Movie Review - Heaven Is for Real

Heaven Is for Real (2014)

Starring Greg Kinnear, Kelly Reilly, Connor Corum, Thomas Haden Church, Lane Styles, and Margo Martindale

Directed by Randal Wallace

The "religious movie" genre isn't exactly known for quality.  I'm not talking about historical epics like The Passion of the Christ, but instead those lower budget, poorly acted flicks that find themselves being advertised on the Fox News Channel and nowhere else.  With Heaven Is for Real, we get to see what happens when you take that same faith-based quality and put a little money behind, hire Academy Award-nominated and Emmy-winning actors, and bring on a director/screenwriter known for flicks like Secretariat and Braveheart.  The result:  a sugary concoction that's well-acted, but overlong and cloyingly message-driven.

After four year-old Colton Burpo (Connor Corum in a strong acting debut) has emergency surgery following a sky-high fever, he awakens and tells his father and mother (Greg Kinnear and Kelly Reilly) that he saw Heaven and met Jesus while on the surgical table.  Although dad Todd is a pastor, he has a tough time believing this until Colton tells him things that the boy was completely incapable of knowing -- describing in detail Todd's grandfather whom Colton never met, telling Todd exactly what he was doing while Colton was in surgery, and so on.  This sets up a perplexing inner dynamic for Todd as he wants to believe his son, but discovers that his own faith is being tested.

What saves Heaven Is for Real from going over the edge into a complete saccharine mess are the performances from the entire acting ensemble.  Kinnear delicately balances the faith issues his character faces in a commendable way.  Kelly Reilly takes on the stock role of wife and mother, but gives her character a little bit of bite and sass.  Nice supporting turns from Thomas Haden Church and Margo Martindale as church members round out the cast and bring a quality to the table we don't usually see in faith-based films.

Unfortunately, the film can't escape the shackles of its PG-rated nature.  There's no bite to any scene.  A visit of Todd's to an atheistic college professor ends with the professor coming off as a bit of a jerk instead of presenting an opposing viewpoint which simply plays into the hands of the movie-going community who flocked to this flick upon its release last Easter.

I will say, however, that Heaven Is for Real does elevate the faith-based movie genre in a way that I think is definitely positive.  The story, while lacking depth, is intriguing (particularly seeing as how it's based on a real-life situation) and had potential to really dive deep into its subject matter.  While it doesn't really go there in terms of depth, I appreciate the ramped-up aesthetics this brings to the genre.

The RyMickey Rating:  C 

Movie Review - Killer Joe

Killer Joe (2012)

Starring Matthew McConaughey, Emile Hirsch, June Temple, Thomas Haden Church, and Gina Gershon

Directed by William Friedkin

My experience with Tracy Letts's screenplays and plays has been mixed so far.  I was one of the few people I know who found the Ashley Judd-Michael Shannon 2006 flick Bug a frightening psychological horror flick (it's streaming on Netflix for those interested).  However, when I saw his Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winning August: Osage County onstage (soon to be a movie with Meryl Streep and Julia Roberts), I found the whole thing to be a bloated soap opera.  [I also recently saw Mr. Letts act in Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf and he was quite good.]  I'd heard good things about Killer Joe and was eagerly looking forward to checking out the film and I'm pleased to say I wasn't disappointed in the twisted trailer park crime tale.

When Chris Smith (Emile Hirsch) runs into a bit of trouble with his drug dealer, he figures that an easy way out of his predicament is to kill his own mother for her life insurance policy.  Seeing as how she just recently kicked him out of her house, Chris figures offing her might not be a bad idea.  When he discovers that his younger sister Dottie (Juno Temple) is the sole beneficiary of his mother's policy (despite the fact that Dottie hasn't had anything to do with her mother for years), Chris manages to get both Dottie and his father Ansel (Thomas Haden Church) onboard with the plan.  However, seeing as how neither Chris nor Ansel has any experience killing someone, they decide to hire a hitman named Killer Joe Cooper (Matthew McConaughey), a somewhat sleazy cop who performs decidedly criminal work on the side.  When Joe demands $25,000 up front for the deed, Chris and Ansel are unable to come up with the money, so, as collateral, Joe decides that if young virginal Dottie agrees to date him, he'll commit the murder prior to getting paid.  This twisted tale spirals out of control and all the parties may regret their actions sooner then they ever expected.

