Month: March 2015

Poetic Justice (1993)

Poetic Justice (1993)

ByChristian Sauvé Movie Review

(On Cable TV, March 2015)  For a concentrated dose of nineties ghetto-Los Angeles atmosphere, Poetic Justice is a blast from the past.  Starring none other than Janet Jackson (in an iconic performance) and Tupac Shakur (in a pretty good dramatic role), Poetic Justice plays with an unusual structure that marries ghetto drama with a road trip from Los Angeles to Oakland with numerous episodes along the way.  There’s a blend of genres and influences that’s hard to describe as romance clashes with comedy (the drive-in film excerpt is hilarious) and straight-up drama.  Writer/director John Singleton has made an unusual film here, and it’s that lack of formula that makes it work even more than twenty years later.  Part of the film’s eccentricity can be found in the small role given to Maya Angelou (whose poetry makes up a chunk of the film’s narration), but also in an unusually romantic role given to Shakur, who more than honorably performs.  The ending could have been a bit stronger, and more continuity in the episodes would have been appreciated, but this is definitely what Singleton wanted to show on-screen, and the off-beat nature of the result speaks for itself.

No Clue (2013)

No Clue (2013)

ByChristian Sauvé Movie Review

(On Cable TV, March 2015)  It’s with some good-natured national embarrassment that I report back on disappointing attempt at comedy No Clue.  Seemingly made to satisfy home-grown “Canadian content” broadcast requirements, this is the kind of low-budget film that sound much better on paper than what ends up on-screen.  Perhaps the first clue that this won’t be all that good is to be found in the opening credits, as Brent Butt gets billing as the film’s producer, writer and lead actor.  While Butt is a Canadian comedy celebrity, his mark over No Clue is so pervasive that it risks turning sour the moment his vision doesn’t click with viewers… and that’s almost exactly what happens.  Structured to subvert the clichés of private detective stories, No Clue gets to work early by making the protagonist (Butt) a hapless nerd pretending to be a P.I. when a beautiful blonde accidentally walks into his office.  From there, it’s more (a lot more) of Butt’s often-irritating comic persona grating against viewers’ indulgences.  While I won’t deny that No Clue has a few chuckles, its low-budget production values often conspire against its best intentions.  The blocking is off, Butt showboats like crazy (to the point where the film would be better if they’d just used another actor), the sets feel cheap and there’s a lack of polish to the entire film: It feels slack, juvenile, indulgent and far from being as funny as it should be.  While it’s refreshing to see Vancouver play itself for once (the plot even revolves around the video-gaming industry, appropriately enough) and the ending does wrap things in a halfway-clever fashion, No Clue simply falls short of its own intentions, and no amount of goofiness will improve things when the lead actor proves to be such an irritant.

About Last Night (2014)

About Last Night (2014)

ByChristian Sauvé Movie Review

(On Cable TV, March 2015)  I wasn’t expecting much from this low-profile romantic comedy (a remake of a 1986 film based on a 1974 David Mamet play), but I should have suspected otherwise given that it stars the enormously likable Kevin Hart, Regina Hall, Michael Ealy and Joy Bryant.  Set in downtown Los Angeles, About Last Time details a year in the life of four young people, during which they meet, fall in love, break up, reconcile and change careers.  Almost immediately charming, it’s a film built on dialogues and performances, and all four main actors truly knock it out of the park, with particular mentions for Hart and Hall, both of whom play the uninhibited comic relief couple to the more conventional Ealy and Bryant.  (Elsewhere in the film, Paula Patton has another great but too-short turn as a romantic antagonist.)  While About Last Night isn’t particularly original, it’s slickly-made, modern, almost constantly funny and features intensely likable actors.  It’s hard to ask for much more from a romantic comedy

Accepted (2006)

Accepted (2006)

ByChristian Sauvé Movie Review

(On TV, March 2015) I’m not sure if there’s a recent dearth of college comedies, but I can tell you that Accepted acceptably hits the spot.  It’s not a refined or overly clever film, but the central premise –about rejected college applicants accidentally founding their own no-rejection college—is good for a few laughs.  Justin Long is likable as the protagonist who stumbles into becoming a college dean, whereas Jonah Hill plays a representative example of his early fat-nerd persona.  Farther away in the background, Lewis Black has a thunderous small role as a disillusioned ex-academic, while it’s fun to see Maria Thayer’s fiery curls light up scenes as a secondary character without much to say.  But it’s the film’s sense of pacing that works best: Despite a few odd misfires (the probably-improvised electric shock sequence, among others, feels out of place), Accepted’s editing is exemplary, complementing a script that often thrives on rapid-fire dialogue.  While the script eventually veers into idiot-plot territory in which everything is solved via One Big Speech, much of the film actually works well, and even the unlikeliness of its premise (as if community colleges didn’t exist…) actually work in the film’s glorious intent to deliver a silly college comedy no matter its preposterousness.  Accepted amply fulfills the basic requirements for a comedy: it’s fast, easy to watch, not terribly vulgar, largely amusing and often laugh-out-loud funny.  Heck, it may even send the viewer on a few flights of fancy as to what they would do in a similar situation, and whether the whole point of the college experience is simply paying for a social experience away from home.  While Accepted could have been a bit better with a bit more discipline, it’s enjoyable enough as it is.  Pick this one up for your own independent-scholar film appreciation class.

