Tag

First Hit: Funny moments but it also felt like it was pressing for the laughs.

At the end of the film there’s shot of an old Wall Street Journal article showing about 10 men who were the subject of a story about a group of guys keeping a game of tag going for many years. This was the premise and storyline for this film.

The idea of a group of guys playing the game of tag into their 30’s and 40’s has a nice ring to it. It is easy to see that this game, which the group started playing when they were young boys, is a way for them to stay connected to each other.

The film touches on this, but sometimes, a bit too cavalierly and tries to go for the laugh and not a deeper story. My sense was that this game between these men, besides being fun, grounded them in their roots and where they came from. Having just gone to my 50th high school reunion, it was interesting to hear stories of my old class mates and what their path had been. I’ve been fortunate to have been able to keep two friendships together for over 55 years, and it’s been nice to connect with them every few months and to have been part of their lives.

Here we have Hogan “Hoagie” Malloy (Ed Helms), Reggie (LilRei Howery), Bob Callahan (Jon Hamm), Randy “Chilli” Cillano (Jake Johnson), and Jerry Pierce (Jeremy Renner) as five friends who have played tag together since they were young boys. As they got older, they set aside the month of May as tag month. Anytime during this month, the person who is “it”, can and will find one of the other guys and tag him. At the end of the month, the game ends for another eleven months.

The hook this film uses was that Jerry had never been tagged. Somehow, for more than twenty years, he’s been able to avoid being “it.” Hoagie learns that Jerry is getting married in May and thinks this will be the opportune time to tag him. He rounds up the rest of the gang to plot this once in a lifetime score.

The opening scene has Hoagie getting hired as a janitor in Bob’s company, so that he can surprise Bob, tag him, and then enlist him in the effort to get Jerry. This is how the storyline gets the Wall Street Journal involved because at the time Hoagie tags Bob, he’s being interviewed by Rebecca Crosby (Annabelle Wallis) who is a journalist interviewing Bob about his company.

There are funny scenes as this small group join forces to get Jerry, but the over the top performance goes to Anna Malloy (Isla Fisher), Hoagie’s wife. She is intense and focused to help Hoagie’s dream come true, getting Jerry. There is a reason for this and you’ll have to see the film to know why.

Helms is good as the guy who instigates the plan to get Jerry tagged. Howery was strong as one of the members who had his own way of participating. Hamm was very good as the successful business professional who sets aside his business for the sake of the game. Johnson’s role was a little off for me. I didn’t see the reason to have someone whose ideal life was being high on pot as a good plot device. Renner was excellent as Jerry. His intense and intelligent actions were good for this story. Wallis was OK as the Wall Street Journal reporter following the story. Fisher was perfect as the over the top wife willing to make the game happen for her husband and herself. Rob McKittrick and Mark Stellen wrote an OK screenplay, although I think it needed to not focus on generating a laugh. It could have been funny without resorting to physical site gags. Jeff Tomsic directed this film and would have done better to redirect the emphasis towards the friendship between these men.

Overall: I enjoyed the film but would  have rather had a more engaged full story.

Chappaquiddick

First Hit: We all knew how despicable Ted Kennedy’s actions were, this film just puts pictures to it.

When the headlines came out that “Teddy” (Jason Clarke) had driven off a bridge with Mary Jo Kopechne (Kate Mara) in the car and he survived while she drowned, the nation was shocked. As the story came out that Ted did not report this accident well into the next day, Ted became despicable and his and the Kennedy family's credibility sank to a new low.

This film shows the privileged way that Ted acted based on his being a Kennedy. Ted’s father Joseph (Bruce Dern) ran the Kennedy family with a iron crooked fist. His team of people who were on-call to protect the Kennedy name only exaggerated the privileged arrogant family ways.

Recalling the original news in the newspaper and seeing film footage of Teddy wearing a neck brace to gain sympathy was horrible then and even worse in this film. His manipulation of his Chief of Staff Joseph Gargan (Ed Helms) was painful to watch.

From a film point of view, using true accounts and the documents from the inquest, what is presented appears to be a fair reenactment of this tragic event.

Much is said about the horrific events of his older brother’s untimely deaths, two through assassination, and how Joe Kennedy expected the remaining son to carry on the family legacy. All Teddy wanted was his father’s love and respect for who he was.

