Colossal

 
Director: Nacho Vigalondo
Starring: Anne Hathaway, Jason Sudeikis, Dan Stevens, Austin Stowell, Tim Blake Nelson
Running Time: 110 min.
Rating: R

★★★ ½ (out of ★★★★)
  

**Spoiler Warning: This review gives away some plot details**

If judged entirely by its trailers and commercials, it's easy to fall into the trap that there isn't anything all that different about Colossal, and once you set aside a fairly unusual narrative hook, there's only one direction for it to go. That at best it could result in a reasonably satisfying and entertaining diversion headlined by two likable enough actors most recognized for lighter, more mainstream fare. One of them is a major star so there's that. Marketed as a sci-fi romcom of sorts, the genre-bending film never stood much of a chance catching box office fire since those rarely tend to work and audiences know it. But now after seeing what this actually is, I get it. Nothing about this is even the slightest bit safe or diverting. And anyone who has viewed it can't say much without the benefit of spoilers.

Those, among many other factors, was cause enough for Colossal to flop hard. Not to mention the fact no one goes to the movies anymore unless it's to see superheroes, which this draws some sort of strange inspiration from. And as much as I'd prefer to avoid categorizing as that, there's no escaping its influence. The main difference here is that writer/director Nacho Vigalondo doesn't feel the need to advertise the fact he's sliding one in there and have the movie high-five itself in celebration of the script's subversiveness, like M. Night Shyamalan did at the end of the otherwise brilliant Split. He knows to let the audience read this as they may and trusts them to intelligently interpret his ideas how they see fit.

Scene-to-scene there's a genuine sense of danger and unpredictability surrounding the actions of the film's main characters, and what they'll do or say in reaction to an oddball situation we've never seen depicted on screen before. At least not exactly. And this scenario couldn't be more ridiculous. It's catnip for a silly romantic fantasy if Vigalondo wanted to go there. For a little bit, it looks like he will, until completely pulling the rug out, exploring issues related to alcoholism, the internet, bullying, and how childhood experiences shape who we eventually become.

Vigalondo never wavers, and when things get very bleak and surprisingly deep, the material still retains its darkly comic tone, while providing Anne Hathaway the opportunity to give her most emotionally naked and vulnerable performance since Rachel Getting Married. Being John Malkovich and Adaptation meets Godzilla and Unbreakable in what could not only be described as 2017's most original release thus far, but possibly its best and least problem-ridden. And that's no small feat considering all it attempts.

Gloria (Hathaway) is unemployed writer and functioning alcoholic who's been crashing at her boyfriend Tim's (Dan Stevens) New York City apartment until she finds work. Only she isn't really looking, spending her nights out partying with friends while spending most of the following day trying to sober up. Losing patience, Tim kicks her out, forcing Gloria to move back to her New Hampshire hometown, temporarily taking up residence in her parents' vacant house. But a reunion with childhood friend Oscar (Jason Sudeikis), leads her to take a job working at his late dad's bar, which he now owns.

As late nights at the bar with Oscar and his friends worsen Gloria's drinking problem, she wanders to a children's playground and passes out, eventually waking up the next morning to tragic news of a giant, Godzilla-like reptilian monster attack in Seoul, South Korea that's killed and injured many.  After noticing the monster's mannerisms and retracing her steps, it's clear that her presence at the playground at 8:30 a.m. causes this creature to emerge halfway across the globe, making movements that directly correspond to her own. Upon realizing she's unintentionally controlling an inexplicable terror, she enlists her new friends in a quest to take matters into her own hands, possibly preventing further casualties. But as her friendship with Oscar grows, so too does her desire to know the creature's purpose and its mysterious link to her own childhood.

Considering its set-up, you could definitely envision a cookie-cutter version of this that plays out like your typical romantic comedy, where the female protagonist returns home to straighten out her life and romantically reconnect with a childhood friend. Think Sweet Home Alabama, only with a giant monster thrown in. And as strange as it seems, there are few signs pointing in any other direction early on. The introduction of this monster element undoubtedly sets it apart, but it's understandably played for laughs at first, giving few hints at the depth and complexity to follow.