War Horse (2011)

War Horse (2011)

ByChristian Sauvé Movie Review

(On TV, March 2015) Horses are noble and beautiful creatures.  Doing a movie from a horse’s perspective through World War I doesn’t sound like a bad idea, and in the hands of Steven Spielberg, can become surprisingly potent at times.  But at nearly two-and-a-half hours, War Horse often tests the patience of anyone who isn’t an equine fan.  It takes half an hour to get to a triumphant plowing scene, for instance.  But War Horse does get better and more urgent as it goes along: by the time we’re in the familiar WW1 trenches, the film holds nothing back in showing us the devastation of war on men and animals alike.  Spielberg being at the helm, there are a few great sequences along the way, even though the film as a whole often seems markedly less spectacular than other Spielbergian spectacles.  There’s a lot of war-is-hell content here –the film can be merciless in dispatching characters, something that the human-episodic structure (since the horse is the protagonist) takes to its fullest advantage.  It adds up to a lengthy sit of a film, although rewarding for those with the patience to do so –and the last half of War Horse is quite a bit more dramatically rewarding that the first one, despite some outrageously sentimental manipulation toward the end.  

17 Again (2009)

17 Again (2009)

ByChristian Sauvé Movie Review

(On TV, March 2015)  “Adults becoming kids” is a surprisingly common trope with well-established elements, so it’s no surprise to find 17 Again trotting over familiar grounds: As an adult filled with regret is magically made 17 again, he gets a chance to make things right with his estranged wife and children… by posing as a mature-beyond-his-years teenager.  The comic possibilities are obvious, and so are the dramatic plot points.  So it’s no surprise that the closer the script sticks to those plot points, the duller the film becomes.  But 17 Again has two or three magical weapons in its inventory, and those end up making the film more worthwhile than you’d think.  The first of those is a willingness to go off-course from time to time, letting go of the obvious story in order to poke at the comic eccentricities of the supporting characters.  The most obvious of those revolve around Thomas Lennon’s geeky Ned character, and a romantic stalking subplot that should have been agonizing but somehow isn’t.  Many of the scenes in 17 Again start out with the obvious, and then veer into something more interesting.  This gives a lot of unevenness to the film, but what ties it together is the film’s biggest strength: Zac Efron, who finds a tricky balance between earnestness and self-confidence.  Anyone who isn’t already a fan is likely to be one by the time the cafeteria taunting scene ends, as if features an amazingly enjoyable bit of motor-mouthing alongside some physical comedy chops.  I’m nowhere near his target audience, but Efron makes the entire film better just by giving a good performance.  It’s good enough to forgive much of the script’s weak spots and uneasy pairing of teen comedy with adult anxieties. (No, but seriously: “adults reliving their childhood” usually carries a lot of mature baggage, and I’m not sure where the ideal audience for these films can be.)  

St. Vincent (2014)

St. Vincent (2014)

ByChristian Sauvé Movie Review

(Video on Demand, March 2014)  Bill Murray is an international treasure, but he doesn’t star in movies as much as you’d think: He usually holds striking supporting roles, and so St. Vincent is his first lead role in nearly a decade.  What a role it is, though: As an aged Vietnam veteran with serious misanthropy and gambling issues, Murray gets to be a bit more than a cool gag.  When he comes to care for a precocious 12-year-old boy, much of the film’s main dramatic arc becomes predictable… but certainly not the odd subplots and small details of the story.  St. Vincent may play from a generic template, but it has enough originality to carry through, and a certain deftness of execution to make it even more palatable.  Proof can be seen in a restrained and unexpectedly sympathetic Melissa McCarthy, in her best and least annoying role since Bridesmaids.  There’s a solid dramatic underpinning under the laughs and while the result may be too poignant to be purely hilarious, it has a lot of heart, however predictable the ending can be. 

