Read Iratefilms.com’s interview with Writer/Director Greg Mottola here.

It’s the summer of 1987, and James Brennan (Jesse Eisenberg) is looking forward to spending it touring Europe. His dreams are quickly dashed when he finds out his parents (Wendie Malick and Jack Gilpin) can no longer help him afford his trip or assist him in his future plans for grad school at Columbia. Sadly, this translates into James getting the only job he’s qualified for…at Adventureland.

I really expected more from this film. The credit for that goes to the guy editing the trailer. From the trailer, the film looks like it’s full of the funny, however, Adventureland does not deliver. All the hilarity is already represented in the two minute clip.

This is director Greg Mottola’s next effort after Superbad, except he decided to write it as well. Maybe he hoped Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg left some humor in the tank for him. Unfortunately, the tank was empty. All that was left inside was a contrived love triangle and boring characters – and he ran with it. The acting in Adventureland wasn’t bad, but the chemistry between all the actors were horrible except for Bill Hader (Manager Bobby) and Kristen Wiig (Paulette). They worked very well on screen together.

Do yourself a favor, if you’ve watched the trailer, leave it at that. Spend your money on better flicks, like Fast and Furious or Monsters vs. Aliens.

Paul Rudd (Role Models, Monsters Vs. Aliens) plays Peter Klaven, a successful real estate agent who is newly engaged to his wife to be, Zooey (Rashida Jones). It isn’t long before he realizes that there’s a slight dilemma – he has no real male friends to flesh out his half of the wedding party. To make matters worse, he doesn’t even know where to begin cultivating a male friendship. Lacking that, finding a best man in less than a year would be troublesome. This leaves him with no choice but to seek the help from his gay brother Robbie (Andy Samberg), who is more than willing to share his experiences with men and help land that whale called “Best Friend” Peter needs in his life.

I Love You, Man draws a lot of parallels to the normal dating scene, where casual drink offers have the potential to lead to something more substantial. Rudd plays the role of eager suitor to a tee. He stammers in all the right places, makes up nonsensical words in moments of excitement, and kicks himself for every misstep along the way. Finally, after many “man dates,” Peter runs into Sidney Fife (Jason Segel) and the two hit it off so well that Peter finds himself waiting by the phone for the call that never comes.

I couldn’t help but enjoy this bromantic comedy. While I wasn’t bursting at the seams with laughter, the nonstop ride to funny kept me chuckling and grimacing with Peter throughout his dates. I Love You, Man gives us an eventual intimate peak at the secret ritual known as male bonding, which is one of those things that are hard to describe. How does the transition from acquaintance to friend to best friend happen anyway? Looking at the friends I’m surrounded with, I can honestly say I don’t know.  I must have blocked out the horrible experience. 

Do yourself a favor and watch this one. If you liked Forgetting Sarah Marshall, you should enjoy this one as well.

(more…)

Jump.

Yes, you read correctly – Phoebe in Wonderland. Not to be confused with another girl named Alice. From the beginning, I was expecting it to be some twisted bastardization or re-imagining of Charles Lutwidge Dodgson’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, but was delighted it was not. Instead, we are introduced to a young girl named Phoebe Lichten (Elle Fanning – yes, Dakota’s sister) who has no compunction about questioning school rules about proper question asking etiquette every year she attends. This is just the tip of the iceberg. Soon enough you find that Phoebe is very different from most of the other children in her school – a trait her mother Hillary Lichten (Felicity Huffman) finds endearing enough to nurture and fight tooth and nail for. Phoebe’s behavioral differences, however, soon become problems for teachers and students alike and when there doesn’t seem to be any answer for it, enter the new, if not a bit eccentric, drama teacher, Ms. Dodger (Patricia Clarkson), who is recruiting for the school’s production of Alice in Wonderland. Phoebe’s behavior problems all but disappear while rehearsing for the play as the lead, Alice.

I found myself rather enjoying this film. Elle Fanning was stellar as Phoebe and made me think that there’s something in the Fanning gene pool that produces solid acting talent. Felicity Huffman made me believe that Mrs. Lichten’s love for her daughter was pure and unconditional. The way Mrs. Lichten deals with the shrink’s assessment is probably not much different from many parents today, and I felt in total agreement throughout. When you find out what’s at the root of  Phoebe’s behavioral problems, it’s easier to understand why she’s the way she is, and why she’s able to control herself in the confines of Miss Dodger’s tutelage. I want to mention Bill Pullman, who played Peter Lichten, but his role in the story was unremarkable, though his acting was solid enough as the slightly detached and busy father. Don’t be fooled, Phoebe in Wonderland was about the dynamic between the mother, teacher and child and the trio of Huffman, Clarkson, and Fanning pulled it off beautifully.

