Movie Review - Disconnect

Disconnect (2013)

Starring Jason Bateman, Hope Davis, Frank Grillo, Michael Nyqvist, Paula Patton, Andrea Riseborough, Alexander Scarsgård, Max Thieriot, Colin Ford, Jonah Bobo, Norbert Leo Butz, Haley Ramm, Kasi Lemmons, and Aviad Bernstein

Directed by Henry-Alex Rubin

Disconnect is one of those movies where a bunch of apparently unrelated storylines have tenuous connections that allow the players from one tale to have interactions with players from another tale.  I typically really like these kinds of films and while Disconnect generally works, it's not nearly as deep and profound as it aspires to be.  Taking on the internet, Disconnect attempts to tell us that we enter this (not so) newfound technological breakthrough at our own risk -- but is that really new information for us?  Aren't we all aware that bad folks are ready to prey on us online?

Still, despite the obvious, we are treated to some good stories here.  The best involves a young high school kid named Ben (Jonah Bobo) who just so happens to look at two of his classmates Jason and Frye (Colin Ford and Aviad Bernstein) in a disdainful way as they play a trick on someone in a mall.  Jason and Frye get ticked off and decide to get back at the shy introvert Ben by befriending him on Facebook with a fake female profile.  Ben finds himself falling for this fake profile as Jason and Frye continue escalating the relationship until Ben is eventually humiliated at school.  Needless to say, the humiliation ends in tragedy, changing forever the lives of Ben, his parents (Jason Bateman and Hope Davis), and Jason and Frye.

Another major story revolves around a news reporter (Andrea Riseborough) who investigates and befriends a young man (Max Thieriot) who was willingly hired to work on an internet porn site catering to those wanting to video chat with young men and women.  The final tale focuses on Cindy and Derek Hull (Paula Patton and Alexander Scarsgård), a couple who recently lost their only child.  While Derek tries to suppress his grief by online gambling, Cindy has taken up visiting grief community websites where she befriends a guy who says he recently lost his wife.  When the Hulls find their credit cards maxed out and their savings depleted, they begin to investigate whether Cindy's online "friend" is the culprit.

While all of these stories are perfectly acceptable and never teeter into "boring" territory, they also fail to be fresh.  I couldn't help but feel that I'd seen all of these tales told before on daytime television.  Thankfully, the acting ensemble is all pretty great from the youngest actors to the oldest ones and they elevate the material beyond the obvious.

The RyMickey Rating:  C+

Movie Review - House at the End of the Street

House at the End of the Street (2012)

Starring Jennifer Lawrence, Elisabeth Shue, and Max Thieriot

Directed by Mark Tonderai

It's a sure bet that this is the last teen horror flick recent Oscar-winner Jennifer Lawrence is going to be starring in for quite a while, but she gives a surprisingly solid turn (although she's not tasked with anything difficult to do) as Elissa, the new girl who's moved to a new town with her mom Sarah (Elisabeth Shue).  They got a great deal on a big house because the titular House at the End of the Street just a few yards from their home was the scene of a murder a few years ago.  Still, despite hearing that the girl who had murdered her parents is presumed dead but has yet to be found, Elissa and Sarah brush off the notion of anything bad happening.  When Elissa discovers that Ryan, the son of the murdered parents, still lives in the house, she strikes up a friendship with the shy, sheltered college student much to Sarah's chagrin.  With this being a horror film, let's just say things don't turn out like they do in a Nicholas Sparks movie.

House at the End of the Street doesn't reinvent the horror wheel by any means and its story is admittedly shaky and stretched quite thin even over its short running time.  However, thanks to Lawrence giving her character a little bit of spunk rather than just being the typical horror ingenue, the film rises above the other teen scare flicks the tiniest of margins.  I realize I'm bucking the trend here (as Rotten Tomatoes has this sitting at 11% Fresh) and I don't want to overstate this film's worth -- it's still not anything special -- but it held my interest mainly because of Lawrence.  It's also nice to see Elisabeth Shue return to the screen even though her role (much like all the roles here) isn't really developed beyond a stereotype.  Max Thieriot also doesn't embarrass himself in a role that easily could've veered into corniness (and kind of does at times) -- somehow he reins in the quirkiness required that I didn't find myself laughing at him.

I realize every good comment above is laced with some bad undertone and that's simply because I must recognize that House at the End of the Street isn't a great film, but if you're in the mood for cheesy teen horror, you could certainly do worse.  Jennifer Lawrence makes this more than tolerable.

The RyMickey Rating:  C