The Hangover Part II
A beat-by-beat remake of The Hangover that reunites all the gang (Mr. Chow included) in Thailand for more inappropriate shocks and surprises. I guess the main non-superficial difference is that The Hangover Part II really takes things up a notch by going into some hilariously dark places... I won't spoil any of that though as it's pretty much all that the film has going in its favour, and I'm not sure it will stand up to many rewatches as a result. But if you've got a hankering to hang out and chuckle with Alan, Mr. Chow, and the rest of the gang, it's a fun way to pass 100 minutes or so. There isn't much more to say than that!
DIRECTOR: Todd Phillips
WRITER/SOURCE: Todd Phillips, Craig Mazin and Scot Armstrong, based on the characters from The Hangover.
KEY ACTORS: Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms, Zach Galifianakis, Justin Bartha, Ken Jeong, Paul Giamatti, Jeffrey Tambor, Mike Tyson
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The Invention of Lying
I have a soft spot for high concept comedy, so the idea of a liar running amok in a world without lies just instantly appealed to me. This is a world of brutal honesty, where Pepsi's slogan is "When they don't have Coke" and the places we call 'retirement homes' are called "A sad place for hopeless old people". Ricky Gervais is yet to have a commercially successful vehicle for his cynical brand of comedy (this film included), but I wouldn't change anything about this movie at all. In the modern trend of gross-out and obscenity-laden frat comedies, there's something sincere and endearing about this film's earnestness, it's almost Capra-esque. Having said that, it's also an incredibly subversive film as it looks so completely at what it means to lie and even dares to put religion into the mix. I especially liked the theme of insecurity/superficiality vs. inner beauty and other qualities. It's nice to have a comedy for once that's hialrious, original and not without some substance.
DIRECTOR: Ricky Gervais and Matthew Robinson
WRITER/SOURCE: Ricky Gervais and Matthew Robinson
KEY ACTORS: Ricky Gervais, Jennifer Garner, Rob Lowe, Tina Fey, Louis C. K., Jonah Hill, Christopher Guest, Fionnula Flanagan, Jeffrey Tambor, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Edward Norton, Stephen Merchant, Jason Bateman, Michael Caine, Martin Starr
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Little Fockers
Jack (Robert De Niro) and Greg (Ben Stiller) return for a third round of awkward comedy revolving around trust issues, and the whole gang's back too (plus some new faces in the form of Harvey Keital and Jessica Alba). This time the setting is actually Greg's household, it's a few years later and the Focker twins are now 5 years old and ready for school. The title of the film is actually a misnomer, the plot surrounding the possible acceptance of the twins into a progressive new age school goes nowehere and even with the expanded supportingt cast the filmmakers wisely don't forget that these films are essentially about Jack and Greg and that's where it's success factor lies. The plot focuses mostly on issues of fidelity and the idea of Jack passing on the title of 'the Godfocker' to Greg now that they're both getting older. The film can be a bit frustrating at times due to the predictability of the formula (don't these characters realise by now that nothing they do is ever going to go as planned?) Also, the gross-out humour is just becoming dated and is below the dignity of all involved (except for maybe Dustin Hoffman). Also, special kudos go to Blythe Danner, the unsung heroine of the series, for just being so relaxed and likeable.
DIRECTOR: Paul Weitz
WRITER/SOURCE: John Hamburg and Larry Stuckey, following on from the films Meet the Parents and Meet the Fockers.
KEY ACTORS: Robert De Niro, Ben Stiller, Dustin Hoffman, Barbra Streisand, Teri Polo, Blythe Danner, Owen Wilson, Jessica Alba, Harvey Keital, Laura Dern
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She's Out Of My League
Pretty much the same movie as Knocked Up but with one guy's insecurity forming the film's dramatic thrust instead of a surprise pregnancy. It's mildly amusing and a pleasant enough film but there isn't really anything about it that stands out. Most of the cast is made up of lower-tier comedy actors, with Canadian uber-dork Jay Baruchel playing the unlikely lead. Baruchel is more than watchable, he's a talented enough comic actor, but the rest of the cast comes off feeling like a bizarro universe... there's Alice Eve, who seems like a young Nicole Kidman, and Krysten Ritter, who's basically a parallel universe version of Anne Hathaway, and T. J. Miller, who could be Seth Rogen. Sometimes She's Out Of My League feels a little bit too melodramatic for its own good but beyond its lack of ambition I wouldn't really call it a bad movie; it's entertaining and engaging, if a bit forgettable.
