morgan) (weapons/transportation), star-nosed mole Speckles (Nicolas Cage) (cyber intelligence), and fly Mooch (reconnaissance) (Dee Bradley Baker). Hoping to impress his superiors on the eve of a budgetary review, the unit’s leader, Ben (Zach Galifinakis), orders an unauthorized infiltration of the residence of home electronics and appliances magnate, Leonard Saber – Owner of Saberling Technology, who has been under FBI investigation for years. The team is able to successfully retrieve considerable sensitive information about a sinister scheme that is set to occur in 29 hours. However, when Ben’s superior arrives for his evaluation, his astonishment at the team’s capabilities and technology is overcome by his indignation at Ben’s unauthorized mission and the fact that the downloaded intelligence appears to be useless information about Saber’s coffee makers. As a result, the government agent orders the unit shut down, the equipment seized and the animals to be used as experimental subjects to be killed as security risks. With the help of their human compatriots, Darwin, Juarez, Blaster, Mooch, and Speckles escape with hopes of stopping Saber’s scheme, but find themselves in a pet carrying case bound for a pet shop.

Now trapped in the store’s pet rodent display case, G-Force meets Hurley (Jon Favreau), a gluttonous guinea pig, Bucky (Steve Buscemi) an irascible hamster and three sycophantic mice. Although Blaster and Juarez manage to get themselves sold to a family with plans to return to extract their comrades, Speckles’ own attempt to escape by playing dead ends disastrously when he is thrown into and apparently crushed in a garbage truck. Meanwhile, Mooch manages to return to Ben to tell him where his mammalian agents are, but Darwin escapes (with Hurley, who is convinced that Darwin is his brother, tagging along) before he can arrive to collect them.

While Blaster and Juarez escape their new owners to return to Ben, he and his partner discover that the discredited intel has a destructive computer function that apparently hid the scheme. At this time, Darwin and Hurley make their own way to their superior. On route, Darwin sees a Saber coffeemaker and decides to investigate it, but his examination of the machine makes it come alive as a dangerous fighting robot that he and Hurley are barely able to defeat. Now with his suspicions vindicated, Darwin and Hurley transport the wreckage to Ben. However, upon arrival, Ben has lost all confidence in his team and confesses the shattering information that they are not special genetically enhanced animals as previously told, but ordinary ones Ben took in and trained for the team. However, Hurley lifts them from their despair by reminding the team of the astounding feats he has seen them do and the fact that they obviously made themselves extraordinary on their own.

Emboldened but with little time to stop the scheme, Ben provides the field team with the means to infiltrate the Saber residence and plant a virus in the computer mainframe. Unfortunately, FBI agents are ordered to capture the animals dead or alive, forcing the team to elude them with an extended pursuit thanks to a high speed vehicle especially designed for them. After that is accomplished and the team infiltrates Saber’s mainframe, the plan is put into motion, and the resulting battle separates the group, only leaving Darwin to take the mainframe down. At the same time, Leonard Saber is shocked to discover that his appliances have become killing machines, expecting them to simply be able to effectively communicate with each other, while FBI takes advantage of this obvious pretext to finally openly move against the industrialist. When Darwin reaches the mainframe, he finds out that Speckles, whose home and family had been destroyed by humans, is the mastermind of the plan, whose masterstroke is to cause a massive planetwide bombardment of space junk pulled from orbit to make the planet surface uninhabitable. Speckles promptly amalgamates the various appliances in the vicinity into a giant walking being, which, combined with a localized bombardment of orbital debris, soon overpowers the police forces gathered at the mansion. Darwin manages to persuade Speckles that his new family is with the rest of the team and Ben, who had taken them all in. Speckles consents, and tries to shut it down, but realizes that it has gone too far. However, Darwin uses the computer virus on his PDA to take it down.

At the end of the film, the guinea pigs are personally commended by the FBI Director who also appoints them special agents of the FBI. Furthermore, G-Force is reinstated as a unit of the Bureau and expanded with Hurley, Bucky and the mice inducted as new recruits. Meanwhile, Saber makes the largest product recall in history, and Speckles is given the punitive duty of personally removing the malicious chips from all Saber products, which number in the tens of thousands.

REVIEW:

Every now and then a film comes along that really surprises the viewers, because they expected one thing and got the complete opposite. For me, G-Force falls into that category.

I fully expected this to be some sort of Beverly Hill Chihuahua but with guinea pigs acting as spies. Needless to say, finding out that the two films have nothing in common was a huge relief.

