Aloha (5/10): The incoherent plot is almost saved by its feel good ending.

"You sold your soul so many times, nobody's buying anymore.”

The final 20 minutes of Aloha completely feel like a Cameron Crowe movie since it ties everything up neatly without being overly cheesy. It still is sentimental and has a couple of quotable lines, especially in a scene where Rachel McAdams is reading a letter from her husband. It also has some funny moments, my favorite being the scene in which Bradley Cooper and John Krasinski stare at each other understanding what the other is saying without speaking a single word (but we get to read the subtitles and it is a hilarious scene). Aloha ended in a rather strong note for me, but unfortunately the film is 105 minutes long and the first two thirds of the film make very little sense. The introduction of every character in this movie is done in such a rushed way that none of them feel authentic or interesting. The plot is a mess and it is all over the place at times so I agree with all the hate the film is receiving, but I honestly don’t know how Crowe managed to engage me in those final 20 minutes considering I didn’t care for these characters or their story, so I will give him some credit for at least ending Aloha on a strong note. At the beginning of every year, I make a list of my most anticipated films and Aloha was one of the top 10 movies I was looking forward to basically because I’m a Cameron Crowe fan and have enjoyed all his previous movies (I defended his lesser films: We Bought a Zoo and Elizabethtown, which I was a strong fan of). It also didn’t hurt that he had a wonderful cast to work with: Bradley Cooper, Rachel McAdams, Emma Stone, Bill Murray, John Krasinski, Danny McBride, and Alec Baldwin. And to top it off Crowe was setting the story in the gorgeous islands of Hawaii. So what could go wrong? Everything did from the writing to the casting of the characters and in the end I simply couldn’t defend Crowe on this one. At least I went into it with much lower expectations so I wasn’t disappointed and ended up mildly enjoying it for its final twenty minutes. I still have to catch up with Crowe’s earlier film, Say Anything, and hopefully after watching that he will regain my trust again.

Aloha centers on Brian Gilcrest (Bradley Cooper), a military contractor who is returning to Hawaii after 13 years to convince the King of the island (Dennis Bumpy Kanahele) into giving them a 20 minute blessing in the approval of an Air Force gate. Brian is currently working for a millionaire named Carson Welch (Bill Murray), who is planning on launching a satellite from there. Brian’s ex girlfriend, Tracy (Rachel McAdams), continues to live in the island, but she is married now with Woody (John Krasinski) and has two children. Upon Brian’s arrival the two meet up and they continue to be very fond of each other. During his visit, an Airforce pilot named Allison (Emma Stone) is assigned as his watch dog and despite an awkward introduction the two begin to form a friendship, thus creating a sort of love triangle. Danny McBride and Alec Baldwin have small supporting roles as military officials. 

The plot doesn't make much sense throughout the entire film and the narrative seems to be missing something. I don't know if it's the way the film was edited or simply because of the screenplay but it is incoherent. Crowe has always excelled as a writer so it's difficult to understand what went wrong here. The entire mythology surrounding Hawaii and their belief doesn't make much sense either and it doesn't add anything interesting. For example, Tracy's son, played by Jaeden Lieberher, is always filming everyone with his camera and talking about more of the island's mythology, while Allison also seems to be in awe of the spiritual energy of Hawaii, and she tells everyone she meets that she is one quarter Hawaiian. That Emma Stone was cast in this role is the least of the film's problems (I've met many white folks who are Asian descent and you'd never notice it). As much as I love Murray and Baldwin, their characters are given nothing to work with here and they are completely wasted. Cooper, Stone, and McAdams had a rough start but eventually their characters grew on me. Krasinski is the actor who comes out of this film best, but I'm afraid Crowe missed out on an excellent opportunity to direct these talented actors in such a wonderful location.

