The Switch, Unstoppable, It's Kind of a Funny Story, How Do You Know

You may have noticed I've fallen a little behind lately. I figured this was the best solution. Below are a few capsule reviews of the movies I've been catching up on.

The Switch

Directors: Josh Gordon and Will Speck
Starring: Jason Bateman, Jennifer Aniston, Patrick Wilson, Juliette Lewis, Jeff Goldblum
Running Time: 101 min.
Rating: PG-13

★★ ½ (out of ★★★★)

The theory that Jason Bateman's capable of saving anything in which he appears is put to its biggest test yet in The Switch (originally set to be released as The Baster, a far better title). The good news is it's not nearly as awful as you've heard and isn't exactly the goofy rom-com it was advertised as, at least partially. The bad news is sadly once again Jennifer Aniston texts in another lifeless "Rachel from Friends" performance, causing the romance at the film's center to fall-flat while many other elements work surprisingly well. The premise is original and clever and if only a major portion of the plot didn't depend on the romantic chemistry between the two leads, it would be a success. Even as is, it's only a slight miss thanks to Bateman and a slightly smarter than usual script.

Stuck in the "friend zone" with best pal Kassie (Aniston), the neurotic Wally (Bateman) is horrified at her plans to have a baby by being artificially inseminated by sperm donor Roland (Patrick Wilson). After a drunk Wally pulls replaces Roland's sperm with his at her "insemination party" we fast forward 7 years as Kassie returns to New York with son Sabastian (an adorably precocious Thomas Robinson), who's basically a mini-me version of his real dad. Wally and Kassie reconnect and he not only has to come to terms with his true feelings for Kassie, but also find a way to drop this bomb of a secret, just as Roland re-enters her life.

The script excels when focusing entirely on the relationship that father-son relationship that develops between Wally and Sabastian and both learning to deal with their anxieties rather than the tired love triangle, third act reveal and inevitable fake break-up and make-up we now know to expect in these movies. While it's executed a little smarter than usual here it still doesn't help that Aniston (her face now unrecognizably botoxed) is a blank slate, offering absolutely nothing in the role and forcing Bateman to do all the heavy comedic lifting, of which he's more than up to the task. Any laughs come from him, but that this plays as a coming-of-age dramedy for middle-aged adults rather than a typically tired rom-com counts as a plus. Going into The Switch with low expectations helps, but not enough. Here's hoping Bateman moves on to better projects. That he almost single-handedly saves this says a lot for him.


Unstoppable

Director: Tony Scott
Starring: Denzel Washington, Chris Pine, Rosario Dawson, Ethan Suplee, Kevin Corrigan, Kevin Dunn
Running Time: 98 min.
Rating:  PG-13

★★★ (out of ★★★★)

Director Tony Scott and Denzel Washington's latest mindless, but pretty damn fun, action collaboration Unstoppable could easily be described as "Speed, with a train," and that's a compliment. Armed with a really engaging, pulse-pouding premise, I was still surprised just how much suspense the film was able to muster up and credibly sustain over the course of its running time. Washington is reliable in basically the same action part he's been playing for his past ten movies with Scott but this ranks as their best work together in a while. The real star though is the train and the Scott deserves credit for knowing that, often ominously shooting it in slow motion and fast forward as if it were a fire breathing dragon careening down the tracks to claim its victims.

As the unmanned, half-mile long runaway locomotive barrels toward Scranton, P.A. due to a railway employee's error it's up to veteran West Virginia engineer Frank Barnes (Washington) and his new rookie partner Will Colson (Star Trek's Chis Pine) to stop it. At the station yard Connie Hooper (Rosario Dawson) calls all the shots but must contend with "corporate," as slimy railway head Galvin (Kevin Dunn) seems more concerned with cutting costs than an entire city being wiped out. The script presents it all really believably and solves problems logically (Dawson's character is especially well written) before the unrelenting suspense kicks in for the final 40 minutes.

Attempts to flesh out these guys' personal lives seem thrown in but that hardly matters since Washington and Pine play off each other so well. That said, I was kind of disappointed that the movie didn't seem to know how good it was and felt the need to tack on a final "where are they now?" music video style montage that better suits a lesser film. For a while it was approaching the quality level of Speed in that we cared and were invested in the characters, but Scott apparently thought he was making something goofier than that. Sure, it's goofy, but not THAT goofy. I was hoping he'd take it to the next level, but there's this nagging feeling that he felt the need to remind us, "Hey, I directed Deja Vu and Man on Fire. Cut me some slack." If there was ever a time for him to aim higher, it was here. Either way, Unstoppable is a must rent and a technically sound action spectacle that at times flirts with greatness. You'll forget about it an hour after you've seen it, but it's sure fun while it lasts.


 It's Kind of a Funny Story

Directors: Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck
Starring: Keir Gilchrist, Zach Galifianakis, Emma Roberts, Viola Davis, Zoe Kravitz
Running Time: 101 min.
Rating: PG-13


★★★ (out of ★★★★)

It's Kind of a Funny Story kind of lives up to its title, though it's more dramedy than comedy. Marching proudly through quirky indie tropes (depressed emo teen, manic pixie dream girl, voiceovers, hip soundtrack) some will find grating, the movie works anyway, but the big story coming out of it is the supporting performance from Zach Galifianakis, who proves if he could have a career as a dramatic actor if he ever wants one. Revealing a dark side we've never glimpsed, he could have had a shot at a nomination if the film wasn't so small and unseen, and it were a less crowded year. What this script does understand to a tee is what it's like to be a teenager and how everything feels like an overwhelmingly huge deal as it's happening.

