Jeff, Who Lives at Home (5/10): Overly sentimental and preachy with a conveniently forced climax

“Stay pure of heart and you will see the signs. Follow the signs, and you will uncover your destiny.”

And with that opening title card we basically get what this film is all about: a 30 year old man living in his mother’s basement awaiting for a specific sign to discover his destiny while he sits back in his couch smoking weed. This was the Duplass brothers fourth feature film working together as directors, although with a much bigger budget this time around which enabled them to hire well known actors. Their screenplay has its sweet and funny moments, but you can’t help but feel the familiarity of the story. For a film centering on looking for signs and following them, this movie does so in a very predictable and obvious way with stereotypical characters. Jeff, Who Lives at Home also manages to wrap things up in a neat and convenient way so I really didn’t find anything about the story very unique or interesting. As a fan of Shyamalan’s Signs I did enjoy the references Jeff makes towards it and how it basically dictates his own personal life, but I was expecting some surprises along the way.

In the very first scene of the movie we are introduced to Jeff (Jason Segel) and in only a few seconds we know exactly what kind of person he is. He is a man child who hasn’t quite figured out what to do with his life, but he doesn’t seem too worried about it either. He is waiting for the signs to point him to his destiny. When he receives a phone call of someone asking for Kevin he immediately takes it as a sign that he should search for a Kevin instead of just discarding it as a misdialed call. A few minutes later he receives another call, but this time it’s his mother, Sharon (Susan Sarandon), who is calling him from her office and asking him to go to Home Depot to fix something in the house. Sharon is worried about Jeff, and she wants him to get on track with his life. She asks his brother, Pat (Ed Helms), to encourage him, but he is going through some marital problems with his wife Linda (Judy Greer). Pat isn’t the ideal husband and he doesn’t even consider asking Linda for advice when it comes to big decisions such as buying a brand new Porsche. This of course brings friction to their relationship. On his way to the Home Depot, Jeff sees a young teen wearing a jersey with the name Kevin on the back, so of course he takes it as a sign and follows him. These signs inadvertently lead him to the exact place where his brother Pat is and while the two are catching up they discover Linda is with another man. Could this be the reason why Jeff has been led to his brother? To help him discover if his wife is cheating on him? From this point on a series of casualties ensue.

The film relies on the strong chemistry between Segel and Helms, two very talented and funny actors. They both play characters they’re very familiar and comfortable playing, Segel the childish and naive slacker son, Helms the uptight and career driven husband. The highlight of the film is watching these two great actors interact with each other despite all the schmaltz. The subplot revolving around Susan Sarandon’s character and her secret admirer didn’t really tie up to the story and only seemed to serve as a filler for the feature length time. Judy Greer is also comfortable in her role here, but she doesn’t really get much to do here other than be the victim who her husband never really listens to. Despite some scattered funny moments which can be mostly attributed to the talented cast, the ending felt way too sappy and convenient and ultimately hindered my appreciation of the film. It simply tried to force the underlying message of the movie of destiny and it only added to the overall sentimentality of the film. The cinematography was also distracting at times with too many quick zoom-ins on the characters faces.

The One I Love (7/10): Duplass delivers a unique premise once again

"You can't buy a gorilla."

   

I avoided all commentaries and trailers of this film because I had heard the less you know about it, the better. The high rating that critics were giving The One I Love was what attracted me to it, and I took their advice of trying to stay away from any further comments. That is perhaps one of the reasons why I was able to enjoy the twist in this romantic tale of a struggling couple who are trying to save their marriage. My review will be spoiler free because I want everyone to experience it kind of like in the same way I did. The premise might seem like a simple one, but the truth of the matter is that it is inventive. This is the feature directorial debut from Charlie McDowell who delivers a solid film, and it is also the first screenplay written by Justin Lader which explores marriage in a rather inventive and engaging way. 

