The Star eCentral: Movie Reviews
The Star eCentral: Movie Reviews |
| Posted: 14 Oct 2010 02:40 AM PDT Starring: Jason bateman, Victor Pagan, Jennifer Aniston, Jeff Goldblum, Juliette Lewis If someone were to tell you that this is a Jennifer Aniston movie, don't believe a word they say. Sure Jenny was in this movie but this is a Jason Bateman vehicle. In fact you could slot any actress in the role of Kassie Larson and it wouldn't make a difference. Yes, Jennifer Aniston's role was that forgettable. Don't ask me why almost every movie website or article on The Switch starts of with : An unmarried 40-year-old woman decides to get pregnant using a sperm donor and gets her best friend to help her weed out potential baby daddies. The movie actually revolves around Wally Mars, a neurotic insecure man who comes to realize that he's in love with his best friend, Kassie. When Kassie announces she needs Wally to help her get pregnant, he's hopeful she feels the same way about him, but his hopes are dashed when she tells him she needs him to help her find the perfect baby daddy. Weeks later during a "insemination party" Wally, in a drugged-up drunken stupor accidentally spills the donated sperm. In a state of panic, he fills the cup with his "little guys" without Kassie's knowledge. In fact, Wally can't remember the episode either.
The plot of this romantic-comedy is nothing to shout about and it's so predictable you probably know the ending 10 minutes into the movie. So why would you see The Switch? Two words – Jason Bateman. Wally Mars is a boring, non-athletic and sometimes annoying guy, but with Bateman at the helm, Wally is a charming, witty guy who just makes you want to take him home. Bateman is fantastic in this movie. His handling of the character allows you to forget that he's playing a role and you find that there's a connection between the audience and Wally. When he's frustrated about not being able to tell Kassie the truth, you feel it. When he puts his son to bed knowing that the little boy is longing for a family, you feel Wally's pain. To get the audience to feel that, you have to be a terrific actor and Bateman is just that. With fellow actor, Jeff Goldblum, the two make this a worthwhile watch. The other reason to watch the movie is for child actor Thomas Robinson. This eight-year-old kid will simply melt your heart with his puppy-eyed looks and he'll leave you in awe with his acting skills. I have to say, Robinson could put a number of adult actors to shame. The Switch isn't a bad movie, but it's not great either. You'll chuckle at certain parts of the movie and maybe even let out a laugh, but don't expect to be rolling around on the ground laughing. For that, catch The Other Guys. | ||||
| Posted: 14 Oct 2010 02:40 AM PDT Starring: Ryan Reynolds, Robert Paterson, Jose Luis Garcia Perez, Samantha Mathis Rodrigo Cortes has a lot of cojones. After all it's almost revolutionary to make a movie like Buried, that has no action nor is it in 3D and expect any box office return. Although small-budget Buried will most certainly be buried under the mountain of action-packed movies releasing this week, the movie does have its intriguing moments and dare I say it's one of the most interesting indie releases this year. Buried stars Ryan Reynolds and a coffin with a cameo appearance by a snake. Reynolds plays Paul Conroy, an American truck driver working as a contractor in Iraq. The movie begins with Conroy finding himself stuck in a average size coffin buried somewhere in Iraq.
All Conroy has with him is a handphone, a lighter, a flickering flashlight, a pen knife, a small flask and a couple of light sticks. Realizing he has only a couple of hours of air left in his tomb, Conroy tries desperately to get in touch with someone of authority. Superstar Reynolds does a great job in this movie in which he headlines it with no co-star to play against. Envision a one-man show but shot entirely in a six-by-two coffin. As Conroy goes through the various levels of panic and even the thought of suicide, the audience is dragged along for the ride. When Conroy gets frustrated at being passed around from one operator to the next, you almost want to yell in frustration too. Chris Sparling, who wrote the screenplay had the creative task of occupying Conroy's time in his coffin. I think the best part of the movie and the one that really gets you shaking your head in disbelieve is when Conroy talks to his employer. The conversation between the two will almost make your blood boil. The message that Sparling sends about civilians working in Iraq and the sometimes lack of security provided to these people is powerful but not overplayed. It's subtle enough that it makes an impact. If you're looking for an action drama, this isn't the movie for you, although you will find your heart racing when the movie reaches it's finale. But if you're looking for something that's different, that's creative and intriguing, Buried should tweak your fancy. | ||||
| Posted: 14 Oct 2010 02:40 AM PDT Starring: Will Ferrell, Mark Wahlberg, Michael Keaton, Eva Mendes, Steve Coogan, Ray Stevenson, Samuel L. Jackson, Dwayne Johnson The Other Guys starts off on a manic note, as hotshot NYPD cops Highsmith and Danson (Jackson and Johnson) pursue some ganja-smoking Rasta guys through city streets, causing millions of dollars of property damage just to nail them for a misdemeanor. In a wry shucking of cop-movie stereotypes, they are hailed as heroes instead of getting the typical obscenity-laden reprimand. To their buddies in the precinct, too, they're heroes - all except for frustrated cop Terry Hoitz (Wahlberg), who resents the opportunities thrown their way while he's being punished endlessly for a "rookie mistake".
To make things worse for Hoitz, he's partnered with forensic accountant Allen Gamble (Ferrell), whom he doesn't even regard as a real cop. Their big chance to shine comes when Highsmith and Danson are, um, indisposed and a potentially huge financial scandal looms. Er, come again? Financial scandal? Exsqueeze me? Yes, you heard that right. It's quite apparent from the way The Other Guys is set up, and from the somewhat eye-opening statistics that show up over the end credits about white-collar crime and corporate greed, that this movie's heart is with the millions of people hurt by the financial turmoil, recklessness and manipulation of recent years. And if, amidst all the wild car chases and flying bullets, you get the impression that white-collar criminals are no less deserving of the Lethal Weapon treatment than human traffickers, cocaine smugglers and counterfeiters, well ... perhaps they are at that, because the damage they do wreaks havoc on ordinary decent folks' lives on SO many levels. The film is certainly not subtle about how society's perspective on "wrongdoing" used to be pretty narrow before the Madoffs and AIG bailouts and Lehman Brothers bankruptcies of the world wrecked the party for so many. In contrasting the adulation heaped upon Danson and Highsmith for wrecking half the city in pursuit of a few pot-heads, with the apathy or derision towards any probe of crooks in suits filching billions from naive and gullible innocents, well, I guess The Other Guys, and co-writer/director Adam McKay (Talladega Nights), do deserve a salute of sorts. Yes, from the cynical manner in which Highsmith and Madison embrace their celebrity to the cavalier attitude of the movie's financial manipulator villains to the barely contained rage that makes Hoitz seem twice as large than he really is, The Other Guys has the makings of a really funny, really biting piece of entertainment.
Oddly enough, it is funnyman Ferrell who proves to be the weakest link where the film's comedy is concerned. His character is made needlessly complicated to the point that most attempts at humour centred on Gamble (as opposed to the throwaway moments when people react to his oddness) come across either forced ... or dead on arrival. Example: a rather crass sequence where Gamble and his wife Sheila (Mendes) exchange dirty talk through his mother-in-law is just protracted and unfunny. Guys, you should've realised it wasn't working after the old lady came back from her first "mission". Where Ferrell's character is just too unfocused, Wahlberg takes the seemingly one-note Hoitz and turns him into a magnetic parody of the actor's angry and hostile cop role in The Departed, only this time fleshed out with a funny backstory. So watch it for Wahlberg, for a pretty funny Keaton as the duo's TLC-quoting captain, the Jackson-Johnson combo ... and watch Ferrell for a reminder that he used to be funnier without having to try so hard. |
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