Her (2013)

Tags

Amy Adams, chris pratt, Drama, her, joaquin phoenix, Movie, Olivia Wilde, Romance, Rooney Mara, Scarlett Johansson, Science Fiction

like it? no…i LOVE your creepy mustache.

If you’re like me, and there was ever a time that you had strong feelings for somebody you only knew through your computer, then you’ll probably relate to this movie.  Especially if it was back in the earlier days of the internet when all you had were a couple pictures, text via instant messenger, and, if you’re lucky, a voice on the telephone.  It was the voice on the phone that made it all the more real.  And in Her, a voice is all Theodore (Joaquin Phoenix) needs to fall in love.

Can you really know somebody with just a voice?  Is being in someone’s physical presence necessary for a relationship?  Do you ever really know them, or are you just filling in the missing gaps with everything it takes to make them perfect?

I really enjoyed this movie.  It’s not perfect, but it seems very real…very possible.  We already live in a world where people walk in groups but don’t speak to each other.  All focused on their phones instead.  There’s a scene in Her where Theodore is walking through a crowd of people, all the while talking to his new operating system (voiced by Scarlett Johansson) via a small earpiece.  You’d think he’d stand out as a crazy person, seemingly talking to nobody, but he doesn’t because just about every other person is doing the same thing.  A cacophony of conversations, none of which are directed at each other.  This movie is set in the near future, but that future might turn into the present sooner than we think.

Is that a bad thing?  Sure, Theodore has problems with relationships, but so have people for a lot longer time than computer technology has been around.  Overall, he’s a nice, reasonably normal guy, despite being called creepy by a blind date in the one scene in the movie that didn’t work so well to me.  But later, he and his new artificially intelligent operating system girlfriend go on a double date with a human-human couple, and they don’t think it’s weird at all.  In fact, most people don’t seem to have a problem with it.  Are we destined for a world where we reach a sort of pinnacle of self-centeredness, where we are in relationships with people who don’t actually exist, thus we’re essentially dating ourselves?  I mean, that’s certainly what’s going on in the awkward sex scene…

I thought Spike Jonze came up a bit short in the emotional department when he made Where the Wild Things Are.  Not the case here.  Maybe it’s due to my aforementioned experience in the internet romance world from many years ago, but I felt much more of a connection to the characters and their emotions in Her.  Phoenix does a great job, as does Amy Adams as Theodore’s mousy friend who is having her own relationship problems.  I wasn’t crazy about Johansson’s voice as Samantha, the operating system, but I got used to it.  The music is good, the cinematography is lovely, and Jonze does a nice job of creating a world that seems overly clean/sterile/pristine perhaps due to the lack of human interaction.

At first the plot about the operating systems getting so smart that they feel the need to move on to more important things than serving humans seemed unnecessary, but eventually I saw that as brilliant too.  I mean, if we’ve become so bored with actually talking to each other, there’s no reason to think the super-intelligent computers won’t get bored with us too.

8.3/10

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Man of Steel (2013)

Tags

Action, Amy Adams, Diane Lane, Drama, Henry Cavill, Kevin Costner, Laurence Fishburne, Man of Steel, Michael Shannon, Movie, Russell Crowe, Science Fiction

only ONE american flag in this shot? c’mon…

What do you get when you take Superman, sprinkle in a little Jesus, pour in a few cups of Battlestar Galactica, and then smother it with Matrix Revolutions?  You get this…mess of a movie.

Superman has always been a problematic hero since he’s just too powerful.  Thus, either his powers have to be taken away, or he has to face a villain with equal powers.  This movie basically combines the 1978 and 1980 Superman movies into one, but layers even more convoluted plot lines on top of those stories.  Oh, and more explosions and stuff.  There’s more of that too.  A lot more.

Would someone please make a Superman movie where we see what being Superman would really be like?  The emotional turmoil experienced by someone who could easily just take over the planet and be its ruler in the name of creating real peace.  Yeah, Superman IV touched on this a little with his “quest for peace”, but that movie was awful in ways that most movies could never dream of, so…it doesn’t count.

Or maybe we could see how frustrated Superman is by not being able to save everybody all the time.  He’s only so fast.

I dunno…something besides…this.  This is just indestructible people throwing each other through buildings over and over again.  It lacks…humanity.  Superman doesn’t really seem to care about people in this movie the way he does in the first couple with Christopher Reeve.  If he did, he would have led these villains away from the big city and out into the country somewhere.  But no, he’s happy to throw them through populated buildings and city streets causing incredible amounts of damage.

Just one of the many things in this disappointing movie that doesn’t make sense.

Oh, and the special effects are pretty crappy at times.

4.9/10 

Julie & Julia (2009)

Tags

Amy Adams, Chris Messina, Comedy, Drama, Julie & Julia, Meryl Streep, Movie, Stanley Tucci

...and now young lobster...you WILL die...