THe casting here is 50/50. How is that possible? Well, the voice casting is great, but the live actors seemed like they were paid $50 to show up for a day, shoot their scenes and go home. I felt that Bill Nighy and Zach Galifanakis were wasted. Nighy didn’t really get to do much other than…well, he didn’t really do anything. Galifianakis’ comedic talents were nowhere to be found. The same can be said with Will Arnett, but at least he is playing the douchbag character-type he usually plays. To further hurt the live cast was Kelli Garner. I know this is a kid’s movie, but if you’re going to cast a hot chick like that, then use her hotness in some way, geesh!

The effects weren’t that great. The appliances that seemed to merge into giant robots were an obvious ripoff of the Transformers franchise, only not as good. The animals, while not as blatantly fake as Scooby Doo or Garfield, just didn’t look real to me. I know that I’m usually the first one to scream that everything doesn’t have to look real, but for something like this, it is expected. Now, if we’re talking giant monsters from outer space, that’s different.

I’m a huge fan of fast-paced action, and that’s we get here. True, it is watered down, but again, this is a kid’s movie, not Die Hard, so that’s to be expected.

All in all, this is a very good movie. It has everything to please everyone from 2 to 200. There are a few things that could have been done better, but how many films can you say that they are perfect? Just the ones from the black and white era where they actually took the time to hine their craft and not slap some stuff together and sell it to the public like they do nowadays. Anyway, this is a high recommendation from me. Gather up the family and enjoy!

4 1/2 out of 5 stars

The Hangover

PLOT:

Doug (Justin Bartha) is about to be married to Tracy (Sasha Barrese). His friends — Phil (Bradley Cooper), Stu (Ed Helms), and soon-to-be brother-in-law Alan (Zach Galifianakis) — take him to Las Vegas for a bachelor party. Tracy’s father (Jeffrey Tambor) lends them his car, a vintage Mercedes convertible, for the trip. The four get a villa at Caesars Palace hotel and casino, then sneak onto the roof and toast to the year ahead. The next morning, the three groomsmen wake up in the suite with no memory of the previous night and soon realize that Doug is missing. Clues abound: the suite is in severe disorder, a tiger is in the bathroom, a baby is in the closet, Stu is missing a tooth and has an ATM receipt for $800, one of the suite’s mattresses is impaled on a statue outside, Phil is wearing a hospital bracelet, and a valet brings them a stolen police cruiser they dropped off the night before, and a chicken is wandering around the room.

While retracing their steps, a doctor at the hospital informs them that they had traces of roofies in their blood explaining their memory loss, and that they came from a wedding. They find the chapel, and learn that Stu, despite planning to propose to his controlling girlfriend Melissa (Rachael Harris), married an escort named Jade (Heather Graham), who turns out to be the mother of the baby in the closet. In the parking lot, they escape an attack by two Asian gangsters who beat on the police car yelling “Where is he?”. Confused, the men visit Jade’s apartment and return the baby, but are taken by surprise by the police, the cruiser’s original owners, who arrest them for stealing their car. Phil negotiates their release in exchange for the three groomsmen “volunteering” as targets for a humiliating taser demonstration. They then retrieve the miraculously-unharmed Mercedes, which had been abandoned in the middle of Las Vegas Boulevard, from an impound lot and discover a fully naked Asian man (Ken Jeong) in the trunk. The man attacks them with a crowbar and runs away, and Alan admits to spiking their drinks the night before with what he thought was ecstasy, but realizes the drug dealer must have sold him roofies instead. They return to the hotel and find former boxing champion Mike Tyson in their room, looking for his stolen tiger. Tyson knocks out Alan and orders them to return the pet to his mansion. They drug the tiger with roofies and transport it in the Mercedes, but before they reach Tyson’s mansion, it wakes up and destroys the car’s interior, forcing them to get out and push the car the rest of the way. After the tiger is returned, Tyson plays security footage of the groomsmen’s activities from the night before in an effort to help them locate Doug.

Resuming their search, the three are confronted by the thugs, who, as it turns out, are led by the Asian they found in the trunk of their car, an Asian gangster named Leslie Chow. According to Chow, the groomsmen have $80,000 of his money, which they accidentally took the night before. Chow demands it back in exchange for Doug, whom he has kidnapped. Unable to find the money, Alan uses his knowledge of card counting to win it playing blackjack similar in style to Rain Man. The money is repaid, but Chow had kidnapped a different man named Doug, who turns out to be the drug dealer who sold Alan the roofies. After a conversation with Doug the drug dealer, Stu remembers that hotel windows do not open in Las Vegas (mostly for the exact reason that they’re in this mess), and therefore the mattress on the statue must have been thrown from the roof, where they had most likely locked out Doug as a prank. Rushing back to the roof, they find him, weary and severely sunburned from being stuck there for a day and a half, with fewer than four hours before the wedding. Before leaving, Stu meets with Jade and the pair agree that they cannot remain married, but promise to meet the following weekend to see what develops between them. Jade also reveals that Stu had pulled out his own tooth on a bet from Alan declaring, “I bet Stu isn’t a good enough dentist that he could pull his own tooth out”. As they rush home and make it to the wedding, Doug reveals that he found Chow’s $80,000 worth of casino chips in his jacket pocket on the roof. Doug marries Tracy, Phil happily returns to his wife and son, and Stu proudly breaks up with Melissa. As the reception ends, Alan reveals Stu’s digital camera he discovered in the back seat of the Mercedes chronicling the events they were unable to remember, and the four agree to look at the pictures only once before erasing the evidence.

