Men, Women & Children (4/10): Reitman's sermon against social media lacks subtlety

“Like it or not, for the moment The Earth is where we make our stand.”

Jason Reitman’s latest film, Men, Women & Children, left me speechless but I don’t mean that in a good way. I was a huge fan of Reitman’s first three films: Thank You for Smoking, Juno, and Up in the Air so I went into this movie with high expectations despite his recent misses with Young Adult and Labor Day. Juno is one of my favorite films so I still look forward to what Reitman is working on next, but I sure hope he teams up with Diablo Cody soon because his scripts lack that sharp and witty dialogue. The greatest problem with this film (which failed to connect with audiences in the theater making less than 1 million at the box office) is that it feels too preachy. Reitman screams out his message about the dangers of social media in the most clichéd ways. First, he establishes several familiar characters that play a certain stereotype with the purpose of getting his message across. For instance you have the over protective mother who is highly exaggerated in the way she controls what her daughter is doing and who she is chatting with, then you have the other extreme where a mother is managing her daughter’s life in order for her to become famous by uploading sexy pictures of her in a website, and finally you have a father who has trouble communicating with his son and basically lays off of him after his wife has abandoned them. These characters all play certain stereotypes and have no personality whatsoever. Reitman also tries to tackle other familiar social issues like porn addiction, unfaithfulness, anorexia, and video gaming by portraying how social media has changed the way we live our lives. The message is heavy handed and we’ve seen it portrayed many times in the past in better films. Another issue I had with Men, Women, and Children is that it lacks subtlety in the way the message should be delivered. It is also heavily one-sided and never tries to portray the positive side of social media. My final complaint has to do with Reitman’s decision of including a voice narration from Emma Thompson with scenes of a satellite traveling across the galaxy showing how small our planet is in the vastness of our universe. It was too ambitious for a film that never feels authentic or groundbreaking. 

Perhaps the greatest thing about Men, Women, and Children are the performances from the impressive cast. Adam Sandler and Rosemarie DeWitt play a struggling married couple very well. Sandler gives a very restrained performance as he has done in past dramas and once again proves that he has a range when it comes to acting. Reitman could have taken a similar approach with this film and been more subtle and restrained in the way he was trying to deliver the message. Jennifer Garner and Judy Greer are given perhaps the most exaggerated characters in the film so many people might have a problem with their performances, but I thought they delivered strong roles despite the poor material they had to work with. Breaking Bad fans will also be delighted to see Dean Norris on screen again as he delivers in his supporting role. The teens in this film also give convincing performances beginning with Ansel Elgort who is the football star of his High School, but decides to give up on playing the sport and becomes addicted with online video gaming. Kaitlyn Dever, who was great in Short Term 12, delivers once again as the teen whose interactions are overseen by her overprotective mother. Olivia Crocicchia plays the sexy teen who is encouraged by her mother and dreams of becoming famous. Elena Kampouris plays the anorexic teen who is searching for acceptance from her crush. The performances are all solid and despite the fact that there are many different storylines they all get sufficient screen time. The only problem is that they all play familiar stereotypes and I didn’t find a distinct personality in anyone of these characters. They all seem to be playing a specific role in order to deliver a message. J.K. Simmons, who frequently collaborates with Reitman, also has a small role in this film but he is underused. This drama failed to connect with me perhaps because the timing of the film was a bit off and it also lacked subtlety. 

My Review: Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day (5/10)

"You gotta have the bad days so you can love the good days even more."

To keep it short I will just refer to this film as Alexander, which is actually based on the children's book written by Judith Viorst which I read when I was a kid. My childhood memories along with the funny trailer drew me to this film so I decided to bring my younger brother to watch this with me as an excuse to relive them. Alexander is your typical family film with a lot of heart and some funny moments, but if you've seen the trailer you can't help but feel like you've seen it all. You know when the funny moments will come and there is not really much more to it. Despite being a family friendly film it is very forgettable and generic. It's a family film that never breaks any genre conventions or offers anything unique to the audience. Kids will love it, but adults might feel like it doesn't have much to offer. Despite its extremely short running time (80 minutes) the film does run out of steam soon and I had some issues with the pacing. I think the trailer worked much better for me than the actual movie. If you are looking for a film to distract your kids than you are in the right hands with Alexander, but if you are looking for more from a family friendly film, then you will be disappointed because there isn't anything original here. Some plot elements may remind you of the much funnier Liar, Liar but it never quite reaches the same comedic level. I was surprised this film was directed by Miguel Arteta who made the raunchy comedy Cedar Rapid, because this film is much more mainstream and clean. I also don't understand the positive grade in RottenTomatoes considering the film really doesn't have much to offer. It is forgettable and could've worked better as a direct to cable film. I would recommend you stick with the book and wait for this film to come on TV next year.