PG-13

Amy Adams, Meryl Streep, Stanley Tucci, Chris Messina

Julie: What do you think it means if you don’t like your friends?
Sarah: It’s completely normal.
Eric: Men like their friends…
Sarah: We’re not talking about men!  Who’s talking about men??

Julie (Adams) decides to cook every recipe in Julia Child’s first cook book within 1 year.  Plus, she’s going to blog all about it.  Meanwhile, we see Julia Child as she first learns to cook in Paris, and then as she struggles to get her first book published.

Let me start by saying that I’m not that into food or cooking.  If something takes more than 15 to 20 minutes to prepare, it’s usual not worth it, that’s what I say.  I thought that attitude might hinder my enjoyment of a movie all about cooking and food, but I was wrong.  Instead, I found it all to be quite enjoyable.

It helps that I’m an Amy Adams fan and that Meryl Streep is charming even when she’s using a voice that would start grating on my nerves around the midway point.  Plus, even though the film has that Nora Ephron sense of non-reality throughout it, there’s still a sense of believability to everything.  It never gets too Hollywood.  You’re expecting them to throw in a finale where Julie gets rich, moves into a mansion, and becomes best friends with Julia, but that didn’t happen in the real life story, which thankfully means it doesn’t happen here.

The only real problem I’ll point out, besides Julia’s voice, is that in the middle there are a few scenes that seem extraneous and tend to slow the movie down.  It’s over 2 hours long, and I think a few of those scenes, like the sister’s wedding, could have been eliminated without taking anything away from the movie.  This probably contributed to me enjoying Julie’s story line more.  Although, I’m sure the fact that she’s setting up a blog, wondering if anybody will ever read it, and then rejoicing over her first comment had something to do with it too.  I could identify with some of those feelings.

A funny script, entertaining performances, and nice cinematography.  These are the key ingredients necessary to cook up a fine movie.  And with that, I’m sure I’ve become the 500th reviewer to make such a food related joke about this movie.  And for that…I am sincerely sorry.

Bon appetit!  (Really, I’m sorry, I mean it.)

Apparently it’s hard to bone a duck.  (That’s what she said!)  (Huh?)

10 – 1.6 for a few lulls/extraneous scenes in the middle section of the movie – .4 for Julia’s voice wearing on my nerves = 8.0

Doubt (2008)

Tags

Amy Adams, Doubt, Drama, Meryl Streep, Movie, Philip Seymour Hoffman

should I make another "habit" joke? 'cause I will if that will cheer you up...

PG-13

Meryl Streep, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Amy Adams

Sister Aloysius: Candy…
Sister James: Cough drops.
Sister Aloysius: Candy…by another name.

When a teacher at a Catholic school, Sister James (Adams), observes some odd behavior from one of her students, as well as from Father Flynn (Hoffman), who has taken a special interest in the boy, she reports it to the head nun, Sister Aloysius (Streep).  Sister Aloysius does everything she can to unveil whatever wrongdoing may have occurred.

This film got a lot of attention at Oscar time for the performances by the 3 main leads.  I agree that 2 out of 3 of them were deserving.  Streep and Hoffman are both great, while Adams, though not bad by any means, seemed a little one note and not as believable.  It might have more to do with the character than the acting, but either way, she didn’t interest me as much as the other two.

The story is an uncomfortable one, involving a possible improper relationship between a Catholic priest and an altar boy, and the movie dances all around the topic without ever getting into specifics.  I guess that might be a product of it being set in 1964.  Perhaps people back then wouldn’t talk directly about such things, especially in a church setting, but it still seemed like the movie was holding back a little considering the serious nature of the subject matter.

As horrible a subject as it is, the story alone isn’t all that compelling.  It’s the scenes between Streep and Hoffman that really drive the movie.  Despite them, though, the movie loses a little steam at the very end.  It seemed like it was building toward something bigger, but I guess it wouldn’t be true to life to have a big over-dramatic ending.  People move on, run away from their problems instead of facing them, and leave a wake of discontent in their past.

I liked the movie, and would recommend checking it out for the performances, but it seemed like it was a lighter movie than the subject matter would suggest it be.  Maybe it needed to be lighter in order to have more commercial appeal, but I think by doing that, it lost some of the potential emotional impact.

Nuns are a tricky lot.

10 – 1.1 for being a little too light for the subject matter – 1.3 for seeming to leave a few things unresolved – .3 for a lackluster ending + .1 for the 2 lead performances = 7.4

Sunshine Cleaning (2008)

Tags

Amy Adams, Comedy, Drama, Emily Blunt, Movie, Sunshine Cleaning

I'm thinking maybe next time a mask might be a good idea...

R

Amy Adams, Emily Blunt, Alan Arkin

Rose: ‘Since 1963’…?
Joe: Yeah, it gives a sense of stability.  People like that.
Rose: It’s a lie.
Joe: Well, it’s a business lie…it’s different from a life lie.