I felt like The One I Love explored these issues of marriage in a similar way to what Gone Girl did (although without the thrills) in that we sometimes tend to idealize our partner in a relationship. Perhaps it has to do with how love and marriage is sold in our society as something we receive rather than on something we give. Love isn’t just about what my partner could do for me, and that leads us to idealize what we want that other person to be like instead of accepting him or her for who he or she is. We expect each other to fulfill a certain role in marriage and sometimes that leads to a false idealization. The exploration of love and marriage in this film makes us think about these issues by introducing an inventive concept which may work for some, but turn others off. It worked for me better conceptually than how it was executed. I did find some problems with the narrative in the way some things were explained, but I can’t get into those issues because I’d have to spoil the film in order to do so. But there is one particular scene that takes place in a room involving a computer that sort of felt misplaced. However as a relationship drama the film does succeed by making you think of certain issues and it will have you discussing several scenes with your spouse or friends after the movie is over. It was a very satisfying experience for me and I did enjoy the ending.

The performances in this film are great. It centers almost entirely on the performances from Elisabeth Moss and Mark Duplass. Ted Danson has a small role in the beginning of the film, but from then on the chemistry between the two lead roles is the basis of the movie. Elisabeth Moss and Mark Duplass give impressive performances here which feel authentic. They feel like a real married couple and the tension between them during this moment of crisis is authentic without being melodramatic. The setup is believable which is a must for a film that is exploring love and marriage. It is an artful and funny film. Duplass is known for starring in these unique films, but I enjoyed this a little less than I did Safety Not Guaranteed and Your Sister’s Sister. It’s still a very refreshing film which does tackle the issues of intimacy and marriage pretty well. 

My Review: Parkland (7/10)

¨It's the first time that the secret service has lost a president under its watch.¨

I'm actually surprised I enjoyed this film so much considering the bad reviews it has been receiving and my lack of knowledge on the historical details about the assassination of John F Kennedy. There have been many films made about this specific event, but very few have taken this approach where you get to experience things through the eyes of secondary characters and people behind the scenes like the Parkland medical staff that had to attend the president, or Oswald's brother who is shocked to hear his brother has shot the president. The apparently small scaled moments of this tragic event (like how the medical staff decide to keep the president's boxers on during surgery to preserve his dignity, or the urgency with which the Secret Service agents were trying to get a film of the assassination developed, or how Robert Oswald reacts when he hears that his brother is the prime suspect of the murder) are what truly make this film gripping and unique. The film has its flaws such as failing to have narrative cohesion and the characters are underdeveloped at times, but I think it worked really well considering everything happened so fast and these people had to make split second decisions. The overall feeling of chaos and messiness of the events that took place really transcend here as everything happens so fast and the film is reduced to a length of merely 90 minutes. The film follows a semi documentary style that totally works because you can feel the tension and urgency with which they had to deal with during such a catastrophic event. Parkland is Peter Landesman's first feature film and somehow the movie touched me in a way that apparently hasn't touched most audiences or critics. I didn't expect to like this film as much as I did, but I really felt engaged from the very opening scenes up to the very end. It doesn't offer new insight to a popular historical event, but it does tell the story differently. As we approach the 50th anniversary of Kennedy's death this might be a movie worth checking out (just don't go into it thinking you are going to get another Oliver Stone JFK). The film's strongest strength relies on this sense of urgency and how it depicts the events in real time as everyone had to make life changing decisions in a matter of seconds. But it also seems to be its weakness as many consider it to be a little too over the place and chaotic with little cohesiveness.

The film follows the tragic events that occurred in Dallas, Texas on November 22, 1963 involving the assassination of President John F Kennedy. The story focuses on the perspective of the people in the sidelines that witnessed the event first hand like the medical staff in Parkland Hospital that were there that tragic day. Young Doctor Jim Carrico (Zac Efron) was the resident doctor that day in Parkland, and some of the nurses that were there to assist him were Nurse Doris (Marcia Gay Harden) and the emergency room nurse played by Mallory Moye. We get another perspective of that day through the eyes of a small businessman named Abraham Zapruder (Paul Giamatti), who happened to capture the assassination on his Super 8 camera. We also see things through the eyes of Dallas's chief of the Secret Service, Forrest Sorrels (Billy Bob Thornton), an FBI agent named James Hosty (Ron Livingston) who was investigating Lee Harvey Oswald (Jeremy Strong), and Lee Harvey's brother Robert (James Badge Dale) and mother (Jacki Weaver) who react differently to the news about the murder. All these different perspectives are weaved together giving us an engaging film and different insight into what was going on. Tom Welling, Mark Duplass, Colin Hanks, Jackie Earle Haley, and Kat Steffens all play secondary characters in this star studded cast. 

