My Review: Playing for Keeps (5/10)

¨How do you get to meet so many hot women? –I have an accent.¨

Director Gabriele Muccino has been successful in the past (The Pursuit of Happyness and Seven Pounds), but in Playing for Keeps he seems to have lost his touch. Everything that can go wrong in a movie goes wrong here with a very formulaic and cliché script, a predictable story, and some over the top performances. Dennis Quaid seems to be playing the same role he played in What to Expect When Your Expecting with a very eccentric approach that hurts the movie even more and presents it in a very cartoonish way. Gerard Butler is another talented actor who seems to have lost his touch as well in the recent years with some bad films. Not even the beautiful and talented ladies (Catherine Zeta Jones, Jessica Biel, Uma Thurman, and Judy Greer) were enough to save this terrible movie. The main problem was its script which was written by Robbie Fox who hadn’t written a screenplay since 1994 (the terrible In The Army Now) and shouldn’t have even considered making a comeback. What I can say about this film is that despite not being funny it is tolerable. It is not one of those films that bore you to death; but it is completely predictable and cliché. I wouldn’t say this is completely a family friendly film despite the happy ending considering the main character is kind of a playboy. Despite the interesting cast this film is completely lazy and empty.

The story centers on George (Gerard Butler) a successful soccer player who played in important clubs across Europe and ended his career in the MLS. He hasn´t had the same success in his retirement and has failed in a couple of business enterprises. George decides to move to Virginia where his ex-wife, Stacie (Jessica Biel), lives along with their young son Lewis (Noah Lomax). He wants to be a better father and therefore moves close to their home so he can spend some more time with him. Stacie is living with her fiancé, Matt (James Tupper), and they both agree that George be closer to Lewis. While George is trying to find a job as a sports anchor, he begins coaching his son´s soccer team. Since he was a well known player all the parents agree he should coach the team and they are all exited that he has decided to be involved, especially the moms which include Patti (Uma Thurman), Denise (Catherine Zeta Jones), and Barb (Judy Greer). Barb is an emotional recently divorced mother, Denise is a former successful TV anchor who offers to help George in achieving his goal, and Patti is a seductive woman who is married to the rich, but manic, Carl (Dennis Quaid). George´s soccer career might be over, but he finds quite a local fan base as a coach. His success with the ladies continues, but he doesn’t want that to be a distraction as he becomes more and more involved in the life of his son. He also discovers that he has feelings for Stacie, and we all know where this film is heading from there.

There is not much more I can say about this extremely formulaic film. Don’t be fooled by this family friendly film because it is kind of creepy in a way with the main character having all these moms stocking him. The impressive cast isn’t enough to save this film since it has a terrible script and the performances were really lazy. Jessica Biel received a Razzie nomination for her performance in this film along with her work in Total Recall, but who I think was really terrible here was Dennis Quaid. The only believable thing about the film was the soccer choreographies which were done really well. They didn’t seem as fake as in some other soccer movies. This is a very forgettable film, but it was tolerable and some of my family members had a good time.

  

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My Review: What to Expect When You`re Expecting (4/10)

¨I just wanted the glow. The one that they promise you on the cover of those magazines. Well, I'm calling it - pregnancy sucks. Making a human being is really hard.¨

What we can really expect from this movie is pretty much the same thing we got from Valentine`s Day and New Year`s Eve: A lot of celebrities but no real characters. It is the exact same issue I had with the other films, except this is perhaps even worse with everything fitting perfectly together at the end. This is a chick flick and perhaps many will disagree with me for saying this but What to Expect When You`re Expecting is one of the worst movies of the year. The film is based on a very successful series of pregnancy guides written by Heidi Murkoff, which I haven`t read but am pretty sure has to be much better than the screenplay that Shauna Cross (Whip It) and Heather Hach (Freaky Friday) came up with. I can`t imagine the book being like this because it`s really incoherent and unauthentic. There is no honesty whatsoever in the film and it felt sugarcoated with all the celebrities. Director Kirk Jones (Nanny McPhee and Everybody`s Fine) fails miserably in trying to portray a believable film. He follows the exact same clichés and formulas we see in almost every other chick flick. There is no originality whatsoever to this tale and by the end of the year even the people who enjoyed will have forgotten all about it. The film is all about pretty faces, unfunny dialogues, and relationships that aren't given enough screen time to develop. That is why I found it difficult to find believable chemistry between any of the five couples that the film was about. This film was a total waste of time and I can´t find anything positive to say about it. It makes Valentine`s Day and New Year`s Eve look like Oscar worthy contenders.