Rose (Adams) is a single mother, working as a cleaning woman, and having an affair with her married high school sweetheart.  He’s an investigator, and one day he suggests that maybe crime scene clean up would be a good job for Rose since it pays so well.  Rose enlists her sister, Norah (Blunt), to be her business partner, and the two must learn quickly on the job if they’re going to compete in their new field.

Let me get this out of the way right from the beginning:  Amy Adams is adorable and can just about carry a movie all on her own.  There.  Now on to the rest of the review.  Fortunately, she doesn’t have to carry this movie all on her own, but she is definitely the driving force.  Rose constantly seems on the verge of breaking down and just giving up, but then Adams will refocus, give a somewhat assured smile, and head off down a new path.  One that we want to follow her down.

As Norah, Emily Blunt provides the lazier, resigned personality that Rose could easily become without her resilient spirit.  In one of their early cleaning jobs, Norah discovers a satchel with the deceased woman’s drivers license and pictures of her grown daughter.  She sets off to find the daughter, just in case she doesn’t even know that her mother is dead.  Through this story line, we see glimpses of a past family tragedy that has effected Rose and Norah’s lives since they were children.  Emily Blunt is every bit as good as Adams in a much different role, and the two are even better together as very convincing sisters.

Great performances aside, this is yet another movie that could use a dose of energy.  It’s hard not to compare it to Little Miss Sunshine, since a) the word ‘sunshine’ appears in both titles, and b) Alan Arkin plays essentially the same surly, yet lovable, grandfather role in both films.  The comparison ends, though, when we look at the two films’ energy levels.  This movie, while not exactly dull, crawls along at a much more leisurely pace.  I’m not saying there needs to be a big dance number or anything like that, but a few more scenes with the characters having a little fun here and there couldn’t hurt.

I liked the premise, I liked the set up, and I liked the performances, but I thought some of the resolutions to the various story lines were underwhelming at best.  Instead of building to an interesting and energetic climax, some stories just kind of fizzled out.

Still, the very end works well enough, and the movie over all is worth a watch.  Even if it’s just to see Adams and Blunt’s great performances.

It’s not as easy as you’d think to scrub large amounts of blood off of a wall.

10 – 1.9 for being paced too slowly – 1.5 for some lackluster story line resolutions + .3 for the great performances = 6.9

Enchanted (2007)

Tags

Amy Adams, Comedy, Enchanted, Fantasy, Movie, Patrick Dempsey, Romance

Well aren't you a cute little special effect!

PG

Amy Adams, Patrick Dempsey

Morgan: Remember when you go out not to put on too much makeup, otherwise the boys will get the wrong idea, and you know how they are…they’re only after one thing.
Giselle: What’s that?
Morgan: I don’t know. Nobody will tell me.

Giselle (Adams) is banished from her animated world by the evil queen Narissa (Susan Sarandon).   She is stuck in the “real” world, specifically New York, where she meets Robert and his daughter, Morgan.  Meanwhile, Prince Edward (James Marsden) has also entered the real world in order to save Giselle.

Well, before Mr. Grumpy Bear comes along to over analyze and over criticize this movie, I’ll point out the positives.

Amy Adams.  Her performance could make or break this movie, and fortunately she went all out with it.  It can’t be easy to be that uppity and innocent all the time, but she never wavers.

Another positive would be nice musical numbers, if you’re into that sort of thing, which I’m not so much.  But it didn’t bother me, so that must mean that it was pretty good.

And I’ll mention that it had a nice, overall happy feel to it that made the movie easy to watch.

Now to the other stuff.  I didn’t like the way that the “real” world was really just an extension of her animated fantasy world.  I would have preferred if she couldn’t summon animals to do her bidding at all.  I get that the joke was that now she has to deal with rats, roaches, and pigeons as helpers – rather than deer, rabbits and squirrels – but I was hoping to see some attempts to talk to animals go dangerously awry.  I also thought it would be more amusing, and more interesting, if her attempts at starting a sing-along, dance-along in the street would fail as well.  Maybe just a few brave souls would join in, thus making a commentary on how few people are willing to act without caring what others think.

Then there’s the evil queen.  Her powers extend into the real world too.  I would have preferred to see her forced to take a cab to get to her desired destination.

My other complaint is a general one about most romance movies.  Why must one, or both, of the leads so often be already in relationships?  It seems especially odd in a Disney movie seemingly directed – at least partially – at kids.  Hope daddy doesn’t meet a beautiful princess one day that he’ll dump mommy for!  I know Robert (who’s a divorce lawyer, happy!) isn’t married, but he and Nancy are going to be, and she’s just annoying enough that we’re ok with him leaving her for Giselle.  Speaking of Giselle, how come the moment she realizes she’s in love with Robert is when he finally makes her angry enough to lash out at him?  Is that how you know you’re in love, when you’ve reached a point that the other person can drive you crazy?

Told you I’d go too deep into this.  I guess I just found myself thinking that a few changes here and there could have made it much more enjoyable and interesting.

10 – 3 for the stuff I discussed above + .3 for Amy Adams’ performance – .4 for some less than stellar special effects = 6.9