Let's start the New Year off right with a great new teen-angst comedy called YOUTH IN REVOLT. The adults in the cast include such great character actors as Jean Smart, Zach Galifianakis (Hangover), Ray Liotta, Fred Willard, M.Emmet Walsh, and Mary Kay Place, and the two main teens are the delightful Portia Doubleday and the rising young comedian Michael Cera, who is making a name for himself playing (or being typecast as) the smart mouthed, sex obsessed, virgin, sensitive, geeky teen as in the TV show Arrested Development, and films Superbad, Juno and Nick and Nora's Infinite Playlist---all of which I highly recommend. In YOUTH IN REVOLT, he plays the aforementioned teen and his alter-ego, a smooth French lover who helps him to loose his virginity by getting into all sorts of trouble, and thankfully, the film has so much plot and quirky characters that I was very entertained right up to the end. Apparently the story is based on a cult novel popular with young adults, and I look forward to reading it. As for Michael Cera, I don't mind that I've seen this character before, because he does it so well, without a trace of sarcasm or smugness. This is a smart and happy surprise!
My dvd pick this week was FATHER OF THE BRIDE (1950) with Spencer Tracy (who was Oscar nominated), Joan Bennett, and a radiant Elizabeth Taylor as the bride. The film was remade in 1991 with Steve Martin and Diane Keaton--and as I recall the remake was better in some ways than the original, although they both cover the same ground. Tracy narrates the entire film, which I felt was tiresome and unnecessary, and the story drives home without much subtlety how expensive and overblown and out of hand weddings can be and have become. (Do regular people today really KNOW 500 people to invite to a ceremony?) There are many reality shows on TV today that deal with these excesses (Bridezilla, the wedding dress show, the cake shows, etc) that I guess these things can happen, but I felt that too many mountains were made out of molehills, and I didn't feel too sorry for Tracy, since he is a successful lawyer living in a huge fancy house in a great part of town. Still it was fun seeing Elizabeth Taylor shine and there were some clever moments like when Tracy is stuck in the kitchen fixing drinks and can't get out to the living room to greet guests or give an obvious wedding announcement.
Next week, when it opens, I will report on the WORST FILM OF 2009, which is quite a shock considering the talent behind it: Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh and Steven Spielberg!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment