What's Eating Gilbert Grape (8/10): A classic family drama with touching performances.

“I want Momma to take aerobics classes. I want Ellen to grow up. I want a new brain for Arnie. I want…”

Looking back at Leonardo DiCaprio’s filmography I’m constantly reminded what a great actor he is. In What’s Eating Gilbert Grape, he plays a seventeen year old mentally ill kid in such a natural way that if I didn’t know this was Leo I would’ve believed the actor playing Arnie was really mentally ill. This is probably one of his standout performances and is one of the highlights of this emotionally gripping family drama. However he is just a supporting character in this film as the title character is played by Johnny Depp, Arnie’s older brother who is always taking care of him and the rest of the family. Gilbert’s father has abandoned them and ever since he has been the male role model for the family in the small community where they live. He not only takes care of Arnie, he also has to provide for the family by working in a small local supermarket. He is ashamed of his obese mother (Darlene Cates), who simply stopped caring about her beautiful body after her husband abandoned her. Gilbert also has two sisters who help out with the family chores, Amy (Laura Harrington) and Ellen (Mary Kate Schellhardt). The responsibility Gilbert feels towards his family has taken its toll on him and explains why he seems to be half asleep all the time. He has no time for accomplishing any personal goals or dreams and spends his few free minutes with his local friends, Tucker (John C. Reilly) and Bobby (Crispin Glover). Things take an unexpected turn when Becky (Juliette Lewis) arrives in town and the two form a special bond together. What’s Eating Gilbert Grape is an emotionally gripping family drama that works thanks to the strong performances from the cast and a fantastically well written script by Peter Hedges. The film avoids feeling cliche or melodramatic and I found it to be an honest story. Lasse Hallstrom has been accused of being overly melodramatic at times, but I think that the director avoided much of those moments here thanks in most part to a well written script.

Leonardo DiCaprio gives the best performance of the film, but Johnny Depp also delivers in a very subtle way. His character doesn’t seem to say much, but the way he simply moves and speaks says a lot about him. He knows he isn’t getting anywhere in life and feels stuck in this small town, but at the same time he has responsibilities and knows that his family relies on him to survive. He is trapped in a prison he can’t get out of. He cares deeply for his family, but at the same time he resents them and it seems they have become a burden for him. The way he approaches the character is fascinating because he doesn’t have to say or do anything for us to understand how he feels. We can easily identify and sympathize for his character. The chemistry he shares with Lewis is also strong. She is in some ways the opposite of him. She is free spirited and has travelled across several states. She doesn’t have many responsibilities, and the two end up complementing each other quite well. Their relationship might not be the central theme of the movie, but it does lighten up the mood a bit. Reilly is always funny on screen and despite playing a more serious character he still delivers his usual quirky silliness to the role. All these small relationships are the central theme of the movie and the brotherhood between Depp and DiCaprio stands out above them all. I enjoyed this family drama and I’m glad I finally got a chance to watch it.  

Hellion (5/10): Watchable despite lacking originality and subtlety.

“What are you troublemakers up to?

Based on Kat Candler’s own short film, Hellion is a movie that tries to explore the life of a thirteen year old boy named Jacob (Josh Wiggins) who has recently lost his mother, and to make things worse his father (Aaron Paul) has been emotionally absent while drowning himself in booze. It is no surprise that Jacob has been expressing his rebellion by participating in several acts of vandalism along with his neighborhood friends. When word gets out that his little brother, Wes (Deke Garner), is being dragged into this lifestyle, CPS places him in the care of their Aunt Pam (Juliette Lewis). Hollis loves his children, but he is still hurting for the loss of their mother and when he realizes that he is also losing his children he tries to change, but the focus of the film is on Jacob who thinks he can make things right by winning a local dirt bike competition. This is a coming of age film that tries to portray the family dynamics in an authentic way, but it never fully avoids the genre cliches. Hellion lacks some subtlety, but it benefits from a strong lead performance from Josh Wiggins. Besides directing, Candler wrote the screenplay for this film in which she has no intention of shining a light on the innocence of this kid, but rather portraying him as a victim of his circumstance due to the neglect of his father. Somehow the film failed to connect with me and I wouldn’t recommend it over other brilliant coming of age films. Clocking at just under 100 minutes the pacing of the film does seem to be a problem as well and many scenes could’ve been cut out of the movie. We are repeatedly batted over the head with Jacob’s rebellious behavior and it got a bit tiresome after a while. The soundtrack consists of mostly heavy metal tracks which both Jacob and his father like to indulge in while at home. The story takes place in a small southern Texas town which is gorgeously captured by Brett Pawlak’s shaky cameras. Unfortunately everything that Hellion tries to say has been said before in other better films.

