Larry Crowne

First Hit:  Although at times amusing, this film misfires in almost every area.

Tom Hanks had an idea and wrote it down on paper, decided it was good enough to be a film, then chose to direct and star in it as well.

Most of these decisions were not the best he could have made. The idea was actually pretty good and could have been expanded upon. People losing jobs after a divorce and finding they are not able to pay the bills could be a very strong story.

What evolved with fellow scriptwriter Nia Vardalos is generally weak and glossy. That the answer to Larry Crowne’s (played by Hanks) problems are to take college courses? Not sure this is real or true. Yes, getting an education is important and can lead one to a successful change in careers, but I didn’t think Larry had any idea as to what he wanted to be?

There is nothing in the film about Larry having a dream to be anything. So why would he go to school? Will a college degree in liberal arts keep him employed? No it won't, just ask the tens of thousands of college graduates who don’t have and cannot get a job.

This point is equally made in the film by his former boss at U Mart losing his job and he is seen later delivering pizza (and he graduated from SMU). Lastly,  would Larry have had grounds for wrongful termination suit? Probably and although

I don't recommend such things, it came to mind because Larry is fired he didn't have the possibility to advance in his career without further education. But where did we think he was pushing for a promotion. He seemed happy doing his job. The point of these comments is to indicate that the setup for this film was trite, untrue and wasteful.

The point of the film was to find a way to get Mercedes Tainot, a worn down by life teacher, played by Julia Roberts to find hope by meeting Larry. To this end the film worked in some ways. Do I believe that there was a real chemistry between Larry and Mercedes? Nope, not in the least and generally felt that they were two drowning individuals who decided to cling to each other to stay afloat.

There were some side characters as well. George Takei played Dr. Matsutani an economics professor. As Dr. M. he brought a whole new look to the film but, for the most part, was an interesting and fun diversion. Another side character who attempts to make Larry more hip was Alvarez (played by Roxana Ortega), she takes a liking to Larry and works with his clothes and gets him to join a scooter club.

Lastly, Alvarez’s boyfriend Dell Gordo (played by Wilmer Valderrama) was funny as the always watching and being jealous by the kind actions of his girlfriend.

Hanks might have made a better showing if he hadn’t written the script or directed himself in this film. Roberts was, by far and away, the best character in the film. She felt real. And despite her obvious beauty, I felt a depth in her character. She was living with her deadbeat husband who loves triple x porn and then goes to her teaching job and only having classes which are barely attended. Takei was funny and solid as an economics professor who believes he, and only he, understands economics. Ortega was cute, a little unrealistic, but embodied a person who follows her own open heart path. Valderrama was fun to watch in his reactions when Alvarez was around Larry. Hanks and Vardalos’ writing painfully displayed their lack of understanding of what is like to be downsized. Hanks showed he cannot direct himself and if directing is a calling for him, then make sure he is not a character in his own film so that he can concentrate on the task at hand – making a film that holds together well.

Overall: Poorly done but there were some fun moments and scenes which made it worth watching but barely.

Bad Teacher

First Hit: There are some very funny laugh-out-loud moments but in the end it was trite and less than satisfying.

 Elizabeth Halsey (played by Cameron Diaz) is a grade school teacher obsessed with finding a wealthy man to keep her in a particular lifestyle.

As the film starts, she has found him, however he breaks up with her and she has to go back to teaching. She drinks, smokes pot, and is scheming to find a man with money.

Coming back to teaching, her classes consist of turning on films for the kids to watch instead of actually teaching them anything. She thinks her biggest problem and the reason why she hasn’t nailed the right man is that she has small breasts, so she begins to manipulate her student’s parents for donations for classroom supplies (which she’ll keep), along with stealing items from student’s homes. With the extra money she hopes to have breast implants, catch her man, and quit teaching.

During this time she is also finds herself in competition for the affection of Scott, a long-term substitute teacher (played by Justin Timberlake) who has family money but is a nerdy spineless sort of guy. The competition is another teacher named Amy Squirrel (played by Lucy Punch) who is miss goody two shoes but also is a little twisted because something happened in 2008 (we never really find out).

