Hot Pursuit (3/10): Not so hot after all

“He is known as the Bank of Bogota, the Tender Tender, the Lender Lender, the Money Launderer, El Chapo, the Pork Chop.”

There are films where the producers and everyone involved in the making of the movie seem to demand that its audience shut down their brain in order to simply enjoy the movie and have fun with it, and then there are movies like Hot Pursuit where it’s simply imposible to experience any pleasure from it no matter how long you’ve shut down your brain for. Hot Pursuit is the definition of lazy film making where every character is a stereotype and all the jokes seem to revolve around the same concepts: white southern girls are flat and uptight, while latinas are loud, busty and aggressive. There is not much more to this film that only stands out because it stars two females in the lead roles. We’ve all been asking for more substantial roles for females so it is always a delight to see a film like this highlighting two females as the main stars. Unfortunately the script lacks ideas and the comedy falls completely flat which doesn’t help the feminist case at all. 

The film stars two extremely talented and funny actresses, but the script completely handcuffs them and there isn’t anything they can do to save the movie. If you want to have fun go watch Sofia Vergara in any episode of Modern Family and I guarantee you that you will get more laughs out of it. Reese Witherspoon was nominated for an Oscar earlier this year for her performance in Wild where she was outstanding, but if she’s not careful she might end up turning into the next Cameron Diaz who tries so hard to be funny that she only ends up being annoying. If you want to see Witherspoon giving a fun performance then check out Legally Blonde or Election which were the two films that put her on the radar. Vergara and Witherspoon are funny actresses so on papers this seemed like an interesting project, but here they aren’t given any opportunity to shine.

The premise of the film is pretty simple: Cooper (Reese Witherspoon) is an uptight cop who takes the law seriously. Her boss asks her to escort a key witness who is going to testify against an important drug cartel leader. The witness is Daniella Riva (Sofia Vergara). Things don’t go as expected as several corrupt cops and drug dealers try to prevent the two women from reaching their destination. There are also some twists along the way that really don’t add much to the comedy. The film is an excuse to put the two talented females together, but the screenwriters managed to take away whatever magic the two actresses might have had together. Hot Pursuit might be one of the frontrunners for this year’s Razzies for its lack of imagination and being such a missed opportunity.  

Wild Card (5/10): Fun action scenes, but too few for a disjointed film like this one.

“I can take care of things. That is all you need to know.”

Don’t be fooled by the awesome poster that has Jason Statham pulling off an acrobatic stunt because Wild Card is more of a character driven drama than an action film. The only problem is that it never does manage to say anything about the character despite trying to be an inventive character driven film. Jason Statham is supposed to be this compulsive gambler living in Las Vegas working as a fixer thanks to his special skills, but we would’t actually know these things about the character until about forty minutes into the film so everything leading up to that seems like a waste of time. Wild Card has some interesting ideas and the action scenes are extremely fun, but there are only three action scenes in the entire movie. Getting to watch Statham beat up a gang of mobsters with a spoon and a butter knife is the highlight of the film, but the rest of the movie feels disjointed and disconnected. There are a number of secondary characters that have interesting appearances but most of the subplots end up going nowhere. It is surprising that the screenplay failed to work here because William Goldman is an Award winning writer (All the President’s Men and Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid) and the film is based on his novel “Heat.” But somehow Wild Card feels like it is missing a link and every sideplot that is introduced doesn’t fit in the film as a whole. 

Simon West has directed several mediocre action films, but I will always have respect for his most entertaining film, Con Air. This is his third collaboration with Jason Statham and I think The Mechanic was their best one. He is trying to do something different with Wild Card by focusing on the character rather than the action, but the drama doesn’t make much sense. Statham is still able to keep us interested thanks to his charisma and the few action scenes are well choreographed and stylized. It was almost enough for me to recommend it, but ultimately the waste of a talented secondary cast and the disjointed subplots left me wanting more. 

