Touchy Feely (3/10): Better not touch it!

“Due to some unforeseen circumstances I will not be seeing clients for the time being.”

I was a huge admirer of Lynn Shelton’s film, Your Sister’s Sister, and I even included it on my list of the best movies of 2011 so I was eagerly anticipating what she would do next. I loved the way she captured those characters in such an authentic way and I was onboard for her mumblecore experimentation once again. Knowing that Rosemarie DeWitt was going to be back for the lead role was one of the main reasons I included Touchy Feely in my most anticipated movies of the year list. It didn’t hurt either that Ellen Page was going to play a supporting role since I was a huge fan of her work in Hard Candy and Juno. Everything about Touchy Feely had my expectations high rocketed to the sky, but then 2012 came and poor word of mouth lowered my expectations to such a degree that I never ended up seeing it until now. It was a major letdown and it made Lynn’s previous film, Laggies, seem like a masterpiece next to this. This is a dramedy that feels completely uneven and the plot doesn’t seem to go anywhere. I didn’t like any of the characters here and their motivations were hard to understand at times. The film was a mess and the pacing was so slow that this 90 minute film felt like it was three hours long. For a film trying to explore the interrelationships between these characters there was nothing to be said or discovered. Even the actors seemed to be lost and not fully understanding what their characters motivations really were. 

Abby (Rosemarie DeWitt), a successful message therapist, and her boyfriend Jesse (Scoot McNairy) are enjoying a lovely dinner at her brother Paul’s (Josh Pais) home. Paul, emotionally distant and a bit depressed, lives with his daughter Jenny (Ellen Page) who has sacrificed her personal dreams to assist her father at his dental practice, which isn’t exactly flourishing. Abby on the other hand is sought after for her great hands and seems to be going through a good moment in her life. She recommends his brother visit her Reiki instructor, Bronwyn (Allison Janney), who has done amazing things for her. Things take an unexpected turn in the family dynamics however when Abby suddenly develops a strange aversion towards skin which affects her work life. After Paul helps one of his patients recover from a terrible tooth pain, his dental practice begins to flourish due to the positive word of mouth his “healing hands” are receiving. While his relationship with his daughter seems to be getting stronger, Abbie’s new aversion to skin affects her relationship with Jesse.

Despite the pretty original premise the film fails to explore Abby’s problem. It’s just a technique used to shake the interpersonal relationship in the family, but there is nothing that Lynn is trying to explore with her new found aversion. I really didn’t understand why her character didn’t simply explain to Jesse what she was going through because I’m sure he would’ve understood. He seemed like a pretty comprehensive type of guy. The introduction of Ron Livingston’s character only feels like a filler and doesn’t do anything to build the story. Ellen Page delivers a solid performance once again, but her character is trapped inside her emotional wall which doesn’t allow her to fully blossom. Pais and DeWitt are the true stars of the film and their performances are the highlight of this forgettable film. Pais especially captures the eccentricities of his character in a rather natural way. I found the New Age mysticism in the film a bit too preachy and the indie quirkiness a bit too familiar. The tone of the film just dragged it down for me and I had a hard time relating to the characters or caring for any of them.  

Spy (7/10): The name's Cooper, Susan Cooper.

“Can you imagine me as a spy?“

It’s a safe bet to say that Melissa McCarthy is at her comedic best when working alongside writer and director, Paul Feig (Bridesmaids and The Heat), so if you were worried about her recent failings in Identity Theft and Tammy, fear not because Spy delivers plenty of laughs and interesting action sequences. McCarthy can easily be discarded for repeating the same gags, but she proves that when given an intelligent script she can continue to deliver strong comedic roles. It helps that Feig is a fan of the spy genre and he cleverly manages to balance the action set pieces with the comedic moments. Spoof films have grown tiresome over the past years, but when done correctly they can still be entertaining and Spy is such a film. The film didn’t open strong with me, but it eventually grew on me as McCarthy’s character was empowered. 

In Spy, McCarthy plays the under confident Susan Cooper, a CIA analyst who serves as the eyes and ears of one of the agency’s top field agents, Bradley Fine (Jude Law). It becomes evident from the opening sequence that Fine is a spoof of James Bond, but I felt those moments a bit forced. When a mission goes wrong and the identities of all of the spies in the agency have been compromised, Elaine Crocker (Allison Janny), the agency’s stern boss decides to send Susan to Europe to uncover a conspiracy involving an arms dealer who is trying to sell a nuclear bomb to terrorists. The elegant dealer, Rayna Boyanov, is hilariously played by Rose Byrne who is convincing as one of the main villains in the film. Susan’s mission in Europe is compromised however, when the aggressive agent Rick Ford (Jason Statham) dismisses orders to stay clear from the site and decides to infiltrate the location despite having his cover blown. The interplay between Susan and Rick and between Susan and Rayna are by far the highlight of the film as these actors play off each other extremely well. 