Russell (played by Jason Segel) is the school’s gym teacher who has a crush on Elizabeth but, because he doesn't have money, she’s not interested in him, even though we all know he’s the best fit for her. The film is a set of scenes, which generally show how inappropriate Elizabeth’s actions are in being a schoolteacher.

The film plays off of stereotypes of kids and adults alike. We aren’t supposed to really care about anybody in this film, and here the film really succeeds. There is nothing to really care about. But there are some laugh-out-loud moments.

 Diaz does an adequate job of mugging through the non-caring school teacher bit and in the scenes where she is suppose to be sexy, she can be. But there isn’t much acting going on here. Segel is good as the steadfast easygoing guy who knows what he wants. Punch is, at times, perfect as the obnoxious obsessive tattletale snot of a teacher. Timberlake, makes a good nerd, but I couldn’t help but sense a “I’m just playing this role with a wink of an eye” sort of feeling from him. I did thoroughly enjoy his song for Amy. Phyllis Smith was perfect as Lynn the teacher who wants to be more and different than she is. She was the best actor in this film. Gene Stupnitsky and Lee Eisenberg wrote this screenplay and it felt lightweight and only scraping the surface. Jake Kasdan directed this and given the screenplay I’m not sure what else he could have gotten out of it.

 Overall: Although some of the laughs are very out loud funny, this is a forgettable film.

The Trip

First Hit: At times very funny, insightful and interesting and at other times repetitively slow.

This film is about two friends, Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon, on a road trip through northern England to tour the finest restaurants.

Originally Steve was to do this trip with his girlfriend Misha (played by Margo Stilley) but she left him before the trip started, so Steve contacts Rob to go with him. Interestingly they are both very different in their lives as we learn while watching them on the trip, but they also share some aggravating habits and behavior.

The first joke to me was that they were on a road trip to taste the fine cuisine of England. Although there are some fine restaurants in England, the country isn’t known for its fine food, not like France or Italy.

The differences in their lives is expressed in how Rob is happily married to a woman who loves, understands and accepts him. They have a baby daughter and when we watch him converse with his wife over the phone, we feel his love.

Steve, on the other hand, is separated from a woman he loves. He is very jealous and insecure when we see him converse on the phone with her and then he turns around and sleeps with other women he runs into while on this trip. In those scenes we get the sense of how meaningless these encounters are because all we see of the intimacy is the woman leaving in the very early morning and Steve’s non-caring look.

They both are actors, comedians and impressionists. Steve longs for a big film role and Rob is quite happy with his “little man in a box” routine. Rob’s forte is impressions which are on display non-stop throughout the film. Some of them we have to hear over and over and over again. Steve is quite sarcastic to his friend and challenges him with his own version of the same impressions (one ups man-ship). They get a little testy during these exchanges over dinner but they are quite happy when they are singing songs together while driving.

Steve has a penchant for sharing his knowledge whether anyone else wants to hear it or not. His comeuppance is when he climbs a rock and gets bridled by an elderly gentleman who knows everything there is to know about the rocks they are standing on. Don’t think Steve quite gets that he is just like this intruder but the audience does. In the end, Rob goes home to his loving family and Steve goes home to his cold empty flat.

Coogan is pretty much himself I think. I don’t know him but it didn’t seem like this was a role for him but just showing up as he is. The same thing can be said about Brydon. Again I don’t know him, but the film seem to express these two as they are. Stilley had a short and somewhat lifeless part as the woman who loves Coogan, would like to settle down with him, but sees that he is still searching for his inner peace. Coogan, Brydon and Claire Keelan wrote this script and I dare say it was a bit longer than needed. Although I thought the Woody Allen impressions were the highlight, 6 less Michael Caine impressions would have made it work better. Michael Winterbottom directed this and overall did a good job of giving the look and feel of northern England and British humor.

Overall: This was an OK film with some very funny parts but a bit long overwrought.

Beginners

First Hit: A wonderfully insightful film about growing into love.

Oliver (played by Ewan McGregor), after losing his mom, four years earlier, is now picking up the pieces of his life because his dad, Hal, has just died.