There were some strong performances in this film although not really Oscar worthy. I specially liked James Badge Dale in this film who gives a quiet but brave performance, while Paul Giamatti rings true with his emotional performance as he has to deal with the pain of viewing the horrific event he captured on camera. The rest of the cast didn't really stand out considering they all had very little screen time, but it was good to see some of these talented actors working together. Jacki Weaver is a talented actress and she proves it once again in this small role. The cast is solid and the script is also pretty engaging. I was glad everything was depicted so fast and that the film didn't run too long.

My Review: Zero Dark Thirty (9/10)

¨I’m going to smoke everyone involved in the op and then I’m going to kill Osama bin Laden.¨

The passion, determination, and single-minded pursuit of a female CIA operative to hunt down and kill Osama bin Laden was the film that the Academy Award winning writer and director decided to pursue after their success in The Hurt Locker. Zero Dark Thirty is so intense and suspenseful that you just want Kathryn Bigelow and Mark Boal to continue working together forever. They make other modern war films look really bad when held up to the standards of their recent work together. Bigelow has developed such a craft and expertise as a filmmaker that during some moments of the film (especially the final 25 minute raid) you feel like you are watching a documentary of actual footage of the manhunt instead of a fictional film. She is as passionate about her work as her lead character is obsessed with hunting down this man. We can’t argue that Bigelow benefits from Boal’s extraordinary script, which manages to reduce a decade long hunt into 150 minutes of detailed procedural work without taking political sides or focusing on revenge nonsense. It just takes such a realist approach that you never feel manipulated by Bigelow which would have been easy to do considering the subject matter. This is in my opinion the best film dealing with pos 9-11 events thanks to Bigelow’s ability to remain emotionally detached and focus on her craft. Under the weight of the heavy subject matter, she somehow manages to make this film more about a character study than an actual manhunt. There is really one main character in this film as the rest of characters come and go, and without delving into her past and focusing on the decade long pursuit of bin Laden the story centers around her, and it is a very interesting psychological study of what motivates her. Jessica Chastain is just so fascinating in this film, that she single handedly carries this movie and gives the best performance of her career.

The film opens in black with several voiceovers of calls from the World Trade center during the 9-11 attacks. It is a very emotional opening scene as we later are introduced to the main character, Maya (Jessica Chastain), who has been sent to Pakistan by the CIA to hunt down bin Laden. The first place we see her is in an interrogation room where her partner Dan (Jason Clarke) is torturing a terrorist prisoner in order to find information of the whereabouts of bin Laden. Maya isn’t amused by the torture that is going on and doesn’t participate, but she is willing to accept any means necessary in order to unlock the truth and hunt down the man she’s obsessed with finding. Of all the prisoners they have interrogated there seems to be one man that is mentioned by everyone: Abu Ahmed.  Maya is convinced that this man is bin Laden’s personal courier and that if she can locate him then she will locate his leader. Her boss, Joseph Bradley (Kyle Chandler) isn’t convinced about this theory, but Maya is determined to pursue this lead. The entire film is a very detailed procedural drama of how Maya follows one lead after another (with several false and disappointing leads along the way) until she is able to locate the whereabouts of bin Laden. Her next mission is to convince the authorities that bin Laden is actually hidden in that complex without having definite proof, but her certainty ends up convincing the leaders to send the US Navy SEALS team led by Patrick (Joel Edgerton) to attack the compound and kill bin Laden.