Our main character, 16-year-old Craig (Keir Gilchrist), kind of a kinder, gentler Holden Caufield, is depressed and suicidal, ready to jump off a bridge when the movie opens. Immediately regretting the idea, he checks himself into a mental institution much to the surprise of his parents (Lauren Graham and Jim Gaffigan) who don't have a clue what's going on in his life. That life includes being enrolled in a school he hates and obsessively crushing on best friend Aaron's (Thomas Mann) girlfriend, Nina (Zoe Kravitz). Upon admittance for a five-day observational period he strikes up a friendship with bearded misfit Bobby (Galifianakis) and potential love interest, Noelle (Emma Roberts), both of whom struggle with emotional issues arguably more serious than his.

Craig's storyline with Bobby works better than the romance because of Galifianikis, who's his usual funny self but then has these moments where he snaps, going to this dark, angry place that feels completely real. The performance seems almost Belushi-like to me as we have a comedic actor giving off this unstable vibe that's he capable of handling grittier material if necessary. Gilchrist is perfect as the the shy, awkward Craig even if the romance between him and Noelle feels a little too convenient to pack the punch the filmmakers want it to. Roberts does fine with the role even she's still playing a variation on a character we've seen before under different guises in various films.

There are some interesting dream and fantasy sequences, specifically a major one centering around Queen and David Bowie's ubiquitous "Under Pressure," and others involving Craig seeking refuge in his artwork with drawings that coincidentally(?) resemble Tom Hansen's architectural designs in (500) Days of Summer.  There isn't a lot that's original here but the most impressive feat that directors Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck pull off is delivering an uplifting coming-of-age tale in a mental ward, balancing comedy and drama without the clashes in tone you'd expect. Craig isn't suicidal and never was. He's just a teenager. That the movie understands and acknowledges this is the best thing about it.


How Do You Know

Director: James L. Brooks
Starring: Reese Witherspoon, Paul Rudd, Owen Wilson, Jack Nicholson, Kathryn Hahn
Running Time: 116 min.
Rating: PG-13


★★ (out of ★★★★)
 
How do you know you're watching something awful? In this case, it's definitely not by the credits since the talent both behind and in front of the camera have about ten Oscar nominations between them. That's why it's so surprising that James L. Brooks' How Do You Know is as uninspired as it is. And overlong. Clocking in at an excruciating 116 minutes that feels more like three hours the film starts running on fumes before the first is even up, filling time with who knows what. Only mildly humorous in spots and making poor use of talented actors, the script tries to juggle two storylines, neither with much success at all.

The best that can be said is that Reese Witherspoon (who deserves better) is credible as Olympic softball player Lisa Jorgenson, who gets cut from the Team USA for being over-the-hill at the age of 30.  She starts dating womanizing Washington Nationals pitcher Matty Reynolds (Owen Wilson) and as believable Witherspoon is as an Olympic athlete,Wilson isn't as a pro baseball player. I know this is a comedy, but the sight of him in uniform couldn't have been intended to get the laughs it does. Matty's kind of a jerk but a likable one and she must choose between him and goofy blind date George Madison (Paul Rudd), an executive who's the target of a criminal investigation in his father's (Jack Nicholson) company and could be looking at jail time.

The boring details of George's alleged corporate malfeasance is sadly what eats up most of the film's running time. You'd be forgiven for wondering what it even has to do with Lisa's relationship with Matty and George and how it's even pertinent to the plot, which is all over the place. It's purpose seems to be to give Nicholson his most embarrassing role in years, overplayed and underwritten as if he were appearing as a favor. Rudd, usually gold in everything, is wasted since George spends most of the film neurotically whining. The script accidentally presents him as a creepy stalker rather than a viable candidate for her affections.  Only Witherspoon escapes from this unscathed since she's so ridiculously likable and can do this in her sleep, but we're left wondering how her character could even consider being with either of these guys, if that's even what this story's supposed to be about. I'm still not sure. A mess from top to bottom, How Do You Know is so lazy it didn't even bother to put a question mark at the end of its title. If only that were the worst of its problems.

TV on DVD: Californication (The Complete Third Season)

Starring: David Duchovny, Natascha McElhone, Pamela Adlon, Madeleine Martin, Evan Handler, Peter Gallagher, Eva Amurri, Embeth Davidtz, Diane Farr, Kathleen Turner, Rick Springfield
Creator: Tom Kapinos
Original Airdate: 2009

★★★ ½ (out of ★★★★)

"The idea came out of my own misery of working on Dawson's Creek. I came out here to write screenplays, and I ended up on Dawson's Creek, which was very lucrative and fun, but it was not what I wanted to do. The experience was miserable."
 -Creator Tom Kapinos

You learn something new everyday. As big a Dawson's Creek fan as I am (no joke, it's true) I still had no idea the same person responsible for running that show (into the ground some would say) in its final two seasons wrote and created Californication. And how would I? Could two shows possibly differ more? Contrary to popular opinion, I don't think he ran that series into the ground and would rank the final two seasons he presided over as its strongest, breathing new life into a stale show before it signed off for good. You can only imagine how handcuffed the mind behind a show as smart edgy as Californication must have felt overseeing a teen drama on the WB, but it's still kind of funny the experience traumatized him enough to create this. And it's a good thing it did.