The Ugly Truth (2009)

The Ugly Truth (2009)

ByChristian Sauvé Movie Review

(On TV, March 2015) There’s a fine line between being irreverent and obnoxious, and The Ugly Truth often walks on the wrong side of it.  The premise has a bit of sparkly potential, as a TV producer meets an abrasive shock-jock with a specialty in realpolitik relationship advice.  The rest is straight out of the romantic comedy playbook, with generally likable performances from Katherine Heigl and Gerald Butler in the lead roles, neither of them straying too far from their usual screen persona.  The problem is Butler’s love-burnt cynical character, who too-often comes across as repellent –the script makes a point to present an even worse replacement character near the end, but it’s a bit too late by that point to make a difference.  The script has a dearth of amusing or memorable moments, often needlessly twisting itself into familiar shapes in order to deliver even-more familiar payoffs.  The material plays vulgarly blue a bit too often, without payoffs either in sexiness or humor. (Surprisingly or not, this often-crass, even-more-often-misogynistic script was penned by three female screenwriters.) It often feels like wasted material: wasted lead actors, wasted effort, all in the service of something that doesn’t rise above mediocrity.  Still, and this is an important “still”, The Ugly Truth has the advantage of working within a congenial sub-genre: Romantic comedies, even when they are not very good, are usually just likable enough to pass the time pleasantly.  So it is that The Ugly Truth barely gets a passing grade on the strength of a formula perfected in better movies, and actors that are capable for much better.

The Theory of Everything (2014)

The Theory of Everything (2014)

ByChristian Sauvé Movie Review

(Video on Demand, March 2015)  Perhaps the best things about The Theory of Everything as a biography of astrophysicist Stephen Hawking is how seamlessly it weaves the accomplishments of a top-level scientist with the complicated emotional trajectory of his life, disability and romance included.  Hawking has long been famous for exploring the universe while suffering from almost-absolute paralysis, and the film covers his life over four decades, tracking the disheartening progress of his affliction, the evolution of his marriage (warts and all, daringly enough), his rise to fame and his often infuriating obstinacy.  Eddie Redmayne delivers an Oscar-calibre performance as Hawking, metamorphosing before our eyes from a vibrant young man to the Hawking best-known today.  Felicity Jones also turns in a remarkable performance as his wife Jane, her emotions often bridging the film’s emotional impact from Hawking’s oft-inscrutable expressions.  The film does have a few issues, notably how it downplays some of Hawking’s scientific achievements, makes a lot out of his lack of belief, and soften his legendarily abrasive personality.  Still, the result is a powerful scientific biography, and one that celebrates the human element of a top intellectual’s life.  As far as biographies of British scientists are concerned, The Theory of Everything is a film to be seen alongside Creation and The Imitation Game.

I Love You, Man (2009)

I Love You, Man (2009)

ByChristian Sauvé Movie Review

(On TV, March 2015)  The shadow of Judd Apatow looms large over this movie, even though he had nothing to do with it.  It stars Paul Rudd and Jason Segel, who both got huge breaks in Apatow films. But more significantly, it’s an R-rated exploration of a tricky area of modern American society, which is to say how men make friends after they hit thirty.  Here, a groom-to-be is forced to face the fact that he has no reasonable best-man prospects, and decides that he ought to make a few friends before it’s too late.  Applying the conventions of romantic comedies to platonic same-sex friendship is good for a few laughs, especially when you mix Rudd’s leading-man earnestness with Segel’s laid-back coolness.  The script isn’t bad (although the gibberish wordplay stuff gets old quickly) and it has a few things to say about a subject often neglected.  The tone is breezy, supporting actors all get a chance to shine, and the conclusion couldn’t be more upbeat if it tried.  In short, I Love You, Man is a well-executed piece of comedy that fits almost perfectly with the zeitgeist of American mainstream comedy of circa-2009.  You can’t ask for much more.

Brick Mansions (2014)

Brick Mansions (2014)

ByChristian Sauvé Movie Review

(On Cable TV, March 2015)  Action-hero actor Paul Walker didn’t get much respect while he was alive, but his untimely death in late 2013 did much to make critics re-evaluate his solid everyman persona and how he could almost singlehandedly raise the level of even the most hum-drum production.  Brick Mansions is a good example of his skills: While the film itself isn’t much more than a routine americanized remake of French action thriller Banlieue 13, (starring parkour legend David Belle in the same role than in the original), it does seem a bit better than it is thanks to an earnest, core-persona performance by Walker.  The parkour action seems dialed-down from the original (Bell is almost a decade older, and Walker is no specialist) but the film throws in a car chase and a few other action beats to keep things interesting.  The plot, with its walled-off city and nuclear redevelopment plot, barely made sense in the French original and seems even more ludicrous on American soil, but that’s to be expected with Luc Besson writing the script.  Still, a few interesting performances are worth mentioning: Aside from Walker and Belle’s turns as protagonists, RZA is fine as a crime lord and Montréal-born Ayisha Issa makes a striking impression as a capable henchwoman.  Otherwise, much of the film blurs into an indistinct mass of running, gunplay, fights and chases.  Walker may not have been a fine dramatic actor, but he was exceptional at playing a likable action hero, and it’s in mediocre movies like this one that this talent is best appreciated. 