From the start, the movie has more on its mind than you'd think since Gloria's too much of a wreck to make for an entirely likable romantic lead, the humor is dark and cutting, and the character of Oscar is as equally messed up as her. And even when he's right, her current boyfriend, Tim, can't help but come off as a nagging, judgmental jerk. Then it happens. A crucial incident that takes the story down a completely unexpected, thrilling path from which there's thankfully no retreat. No one is who we think they are, the creature plot doesn't exist for the reasons we believe it does and the relationship between Gloria and Oscar is both more and less complicated than we thought.

There's this added element involving Gloria's past, shown in snippets of flashback that pay off in a major way. While watching, you never get that sickeningly frequent vibe that the project was conceived in a boardroom with a group of studio executives trying to determine "what sells." Vigalondo seems to be working in direct opposition to that, not for shock value, but because the narrative calls for it and its true to the tone and characters. Making few concessions in executing his twisted vision, all the creative choices cause reassessment of everything that came before, inducing in viewers the realization that what they were watching was more nuanced and substantial than initially suspected.

As if we needed a reminder of how good Hathaway is at playing flawed people going through real, relatable problems, this serves as one. The situation Gloria finds herself in may be extraordinary, but she makes sure the character isn't. This only makes the victory she eventually earns that much sweeter. But there's nothing simple about what Hathaway does, or how she gets inside the head of this damaged woman and manages to keep pace with the script's many shifts that call upon her to express various stages of depression, self-loathing and elation. That she manages all this while remaining consistently funny serves to only further highlight the full spectrum of her abilities. It's been a while since she's been this good, if only because the material hasn't let her take the risks she's afforded here.

While everyone's been trying to make Jason Sudeikis "happen" for a while now, after what's seemed like an endless string of forgettable comedies, he finally happens, shedding the goofiness to not only display an edge well-suited for leading man status opposite Hathaway, but a natural instinct for more dramatic material thought to be far outside his comfort zone. When talking about the unpredictability of the film, you may as well be referring to everything Sudeikis says and does, constantly keeping us on guard as to what Oscar's true motivations are. It's a difficult role, and he rises to the occasion, forcing those familiar with his comedic work to reassess what they assumed of him as an actor.    

It's hard to miss the irony in Hathaway starring as a character who's actions unwittingly draw the ire of legions of internet trolls across the world. On top of everything else, there's that meta aspect at play in a story that very much works as one giant, or colossal, metaphor itself, as all of Gloria's demons manifest itself as this creature. The ending is surprisingly moving, mainly because it's accompanied by an infrequently delivered message in movies: That sometimes you just have to tune out the noise, dig deep and do it yourself. No one will help you. You're on your own. For this character, the realization is a breakthrough that's been hard earned, culminating in a brutally honest final scene that's just simply perfect. You can almost literally hear the sound of the book closing on this chapter of her story, with the knowledge that she's now the architect of her own future, wherever she chooses to take it.         

Horrible Bosses

Director: Seth Gordon
Starring: Jason Bateman, Charlie Day, Jason Sudeikis, Kevin Spacey, Jennifer Aniston, Colin Farrell, Jamie Foxx
Running Time: 98 min.
Rating: R

★★★ (out of ★★★★)

There's a great premise powering the laughs in Horrible Bosses and the best news is that the movie mostly delivers on it. But the main reason to see it are for the wildly entertaining performances of the three stars playing those bosses. Two of them have never played parts even closely resembling the ones they do here while the third may as well be considered an expert at it by now. Once you get past that the plot becomes kind of disjointed, but it's to director Seth Gordon's credit that he doesn't hold back or wimp out like so many other interchangeable R-rated comedies released each summer. At least it feels like a dark comedy and holds firm in that approach throughout.  If it's true that the most effective kind of comedy comes out of the absurdity that is everyday life than this already has a leg up since it's likely many will feel it strikes a comical nerve even before the opening credits start rolling.  