Now in its third season, the misadventures of sex addicted writer and mid-life crisis sufferer Hank Moody not only shows no signs of losing steam, the character's emerging as almost a tragic figure of sorts. The series has always been unusually skilled at mixing comedy and drama, but most of this season feels exclusively like pure screwball comedy. It isn't until the final episode you realize that there was a concrete plan in place the entire time and just how well written the entire story arc was. The finale also marks the first time during the course of the series where star David Duchovny, seemingly so effortlessly laid back and cool in this role, is called upon to play angry and miserable. It's strange to think that for a long period of time in the '90's that's all we thought he could do, or at least all he was allowed to. Now as he just keeps getting better and revealing more with each passing episode, he's surprisingly evolving into one of the best dramatic actors on television.

After last season's enormously successful guest turn from Callum Keith Rennie as wild music producer Lew Ashby, Kapinos had probably hoped to recreate that magic by stacking Season 3 with as many guest stars as possible, to the point that they basically take over the show, even pushing some of the series regulars to the side. It's a big risk, but one that works because of who they are and the thought that went into how they'd be incorporated into the narrative. The on again off again on again off again relationship between Hank and Karen (Natascha McElhone), his womanizing, and inability to be the father and husband he needs to be is still at the crux of the series, only this time the game has changed slightly. With Karen off to New York at the end of last season, McElhone appears only sporadically throughout the season until the final few episodes while previous regular Madeline Zima returns in only a single (but very memorable) guest starring appearance as the conniving Mia. It's a credit to how exciting the season is that the absence of two main characters is barely noticeable and when they finally do return, the impact they make is huge.

Hank already has enough going on between increasingly troubled teenage daughter Becca (Madeleine Martin) rebelling like she never has before and his new gig as a college professor, which not surprisingly supplies the season's most entertaining moments. Just the idea of Hank being let loose on a college campus as a writing professor is filled with all sorts of crazy potential and this doesn't disappoint since he doesn't just stop at sleeping with the Dean's wife (Embeth Davidtz), but also goes after his T.A. (Diane Farr) and one of his students, (Eva Amurri), who happens to be a stripper. His attempts to juggle these women and keep his job provides the narrative for most of the season, but this might be one of the few occasions where the women he beds on the show are presented as being smarter and more interesting than he is, as opposed to the latest notches in his belt they've been treated as in the previous two seasons. That, the superb performances from those three actresses (especially Amurri) and Hank being dropped in a fresh setting make most of these episodes soar, with impending return of Karen always on the horizon, along with the chance she could take Becca back with her to New York if he doesn't get his act together. Of course, if he does, there's still that possibility he could be transplanted with them, which would be bad news for a series so dependent on its west coast setting and atmosphere. Plus, Newyorkifornication just doesn't have the same ring to it.

The series' weak link is still the character of Charlie Runkle (Evan Handler) who's seemingly never-ending divorce saga with wife Marcy (Pamela Adlon) continues to play out in a somewhat tiresome fashion. But at least this time Charlie's finally given a storyline that comes closest to working when he gets another shot as an agent working for the brash, hilariously vulgar, sex obsessed Sue Collini (Kathleen Turner) and overseeing the potential comeback of 80's music superstar Rick Springfield (playing a version of "himself"). Turner's performance is practically surreal in terms of the explicit dialogue that comes out her mouth and how she so casually delivers it. It's rare you can say something's done entirely for shock value and mean it as a compliment, but Turner's an exception, excelling at her best role in years. Rounding out the guest-filled season is Peter Gallagher, great as the clueless Dean Stacey Koons, Pineapple Express' Kevin Corrigan as Hank's loserish childhood friend, Gossip Girl's Ed Westwick as a troubled student. and in a brilliantly bizarre crossover cameo, Ken Marino briefly reprises his role as Professor David Wilder from Dawson's Creek nearly a decade later. Given there's probably very little audience overlap between the two shows, I'm likely one of the few who noticed the shout-out to the Creek, but it isn't exactly everyday you get to see a familiar character from a long defunct show resurrected years later in a totally different series. Yet with all that works, this still isn't quite a perfect season, making me wonder what it'll take to get there. I'd say getting rid of Charlie Runkle would help but so much time and effort has been invested into the character it would almost be a disastrous decision to write him out now (plus I have this awful feeling I'd actually miss the dope, which is a credit to Handler's performance if nothing else).

So much happens during this season it almost feels like the action hits its peak before the finale, but that finale ends up being one of the strongest episodes of the series, with Hank's plight connecting in a way it hasn't before in the final few minutes, bringing new meaning to the term "hitting rock bottom." An issue we thought had died resurfaces for him at the worst time, threatening to rip his family apart for good. Everything always comes back to Hank and Karen and what's so interesting about the series is that we know already how it has to end: With Hank's redemption. Yet that still doesn't diminish any of the anticipation in getting there and what it'll mean when that eventually occurs.

With the quality of writing on even the best shows fluctuating wildly from season to season, this series has accomplished something rare. Its Showtime stablemate Dexter will always get more accolades and attention simply because when it hits its mark, it hits it hard, and the bar is raised so high. That happens less frequently with Californication and when it really delivers it falls shorter than that show, but over the long haul consistency has been its trademark, delivering three seasons in a row of nearly equal quality, each providing a different viewing experience. Someone could just dive into this season cold having never seen the show before and still enjoy it. That says a lot. The possibility that it hasn't hit its peak yet as it enters its fourth season and there are more avenues to explore with these characters is reason enough to keep tuning in.     