Steve Carell is of course the main attraction of the film and he plays the likable and sweet father pretty well. It was something different from his work in The Office and some of his latest films, but we have seen him in this sort of cute father role in the past. He does make the movie experience much more tolerable and fun. Jennifer Garner plays her usual self and really doesn't bring anything fresh to the movie. The real surprise for me came from Ed Oxenbould who played the titular character, Alexander. He delivers a genuine performance and he never hits a wrong note. The other kids in this film, Dylan Minnette and Kerris Dorsey (who I couldn't quite figure out where I had seen her before until I looked her up in the IMDB and was reminded she played Brad Pitt's daughter in Moneyball) also give solid performances and deliver their share of laughs. Unfortunately the film didn't live up to expectations for me, but in the end I couldn't help but take Alexander's advice (rephrasing it a bit of course), "You gotta have the bad movies so you can love the good ones even more." I should have gone to rewatch Gone Girl instead.

My Review: Draft Day (6/10)

"How is it that the ultimate prize in the most macho sport invented is a piece of jewelry?"

Draft Day seems like a film aimed towards a specific target audience considering it takes place during one of the most important days for NFL fans. However, it actually spells out everything in such detail (Cleveland home of the Browns, and so on) that it seems its trying to attract audiences who aren't really familiar with the NFL draft or what it all means. Why they decided to take this approach I don't know. Perhaps they were aiming to attract Kevin Costner fans around the globe and hoping that the American Football theme wouldn't be too heavy handed. That explains why the screenwriters tried to introduce familiar dramatic elements such as giving Costner a love interest and having him go through the struggle of dealing with the loss of his father a few days ago. I wish they would have focused this exclusively to NFL fans and didn't spend so much time trying to spell out the rules of the league in order to attract a wider audience. I mean why go through all the trouble of acquiring the rights to use the NFL franchise players and names if you are later going to aim it towards a wider audience that may not know the difference. As a follower of the NFL I would have enjoyed it if they didn't spell everything out, but it was just a minor issue I had with this enjoyable film. Despite not liking the subplot surrounding Costner's character and his relationship with Jennifer Garner's Ali, I really enjoyed the premise revolving around the draft and the tension created as the clock was winding down and a decision had to be made. I think I'm just a bit biased towards sport movies, but I actually had a good time with this film despite all its major flaws. 

Kevin Costner comes through in his role as his character has to come to a crossroad in his professional and personal life in less than 24 hours. His charisma comes through and saves a premise that may turn viewers off. With a stronger subplot this film could have been great, but it was just too generic and predictable. Jennifer Garner's character had no depth and she could have been given a stronger role. The film basically relies on Costner's lead performance and he manages to make this movie enjoyable enough for a mild recommendation. The few attempts at comedy involving the intern (played by Griffin Newman) also failed. Draft Day may not rank amongst director Ivan Reitman's best work, but it is an improvement from his recent films. Don't get me wrong, this isn't the football version of Moneyball, it isn't even close, but it's still a small enjoyable film and an opportunity for Kevin Costner fans to see him shine again in a sport film (with which he's had success in the past). Reitman overuses some technical shots at times, like the split screens which had a novel feel to them at first but he repeats them over and over again. The build up surrounding the events of the draft is very intriguing, but the subplot involving the family drama is what pulls Draft Day down. 

My Review: Dallas Buyers Club (8/10)

"Welcome to the Dallas Buyers Club!"

One of the main themes in cinema during 2013 had to do with reinventing oneself, or at least I found it a common thread in several movies (American Hustle and The Wolf of Wall Street being the main examples). As good as those movies were, nothing defines the term better than Matthew McConaughey who completely reinvented himself over the last couple of years and has become one of the best Hollywood actors. 2011 was a turning point for him with a great performance in The Lincoln Lawyer and then he followed his success in Bernie, Killer Joe, The Paper Boy, and Magic Mike. This year he blew me away in my favorite film of the year, MUD; he also delivered a short but memorable performance in The Wolf of Wall Street, and now he was mesmerizing in Dallas Buyers Club. He has been racking up awards this year for this great performance and is the frontrunner to win the Oscar as well. I would pretty much see him in anything he's doing right now and I actually began watching his new HBO series, True Detective, which looks promising. The reason why I dedicated so much lines talking about him more than I did about the movie is because he is what makes this film so entertaining. Dallas Buyers Club would just be an average film without him, but his performance is so powerful that it becomes the main reason why you should see it. It's not just about the physical transformation he went through, he also delivers a raw and energetic performance that makes Dallas Buyers Club such a transcendent film. 