REVIEW:

For some reason I missed this when it was released in theaters last year and it has taken me up until now to get it from Netflix. I’ve heard nothing but good things about this picture, that is unless you count the one blogger that ripped it a new one for not giving the females anything to do. I’ll address that in a bit.

When I did my “2009 Movie Awards” post back in January, one reader commented, on my other blog, that this film should have won for best comedy. Now, the rules for the awards are that it has to be watched and reviewed during the year. Having said that, I can see how she would think that, and I can say that The Hangover will be a strong favorite for a couple of awards this year.

So, what do we have here? A film about guys headed to Vegas for a bachelor party and things somehow get so far out of hand that they end up having to have madcap adventures. This is comedy gold, people.

When the film started, I was thinking that maybe it was going to be a bit on the overrated side. It just didn’t seem like it was going to be that funny, then we meet Bradley Cooper’s character, and all hell breaks loose! Cooper is more or less the star of the film. I know some people will say that it is Zach Galifianakis that steals the show, but Cooper is both over the top and the glue that keeps things together at the same time.

The supporting cast is pretty good, too, but I can’t mention them without giving a nod to Ken Jeong. Talk about a show stealer. This guy is on the screen for maybe 10 minutes, tops, but you’ll remember those 10 minutes…partially becuse he’s naked for the first couple, but when he returns, his character is such a hoot, that you can’t help but crack u laughing each time he speaks.

Mike Tyson makes an unexpected cameo appearance. I’m still scratching my head about that one, and why he has a tiger that these guys just seemed to be able to walk off his property with, but I’ll suspend my disbelief on that one. Tyson plays himself, but at the same time he goes a bit overboard and has fun with the character. I sot of wish he would have had more screentime, but then again, this isn’t his film, so the brief time he got was enough.

There are 3 women to speak of in this picture. Sasha Barrese, who plays the bride to be, Rachael Harris, who is Ed Helms’  cold-hearted, overbearing, bitchy girlfriend, and Heather Graham, a warm, caring, single mother stripper/escort. All these women turn out great performances, and have nothing to be ashamed of. Could they have had more screentime? Sure, but this is a film about guys on a bachelor party weekend, so no they didn’t need anymore time than they got. Although, I wouldn’t have minded more of Sasha in a bikini or Heather Graham scenes.

As I mentioned before, some blogger said that these women’s roles were nothing more than a joke. To me this is a joke. I mean, if you know anything about this film before you watch it, then you know that there is no reason to expect to see some drama heavy, weepy, chick stuff. This is not a chick flick! These women didn’t complain when they took the roles, so why should anyone else try to raise a fuss?

*AHEM* Now that I’m off my soapbox, I do have a couple of complaints about this film. The first is that it is never really said how Bradley Cooper ended up in the hospital. I mean they show it in the final shot ,but we, the audience, never see it, and the snapshot montage doesn’t show what happened. Enquiring minds want to know. My other complaint has to do with the high-speed tux delivery. Seriously, if they can get their tuxes delivered in the middle of the freeway like that (it actually reminded me of that old Spy Hunter arcade game where you had to catch up with a truck to get new weapons and stuff while going hundreds of miles per hour), then why couldn’t they have changed on the freeway? I don’t know, it just seems like if they were in that big of s rush, every second would have counted, especially since they had to take the groom to the hospital after leaving and forgetting him on the roof where he got severely sunburned. That actually brings me to another point. He wasn’t handcuffed or anything, so other than the initial hangover, he should have been able to get up and head back down to the room or something, so why did he stay on the roof and end up having to go to his wedding looking like a lobster?

Yes, questions abound, but these aren’t enough to make for an unpleasant experience with this film. The Hangover is one of those films that comes along and sweeps everyone off their feet with how well it is made and how funny it is. There is no drama in this picture to speak of, except for a confrontation at the wedding. We get a bit of action and the comedy isn’t overpowering. I strongly recommend this to anyone, except those of you feminists out there who will get bent out of shape because the women are “allegedly” underrepresented in a film about a bachelor party.

4 1/2 out of 5 stars