Country Strong

Director: Shana Feste
Starring: Gwyneth Paltrow, Tim McGraw, Garrett Hedlund, Leighton Meester
Running Time: 112 min.
Rating: PG-13

★★ ½ (out of ★★★★)

I remember reading an article some time back describing Gwyneth Paltrow the "anti-girl next door." As inaccurate as that title is is, it's still pretty funny since you immediately know what it implies. Yes it's true that Paltrow isn't really like Sandra Bullock, Julia Roberts or even Jennifer Aniston, despite being more talented and doing more consistently diverse work than them. Women don't want to be her best friend or hang out with her. Guys generally aren't interested in bringing her home to mom. There's this aura of sophistication and aloofness to her that's caused the media to unfairly or not label her as "cold." Worse yet, there's this perception she's unwilling to get her hands dirty in a gritty role. For many, just the thought of Paltrow drinking a beer, much less playing a alcoholic country singer caught in a downward spiral of addiction and depression, would be good for a few laughs. And in Country Strong it is. But not because of her performance, which while very good, is strangely still the least impressive in the film. She's completely believable as a country superstar, especially onstage where she's no better or worse than some of the singers you'd typically see on the Country Music Awards or Billboard charts. It's everything that happens off stage with her character that's ridiculous. And that's not Paltrow's fault. It's bad form for me to do this but Roger Ebert hit the nail right on the head when he wrote in the first line of his review:

"Country Strong is one of the best movies of 1957, and I mean that sincerely as a compliment."
    
There's almost nothing to add to that. A true throwback, the movie is essentially a full-length melodramatic soap opera and guilty pleasure worthy of a recommendation if not for the fact I still have to look at myself in the mirror tomorrow morning. It's awful and at times unintentionally hilarious in how it piles on every cliche in the book, but has so much fun doing it and wears its heart on its sleeve in such an honest way that you're almost willing to forgive. At least until the end. Forget about this being Gwyneth's Crazy Heart, the similarly themed 2009 film that won Jeff Bridges his Oscar. That was about a washed-up country legend on his last legs, his demons and alcohol abuse sabotaging whatever shot he has left at a comeback on stage and in life. In it alcoholism is actually treated as a disease. Here, you'd think being an alcoholic is kind of fun. If "Bad Blake" is a grizzled warrior than Paltrow's Kelly Canter is a pop diva (that the character's supposedly patterned after Britney Spears isn't surprising). That's an important distinction both in terms of how they're entirely different films and why Paltrow's casting makes sense. When Kelly's latest rehab stint gets cut short by her controlling manager/ husband, James (Tim McGraw) and she's thrown back on stage before even being close to ready, only her "sponsor" Beau Hutton (Garrett Hedlund) realizes what a huge mistake it is. Except he's a lot more than her sponsor and a great singer in his own right who joins Kelly on tour with up- and-coming country starlet Chiles Stanton (Leighton Meester), a beauty queen with a big voice but a lot of self-doubt. With her career in turmoil, Kelly knows her days on top are numbered as Chiles inches closer to taking her spot.

The irony is with all the effort that's put in to selling the central storyline of a fading country star being swallowed up by her inner demons, it's the sub-plot involving the supporting characters that soars. We know Paltrow has the perfect look for this and can sing and perform with the best of them, but Kelly's sporadic episodes of self-destruction are so insanely over-the-top it almost becomes irrelevant whether or not she's even capable of playing an addict. This is really just someone who drinks and cries a lot. It's still a good performance, but it's at the service of a story that has a TV movie of the week feel, complete with the "evil manager" who Tim McGraw somehow manages to make human. It's the complete opposite of the saintly husband he played in The Blind Side, another throwback film this closely resembles for about three quarters of its running time. For most of that time its moderate success can be attributed to Leighton Meester and Garrett Hedlund, the real stars of this who deliver performances about five times better than anyone had any reason to expect.

It's a shock Meester and Hedlund are even better country singers than Paltrow but less surprising is how real and well written their scenes together are compared to the goofy central storyline. Meester brings this optimistic, sweet faced innocence to Chiles and shares a great late scene with Paltrow suggesting this movie really should have been about her, and if it was, she'd have no problem carrying it at all. And it probably would have been a lot more interesting. Last seen in the digitized grid of TRON: Legacy, Hedlund (totally unrecognizable) wasn't given the type of role that gave us any indication whether or not he can act. Turns out he can and very well. Watching this you realize he wouldn't really seem that out of place in something grittier like Crazy Heart, as he gives off a cool, tough vibe that recalls a young Penn or Brando. It's a shame he's in this instead but you have to start somewhere and he and Meester walk away in much better positions than when they went in, especially considering the film's failure will unfairly fall on Paltrow.

The director of this, Shana Feste, also made a little movie a couple of years ago called The Greatest which also attempted to lift a familiar soap opera story to a higher level with almost equally mixed results. There is actually a lot to like here. The production value is top notch. The music is great. The acting is strong across the board. And it's definitely not a rip-off of the far superior Crazy Heart, which itself was always falsely accused being a rip-off of The Wrestler. Seemingly forgetting the type of film this is, Feste loses her way in the third act, making a brave but tonally inconsistent decision that puts the focus exactly where it shouldn't be at the worst possible time. It's ironic a movie about a veteran performer in danger of being upstaged by new, younger blood ends up being the story of the film itself. If nothing else, Country Strong is at least one of the more fun bad movies you could accidentally stumble on while flipping through the channels on a slow weeknight. Having actually rented it, I'll have to come up with another excuse.