I already mentioned Statham’s charismatic performance, but I want to point out some issues I had with other performers. Max Casella and Sofia Vergara have a small scene at the beginning of the movie that is far from memorable. They are talented actors but the way West introduces these characters and never connects them with the story sort of falls flat. Then you have the talented Anne Heche working as a waitress at a bar that Statham frequently visits, Jason Alexander who is a lawyer that shares his office with Statham, and Michael Angarano who wants Statham to be his personal bodyguard for the night while he is out in Vegas. As much as I like these actors their roles are wasted. Dominik Garcia-Lorido has an interesting role as Statham’s friend who is beaten by a mobster (played by Milo Ventimiglia) just for funs sake. She wants revenge and she knows Statham can help her. This is the part of the plot that worked best for me, but Ventimiglia never ends up being much of a threat. There is an incredible cameo however with Stanley Tucci that worked so well that I wished the film would’ve focused on his relationship with Statham instead. There are some interesting moments in Wild Card but West was never able to piece them together into a cohesive and entertaining film. By the end no matter how much fun I had with the action scenes I couldn’t help but feel as if I’d seen an incomplete film.

My Review: Fading Gigolo (4/10)

"This could definitely be the beginning of a very beautiful relationship between the three of us."

Fading Gigolo is John Turturro's fifth turn at the director's chair for which he also starred and wrote the screenplay, although Woody Allen's participation in the film makes you wonder how much of a factor he was in the screenplay because there are several scenes that you know were influenced by him. Some of his classic trademarks are found in the script as he talks about death and sex in a quirky way. The plot is a bit ridiculous, especially when the subplots involving the Brooklyn Jewish community begin to take center stage midway through the film. As long as the story focused on the chemistry between Turturro and Allen the film seemed delightful and witty, but when the other characters began to get involved the film lost its focus and identity. It didn't work for me as neither a comedy nor a drama, but there are some solid scenes when the two lead actors are on screen together. 

I don't know how much influence Allen really had on Turturro's overall script, but unfortunately when the story centered on Turturro and the female characters it didn't really work well. The female characters seemed one dimensional and their dialogues were weak and awkward. It is a shame because Sharon Stone and Sofia Vergara are great actresses who could have lifted this film with stronger material to work with. The entire concept of this film is absurd, but Turturro almost pulled it off when the screenplay centered on his chemistry with Woody Allen. If the two would have shared more scenes together I think this would've been much more enjoyable. It is a very uneven film and one that has divided audiences. It's success might depend on how much of a Woody Allen fan you are. 

My Review: Chef (7/10)

"I may not do everything great in my life, but I'm good at this."

Oh please don't be so humble Jon Favreau, you do everything pretty much great, and you proved it once again by directing, starring, and writing this charming and feel good family film. If there were ever a time where the term food porn could be applied to a film review, this is it because everything looked so tempting and delicious. Please don't watch this film on an empty stomach because you will be tortured by every single scene where Favreau is preparing food, whether it be a complicated dish for his fancy restaurant or a plain cuban sandwich from his food truck. But this isn't just a film glorifying food, it uses this passion people have for it and metaphorically shows us how it's never late to reinvent and discover ourselves. It is quite a change of pace for Favreau whose latest films were big budget productions (Cowboys & Aliens and the first two Iron Man movies), but this small family road trip film served its purpose in its own way for Favreau to reinvent himself once again and go back to his origins. Chef was an improvement from his last two films, but I still think Iron Man and Elf are Favreau's best ones. What Chef has going for it despite a pretty simple premise is how charismatic and natural the characters are in this film. The family drama feels authentic and it's never forced like so many films in the genre are. The film takes its time to introduce each character and doesn't simply rush things to the fun parts (the road trip). It's a feel food film but one that avoids cliches and forced situations and simply takes us along for a reinventing and natural ride. 

The premise is pretty simple, but the way in which Favreau presents each character is refreshing in its own way. He is likable in the lead role despite being a flawed character who remains friends with his ex-wife (played by Sofia Vergara) and is trying to balance out his time working in a respected restaurant while trying to connect with his young son, Percy (Emjay Anthony). He seems to have lost his creative freedom and is restrained by the owner (Dustin Hoffman) to continue serving the same dishes that have given the restaurant its fame (nice nod to the movie industry in Hollywood which restrains the creative instincts from its talented directors so that they continue to serve their audience the same dishes). But when a famous food critic (Oliver Platt) criticizes his dishes an online twitter war breaks out between them. Favreau decides it's time to move on and following his ex-wife's advice he travels with his son to Miami and buys a food truck. This is where their road trip begins and the two begin bonding. John Leguizamo and Bobby Cannavale play Favreau's assistants, and they both are the reason why the film is so charming. I was surprised with Anthony's performance as well. Having seen a couple of old films recently I can't help but realize how child acting has improved over the years. You never get the feeling that Anthony is ever acting or reading out his lines because every word and reaction felt completely natural. There were also plenty of funny and warm moments throughout the film. It was good to see Robert Downey Jr. and Favreau reunited once again although it was only for a couple of minutes. There was nothing groundbreaking about Chef, but it was so authentic and charming that it was hard to resist. The cast plays a key role in the success of this film and so does the food.