Office Space meets Hitchcock's Strangers on a Train (or Throw Mama From The Train as one character hilariously refers to it as) when three longtime friends Nick (Jason Bateman), Dale (Charlie Day) and Kurt (Jason Sudekeis) plot to murder their bosses. While all three have wildly different superiors, Nick easily has it the worst. His boss at the financial firm is Dave Harken (Kevin Spacey) who cruelly dangles the carrot of an unattainable promotion in front of his face while emotionally abusing him. Whether he's berating him for being exactly two minutes late or tricking him into drinking liquor on the job, Nick's had about about all he can take. Dale, who's dream in life has always been to become a husband works as a dental assistant to Dr. Julia Harris (Jennifer Aniston), who sexually harasses him all day and threatens to tell his finacee they slept together unless, of course, he actually sleeps with her. Kurt is an accountant in a dream job until his beloved boss (Donald Sutherland) suddenly dies and the company is entrusted to his cokehead son Bobby (Colin Farrell). After consulting a hitman (played by Jamie Foxx) he suggests they kill each others bosses making the deaths appear to be accidents. Things don't go nearly as well as planned.

The screenplay faces a bit of a problem once all the cards are on the table and we meet the bosses and the convoluted murder scheme gets under way. Spacey, Aniston and Farrell are so entertaining and their antics so outrageously over-the-top we almost don't want to see them killed since it'll spell the end of their screen time. The movie cleverly works its way around this problem and as complicated as the entire plot gets the one thing that can't be said is that it's predictable. It's difficult joining three different sub-plots, cross-cutting between them and making sure each gets equal attention but for the most part it's successful. Spacey's performance as the tyrannical Harken is phenomenal because he's smart enough to know to go at it completely straight and deadly serious as if this were no less dramatic a part than the similarly abusive boss he played in 1995's Swimming With Sharks. 

Aniston has never been better in a comedy than here, completely letting loose as this vulgar, oversexed maneater, while seemingly relishing the chance to finally play a role that betrays her bland, cook-cutter image. It's a much needed change of pace and the biggest surprise is how comfortable she appears to be doing it. And kudos to the writers for openly acknowledging Dale's situation is awesome rather than "horrible," with his friends understandably wanting to trade places with him. Usually it's Jason Bateman who makes every comedy he's in better (and he still does as Spacey's hapless victim), but It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia's Charlie Day who gives the film's best comedic performance, an impressive feat considering the talent of his co-stars. With a squeeky voice and a horrified expression, everytime Aniston disrobes or comes on to him Day makes you believe this is a truly horrible experience for naive, loyal, man-child Dale. Earning huge laughs with every line, Day proves he's more than capable of headlining a comedy on its own if it comes to that at some point, and it probably will. Unrecognizable with a beard, comb-over and pot-belly, the biggest complaint you can make about Colin Farrell and his sleazebag character is that we don't get to see nearly enough of him. A scene in which forces Sudekeis to choose between firing two employees is a real keeper.

As funny as many scenes are, it could have been even better constructed. The plot does start to fly off the rails once the scheme gets going and it's hard not to think a more solid result could have come out of a set-up this clever. But at least it doesn't hold back or wimp out in a year where it seems nearly every comedy, good and bad, have. The teacher in Bad Teacher really wasn't all that bad. The competing Bridesmaids in Bridesmaids become best friends. So on and so forth. All this has signaled the mainstream "wussifying" of American comedy, reinforcing the belief that audiences need to be sent home with a positive, life-affirming message in order for the movie to make money. That might be okay for a drama, but it's more problematic for a raunchy comedy. I just want to laugh. That's it. The tone here is spot on. Upbeat, but still retaining a spirit of anarchy. Horrible Bosses wisely doesn't shy away from depicting its title characters as unredeemable and one-dimensional, which is precisely why it works.