DIRECTOR: Jim Field Smith
WRITER/SOURCE: Sean Anders and John Morris.
KEY ACTORS: Jay Baruchel, Alice Eve, Krysten Ritter, T. J. Miller, Nate Torrence, Mike Vogel , Lindsay Sloane, Jasika Nicole
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Due Date
Hot on his breakout success in The Hangover, Zach Galifianakis takes centre stage in this bromantic road movie that pairs him up with a very crotchety Robert Downey Jr. It's remniscent of Planes, Trains and Automobiles in that it's a road movie where the momentum relies on Galifianakis unintentionally irritating the hell out of Downey Jr. and generally making his life miserable. In the case of Galifianakis his oddball routine may be too much of a good thing, and Downey Jr.'s character is so uptight and bitter that he's often hard to like. There's a subtext about fears and responsibilities associated with impending fatherhood, but a lot of this gets buried under the (albeit amusing) bizarre humour. Due Date is an enjoyable enough ride but it's also strangely anticlimactic and feels a little undercooked.
DIRECTOR: Todd Philips
WRITER/SOURCE: Todd Philips, Alan R. Cohen, Alan Freedland and Adam Sztykiel
KEY ACTORS: Robert Downey Jr., Zach Galifianakis, Jamie Foxx, Michelle Monaghan, Juliette Lewis, Danny McBride, RZA
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Cyrus
This is the least formulaic comedy on this list, it swings more towards indie-dramedy territory than your typically wacky Adam Sandler or Will Ferrell vehicle. John C. Reilly plays a hapless divorcee who finds a woman too good to be true in Marisa Tomei. Then he meets her son Cyrus (Jonah Hill), a socially awkward and over-protective grown man, and someone who will engage Reilly in a manipulative battle of wills. The directors (Jay and Mark Duplass) use handheld cameras to throw the viewer offbalance - creating an unsure, awkward and offputting atmosphere that engenders equal doses of discomfort and hilarity. The Duplass brothers also do this cool thing at three points in the film where they overlap dialogue and some cut-up visuals to get to the heart of how the characters feel about each other, it's a nice effect that gives the film a sweet dose of soul. John C. Reilly is adorable too... I just love that some people let him do lead roles like this now, and I wish he was in more stuff that allowed him to be less like a Will Ferrell clone. A great little film.
DIRECTOR: Jay and Mark Duplass
WRITER/SOURCE: Jay and Mark Duplass
KEY ACTORS: John C. Reilly, Jonah Hill, Marisa Tomei, Catherine Keener
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The Slammin' Salmon
I think it's admirable that the Broken Lizard guys (Super Troopers, BeerFest) want to play different characters all the time, but the success of Monty Python, the Marx Bros and other comedy troupes was due to their continual cultivation of singular personas. For Broken Lizard, Super Troopers worked like none of their subsequent comedies have, so they should've continued to run with those character-types rather than changing it up from film to film. The Slammin' Salmon is probably their best film since Super Troopers but it's still a very distant second. As with BeerFest and Clud Dead, the Broken Lizard crew delight in sending up the conventions of Hollywood films whilst cavorting with a fun and exploitable premise. Michael Clarke Duncan is easily the highlight as the scary owner of the resteraunt this film is set in, delivering great lines like "Get outta here soupface, you're offending my Tokyokan guests".