Catch this one if you can. It’s limited in its showing and only Cocowalk in Miami is hosting it down in the tip of Florida. Also, catch Rick Swift interviewing Miss Dodger herself, Patricia Clarkson!
(more…)

This ain’t NBC’s Heroes

“Movers.” “Pushers.” “Watchers.” These code names are but a few on a list of many assigned to people gifted with extraordinary powers. Powers like moving objects with their minds, or influencing people’s thoughts, these are powers I’d covet, though there are plenty more that make me second guess my wish list. Governments around the world have investigated the use of paranormal abilities against their enemies, as the Nazis did with varied results around 1945. But what if a government found a way to harness these abilities to create paranormal operatives? This is where Push takes you as a clandestine agency called The Division has done just that.

Chris Evans (Fantastic Four) is Nick Gant, a “mover,” who’s been on the run from Division almost all his life. Unfortunately for him, staying in hiding is not in his future thanks to Cassie Holmes (Dakota Fanning), a thirteen year old “watcher” who sees him helping her find a briefcase Division wants very badly. Djimon Hounsou (Blood Diamond, The Island) plays Henry Carver a Division agent, who is also a powerful “pusher,”  to spearhead the recovery of the briefcase. 

The story starts off a little cliche with the whole “clandestine agency building special soldiers” schtick, but really, how many angles can you use for a story like this? Thankfully, the cliches end there as Push takes you on an enjoyable action ride as Evans and company have to stay ahead of Division and their “watchers” – who can see into the future. Fanning brings her A-game to Push while managing not to steal the scenes she shares with Evans.  Her and Hounsou are quickly landing themselves on my list of favorite actors.

Push will definately find itself into my blu-ray collection. I’d advise running to see it before it stops showing in theatres.

(more…)

The Wrestler focuses on Randy “The Ram” Robinson (Mickey Rourke) at the end of his 20 year wrestling career. Hampered by a heart attack and told he shouldn’t wrestle unless he wants to die from his weakened heart, he retires and attempts to reconnect with his estranged daughter, Stephanie (Evan Rachel Wood) and live a normal life. Unfortunately, it’s never as easy as it seems.

From the outset, you can feel The Ram’s oppressive lonliness and isolation. The feeling is so strong and so well portrayed by Rourke that I felt the need to share his burden throughout the film. It’ll come as no surprise that living a normal life becomes difficult for him to bear. Wrestling is all that he knows–the only place where he can feel accepted. So when the opportunity comes for him to participate in a rematch to capitalize on a legendary match held 20 years ago at the height of his popularity, it’s tempting to go back.

The pacing of the story was slow, which enhanced the melancholy mood of the film. Marissa Tomei plays The Ram’s love interest, Cassidy, who happens to be an aging stripper and a single mother of one. Age seemingly hasn’t messed with Tomei’s body, which is on display throughout the film. Tomei fans, who’ve been waiting a long time, will not be disappointed; except that it took so long. Rourke’s acting was superb, as stated before, I couldn’t help but empathize with the old man, especially when he reconnects with his hostile daughter. Evan Rachel Wood Across the Universe was excellent in her short role and is an important catalyst to The Ram’s decision to return to the ring.

The Wrestler as a whole is relatively average. The story plods in places, no doubt to heighten the gravity of the film. I was actually suprised I liked it as much as I did – I’m normally not big into plodding storylines. The Wrestler is definitely not for everyone, so unless you feel like paying nine bucks to look at Tomei’s double piercing, I’d advise staying home for this one.

Bedtime Stories is a fun family film centered around Skeeter Bronson (Adam Sandler) who has to spend time with his nephew and niece (Jonathan Morgan Heit) and (Laura Ann Kelsing), respectively while his sister, Wendy (Courtney Cox), attends a job interview in another state. To assist him, Wendy enlists the aid of her friend, Jill (Keri Russell), to make sure she watches the children while Skeeter is at work…and possibly also to ensure Skeeter wasn’t accidentally drowning the children. Skeeter’s life is changed forever when the bedtime stories he shares with the children mysteriously come to life the next day.

Sandler has been hitting some solid ones with films like Click and Spanglish. While Bedtime Stories was enjoyable, it doesn’t tug on the heartstrings like those two, leaving you with just a lukewarm feeling at the end of the film, much like I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry did. I don’t know whose idea it was for the guinea pig, but it’s constant state of suprise was a neverending source of chuckles for me.