The story deals with five different couples which in some minor way interact or overlap with each other. First off we have celebrity fitness expert Jules (Cameron Diaz) who has fallen for her dance partner Evan (Matthew Morrison) in the Celebrity Dance Reality Show she`s participating on. Then there`s photographer Holly (Jennifer Lopez) and her hubby Alex (Rodrigo Santoro) who can`t have children and have decided to adopt. Wendy (Elizabeth Banks) is a baby-crazy writer who thinks she knows everything about motherhood but has had trouble trying to get pregnant along with her husband Gary (Ben Falcone). Gary`s father, Ramsey (Dennis Quaid), a former Nascar racer has remarried the beautiful and young Skyler (Brooklyn Decker). When Wendy and Gary discover that they were finally able to get pregnant they go to tell the news to Ramsey and Skyler who also surprise them with the news that they too are expecting. By this time Jules and Evan have already found out that they too are expecting a child, and Jules is trying to work around her busy TV schedule. If this seems a lot to take in, wait there is still more: Rosie (Anna Kendrick) shares a romantic night with a former High School classmate, Marco (Chace Crawford) and ends up pregnant as well. This is where the drama unfolds as we have each couple dealing with pregnancy in different ways. Alex who doesn’t feel prepared to be a father is sent by Holly to meet with a dad`s support group organized by Vic (Chris Rock). The support group is supposed to be the funniest thing about the film, but in my opinion none of the jokes worked really well.

There is not much more I can add about this movie, there was so much going on that it was hard to find any chemistry between any of these couples. They all played one dimensional and stereotypical characters. I don’t think I can say I had a favorite performance here because it all felt bland and fake. The ending is horrible, but I guess most couples were satisfied with this date movie. It has no other value to it, only enjoyable for a couple`s date night or a girls night out.

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My Review Soul Surfer (6/10)

¨ Love is bigger than any tidal wave or fear.¨

Soul Surfer is one of those films with a lot of heart thanks to an inspiring true story about a young teenage girl who never gives up on her dream of becoming a professional surfer even though she losses an arm in a shark attack. This girl’s story is one that needed to be told and one that has inspired many other people with disabilities to continue fighting for their dreams. Soul Surfer is far from being perfect and technically it`s not one of the better made films. You just have to see the scene of the shark attack to realize that the technical part is way behind other Hollywood movies that wow us with spectacular visual effects. Soul Surfer doesn`t have good visuals, the shark scene is so fake you just want to laugh at how bad it was made, but that isn’t the important thing about this film. Other movies may have great visual effects, but they lack story and heart. Soul Surfer has plenty of heart and the story lets us ignore those technical aspects about the film and allows us to enjoy the inspirational story that is being told. The cast is actually pretty good; there are some decent performances, but nothing spectacular either. Dennis Quaid is perhaps the best one in the film and the lead performance from AnnaSophia Robb is also alright. The story is actually a very inspiring one and therefore it’s almost impossible to dislike this film, but one can`t help but think how much better it could have been if the technical part wasn’t so bad. This is one of those movies that could have worked way better if it was made as a documentary because we want to know more about the real and inspiring Bethany Hamilton, and one of the best things about this movie was the ending credits were we got to see some footage of her surfing and doing missionary work.

 AnnaSophia Robb is Bethany Hamilton, a teenage surfer who lives in Hawaii and spends most of her day in the water with her best friend, Alana Blanchard (Lorraine Nicholson) who is also a surfer. They both are getting ready for the Regional’s and come from family`s of professional surfers. Bethany`s parents, Tom (Dennis Quaid) and Cheri (Helen Hunt), support her very much and are always there helping and training her. Bethany grew up with her two older brothers so she has grown to be very competitive and athletic. Alana`s father, Holt (Kevin Sorbo), a surfer as well, is also close to the Hamilton`s. The girls do great at the Regional’s and end up qualifying for the Nationals. They also sign a deal for the first time with Rip Curl who wants to represent them. Bethany is at the height of her dream and is one step away from becoming a professional surfer. She continues to work hard and train for the tournament. God is also an important part of her life. When she isn’t in the water she is at her church learning from their youth leader, Sarah Hill (Carrie Underwood), and helping out with missionary work. The kids are planning a trip to Mexico, but Bethany decides to stay and continue preparing for Nationals. Holt takes Alana and Bethany to a campsite where they can focus and continue training for the tournament. While they are all in the water surfing a shark suddenly attacks Bethany and bites off her arm. Bethany is rushed to a hospital where the doctors manage to save her life thanks to the composure she has kept despite losing a lot of blood. Instead of forgetting about her dreams she decides to keep on fighting for them and competing to become a professional surfer without losing her faith in God despite the accident.

