One of the “perks of being a movie critic” is having a favorite genre, and I’m an absolute sucker for coming-of-age dramas. Jake Schreier’s Paper Towns (B) is a leisurely paced but fairly sensational adaptation of a young adult novel about losing yourself, finding yourself and savoring the moments in between. When a sensitive but by-the-books high school student, charmingly played by Nat Wolff, gives into a night of spontaneous prankster antics with the popular girl next door (an alluring and lived-in performance by Cara Delevingne), the teen discovers a bit of his roguish nature and unlocks the beginnings of a mystery; and the final weeks of high school become a series of unexpected breakthroughs. Romanticized with all applicable teen drama tenets – wise-beyond-her-years muse, prom plot line, road trip, scruffy sidekicks and the like – the film manages to layer in a mystery adventure that speaks to the very nature of love for oneself and others. It’s a tad overstuffed; but despite some over-the-top leaps of faith, the film contains believable characters and a prescient payoff. The selfie generation has another awesome movie about selflessness and a nice piece of summer movie counter-programming.
Category Archives: Rent It Tonight
“Trainwreck” a Funny Showcase for Schumer
Writer and lead comic actress Amy Schumer couldn’t ask for a better feature film maiden voyage vehicle than Judd Apatow’s Trainwreck (B), a screwball character study shrouded in rom com clothing. Schumer’s central character is a boozy and sexually liberated magazine writer who meets her match in a well-grounded sports physician, warmly and effectively played by Bill Hader. Both Schumer and Hader are unconventional casting choices; and honestly, I wasn’t entirely convinced of their chemistry despite lived-in performances. But the film packs a comic punch with jabs at the mores of modern dating and has moments of poignancy in the heroine’s relationship with her misanthropic papa. There are shades of Pretty Woman and Bridesmaids as the film navigates some typical narrative arcs, and “Apatowesque” will now just be my adjective for overlong comedies. But as a sassy star is born, her film is a filling and funny frolic.
“Me and Earl and the Dying Girl” a Bright Coming of Age Film
Poignant, inventive and altogether different from other summer movie offerings, Alfonzo Gomez-Rejon’s Me and Earl and the Dying Girl (A-) deserves to be the sleeper hit of the summer. Anchored by Thomas Mann’s impressive acting as an anxiety-struck and self-effacing teen, this coming of age dramedy is laced with clever animations, amusing parodies of foreign films and spry dialogue that takes you into the mind of outsider teens finding connection. Olivia Cooke and Ronald Cyler are enjoyable in their roles inhabiting high school characters that haven’t been rendered this way before. Plot parallels to Fault in Our Stars don’t hinder this story from forging its own path. Nick Offerman and Molly Shannon also shine in small comedic roles. Cinephiles will adore the preciousness of some of the film techniques which recall both Stanley Kubrick and Wes Anderson because that’s just the way this movie rolls. It’s a delight from start to finish with only one act of narrative trickery threatening to derail the momentum. The movie promises to reward multiple viewings and is likely to achieve a bit of cult status.
“Inside Out” Heightens Emotions
Pete Docter’s animated Inside Out (B) is like a really inventive improv skit that wears out its welcome. It plumbs the goings-on inside a tween’s mind through the antics and skulduggery of five personified interior monologues. Color coded to match the memory marbles that the protagonist is losing, these sensory sprites (Joy, Sadness, Anger, Disgust and Fear) must summon every trick in the book to help the young lady keep it all together when her family uproots from Middle America to the West Coast. TV comedy stars Amy Poehler and Phyllis Smith shine brightest as polar opposites; others such as Mindy Kaling are a bit wasted in underwritten voice roles. The overall conceit is intellectually stimulating as the film ponders how life’s most profound memories graft a combination of laughter and tears. Therapists will have a field day with the insider cognitive references; the rest of us may struggle to remember if the film had any big laughs or payoffs aside from set pieces and set-ups that mildly amuse. There’s a fine line between tickle and treacle. Aside from some delightful sentiment conjured up by the hero’s childhood imaginary friend (Richard Kind), there wasn’t much of an emotional arc. And the characters in the brain are lost a bit too long in the poppy field of forgetfulness as they race to re-unite and provide mental balance for viewers to remember why we’re supposed to care. Disney has done this cranium command before, but Pixar has made proceedings a bit too clever by half. Overall it’s got lots of great qualities but doesn’t quite win best personality. [Note: The animated short Lava that appears before the film is an enchanting take about the ballad of a lonely volcano and made all the better with new immersive Dolby technologies in select theatres].
A Word About #DolbyCinema:
I had the good fortune of viewing Inside Out courtesy of friends at Dolby. My screening was held at the new Dolby Cinema at AMC Prime now open at AMC North Point Mall 12 in Atlanta.