Narrated by (I’m assuming) Jonathon Pryce (Marty Bronson), the story was well told, and I have nothing negative to say about the acting, which was about average. Bedtime Stories is a definate must see for Sandler fans, and will probably be a fixture on family shelves when the dvd’s come out.

A plethora of stars cannot salvage this story.

I’m a sucker for animated movies. So when I saw the trailer for The Tale of Despereaux, I HAD to see it. This, sometimes, leads me to hating trailers. In this particular case, you’ve seen the best and funniest parts of the movie in this trailer. Narrated by Sigourney Weaver (Vantage Point), The Tale of Despereaux never grabbed your interest. Sure the animation was great, but the story wandered too often in lengthy asides on characters no one cared about. Every character that had a knot in the plot was expanded upon unnecessarily, and made the movie drag on needlessly. The story, a simple damsel in distress fare, felt flat and dragged you down in its overbearing melancholy. Despereaux (Mathew Broderick) is the only uplifting character but the burden of carrying the movie was too much for this little mouse…even if he did have big ears.

While the voice acting was loaded with stars (Emma Watson, Dustin Hoffman, Tracey Ullman, Kevin Kline, William H. Macy, Stanley Tucci), the combined shine of their star power couldn’t salvage the poor (if accurate) retelling of the book by Kate DiCamillo. The Tale of Despereaux suffered from insufficient pruning and an unengaging narrator, hampering what could have been a wonderful story with delightful characters.

Revolutionary Road is a period piece, taking place in 1950′s America, and is adapted from the novel by Richard Yates. It should have remained in novel form. The story revolved around a married couple who become disenchanted with suburban life, living the rut called the American Dream. In an attempt to change it up, they decide to move to Paris, but two things stand in their way – a lucrative promotion, and the possibility of a newborn to bring their family to five.

Leonardo DiCaprio (Frank Wheeler) and Kate Winslet (April Wheeler) bring their dynamic chemistry back from their pairing in Titanic. The acting was fantastic. Both actors bring out the subtle nuances of emotions as if they really feel them. And DiCaprio has the market cornered on blind rage. I can’t think of another actor off the top of my head that can do that as powerful as he can.

The only odd thing that stuck out was that April Wheeler, a housewife and mother of two, seemed to be constantly bereft of her children. Their presence was barely felt throughout the movie. You weren’t even aware they HAD children until about the thirty minute mark, and even then (at least for me) you think they’re neighborhood children. I guess it was so we could better focus on the Wheeler adults, but it felt more like the family was a sham. If the kids were going to be nonexistent anyway, Director Sam Mendes should have had them written out of the script altogether.

Unfortunately, good chemistry and great acting can’t do anything for a paltry story. You can’t polish a turd, as they say. Avoid at all costs.

The Yes Covenant

Say “Yes” to everything? That’s a tall order for anyone, but Carl Allen (Jim Carrey) – a loan officer who’s favorite word is “No” – does just that, thanks to the helpful coaxing of his acquaintance Nick (John Michael Higgins) and a bit of persuasion from self help guru, Terrence Bundley (Terence Stamp). With the power of “Yes,” Carl is able to open himself up to a world he only glanced at before. With each “Yes” he opens himself up to better and better things, not to mention gain a new romantic interest in Allison (Zooey Deschanel).

Carrey is in good comedic form, leaving the crazy faces that made him famous at home. Well, most of them. You feel for Carl, who is at an obvious crossroads in life. He’s despondent, in a comfortable rut, and unwilling to budge from the sanctity of his couch unless its for work. We’ve all been there. Hell, some of us are still there! Stamp, even though his screen time was short, had probably the best running sequence in a movie I’ve seen in a long time. I half expected it to end with him swinging a samurai sword in the end, lopping off the head of some unsuspecting victim. Deschanel is as adorable as ever in her role as Allison. I was surprised to find out she has a pretty decent singing voice.

The message of this movie was pretty clear, at least for me: Stay true to yourself, but don’t be afraid to live. Yes Man is a definite cattle call to all the shut-ins, internet addicts and couch potatoes out there who find comfort in ignoring opportunity’s knocks for the comfort of solitude.  Jim Carrey sums up the message of the movie pretty well himself:

“It’s usually not the things we say yes to that we regret; it’s when we say no that we look back and think, ‘Ah, I could have lived a little bit more.’”

While it wasn’t a laugh riot, Yes Man was funny and engaging enough to keep me entertained. So live a little and head to the theatre this weekend if you haven’t already seen it.