Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (2010)

Tags

Alison Pill, Anna Kendrick, Aubrey Plaza, Brie Larson, Comedy, Ellen Wong, Fantasy, Johnny Simmons, Kieran Culkin, Mark Webber, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Michael Cera, Movie, Romance, Scott Pilgrim vs the World

hey...wanna swap weird hairstyles?

PG-13

Michael Cera, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Anna Kendrick, Kieran Culkin, Ellen Wong, Mark Webber, Alison Pill, Johnny Simmons, Brie Larson, Aubrey Plaza

Stacey: Scott, was she really the one?
Scott: The what…?
Stacey: I mean, did you really see a future with this girl?
Scott: …like…with jetpacks?

Scott Pilgrim (Cera) falls instantly in love with a mysterious girl, Ramona (Winstead), that he meets at a party, but once the two begin to date, Scott discovers that he must defeat – in combat – Ramona’s seven exes.

So when did it become commonplace in movies for the geeky, loser-ish guy with no confidence to have dated, or currently be dating, multiple very attractive women?  Maybe that’s part of the whole comic book/graphic novel fantasy experience, which is what this movie is based on, a graphic novel series by Bryan Lee O’Malley.

I was not at all familiar with the graphic novels before seeing the movie, so I don’t have those to compare the movie to.  So, just judging the movie on it’s own merit…it was pretty good.

I probably don’t even need to bother saying that Michael Cera is playing basically the same character that he always does.  Though, I will say that for some reason he’s less likable than usual here.

Which leads me to my biggest complaint about the movie.  I really didn’t care much about either of the two main characters.  Cera is very needy, and kind of a selfish jerk at times, and Ramona is like a rehash of Clementine Kruczynski but without the depth or likability.  Why do these two people like each other?  I can understand Scott being initially attracted to Ramona, but after that, neither seem to have much to talk about, and they certainly don’t seem to have much fun with each other.  I think more chemistry between the two would have lent more weight to Scott’s battle for Ramona.  As it is, I was wondering why he’d want to even go through the trouble of fighting for her.

On the bright side, there are quite a few funny moments, and a lot of good cameo appearances by actors that get to have fun with their roles.  I especially liked the inclusion of one of Michael Cera’s Arrested Development castmates as one of Ramona’s exes.

The overly stylized approach taken by director Edgar Wright (Hot Fuzz, Shaun of the Dead) wore me down a little bit by the end, but that might have had more to do with the repetitiveness of the fight scenes rather than the fast paced editing.  It mostly works, but the movie felt overlong.  Plus, the ending was a bit disappointing.  I thought the narrative lost its way a little and got bogged down in a lot of confusing dialogue.

Still, overall it’s a fairly entertaining experience.  I just wish as much time was spent on character development as was spent on editing and special effects.

Also Michael Cera’s hair looked weird.

Your past shouldn’t control your present…?

10 – 1.5 for lack of character development – .5 for a bit too much stylization – .5 for a weak ending = 7.5

Lymelife (2008)

Tags

Alec Baldwin, Cynthia Nixon, Drama, Emma Roberts, Jill Hennessy, Kieran Culkin, Lymelife, Movie, Rory Culkin, Timothy Hutton

think we'll be as famous as our famous relatives some day...?

R

Rory Culkin, Alec Baldwin, Emma Roberts, Jill Hennessy, Kieran Culkin, Timothy Hutton, Cynthia Nixon

Melissa: Charlie is not the guy that I married.
Mickey: Well, we all change somewhat, no?
Melissa: Yeah, I know, but God, why me??  I mean…a bus, a robbery, an accident…but Lyme Disease!?
Mickey: Hey, look, you’re not the one who HAS Lyme disease, right…?

Fifteen year old Scott (Rory Culkin) is having a difficult, confusing time in several areas.  His parents are clearly unhappy together, he gets bullied at school, and the girl, Adrianna (Roberts), he’s been friends with for years (and has a huge crush on) seems to be interested in some other guy.  When Scott’s brother, Jimmy (Kieran Culkin), visits while on leave from the military, even more family drama erupts.  Meanwhile, Adrianna’s parents, Charlie (Hutton) and Melissa (Nixon) are dealing with their own marital problems.  Charlie has Lyme disease and hasn’t been able to work or do much else.  Melissa can’t understand what’s wrong with him and is tired of carrying the family on her back.

This is one angry movie.  Everybody is either depressed, grumbling, or straight up yelling about something most of the time.  There’s fighting, lying, and arguments at every turn.  So much so that by the end of it I was just worn down by it all.

I guess I’d say most of the performances were good, but all that’s saying is that the actors effectively made me dislike them.  I liked the romance between Scott and Adrianna, but that was sprinkled in throughout constant scenes of turmoil.

And what does it all amount to?  What’s the point of the movie.  It’s called Lymelife, and yes there’s a character with Lyme disease, but that struggle isn’t the central point of the movie, and frankly I don’t really see the point of bringing it into a coming of age movie at all.  Maybe I’m too dense to understand the parallels being drawn between Charlie’s struggle with the disease and the struggles of the other characters in the film.  It all just didn’t mesh for me.

Having a friend who suffers from Lyme disease, I’ve heard plenty about the daily struggles, depression, misdiagnosis, etc., and the movie did an okay job of expressing that.  I just wish they hadn’t painted the character as being so pathetic.  Maybe, being set in the 70s, the disease was even less understood and acknowledged back then, so they were showing how frustrating and damaging it could be.  I’m not sure.  I just know that it added even more to the unpleasantness of the movie.

To sum up:  it looked good, was acted well, and was borderline unwatchable.  I think the scenes between the kids saved it.  Even if Emma Roberts’ acting ability tends to run hot and cold…

Keep an eye on those tick bites.

10 – 4 for all the screaming and yelling and arguing – .4 for a confusingly ambiguous ending = 5.6