The successful con is the one where everyone gets what they want. Its a statement that is profound in its simplicity. The same is true of THE BROTHERS BLOOM, where the premise is postulated and then proven with a deceptively simple plot that hides in plain sight. The brothers in question are Stephen (Mark Ruffalo)… Read More »
UGLY TRUTH, THE
The wonderful thing about Gerard Butler is that his puckish animal magnetism can almost carry a clunker like THE UGLY TRUTH. A putative romantic comedy about the fundamental differences between men and women, it reduces both genders to emotional cripples while failing to find any humor in the situation. Katherine Heigl, an engaging enough actress,… Read More »
GHOSTS OF GIRLFRIENDS PAST
The only thing of note in GHOSTS OF GIRLFRIENDS PAST is that its star, Matthew McConaughey, doesn’t remove his shirt. Otherwise this retread of A Christmas Carol only serves to prove that a good story can be ruined with a bad retelling. For the whole redemption aspect of the story to actually pay off, the… Read More »
DID YOU HEAR ABOUT THE MORGANS?
DID YOU HEAR ABOUT THE MORGANS? is a harmless wisp of a film that trades on Hugh Grant’s charm, Sarah Jessica Parker’s fan base, and the general good will of the audience. At least one of those three has been sorely tested by the time the end credits roll. Possibly two. The Morgans in question… Read More »
FANTASTIC MR. FOX
For years, Wes Anderson has created separate cinematic universes, different but oddly familiar, in which to tell his offbeat tales of family dynamics. In FANTASTIC MR. FOX, he has taken the next logical step and created an actual alternate reality. Using stop-motion animation, and a tale of excesses unbound by Roald Dahl, he has concocted… Read More »
IT’S COMPLICATED
Working from a slight script that rarely surprises, the superb cast of IT’S COMPLICATED make an otherwise mediocre cinematic exercise into something that, if not profound, at least entertaining, at times, even moving. Meryl Streep and Alec Baldwin are Jane and Jake, a happily divorced Santa Barbara couple who have spent the last 10 years… Read More »
BIG TROUBLE
BIG TROUBLE, you might recall, was pulled from its original fall 2001 release because of the incidents of 9/11. The film’s finale features a plane hijacking and a really big bomb. Releasing it then would have been so far beyond wrong that a whole new circle would have had to be added to Hell order… Read More »
LEAP YEAR
If anything could have saved LEAP YEAR, it would have been the unalloyed star quality of its two leads, Amy Adams and Matthew Goode. Even in this slight, contrived, and predictable flick, they rise above the material, bringing depth where there is none, and charm where there is precious little. The excuse for the action… Read More »
TOOTH FAIRY, THE
THE TOOTH FAIRY is one half a cute movie built on an absurd but competently executed premise, and one half a hackneyed family flick complete with cute kidlet, sullen teen, and a harried but good-hearted single-mom hoping she’s finally found Mr. Right. Fortunately, Dwayne Johnson, in a role that is tailor made for his affable… Read More »
WHEN IN ROME
We know that WHEN IN ROME is a fantasy because at the formal wedding that precipitates the action, such as it is, the wedding in the Catholic church in the titular Rome, the maid of honor wears a dress whose neckline plunges south to Naples and then some. Not that such a lack of verisimilitude… Read More »
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