Bridesmaids

First Hit: A few good laughs lying on pointless dialogue while being nudged by gross behavior for effects.

The first thing that stuck me about this film was that the only character that I felt was honest and worth connecting with was a male.

Now maybe this is because I’m male, but even my girlfriend said the same thing unprompted. Rhodes (played by Chris O’Dowd), playing a police officer, was kind and centered. In fact he was the only kind centered character in the film (outside of the guy who fixes Annie’s car).

Everyone else was either unlikeable or someone who was difficult to relate to. Annie, (played by Kristen Wiig) is having a tough time in her life. She lives with two Australian siblings who have little or no touch to reality (“At first I thought your diary was a handwritten novel” – are you kidding, no one is that stupid).

Annie works in a jewelry store as a clerk, but her sarcastic attitude scotches every sale. Her car is beat up, missing two working tail lights, and is run down. She once owned a bakery but it failed and we don’t know why. “And hell will freeze over before” she moves in with her mom (we never know why). And on top of this she sleeps with a creep who uses her for sex, she knows it, and doesn’t bother to hide that this disappoints her yet she still sleeps with him whenever he calls (she’s his “Number 3”).

This film makes the mistake most films Judd Apatow makes, no real character mining. Nothing to get me engaged in who the people on the screen are. It is almost like he says; “throw a bunch of shit on the wall to see what sticks.” I didn't care about Annie. I almost couldn’t care about her best friend Lillian (played by Maya Rudolph) because she knew damn well what she was doing by playing Annie off of Helen (played by Rose Byrne) but Lillian was, overall, a sweet character.

The other Bridesmaids where caricatures of people we may or may not know. There was no development of any one of them except Megan (played by Melissa McCarthy) who was one of the grossest characters in the film. Lastly this thing was over two hours long and it needed to be edited by at least 30 minutes.

I know that they team that put this together had a whole listing of jokes and skits they wanted to put in this film to make it funny, but someone forgot the pruning shears.

Wiig couldn’t and didn’t create a character worth caring about. She was playing a role and didn’t let her intelligence see that she needed to develop and sell the audience on someone worth watching. She failed in this task miserably. O’Dowd was perfect in his part and created the only sensible person in the film. He was good. Rudolph was OK, but this role was one she could do in her sleep. There was nothing here to really care about because it wasn’t believable that she was so easily pulled away by Helen’s obvious trivial pursuit. If her life-long friendship with Annie was real, she wouldn’t have acted this way. Byrne was OK as the snotty, have too much money and time, bitch that needed to be the center of attention. However, “so what”? I couldn’t care less about why she was the way she was. Her big scene to lay it all out was un-evolving and uninspiring. McCarthy was simply gross in her character and unbelievable in role, however she did attempt to create a moment of caring when she goes to Annie’s house to try to get her out of her doldrums. Wiig and Annie Mumolo wrote this wasteful script. Paul Feig directed this and needed to toe the line about how much garbage went into this film.

Overall: Not worth seeing this at any point in time – it’s just a bad film.

Arthur

First Hit: Different from the original film with Dudley Moore, but this was very entertaining and had out-loud laughs.

The Moore Minnelli film was good but this one was actually better in comedic charm.

Russell Brand plays Arthur in this film as a heavy drinking funny guy who would marry someone he doesn’t love, just to keep his inheritance. Hobson, his nanny (played by Helen Mirren) raised Arthur after his father dies.

His mother Vivienne (played by Geraldine James) has no real hand in Arthur’s upbringing and is ineffective in communicating and loving Arthur. To keep the family business in the hands of someone capable, Vivienne decides Arthur must marry Susan (played by Jennifer Garner) who is very driven, smart, but only looking for power and validity because her father Burt Johnson (played by Nick Nolte) is a self-made builder.

I loved the relationship between Hobson and Arthur because the greatness of Mirren’s acting kept the film on even keel while letting Brand have some fun with the role. Arthur meets up Naomi (played by Greta Gerwig) whom he falls in love with. Naomi gives illegal tours of New York and writes children stories. She and Arthur have a great connection and it shows on the film.

As Arthur found his strength to grow-up, he takes charge of his life.

Brand is funny and although his drunken behavior wasn’t very good, his witticisms, great comic timing, and facial expressions really made this film work in juxtaposition to Mirren’s smart refined behavior. Mirren was great in this role and she really grounded this picture in a wonderful way. James was strong as the mother who was unwilling to be a mother. Garner was good as the power hungry girl who would live in a loveless marriage just for power. Nolte was gravelly as always. Gerwig is great as the love interest and person by whom Arthur discovers himself. Peter Baynham wrote a funny screenplay from a Steve Gordon story. Jason Winer directed this film with a lightheartedness that was perfect.

Overall: This film was funny enough to be worthwhile of an audience.

Potiche (Trophy Wife)

First Hit: My four out-loud laughs did not mitigate an overall boring and poorly constructed film.

The opening scene has Suzanne Pujol (played by Catherine Deneuve) jogging (very lightly and slowly) down country lanes and through some wooded areas.

At one point she stops, coos at a fawn, watches two rabbits propagate, and makes conversation with a squirrel. She takes out a small note pad and writes a very short poem. This opening sequence is so unbelievable (reminded me of James Baskett as Uncle Remus singing to bluebirds) and obviously a put-on, that it sets a tone of expectation which the film never achieves.

