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04 Jan

Friends With Money

Grade: C

This is one of those movies where all the good parts are in the previews.  I was really looking forward to seeing Friends With Money – 4 of my favorite actresses star in it – and it came off in the previews looking sweet and heartwarming.  Nope.  It’s kind of sad actually.  Even depressing.  There are 3 Friends with Money, Joan Cusack, Catherine Keener, and Frances McDormand.  Who knows what brought these chicks together in the first place – that is never addressed.  Then there is the 1 Friend Without Money – Jennifer Aniston.  She’s pretty much a basket case – has a bad case of not knowing what she wants to be when she grows up and it surviving hand to mouth on her income as a maid and cosmetic samples.  The other friends don’t know if they should help, or how they should help, and meanwhile they’re all dealing with their own issues: depression, anger, a failing marriage, and various charity dinners.  The characters are well drawn and the acting is terrific – but the movie lacks in chemistry and movement – it doesn’t go anywhere.  And when it ends, it just kind of stops… it doesn’t have a nice neat ending.  I don’t like that at all.
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04 Jan

Freedom Writers

Grade: B+

Based on a true story about a school in Long Beach after the famous Los Angeles riots in the early 1990’s, Freedom Writers stars two-time Academy Award winning actress Hilary Swank.  Swank plays Erin Gruwell, a young teacher who takes on an freshman English class in a public high school that has its own share of problems.  Each student is faced with the challenges of dealing with racial tension and family stresses.  With patience and persistence, Erin is able to reach these students, and create a community in her classroom.  The students learn, thrive, and grow as people.  They end up writing about their experiences, and their essays were published into a book: “The Freedom Writers Diary.”  The movie is inspiring, and moving.  A must-see for high school students.  There were 3 boys sitting in front of us in the theatre, they told me that they are reading the book in their English class and that they really thought it was great.  They were there on their own, because they wanted to be.  Now that’s something.
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04 Jan

Frankenweenie

Grade: A-

From Disney, and based on a book by Tim Burton, Frankenweenie is fresh and fun and sweet – a great family film.  Very welcome because we don’t see enough good family films!  Of course, Tim Burton has a dark point of view, so there’s kind of a Halloween aura around the whole movie – which is shown all in black and white.  But it’s a good dark, a kind of quirky macabre that would come with the Frankenstein tradition anyway.  The characters are warm and relatable, the situation very suburban.  A few chuckles just for the parents, and enough kid-humor to keep everyone else happy and engaged throughout.  Really wonderful story, beautifully put together.  Recommended for all.
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04 Jan

Frank and the Robot

Grade: B

Frank Langella is a retired thief in the onset of dementia in this drama set in the near future.  His son and daughter are busy with their lives and can’t look after him, so the son buys a robot to do the job.  Frank resists at first, until he finds that the robot can serve him in more ways than were originally intended.  And the robot then becomes Frank’s friend and ally.  Interesting social commentary about intelligence and morals and aging.  Well done.
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04 Jan

Fracture

Grade: A-

An intelligent thriller with intelligent performances by two of the best actors of their generations.  Fracture stars the mesmerizing Anthony Hopkins as cheated-on husband who cleverly devises a way to kill his wife and get away with it.  Ryan Gosling, who burst onto the scene in The Notebook and was nominated for an Academy Award this year for his performance in Full Nelson, is the district attorney assigned to prosecute the case.  Gosling’s character, Willie, is smart, ambitious, and not just a little cocky, and takes what he thinks is a slam-dunk case as he’s got his foot halfway out the door for a cushy corporate job.  Of course, nothing is as it seems, and the young upstart learns about his real ambition as he embarks on a mission to bring the killer to justice.