There were a great amount of talented actors cast in this film such as James Gandolfini, Mark Strong, Edgar Ramirez, Mark Duplass, Frank Grillo, and Chris Platt, but they had very few scenes and the entire film centered on Jessica Chastain. She deserves an Oscar for her performance here, and Mark Boal deserves one for Best Screenplay. The entire film is a character study on Maya as her entire life revolves around catching this man. We see it in her eyes from the very opening scene to the very end where instead of experiencing joy for the success she had, all we can see is a sigh of relief. What comes next for Maya? She doesn’t even know as she was so focused and determined on one thing only. I love Bigelow’s style and how she downsizes the entire war and centers everything on one central character. Just like she did in The Hurt Locker where the focus is on Renner’s character and how the adrenaline of war has become an addiction for him; now the focus is on Chastain who is very driven and obsessed with accomplishing her goal. There is not anything else on her mind; it’s as if she lives for one specific purpose. In the end you don’t know if you should cheer for her or feel sorry that her work is done. In a way I felt Bigelow’s approach to the events that led to bin Laden’s death to be very powerful; and it has raised a lot of discussions about torture, but that is exactly what a great film should do: bring up conversations and make us question things at times. After a decade long manhunt, was it really a triumph to kill bin Laden? Was it worth a celebration? Does the end justify the means? Without taking sides Bigelow makes us think about these issues and that is what good movies do for the viewers.    

http://estebueno10.blogspot.com/

My Review: Your Sister`s Sister (9/10)

¨What ever you think is helping you; I have a responsibility as your friend to tell you that it's not.¨

Your Sister`s Sister is Lynn Shelton`s follow up to Humpday, which happens to also star Mark Duplass. Shelton does a really good job with this small independent movie by making everything flow so naturally. The film is basically an improvised character study between three people dealing with different situations in a cabin on a beautiful location, and the script which was also written by Shelton was really clever. I can`t say how much credit Shelton should receive since most of the conversations taking place in the cabin happened to be improvised and spontaneous, but the general idea and twists in the film I thought were really ingenious. I found this romantic comedy extremely funny and I really laughed during the various altercations and revelations between the three characters. Mark Duplass has had a great year considering he also starred in the hilarious Safety Not Guaranteed which I enjoyed a lot. He was great here as well and he shared great chemistry with the other two main characters. Emily Blunt always makes interesting films as well. I loved her in last year`s The Adjustment Bureau and she was also good this year alongside Ethan McGregor in Salmon Fishing in the Yemen, but this was probably her best performance in a while. I wasn’t very familiar with Rosemarie DeWitt, but she was great here as well. All three actors had great chemistry together and created interesting backgrounds for each one of their characters. Your Sister`s Sister is really a lovely indie film, and one I really enjoyed. Many people were unhappy with the ending, but I found it to be perfect for this movie. I guess that the reason some people might have for not liking this movie has to do with that ending, but I highly recommend it.

The movie opens with a bunch of friends gathered together remembering a friend in common who passed away a year ago. While one of the friends is giving his heartfelt eulogy, the dead guy`s brother, Jack (Mark Duplass) interrupts and asks everyone to be more sincere about him. Evidently it has been a tough year for Jack and his brother`s death has taken a toll on him as he continues to mourn for him. Iris (Emily Blunt), who happened to be Jack`s brother`s ex girlfriend long before he passed away, is also Jack`s best friend; and she recommends him to go to his father`s cabin on a beautiful island in order to get his mind straight. Jack accepts Iris`s invitation and decides to go to the cabin. Once he arrives at the cabin he discovers that someone else is already there. It happens to be Hannah (Rosemarie DeWitt), Iris`s half sister who he has heard a lot about but never met. Hannah is there trying to get over a seven year relationship she had with her girlfriend Pam. The two begin talking and sharing drinks and up having sex. The next morning Iris surprisingly shows up after getting a few days off work and Jack and Hannah decide not to say anything about what happened the night before. This is where the hilarious moments and revelations begin to take place. There are several twists that take place as well, but the less you know about it the better.