He’s had four significant relationships in his life where he insured they would not succeed by sabotaging them. Shortly after his mother Georgia (played by Mary Page Keller) died, his father, Hal (played by Christopher Plummer) announces that he is gay and is going to live a gay life. Hal also learns that he is dying of cancer.

The film effectively flashes back to Oliver’s young years sharing the sadness and disappointment both his mom and he experienced in their family. Georgia knew Hal was gay when she married him and always felt she could change him. Although he never had an affair while married, their marriage was filled with disappointment for Georgia.

Therefore, it was also disappointing for Oliver because besides the sadness in the family as a whole, his father was absent by working long hours as a museum curator. The film flashes also to Hal’s gay life including the younger man he meets and loves. Hal begins to love again the way he felt he should have always loved. One evening Oliver’s friends take him to a costume party where he goes as Sigmund Freud.

There he meets Anna (played by Melanie Laurent), an actress who has laryngitis. She tells him that he has sad eyes. As he begins to develop a relationship with Anna, flashbacks to his childhood and his father’s living his life as a gay man enter his mind (and on the screen). Anna and Oliver fall in love and he asks her to move in with him, and right away his insecurities arise.

The film ends with him finding his way back to allowing love into his life. One of the great aspects of this film is the use of Arthur, Hal’s dog. This dog plays a prominent part in this film because he embodies faithfulness, unconditional love, and joy.

McGregor is very good as a man who wants and is looking for love in his life but is confused about how to allow it in. Plummer is fantastic as Hal; the man who married for faithful love based in friendship but really wanted to live his truth as a gay man in love. Laurent was perfect as the woman who lives a solitary life on the road being an actress, but really longs to have love in her life. She is looking for someone who can see her. Mike Mills both wrote and directed this film and in both areas he did an outstanding job. The dialogue clear, pithy and poignant while the direction was very crisp and always on target.

Overall: This was a thoughtful joyous film.

The Hangover Part II

First Hit: There are no real surprises here as it is the same film as Part I with a few new twists and a new location.

When a film presents a somewhat new view on an event like the original “The Hangover” did, it is easy to get caught up and enjoy it.

The concept of “no one knowing" what happened the night before until they view the ending pictures was fun the first time around. To do a sequel means the surprise is over unless the filmmaker can create a real and new next step in the concept.

The Hangover Part II fails this in all ways. The initial scene tells us directly, “we’ve done it again”. Then the film takes us back a week and attempts to prepare us for the boys to not have the same event because they’ve taken precautions. It wouldn’t be a film if they really did and here is where this film fails.

We don’t believe any of the first part of the film because we’ve already gotten a preview that it is going to be worse than the first one because of Phil’s (played by Bradley Cooper) opening scene phone call. Mistake, mistake, mistake and because of this we have to wade through all of what we basically know will happen to that fateful phone call.

Yes some of it is funny, some of it is cute, but basically the audience has to wade through this stuff until the phone call, and then we get to see how they make things right (as we know will happen). The boys are the same boys as in the first film with Phil, Stu (played by Ed Helms), and Alan (played by Zach Galifianakis).

Additionally Doug (played by Justin Bartha) is back, but not as the one the other three misplace this time. Also back is Mr. Chow (played by Ken Jeong). There is a new person lost in this film and his name is Teddy (played by Mason Lee) who is the younger brother of Lauren (played by Jamie Chung) who happens to be the bride character this time.

Cooper is OK as the smart; level headed one of the three. Helms is fine the overwrought groom dentist who “has a dark side”. Galifianakis is OK as overly pampered rich guy who wants to be part of the “wolf pack”. Bartha has virtually no role as he did in the first film and appears only to be there for congruency. Jeong has a larger part in this film than in the past and he makes the most of the character. Craig Mazin and Scot Armstrong were the compliant scriptwriters that robbed most the script of this film from the first film by using MS Word's search and replace feature as the main writing tool. Todd Phillips might be better staying as a producer than a director as he created little in the way of engagement. Proof? The audience laughed very little and it was a ¾ full theater.

Overall: God hopes they don’t’ try to make a Part III and IV but it appears the writing is on the wall or in Word, that is.