Love and Other Drugs

Director: Edward Zwick
Starring: Jake Gyllenhaal, Anne Hathway, Josh Gad, Judy Greer, Gabriel Macht, Oliver Platt, Hank Azaria, George Segal, Jill Clayburgh
Running Time: 112 min.
Rating: R

★★★ (out of ★★★★)

An ambitiously entertaining mess, Love and Other Drugs deserves credit for being an unconventional romance that attempts to give us something we haven't seen before. It isn't often a raunchy sex comedy doubles as an emotional medical drama set in the world of pharmaceutical sales. Besides breaking a cinematic record for onscreen nudity and featuring an unintentionally hilarious depiction of the mid to late 90's, it's also noteworthy for stretching a couples' third act break-up crisis over an hour. All over the map in terms of tone, I found myself liking it anyway, with its flaws making it more fun than it otherwise would have been if everything flowed perfectly. It's also one of the few recent rom-coms that might actually have some re-watch value, if only because it's so wacky. But if you replaced Anne Hathaway and Jake Gyllenhaal it wouldn't have worked. They bring needed dimension to questionably written, sometimes unlikable and self-pitying characters who aren't the easiest to root for. It's one of those rare star pairings that not only looked good on paper, but exceeds expectations on screen.

It's 1996 when charismatic electronics salesmen and med-school dropout Jamie Randall (Gylenhaal) is fired for sleeping with the store manager's wife and his millionaire brother Josh (Josh Gad) lands him a a medical sales rep job for pharmaceutical giant Pfizer. Working alongside his more experienced partner Bruce (Oliver Platt) Jamie initially struggles in the field, pedaling Zithromax and Zoloft to Dr. Stan Knight (Hank Azaria), posing as his intern and bribing and seducing his receptionists. It's during an impromptu breast exam he falls for one of Knight's patients, the feisty, sarcastic Maggie Murdock (Hathaway), a 26 year-old with early onset Parkinson's Disease who has as little interest in a serious relationship as he does, making them the perfect match. But when Jamie unexpectedly wants something more, he finds the one woman he may be incapable of winning over, so angry and closed-off because of her condition she's unwilling to let anyone in. This is all happens just as the new drug Viagra, hits the market for Pfizer, changing Jamie's prospects considerably and putting him at the forefront of a major drug boom.

The first hour of this film is fantastic, working really well as a screwball romantic comedy, while cleverly sending up the drug industry. It isn't exactly a scathing social commentary but the life of a medical sales rep is something we've haven't seen on screen before so there's a freshness in watching how they push doctors to prescribe medications by promising perks and bribing them. For a while at least the screenplay flawlessly juggles this topic with the entirely physical relationship between Maggie and Jamie. Just in case you didn't get the memo, Anne Hathaway likes to do nudity. Or if she doesn't, she's a much better actress than we thought since there's a hardly scene in the first 60 minutes where she isn't topless. Given the total amount of graphic sex scenes it's kind of shocking director Edward Zwick wasn't slapped with an NC-17, especially considering the MPAA's notoriously prudent stance on sex and nudity. After a while there's so much of it you almost lose track of whether it's gratuitous or not. If the purpose is to convey Maggie and Jamie's relationship is purely physical that point gets across loud and clear, and in a strange way, it's kind of a relief to see a film so unafraid of going all the way with this. Either way, the first half is a blast before turning deadly serious. The Parkinson's becomes a factor, but not in the way you'd expect, which is mostly due to the fact that the disease is progressive so the clock on her life isn't rapidly ticking like it would for a "disease of the week" melodrama like Love Story or Autumn in New York. It becomes more about whether Jamie can break down the wall she's put up and stick around despite the certainty her condition will worsen (he even gets to hear exactly how it in the film's most brutally honest scene). And if he does stick around, the question becomes whether he'll be able to do it for her rather than out of self-guilt.

There's definitely some clumsy writing and the tone's all over the place in the third act but Hathaway and Gyllenhaal possess such an understanding of their characters that they're able to make the necessary adjustments to sell it. I can't say I was thrilled with the arc Maggie took, being this strong, free spirit who deteriorates into an emotional mess, but it's fairly realistic given the context of the story. It's also a tough role for Hathaway since she has to not only convey the physical characteristics of the condition but all the baggage that comes along with it. Gyllenhaal's character also has take a more serious turn and while I prefer the how both started much more than how they ended up, both actors don't miss a beat in having to perform in what seems like two wildly different films. Jonah Hill clone Josh Gad as Jamie's overweight, annoying brother Josh brings what's expected to the sloppy sidekick role while Hank Azaria is so believable as a doctor you'd think they accidentally cast a real one. Once again, the awesome, should-be-famous Judy Greer is delightful in another one of her "crazy chick" supporting roles, and it does soften the blow a little this time that she's playing second fiddle to a genuine talent like Hathaway instead of Heigl, Aniston or Hudson.

