My Review: Warm Bodies (8/10)

¨You miss him…like a boyfriend…you miss your boyfriend? ¨

Jonathan Levine surprised me a couple of years ago with 50/50 and now he tries his luck on a very different genre in Warm Bodies. With the success of The Walking Dead television series the zombie genre is probably as popular as ever, but Levine does something different by turning things around. Instead of having us run away from the incoming brain eating zombies, he puts us inside their heads as we get to see things through a zombie´s point of view. The main character´s name is R and he is a zombie. We get to experience everything he is thinking as he narrates the film. This is probably what makes this film so fun and entertaining because we get to see this misunderstood zombie grunt and walk around so slowly while his mind processes things so quickly. Zombieland had already broken the predictability of the zombie genre by making fun of the premise, but Warm Bodies takes a different turn in that it makes the zombie one of the protagonists. These zombie eating villains might have a heart after all and we get to experience it in this romantic comedy. Nicholas Hoult, who is also the star of Jack the Giant Slayer, plays the leading zombie in a very funny way using a lot of physical comedy. The fact that he is given some very clever lines also helps this film. The screenplay was adapted by Levine himself from Isaac Marion´s novel and it is very loosely based on the Rome and Juliet story (the balcony scene pays homage to that Shakespearean play). Teresa Palmer plays his human love interest with whom she shares great chemistry. She is very talented and the two make this film work thanks to some very funny moments and a touch of romance. Warm Bodies is really well paced and has a little bit of everything, combining comedy with romance and action. It is probably my favorite film of the year so far.

In a near future zombies are now in the top of the food chain, and humans have been reduced to live inside closed walls. R (Nicholas Hoult) is a zombie living inside an airport with a bunch of other zombies. He seems to be a little tired of his daily routines which involve walking slowly around the airport, spending some time sitting around with his best friend M (Rob Corddry) just grunting at each other, and eventually going out to find something to eat. They have to eat, although they do feel guilty about it. R claims that eating a human brain is what makes them feel alive again as they can access the memories of that person. It is as close to feeling alive as they can ever get. One day they encounter a group of humans who are out looking for pharmaceutics. Julie (Teresa Palmer) is one of the members of the expedition along with her boyfriend, Perry (Dave Franco), and friend Nora (Analeigh Tipton). R ends up eating Perry and gets access to his memories. He ends up falling in love with Julie and decides to protect her from other zombies by spreading some blood over her face and asking her to remain still. R takes her to an abandoned plane inside the airport which he uses as his personal room full of items he collects including some records. R is a different kind of zombie, but this new connection he feels for Julie has made him feel more alive than ever. Not only R begins to feel alive again, but some of the other zombies seem to slowly be recovering their humanity. The problem is that Julie´s father, Grigio (John Malkovich), is the general behind the closed walls that is determined to exterminate all the zombies and they are running out of time.  

The film is perfectly well paced with some memorably funny and clever moments. The film is funny, romantic, and lots of fun. Levine seems to know his craft and he uses this well known genre as a sort of parable to how through all the new technology we seem to be living as zombies and losing real human connections with each other. This film reminds us of the power of human connection, but that is just one point that Levine tries to get across without seeming to preachy. The film has some very funny performances and some great moments as well. This isn’t a perfect film, and I probably enjoyed Zombieland a little more, but it definitely is a new spin on the zombie genre and it really worked for me. I have to give this movie a lot of credit for being so original and taking us inside the rotten mind of a brain eating zombie. Levine once again takes a huge risk here, but it really pays off nicely. One would never expect to be rooting for a lead character like this but you can´t help but sympathize for this guy. I had a great time with Warm Bodies!

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My Review: 50/50 (8/10)

¨A tumor? Me? That doesn't make any sense though. I mean... I don't smoke, I don't drink... I recycle.¨

50/50 was recently nominated for the Golden Globes in the Best Comedy category, and deservingly so, but it could`ve just as well been included in the Best Drama category because the movie manages to find a perfect balance between comedy and drama. 50/50 isn`t a hilarious movie, it really deals with some serious issues and it has its melodramatic moments, but it is difficult not to smile at this emotional movie. Director Jeremy Levine manages to put together a well crafted film that while at one moment has you holding out the tears, at the next has you laughing at the way some of these characters respond to the life threatening disease. It`s a very difficult film to direct, but Levine manages to make a great movie thanks to a good story, a smart script, and a great cast. This is Levine`s third film after debuting with the horror/comedy All the Boys Love Mandy Lane which I guess in a way was the beginning of this trademark for him in which he mixes up some genres. The script was perfect as well, managing the transitions from drama to comedy really well. Will Reiser actually wrote the script based on his personal life so I am sure this project was very personal for him, but it couldn’t have been done better by anyone else. Reiser was actually pushed to write the script by his friend Seth Rogen who actually plays the same part in the movie that he did in real life, since it was in Rogen that Reiser found the support to deal with the diagnosis.

Adam (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) is only 27 years old when his life completely turns around after being diagnosed with a rare cancer disease and only has a 50/50 chance of surviving. He seemed to have a perfect life working as a writer for a radio program, living with his beautiful girlfriend Rachael (Bryce Dallas Howard), and always counting on his High School buddy Kyle (Seth Rogen) for a fun time. The diagnosis changes his life although at first he tries to continue being his normal self. Rachael and Kyle both decide to support Adam in their unusual ways, and Adam begins seeing a young therapist named Katherine (Anna Kendrick) that the hospital has assigned to him to deal with the situation. She isn`t very experienced and is actually a pretty bad therapist, but does her best to try to help Adam. Rachael doesn’t even want to accompany Adam while he is in chemotherapy and only drops him off in the hospital entrance. Adam makes some new friends in the hospital during their therapy sessions together: Mitch (Matt Frewer) and Alan (Philip Baker Hall) and introduced them to Kyle as well. As Adam`s relationship with Rachael begins to deteriorate he finds more comfort in his friends and his therapist. Adam also grows closer to his overprotecting mother, Diane (Anjelica Huston), who already has a lot on her plate taking care of his sick father. The story is really well written and makes for an entertaining film and some memorable characters.

Joseph Gordon-Levitt is a great actor although sometimes he doesn’t get the recognition he deserves. He always chooses great characters and interesting roles to play. In 50/50 he is absolutely wonderful making his character very believable while responding to the terrible disease. Seth Rogen plays his usual self, although in this movie it makes sense that he does since he is actually playing himself and I am sure many of the things he says in the movie are really the things he said to Reiser in real life. Bryce Dallas Howard has to try to play a different role soon because she is being type cast into these sort of bad girlfriend roles. It would be good to see her play something other than being the villain. Anna Kendrick is great as always with her unique sense of humor, although she doesn’t shine as much as she did in Up in the Air, but of course she didn`t get enough screen time this time. Anjelica Huston is great as always. The cast really does a terrific job in this movie and I guess it`s because they had interesting characters to work with. The balance between the comedy and the drama is just perfect making this Levine`s best film by far. This movie has its similarities with another Seth Rogen film, Funny People, which I also liked, but I think 50/50 is much better crafted and balances the drama with the comedy much better than the previous movie (mainly because Funny People never really worked as well as a comedy, but 50/50 really does). I really enjoyed this movie and found the way it dealt with cancer and its characters was really well crafted. By all means don’t miss this great movie.

  

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