Dinner for Schmucks

Directed by Jay Roach.
2010. Rated PG-13, 114 minutes.
Cast:
Steve Carell
Paul Rudd
Stephanie Szostak
Zach Galifianakis
Jermaine Clement
Bruce Greenwood
Lucy Punch
Ron Livingston
Larry Wilmore

After one of his co-workers is fired, Tim (Rudd) joins the mad dash to replace the guy in hopes of a raise and a large office on the 7th floor. He comes up with an idea to potentially lure a huge client which makes himself the prime candidate for the promotion. To seal the deal, he not only has to land the client, he has to attend a very special dinner at the boss’ house. What makes it special is that it is the annual “Dinner for Winners.” The “winners” are really people that the execs at the company think are idiots. Each of them must bring one such person that they will all make fun of. At the end of the night, they give a trophy to whoever they deem is the biggest idiot. However, they call him or her the most extraordinary person and never let them in on the joke. Tim’s dilemma is that the girl he’s been practically begging to marry is appalled at the idea and wants him not to go.

To complicate matters, a person that fits the bill to a tee practically falls into his lap. In a case of neither guy paying as much attention as they should, Tim hits Barry (Carell) with his car while Barry is trying to pick up a dead mouse he’s spotted in the street. It turns out he uses the deceased critters to create his artwork. Some of it is original, some are replicas of already famous pieces of art. Think “The Mona Lisa,” only using a rodent instead of a woman. Of course, Tim invites Barry to that special dinner. From that point on, Tim’s life is turned upside down.

A huge chunk of the movie proceeds as follows: Barry does something dumb and/or presumptious with predictably catastrophic results. Tim yells at him. He tries to help fix the problem, but makes it worse. Some of it is funny, a lot of it isn’t. There is also the subplot of Tim’s girl Julie (Szostak) possibly sleeping with over-sexed and eccentric artist Kieran (Clement). Things finally take a turn for the better when we meet Barry’s boss Therman, played brilliantly by Zach Galifianakis. The intense gaze on his face and his cheesy magician’s mannerisms are perfect. Almost all of the funniest scenes in the movie involve him. This includes the “pudding” joke which has a perfectly orchestrated delayed effect.

Galifianakis doesn’t show up until late in the second act. He elevates the movie to the level of watchable, at least while he’s on the screen. He can’t make the ending acceptable, largely because we know what’s coming right from the start. The bigger issue is we can’t quite muster up the sympathy needed to make it work. We can’t because even though Barry is certainly pathetic enough, he’s not likeable enough. The problems he’s caused can’t be attribute to naivete even though that’s what we’re supposed to believe. They’re things that, if I were Tim, would’ve caused me to try and do him bodily harm. In other words, we don’t feel bad when Tim makes him feel bad. We think he deserves it. The effect on the movie is that we don’t really care how it turns out, we just want it to end.

Edge of Darkness

Directed by Martin Campbell.
2010. Rated R, 117 minutes.
Cast:
Mel Gibson
Ray Winstone
Danny Huston
Bojana Novakovic
Shawn Roberts
David Aaron Baker
Jay O. Sanders
Dennis O’Hare
Damian Young
Gbenga Akinnagbe

Det. Craven (Gibson) is about to rush his daughter Emma (Novakovic) to the hospital. Just as the two step out the front door, a gunman fires a single shot, kills her and speeds off. It’s assumed the bullet was meant for him. After all, he’s been a cop for long time and has presumably made a number of capable enemies. He’s not so sure. Maybe it was, but she’s been acting awfully strange since he picked her up earlier that evening. She wouldn’t say much about it, but seems to be going through a tough time. Physically, she’s a total wreck. Every so often, she’ll suddenly vomit. The she has a spontaneous nosebleed. That’s when dad tries to get her to the hospital. Then there is that plant she works at that does something or another with nuclear energy. Hmmm.

Our hero tells his bosses that he is going to be involved in the investigation of his little girl’s murder, regardless of policy. Oddly enough, this doesn’t involve any yelling. In fact, he doesn’t get much of a fight at all. After this, he’s got people to see, starting with Emma’s boyfriend. From there, let’s just say he meets some very interesting, wealthy and/or powerful people.

We follow Det. Craven on his crusade to serve justice. In turn, we’re rewarded with a solid thriller/mystery. After a short while, it becomes apparent who killed Emma. The mystery actually lies in figuring out why. When we get the thrills, they often start with a jolt and are pretty brutal.

Mel Gibson plays the lead with a constantly pained look on his face. He ably conveys the emotions of a grieving father, albeit on who is an action hero, but a grieving dad nonetheless. However, his attempt at a Boston area accent doesn’t work too well. Part of the problem is it sounds exaggerated. The rest of the problem is that no one else seems to be doing one at all. This makes his efforting to say things such as “cah” instead of car that much more obvious.