Why this is set in a late 90's time period aside from the fact it's based on the non-fiction book, Hard Sell: The Evolution of a Viagra Salesman by Pfizer's Jaime Reidy, isn't exactly clear, but that small detail sure makes the film funnier. Did they really still sell boom boxes at electronic stores in '96? Was anyone still listening to the Spin Doctors in '97? What were we thinking with the Macarena? Was the internet really so popular then that doctors worried about patients diagnosing themselves? But being a big fan of everything mid to late 90's I was just happy to see that time period depicted in a film at all, no matter how ridiculous. Any points lost for historical accuracy is made up for with originality. Playing by slightly different rules and crossing conventional genre boundaries, Love and Other Drugs is a risky alternative, proving it's sometimes better for a film to suffer an identity crisis than have no identity at all.

Hereafter

Director: Clint Eastwood
Starring: Matt Damon, Cecile de France, Bryce Dallas Howard, Jay Mohr, Richard Kind, Frankie McLaren, George McLaren, Derek Jacobi
Running Time: 129 min.
Rating: PG-13

★★★ (out of ★★★★)

Had all of Clint Eastwood's Hereafter been as thrilling as its opening ten minutes it could have been one of the best films of 2010. In a different way, the rest impresses also, but those first ten minutes, a CGI re-creation of a real-life catastrophe, won't leave you anytime soon and might stand as one of the more frightening natural disaster effects sequences put on screen. When a movie starts this ambitiously and a director of Eastwood's caliber is attached, it makes sense lofty expectations accompany the rest of it and everyone would feel let down when it doesn't unfold as trailers would indicate. But what sold me is it's sincerity and upfront honesty with what it's trying to do. It's a well-acted introspective, thought provoking character study that's slightly frustrating since it doesn't do much wrong, but doesn't amount to anything monumental either. I'm not even sure it was meant to as Eastwood, perhaps too generously, wanted audiences to do most of the intellectual heavy lifting. Those who appreciate that approach will enjoy it while everyone else will feel left out in the cold, but at least give the director credit for making the movie he wanted to make, regardless of any pressure he could have encountered from the studio to deliver your typical supernatural thriller. This is anything but. 

The film tells three parallel stories of people affected by death that eventually intertwine in a fairly straightforward manner, with few twists or surprises.  The first, and most interesting, concerns blue-collar factory worker, George Lonegan (Matt Damon) a former professional psychic who views his supposed gift as curse, and one that threatens to ruin a potential relationship with enthusiastic cooking class partner Melanie (Bryce Dallas Howard). French television reporter Marie Lelay (Cecile de France) is a survivor of The Indian Ocean tsunami of 2004, but not without being traumatized the near-death experience, its after effects interfering with every aspect of her life and work. And the U.K. twins Marcus and Jason (Frankie and George McLaren) are about to be removed from the custody of their drug-addicted mother when tragedy strikes and Marcus is killed, leaving a distraught Jason in search of reputable psychic, only to discover there are very few. You can probably guess where that storyline's going.

If this all seems to slightly similar to 2006's Babel with its vaguely interconnected narratives that's because it is, with a big difference being this isn't as emotionally manipulative or press nearly as many buttons as that far busier script did. It's definitely more low-key and introspective, primarily concerned with observing these how people view death. Some will find this boring but I was surprised how the lengthy over two-hour running time flew by despite there being little excitement outside the incredible opening sequence. Damon's story is by far the best and the scenes he has with Bryce Dallas Howard are easily the most engaging in the film because Damon (in his most somber mode here) perfectly conveys how George's abilities can really destroy any chance he has at forging a real relationship. Melanie wants a reading, but he tries to resist. By the time he's done with it she realizes she should have taken the warning and we realize she wasn't what she seemed. The other two stories don't click as well, though the reporter's storyline benefits greatly from having a documentary realism to it. Eastwood flirts with corniness at the end, but somehow I bought it because the ideas were at presented in an intelligently restrained way throughout, never forcing the issue.

Flopping at the box office late last year, it was one of the most poorly received and reviewed films of Eastwood's career, which probably speaks more to the public's distaste with the subject matter than anything else. For whatever reason mainstream moviegoers have a major aversion to seeing the afterlife depicted in popular entertainment. Whether it's What Dreams May Come, The Lovely Bones, or even recently proven on television with Lost, very few efforts dealing with this topic have ever been met with a favorable response. It seems there are certain preconceptions about how this should be presented on screen and whatever choice is made ends up being wrong if it doesn't match what's in audiences' minds. To Eastwood's credit, he doesn't seem to care. Hereafter works as an exploration of human behavior that probably won't come together how anyone wants it to, but that doesn't necessarily make the trip there any less absorbing.

Morning Glory

Director: Roger Michell
Starring: Rachel McAdams, Harrison Ford, Diane Keaton, Patrick Wilson, Ty Burrell, Jeff Goldblum, John Pankow, Matt Malloy
Running Time: 107 min.
Rating: PG-13

★★★ (out of ★★★★)

In what has to be considered somewhat of a shocker, Harrison Ford gives one of his best performances in years in Morning Glory. Yes, that Harrison Ford. In a comedy. And he's funny. After a decade straight of flops, he finally lands a role worthy of his talents and reminds us how good an actor he can still be with sharp material. It's a shame no one went to see it because I could easily envision Ford's role here eventually appearing on a his career highlight reel and gaining respect as time goes on. It's that good. As for the movie itself, it's essentially a well-executed chick flick about a morning show set against the backdrop of a timely news vs. entertainment debate, but any guy should be relieved if they're forced to watch to it because it's one of the rare good ones. A 90's throwback of sorts, it recalls a time when romantic comedies were smart didn't star Kate Hudson, Katherine Heigl or Jennifer Aniston, and featured characters that were likable and worth rooting for. While this was a surprisingly pleasurable experience, it's easy to see why many stayed away considering it did look awful from the previews and this genre has the worst track record of any. But here is the rare, sophisticated, adult-minded romantic comedy that succeeds in entertaining the audience it's aimed at.