Dolby Cinema at AMC Prime combines Dolby Atmos, the highest quality immersive sound system, with the dazzling, colorful images of Dolby Vision. Journalists who have been to early Dolby Cinema screenings are calling the experience revolutionary. Geoffrey Morrison of CNET called Dolby Cinema “a breathtaking cinema experience.” Ryan Waniata of Digital Trends said the combination of Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos is “mind-blowing.” This movie is one of the first titles shown in the Dolby Cinema format, so it’s a perfect way to be introduced to this revolutionary new movie experience. #DolbyCinema
“Spy” (2015) a Funny Treat
Spy (B+), the latest collaboration between Bridesmaids director Paul Feig and his comic muse Melissa McCarthy, is both a successful send-up of espionage films and a running showcase of hilarious dialogue and pratfalls. Although it falls into the overlong territory (Judd Apatow started this trend in comedies), it is stuffed with double-crosses, witty quips and madcap action. McCarthy is a hoot as an unexpected but ultimately highly credible heroine, and she becomes more and more comfortable in her own skin as she dons an array of frumpy disguises. Rose Byrne is a fabulous foil as an Eastern Bloc baddie, with piercing, non-ironic zingers leveled at our protagonist. Jason Statham and Jude Law are surprisingly daft in their comic moments as well. The film is a great escape, brassy, vulgar and a laugh riot.
“Mad Max: Fury Road” is Intense Action Thriller
The first act of director George Miller’s latest post-apocalyptic epic left me a bit mixed on Max, but as the propulsive parade of vehicular adventure progresses, it became clear that we do indeed need another hero. The adrenaline filled reboot Mad Max: Fury Road (B) is precision tuned in its breakneck stunt work, gloriously specific in its troupe of odd denizens aboard citadel towers and on monster trucks and near operatic in its pacing with few words punctuated by Junkie XL’s thrilling percussion and guitar. Ridin’ dirty in lead acting roles are Tom Hardy and Charlize Theron; and despite their character development coming a bit too little too late, they are strong physical actors for the journey. The film contains unexpected subtext about female empowerment as Theron’s character is delivering the villain’s wives to safe territory, and she is fierce in the role. Sequences with near-impossible odds, such as when Max is fighting with one arm chained to a car door and the other cuffed to a comatose man, showcase Miller’s strong action instincts in their rawest and most entertaining form. Hardy reclaims road warrior-dom from white collar execs and flexes uncanny instincts even when his character is going from one unpleasant challenge to another. Filmed in an orange hue that would make John Boehner envious, it’s a visceral ride into a thunderous domain.
“Pitch Perfect 2” Brings On the Sonic Sisterhood
Furious 7 delivered a winning formula earlier this spring: a diverse, likable ensemble with over-the-top automotive stunts and even a bit of nostalgia. Replace race cars with riffs, and you have the imminently pleasing aca-comedy sequel Pitch Perfect 2 (B+), sure to please the franchise faithful. Elizabeth Banks, who repeats her funny gig as a wry music contest commentator, takes the helm as director of PP2, and she orchestrates a creative bumper-crop of pranks, pratfalls, life lessons and female empowerment. Anna Kendrick gets a smart subplot working for a music producer (masterfully played by Keegan-Michael Key) while Hailee Steinfeld skillfully assumes the ingenue role. Rebel Wilson and Adam DeVine bring ample comic relief from the frantic quest to restore the Bellas’ good names after a wardrobe malfunction causes global pandemonium. Several sequences are mild misfires, but mostly it’s a summer camp-fest of fun and surprises. There’s music and one-liners aplenty to keep this pop bonbon sweet and sassy. The script’s respect for the female ensemble and for music itself is admirable. It’s a rollicking ride that at times surpasses the original film’s cult success and is certainly bound for box office glory.
The Cars are the Stars in “Furious 7” (2015)
The cars are the stars, and the wheels in the sky keep on turning in James Wan’s automotive aerial action ballet Furious 7 (B). Over the top in nearly every way, this popcorn flick assembles the gang of driving adventurers led by the minimally expressive Vin Diesel to thwart a British baddie (Jason Statham), conquer two ambitious tasks and then coast through a more traditional and endless car chase in the final reel. But, oh that first duo of tasks! From a sheer stunt spectacular perspective, the parachuting cars into enemy territory and a Dubai penthouse-set vehicular escape involving a drive through three skyscrapers are a gravity-be-damned wonder to behold. The 13 year old boy who is clearly concepting the script gets it nearly all in place: the buxom beauties, the exotic locales, hilarious quips from a spry Tyrese Gibson, the street fights, equal opportunity wrestling matches (go, Michelle Rodriguez!) involving lots of smashed glass and even some Tokyo grift. The hood ornament on top of the proceedings is a sentimental postscript tribute to golden boy Paul Walker, the heart of the series who passed away before the movie shoot completed. This bittersweet tinge underscores themes of family and brotherhood in a film that is otherwise as subtle as a trucker’s mudflap. And while ludicrous and featuring Ludacris, the enterprise holds together in a whole “muscle cars in space” kinda way. For action fans who don’t need a whole lotta subtext under the hood, this sequel delivers the goods.
