Wish I Was Here

First Hit:  An interestingly good and not new or great view of family and how they heal and grow.

Zach Braff funded this film through crowd funding. In other words no one in Hollywood believed in this film so he decided to find another way to fund it. There isn’t much new here.

The film is about forgiveness, family love, and seeing the best in people. Zach playing an out of work actor named Aidan Bloom can’t seem to land a job. His wife Sarah (Kate Hudson) supports him by working at the water company. His kids Tucker and Grace (Pierce Gagnon and Joey King respectively) are being schooled at an expensive Jewish school because their grandfather pays for the schooling.

But grandfather is dying, cannot afford to pay for school and now the kids have to be homeschooled by Aidan. He’s unorthodox and the kids begin to learn something about life in many different ways. Adding to the situation is Aidan’s brother Noah (Josh Gad), who won’t speak to his dad and is caught up in his own world.

I didn’t particularly think the story about how he and his brother use to play that they would save the world in their fantasies was very well thought out. The symbolism wasn’t that strong.

Braff was good and the story line, for the most part was good – not great. Hudson was, at times, very good like when she was at the hospital speaking with Aidan’s father. However, at other times she just seemed to be to easily joyful while being in a stressful situation. Gagnon was superb, he was perfect. King was the star of the film. Her range was amazing and she embodied a young woman learning to trust and love life. Gad was strong as the affected brother. Braff did a good job of directing his and brother Adam’s script. It just didn’t ring true at times while at other times it was wonderful.

Overall:  Entertaining and at times very thoughtful.

Sex Tape

First Hit:  At times very funny and the laughs were easy to come by and at other times it pushed too hard for the laughs.

The concept was very good. The points made by the film including; being careful what you video, asking oneself why there was the need to create the video, and how quickly today’s technology can turn a fun idea into a nightmare are solid and well founded.

Here Annie (Cameron Diaz) and Jay (Jason Segel), who as young college lovers spent all their free time having sex. Then she got pregnant and, as what happens to many couples after having kids, the sex started to become infrequent. The film follows them as they conduct their life on a day to day basis:  Kids to school, both to work, and occasional conversations about when they might have sex next.

One evening they’ve got time off and they decide to film themselves in all of the positions in the famous 1972 book, "Joy of Sex". For some reason Jay doesn’t erase the video and – the fun ensues when try to get the video erased (off the cloud). Her sister Tess (Ellie Kemper) and her husband Robby (Rob Corddry) are friends and they are also enlisted to help them find and delete the video. Jack Black has a small part as the owner of a porn site who helps them out.

Additionally Rob Lowe as Hank, the owner of a company that may buy Annie’s motherhood blog, is fun in a role that requires him to play off his past drug use. The overall premise is good, some of the scenes are good while others are trying and seem very pressed. The dog scenes went farther than they needed and were not believable.

Diaz seemed to have a lot of fun in the role and she was good in it. Segel also seemed to have fun in his role. Together they seemed to click and have a similar sense of humor. Corddry was good as the friend who wanted to help but also wanted to watch and keep the video. Kemper was strong as the sister and gave the role supportive credence. Black was really good and I really enjoyed him. Lowe’s parody of his real life was fun and a stroke of genius. Segel, Kate Angelo and Nicholas Stoller wrote a good script. It would have been better to aim with a little more subtlety and they didn’t. Jake Kasdan’s direction was good, over done in some scenes and appropriately touching in others.

Overall:  It was good, but I felt that there was more potential in the subject than what was delivered.

Le Chef (Comme un chef)

First Hit:  A funny and enjoyable film. ‘

This is a simple story about a man Jacky Bonnot (Michael Youn) who dreams of being a famous chef, but because of his own stubbornness, gets thrown out of every kitchen he attempts to cook in. He’s got an encyclopedic memory for recipes and has very specific ideas of how they could be changed for the better.

Bonnot’s got a girlfriend Beatrice (Raphaelle Agogue) with whom he lives with, is engaged to and is pregnant. She’s getting impatient for Jacky to find a permanent employment because she’s afraid they will be without the necessities to support their new baby. Jacky happens to assist Alexandre Lagarde (Jean Reno) who is a famous chef, with a 3 starred restaurant and a television show.