What Hellion has going for it are the strong performances. Josh Wiggins is outstanding as the lead character in the film. It is hard to get a good performance from young teen actors at times, but Wiggins is a natural and he delivers an authentic portrayal of a troubled teen who is struggling to understand why the world has turned its back on him. Deke Garner plays his younger brother in a subtle manner. He is mostly a sponge that tries to absorb what the people around him say to him. Garner had worked with Candler in the short which this film is based on. Imagine if Aaron Paul’s character from Breaking Bad would’ve been rehabilitated after finding a lovely wife and having two children with her. Later he loses his wife and falls in despair all over again, but instead of drowning his sorrows in drugs he does so with booze. Paul is playing this character full of anger once again who doesn’t seem to know how to raise his children on his own. It was refreshing to see Juliette Lewis playing a normal role and trying to be a good role model for her nephews. This is Josh Wiggins movie and he elevates the material in such a way that he makes this a watchable experience despite lacking originality and subtlety.

My Review: August: Osage County (5/10)

"I thought we were having a funeral dinner not a cockfight."

Based on Tracy Letts' Pulitzer winning play of the same name, August: Osage County is a dark comedy about a dysfunctional family that are reunited for their father's funeral and several secrets are revealed along the way. This is director John Wells' follow up to his 2010 film The Company Men, with Letts adapting the screenplay of his own play. Add a very talented cast to the mix and you have all the right elements for a successful film, but somehow it failed to engage me. The characters in this film are so unlikable and they treat each other so terribly that I just found this film hard to enjoy. This is one family I would like to stay as far away as possible, and therefor I never felt comfortable watching this. This is an extremely verbally violent film which proves the point that words can hit harder than stones. August Osage County does have several positive things going for it beginning with some terrific performances from Meryl Streep and Julia Roberts. It also has a very witty and sharp screenplay as several secrets revealed along the way come as a surprise. It is a powerful film, but one that I never felt comfortable watching due to the fact I despised the way these characters treated each other. It was a depressing film, much like Lett's previous adapted play, Killer Joe. Despite having some fun moments I still felt like I'd be better off keeping away from this depressing story.

The film opens with Beverly (Sam Shepard) interviewing a young Native American woman named Johnna (Misty Upham) for a position as a live-in maid. He tells her about his wife Violet (Meryl Streep) who has been diagnosed with cancer and her addiction to pills. He and his wife have made an agreement, he doesn't say anything to him about her addiction and she doesn't bother him for being an alcoholic. It's just the way they deal with each other and their problems. Violet interrupts the interview and seems disturbed because she doesn't think she needs anyone taking care after her. Several days later it appears that Beverly has gone missing. The first to arrive at Violet's home providing support are her daughter Ivy (Julianne Nicholson), her sister Mattie Fae (Margo Martindale) and Fae's husband Charlie (Chris Cooper). Violet spends most of her time drinking pills and criticizing her family, especially Ivy for still being single. Violet's oldest daughter, Barbara (Julia Roberts) arrives with her husband Bill (Ewan McGregor) and their fourteen year old daughter Jean (Abigail Breslin) just around the moment that they discover Beverly's boat is missing. Later that afternoon, the local sheriff arrives and announces they have found Beverly's body, saying that he committed suicide and drowned himself. Several days later the funeral is held and the rest of Violet's family arrives, including her other daughter, Karen (Juliette Lewis) with her fiancé Steve (Dermot Mulroney) . The stage is set as they gather together for diner after the service and chaos ensues as secrets are revealed and horrible things are said to each other.