“I Am Michael” an Intriguing Drama
Justin Kelly’s I Am Michael (B+) is a gripping true story about a gay magazine editor who has a series of revelations that lead him to attempt to alter his sexual orientation. Fully realized by James Franco, the title character is complex and sympathetic as he wrestles with issues of faith and identity. The quirky actor should be commended for courageousness in a mature and layered performance and in behind the scenes work to get this fascinating story told. The film’s reverse coming out story with a main character who transforms from player to prayer coupled with the filmmakers’ unwillingness to be reductive leads the narrative down unexpected and rewarding paths. As the protagonist’s love interests, Zachary Quinto and Emma Roberts are effective foils for what seems like a folly. It’s all sensitively handled and executed with earnestness. What could have fallen into a Reefer Madness style propaganda film about the ex-gay movement actually lifts up nuance as a core asset and provides fodder for thought.
David Cronenberg’s “Maps to the Stars” is Alluring
Films such as Wilder’s Sunset Boulevard, Altman’s The Player and Lynch’s Mulholland Drive are some of the most definitive movies in the “gritty inside Hollywood” canon; and really, the always interesting David Cronenberg’s latest work, Maps to the Stars (B-), doesn’t even belong in the same discussion with them. But as a bleak portrait of just how soulless and bizarre Tinseltown can be, it’s really quite a fascinating freakshow recommended only for those perversely fascinated with the underbelly of glamour and glitz. Julianne Moore plays washed-up actress “Havana Segrand,” whose character name alone gives you all the clues you need to know that the film will occasionally be over-the-top ridiculous. Moore plays against type and blurs every line between public life and intimacy as we see her in astonishing rawness playing a callow climber. She’s a touch point between several characters in a dysfunctional family including Mia Wasikowska as a whack-job returning to town after a mysterious absence, her child-actor turned rehab-teen brother played deliciously by Evan Bird and their dad (a miscast) John Cusack who is somewhere between psycho and therapist as a self-help guru. It’s a cautionary tale without answers and a puzzle box of an ensemble drama without an easy resolution. Shades of a less well thought out Magnolia hang over the multi-story proceedings like the story it could have been, with a pinch of Cronenberg’s own 1996 sex-in-car-wrecks drama Crash thrown into the stew, sending anyone without the patience for this type of thing running for the Hollywood hills, the exit door or the eject button. Still, despite its messiness, its baffling final act and its complete lack of mainstream appeal, it was an intriguing pulp curiosity and kept me fascinated throughout. Cronenberg invites his audiences to be the ultimate voyeurs, a notion repeated in his best work (History of Violence, The Fly, Dead Ringers, Eastern Promises, Videodrome – someone please give this guy an award already!) and even in his experiments (oddities such as Naked Lunch and eXistenZ). His Brundlefly mash-up with a Hollywood tell-all lends the film its sly signature. The movie is crude, tonally jumbled and often half-baked in comparison to his modern masterpieces, but it still plumbs magnificent depths. There’s no GPS system that will take you to where you’re gonna go here, but I liked the journey just fine.
“Last Five Years” Makes a Magnificent Musical Movie
In music and in life, synching up is half the battle. For the two lovers orbiting and intersecting with each other through Richard LaGravenese’s adaptation of the Jason Robert Brown musical The Last Five Years (A), the language of tough love is song, and the deck is shuffled with her story told backward and his forward. The “he” is Jeremy Jordan, and the “she” is Anna Kendrick, and both are in spectacular voice and game for the virtually all-sung emoting. Kendrick’s struggling actress character draws from the actress’ considerable charms and everywoman humor. Jordan is also stunning in his debonair dismissiveness as an on-the-rise novelist whose fame is ablaze just as Kendrick’s character crashes and burns. With hand-held aesthetic and its cunning chronology, it’s a bit like Once meets Memento, with shades of young love out of the Before Sunrise playbook and a found footage quality à la Blair Witch. There’s something else afoot here: a giddiness teetering to melancholy and an overarching uncertainty about where it’s all headed. It does seem clear from the opening sequence that the titular timeline doesn’t end well for the couple, but in still life and snapshots within the various montages, there’s enduring hope. A breezy indie spirit imbues the affair with a veritable home movie quality, with the audience a voyeur to a relationship always on the brink. LaGravenese is scrappy and uncommon in his approach, which rewrites many of the rules of the genre. Naturalistic and unexpectedly moving, it’s a marvel of a musical.
The film’s co-star talks to TheaterMania about the film adaptation of the cult stage musical:
“The Babadook” is Scary
Writer/director Jennifer Kent’s The Babadook (B) is a highly suspenseful Australian-Canadian psychological horror film focused on Essie Davis in a terrific performance as a grieving single mom and superb child actor Noah Wiseman as her disturbed boy. When they discover a children’s book about a maniacal madman who is trying to infiltrate their home, the mother and son must summon all in their power to preserve whatever sanity is left in their domestic life. Music and sound effects augment this classic tale of home and hero possession, and it almost fully delivers on the promise of its premise. It’s creepy, deeply relatable and a great example of how time-honored horror tools and solid acting can pack a paranoid punch.