DIRECTOR: Kevin Heffernan
WRITER/SOURCE: Jay Chandresekhar, Kevin Heffernan, Paul Soter, Steve Lemme and Eric Stolhanske (Broken Lizard)
KEY ACTORS: Jay Chandresekhar, Kevin Heffernan, Paul Soter, Steve Lemme, Eric Stolhanske, Michael Clarke Duncan, Cobie Smulders, April Bowlby, Will Forte, Lance Henriksen, Sendhil Ramamurthy, Vivica A. Fox, Carla Gallo, Morgan Fairchild
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Year One
The idea of Jack Black and Michael Cera playing a pair of inept cavemen wandering into various Bible stories seems great in theory (well, it seems great to me!) but Year One is a stinker of the highest order. It starts out in a promising fashion, especially with Cera playing his caveman-character with his usual nervous schtick, but soon it gets hamstrung by too much in the way of plot and character arcs (as if the audience even cares enough about a pair of cavemen in such a ridiculous set-up!) David Cross steals all his scenes as the dastardly (but kind of friendly) Cain, but turn the film off after the first half hour - you'll thank me for it. The last act in particular is incredibly cringeworthy, especially when Michael Cera is reduced to weeing into his own face while he hangs upside down. It's that kind of comedy.
DIRECTOR: Harold Ramis
WRITER/SOURCE: Harold Ramis, Gene Stupnitsky and Lee Eisenberg. Some segments loosely based on stories from the Old Testament.
KEY ACTORS: Jack Black, Michael Cera, Oliver Platt, David Cross, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Olivia Wilde, Paul Rudd, Hank Azaria, Bill Hader, Vinnie Jones, Gia Carides, Harold Ramis
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Funny People
The Judd Apatow cult had grown to such a point with The 40 Year Old Virgin, Knocked Up, and his various projects as scriptwriter or producer, that there was a quiet sense of heavy expectation attached to Funny People (his third pfilm as director) before it came out. The teaming of Seth Rogen (king of the new generation of comedy stars) and Adam Sandler (the previous generation's equivalent) seemed tonally wrong at first. But Sandler actually gives one of his best dramatic performances in what seems to be a semi-biographical look at the possible bitterness a lifestyle like his might contain. It veers dangerously close to purely dramatic territory at times, and some viewers may end up feeling overstretched by its 150 minute runtime, but as a fan of both Rogen and Sandler I enjoyed their rapport so much that I just didn't want it to end. I wouldn't exactly call it a 'dark' film, but it does show a more realistic and in-depth side to the 'bromance' formula that Apatow and his peers helped create and perfect. The comedic highlights are easily the stand-up comedy bits, which are taken from real routines performed by both Rogen and Sandler. It was also nice to see Eric Bana given a chance to be funny in an American film too, especially since comedy was how he initially came to fame in his native Australia.
DIRECTOR: Judd Apatow
WRITER/SOURCE: Judd Apatow
KEY ACTORS: Adam Sandler, Seth Rogen, Leslie Mann, Jonah Hill, Jason Schwartzman, Eric Bana, Aubrey Plaza, RZA
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Dinner for Schmucks
I enjoyed this while I watched it but once it was over it was pretty forgettable. The concept is great (pinched from a French film from a decade earlier) and it has an unbelievably cool supporting cast of underrated comic actors, but for me it never really went beyond "hey, these guys are so weird and irritating that it's funny". Steve Carrell tries hard (and very nearly succeeds) as the buck-toothed taxidermist with a big (broken) heart, but the chemistry between him and Paul Rudd doesn't really gel as far as bromances go. Watch it, there's a few laughs and the array of 'schmucks' are easily the film's colourful highlight, but it's not a comedy classic by any stretch.
DIRECTOR: Jay Roach
WRITER/SOURCE: David Guoin and Michael Handelman, based on the French film The Dinner of Cretins.
KEY ACTORS: Steve Carrell, Paul Rudd, Zach Galifianakis, Jemaine Clement, David Walliams, Bruce Greenwood, Stephanie Szostak, Lucy Punch, Ron Livingstone, Chris O'Dowd
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