It`s hard to remain emotionally detached from a story that is so inspirational and although being far from perfect the producers did a decent job at telling it by not leaving out the religious aspect that was so central to Hamilton`s life. This is a major improvement from Sean McNamara`s latest film, Bratz, and it is actually better than most family films that have come out lately. Yes it could have been a lot better due to the powerful message the story has, but it also could have been a lot worse considering all the people that were involved with the screenplay. It`s always a bad sign when you have so many people contributing to a screenplay and in this case there were seven people involved trying to adapt Hamilton`s book Soul Surfer. The message still manages to get across in the film and there are several interesting scenes. Beth is such a strong girl and her faith is so unshaken even after all the ordeal she went through that for some it might be hard to identify with a character as strong as this one, but I know that there are several people like her who put their faith in God and let Him carry them through adversities without letting their faith be unshaken. All in all it is an inspiring story about a girl who finds the courage to face her fears and get back in the water in order to follow her dream. This is a film the entire family will enjoy.  

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My Review: Legion (4/10)

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¨ I knew He'd send you, Gabriel. You were always so eager to please Him. ¨

(4/10)Legion is Scott Stewart`s feature film debut as a director after working for many years in the visual effects department. He also collaborated with Peter Schink in writing the script for this movie. Stewart knows how to create cool visuals and he is a master at it, but he still has a long way to go with direction and writing, because those were the major weaknesses that Legion had. There are some moments in this sci-fi apocalyptic thriller that catch your attention, but most of the time is wasted with bad dialogues and plot holes. The few action scenes are well made with nice visuals, but they are too few and the movie begins to drag after a while; which gave me too much spare time to start thinking and analyzing: why don´t these angels just blow up the diner and get it over with. If God really wanted to destroy the human race he`d find an easier way to do it. Legion is a science fiction film and really has nothing to do with the Bible or Christian beliefs in case many were left wondering. Legion could have worked simply as an entertaining film and taken lightly, but the problem is that it is really slow paced and has poor dialogues and major plot holes, so it doesn`t even work as pure entertainment either.

The plot is pretty simple: God wants to destroy the human race because he has lost faith in them, so he sends his archangel Michael (Paul Bettany, Wimbledon) on a mission, but Michael still hasn`t lost his faith in mankind so he disobeys God´s command and has come to protect one particular baby who happens to be the key to saving the human race. The action takes place in a deserted diner where Charlie (Adrianne Palick) works as a waitress and is eight months pregnant. The diner belongs to Bob Hanson (Dennis Quaid), who lives there with his son Jeep (Lucas Black) and together they try to administer the diner. Percy (Charles S. Dutton) also works as an employer at the deserted diner and the only clients that arrive at the place are usually people that are lost. Such is the case with the Anderson family who are waiting for Jeep to fix their car so they can get on their way, and Kyle (Tyrese Gibson) who took a wrong turn and is completely lost. All these people happen to be at the diner when Michael comes to protect Charlie`s baby from the legion of angels that God has sent to destroy them. Together they must help protect Charlie and fight off all these angels who come in human form by possessing the most weak minded. The battle for human survival takes place in this deserted diner.

The cast is pretty good. I enjoyed Paul Bettany`s performance and thought he made a decent action star. He is a good actor and can undertake several different roles. Dennis Quaid, Tyrese Gibson, and Charles S. Dutton also gave decent performances. The problem with Legion wasn`t the cast or the visuals, which were also pretty good (although nothing mind blowing either), the problem was the pace of the movie and the poor dialogue which didn`t help make better transitions from one scene to the next. The action scenes were ok, but as I said before if God wanted to destroy the human race he would find a much easier way to do it. All the angels had to do was blow up the diner and the problem was solved. If you want to see a good apocalyptic movie, then go see The Book of Eli instead. I can`t even recommend this film for pure entertainment alone because it doesn`t even entertain, so skip Legion.

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