Hitman (2007)

Hitman (2007)

ByChristian Sauvé Movie Review

(On TV, March 2015)  I’m not sure how you can go from a videogame with a rich mythos to a film adaptation that barely qualifies as an action film, but there is Hitman, an instantly-forgettable generic thriller that doesn’t have much going for it.  I’m not familiar with the video game, but the mythology described on Wikipedia doesn’t sound uninteresting.  Alas, the film itself can’t be bothered to do much with the elements it has at its disposal, presenting a generic east-European assassination story that feels as if it’s been done a dozen times before.  There isn’t much here to distinguish the result from countless direct-to-video low-budget thrillers.  Pressed for anything nice to say, it’s possible to recognize Timothy Olyphant’s screen presence, occasional visuals and maybe the four-way hitman brawl.  But that’s pretty much it for a script that revels in clichés and familiar tropes.  It’s best not to look too closely at the premise (for assassins trained to be inconspicuous, bar-coded red-tied suited skinheads may not be the best choice) nor the actual plot (assassinating a body double for… what, exactly?)  The film is just dull, and doesn’t seem to be leading anywhere where there are actual stakes.  As usual, excessive violence in the middle of a bad film makes the violence seems even more irritating.  Compared to The Divide, Hitman is not the worst film I’ve seen from director Xavier Gens, but that’s not much of a compliment either.

The Vow (2012)

The Vow (2012)

ByChristian Sauvé Movie Review

(On TV, March 2015) Do you want to weep?  Because The Vow really wants you to weep.  Adapted from real events, the film tells the story of a happily-married young couple challenged by the amnesia of the wife, who suddenly can’t remember anything in the past few years… including her entire relationship with her husband.  Cue the awkwardness, frustration, family drama, ex-boyfriend coming back and heartbreaking sequences.  The Vow may gleefully play with emotions, but it has the good fortune of being competently made, with very likable leads playing good-natured characters trying to work out an impossible situation.  Rachel McAdams has the most difficult role as a woman trying to rediscover herself from a nearly-blank slate, while Channing Tatum is a bit miscast as the husband fighting to regain his marriage.  (He is still, a bit unfortunately, too much associated with a lunk-head persona to be entirely credible as a sound engineer, but it’s interesting to compare his husband-focused role here with the one he had in Side Effects.)  There are a few fine observations about the nature of self along the way, along with a heartwarming portrait of a happy marriage shattered too soon.  (And a few not-so-subtle jokes, such as “Cafe Mnemonic”.)  The Vow is a successful film in that it manages to hit the objectives it strives for without veering too deeply into melodrama.  Does it mean that you want to see what this film wants you to see?  Well, that may be a crucial difference between romantic comedies and romantic dramas.

Eurotrip (2004)

Eurotrip (2004)

ByChristian Sauvé Movie Review

(On TV, March 2015) I wasn’t expecting much from this raunchy teenage comedy, so low expectations may be behind this relatively positive review.  Clearly made in the wake of American Pie, this silly movie follows a group of friends as they make their way through Europe one the flimsiest of reasons.  Tons of stereotypical jokes follow them without much shame, every country on their itinerary earning a few dumb-American jabs along the way.  Still, some of the jokes are actually pretty good, and the inclusion of a surprising amount of nudity makes up for a number of other flaws. (But, alas, not the low-level sexism of the script.)  Eurotrip is not, to be clear, a good or even polished movie: it sinks deeper in dumbness until it beats you in submission of its lame jokes, and you know you’ve arrived at the right level when you expect lame-comedy veteran Dietrich Bader to show up… and he does.  At least the soundtrack is peppy, the direction is unobtrusive and the lead actors are likable, with special mention to Michelle Trachtenberg and Travis Wester as “the worst twins ever”.  The episodic structure of the film makes it uneven, but it finds a nice comedic rhythm midway through and keeps going well into the end.

Sweet November (2001)

Sweet November (2001)

ByChristian Sauvé Movie Review

(On Cable TV, March 2015) I’ve often been ready to defend Keanu Reeves against charges of excessive stiffness, but that resolve takes a serious hit after suffering through Sweet November from beginning to end.  From the awkward doggy-talk opening to the ending in which he takes on terrible news with barely an eyebrow raised, Reeves simply isn’t fit for the role of a San Francisco ad executive who gets a life lesson from an eccentric young woman.  He fits the early character arc as a cold and detached professional, but becomes increasingly miscast as the film asks some humanity.  The rest of the film, truthfully, isn’t much better: Teetering between romantic drama and romantic comedy, the film ultimately remains faithful to its melancholic intentions but doesn’t seem to have earned its wistfulness.  Much of the premise doesn’t make much sense either.  If you look really hard, there’s a few good San Francisco shots, a few amusing moments between the supporting characters but not much more than that: Sweet November feels belabored, mechanical and easily dismissed.  Too bad; fortunately Reeves has been used to much better effect since then.