My Review: Million Dollar Arm (6/10)

"We might have to tweak that a little."

It had been a while since Disney had produced a sports movie but if you sat for the opening 10 minutes of Million Dollar Arm you could tell that the formula hasn't changed much for the genre over time. Everything about this film is predictable as it follows pretty much every cliché possible. Director, Craig Gillespie doesn't bother to change the successful formula  here so you see pretty much everything coming, but somehow Million Dollar Arm is still an enjoyable film that manages to pull at your heartstrings thanks to a solid cast. Gillespie's Lars and the Real Girl is perhaps still my favorite film of his and I wish he would have played a bit with the genre conventions like he did with the horror genre in Fright Night. I expected a lot more from the screenplay considering Thomas McCarthy's past works were superb (I am a huge fan of his previous screenplays for Win Win and The Visitor). Perhaps he didn't have the same creative liberties considering this was a Disney production and they are known for controlling various aspects of the process. The film was based on true events so the audience was already expecting an inspirational tale and it accomplishes it. There are several funny scenes that elevate the film and the scenes in Mumbai stand out as the movie shows the difference between both cultures. The portrayal of Indians is stereotypical but the humor works nonetheless and it's the highlight of the film. So despite being painfully predictable at times and a bit overlong, the scenes in India and the comedic performances were enough to turn this into an enjoyable experience. I may be a bit biased considering I love sports although I'm not a huge baseball fan, but it is nowhere near being this year's Moneyball. Disney's Remember the Titans continues to be their best sports drama. 

A lot of the success of the film relies on how much you like Jon Hamm, and I thought he gave a solid performance considering his character isn't entirely likable. He is very flawed as this sports agent who seems to be interested in looking out for his agency. Hamm pulls it off and I ended up routing for him. Hamm may not be the most engaging presence of the film, but he leaves that to the supporting cast who all give delightful performances. The Indians, Suraj Sharma (Pi from Life of Pi) and Madhur Mittal (Slumdog Millionaire), play the future baseball prospects who are recruited from the reality TV show that Hamm's character created in India. They are the people who we are routing for as an audience and they achieve the purpose. They bring the emotional aspect of the film. For the comedy, Gillespie recruited Alan Arkin and Bill Paxton who are always a sure bet. Without being exceptional they still managed to be funny. The funniest scenes however come from newcomer, Pitobash Tripathy, who was a fresh addition to an otherwise predictable film. Lake Bell is the only female character present in the film and she delivers a solid performance as well. Her chemistry with Jon Hamm also lifted this film from being a mediocre movie.

My Review: In A World...(7/10)

"This Wednesday, one woman will teach another woman to sound a little less retarded."

Lake Bell starred, directed, and wrote the screenplay for this quirky romantic comedy which doesn't follow the normal standards of a genre film and at times feels like it's all over the place, but the awkward and goofy humor really worked for me. The kind of humor in In a World isn't for everyone, but I had a blast because I have a similar weird sense of humor like this. Bell was great in this film and I really liked her goofy character, she was charming. I had a lot of fun with this story and enjoyed all the quirky characters, but despite all the goofiness the film does make a statement about sexism in the film industry. Perhaps it is a bit heavy handed in the way it hammers the issue over and over again but the satire of Hollywood and all the back stabbings involved in the business worked extremely well for me. This screwball comedy is a bit ambitious but it works thanks to some charming performances and a tender romantic backstory.

The film opens with a tribute to the now deceased Don LaFontaine (who was the king of movie trailer voice-overs) through archival interview footage. In the interview Don's close friend and also a voice-over artist, Sam Sotto (Fred Melamed), is sharing his memories with the legend who coined the phrase "in a world" at the beginning of most of the movie trailers he lent his voice to. The other person interviewed is Don's son, Gustav (Ken Marino), who has inherited his father's empire and follows his foot steps as well. Sam has also been mentoring Gustav who he considers to be the future of the voice-over world. We are then introduced to Sam's daughter, Carol (Lake Bell), who has been working as a voice coach for other actors helping them on their accents and dialects. Carol doesn't make enough money to live on her own so she moves in with her sister, Dani (Michaela Watkins) who is married with Moe (Rob Corddry). Her life turns around when she agrees to do a voice-over gig that a young shy kid named Louis (Demetri Martin) offers her. Louis runs a sound mixing studio along with Heners (Nick Offerman) named Sound Mix-A-Lot. Carol does her job so well that she quickly begins getting more offers and all of a sudden has become a threat in the male dominated voice-over profession, competing against her father and Don's son. 