Despite some hilarious scenes involving Statham, McCarthy, and Byrne, Spy misses some marks with a couple of characters. Jude Law is an incredibly talented actor, but I wasn’t a fan of his role here. He might be spoofing James Bond, but it’s Statham who delivers the most laughs poking fun of the macho character he has played during most of his career. It was great to see him back in a comedic role after his initial collaborations with Guy Rithcie (Snatch and Lock, Stock, and two Smoking Barrels). The cameo with 50 Cents was also quite horrendous and forced. Miranda Hart also has an important supporting role as one of Susan’s best friends in the agency, but I wasn’t a particular fan of her character and most of her jokes fell flat. Despite missing the mark at times, Spy is still hilarious when it centers on McCarthy, Statham, and Byrne. The feminist message might be too loud and obvious, but it works extremely well for a genre film where females are often overlooked and reduced to desk jobs. Spy also succeeds at delivering genuine suspense as we follow the hero trying to solve the case. There are memorable action sequences that take place in a kitchen and on a private jet that are incredibly entertaining, and it’s not something you see in spoof films. Spy balances the comedy very well and it delivers the action that espionage films have us accustomed to. I had a lot of fun with it.  


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My Review: Bad Words (4/10)

"What was your favorite word?"

Jason Bateman is a funny guy although his films are usually hit or miss with me. Bad Words was a miss. I just couldn't get into the premise of this film considering Bateman plays a 40 year old guy competing in the largest spelling bee competition in the USA against a bunch of young and intelligent kids. Sometimes these sort of ridiculous premises work extremely well in comedies, but this film was just too mean spirited and offensive for my taste. I didn't find any of the jokes funny and the relationships Bateman's character has with the people around him never felt believable. There is some mystery revolving around the main character's intention for entering this contest, but once it was revealed I didn't think it added anything to the movie. I will give some credit to Jason Bateman (who also directed this film) for casting himself against type considering he usually plays the nice guy and here he plays a hateful and racist character. I just didn't find any situation funny in Bad Words and I don't think we can call a film hilarious only for pushing the limits on swearing and calling kids and their parents names. Perhaps it was just not my type of comedy, but it never worked for me and I was disappointed with Bateman's directorial feature debut. 

Kathryn Hahn plays the journalist who is supporting Bateman's character in the spelling bee competition. She knows the story will sell  and since Bateman found a loophole in the competition needing a national journalist to back him up she willingly decides to help. The relationship between both characters is probably the weakest link in the film and I never found any of their interactions funny. Rohan Chand plays one of the competitors in the spelling bee who befriends Guy (Jason Bateman). At first Guy wants nothing to do with him, but pretty soon a relationship develops which turns out to be the heart and soul of this film. Chand plays a sympathetic character but I really wasn't too comfortable with his performance. Not even reliable actors like Allison Janney and Ben Falcone are given any opportunities to shine here. Perhaps I just wasn't in the mood for a comedy, but I don't remember laughing at any particular scene here. I did feel a bit uncomfortable with the strange relationships between each character and I simply found Bateman's Guy too hateful to want to spend more time watching him on screen.

My Review: Mr. Peabody and Sherman (7/10)

"If a boy can adopt a dog, I see no reason why a dog can not adopt a boy." 

As soon as the credits began rolling my little brother looked at me and said "wow, this was even better than The LEGO movie." I wouldn't go as far as him, this isn't on the same level, but I was surprised considering I never thought this film would be any good. My expectations for this movie were really low, but as soon as Mr. Peabody and Sherman's excellent adventure through time began I was hooked. It was a fun little history ride as we got to travel with the characters to Ancient Egypt, the Renaissance, the battle of Troy, and the French Revolution. Some of the characters in this film were hilarious (I'm pointing at you Leonardo Da Vinci) and the gags and puns were witty. Mr. Peabody & Sherman is based on the Rocky and Bullwinkle segments from the 50's, "Peabody's Improbable History," and it was directed by Rob Minkoff (who has had more success directing animated films such as The Lion King than live action films like Flypaper and Forbidden Kingdom). This was a very pleasant experience and an animated film children and adults will enjoy  alike.