After being laid off from her job at Good Morning New Jersey, plucky, aspiring news producer Becky Fuller (Rachel McAdams) gets the call of her life to join the struggling morning network news show, Daybreak as their new executive producer. With The Today Show, Good Morning America and whatever that other show is on CBS (their words, not mine) crushing it in the ratings, Becky is hired by IBS network suit Jeffrey Barnes (Jeff Goldblum) in a final attempt to revitalize the program and save it from impending cancellation. In dire need of a new co-host for self-centered former beauty queen Colleen Peck (Diane Keaton), Becky finds a clause in the contract of respected veteran IBS newsman Mike Pomeroy (Ford) preventing him from sitting out the remainder of his six-million dollar deal and blackmails him into taking the gig. Unfortunately for Becky and the rest of the show's staff, Pomeroy makes his disgust of "soft news" stories and witty banter abundantly clear, often when the cameras start rolling. His refusal to cooperate puts the show and Becky's already shaky future in further jeopardy, as she tries to fight off her workaholic tendencies long enough to launch a fledgling relationship with another network producer, Adam (Patrick Wilson).

No one could have possibly guessed it would be this fun watching Harrison Ford look miserable. It's so entertaining that at first I just chalked it up to Ford actually being miserable that he's appearing in this film, which wouldn't be a stretch given his recent track record. After a little while though it becomes clear that can't be true since no actor that miserable would be able to give a performance this inspired and Ford has no reason to be cranky or embarrassed about appearing in this. Whether Pomeroy is arguing with his co-host on-air, shooting off a priceless look of disgust when confronted with a fluffy news story, or being mistaken for Dan Rather on the street, Ford never wavers in his portrayal of this unlikable old crank. He shares great chemistry with Keaton in their on-air scenes with both being completely believable as sparring newscasters but real pleasure comes in watching him play off McAdams during Becky's many clumsy attempts to integrate the straight-laced Pomeroy onto the program. This is essentially a one-joke movie but that one joke is hilarious and never comes close to wearing out its welcome because of Ford's comic timing. And when the time comes for Ford to sell a transformation that should seem impossible, he manages to pull that off also, revealing a different dimension to the character.

While it's hard to say Keaton is underutilized in her role, it isn't nearly as essential as Ford's, but that hardly matters since she's great anyway and it's one of the few recent parts she's had that matches her talent. Rachel McAdams is just terrific, effortlessly carrying the entire movie as the lead and putting to shame most of her less talented contemporaries. At first glance it seems as if she's saddled with one of those stereotypical female  rom-com roles, playing a stressed-out busybody whose life is being squashed by her career. To an extent that's true, but she's so ridiculously likable and you hardly stop to notice and the script deserves some credit for not making this about that or having her "choose" between the two. Her relationship with Patrick Wilson's character isn't essential to the plot, which is actually ends up being a relief since it's unobtrusive and handled reasonably without feeling tacked on. Wilson seems to be playing the thankless boyfriend role in every other romantic comedy released these days but it's a credit to him that he hasn't come out of even the dumbest ones looking like a fool.

Anyone criticizing this for being a lightweight comedy rather than a hard hitting social commentary on the television industry like Network or Broadcast News probably needed to adjust their expectations. It definitely won't be winning any awards for its realistic depiction of broadcast journalism, but it may as well be a documentary compared to something like 1996's unintentionally hilarious Up Close and Personal, which was easily the silliest portrayal of the news industry on screen up to this point. This is supposed to be mindless, enjoyable fluff and it is, with the laughs being well-earned by its clever script and the actors, especially Ford, who hasn't been this good in ages. Morning Glory does have a few interesting (if glaringly obvious) things to say about the sorry state of network news, even if some might look for a message that isn't there at the end. Its best aspect is assuming its audience is smart enough not to need one.

The Fighter

Director: David O. Russell
Starring: Mark Wahlberg, Christian Bale, Melissa Leo, Amy Adams, Jack McGee
Running Time: 115 min.
Rating: R


★★★ ½ (out of ★★★★)


The Fighter is a story about a hard-working guy surrounded by well-meaning morons. That comes as a relief since here I was going into this thinking I'd be re-watching The Wrestler, only this time with boxing. It isn't technically about boxing, or even really a sports movie. The morons in question are family and this film offers up the best case yet for that old saying that you can't choose your family. The Fighter is all about family, but not in that sappy, sentimental way most sports movies are about them sticking together to triumph over adversity. This is about how they can, despite their best intentions, hold someone back and stop them from getting where they need to go. That's just the starting point for a true story that actually feels like a true story for its brutal honesty and realism, holding nothing back in its sometimes ugly, occasionally hilarious depiction of its subjects. That the director's controversial hot head David O. Russell (ironically taking the reigns from The Wrestler's Darren Aronofsky who dropped out to make Black Swan but stayed on as a producer) insured it would be edgy and not go the predictable, sentimental route of other true life sports stories. His gritty, take no prisoners approach to the material helps a lot as for nearly two hours the biggest fights happen outside the ring, in living rooms, outside of crack houses and on front porches as a dysfunctional family struggles to get on the same page. Anyone arguing that a frightening Christian Bale or to a slightly lesser degree, his unrecognizable co-star Melissa Leo, didn't deserve their supporting Oscar wins (or Amy Adams her nomination) for their work here don't have a leg to stand on. Mark Wahlberg may be the star, but this movie's theirs.

