Almost Christmas

Pitch Perfect

Directed by Jason Moore.

2012. Rated PG-13, 112 minutes.

Cast:

Anna Kendrick

Brittany Snow

Rebel Wilson

Skylar Astin

Anna Camp

Ben Platt

Adam DeVine

Freddie Stroma

Hana Mae Lee

Alexis Knapp

Ester Dean

Elizabeth Banks

John Michael Higgins

John Benjamin Hickey

Christopher Mintz-Plasse

The Barden Bellas are an all-female competitive acapella group who’ve literally puked away their chances at winning a national championship. When the next school year starts up, the only two returning members are the iron-fisted Aubrey (Camp), who did the puking, and Chloe (Snow) her BFF and kinda, sorta co-leader. They need to recruit a whole new team but are having trouble finding people willing to join. It doesn’t help that the actual champions are the Treblemakers, an all-male group who also attend Barden University. Much to Aubrey’s chagrin, she and Chloe gather a group of misfits from all ethnicities and orientations they have to whip into shape. Among them is Beca (Kendrick), a reluctant college student. She wants to be a DJ, but her dad teaches at the school and is pretty much making her go. Of course, if you’ve only seen the trailers for Pitch Perfect then you know another of the new girls is Fat Amy (Wilson), a rambunctious soul from Tasmania. Lots of singing ensues.

Singing is what the movie does best. A seemingly endless succession of already catchy pop tunes from the 80s forward are given fun re-workings. I’m not sure how many of these would-be idols would make it to Hollywood, but they’re having a grand time with some fun songs. We have little choice but to do the same. It’s rather easy to get caught up in tapping your feet and singing along.

What it also does well is be silly. Here is where Fat Amy comes in. A sizable share of the movie’s funniest moments are hers. Her timing is rock solid and she has charisma to spare. It might be the best comedic performance of the last few years including 2011’s Oscar nominated turn by Melissa McCarthy in Bridesmaids, a movie Wilson also has a role in. Most of the other funny moments are handled by Adam DeVine as Bumper, the leader of the Treblemakers. If there is one drawback to this pair is that what’s hinted at is never really explored as Bumper rather abruptly disappears from the proceedings. It’s too bad because that may have led to even more hijinks and shenanigans. Whatever funnies those two are not responsible for usually come from Elizabeth Banks and John Michael Higgins as competition commentators.

When other characters try to get in on the laughs, things don’t go so well. The main problem is that the rest of the Bellas are all one dimensional stereotypes. Whatever aspect of themselves we’re first shown of most of the ladies is all there is to them and they act only on those surface traits. For instance, the Japanese girl is a weird mix of traditionally docile housewife and a character from a twisted Asian horror flick, the black lesbian is constantly trying to grope one of the other Bellas and is relentlessly ghetto-butch, the promiscuous girl only expresses herself in overtly (hetero)sexual terms constantly groping herself, and so on.

Another place Pitch Perfect hits sour notes is during time spent on plot development. Whenever our principles aren’t harmonizing and/or going for laughs, the movie just works down the checklist of both rom-com and sports movie clichés (predictable break-up and training montages, for instance). From a character standpoint, Beca is the movie’s focal point. Her daddy issues (I don’t remember ever hearing about mom), musical prowess, battles with Aubrey and budding romance with Jesse (Astin) are all front and center without a surprise anywhere. To be honest, that isn’t even the real issue, though. The problem is how bland our heroine is. The others talk about her like she’s some way out there alt-girl or some kind of rebel threatening the establishment. Having her played by the fresh-faced but not particularly intriguing Anna Kendrick works against those ideas and we never feel Beca will do anything other than what she eventually does. It feels like she’s been modeled after pop star Avril Lavigne, or possibly Pink, but without the edge of either.

Truth told, even with the paint-by-numbers storytelling and the horrible stereotypes Pitch Perfect is a fun flick. It’s strengths provide enough cover for the flaws to keep us patiently waiting on the next musical set. To be on the safe side, we get them everywhere: on the bus, in the shower, at impromptu competitions on campus and, of course, on the stage. This and the wonderful performance of Rebel Wilson keeps us in a good mood most of the way through.

Bad Teacher

Directed by Jake Kasdan.

2011. Rated R, 97 minutes.
Cast:
Cameron Diaz
Lucy Punch
Jason Segel
Justin Timberlake
Phyllis Smith
John Michael Higgins
Eric Stonestreet
Matthew J. Evans
Molly Shannon

When we meet Elizabeth Halsey (Diaz) she’s quitting her job as a teacher because she is about to marry the man of her financial dreams. He abruptly dumps her because he’s finally figured out, with the help of his mom, she’s only in it for the money. With that, she goes slinking back to the classroom. She also hangs out late every night trying to snare another rich guy. Not surprisingly, teaching isn’t something she actually does. Day after day she pops in a “school related” movie for her class (Stand and Deliver, Lean on Me, etc.) and then catches up on her sleep. She’s also under the impression that getting breast implants will help her get her man, whomever he may be. Her never ending quest to save up for a boob job and find that wealthy husband ensues.