It was possibly a great set-up, but the film fell on its face right after that scene. Coming home to her husband Robert (played by Fabrice Luchini) who is gruff, demanding, and sexist, Suzanne ignores his behavior and acts like June Cleaver (of Leave it to Beaver).

All the characters in this film are characterizations of stereotypes from the mid-seventies. She knows her husband has affairs but doesn’t care. He knows she knows. What we learn later is that she did the same thing and he doesn’t know.

One of the affairs is with Mayor and MP Maurice Babin (played by Gerard Depardieu). She stays with her husband because it is easy. Robert runs the umbrella factory which was started by Suzanne’s grandfather. The unionized labor in the factory want changes, Robert is unwilling to make them and suffers a heart ailment while fighting the union.

With unionized guidance given to her by Babin, Suzanne takes over the factory and everything is settled and the factory begins to prosper even more under her control. She, in fact, gets her two children involved and they flourish as well. Robert and the daughter scheme to make the father head of the factory again. But the power of leading people in a just cause that Suzanne gains from working at the umbrella factory has her decide to run for political office against Babin.

Deneuve is OK in this role but it feels so hollow and uninspired. Luchini is good as the demanding, thoughtless husband. Depardieu is somewhat depressing in this role as his body weight really gets in the way of being the once desired man. His hug with Deneuve is awkward and there is no spark between them. Pierre Barillet and Jean-Pierre Gredy wrote an unfunny script. Francois Ozon directed this with a lack of sincerity and thought towards cohesiveness. For instance, in one scene they have characters looking out the upstairs window of Robert and Suzanne’s home to see the gates of the umbrella factory. The factory appears about 100 meters away from the house. But when they go the factory, they get into cars and drive for a number of minutes to get to the front gate, when it appeared to be only a 100 meters away. This made no sense.

Overall: The film didn’t know if it was a parody or actually trying to tell a good funny story. Because it was lost, it does neither of these and falls flat on its face.

Hall Pass

First Hit: A better than average comedy.

The premise of Hall Pass is that two married men, who like to fondly remember they college days as ladies men, get a free week away from their marriage.

The wives think that by giving the men Hall Passes they will realize they have it best with their current wives. Rick (played by Owen Wilson) and Fred (played by Jason Sudeikis) are the husbands married to Maggie (played by Jenna Fischer) and Grace (played by Christina Applegate) respectively. When they receive their Hall Pass they spend their time with their friends (who want to watch them get laid), at odd places like Applebee’s to try to pick up women.

The film is mostly about their haphazard attempts to find women to sleep with. The scenes are out-loud funny with a ring of truth running through it all. The women also discover that by granting a Hall Pass to their husbands that they’ve also given themselves a Hall Pass. What happens to Maggie and Grace is with more intent and more calculating than the men.

Wilson is in one of his better roles here. He just isn't a smart-alecky guy. Here he is more controlled and through this control he is actually funnier. Sudeikis is, at times, the over the top guy. The scene of him masturbating in his car is pretty off the wall and funny. Fischer is very good as Wilson’s wife who has to rediscover her love. Applegate is wonderful as Sudeikis’ wife. She is sexy, smart and is an excellent casting choice. Nicky Whelan plays a coffee shop girl that Wilson is infatuated with and she does a good job of being that woman. Richard Jenkins is really funny as a character named Coakley who is the Wilson's and Sudeikis' sex and woman mentor. Pete Jones and Peter Farrelly wrote this very tight and funny script. Bobby and Peter Farrelly co-directed this film very tightly and with a real bent to bring out the real funny aspects of married men.

Overall: This was an unexpected joy because it kept its reins in enough to make it both funny and with a point.

Cedar Rapids

First Hit: A very funny quirky little film.

I like films like this that surprise me with their ability to engage me with humor.

Tim Lippe (played by Ed Helms) plays a small town insurance agent who really believes in the value of insurance and insurance agents. He is selected by his agency to go a major regional conference in Cedar Rapids. Tim has never left his hometown, so going to Cedar Rapids is a very big deal.

His childlike innocence and enthusiasm makes him easy to like and an easy target by other agents at the conference. He’s been tasked to get the 2 Diamond Award given at this conference, which would make 4 in a row for his agency. At the conference he rooms with Ronald (played by Isiah Whitlock Jr.) and wild man Dean Ziegler (played by John C. Reilly).

Dean gets Tim to drink and eventually he ends up nude in the pool with Joan Ostrowski-Fox (played by Anne Heche). But then he discovers that Orin Helgesson (played by Kurtwood Smith) gives the award away by taking bribes. Tim spirals upon learning that his agency won the previous awards through these bribes.

His roommates save him from himself and Tim ends up exposing Orin’s tainted past to everyone and the ending? Happy.

Helms is absolutely convincing as half man and half boy. He controls his expressions and language to perfection. Reilly is perfect and over the top as the wild yet honest agent. Whitlock is wonderful in his role as mediator and enforcer. Heche is really good as the wife who lets herself be someone else during the conference. Phil Johnston wrote an excellent tight and wonderful script. Miguel Arteta expertly directed this 87 minute film.

Overall: This film was a surprise at how well it was executed and acted.