Your Sister`s Sister is really a well made film, full of spontaneous and natural moments that are worth watching. It`s hard to believe that most of the dialogue was improvised because the film felt like it was cleverly crafted, but it works better because for a while you forget you are watching a movie and you begin to think you are looking at these people`s real lives. Not even a reality show makes you feel like this. I can`t count how many times I laughed with the mess these characters were getting into by covering each lie and the revelations that came from them. I really loved the performances as well so I honestly have to say that this is a film you should watch despite maybe not hearing of it due to its low budget. One thing is for sure, that after the success that Shelton is having as a director she will be getting a bigger budget for her next projects, and I will be looking out for them. I had a fun time with Your Sister`s Sister, and you probably will too.

http://estebueno10.blogspot.com

My Review: Safety Not Guaranteed (9/10)

¨But at the end of the day do I need someone when I'm doubting myself and I'm insecure and my heart's failing me? Do I need someone who, when the heat gets hot, has my back?¨

Safety Not Guaranteed may be a small independent film, but it has a huge heart. They may not have had a great budget to work with, but the movie felt more authentic than most big budget Hollywood movies. Safety Not Guaranteed has great comedic touches, some drama, sci-fi, and even romance. It is a complete film that connects with the audience from the very opening scene. This is director Colin Trevorrow`s first feature film and he made a brilliant movie. He had a great screenplay to work with, also from a first time screenwriter, Derek Connolly, who happened to write the story specifically with Aubrey Plaza (from Parks and Recreation) in mind to play the lead character. She was amazing in this film as was her co-lead, Mark Duplass (Humpday). The chemistry between the two lead actors was really authentic, but the film also had a great story arch for the secondary characters as well. The film was really well written and the dialogue top notch. It`s hard to come across a movie that connects with the audience so well in so many different levels. I felt this was the indie version of Back to the Future, not because the film actually takes us to the past or shows us how to get there, but because it explores the issue of why someone would want to go back. I think that is much more important in a time traveling movie than the actual adventure. The characters here had a lot of depth and there were so many things happening in such a short period of time that I really don’t know how Treverrow accomplished all of this. This is a unique film that is hard to come across, an indie that actually feels like an indie, but that isn’t afraid to explore new subject matters.

Darius (Aubrey Plaza), who has a rather anti social behavior, lives in Seattle and is working as an intern for a magazine company. When her boss, Bridget (Mary Lynn Rajskub), asks the crew to come up with ideas for the next article, staff writer Jeff (Jake Johnson) mentions an unusual article that has been published in a classified ad in a small coastal town. The ad states the following ¨Wanted: Someone to go back in time with me. This is not a joke. You will get paid when we get back. Safety not guaranteed.¨ Bridget gives the project the green light and sends Jeff to that town to investigate along with two interns: Darius and Arnau (Karan Soni). When the trio arrives at the town they begin investigating the man responsible for the ad: Kenneth (Mark Duplass). He acts all mysterious and is convinced that he is being followed. When Jeff tries to approach him and volunteer himself as the time travel companion Kenneth refuses and sends him away. Darius however manages to make a connection with Kenneth and wins his trust. The interns also discover that the real reason for Jeff wanting to write an article on Kenneth is because he wanted an excuse to reunite with his High School fling, Liz (Jenica Bergere), who lives in the same town. That relationship becomes the side story to the main idea that revolves on the relationship that Kenneth and Darius begin to form as they prepare for their time travel. The real question is whether Kenneth really is building a time machine or if he´s just a messed up and crazy person.

The connection that Darius and Kenneth make is the true heart of the story. The question isn’t whether Kenneth can actually time travel or if he can really go back in time, but rather why he wants to go back and if he`s crazy or not. He does act in a rather peculiar way, but he´s also a very nice person who cares for others. That is what ultimately attracts Darius to him, his humane heart, although she isn’t quite sure if this guy is totally nuts or a genius. The film deals with these issues in a very authentic and powerful way. I really connected with this small indie film and enjoyed every minute of it. It had me laughing really hard at times, despite it not being a laugh out loud comedy. It has a lot of heart and even mixes some sci-fi elements as well to please everyone. The performances were really special, but the screenplay helped a lot as well. There were several moments and dialogues that rang really true throughout the film. I really loved this film and recommend it if you have a chance to see it.

   

http://estebueno10.blogspot.com