Well written.  I usually find holes everywhere but this story is really tight and well constructed.  Loved it!
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04 Jan

Forgetting Sarah Marshall

Grade: A-

Judd Apatow (40 Year Old Virgin, Knocked-Up) produced and Jason Segal (How I Met Your Mother) wrote the screenplay and stars in this surprisingly sweet comedy, Forgetting Sarah Marshall.  The movie opens with a much-talked about break-up scene in which Jason is completely naked.  Emotionally, and yes, physically, no doubt about it.  Jason has said in interviews that this scene was based on something that actually happened to him – it’s one of those painfully honest episodes in life where we can’t help but laugh.  Kristen Bell plays the ex-girlfriend, and Mila Kunis plays the potentially new girlfriend he meets in Hawaii.  After the break-up, Jason goes to Hawaii to lick his wounds, and ends up at the same hotel as his ex and her new flame, an over-the-top British rock star.

What makes the movie so good is that the characters are all really well drawn – they’re real people, not caricatures.  The story has depth, we come to understand the circumstances that led our characters to this place, so we have more empathy for them in this situation.

This is not a movie for everyone – it’s rated R – there’s lots of nudity and lots of sex, both physical and talked about.  And there are also lots of laughs.  It’s a very funny movie.
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04 Jan

Forbidden Kingdom

Grade: B

Forbidden Kingdom stars martial arts masters Jet Li and Jackie Chan.  This is a fanciful movie that is marketed as a martial arts film, but it’s really a wonderful family film.  Of course there are plenty of amazing martial arts sequences, that is to be expected – but there’s also a really nice story and strong, memorable characters.  We go between two worlds, almost like a “Wizard of Oz” element.  Our hero, Jason, learns and grows on this magical journey.  Jackie Chan brings his signature humor to his role.  Jet Li is charming in his role.  Love these guys!
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04 Jan

Fool’s Gold

Grade: C

Matthew McConaughey and Kate Hudson re-team (the last time was “How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days”) and have great chemistry in Fool’s Gold.  It looks like a great romantic adventure, but unfortunately it falls short.  It’s kind of “by the book” and predictable, even cartoonish at times.  All of the characters are big and outlandish, the situation they’re in is hard to believe, and even more hard to follow given a long discourse of historical explanation.  The bad guys are these rapper-gangsters, very stereo-typed.  And then there’s the rich yacht guy, Donald Sutherland, and his spoiled Paris Hilton-esque daughter.  Some of the treasure hunt is fun, and other parts are just too scary to fit in with the tone of the movie.

The setting is awesome.  It’s supposed to be the Caribbean but it’s actually Queensland, Australia.  It will make you want to take a vacation!  Absolutely beautiful water and beaches.
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04 Jan

Flight

Grade: B

In my book, Denzel Washington can do no wrong.  He is an amazing actor, who has carried many films that just wouldn’t have been the same with anyone else in the lead.  Flight is no exception. it’s likely that Denzel will be nominated in the Best Actor category come award time.

We first meet Whip Whitaker (Denzel Washington) the morning after a hard night of drugs and drinking.  Then he shows up to work… as an airline pilot!  Despite his condition, and his co-workers doubts about his condition, he handles the job with aplomb.  It’s clear he’s done this before.  But then, disaster strikes, and it’s up to Whip to save the day.  And he does.

The rest of the movie is the aftermath of such an unusual situation.  An investigation takes place, and Whip’s credibility is in question.  The big question is, after saving all these people, can Whip manage to save himself?

Compelling drama, and first-rate acting.
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04 Jan

Flash of Genius

Grade: B+

Greg Kinnear stars in “Flash of Genius” based on a true story.  An inventor in Detroit comes up with a way to make the intermittent windshield wiper work.  He takes out a patent, present his idea to the Ford Motor Company, and Ford goes ahead and basically steals it and puts it in cars without him.  So the guy spends most of the following years trying to sue Ford and get his rightful share of the proceeds.  It’s David versus Goliath to the nth degree.  In the process of this fight,  his family falls apart, he basically goes crazy, loses his job, and alienates most of the community.  But, in the end, the kids understand their dad and all that he’s been through, and they rally around to help him.  It’s a nice story, that like many true stories, you just couldn’t make up.  Lauren Graham plays the patient yet put-upon wife.
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