The inhabitants of Killer Joe are as white trash as they come.  Sleazy, dumb, alcoholic slobs who spend as much time downing liquor or snorting coke in their trailer homes as they do working.  But what Tracy Letts manages to do with these characters is make them surprisingly enjoyable to watch despite their inherent sliminess.  The darkly comic tone that permeates throughout the whole film is certainly a reason why the audience is able to accept these unlikeable characters because the film almost feels as if it's slyly poking fun at them while telling their sordid tale.

This is director William Friedkin's second time around with a Tracy Letts script after Bug and Friedkin (perhaps best known for his one-two punch of The French Connection followed by The Exorcist in the early 1970s) proves he's got the eye to work these twisted plays into equally uncomfortable films.  Knowing that the film is based on a play, it's certainly obvious when watching how easily this would play out on a stage, but that doesn't make film any less viable an option for telling this tale.  Killer Joe is certainly much more "opened up" then Bug which essentially took place in the confines of a hotel room.

Perhaps the best thing Friedkin achieves here is some very nice performances from his main cast of five.  Matthew McConaughey had a high profile turn in Magic Mike this past summer, but I'd sooner watch his sordid take on the title character in this film again.  Despite Joe's secret job as a hitman, he presents himself as a rather moral character, but both the audience and the characters in the film soon begin to realize that despite his somewhat uppity and "well-mannered" charming appearance, he's quite the slimeball.  The sleaziness comes into play most often when Joe is paired up with the much younger (and perhaps underage, although that's never really fully detailed) Dottie played by Juno Temple.  I've seen Temple in a few minor roles, but she manages to really shine here playing a naive young girl who is nothing but a pawn in her family's twisted games.  Kudos also to Gina Gershon who takes on the role of Chris and Dottie's new stepmom Sharla, the epitome of trailer trash.  A seemingly minor character, her role takes on a greater importance towards the film's conclusion and she's front and center in some of film's more disturbing scenes.

There was a bit of buzz surrounding this film upon its release thanks to its NC-17 rating and perhaps it deserves it -- I, for one, will never look at a chicken drumstick in the same way again.  There are certainly disturbing sexual moments that probably earned it that rating, but the film surprisingly never felt too over-the-top thanks in part to that aforementioned darkly comic tone that runs throughout the piece.  While Killer Joe may not be for all tastes, I found it an all-around unique film that makes me want to explore the repertoire of its screenwriter-playwright Tracy Letts even more.

The RyMickey Rating:  B+

Movie Review - John Carter

John Carter (2012)

Starring Taylor Kitsch, Lynn Collins, Samantha Morton, Willem Dafoe, Thomas Haden Church, Mark Strong, Ciarán Hinds, Daryl Sabara, and Bryan Cranston

Directed by Andrew Stanton

While John Carter may not be worthy of the ridicule that came its way thanks to its extremely high budget and disappointing box office returns, this Andrew Stanton-directed picture was already at a disadvantage in my book as its premise simply isn't up my alley in the slightest (remember, you're talking about the guy who's never seen Star Wars and likely never will).  Ultimately, the film's biggest problem is that there's way too much story here for 130 minutes.  We've got introductions to multiple alien races, at least two civil wars amongst rivaling sanctions on the planet we know as Mars (but known to the natives as Barsoom), and, perhaps the most intriguing aspect (yet least focused upon) that some Civil War-era American has been transported to Mars and rather nonchalantly becomes the savior of some of Barsoom's peoples.

I could delve into more plot, but if I did it'd just take too long, so that last sentence in the above paragraph will have to do.  That said, that last sentence is really the reason the film isn't successful.  I understand that this was likely setting up any future films (that will now never happen), but I'm still not sure why there was a need to place so many different plotlines into this first movie.  If anything, these various storylines fight for prominence and oftentimes become incomprehensible due to the plot's overly ambitious nature.  Ultimately, the fault lies in the director and co-screenwriter Andrew Stanton (to whom this was a pet project for years) for failing to either simplify (or at the very least condense) the various plotlines to create something a bit more enjoyable to watch.

I should say, though, that for Stanton's first foray into live action, he does a fine job in terms of creating an aesthetically pleasing landscape and he has quite an eye for mixing humor and action especially at the beginning of the film.  And, given the enormity of the plot he tries to present, the film's pacing is actually decent.  But in the end, there's simply too much story where there doesn't need to be.