Ron Woodroof (Matthew McConaughey) is a Texas homophobic redneck working as an electrician while making some money on the side as a rodeo cowboy. He's a heavy smoker, drinker, and frequent drug user who likes to engage in casual sex. His life takes a drastic change after the doctors discover that he's HIV positive and will most likely die within 30 days. Not accepting his death sentence, he begins to do some research and discovers that there are unapproved drugs that could help him extend his life. He crosses the border into Mexico and finds that the alternative treatments are effective so he decides to smuggle them into the U.S. Dr. Sevard (Denis O'Hare), the doctor who diagnosed him, is against this treatment as he is testing his patients with a trial drug called AZT which the pharmaceutical companies are pushing to get through. He does find some sympathy in Dr. Eve Saks (Jennifer Garner), but there isn't much she can do to help him. However in the hospital he finds an unlikely ally in the transvestite Rayon (Jared Leto) who doesn't care for government regulations either and together they establish a buyers club where members can have access to these unapproved drugs for a monthly fee. This is where Ron's battle begins as he not only has to fight his disease, but the government as well while trying to smuggle more effective drugs to the country.

If you need another reason beside McConaughey to go see Dallas Buyers Club than Jared Leto might just be it. He too has been piling up awards this season for his supporting role as the transvestite Rayon. He also delivers a memorable performance that makes this film even more entertaining. These two characters are the driving force of the film. The film is powerful and engaging thanks to them because it really doesn't say anything new about the AIDS plague during the 80's or the ridiculous government and pharmaceutical regulations. The story does deal with these issues, but if you want to really become enraged about them there are many other films that do it much better, like the documentary How To Survive a Plague. What this film has going for it are the performances from Matthew and Jared, and those two should be the only awards it receives come Oscar time. Gravity may have blown you away thanks to its spectacular visuals and technical achievements, but Dallas Buyers Club will blow you away thanks to these two characters. The many flaws the film may have concerning pacing and script don't take away from the mesmerizing experience of seeing these two actors reinventing themselves the way they have in this film. They are responsible for transforming this average biopic into a compelling and engaging one. Keep living!

My Review: The Odd Life of Timothy Green (4/10)

¨Please don't ask about my leaves.¨

I’m generally a fan of Disney family movies and don’t mind when they get overly sentimental or extremely sweet as long as the characters have depth and the story rings authentic. The problem I had with The Odd Life of Timothy Green wasn’t that it was too emotional or sweet, but rather that the story never felt authentic. I know the story is fictional, but even so I never believed the father and son relationship, and the movie really never connected with me. Like the title suggests it felt too odd and weird. I enjoyed Peter Hedges previous movie (Dan in Real Life). He is mostly known of course for writing the screenplay for What`s Eating Gilbert Grape. Hedges definitely has a lot of talent, but this film just failed to connect with me. In my opinion it is one of his weakest efforts. He adapted the screenplay from Ahmet Zappa`s story. I really wouldn’t watch this film again even though I liked the actors. I loved Joel Edgerton in Warrior and Jennifer Garner is a well liked actress. CJ Adams did a very good job in the title role as Timothy, but as much as I liked these actors I never enjoyed the story. Everything seemed so disconnected from reality and I couldn’t find any character with depth. It was like if they were in a rush to tell the story and they never stopped to focus on the relationships that were being built.

The film begins by introducing us to a young couple from Stanleyville (the pencil capital of the world) who is trying to adopt a kid. Cindy (Jennifer Garner) and Jim Green (Joel Edgerton) are being interviewed in order to see if they are qualified and thus they begin to narrate the story about the boy who changed their lives: Timothy. The entire film is told in flashback style while the couple is in the interview. They story begins with them in the doctor`s office where they are given the bad news that they will never be able to have children. That night they arrive home devastated by the news, but Jim decides to dream for one last night about their child. They begin to name several qualities that child would have and they write them down. After coming up with several qualities they put them inside a box and bury it in their backyard garden. That night a strong storm hits their home and they wake up to a strange sound in the house. They discover a young boy named Timothy (CJ Adams) who has leaves growing out of his ankles. Timothy calls them mom and dad, and that is when Jim and Cindy discover that their dream child has grown out of their garden. Timothy teaches them several lessons about life and parenting. He also falls in love with a young girl named Joni (Odeya Rush) who helps him to adopt to the new life. A few surprises happen along the way as Timothy meets the rest of the family and town members. He inspires and changes the lives of Jim and Cindy forever.