Gibson’s accent, and your personal feelings about him, aside, Edge of Darkness is a solid flick that has some easy answers, but doesn’t necessarily give us the easy ending. Because of the way it’s presented, whether or not it’s a happy one is open to debate. Luckily, even though it’s not an action flick there is just enough of it interspersed to keep us interested until we get that far.

Bullets or Ballots

Directed by William Keighley.
1936. Not Rated, 82 minutes.
Cast:
Edward G. Robinson
Humphrey Bogart
Joan Blandell
Barton MacLane

Once Cpt. McLaren (Joe King) takes over the police department, he fires Johnny Blake (Robinson), one of the most successful and feared officers on the force. The local mob boss, Al Kruger (MacLane) seizes the opportunity and recruits Blake to join his gang. Based on the story of real-life cop Johnny Broderick. Most famous for his roles as a gangster, Robinson switches sides of the law in one of Hollywood's earliest tales of an undercover cop who may have gotten in too deep (movie buffs will see what I did there). As is usually the case with Robinson, it's a virtuoso performance. In this case, he exudes the arrogance necessary to move up the criminal ladder. To help matters out, the cast also includes a particularly angry Bogart for Robinson to go back and forth with. The story does a nice job of putting our hero in compromising positions for him to figure out. Best of all, the ending is a courageous one, particularly for the era. It leaves us a little unsure how we're supposed to feel. The entire film is a blueprint for the many movies of its kind to follow.

MY SCORE: 10/10

12 Monkeys

Directed by Terry Gilliam.
1996. Rated R, 130 minutes.
Cast:
Bruce Willis
Brad Pitt
Madeline Stowe
Jon Seda
Christopher Plummer

James Cole (Willis) believes he is a time-traveler sent back from the future by his captors to investigate "the Army of the 12 Monkeys." This "army" apparently loosed a virus upon the Earth. This virus is believed to have killed 5 billion people and driven the survivors to live beneath the planet's surface. The movie opens with a quote that is actually a prediction that this whole virus thing would go down in 1997. It's attributed to a "diagnosed schizophrenic." This is key because the question of Cole's sanity is really the central theme of the movie. A brief soliloquy by a patient in the mental institution Cole is thrown into when he arrives in the year 1990 explaining his own mental condition gives us a possible explanation of what's actually going on. Of course, the alternative is that Cole is perfectly sane but indeed living in an insane reality. To his credit, director Terry Gilliam doesn't discount either possibility giving viewers something to debate. Willis gives a frantic, even fragile performance befitting the role. Stowe is solid as usual but Brad Pitt lights up the screen during the intervals in which he appears. Overall, it's an excellent, if a bit quirky, piece of science fiction.

MY SCORE: 9/10

Stomp the Yard: Homecoming

Directed by Rob Hardy.
2010. Rated PG-13, 87 minutes.
Cast:
Collins Pennie
Kiely Williams
Pooch Hall
Stephen Boss
David Banner
Keith David
Tika Sumpter
Columbus Short
Rickey Smiley
Jasmine Guy

Dance movies are pretty much critic-proof. Take the original Stomp the Yard, for example. It’s largely a rip-off of Drumline, right down to how the climactic battle plays out. Still, it was a modest financial success and has developed a devoted following of people who won’t hear a negative word about it. The high energy routines are infectious. People enjoy dance movies, regardless of their narrative issues. This is why Stomp the Yard was made in the first place. It’s why lots of people still tune in to cable airings of You Got Served and Honey. It’s why there have been three Step Up movies. Alas, it’s why we have Stomp the Yard: Homecoming.

Homecoming is, of course, set during homecoming weekend at fictional Truth University. Our hero from the first movie, DJ (Short) has apparently movie on in life, only appearing briefly here. By the way, Short is the film’s executive producer. This time, our wayward but talented dancer is Chance (Pennie). For continuity’s sake, he’s pledging to the same fraternity DJ did in the original, the Thetas. His major issue is he owes a thug from back home a hefty sum of money after losing a battle he thinks was fixed. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out the bad guy and his cronies will be coming after him. Rap fans will recognize the bad guy is played by artist David Banner. Chance’s other issue is that even though he seems rather happy with his current girlfriend, his ex-girl that he can’t stand has come sniffing around for a roll in the hay and possibly more. Oh, there is one other thing. This is a dance movie, lest we forget. That means the Thetas are also busily preparing for the National Step Competition in which they hope to beat their arch rival fraternity, the Gammas. Yes, just like DJ was in part one, Chance isn’t so thrilled with the routine his frat brother have come up with. From there, we simply paint by numbers until our generic picture is complete.

None of this matters. Like action-flick fans looking for explosions and car chases, dance movie fans are in it for the dancing, or stepping, in this case. The stepping is a bit subpar when compared with the original movie. Budgetary constraints seem to leave it a step behind, if you will. Still, there are a few creative sequences. You get what you come for. If you’re looking for anything more, pick another movie.

