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: Enough Said (8/10)

"I've been listening to this woman say the worst things about the guy I'm starting to really like." 

Directed and written by Nicole Holofcener (Friends With Money and Please Give), Enough Said is a charming middle aged rom com that benefits from an incredible chemistry between James Gandolfini and Julia-Louis Dreyfus and a witty script. At first I had a hard time separating Julia's character from her sitcom roles, but eventually she began growing on me and I ended up enjoying her performance. The true highlight of the film however was the late James Gandolfini's performance. He was absolutely charming and delivers on a completely different range than what he showed in The Sopranos or most of his other film roles. Here he plays a very sympathetic and sweet middle aged divorced father who is having a hard time accepting the fact that his daughter is leaving for college. It was one of his best performances and he deserves all the accolades he's been receiving. Enough Said is one of those rare mature comedies that delivers authentic moments. It's a realistic and warm film that adults will enjoy. People who say that they don't make films for middle aged adults anymore should check this out. I am glad Holofcener is receiving so much love for this film because it's good to have a strong female voice in Hollywood. This is a film for grown ups about second chances and finding love after having failed in the past.

Eva (Julia-Louis Dreyfus) is a divorced middle aged mother who works as a masseuse. Her daughter is about to leave for college and so she's beginning to feel the void her absence will cause. After going to a party with her married friends, Sarah (Toni Collette) and Will (Ben Falcone), she meets Albert (James Gandolfini) a divorced father who is going through a similar experience with her daughter. The two hit off pretty well and begin dating. At the same party Eva also meets Marianne (Catherine Keener), and she becomes one of her clients. Eva quickly becomes friends with her admiring her style and good taste, but when she discovers that Albert was her ex-husband who she speaks terribly of, she begins having second thoughts about starting a relationship with him. She continues to date Albert and befriend Marianne without ever telling them about each other while she tries to make up her mind about giving love a second chance.

This romantic comedy drama is charming without ever being unauthentic or ringing false. It seems to hit all the right notes at the right time. I loved the scenes that Gandolfini and Dreyfus shared together, especially their first date. The scenes they shared together sitting on his front porch were also very touching and charming. Toni Collette's accent in this film felt a bit out of place, but I enjoyed the rest of the performances and every character was developed pretty well. The film does say something important about the power behind words and how much the opinion of someone we admire affects us in the way we perceive others and make decisions about them. Despite how much Eva liked Albert she let Marianne's perception of him influence her in the way she saw him. Enough Said is just one of those warm films that are hard to resist. Gandolfini truly shines here.