As much as I wanted to like this family friendly movie I couldn’t. The film lacked authenticity or at least a sense of minimal believability in a fairytale. I liked CJ Adams performance, but his character wasn’t really well developed either. He was a little too odd and I never felt the connection between him and his parents. This is yet another movie that seems to tell us that children are wiser than their parents, but I will make an exception here because we were dealing with a miraculous kid. There is not much more I can say about this film, you either love it or hate it. With me it failed to make any connection whatsoever, but it is a sweet family friendly film. I didn’t find it to be very emotional although it does try to be a tearjerker. It never reached that emotional level or touching moment that I was hoping for.

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My Review: Valentine`s Day (5/10)

¨There you have it, folks. Young love. Full of promise, full of hope, ignorant of reality. ¨

This romantic comedy is exactly what Valentine`s Day is all about: commercialization. First of all you have Garry Marshall involved in the project, who has directed many hits such as Pretty Woman, Frankie and Jhonny, Beaches, The Princess Diaries, among many others. He gets the dream team of actors to get involved as well: Ashton Kutcher, Taylor Lautner, Julia Roberts, Emma Roberts, Taylor Swift, Jessica Biel, Jessica Alba, Anne Hathaway, Topher Grace, Bradley Cooper, Patrick Dempsey, Jamie Foxx, Jennifer Garner, George Lopez, Hector Elizondo, and Shirley MacLaine. With all these names there is no reason why someone wouldn`t want to go see this film, we all at least like someone in this movie (if not all), it`s a cast of All-Stars; between them they have more than 15 Oscar nominations combined. There is one major problem however: the movie is a huge disapointment. The screenplay, written by Katherine Fugate, doesn`t seem to work and it gave me the sense of being in a crowded room because it introduces one character after another without allowing for any character development or attachment on the part of the viewer with any one of them. This movie tries really hard to be Love Actually, which was a very successful romantic British comedy that also had a star cast, but the difference was that Love Actually was actually a good movie and Valentine`s Day isn`t. I didn`t have problems with the performances as much as I did with the predictable stories and cliches. Out of the more than ten different stories that are told here only one really caught me off guard, and if you`ve seen this movie then you probably know which one I am talking about.

The stories all take place in Los Angeles on Valentine`s Day. Reed (Ashton Kutcher) is a florist who wakes up next to his girlfriend Morley (Jessica Alba) and proposes to her. She says yes, and he goes to work excited on the busiest day of the year for him. His bestfriend is Julia (Jennifer Garner) who is having an affair with Dr. Harrison (Patrick Dempsey), although she really doesn`t know he is married. One of Julia`s students from school, Edison (Bryce Robinson) claims to be in love, and he lives with his grandparents Edgar (Hector Elizondo) and Estelle (Shirley MacLaine) who have been married for years and have been faithful to each other all their lives, or at least that was what Edgar thought. Since Edgar and Estella are going out on a date, Grace (Emma Roberts) is going to babysit Edison. She is planning on having sex for the first time with her High School sweetheart Alex (Carter Jenkins). Willy (Taylor Lautner), the School jock, gives Alex some advice. He is dating Felicia (Taylor Swift) and they are interviewed by a reporter who is covering a story about the most romantic day of the year. Kelvin (Jamie Foxx) is the sports reporter who is covering the story, but abandons it to cover the story on Sean Jackson (Eric Dane), a veteran QB who is giving a press conference about his next career move. That is where Kelvin meets his PR agent, Kara (Jessica Biel). Jason (Topher Grace) also wakes up next to his girlfriend Liz (Anne Hathaway) who he has just begun dating. Two strangers travel on a plane back to LA together: Holden (Bradley Cooper) and Captain Hazeltine (Julia Roberts).

As you can see the movie just tries to juggle all these different stories in a very short time and there is no room for character development. The actors don`t have enough screen time to build their characters or work any chemistry between them. The movie also is a bit long for a romantic comedy and by the end you are left expecting much more from this all star cast. The film had the potential to be great and I don`t know how they managed to get all these actors into the film with such a mediocre script. No matter what I say about this film you are probably going to see it anyway because there is a good chance one of your favorite actors is in this movie. I just wished they could`ve done more with such a great cast. Taking your date to this movie might end up being a much more expensive gift then you should of wished for.

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