Just Go With It

First Hit: Very funny at times, but wallowed at times in poor humor and a mediocre storyline.

I like Adam Sandler (as Danny) much of the time, but the humor in this story at times was unnecessary.

Example: Michael (played by Griffin Gluck), who is plays Aniston's son, takes a crap and does this on Danny's brother Eddie’s (played by Nick Swardson) arm as he sleeps in the bathtub while his arm is draped into the toilet. Why was this scene necessary? It wasn’t.

There are a number of scenes like this. I also thought the opening wedding scene where Danny hears that his wife has been sleeping with other men and that Danny and his sister are ridiculed by having overly prominent noses as the unnecessary setup for Danny to become a plastic surgeon and never let himself get close to a woman.

However as we witness the seamless relationship between Danny and his surgical assistant Katherine (played by Jennifer Aniston) we see some good, funny and interesting acting going on. The basis of the story is that Danny wears a wedding ring to obtain sympathy from women and has intimate temporary relationships with them.

He meets Palmer (played by Brooklyn Decker) and falls in love with her. However she thinks he’s married so Danny tells her he’s getting a divorce. Katherine plays his wife to collaborate his story but it becomes convoluted from there. Additionally, while in Hawaii Katherine runs into her college nemesis Devlin (played by Nicole Kidman).

Some of the scenes with Katherine and Devlin are well done and funny. In the end we all know what’s going to happen.

Sandler is OK, nothing great and generally is playing the same character he always does, semi sensitive and always wisecracking. Aniston is the one of the prizes of this film. She is so easy to believe in her character it just doesn’t look like acting. Gluck played a ridiculous character and he did it poorly. Decker is OK as the young beautiful woman. Kidman is funny in this role and she actually has more facial expressions here than she has shown in the past 3 films - think about her plastic surgery. Allan Loeb and Timothy Dowling wrote the up and down screenplay. Dennis Dugan directed all the scenes good and bad, but overall just an OK movie.

Overall: This is a film that is worth watching on DVD.

No Strings Attached

First Hit: A well done light hearted film about two people, with great chemistry, coming together.

Ashton Kutcher may be limited in his acting range, but he is really good within his range.

As Adam, a fun loving guy trying to be a television program writer with a famous father Alvin (played by Kevin Kline), he is living an easy sort of life. He’s handsome, women find him attractive, and he’s got friends.

Years earlier he met a young lady at camp named Emma (played by Natalie Portman) who is highly intelligent and proclaims, at this early age, she’s not good at affection. Years after that meeting they run into each other and she invites him to a thing.

The thing happens to be her father’s funeral. Later they meet up again and they begin a “friend with benefits” relationship. It is clear from the beginning he likes her more, in a romantic way, than she does him. She is focused in her medical practice and only wants sex with Adam at any time of the day or night.

The audience knows she is falling for him because there are too many hints that she is, despite her words to the contrary. Yes the ending is known because this is a Hollywood movie, but how it takes the audience to the ending is well done and the actors were great at telling this story.

Kutcher may be limited in the roles he's offered or in the choice he’s made. However in this film he’s easy to watch, he’s relaxed in this role and he brings the right amount of range to his character. Portman on the heels of her Oscar nomination deserving performance in “Black Swan” shows some real range by playing someone funny, complex, interesting and most of all believable. As Emma she is wonderful and sexy. Kline as Kutcher’s father is good as an obsessed man who knows he’s been obsessed with his past life as an young actor and he still leaves gatherings of people with a famous line from his early career “Great Scott”! It was nice to see Kline again in a role. Elizabeth Meriwether and Michael Samonek wrote an effective screenplay and story respectively. Ivan Reitman did a wonderful job of taking a predictable story with some good actors and making an enjoyable film.

Overall: Worth the money to go see if you want to sit back, relax and enjoy a romantic comedy.

The Dilemma

First Hit: Although not a great film, I found it amusing and enjoyable to watch.

With Vince Vaughn in a film, you know you are going to get fast talking, sarcasm, and an attempt to make a serious point. In this film the point is, does Ronnie Valentine (played by Vaughn) tell his best friend, Nick Brannen (played by Kevin James) that his wife Geneva (played by Winona Ryder) is having an affair.

Ronnie is living with Beth (played by Jennifer Connelly) who is the films straight character is a chef and is happy living with Ronnie. Nick and Geneva are pushing for Ronnie and Beth to get married saying it is the best thing to do, however when Ronnie discovers that Geneva is having an affair his is at a loss as to what to do. He doesn’t know if he should tell his friend and ends up confronting Geneva and her lover Zip (played by Channing Tatum).

This leads to lots of odd behavior which gives Vaughn a character to act out and non-stop dialogue. Because Ronnie and Nick are partners in a business and their business is at the precipice of making it big, the pressure is on.

