Something special happens during the summer's best comedy/drama--CRAZY STUPID LOVE. As the plot and relationships unfold and develop, with some surprising revelations, the characters change from one-dimensional to become fully rounded and rather likable. When Julianne Moore drops the "divorce" bomb on her unsuspecting husband, she soon after asks, "Am I having a mid-life crisis? I thought only men had them." When her husband Steve Carell starts vocalizing his inner rants at a fancy pick up bar, he attracts the attention of a womanizer (Ryan Gosling) who is determined to get this pathetic man back into the dating game. The irony, of course, is that the womanizer is hardly the best example for him to follow. When young new lawyer Emma Stone realizes that her dull, noncommittal boyfriend is not interested in marriage, she rather suddenly finds herself attracted to the womanizer. Carell's floppy haired young teen son finds himself in love with his much older babysitter--who herself has some secrets. And Marisa Tomei steals another movie with her three short scenes. It is quite a charming, serious comedy. GRADE------A-
You may have heard that recently MIDNIGHT IN PARIS has now become the highest grossing film directed by Woody Allen, by passing his biggest hits including MANHATTAN, SLEEPERS, BANANAS, ANNIE HALL, and the recent top spot held by HANNAH AND HER SISTERS. It's easy to see why---the FUNNY WOODY ALLEN is back! But he is still very interested in art, psychosis, intellectualism and philosophy. Fantasy plays a big part in the story. When Owen Wilson travels to Paris with his fiance and her parents, he becomes transfixed with the "old" historical Paris. One night he becomes transported to Paris of the 1920's, where he meets and interacts with a number of writers, singers and artists, including Toulouse-Lautrec, Dali, Degas, Picasso, Gertrude Stein, Gauguin and others. They inspire him like nothing in the present day. The delightful cast includes Rachel McAdams, Marion Cotillard, Kathy Bates, and Micheal Sheen and Adrian Brody, plus others. What more could you ask for in a sparkling romantic comedy?!? GRADE-------B+
Errol Morris has a new documentary called TABLOID, and it received some criticism when recently screened at SIFF for being to trivial, since his previous docs have included scandals at Abu Ghraib (STANDARD OPERATION PROCEDURES), miscarriage of legal justice (THE THIN BLUE LINE) and death penalty problems (DR DEATH) among others. This one, about a former beauty queen who is charged with kidnapping and sexually molesting her fiance (!!!???!!!) definitely belongs to the "truth is stranger than fiction" category. It is, also, incredibly, outrageously entertaining. GRADE-------B+
FRIENDS WITH BENEFITS suffers a bit by coming after the similarly themed but more manic NO STRINGS ATTACHED that featured Ashton Kutcher and Natalie Portman as old friends who decided to try the sex without the commitment. I laughed a dozen time during that one. FWB does have it's own charms, however, especially in the doey brown eyes of Mila Kunis (who was Ms Portmans co-star in BLACK SWAN) and the good natured, laid back presence of Justin Timberlake. The ending is the same in both films--in case you are a dolt, both couples realize THEY REALLY LOVE EACH OTHER, so it is the getting there that matters. Fortunately, the script is very smart and fast, so that the cleverness keeps things moving, and the actors, including fine support from Patricia Clarkson, Richard Jenkins and Jenna Elfman provide some depth and laughs. My main complaint, however, is that there is no way I could believe that Woody Harrelson was playing a gay character. No one, not even gay best friends in real life, vamp it like he was trying to do. GRADE------B
It had a short run and some strong reviews, but A BETTER LIFE by director Chris Weitz suffers from the sad familiar trajectory of other films about Mexican illegals trying to make it in the US, especially the superior film from last year SIN NOMBRE. Still, this story of a single man trying to keep his young teen son in school, away from drugs and gangs, and into a better standard of living has some heart wrenching moments, and the feelings between the characters are strong. An excellent DVD choice in a few months. GRADE-------- B-
A minor but completely delightful spoof of religion, mega-churches, "dead-heads" and small town morals, SALVATION BLVD. has also a cast to die for. Pierce Brosnan, Ed Harris, Greg Kinnear, Jennifer Connely, and especially scene stealer Marisa Tomei (see CRAZY STUPID LOVE above), are all firing on all cylinders. A strong DVD choice. GRADE--------B-
Is the third film necessary? TRANSFORMERS 3D promised the best use of 3D since AVATAR, so I plunked down my $14.50 and held my breath. There are a few nifty shots of exploding metal plummeting towards you, and there is a very thrilling sequence of a tall sky scrapper slowly, slowly tilting/falling over, because a giant worm like transformer has burrowed through the first half of the building (!?!)--although how the half dozen humans that were trapped on the upper floors got down 50 levels to street level in a few seconds remains a mystery. The 3D glasses still gave me a headache--they make the screen much darker so that I find myself squinting to see the action clearly. The action is chaotic, loud, redundant, and sometimes fun, in a "popcorn movie" sort of way. GRADE--------B-
A big disappointment, the plodding COWBOYS AND ALIENS is a boring dud in the first hour, which I hated. Daniel Craig tries hard to be charismatic and partially succeeds. Harrison Ford, in a smaller part, is just plain cranky. The other actors barely register. The awkward plot tries to merge realistic western with alien invasion--but listen to this. The cowboys join up with the mean and nasty bank robbers (!!!), as well as the Indians (???), to fight these evil devils--aliens from another world who are here to......wait for it.......steal all our gold out of the earth. No reason is given for this, and it is a sad statement on the film's interest that we don't really care at this point anyway. GRADE-------D
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Caught on TV this week was YOUNG DR. KILDARE (1938), the first in a series of films and later the long running popular TV series about a doctor who seems to know better than anyone else in the hospital what a patient needs to heal--in this case better than the crusty old head doctor played with his usual elan by Lionel Barrymore. Lew Ayres plays Kildare. This one was watchable but rather simplistic. GRADE-------C+
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