My Review: This is the End (8/10)

¨Seth, that's some of the better acting that I've seen in your last six movies. Where was that in The Green Hornet?¨

This is the End is probably the most fun I've had with a comedy all year; I laughed so hard especially during the first hour of this raunchy/bromantic/stoner comedy. This is the directorial debut for Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg who have both written several screenplays together. Some of their screenplays have been hilarious (Pineapple Express, Superbad, and this one), while others have been a huge failure (The Watch and The Green Hornet). This film is actually based on a short they did in 2007, Jay and Seth Versus the Apocalypse. What I liked about the screenplay here is that they took a lot of risks and went places I`d never think anyone would. They weren't afraid of making fun of each other, some of their failures in movies such as The Green Hornet, but at the same time they also kind of played themselves (and one would imagine this is how they interact with each other normally). These guys were absolutely hilarious and I loved every second they were on screen together, but on the other hand I thought the film had a weaker second half containing some comedy/horror. It went too far for my personal taste, but I still have to give this film a lot of credit because it had me laughing during pretty much the entire first hour. There are a lot of movies and celebrity references that worked really well, and I can imagine that most of the dialogues here were improvised but that worked really well. The cameos were also used extremely well here and I thought they were all great. Some of the standouts here were Michael Cera making fun of himself, Danny McBride being ridiculously over the top with his antics, James Franco playing along with the gay rumors about himself and his pseudo artistic side, Jonah Hill being extremely nice but reminding us all he was nominated for Moneyball, Craig Robinson just being himself and singing along his hit song, Seth Rogen and Jay Baruchel trying to maintain their friendship which has cooled off over time due to Seth`s new posies. There are just so many scenes that had me laughing out loud and so many funny lines that it is hard to pick my favorite moments. Emma Watson also had a great cameo and she looked lovely as always. Movie lovers will love all the references here and if you liked Pineapple Express than you are in for a treat as well as they discuss what the sequel would be about. If you've enjoyed Superbad and Pineapple Express than you`re guaranteed to like this film because it keeps some of the core elements that made those movies so funny: the bromance and the raunchy dialogues. 

This is the End is a film where every actor plays himself. I would say some play complete opposite personalities than the ones they actually have, or exaggerated versions of themselves, and they play along with the way critics or fans have tagged them. The film begins with Seth Rogen receiving Jay Baruchel at Los Angeles airport. Jay doesn't like LA very much, but Seth always makes him feel comfortable at his home. After a warm reception, Seth invites Jay to come along with him to James Franco's housewarming party. Jay doesn't really want to go because he doesn't get along really well with his friends, but goes anyway. At Franco's home there are several celebrities such as Rihanna, Michael Cera, Emma Watson, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, David Krumholtz, Aziz Ansari, Jason Segel, and many others who are all getting wasted and stoned. Seth introduces Jay to his closest buddies: Franco, Jonah Hill (who is extremely nice to Jay, but this just makes Jay feel awkward), and Craig Robinson. All of a sudden there is a big earthquake and a gigantic hole in the ground begins swallowing people. The apocalypse seems to be among us. Jay, James, Seth, Jonah, and Craig seem to be the only survivors at the house and they decide they must stick together and wait for rescuers to come and save them. The next day, Danny McBride shows up after having passed out during the party without having no clue of what happened. Now the six friends must find a way to survive and get along with each other if they want to make it through the apocalypse. 

I know the plot doesn't seem all that exciting, but it really is hilarious to see these guys together. The narrative isn`t the strongest thing about This is the End, what makes this film special is that the guys aren`t afraid to take risks and they take the classical stoner comedies to another level. The movie isn't really about the apocalypse, it is actually more about friendship and self-parody (the guys are extremely narcissist at times). If you want to know what the true definition of bromance is then by all means go see this. The narrative may not work too well in the second half of the movie, but it really has to do with the dynamics between these characters who will do what it takes to survive. Despite the ridiculous plot, it is just so fun to watch these characters interact with each other and make fun of the things we`ve made fun of in their bad movies. The film can be very tasteless at times, but it is really funny. The comedy and horror was well balanced as well so I would have to admit this is the funniest movie of the year so far despite some ridiculous moments.