Meryl Streep may have just played her meanest role to date. She is a paranoid and dysfunctional woman who clearly has affected her children in the way she raised them. Julia Roberts also holds her own against Streep as they share some very powerful scenes together. The dialogue is witty and funny at times, while revealing some surprises along the way, but it's just the way these people treat each other that makes you want to stay away from them. The performance from the entire cast was above par, and the film succeeds in portraying them as these despicable and hateful people. Benedict Cumberbatch and Chris Cooper being both perhaps the most sympathetic characters in the film, although they do have their flaws as well. Despite all the strong performances I do believe Roberts and Streep steal each scene they are in. They deserve all the recognition they've been receiving, but I just had a hard time watching this movie and getting through the entire thing. This is one of those stories that seem to have worked better as a play than in the big screen.

My Review: The Switch (7/10)

¨It`s complicated, it`s messy, it`s about horrible timing, and fumbled opportunities, and not being able to say what you need to say when you need to say it. At least, that`s the way it was for me.¨

The last film that Josh Gordon and Will Speck had directed together was the sport comedy Blades of Glory staring Will Ferrell and Jon Heder. The Switch is a very different type of comedy, it`s a romantic one which perhaps was marketed in the wrong way. Like any other romantic comedy it is very predictable, but I found it very entertaining and fresh at the same time. I think the main problem is that they marketed The Switch with Jennifer Aniston as the leading character, and although she is one of the leads she is perhaps the least entertaining one of the movie. Jason Bateman is the true star of the movie and this is the role he is perfect for as the kind of pessimistic likeable character. The kid, Thomas Robinson, is also great in this movie and I think his relationship with Bateman`s character is the central part of this movie and what makes this romantic comedy work. I was more interested in the relationship between Bateman and Robinson than the actual romantic love story. The dialogue in the movie was also pretty good. Allan Loeb did a much better job with this script than he did with either of his two 2011 films (Just Go With It and The Dilemma). Loeb did have a lot of help considering he adapted the screenplay from Jeffrey Eugenides`s short story ¨Baster.¨ I expected The Switch to be just another chick flick, but I ended up enjoying it  a lot more thanks to the performances from Bateman and Robinson.

Wally Mars (Jason Bateman) and Kassie Larson (Jennifer Aniston) have been best friends for a long time. They used to date in the past, but that was a long time ago and Kassie decided Wally was more of a friend type of guy. They`ve had a great relationship over the years, but Kassie realizes that time has gone by rather quickly and that the moment to have a baby is now. She is not willing to wait any longer for the right person to come along; it is time to be a mother, and the only way to do so at the moment is through artificial insemination. Kassie`s friend, Debbie (Juliette Lewis) decides to throw her an artificial insemination party once she has chosen Roland (Patrick Wilson) as the sperm donor. At the party Wally gets drunk and when he goes to use the bathroom he finds the sperm and accidently dumps it while playing around with the sample. Wally replaces the lost sperm with his own, although he is way too wasted to remember what went on. His manager and friend, Leonard (Jeff Goldblum) reminds him about everything he had done once he got home, but Wally has no recollection of what went on. Kassie becomes pregnant and decides that New York isn’t the place to raise a child so she tells Wally she is moving back home. Wally never tells Kassie his feelings for her, because he himself isn’t sure about them. Seven years go by and Wally receives a call from Kassie that she is returning to New York with her young son Sebastian (Thomas Robinson). Sebastian is very similar to Wally and thus the comedy begins and the plot thickens.

The relationship between Sebastian and Wally is the true highlight of the film. Robinson proved in his film debut that he can act better than pretty much any other child actor. He was really captivating and believable in his role. Bateman also was great in his role as he began to realize that he had a sort of special connection with this kid. The chemistry between them was for more believable than the one he had with Aniston. Aniston played her usual self; she did a decent job although her role wasn’t very memorable at all. The two supporting characters in this movie were great: Jeff Goldblum and Juliette Lewis both played really funny characters and delivered some of the funniest lines in the film. I really loved the performances and actually enjoyed this movie more than I had anticipated. The Switch worked thanks to these special performances and moments that the movie had; it allowed me to see beyond the typical and predictable love story that so many romantic comedies have grown us accustomed too. So considering all I`ve said I`m going to recommend The Switch although I admit it is very predictable at times and there is no doubt whatsoever as to what direction the movie is going to take. If you don’t have any problem with that then you might enjoy The Switch as much as I did.