Does Ronnie tell his friend of his wife’s affair and risk losing the biggest business deal of their lives?

Vaughn is the same character in every movie he makes, so there is little that is new and yet he does have the capacity to make it watchable. James is also type cast in the same sort of role of funny but insecure guy. It was great to see Ryder again in a primary role. She had the best scene and best performance in a scene when she and Vaughn were in a café and she told him how she was going to lie about her affair. She did what Meg Ryan did for faking an orgasm in “Harry Loves Sally” by acting how she was a victim of a horrible lie by her husband’s best friend. Connelly has a minor role and she was the sane and conscious one in the group. I found myself wanting her to be more involved in the film. Allan Loeb wrote the script and I’m sure Vaughn ad libbed sections of it. Ron Howard directed these actors well and was able to make Vaughn watchable and enjoyable.

Overall: This isn’t a great film but it is fun enough to watch without wondering where it is going or how it is going to end.

Tiny Furniture

First Hit: A haphazard and oddly depressing film which isn’t all that funny but poignant about some of the attitudes of youth.

This somewhat strange film is about a college girl named Aura (played by Lena Dunham), who moves back home and has little idea of what to do next. It isn’t an uncommon tune for someone just coming out of college.

Her mom Siri (played by her real mother Laurie Simmons) and sister Nadine (played by her real sister Grace Dunham) have a more cohesive relationship and it is apparent that the “older” daughter has had a more difficult row to hoe than her younger sibling.

Most of us who are the oldest know about this difference. Parents hold their oldest children to a higher, and oftentimes different, mark than they do their other children. Anyway, her mother came to her profession somewhat by accident.

She is a photographer who shoots tiny furniture often with grown up limbs or feet in them. She was once hailed as avant-garde in this approach to art and therefore has made a successful living for herself and her two daughters.

There is no father in their life. The oldest returns home with the hopes of her college friend moving to New York City and they will share an apartment. She is somewhat depressed because her college boyfriend just broke up with her as they headed their separate ways, and her younger sister irritates her. She gets a part time job which she hates and falls for a vagabond YouTube artist who does some somewhat lame vignettes that she likes.

This film is just about her trying to find her balance and her next steps. At times it’s pretty good in how it portrays the college youth of today and other times is it like a headless chicken.

The best scenes are when Aura is with her old grade school friend Charlotte (played by Jemima Kirke) who is a trust fund baby. Charlotte is into experimenting with her life and uses Aura as a steadfast friend to whom she can turn.

Lena Dunham starred, wrote and directed this film. She can be interesting to watch from time to time but she may be better off writing as there were some real sparks in the script. Her direction left me with a feeling like she didn’t know how to put some scenes together. Simmons was OK as the mom. Grace Dunham seemed to throw herself into the role and I’m sure she had a blast working with her sister. Kirke was fun to watch and the most exciting thing on the screen.

Overall: Nothing to write home about and not very funny.

Love and Other Drugs

First Hit: Anne Hathaway and Jake Gyllenhaal have an on screen chemistry that works.

Even with many of the good lines already previewed in the trailers for this film, there are many more spoken by the actors as the film unfolds.

Maggie Murdock (played by Hathaway) is a young woman with 1st stage Parkinson’s disease. She takes a number of drugs to help her get by without most people seeing her symptoms. She is independent, strong and doesn’t want to be messed with.

Jamie Randall (Gyllenhaal) plays a smart unfocused guy who the ladies are drawn to and, in turn, he loves to bed them. While pretending to be an intern he watches an examination of Maggie. She finds out that he wasn’t an intern and lets him have it.

They find out they have a lot in common; a need to feel free from entanglements, they both like sex, and they have fun together. As with all setups like this, we know they are going to find out they really care about each other and are meant for each other.

The way this story goes about it is really fun and entertaining. It also gives the audience a glimpse of Parkinson’s disease. I would have enjoyed more of the scenes when Maggie goes to an “unconvention” of Parkinson’s patients. Their self-deprecating humor was wonderful and insightful.

However, as the film moved along I didn’t feel we know enough about Maggie, where her family was, what her life was like before the onset of Parkinson’s.

The film seemed to lack some character development. What also didn’t work for me was Josh Gad as Josh Randall, Jamie’s brother. I’m not sure why this character was needed throughout the film.

Hathaway was wonderful to watch and her beauty and openness was engaging. Gyllenhaal was perfect as the guy who can always find a way to get the girl. He carries that air about him that makes life a rollick. Gad was good as the nerdy younger brother, I just didn’t get why he was in the film so much. Oliver Platt as Bruce Winston, Jamie’s sales mentor was funny and on target as a sales motivator. Charles Randolph and Edward Zwick wrote a witty screenplay and Zwick did a very creditable job of directing this in a lighthearted yet thoughtful way.

Overall: This was a satisfying film to watch and it was great to see good screen chemistry at work.