My Review: Due Date (4/10)

¨My father loved coffee, and now we loved him as coffee.¨

Todd Phillips is the man responsible for directing The Hangover, one of my favorite comedies of the decade. He`s also directed some other funny movies like Old School and is currently working on the sequel for The Hangover. However his latest film, Due Date, was hugely disappointing. Robert Downey Jr. and Zach Galifianakis are among today`s best comedic actors, but they were badly miscast in this film. The biggest mistake was the approach this road trip/comedy took because the lead characters were immensely annoying and very unlikeable. Robert Downey Jr. `s character is really mean spirited and hateful. He yells at people all the time, easily losses his temper, hits kids, spits at dogs, and even fights with a guy in a wheelchair. It’s impossible to sympathize with him even if he`s Robert Downey Jr. Zach Galifianakis on the other hand has to play the typical annoying character, but he hugely exaggerates it in his approach. He`s really annoying and not someone you actually feel sorry for or could wish the best for him. He`s just way too immature and a little too crazy. It’s impossible in this genre to avoid comparisons with Hughes` 1987 film: Plain, Trains, & Automobiles, one of the all time best road trip comedies. Phillips could have learned several lessons from that movie before directing Due Date. Steve Martin`s character is in no way as mean or hurtful as Downey was, and Candy might have been annoying, but he was still a likeable guy who made you feel sorry for him, unlike Galifianakis. There are really very few funny moments in this comedy (and the best were already shown in the trailer). Due Date relies too heavily on pot jokes, foul language, and masturbating dogs; and it has no heart.

The story is actually not very different from any other road trip comedy. Peter Highman (Robert Downey Jr.) is an architect and expectant father from Los Angeles who happens to be working in Atlanta. He is trying to make it home on time for the birth of his son/daughter because his wife, Sarah (Michelle Monoghan) is expecting him to show up at the hospital, but an unexpected problem surfaces when Peter has a discussion with one of the passengers of the plane, Ethan Tremblay (Zach Galifianakis), and both end up on the no flying list. Peter is forced to travel to LA in a rental car along with Ethan because he left his wallet with money and documents on the plane. As much as Peter seems to despise Ethan he decides to travel with him and their troubles begin. Ethan is not the person with whom you`d want to travel with on the road from coast to coast across the States, much less when he also carries around a masturbating dog with him that believes he`s human. Along their journey we meet some other characters like Heidi (Juliette Lewis) the drug dealer, Lonnie (Danny McBride) an ex War veteran working at Western Union, and Darryl (Jamie Foxx) a long time friend of Peter and Sarah. Neither of the supporting characters have enough screen time to make their performances any memorable although some of the funniest scenes revolve around them.

Whatever Todd Phillips did right in The Hangover, he failed to do so with Due Date. There are very few laughs, and there are characters we can`t sympathize with despite the fact that the actors are hugely talented. I can`t even imagine how these two films were directed by the same guy, but I hope he redeems himself with The Hangover sequel. Due Date is a forgettable comedy and a really mean spirited film. Phillips goes a little too over the top in his approach to this road trip comedy. Perhaps the best and funniest moments of the film come from the individual performances of the actors, like the scene where Galifianakis begins to act out a scene from The Godfather. There is also a SNL like moment in the scene at Western Union between Danny McBride and Robert Downey Jr. It`s a funny scene, but if that`s one of the highlights of the film I`d rather watch a full episode of SNL. The truth of the matter is that the movie fails because the audience is unable to connect or find sympathy with any of the characters. There is not one likeable person in this film and that makes us care less whether or not Peter and Ethan make it to Los Angeles on time together. Skip this film and watch Planes, Trains, & Automobiles instead because that is how you make a hilarious road trip movie with likeable and memorable characters.

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