It’s Complicated (2009)

Tags

Alec Baldwin, Comedy, Drama, It's Complicated, John Krasinski, Lake Bell, Meryl Streep, Movie, Romance, Steve Martin

do a Jim look...c'mon, do it...do it!

R

Meryl Streep, Alec Baldwin, Steve Martin, John Krasinski, Lake Bell

Jake: I’m sorry.
Jane: How far back does that ‘sorry’ go?
Jake: How far back do you need it to go?
Jane: Way back.

While in New York for her son’s graduation, Jane (Streep) starts up an affair with her remarried ex-husband, Jake (Baldwin).  Meanwhile, Jane and Adam (Martin), an architect she’s hired, start to take a liking to each other as well.

If I had to sum this one up quickly, I’d say it’s funny, but way too long.  There are several repetitive scenes that could have been trimmed down or cut altogether.  The pace just seemed…slow.

Streep is good as always, and she and Baldwin work well together.  Steve Martin was alright as Adam, but I didn’t really believe his and Jane’s relationship.  Martin wasn’t really given much opportunity to show his comedic side (other than a tired, inappropriately high at a party scene), so his character just came off as a little bland and unmemorable.  As Streep and Baldwin’s future son in law, Harley, John Krasinski manages to score some laughs in the few scenes that he has, so fans of The Office will probably enjoy seeing him doing something marginally different.  Though I did keep expecting him to look at the camera and give the classic Jim face.

Let’s face it, though, the movie belongs to Streep, and she’s mostly up to the task.  I did grow a little weary of her character, and the whole scenario in general, but not so much that I stopped enjoying the film entirely.  I was just ready for it to be over a little bit before it was ready to be over.

I can’t say I loved it, but I certainly liked it for the most part.  I guess you could say my opinion of it is…well, it’s com-…plex.

If you’re having marital problems, get a divorce, then wait until the kids are all out of the house and you’re no longer obsessed with your job, etc…then give the relationship another go.

10 – 1.5 for being overlong/needing some scenes cut here and there – 1 for a few failed/tired comedic attempts – .5 for some underdeveloped characters = 7.0

Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009)

Tags

Animated, Bill Murray, Comedy, Eric Anderson, Fantastic Mr. Fox, Fantasy, George Clooney, Jason Schwartzman, Meryl Streep, Movie

what do you mean? I'm not badgering you about th-...oh, I see...you're making a joke...

PG

George Clooney, Meryl Streep, Jason Schwartzman, Bill Murray, Eric Anderson

Mr. Fox: Wake up everybody!  They’re digging us out!
Mrs. Fox: They’ll kill the children!
Mr. Fox: Over my dead body!
Mrs. Fox: That’s what I’m saying!  You’d be dead too in that scenario!

Mr. Fox (Clooney) is an expert chicken stealer.  He promises his wife (Streep) that after their son is born, he’ll leave that dangerous life behind, but a few years later he’s back to his thieving ways.  This brings trouble down on his family and friends.  Can the Fantastic Mr. Fox outsmart the human farmers he’s been stealing from, or will they manage to finally kill him?

Do you like Wes Anderson movies?  Do you enjoy deadpan, dry humor?  Do you like characters that are mean to each other, but in a sort of sweet way?  Characters that are self-centered, but eventually learn to think about others first?  Those are the kinds of things you’ll see in Wes Anderson movies, along with good – usually older – music.  That’s all present in Fantastic Mr. Fox, and it all works well for the most part.

I thought the movie lost a little steam towards the end, but it’s still funny enough throughout for me to like it quite a bit.  The voice work by the leads is good, but not outstanding, though I thought Schwartzman, as Mr. Fox’s son, Ash, may have fared the best.  Poor little Ash is constantly trying to be noticed and impress his father.  When his cousin, Kristofferson (Anderson), comes to live with the Fox family, he immediately impresses Mr. Fox, which angers Ash even more.

It’s really just your typical Wes Anderson type story, featuring a group or family of misfits, who initially don’t get along too well, that must deal with adversity by growing closer.  It just happens to be told in the form of stop motion animation.  It’s not the smoothest animation in the world, but that’s by design I assume.  It gives the movie a strange feel, but that’s okay, it’s a strange story.

To answer my own question up above, I do like Wes Anderson movies.  I like the angry, but willing to change, characters.  I like the soundtracks (great use of Beach Boys music in this one).  I like the humor.

While this one is not yet one of my top 3 favorites of his, I do plan on seeing it again soon.

To kill a chicken, you want to do it quickly, with one swift bite to the neck.

10 – 1.7 for losing some steam in the last third of the movie – .5 because some of the voice work just seemed a little off for some reason = 7.8

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

Prime (2005)

Tags

Bryan Greenberg, Comedy, Meryl Streep, Movie, Prime, Romance, Uma Thurman

for the last time, I'm not introducing you to Quentin Tarantino...

PG-13

Uma Thurman, Bryan Greenberg, Meryl Streep

Rafi: By the way, things to avoid…
David: Okay…
Rafi: Beginning sentences with “my mom”…
David: Right, I’m all over it.

Rafi (Thurman) is a serious minded 37 year old, recently divorced woman who begins a romance with a 23 year old man, David (Greenberg).  The age difference is the least of their problems though, as we soon discover that David is the son of Rafi’s therapist, Lisa, played by Meryl Streep.

This one started out a little slow for me, mainly because I was not enjoying the lead actor very much, and his bizarrely annoying best friend was not helping.  The movie picked up in quality a lot, though, at the moment where Streep’s character realizes that Uma is dating her son.  Uma doesn’t know that her therapist is her boyfriend’s mother, so she has no problem revealing the most intimate of details about their relationship.  The whole middle section of the film was my favorite part, as the comedy and romance were both at their best.

Some of the conflicts at the end felt a little forced and contrived to me, particularly David’s sudden feelings of being suffocated or imprisoned in Rafi’s apartment.  It kind of came out of nowhere and seemed out of character for him.  The other issues, with them wanting different things in life at their respective ages, were more realistic and understandable.  Though, some of the dialogue near the end – especially about David wanting to give Rafi the “gift” of a baby – was cheesy at best.

All in all, I thought it was a solid middle section of a movie, book-ended by a somewhat weak beginning and ending (though the final conclusion is exactly what it should be).  Oh, and a final note to romantic comedy writers of the world:  please lose the clichéd, obnoxious, loser best friend who tries to convince the lead actor that he needs to not get tied down to one “chick” and should instead be out playing the field.  It devalues the leading man when we see him let himself get influenced by an idiot like the jerk best friend in this movie.

10 – 2 for that annoying friend – .5 for a slow beginning – .8 for some contrived conflict + .1 for that joke about Nintendo = 6.8