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My Review: Due Date (4/10)

¨My father loved coffee, and now we loved him as coffee.¨

Todd Phillips is the man responsible for directing The Hangover, one of my favorite comedies of the decade. He`s also directed some other funny movies like Old School and is currently working on the sequel for The Hangover. However his latest film, Due Date, was hugely disappointing. Robert Downey Jr. and Zach Galifianakis are among today`s best comedic actors, but they were badly miscast in this film. The biggest mistake was the approach this road trip/comedy took because the lead characters were immensely annoying and very unlikeable. Robert Downey Jr. `s character is really mean spirited and hateful. He yells at people all the time, easily losses his temper, hits kids, spits at dogs, and even fights with a guy in a wheelchair. It’s impossible to sympathize with him even if he`s Robert Downey Jr. Zach Galifianakis on the other hand has to play the typical annoying character, but he hugely exaggerates it in his approach. He`s really annoying and not someone you actually feel sorry for or could wish the best for him. He`s just way too immature and a little too crazy. It’s impossible in this genre to avoid comparisons with Hughes` 1987 film: Plain, Trains, & Automobiles, one of the all time best road trip comedies. Phillips could have learned several lessons from that movie before directing Due Date. Steve Martin`s character is in no way as mean or hurtful as Downey was, and Candy might have been annoying, but he was still a likeable guy who made you feel sorry for him, unlike Galifianakis. There are really very few funny moments in this comedy (and the best were already shown in the trailer). Due Date relies too heavily on pot jokes, foul language, and masturbating dogs; and it has no heart.

The story is actually not very different from any other road trip comedy. Peter Highman (Robert Downey Jr.) is an architect and expectant father from Los Angeles who happens to be working in Atlanta. He is trying to make it home on time for the birth of his son/daughter because his wife, Sarah (Michelle Monoghan) is expecting him to show up at the hospital, but an unexpected problem surfaces when Peter has a discussion with one of the passengers of the plane, Ethan Tremblay (Zach Galifianakis), and both end up on the no flying list. Peter is forced to travel to LA in a rental car along with Ethan because he left his wallet with money and documents on the plane. As much as Peter seems to despise Ethan he decides to travel with him and their troubles begin. Ethan is not the person with whom you`d want to travel with on the road from coast to coast across the States, much less when he also carries around a masturbating dog with him that believes he`s human. Along their journey we meet some other characters like Heidi (Juliette Lewis) the drug dealer, Lonnie (Danny McBride) an ex War veteran working at Western Union, and Darryl (Jamie Foxx) a long time friend of Peter and Sarah. Neither of the supporting characters have enough screen time to make their performances any memorable although some of the funniest scenes revolve around them.

Whatever Todd Phillips did right in The Hangover, he failed to do so with Due Date. There are very few laughs, and there are characters we can`t sympathize with despite the fact that the actors are hugely talented. I can`t even imagine how these two films were directed by the same guy, but I hope he redeems himself with The Hangover sequel. Due Date is a forgettable comedy and a really mean spirited film. Phillips goes a little too over the top in his approach to this road trip comedy. Perhaps the best and funniest moments of the film come from the individual performances of the actors, like the scene where Galifianakis begins to act out a scene from The Godfather. There is also a SNL like moment in the scene at Western Union between Danny McBride and Robert Downey Jr. It`s a funny scene, but if that`s one of the highlights of the film I`d rather watch a full episode of SNL. The truth of the matter is that the movie fails because the audience is unable to connect or find sympathy with any of the characters. There is not one likeable person in this film and that makes us care less whether or not Peter and Ethan make it to Los Angeles on time together. Skip this film and watch Planes, Trains, & Automobiles instead because that is how you make a hilarious road trip movie with likeable and memorable characters.