The screenplay was adapted by Craig Wright from Jay Ward's short animated series. We are introduced to Mr. Peabody (voiced by Ty Burrell from Modern Family), an advanced canine who happens to be a genius inventor. In order to teach his adopted son, Sherman (Max Charles), history lessons he builds a time machine called WABAC, and travels with him to the past. Together they share thrilling adventures, but the greatest adventure of all turns out to be Sherman's first day in school where he is bullied by a fellow student named Penny Peterson (Ariel Winter). After biting her for calling him a dog, Mr. Peabody is called to school by Ms. Grunion (Allison Janney) who threatens to take his son away from him. In order to make things right, Mr. Peabody invites Penny's parents, Paul (Stephen Colbert) and Patty Peterson (Leslie Mann), to dinner. Sherman gets into trouble again when he shows Penny the time machine and both of them end up in Ancient Egypt causing all sorts of trouble. Mr. Peabody goes to their rescue before Penny's parents discover anything is wrong, which would hurt his chances with Ms. Grunion to maintain his parenting rights.

Beside all the fun adventures through time, the film also happens to be a delightful and good hearted movie about father and son relationships. The supporting cast is memorable and Stanley Tucci's Leonardo Da Vinci is the standout. Some of the sweet and tender moments don't work as well as they should and there are also several poop and butt jokes that don't work, but despite those flaws the film manages to stay afloat thanks to some clever and witty jokes and some entertaining and colorful adventures. It's an engaging animated film that works much better than the trailers would lead you to believe. I had a fun time, but by no means is it as witty and engaging as the LEGO movie, but it works just as well.

My Reviews: The Oranges (4/10)

¨I´m your ex girlfriend´s boyfriend´s wife.¨

I´d rather sit through an hour long episode of Dr. House, The OC, or Gossip Girl rather than watch this film starring some of the actors from the above mentioned series. The Oranges was directed by Julian Farino, who I had never heard of before this film. I actually went to see this film because I thought it had an interesting cast. The biggest flaw of The Oranges was its screenplay; written by Ian Helfer and Jay Reiss. The dramedy never quite manages to feel authentic and everything felt like a complete farce. The dialogue in this film felt very light considering the subject matter and the comedic moments weren’t effective. The relationships didn’t feel real either, although I must admit that the friendship between Laurie´s character and Platt´s was probably the strongest thing about this movie. Beside the three TV stars: Hugh Laurie, Leighton Meester, and Adam Brody, the film also stars Allison Janney and Catherine Keener whom I always thought looked very much alike. These are all very likeable actors, but they were given some really underdeveloped characters and the film never really rang true to me. Other films have tackled this subject matter in much better ways. Examples that come to mind for me are The Graduate and American Beauty, but this movie doesn’t even come close to what those films achieved. Despite how much I wanted to like this movie because of the actors, I had a hard time watching this. I would pick any of their television series over this film anytime.

The film focuses on the relationship between two Jersey families. On the one hand, we have David (Hugh Laurie) and Paige Walling (Catherine Keener) who have two children: Vanessa (Alia Shawkat) and Toby (Adam Brody), and then we are introduced to their neighbors, the Ostroff´s, consisting of Terry (Oliver Platt) and Kathy (Allison Janney). Terry and David have been best friends for a long time, and their families get together often. The Ostroff’s have a daughter named Nina (Leighton Meester) who decides to return home after five years for the Holidays. Her presence will change things when she falls in love with David. The two begin seeing each other and it has a tremendous effect on both families. Nina convinces David that there are no rules to happiness, but at the same time his decision affects everyone around him. When Paige finds out about this relationship she confronts David and soon everyone’s life is affected by this relationship.

The film doesn’t seem to take sides on the moral issue, but it doesn’t ever feel like it takes things seriously either. The entire film felt like a complete waste of time. The relationship between David and Nina never felt authentic and there was no chemistry whatsoever between them. The film really suffers from a poor script and the likeable actors aren’t enough to save this film. The narration of the film didn’t work for me either and I felt like it was simply used to simplify things. The question the film seems to be raising is whether it is really worth doing whatever makes you happy without measuring the consequences and how it can affect the rest of the people around you. At first it seems as if it agrees with this premise, but later their consequences catch up with them. Some characters seem to be better off, but things never remain the same. I think I am getting a little too philosophical for a film that really didn’t take itself too seriously, but I definitely felt that something was completely off with The Oranges. It is an awkward film and one I wouldn’t recommend.

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