Lake Bell is charismatic and her character has a lot of spark in this film which allows her to carry the movie despite being all over the place at times with different subplots. She is easy to route for in a male dominated world which she is about to interfere with. The story has many awkward moments which I found silly, but charming. She had great chemistry with Demetri Martin and their romantic story was more tender than what we usually see in a Hollywood rom-com. In a World is unbalanced at times, but the individual performances make each turn worth it. Nick Offerman and Rob Corddry were great in their secondary roles and they gave the film that extra spark that was needed. There were also some entertaining cameos. Lake Bell's solid work here leaves me interested in her upcoming projects because she has proved she has talent and a voice that should be heard.

My Review: It`s Complicated (6/10)

¨Here comes your ex-husband. Not the best time to be feeling groovy.¨

(6/10) As the title suggests this movie is complicated. It is a funny comedy that works in the most part thanks once again to Meryl Streep. The supporting cast is also good, Alec Baldwin is probably at his comedic best in the last couple of years thanks in most part to his role in 30 Rock, and then you have the always reliable Steve Martin, but who always stands out in the film is Meryl Streep. She won another award for her role in Julie and Julia this year, but she was also nominated for her performance in this movie. Every time she is on screen she is a critic favorite and she can turn an average movie into a good one just with her presence. The dialogue in this movie is not bad either, there are several clever jokes and laugh out loud moments. The director is the same person who brought us What Woman Want, The Holiday, and Something`s Got to Give; and this movie follows a similar comedic style. Nancy Meyers not only directed this film, but she wrote it as well. It`s Complicated is not a memorable movie, but it is entertaining and it does have some very funny moments. Fans of Streep will be pleased as always with her performance and she has several funny scenes like the pot smoking scene in the bathroom and the encounter via internet with her ex husband and her date in the bedroom. The movie has its moments but it isn`t anything we haven`t seen before.

Meryl Streep is Jane, a mother of three who has been divorced for almost 20 years. She has kept busy with her kids, but now they have all grown up and the youngest is about to leave for college so she will have the house all to herself. Her ex husband is Jake (played by Alec Baldwin) and he is remarried to a much younger woman called Agness (Lake Bell). Jake and Jane get along pretty well, but the audience can tell that she is still hurt by the entire situation and feels uncomfortable every time she runs in to Jake and Agness. Their son Luke (Hunter Parrish) is getting graduated from college so the entire family has to travel for the ceremony. Jane`s oldest daughter, Lauren (Caitlin Fitzgerald) is engaged to Harley (John Krasinski from The Office) and they are also reunited with the family. The youngest daughter is Gabby (Zoe Kazan) and they all decide to stay at a hotel near Luke´s College. The only person missing at the event is Agness and her restless little boy. Somehow Jane and Jake end up alone at the bar of the hotel, one thing leads to another and an affair between both of them begins. The plot gets more complex (and thus the title It´s Complicated) when Adam (Steve Martin) joins the picture. He is an architect who is in charge of Jane`s house rebuilding project.. He begins to fall for Jane and the two begin to date while she is conflicted between her affair with her ex husband. Adam at the same time is very jealous of Adam and wishes to win his ex wife back because things back home are not as good as they used to be. The plot continues to unravel from this point on leading to very funny situations combined with some drama.

Steve Martin played a much more normal character this time around and Alec Baldwin was the strange and funnier one. It is going to be fun to watch both of them host the Oscars this year. They are incredibly talented actors and of course Meryl Streep is the reason most people wanted to watch this movie. She attracts a much more mature audience so the comedy and dialogue is intelligent, but it also has enough silly scenes to attract younger audiences as well. The movie also has some family drama in it and the relationships are so complex that you are not really sure who you want Jane to stay with at the end. Love is more complicated than most romantic movies make it out to be, but this movie takes a much more realistic approach with a few exaggerations here and there. I don`t think this is a movie you will love and want to see several times, but it is a decent movie and one that will entertain you the first time around. I thought it was ok, but I won`t be watching it again anytime soon and I don`t think it is worthy of any nominations either. Streep is good as usual, but if she deserves a nomination this year it should be for her role in Julie and Julia where she was at the best of her game.