My Review: The Three Stooges (5/10)

¨Will work for $830,000, no job too small. We'll pres your shirts. We'll shine your shoes. We'll raid your fridge and drink your booze.¨

The Three Stooges were the kings of slapstick comedy during the early 30`s and continued to have success until the 60`s. They were amongst the greatest comedians in early film history along with Charles Chaplin, Laurel & Hardy, and Buster Keaton who all wrote the book on this genre of film. The Farrelly brothers were also huge fans of the trio so they decided to make an original film in homage to the kings of knucklehead comedies. Fans of the Stooges might be impressed, I on the other hand didn`t find the film all that hilarious. I laughed at very few scenes, although I did admire some of the wit. The problem is that I was familiar with most of the gags and I find it hard to laugh at a same joke twice. I wasn`t really a fan of the original Three Stooges, but I still admired their work. If anything works in this film it`s the addition of the Jersey Shore cast to remind us how terrible television has gotten, and how far away we are from the early years where truly talented actors dominated the screen. Nowadays, with reality television no particular talent is needed and Jersey Shore is proof of that. Seeing the Three Stooges interact with the reality cast was a reminder of this. The cast was pretty good, although none of the actors are real film stars: Sean Hayes is known for his work in Will and Grace, Will Sasso for MadTV, Jane Lynch for Glee, Larry David for Seinfeld, and Sofia Vergara for Modern Family. They were funny and reminded us that some TV series actually do work and we don`t have to fall for all those reality television stars.

Larry (Sean Hayes), Curly (Will Sasso), and Moe (Chris Diamantopoulos) grow up in an Orphanage run by Mother Superior (Jane Lynch). At first the nuns were excited about the arrival of the triplet babies, but when the film moves ten years forward none of them want anything to do with the kids. They mean trouble and no one can handle them, especially Sister Mary-Mengele (Larry David) who wants to call it quits. They design a plan to get the boys adopted, but no one ever chooses them. The movie then jumps 25 years forward where we see the Stooges as grown men still living in the Orphanage working in Maintenance. Mother Superior, Sister Mary-Mengele, and Sister Rosemary (Jennifer Hudson) are still there as well and ironically haven’t aged one bit. Things change for the Stooges when Monsignor Ratliffe (Brian Doyle-Murray) arrives to deliver the bad news: There is no money to finance the orphanage any more, if they don’t come up with 830,000 thousand dollars in a month they will lose it. That is when the three stooges go on a mission to raise the money and save the place. For the first time in their lives, Larry, Curly, and Moe set their foot in society and have no clue as to how to raise the money, but their lives change when they meet Lydia (Sofia Vergara) who offers them the money if they kill her husband. All sort of misunderstandings take place as the three stooges try to find a way to save their beloved orphanage.

The Farrelly brothers’ comedy, There is Something About Mary, changed modern comedies in the 90`s. It was one of my favorite comedies at the time and many comedies have been shaped by it ever since. Unfortunately, the Farrelly brothers haven’t been able to match the success of that film and have been on a downhill slope since then. The Three Stooges had some hilarious moments, but unfortunately the great jokes were too spread out apart and mixed with some terrible scenes that didn’t work and killed the momentum (for instance the baby diaper changing scene). It was unfortunate because the cast was pretty good. The three actors who played the stooges had the physical appearance of the original ones and really gave funny performances. The problem I have with these slapstick comedies is that once you`ve seen one hilarious movie about the Stooges then you`ve seen them all. There is nothing new to add to the premise which always includes a lot of eye-popping, slapping, smacking each other over the head with a hammer, and so on. If you see it for the first time the gag is hilarious, but watching the same act over and over again gets old. The Three Stooges wasn’t terrible, but it wasn’t a memorable comedy either. I wouldn’t recommend it, unless you are a die hard Three Stooges fan.

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