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My Review: Whip It (8/10)

¨The last time I wore skates, they had Barbies on them.¨

The last time I watched a movie about skating was probably when Emilio Estevez was coaching the Ducks, and that was perhaps the last time I wore my skates as well. No matter how long it has been, this movie will leave you wanting to go out and skate all over again. Whip It is Drew Barrymore`s directorial debut and she has crafted a very original and fun movie mixing sports with family drama. It also has to do with searching for what you enjoy in life and following your dreams. All familiar subjects in movies, but that combine very well with a sport most of us have never heard of: Roller Derby, which gives this a unique and original look. This film is actually better than most other movies Drew Barrymore has acted in. Shauna Cross wrote the novel and screenplay for this movie and it is actually based on her life since she was a former roller derby skater for the Los Angeles Derby Dolls. Most of the characters in this film are actually real life skaters, Cross`s alter ego name in the rink was Maggie Mayhem which is a character in this film. Other characters based on real life derby skaters were Iron Maven and Krissy Krash, who actually have a role in this film as the Monson sisters. The coach of the Dolls was also based on a real life Skate coach named Brian Gallagher although his name is changed to Razor in the movie. Before this movie, I had no idea that roller derby was a sport, but after seeing it I discovered a new favorite sport of mine.

The film takes place in a small town in Texas named Booden where Bliss (Ellen Page from Juno) lives with her parents Earl (Daniel Stern from the Home Alone movies) who is a huge sports fan and Brooke (Marcia Gay Harden from Mystic River) who is very feminist and loves beauty pageants. Bliss is tired of life in this small town and is always forced by her mother to participate in Beauty Pageants along with her little sister who enjoys it much more than she does. Bliss feels misfit in this place and the only person who understands her is her best friend Pash (Alia Shawkat from the Arrested Development series) who also dreams of getting out of Booden. They work together as waitresses in a small restaurant where most of the clients are old people who are driving by. One day Bliss`s life will change when she goes shopping to Austin and runs into three girls who leave some flyers about a roller derby tournament in the store. Bliss picks one up and is immediately drawn to the event and she forces Pash to come along with her without letting her parents know what they are up to. Once they return to Austin, Bliss is introduced to the Derby world where an exhibition from the players takes place and we are introduced to the game. Here Bliss meets some of the players such as Iron Maven (Juliette Lewis from Natural Born Killers), Rosa Sparks (Eve from The Barbershop), Bloody Holly (Zoe Bell a famous stunt double), Maggie Mayhem (Kristen Wiig from Adventureland and SNL), and Smashley Simpson (Drew Barrymore). They invite Bliss to come back for tryouts and she discovers her new passion. She meets the team`s coach, Razor (Andrew Wilson, Owen and Luke`s older brother) who is very passionate about the sport and he decides to include her in the squad. Bliss finds true happiness in this new world where she makes new friends and even falls in love with a young rocker named Oliver (Landon Pigg). Bliss will have to learn how to keep this new life a secret from her parents because she knows they won`t approve it. Jimmy Fallon also has a supporting role in this film as the Derby commentator Johnny Rocket and is very funny in this movie as well.

I really enjoyed this movie and was entertained from the very beginning to the final credits. I really love Ellen Page and think she is one of the best young actresses in the industry. She is great in this movie once again and she counted with a very talented cast as well. Andrew Wilson, Jimmy Fallon, and Daniel Stern were extremely funny. Julliete Lewis is such a great actress and she is really one of the surprises of this movie. It has been a while since I`ve seen her have a good role and I hope this movie helps her get better offers because she is extremely talented. Kristen Wiig is also great and she stands out once again like she did in Adventureland. She is perhaps one of the funniest actresses to come out of SNL in recent years. Whip It combines comedy with drama very well and I wish more people had a chance to watch this movie. I agree that it is very formulaic, but the Roller Derby brings something new to the film that we haven`t seen before. I have to congratulate Drew Barrymore because she did a great job with the direction of this, her first feature film as a director. Whip It is a lot of fun and I recommend this movie!