The first criteria most of us use to judge a comedy is how often it makes us laugh. With that solely in mind, Bad Teacher is merely okay. It goes for big laughs by being constantly irreverent. It also gets a lot of mileage out of juxtaposing the squareness of Elizabeth’s co-workers with her too-cool-for-the-room aloofness. This is most obvious in our heroine’s feud with a fellow teacher, the overzealous Ms. Squirrel (Punch). The two despise one another and both vie for the attentions of the same man, substitute teacher Scott (Timberlake) who happens to have a very rich family. From time to time it gets the laughs. Unfortunately, it doesn’t get them often enough. Too much of the time our bad teacher just comes across as pathetic, not funny. This makes Cameron Diaz’s performance in the lead role both an asset and liability. It’s an asset because she actually gives an outstanding performance. She plays it just enough over the top that she can still maintain believability. It’s some of her best work. However, it’s a liability because she is so believable she can’t help but engender some sadness towards her, detracting from the humor.

A comedy that doesn’t keep us constantly in stitches allows other things to eat away at it. In this case, we first notice the symptom before the actual problem. The symptom is that this film is totally void of character development. Every person here is a one dimensional caricature that never deviates from the way they are when we first meet them. There is some attempt to round out our heroine but it’s debatable whether or not she actually changes or just gives up. This leads us to the problem. This movie’s morals are out of whack. To paraphrase Elizabeth herself, it’s priorities are screwed up. Maybe it’s because I have kids close enough to the age of the students here but the misplaced sense of right and wrong is off-putting. Sure, Ms. Squirrel is on the annoying side but should caring about the kids she teaches make her a villain? Why is it a good, or funny thing that Lynn (Smith), a grown woman and a teacher who should know better, is so easily susceptible to peer pressure? Finally, Elizabeth ends up in a different job which I won’t spoil. However, when you see it ask yourself this: Is it really a good thing she got that particular job?

Before you go labeling me a prude, understand that I’m not at all against the idea of the anti-hero. After all, I’ve been called a degenerate because I think The Godfather, Part II outshines the original. I root for Travis Bickle (Taxi Driver). Do the Right Thing gets my heart pumping. The difference is in those movies there is something to debate. The ideas of what we believe to be right and wrong are at odds, struggling against each other over whether the adage that the ends justifies the means is true. In BT, the character we’re supposed to champion is simply wrong.

MY SCORE: 5/10

Couples Retreat

Directed by Peter Billingsley.
2010. Rated PG-13, 114 minutes.
Cast:
Vince Vaughn
Jason Bateman
Faizon Love
Kristin Davis
Kristen Bell
Malin Akerman
Kali Hawk
Jean Reno
Tasha Smith
Ken Jeong
John Michael Higgins

Plot: Four couples get a group rate to go to an island paradise. Once there, they discover that the unorthodox therapy sessions that came with the discount are mandatory.

The Good: From time to time something funny happens. When it does, it’s usually hilarious. Our four couple often find themselves in outlandish and compromising situations. Chief among them is the yoga scene which is one of the funniest scenes I’ve watched in a little while. Vince Vaughn (Dave) is only doing the Vince Vaughn persona he does in nearly every movie, but he does it so well. It’s “so money”, to fondly remember where it all started. He’s not alone. The other guys also wear their familiar personas well. Therefore, we get what we’ve come to expect from Favreau, Bateman and Love.

The Bad: Those hilarious moments are spaced kind of far apart, while easily predictable things happen to fill the gaps. Worse than that, nearly every funny moment in the movie was in the trailer. There really wasn’t much else. Of course, a tidy bow is wrapped around everything, including one character’s wife popping up literally from nowhere. It’s a movie that could’ve been so much more but takes the lazy route more often than not. Oh, and I haven’t even mentioned the walking, talking stereotype named Trudy (Hawk).

The Ugly: I guess he really wasn’t wearing drawers.

Recommendation: It has its moments. It’s not the affront to humanity some have made it out to be, but it has a severe case “if you’ve seen the commercial, you’ve seen the movie.”

The Opposite View: Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly

What the Internet Says: 5.5/10 on imdb.com (6/15/10), 11% on rottentomatoes.com, 23/100 on metacritic.com


MY SCORE: 5/10

Yes Man

Yes Man
2008. Rated PG-13, 104 minutes.
Director: Peyton Reed.
Starring Jim Carrey, Zooey Deschanel, Bradley Cooper, Rhys Darby, John Michael Higgins, Danny Masterson, Terence Stamp, Rocky Carroll, John Cothran Jr.

Plot: Carl (Carrey) is divorced and depressed. A chance encounter with an old friend prompts him to attend a self-help seminar. At the seminar, he agrees to say yes to anything asked of him in order to help him live life to the fullest.

The Good: This is in Carrey's wheelhouse. It's the type of silly comedy which made him a star. He gets to do outrageous things for outrageous reasons. He seems to be having fun. In turn, we have fun as well. Aside from him, Rhys Darby as his boss/uber-nerd/wannabe buddy Norman is hilarious. We also get funny turns, both slightly more than cameos from John Michael Higgins as the old friend and Brent Briscoe as the homeless guy.

The Bad: It comes off as a reimagining of Liar Liar so there really aren't any surprises to be had, narratively. Just substitute not being able to say no for not being able to tell a lie and it unfolds precisely the way we think it will. Only Carrey's wacky excursions and lack of a son differentiate this movie from that one.

The Ugly: Two things: first, how the old lady who lives next door "takes care" of our hero and second the shameless and seemingly constant product placement.

Recommendation: Fans of Jim Carrey, this is for you. Much like Will Ferrell, you either like him or you don't with little gray area between the two. It's not Carrey's best movie by any stretch, but its a solid effort worthy of a rental when you're in the mood for a silly comedy.

The Opposite View: Richard Luck, Channel 4 Film

What the Internet Says: 7.1/10 on imdb.com (6/11/09), 43% on rottentomatoes.com, 46/100 on metacritic.com

MY SCORE: 6.5/10