Does Teddy make up for his lack of integrity around this and other events? That’s a judgment call and even though he was called “The Lion of the Senate,” this film does little to shed light on his career. It is a film about his doing nothing for Mary Jo as she slowly suffocated and drowned in an upside-down car.

Clarke was OK as Teddy. I didn’t think he showed enough of the “lion” within him but maybe the “lion” came later in life. He did a great job of being arrogant and childlike in his decision making. Mara was very good. Unfortunately, she’s not in the film a long time, but her Mary Jo stays with you during the remaining part of the film. Dern was excellent as a handicapped and old Joe Kennedy. His looks of disdain towards Teddy were perfect. Helms was excellent as Teddy’s right hand man who finally couldn’t take being Ted’s slave and foil and therefore left. Taylor Allen and Andrew Logan wrote a good script that seemed to capture the time and the feeling of crime. John Curran directed this film.

Overall: This film only validated my feelings about Teddy as a guy spending his life trying to make amends for being an unthoughtful arrogant man from an influential family.

I Do... Until I Don't

First Hit:  Although not well crafted, it had some funny sections and the film ended nicely.

Lake Bell as both director and lead actor did a fair job in developing this film. What didn’t work was that some scenes seemed forced while others ended with little reason for being and did not set up another scene. What did work for me was that there were some very out-loud funny moments and I liked how the film came together in the end.

The film follows three types of relationships partially through the eyes of a relationship guru named Vivian (Dolly Wells). She wants to prove her theory that marriage between two people cannot be "until death do you part." She surmises that people live longer these days so that this promise is not in tune with the changes in our aging process. What she thinks and believes is that after seven years of marriage a couple should have the option to renew or not. To prove her theory, she wants to video a couple falling apart to prove her point.

One relationship that Vivian follows is Bell as Alice who is married to Noah (Ed Helms). They own a window blind store that is failing. The reason it is failing is that he holds on to the ways his father and his grandfather ran the business and doesn’t want to change. They need money as they are about to go into Chapter 13 bankruptcy. Alice thinks by working with Vivian she might make some money. Adding to their issues, Alice doesn’t want to have children while Noah does. Alice also thinks that Noah is hot for her sister Fanny (Amber Heard).

Fanny and Zander (Wyatt Cenac) are not married but have been together for six years. They are raising a son and have publicly declared they’re in an open relationship. There is talk about having other partners but in the end, we find out that they're more talk than action (more sizzle than steak). This is another couple Vivian decides to video because she thinks their relationship will fail.

Lastly, she makes a deal to video Cybil and Harvey (Mary Steenburgen and Paul Reiser respectively) who appear to be tired of their long term marriage. Their communication is mostly made up of snide and snippy remarks towards each other. Cybil is intent on serving Harvey with divorce papers for Vivian’s video and has been guaranteed $10,000.

What the film follows is how these couples set up both their failures and successes with each other. In the course of their interactions, there are naturally developed situations and scenes that are laugh-out-loud funny. Two such scenes are when Alice tries to make money by becoming a massage therapist that gives happy endings to clients. Her first time attempt to do this happens to be with Harvey, who gets a happy ending massage coupon from his wife, Cybil. Their interaction is very funny. Another amusing scene is when Alice and Harvey meet, after the massage, Alice’s reaction is priceless.

When the couples learn about how they are being used by Vivian and that they still love each other, they plan to teach Vivian a lesson.

Bell is up and down in her character, there are times I thought her reactions were not congruent with her character. Helms is okay as Bell’s husband and as consistent in his character. Steenburgen was wonderful. I loved her shift through the film. Reiser is very strong as Harvey the quiet, semi-lost, husband looking for a way to share his deep caring for Cybil. Heard is very good as the free flowing and free spirited sister. Cenac was very good as Fanny’s partner and when he shows his true color for someone trying to seduce Fanny, it is perfect. Wells was funny and okay as the videographer who has a strong opinion about marriage based on her own failings. Lake Bell wrote and directed this film along with starring in it. Not many people do all three successfully and as the film and story evolved it got better which gives me hope that future offerings by Bell will continue to be stronger.

Overall:  The ending made up for some of the failings of the beginning scenes.

