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: Priest (2/10)

¨You would have made a good priest.¨

Cam Gigandet may have made a good priest, but Paul Bettany definitely didn’t. This was the wrong movie for him, the wrong story, and the wrong script. He should have learned his lesson after working with Scott Charles Stewart in Legion. After that fiasco, somehow both of them decided to team up again for Priest and they managed to make an even worse movie. Stewart`s career as a director seems to be going nowhere and he should stick with working in the visual arts department where he has had greater success. First time screenplay writer, Cory Goodman, wasn’t able to adapt a decent story from Min-Woo Hyung`s graphic novel of the same name. The dialogue in this film is just pathetic, and there are really few positive things I can say about this movie. Paul Bettany isn’t the type of guy you should cast as a leading actor for an action film. He is great in the supporting role or as a villain, but he isn’t the hero type. The post apocalyptic world created is really dark and has worked in the past with other similar movies, but it just didn’t feel real in Priest. From the very opening animation scene one could tell that Priest was heading into disaster territory. The visuals were ok, but the main problem was in the story itself. Fortunately Priest is less than 90 minutes long, thanks to the fact that the simple plot moves rather quickly. I don’t think I could have taken much more if it were longer.

The plot is surprisingly very simple for a post apocalyptic sci-fi futuristic film. Men and vampires have been in war for years and therefore Earth has been almost completely destroyed. Vampires began winning the war, but humans found hope in a secret weapon: priests. These priests were trained specifically to kill vampires, and they became experts in doing so. Priests singlehandedly won the war and the few surviving vampires were sent to outposts and were secluded. Once the war was over, the Church had no more need for priests so they made them live as ordinary citizens among the walled-in cities which were ruled by the Church. There are also some people who question the Church`s authority and they live in small towns outside the walled city. Paul Bettany plays a Priest who still has nightmares about the War with vampires and can`t seem to adapt to life inside the city wall. When he hears that his niece Lucy (Lily Collins), who lived with her parents outside the walled city, has been abducted by vampires he asks for the Church`s permission to hunt the vampires. Monsignor Orelas (Christopher Plummer) tells Priest that it is impossible that the vampires have escaped their prisons and therefore doesn’t give him authority to leave the city walls. Priest goes against those orders and is set to find Lucy along with the town Sheriff Hicks (Cam Gigandet) who was in love with her. Together they discover that the vampires have escaped their cells and are planning on attacking the city walls under the leadership of Black Hat (Karl Urban), an ex-priest who has become a vampire. Along the way they find an ally in Priestess (Maggie O) and together they try to put an end to the new vampire threat and save Lucy`s life before it is too late.

I am not familiar with the graphic novel so I can`t say how faithful this movie is to it, but what I can say is that the story is really weak and the dialogue in this film is terrible. The action scenes are ok, but we`ve seen them before. There is nothing fresh about this new apocalyptic world that Stewart is trying to create. The Book of Eli was a much better post apocalyptic film. It also helps to have someone like Denzel Washington as a lead actor. Paul Bettany isn`t the kind of actor you want to star in your action film. The rest of the cast was alright. Maggie O is good as a supporting character and so was Cam Gigandet. Karl Urban also delivers in his few scenes as the villain. The main problem wasn`t the acting, but the material these actors had to work with. Priest simply fails to deliver in so many ways and I guarantee this movie will end up in my list of worst movies of the year. This is a movie you will want to skip. There are plenty of other hunting vampire films that are much better than this one.

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