MY SCORE: 3/10

Tangled

Directed by Nathan Greno and Byron Howard.
2010. Rated PG, 100 minutes.
Cast:
Mandy Moore
Zachary Levi
Donna Murphy
Ron Perlman
M. C. Gainey
Jeffrey Tambor
Brad Garrett
Richard Kiel

Once upon a time, there lived a girl at the very top of a very tall tower, controlled by a very evil woman and a very handsome man comes to rescue her. In a post-Shrek world, you’d think Disney wouldn’t be so lazy as to go with that exact setup. Yet, here we have Tangled. It’s the latest version of the classic fairy tale “Rapunzel.” She (Moore), of course, is the girl in the tower. The evil woman is Mother Gothel (Murphy) who kidnapped Rapunzel from her parents, the king and queen, when Rapunzel was just a baby. She does so because the girl’s impossibly long hair has special powers, providing the old lady with everlasting youth among them. Flynn Rider (Levi) is the handsome man. He gets into the tower by accident, but his role is pretty clearly defined. He is to rescue Rapunzel and make sure she lives happily ever after.

There is nothing else here, narratively. Everything simply plays out as it must. What it lacks in creative storytelling, it makes up for in comedy, action and modern sounding dialogue. It mostly works. It’s funny and in some spots, exciting. The style of dialogue and the musical numbers make it easier for its target audience to relate. For them, it’s exactly what they expected and what they wanted. For them, it’s as golden as Rapunzel’s hair. For the rest of us, it’s a fairly enjoyable time-passer. Tangled doesn’t really do anything wrong. It just doesn’t do anything original.

MY SCORE: 6.5/10

The Fighter

Directed by David O. Russell.
2010. Rated R, 115 minutes.
Cast:
Mark Wahlberg
Christian Bale
Amy Adams
Melissa Leo
Mickey O’Keefe
Jack McGee
Melissa McMeekin
Bianca Hunter
Frank Renzulli

Micky Ward (Wahlberg) has lost his last three fights and is at a crossroads in his professional boxing career. He is trained by his brother Dicky (Bale). Dicky is a local legend, having been a former fighter himself. He’s quick to tell anyone within earshot that he once knocked down Sugar Ray Leonard (who has a brief cameo as himself). Dicky is also extremely unreliable due to his addiction to crack. His pro career combined with his drug habit have brought him to the attention of cable network HBO. They have a camera following him around. He tells everyone they are making a documentary about his comeback, though he doesn’t seem to be working towards one. He is the center of attention, just the way he likes it. However, his demons threaten to sabotage his brother’s career.

Micky’s mom, Alice (Leo) also serves as his manager. She’s well meaning but not the best at either job. She’s often preoccupied with Dicky’s misadventures. With everyone except Dicky, she’s a domineering matriarch ruling her clan with an iron fist. In Dicky’s case, she’s a pushover. The entire family is this towards Dicky. This includes a litter of sisters. Micky’s dream of being a champion is in their hands.

The family dynamic plays itself on a loop in Micky’s life. He’s at the gym, ready to work, but his brother is nowhere to be found until hours after they were supposed to have started training. Alice gets him bad fights with little or no strategy for actually building his career. Micky’s father George (McGee) tries to be the voice of reason. He clearly sees that what’s going on isn’t benefiting his boy. Unfortunately, he’s always shouted down by Alice. Eventually, Micky has to fend for himself. More accurately, he has to have better people fend for him. When this starts to happen is when the family suspects there is a problem. How dare he go outside their numbers for support without him?

We watch this drama unfold in a fashion that feels excruciatingly real. This is where the power of The Fighter lies. We’re either a part of, or have known families exactly like this. If we’re a part of such a family, our empathy for Micky is boundless. If we’ve only know families like this, he has out sympathy. We wish we could save him. We root hard for Charlene (Adams) because she is obviously trying to do just that. We cheer her every action during her run-ins with Alice and the sisters.

Carrying out such a display of not always humane humanity requires great acting. This movie has it in spades. Much has been made of Christian Bale’s work as Dicky. It’s well deserved, he’s magnificent. However, it’s the battle of wills between Alice and Charlene that drives the movie. Leo and Adams each play their roles with undeniable conviction. Every rolling of the eyes, raising of the voice, expressing of concerns, swilling of a shot and puffing of a cigarette rings true. More than becoming familiar with them, we really know them. We know that they both feel they are right beyond a shadow of a doubt. In the lead, Wahlberg gives a perfectly subtle performance. When he finally explodes emotionally, it’s not some overly showy display of acting. It’s completely within the realm of how we think he would behave.

For the uninformed, this is based on a true story. I don’t think I’m spoiling anything by saying there is an eventual triumph. In this way, it’s much like hundreds of other sports movies. Rocky leaps to mind, for obvious reasons. So too, does Invincible, another Wahlberg flick and The Blind Side. They’re both football movies based on true stories. Those two are built one cliché after another until the inevitable feel-good finale. Invincible is more or less average in every way. The Blind Side has the benefit of a remarkable performance by Sandra Bullock. They both feel like a Hollywood version of what really happened, smoothed over and watered down. The Fighter utilizes many of the same conventions. Somehow though, it makes them feel much more real.