The Millers

First Hit:  Although not great, I enjoyed this film and many laughs came easily.

I was in the mood for something lighthearted and maybe with some substance. “The Millers” came through really well.

The substance is about learning about selflessness – movement away from selfishness. David (Jason Sudeikis) is a small time dime-bag marijuana dealer. He’s doing the same thing he’s been doing all his life. He only cares about himself and making the required sales. He’s worked for Brad (Ed Helms) for a very long time.

Brad is wealthy (he collects whales not cars) and is a jerk. David gets robbed trying to stop his neighbor Kenny (Will Poulter) from breaking up a street robbery of Casey (Emma Roberts) by some street punks. It’s Kenny’s good heart that put him in danger. When David decides to help and this kindness backfires on him.

Losing a lot of Brad’s money and pot, Brad gives David the option of picking up a bunch of pot in Mexico and bring it across the Mexican/US border OR be can be killed. If he does the smuggling job, he’s promised money, relief from his indebtedness to Brad, and maybe a little more freedom.

To make this happens, David hatches the idea that if he looked like a family man in a RV then the likelihood of being stopped at the boarder would be less. So he recruits Kenny, then Casey - who is homeless, and his neighbor Rose (Jennifer Aniston) to become his family on this adventure. He offers them some money. Rose is a stripper, hates her job and has been stilted both financially and emotionally by her past boyfriend.

With the promise of a payoff, this motley crew becomes “The Millers” and they trek off to Mexico to collect some pot and to make some money. But the situations that happen on the way drive them all to see that being part of a family has meaning for all of them.

What makes the story and funny situations work is excellent acting on all their parts.

Sudeikis is very good as a slacker, just selfishly going on with his life and slowly and sporadically finding that he cares about the family he put together for his profit.  Helms is great as the jerky drug dealer. Aniston is fabulous as a stripper, pretend mother, and as the grounding force of this film. Roberts is a delight and, like Aniston, segues from hardened loaner, to a girl wanting to be heard, seen and loved. Poulter was amazing and a real prize. His innocence and bravery was perfect. Nick Offerman and Kathryn Hahn as Don and Edie Fitzgerald fellow RV travelers were a great addition to the story. Bob Fisher and Steve Farber wrote a witty screenplay. Rawson Marshall Thurber provided a deft touch directing this ensemble cast of strong actors.

Overall:  This was every entertaining and definitely worth the price of admission.

Jeff, Who Lives at Home

First Hit:  Although I didn’t anticipate much, this film was touching and more interesting than I originally thought.

Jeff (Jason Segel) lives at home. He’s over 30 years old, watches the film “Signs” often, smokes a lot of pot, and is totally lost in his life.

Trying to find his way, he looks for his own signs that will give him a clearer picture of what he needs to do with his life. Jeff is a pacifist and mourns the loss of his father.

His brother Pat (played by Ed Helms) is struggling in his marriage to Linda (Judy Greer) and is trying to spice his life up with a new car. Jeff and Pat’s mother Sharon (played by Susan Sarandon) works in an office, doesn’t know how to motivate her son Jeff and is being admired by someone in her office.

Jeff gets a call from someone who is asking for “Kevin”. There is no Kevin so Jeff, while on an errand for his mom, leaves the house and then runs into a young man with “Kevin” written on his shirt. He thinks it is a sign. He eventually runs into his brother Pat.

Pat on the other hand, has bought a Porsche which he and his wife cannot afford because he thinks he’s missing out on life. They run into Linda who is meeting up with a male friend. Sad that Pat doesn’t talk with or listen to her any longer, she ends up in a hotel room with him.

Then Sharon getting anonymous instant messages from someone at the office has her in an emotional tizzy. The ingredients are interesting and result in a very nice finale.

Segel is very good as Jeff the wayward slacker lost in life. Helms is good as the highly wound-up brother who just wants something different in his life and doesn’t see he needs to look within. Sarandon is wonderful as the lost mother of two boys who are on their own unhealthy paths. Greer is great as the wife who has had enough and wants things to change. It was very nice to see Rae Dawn Chong again in her role as Sharon’s office friend. Jay Duplass and Mark Duplass co-wrote and co-directed this pleasantly interesting and engaging film.

Overall: This is a thoughtful and interesting film.