My Review: If I Stay (6/10)

"Isn't it amazing how life is one thing and then, in an instant it becomes something else."

If I stay is the latest film adapted from a YA novel, and even though this movie is in no way aimed towards an adult audience, it does have some moments that aren't as superficial as one would expect coming from this genre. Despite of all the cliches and the melodramatic scenes the story works thanks to Chloe Grace Moretz who is able to hold the film together and get us through all the corny moments. Her chemistry with Jamie Blackley on screen works, although in my opinion their moments together weren't actually the best scenes. When the film focused on the relationship with her parents was when I actually was drawn more to the story, and the few scenes she had with her grandfather, played by Stacy Keach, where the highlight of the film. There is actually a very emotional scene near the end where Keach gives a powerful speech which if were in a better film, critics would be talking about award consideration for his small performance here. Of course that won't be the case because we are talking about a YA novel adaptation filled with flaws. Chloe Grace Moretz gives an inspired performance as well and she is actually what holds this film together. She has four more films coming out this year so hopefully we will get plenty of more opportunities to see her shine in better films. She is an actress who has been in my radar since her role in Kick-Ass and I absolutely love her. The romantic part of the film which is the main attraction for young teenage girls is probably the weakest thing about If I stay considering it's full of cliches. The fact that both these characters are in to music helps out the film because the soundtrack stands out, but at times the romance feels like it's part of a music video clip with beautiful scenery and good looking people. If I Stay fails to break out from the genre conventions and the premise might be a bit far stretched to make much logical sense. It is also very manipulative and at times the scenes are basically introduced to force the audience to let out a couple tears. Having been released only a few months after The Fault in Our Stars also hurts this film because it doesn't handle the emotional scenes as well as that film did. Moretz and Keach are basically the only reason why I'm giving this film 3 stars. 

If I Stay was adapted from Gayle Forman's novel of the same name by Shauna Cross (known for Whip It and What to Expect When You're Expecting). Moretz is Mia, a talented cello player who catches the attention of Adam (Jamie Blackley), the rock star of her High School who is actually getting an important break with his band. Adam falls in love with Mia, the shy and quiet girl from school and they quickly begin a relationship. The love story is told through flashbacks as Mia is going through an out of body experience after she suffered a fatal car accident with her family. Her parents and younger brother are all killed in the accident and she is left in a coma. She must decide wether she continues to fight and stay or if she should let go now that her family is gone. How she is given the power to decide is never really mentioned in the film and doesn't make much sense, but we just have to accept it. The parents are perfect which makes the audience feel Mia's pain and loss. There isn't one scene where her parents look like real people because they are constantly portrayed as these cool and perfect parents. It is perhaps a flaw in this film, but I actually enjoyed the scenes they shared with Moretz. It is all pretty much a fantasy aiming to make the audience cry and feel sorry for Mia, but Moretz's grounded and natural performance elevates this otherwise poor film.

My Review: Stuck in Love (5/10)

"Your sister is a great writer, and it's because she is courageous in life."

Stuck in Love is one of those movies that is a bit difficult to review because there is little positive or negative things I can say about it. It is not great, but it is not bad either, it is just an average indie rom-com that never managed to get me emotionally involved with the characters. I was a bit disappointed because the trailer for this film looked so good. It made me think this was going to be similar to The Squid and the Whale since it dealt with writers and divorce; and it could have been similar with the only difference that the kids in this film were older. But the script wasn't nearly up to par with that film. Stuck in Love lacked that slick and edgy humor. There were some interesting moments thanks to a very likable and strong cast, but at the end this film felt like another formulaic Hollywood rom-com with everything fitting together too neatly during the final Thanksgiving dinner scene. This is Josh Boone's directorial debut and he had an impressive cast to work with, but ultimately his script was the weakest link here. It wasn't a terrible film, it managed to capture the several different dynamics of love through the very different characters and their love interests, but it was all uninspiring at times and predictable.

The film introduces us to a modern day American family of writers, the Borgens. William (Greg Kinnear) is a successful writer who has spent the last 3 years of his life waiting for his ex-wife, Erica (Jennifer Connelly) to return. She left him for a younger man, and he often stalks her hoping she will one day come back to him. Their oldest daughter, Samantha (Lily Collins) hasn't been able to forgive her for it. She hasn't spoken with her mother and doesn't believe in love or relationships. She is outgoing and likes to hook up with guys, but avoids any kind of relationship because she knows how devastating heartbreaks can be. She sees it every day in her father's moping face. She has just finished writing her first novel and is getting it published. Her younger brother, Rusty (Nat Wolff), is also an aspiring writer who also happens to be a huge Stephen King fan. He isn't very popular at school, but falls for the very beautiful and outgoing Kate (Liana Liberato). She seems out of his league, but she is also looking for someone different who could help her get out of trouble. Following his father's advice, Rusty decides to take risks and experience more of life and so he begins to pursue Kate. Samantha on the other hand is being pursued by a helpless romantic named Lou (Logan Lerman) who believes in true love and is also a writer. The film focuses on these various family dynamics and how each relationship begins shaping their lives.

