Tim Story

  • Tom & Jerry (2021)

    Tom & Jerry (2021)

    ByChristian Sauvé Movie Review

    (On Cable TV, August 2021) With the wonders of modern digital animation, there are many, many ways to do live-action movies of classic cartoon creations — but not all of them feel equally natural. Constrained by tradition and IP requirements, some choices are weirder than others, and the bet that Tom & Jerry makes in incarnating all of the film’s animals in a flat cell-like fashion set against live-action actors and backdrops isn’t necessarily the most harmonious to look at. Of, sure, they do look like classic Tom and Jerry: that’s the point. Even the menagerie of supporting characters is familiar, although I’m really not all that up-to-date in my Tom and Jerry mythology. Looks aside, the setting for the film is designed to allow both animal leads to create a maximum amount of mayhem: A posh hotel in central New York City, with an entire menagerie and an impending high-society wedding converging. Chloë Grace Moretz plays a resourceful hustler who manages to get herself hired by the hotel on false pretence, with Michael Peña being his usual scene-stealer as the resident event manager. Alas, critics may struggle to find anything else to say about the result. Like many live-action films incorporating animated animals, it’s very much aiming low and cluttering its running time with dull human interactions in-between the animated showpieces. Director Tim Story struggles with tonal unity, as some sequences seem far more imaginative or stylistic than what surrounds them (case in point: the interrogation sequence, which seems to come from another more interesting film). Obviously, Tom & Jerry works when it seeks close adherence to its source material, and doesn’t quite work as well when it doesn’t — despite the weirdness of 2D-shaded animal characters, these are recognizably Tom and Jerry… enough so that the kids won’t mind. But unlike true family films, this one may bore anyone above eight.

  • Think Like a Man Too (2014)

    Think Like a Man Too (2014)

    ByChristian Sauvé Movie Review

    (On Cable TV, June 2019) The entire gang from the original Think Like a Man is back for more in its sequel as they all head to Vegas for a wedding. Things obviously don’t go as planned, as both the men and the women have their own bachelor/ette party adventures on their way to the wedding. To its credit, Think Like a Man Too knows how much to keep from the original film, and how much variety to include. The change of scenery to Vegas suggests not only new sights and subplots, but new familiar clichés to follow. The tone of the film also shifts slightly—while the emotional growth of the characters does find a few new areas to explore, the couples are well established already and so Think Like a Man Too strikes out for a lighter, more superficial but also more obviously comic tone. Director Tim Story has fun playing with music cues [interrupting the background score for comic effect, or indulging in a full-blown music video set to Bell Biv DeVoe’s “Poison”—probably the series’ comic highlight and a strong musical moment in a film with a great soundtrack] and his direction is deservedly flashier this time around: with its ensemble cast’s worth of subplots, the film packs quite a lot of stories in its 106 minutes. Plot-wise, the film indulges in familiar Vegas excesses, but seems to breathe more easily now freed of the shackles of the self-help book that inspired the first film. Still, the fun of the film is spending some more time with its sympathetic characters, whether it’s the boys or the girls. Michael Ealy has been bumped up to leading man, with Kevin Hart being used just a bit too much in his over-the-top persona and Dennis Haysbert having a very funny minor role. Distaff-side, Taraji P. Henson and Jenifer Lewis seem to have the most to do, although you’ll be forgiven for staring at Meagan Good, Regina Hall or Gabrielle Union. Shallowed but funnier than the original, Think Like a Man Too offers just enough of the same and just enough new to be a worthwhile follow-up to the original. I watched both back-to-back, and still liked everything about the series after four continuous hours.

  • Think like a Man (2012)

    Think like a Man (2012)

    ByChristian Sauvé Movie Review

    (On Cable TV, June 2019) As an ensemble romantic comedy, there isn’t much in Think Like a Man that hasn’t been done countless times. But knowing what happens next is part of the charm, and charm is what this film has in abundance. Part of it is akin to hanging out with friends and checking out the good-looking members of the opposite sex. We get to spend some time with characters incarnated by Michael Ealy, Jerry Ferrara, Romany Malco, Terrence J and an appropriately limited dose of Kevin Hart (far better used in supporting rather than leading roles), as well as get a good long look at no less than Meagan Good, Regina Hall, Taraji P. Henson and Gabrielle Union. It’s a wonder it took me seven years to watch the film—I should have known better. Set in Los Angeles, it’s a breezy, highly enjoyable romantic comedy, somewhat reminiscent of the 2014 version of About Last Night (with which it shares three lead actors and a setting) albeit more comic and less romantic. Given that it’s a two-hour movie with four main couples and an ensemble cast, nearly everything follows strict genre conventions, through the inevitable ups and down and semi-synchronized victories. The main problem with the film comes from its premise, not only adapting the content of comedy/relationship book by Steve Harvey [“Act Like a Lady, Think Like a Man.”] but also placing the book itself in the middle of the plot as a how-to guide that leads the characters in their action. Truth be told, the “wisdom” of the book is either basic or reflective of fairly set ideas about relationships: you’d think that the supposedly smart characters would know how to treat everything in moderation. But that’s the way the movie goes, so it’s not particularly useful to rebel against the premise. Thanks to some unobtrusive direction from Tim Story, Think Like a Man moves quickly and efficiently through the bits and pieces of its plot, with some well-integrated music tying it all together. Michael Ealy is a near-perfect romantic lead, Meagan Good is quite good and I would watch Gabrielle Union movies all day long if I could. (Also, Wendy Williams has a two-scene cameo.)  Still, the result is pleasant enough, funny enough and romantic enough to be a welcome watch (especially as a chaser after a few days of horror movies, Italian neorealist dramas, and noir films … but your mileage may vary). I liked it better than I thought, and I thought I’d like it a lot.