Iron Man 3 (2013)

Tags

Action, Ben Kingsley, Don Cheadle, Drama, Guy Pearce, Gwyneth Paltrow, Iron Man 3, Jon Favreau, Movie, Robert Downey Jr., Science Fiction

c’mon, make it a true daily double!

In short – not as good as the first one, but definitely better than the second.

I liked the feel of this one better, and it certainly felt like there was a real threat from the villain (Guy Pearce), even if I was never quite sure of his master plan.  Maybe I just missed it, or maybe he’s like the Joker and just wants to watch the world burn.  Either way, he was an angry, bad dude who racks up quite a body count in this one.

Robert Downey Jr. is still good, Don Cheadle is still underused, Gwyneth Paltrow is still there to be put in harm’s way, Jon Favreau keeps getting larger, and Ben Kingsley teeters between show-stealing and show-grinding-to-a-halt.  I’m not quite sure how I feel about Sir Ben’s performance.  One actor I know I did like was this kid Ty Simpkins.  He was surprisingly un-annoying and had a lot of chemistry with RDJ.  I really enjoyed that portion of the film.

If you’re looking for a few thrills, some funny moments, yet another villain with a vague overall scheme, and several references to The Avengers, this is your movie.  If not, then may I suggest finding some other movie with much fewer Avengers references, like Casablanca, Jaws, or Return to the Blue Lagoon.

7.3/10

Couples Retreat (2009)

Tags

Comedy, Couples Retreat, Faizon Love, Jason Bateman, Jean Reno, Jon Favreau, Kali Hawk, Kristen Bell, Kristin Davis, Malin Akerman, Movie, Romance, Vince Vaughn

of course we always dress the same, we're a couple!

PG-13

Vince Vaughn, Malin Akerman, Jason Bateman, Kristen Bell, Jon Favreau, Kristin Davis, Faizon Love, Kali Hawk, Jean Reno

Ronnie: Do you love it?
Dave: As much as I can love tile, I love this tile.
Ronnie: Okay good, ’cause it’s a thousand dollars.
Dave: Really?  Is that installed??
Ronnie: Nope, just the tile.
Dave: Well what is it made out of, whale tusks??

Jason (Bateman) and Cynthia (Bell) convince their friends to go on a couples retreat with them, but it turns out to be less fun than they were all hoping for.

Brevity is the soul of wit.  That’s something the creators of this movie need to learn.  There are funny moments here, several in fact, but those are surrounded by scenes that just get run into the ground as they try to squeeze every drop of comedy from them, unsuccessfully.  It’s like they kept filming after the scene was supposed to be over, hoping somebody would improvise something funny…and then they left all of that footage in the movie.  I think a good 20 minutes could have been trimmed from this movie and absolutely nothing from the story would have been lost.

There are a lot of characters in this one, and some of them are enjoyable while some aren’t.  I liked Vaughn and Akerman the most probably, while Bell and Bateman weren’t too bad.  Favreau and Davis were annoying, while Love and Hawk were a bit too heavy in stereotypes.  Plus, Trudy (Hawk) was just obnoxious, and not in a funny way.

As far as the story goes, nothing unpredictable happens, except for maybe a small twist in Faizon Love’s story line.  Anybody that’s seen a movie before could probably tell you how all the other plot lines will turn out before they even start watching it.

But, it’s a comedy, and as long as it’s funny, that’s what matters.  As I mentioned, it’s pretty amusing at times, but not enough times to really recommend it.  If they’d just edit it down some, then it would suddenly seem a lot funnier.  As is, too many gags fall flat (like the yoga scene and the shark scene), yet they go on and on forever.

Lastly, I’ll point out that this feels like an R rated movie that is trapped inside a PG-13 rating.  I’m not sure why they felt the need to rein everybody in, but I think that feeling of restraint brought the comedic level down a bit as well.

In conclusion, it didn’t suck as much as I thought it would, but it’s also not as funny as it thinks it is.

The toilets on display at places like Lowes and Home Depot are not functional and not to be used.

10 – 3.5 for too many extraneous scenes and segments that go on for far too long – .8 for some annoying characters = 5.7

Four Christmases (2008)

Tags

Comedy, Four Christmases, Jon Favreau, Kristin Chenoweth, Movie, Reese Witherspoon, Robert Duvall, Vince Vaughn

excuse me, sir! could you tell us about your hat choice please!?

PG-13

Vince Vaughn, Reese Witherspoon, Robert Duvall, Kristin Chenoweth, Jon Favreau

Eric: You lie to your families at Christmas time?
Brad: Well, you really can’t spell families without “lies”…try it.

A couple wants to go to Fiji for Christmas instead of having to spend it with their families, but heavy fog delays their flight and forces them to attend celebrations at four different houses.

This is a fairly standard Christmas comedy with two relatively normal central characters surrounded by their eccentric family members.  Fortunately it manages to be somewhat funny at times, and it doesn’t have everything work out perfectly for all the families in the end either.  At least one character doesn’t really learn anything about family and kindness.  He’s bitter till the end.  Not exactly the Christmas spirit, but there’s plenty more movies out there to watch if you want that.

Not that there isn’t a message about family and blah blah blah.  There is.  It’s just usually accompanied by a less serious conversation.  Like when Brad (Vaughn) and Kate (Witherspoon) discuss the positives of having children, which includes all the free labor you get from them.

I’ll admit that I actually like Vince Vaughn most of the time, and he’s alright here.  His rapid, random talking thing works sometimes and doesn’t work other times.  He’s likable though, and he and Witherspoon are good together.

My least favorite part of the movie is the first of the four Christmases.  It occurs at Brad’s father’s house, and it involves a lot of yelling, slapstick comedy, a crying baby, and general destruction.  Once that segment was done, the movie became more watchable.

I guess that’s the level of praise I’ll give it.  It’s watchable.  You can have it on in the background and get a few laughs here and there and maybe a smidgen of Christmas spirit.  But if you want a funnier movie about people dealing with crazy relatives, just watch Christmas Vacation.

Sometimes it’s okay to avoid your family around the holidays.

10 – 2 for that whole first Christmas segment – 2.1 for not being consistently funny enough = 5.9