Greg Kinnear gives a strong performance as usual, playing the caring father who can't seem to get over his ex-wife's abandonment. He hasn't been able to write since and therefor can't move on with his life. He has a casual relationship with his married neighbor played by Kristen Bell, but the film really doesn't focus much on her character. Jennifer Connelly doesn't have much screen time either as her major concern deals with her trying to reestablish her relationship with her estranged daughter. The central characters are actually the young kids who surprised me with very strong performances. Lily Collins is very likable in her role here and you can't help but root for her and her love interest, Logan Lerman. They looked cute together. Collins plays Jennifer Connelly's daughter here and it is surprising how much they really lookalike. I had to check if they weren't actually related in real life. Despite their great performances, I thought the true standout here was Nat Wolff. He plays the insecure kid who is willing to take risks in order to conquer the girl of his dreams. There are some great moments in this film, but the uneven script cost this film and ultimately it just felt like another forgettable Hollywood rom-com.

My Review: Trespass (2/10)

¨Run, Avery, run¨

That is the same recommendation I`m making to the audience: Run away from this movie as fast as you can, because it is really terrible, one of the worst heist films I`ve seen in years, with the dumbest thieves in film history. The further the movie continues to go with its revelations, the worse it gets. It gave me a really bad headache because there is so much screaming and crying going on. At first I thought this would be an interesting movie considering it starred Nicolas Cage (although he can`t be too reliable lately) and Nicole Kidman, but I couldn`t understand how I had never heard about this movie or seen it screen in theaters. Then after the movie was over, I kind of figured it out; and later I read that the movie was only in theaters for 10 days breaking the record for being the fastest ever to go directly from theaters to home video. It was available in DVD 18 days after the film had been released in theaters. Why? Because it is really that bad. Trespass cost an estimated 35 million dollars to be made, and it grossed less than 25 thousand dollars. This is probably something that director Joel Schumacher won’t be proud of. I think the last film that he directed which I actually enjoyed was Phone Booth way back in 2002. He seems to be in a bad streak recently. Karl Gajdusek was the man responsible for the terrible script, and the story is probably the worst part of the entire film.

Kyle Miller (Nicolas Cage) seems to be a successful diamond salesman. He lives in a big and highly secured house, drives a fancy sports car, and has a beautiful wife, Sarah (Nicole Kidman), and a teenage daughter, Avery (Liana Liberato), who is going through her typical rebellious state. Things seem a little shaky at home since Kyle has to travel so much and Sarah spends a lot of time on her own, and she doesn`t like the fact that her daughter Avery is spending so much time with Kendra, who she considers a bad influence. Avery wants to go to a party with her, and her parents say no but she escapes anyway. That night a group of officers show up at the house asking if everyone is at home because a series a kidnappings have been reported. Kyle and Sarah are convinced Avery is with them so assume nothing is wrong, but when they go to speak to the officers they invade their home and begin searching the home for diamonds. The thieves are played by Cam Gigandet, Jordana Spiro, Ben Mendelsohn, and Dash Mihok. They are extremely aggressive and heavily armed, but Kyle isn`t willing to open the safe so things begin to get out of hand. There is a lot of threatening and screaming going on, but that is about it. The thieves also seem to have some secret agendas of their own, but I don`t want to spoil the movie with all its revelations and ¨twists, ¨ so that is about all I`m going to reveal about the plot.

Trespass had an interesting beginning, but once the home invasion takes place and the thieves begin to threaten and keep on threatening without getting anything out of it the movie begins to go downhill from there. There inside the house with the family held hostage and they can`t manage to get anything done. All they do is yell, threaten, and scream, but make one stupid decision after another. Nicolas Cage`s character was also very unlikeable, and after everything that was going on I could really care less is his family survived or not. This was probably one of the worst home invasion thrillers I`ve seen, and that is too bad considering there were some talented actors involved in the project. Halfway through the movie a series of revelations are made about the family and the thieves, one worse than the next. Trespass seems to go downhill from that point on, and all you want to do thirty minutes into the film is run away from the chaotic script. It`s a shame because Nicolas Cage used to be one of my favorite action heroes, especially during the 90`s with Face/Off being the highlight of his career in my opinion, but recently in the last decade he has made a lot of poor choices and it will be a pity if people remember him for these roles instead of his other greater films.

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