Marley and Me

First Hit: This film couldn’t make up its mind; comedy or drama. In the end it was neither, just mediocre.

OK, I wanted fluff and this is what I got, sort of. The premise was good and maybe with a different male lead it might have found legs as a drama piece because the basic storyline could have worked.

Jennifer Aniston (playing Jennifer Grogan) plays a driven feature news writer who has a plan for her life. Her counterpart is Owen Wilson (playing John Grogan) who is a struggling reporter but always seems to come through in a pinch.

As part of their life plan, they decide a dog will spice up their life a bit and when they go to pick a dog they pick the “clearance sale” dog, the runt that no one else will want. This dog happens to be incorrigible. There are so many scenes of this dog knocking over something, dragging someone and over eating that it becomes tedious and boring.

This is the films downfall because underlying all this is really a story about how marriage and doing the full family plan can take its toll on a couple and how this dog holds it all together. But the dog is too much the character to make it all work well together.

Owen would have been a good fit if it was more of a comedy about a man and his goofy dog, but the underlying story had a different tone and it felt like Owen was going to crack a joke at any inappropriate moment just because he has this smirk view of life.

Overall: This was a confused film with some funny and serious good bits but they never coalesced into something wholly good.

Yes Man

First Hit: A sophomoric film played by someone who graduated to adulthood a long time ago.

Jim Carrey reaches back to the type of humor that made him famous, over the top facial expressions, goofy dialogue and pratfalls. Carrey has tried drama based films and although he was OK, he never really made a mark as a dramatic actor.

Good comedic actors use more that odd facial expression, goofy dialogue and pratfalls. They use crisp funny dialogue, subtle expressions, and physical movement which can enhance a scene (Think Peter Sellers in Being There).

The problem with Carrey is that he’s getting too old to be limited to pratfall acting. In Yes Man Carrey plays Carl Allen a low level loan officer who says no to everything that comes his way. Because of this he spends his time alone and watching rented DVDs.

As his life is slipping away by alienating his friends by not being available he wakes up on day by going to a “Yes” seminar. During the seminar he makes a convenient with the leader to say yes to everything. While doing this he finds himself in funny circumstances which end up enhancing his life. Along the way he meets Zooey Deschanel who is a cute quirky girl who embraces life, just like the new “Yes Man” Carl.

One thing that didn’t fit was the lack of chemistry and comedic circumstances that didn’t work.

Although some of the circumstances and scenes were truly funny, the film was mixed with lack luster drama and funny bits. The movie seemed more like scenes patched together to make a film. Carrey is tiring in this type of role and I wonder what he’ll do next. Deschanel was cute and was more believable than Carrey.

Overall: Aside from a few big laughs, this form of comedy for Carrey has worn out its welcome mat.

Four Christmases

First Hit: Somewhere in the concept of people having parents and step parents and dealing with Christmas there is a good film; this one isn’t it.

Reese Witherspoon and Vince Vaughn play Kate and Brad respectively. They are a couple who think they’ve got it all together with no commitments, lots of fun dates, and doing all the cool things. There is nothing there on the screen that told me they weren’t acting parts.

The chemistry, their personalities didn’t mesh and I couldn’t see them as a couple. They don’t like being around their families, so their “cool thing” at Christmas is to jet off to some foreign spot, have fun, while telling lies to their parents and step parents that they are off dong some humanitarian gig for Christmas.

This year they get caught and decide to visit their four families. The only one that had any sort of realistic sense to it was the at Kate’s father’s house. It is here you get some decent acting by these scenes and John Voight. At the previous three family visits the situations are set up to create mayhem and comic riffs.

I’m shocked that Sissy Spacek, Robert Duvall, and Mary Steenburgen would have signed up for these roles. It makes them look stupid and I can guess that they may be embarrassed by being in this end product. This kind of film does fit Vaughn’s style but the writing doesn’t allow him to grow or do much real stuff.

Overall: The concept was great and perhaps Reese with someone else as the male lead and filmed as a drama and some decent writing there is a really good film. This slapstick view of the premise is a waste.

Soul Men

First Hit: Watching two men act in a comedy who died while prior to its release changed how I saw this film.

Walking into the theater I realized I’d be watching the last film performance of Bernie Mac who died while the film was in post production.

Therefore it was more difficult for me to not be thinking of this while the film progressed. It didn’t help that the film was about the death of their former lead singer and that Mac’s character Floyd goes to the doctor because he thinks there is something wrong with him. And lastly, Black Moses, Issac Hayes, who plays himself in the film actually died right after Mac.

So there are two well known stars on the screen that died before this film hit the screen.

Anyway, the premise is that Floyd and Louis (played by Samuel L. Jackson) are two thirds of a trio who sang great R&B in the 1960s. The lead singer, after the trio had a string of hits, decided to go on his own and became a star.

The film opens with the lead singer’s passing and then we learn that after the initial breakup Floyd and Louis’ career didn’t fare as well. They made a record but it didn’t sell well and with their opposing personalities they went their separate ways as well.

Floyd made money as a promoter and through his stylistic car wash. Louis ended up in jail and then living in a skid row kind of room. The record company wants Floyd and Lewis to come to and perform at a tribute performance for the deceased lead singer at the Apollo Theater.

Most of the film takes place while they travel from California to New York. Along the way they learn more about each other and what really happened so many years before.

Mac and Jackson have very different personalities, acting styles, and strengths. In this film you get to see how these strengths and styles complement each other. Hearing Issac Hayes speak immediately reminded me of some of his songs and it was a joy to hear one of his songs during the ending credits.

Overall: This film was consistent throughout (unlike the previously reviewed “Role Models”) which made it enjoyable. And although I floated in and out of being reminded that two of the films actors were dead, I laughed heartily, fully, and out loud at some of the bits.

Role Models

First Hit: Somewhat funny at times but overall somewhat lame.

I was surprised by how many people were in the theater for this film. At the end of the film, it still surprised me.

Paul Rudd plays Danny the spokesman for an energy drink company. Seann William Scott plays Wheeler, the mascot for this energy drink company. Together they travel to schools and make lame speeches to young people about why they should be drinking energy drinks versus taking drugs.

Danny hates his job and Wheeler loves his. Danny is depressed and his smart beautiful girlfriend Beth (played by Elizabeth Banks), who is a lawyer, is tired of his attitude. In a rage, partially kicked off by Beth ending their relationship, Danny breaks the law.

Instead of jail Beth works out a 120 hour mentor and friend program where both Danny and Wheeler become “Bigs” to a couple of kids, “Smalls”. They each end up with a kid who has their own issues about how to relate to others. As you might expect, everyone in the films learns a lesson and it is in the process of learning these lessons that the cute gags are created.

There wasn’t any strong standout acting in this film but the overall ensemble portrayed their characters well enough. However, I do think the boys Bobb’e J. Thompson and Christopher Mintz-Plasse did a very credible job and they are what held the film together.

Overall: Role Models is out loud funny at times but is not a solid comedic film.