"Irish" Micky Ward (Wahlberg) is a struggling, slightly past-his-prime welterweight boxer from a working-class family in Lowell, Massachutsettes whose older half-brother Dicky Eklund's (Bale) claim to fame is maybe (depending on who you talk to) knocking out Sugar Ray Leonard years ago in a televised HBO match. Now, he's a 40-year-old crack addict thinking he's getting a televised special on his "comeback," that's actually a documentary on the dangers of drug use. Consumed with the past and living vicariously through Micky, Dicky is a total disaster as his trainer, driving his career into the ground by spending his days at a crack house and booking him against much heavier fighters he doesn't stand a chance against.  Not helping any is their manager mother, Alice (Melissa Leo), more concerned with Dicky's hopeless, imaginary comeback and re-living the past than getting Micky the right fights. Only their father George (Jack McGee) seems clued into reality and when he introduces Micky to feisty bartender Charlene (Amy Adams) and they begin a relationship, her attempts to get him to see the damage his professional damage his family is causing him results in an ugly feud. With Dicky's crack addiction and erratic behavior worsening, Micky is forced to choose between his career and family.

One of the film's most memorable moments is its opening as Dicky, once known as "The Pride of Lowell" for his in-ring accomplishments, walks the neighborhood with his brother and it's clear at least some of Dicky's boasting is true, or was at one point. This great sequence (set to The Heavy's "How Do You Like Me Now") really takes us into the neighborhood and lets us speculate whether these guys are local legends because they're great, or just simply because of a lack of better alternatives or anything else for these locals to latch onto. It's never really established whether either of these guys were ever great boxers (you could even argue Micky is somewhat terrible based on what we see), which ends up being one the story's better attributes. A glory hog, Dicky is a legend in his own mind and all the attention (whether it be good or bad) is just added fuel for him to self-destruct as he selfishly but maybe unknowingly leads his brother's career down the gutter while succumbing to his addictions. And boy is this some supporting performance from Christian Bale, reminding us in case we've forgotten during his Batman stint, why he's still one of the very best at what he does. The transformation he undergoes here is nothing short of astonishing. Unrecognizably skeletal (dropping nearly as much weight as he did for The Machinist) and perfecting a credible Boston accent, this is an acting tour-de-force that if entered into the lead category at this year's Oscars probably would have sent Colin Firth home empty handed. No one could have also guessed Bale was capable of being this funny, as he keeps us laughing uncomfortably at his antics at even the film's darkest moments. 

Almost equally unrecognizable and powerful is Melissa Leo as the hot-tempered, delusional matriarch who seems to want to do the best for both her sons but is just too stubborn and narrow-minded to have any kind of a positive affact on either of her sons' lives. What Bale and Leo both do best is make sure neither of these people come off as outright despicable or out to destroy Micky, which is a small miracle considering all the heinous damage they inflict. At times both almost seem to try to be helping, but in the only way they know how. You'd see how someone as loyal as Micky would fall into the trap of not wanting to turn his back on them, even as they unintentionally sabotage his future. Considering Micky's supposed to be 31 years old and 145 pounds, Wahlberg is definitely miscast on paper but he pulls it off anyway if only because it's difficult to picture anyone else playing this role. He's always good at conveying quiet determination, and is more low-key than anyone, which strangely makes him perfect for this. It's most fun to watch Wahlberg when he's hilariously miscast (like in The Happening and The Lovely Bones) because he always manages to overcome it through sheer hard work, which is commendably rare. As Charlene, be prepared for Amy Adams as you've never seen her before. As a tough, angry bitch who refuses to back down to Micky's family (and shouldn't because she's right), she displays a side to her acting talent totally unanticipated. One scene in which her fearless character goes toe-to-toe with all of Micky's repulsive sisters on the front porch is alone worth the price of admission. While it's unusual the lead is completely overshadowed by the rest of the cast, given the nature of the story, it almost seems appropriate here.

Playing half like a hard-hitting docudrama and also a true-life sports story, Russell carefully avoids the pitfalls usually associated with these types of films by focusing with unrelenting honesty on this family feud. The boxing scenes are well choreographed and easy to follow but that probably occupies the least amount of time in this story. Music plays an important role as the action takes place in 1993 and feels like it, many of the rock soundtrack selections (including Led Zeppelin, The Scorpions and Red Hot Chili Peppers) are lifted from other eras, yet are interwoven seamlessly. As is unfortunately the norm these days, none of these songs (some of the best musical choices assembled for a picture this year) are available on the officially released album due to rights issues so enjoy them in the movie while you can. Some may take issue with the ending and that's understandable but I didn't have a problem with it since it's difficult coming up with any alternative that could have worked any better considering this is based on a true story and that's exactly what happened. It doesn't feel like a cop-out. Underdog stories about an athletes overcoming the odds have been done to death, but The Fighter isn't exactly that and deserves credit for putting a fresh spin on something we thought they ran out of fresh spins for.