He reminds Alexandre about certain specifics of his previous recipes and they begin to bond. There are scenes that stilted in the film and there are a few wooded performances by actors, but the idea that Jacky saves the day for Alexandre is fun to watch and ultimately unfolds nicely with humor.

Youn is funny; especially when he gets focus on what is right for a particular food. Agogue in her small role is beautiful and divine in the way she delivers her part. Reno is absolutely sublime as the famous chef who doesn’t want to lose one of his stars. Daniel Cohen wrote and directed this little film in a light, amusing and heartfelt way.

Overall:  It was wonderful light hearted film.

Begin Again

First Hit:  Thoroughly enjoyed Keira Knightly’s role and character – she made this film work.

There are a number of scenes in this film in which Knightley shines, one is when she sings the first song in the alley way. Another is when she connects with Dan’s (Mark Ruffalo) daughter Violet (Hailee Steinfeld). There is an infectiousness light that exudes from her.

Basically, Gretta (Knightly) is in New York to support her singer boyfriend Dave (Adam Levine). She is also a songwriter and has penned and partially penned some of Dave’s hits. He gets caught up in being famous and cheats on Gretta. Dan, who is a down on his luck alcoholic record producer walks into a bar and hears her sing a song.

What I loved about this scene, and others in the film, is that the audience gets different views of the same scene, which show a different perspective – wonderful direction. Dan hears her song fully produced and even through his drunk state, you get this is a great song. Their relationship helps them both grow as people and in their professions. Another wonderful relationship in the film is Gretta’s with her old friend from London - Steve (James Cordon). He’s in New York trying to make a living with music and the way he openly reaches out to Gretta is beautiful.

I felt the direction; especially the use of seeing the same scenes from a different point of view was excellent. This technique wasn’t over used and added to the “setup” of the characters.

Knightly shines in this role and her singing was delicately very good. Ruffalo was good, and as the film progressed his engagement with making the music was really strong and I grew to care about his character – which was the point. Steinfeld in her limited role was very good. Cordon was very good in his supporting role. Levine was OK as the character and better when he sang. Mos Def as Ruffalo’s business partner was a great casting because he embodied the role he knows so well – producer. Ceelo Green as a friend of Dan’s was also a great casting because he brought an amusing yet sound viability of Dan’s role in the film. John Carney wrote and directed this film and some of his scenes were really wonderfully shot.

Overall:  This was a really nice film to watch.

Obvious Child

First Hit:  This film is direct, at times interesting, and at other times touching.

Although the film is about a woman comedian, it doesn’t necessarily make it a comedy. Is it funny at times? Yes.

But what struck me about this film was the directness of the main character Donna Stern (played by Jenny Slate). Directness doesn’t make the character smart or making smart choices, yet the frankness of Stern’s (character) is admirable.

For me this film is really about how we keep people away by not being open in our hearts to see how others might be reaching out. The opening sequence has Donna on stage at a small comedy club sharing her life and her life with her current boyfriend. As comedians will do, her observations of their relationship in public do not make him feel good, and after the show he dumps her. This begins a sequence of events that have her begin trying to discover more about her life.

Enter Max (Jake Lacy), a very different man than she’s used to being around. This film is about changing, seeing oneself and another in a deeper way and trusting the feelings and another person. My favorite two scenes: When she tells her mom she’s pregnant and when she’s on the couch with Max at the end – both very touching.

Slate was really good at portraying a woman needing to shift her view of family and her life. Lacy was strong as a solid guy who cares and wants to care about Donna. Polly Draper as Nancy Stern (mother) was good at showing her heart at the right time. Richard Kind as Donna’s dad Jacob was also good as the creative dad Donna relates to. Gillian Robespierre and Kelly Maine wrote a very strong script. Robespierre did a really good job of directing this story.

Overall:  It was a good film about a woman making a difficult decision and learning to let go of her stranglehold on her own heart.