Taylor Kitsch is fine, but bland, as the title character.  He's given very little to do despite being in nearly every scene.  I had hoped his character would've been given a little more emotional oomph considering this American got mystically transported to Mars, but after an amusing few minutes of Carter getting used to differences in gravity, the character almost acts as if this new planet is nothing he hasn't seen before.  The rest of the acting is par for the course.  Nothing exceptional, but about what is to be expected in a sci-fi/fantasy flick.

The RyMickey Rating:  C-

Movie Review - Easy A

Easy A (2010)

Starring Emma Stone, Penn Badgely, Amanda Bynes, Thomas Haden Church, Patricia Clarkson, Stanley Tucci, Alyson Michalka, Malcolm McDowell, and Lisa Kudrow

Directed by Will Gluck

A case of raised expectations seems to have ruined Easy A for me.  The heaping praise from nearly all the critics upon its release had me thinking this was going to be much better than it actually was.  Sure, there were great performances all around and some wit was on display, but in the end, it felt like a story that never really went anywhere and never really caught my attention despite the presence of the cute and charming Emma Stone.

Like a modern-day Scarlet Letter, Emma Stone is Olive (the Hester Prynne of the film), a high schooler who is pressured into saying she had sex in order to make herself "look" better to her best friend (Alyson Michalka).  Rumors spread quickly in high school and soon the clean cut (though witty and wry) Olive is finding herself enjoying the attention she's receiving.  Instead of trying to squash the rumor, she begins to make the lie even bigger, pretending to become the school slut because at least "the slut" has a place at the school rather than her old role as "just another face in the crowd."  Needless to say, things get out of hand and start getting hurtful to the good-hearted Olive and she must attempt to climb her way out of the hole she dug for herself.

The problem with the film doesn't lie with Ms. Stone who, in her first major starring role, is certainly an amusing and funny presence onscreen.  Perhaps my biggest issue with the film is with the characters surrounding Olive.  While it's true that none of the actors playing the caricaturish supporting players are bad, their roles are laughably one-note.  Stanley Tucci and Patricia Clarkson bring great humor to the roles of Olive's parents, but their characters seemed so incredibly fake.  Similarly, all of the students at Olive's school -- from the Christian goody-goody (Amanda Bynes) to Olive's gay friend -- are characters we've seen before (and written better) in other films.  Once again, great acting from everyone all around, but the characters they had to inhabit were simply disappointing.

The film flounders and wanders aimlessly and its short 90-minute runtime feels about 30 minutes longer than it actually is.  Overall, Easy A was a disappointment that doesn't deserve the praises that were bestowed on it earlier in the year.

The RyMickey Rating:  C-

Movie Review - All About Steve (2009)

Starring Sandra Bullock, Thomas Haden Church, Bradley Cooper, and Ken Jeong
Directed by Phil Traill

Like Sandra Bullock's last movie, The Proposal, All About Steve is a flick where her central character is annoying, obnoxious, and altogether unappealing, but she surrounds herself with some good actors who are actually given funny things to do. It's unfortunate that her main character couldn't be less ridiculous.

Mary Magdalene Horowitz (Bullock) writes crossword puzzles. She has no life outside of her work. Her parents set her up on a blind date with a tv news cameraman named Steve (Bradley Cooper). After a brief five minute date during which Mary alluringly pounces (or, more like sexually attacks) Steve in his van, Steve tells Mary that he just received a phone call that he needs to head to cover some story in the Midwest. However, his throwaway line to her -- something along the lines of "You should come, too" or "I'll see you there" -- is taken to heart by Mary and she travels across the country because she insanely believes that this guy wants to be with her. Of course, in the end, Mary learns her lesson that she doesn't need a man to be happy (oops...ruined it for you, but you can see that coming a mile away, I promise).

As I said above, whenever the movie focuses on Mary, it's a failure. However, when the flick spends time with Steve and his co-workers -- news reporter Hartman (Thomas Haden Church) and assistant Angus (Ken Jeong) -- it's actually really funny. All three of these guys had different comedic styles, but they all meshed and there were many moments where I laughed quite loudly because of them.

Overall, this isn't a good movie, but there's certainly worse out there. It's got some good lines and some good secondary characters...it's just got a ridiculously awful central character.

The RyMickey Rating: D+

Movie Review - Imagine That (2009)

Starring Eddie Murphy, Thomas Haden Church, and Yara Shahidi
Written by Ed Solomon and Chris Matheson
Directed by Karey Kilpatrick

I don't know what it says about our society when children's movies start to have their stories revolve around the stock market and insider trading. I sure as hell know that I would've had no idea about that industry when I was nine (let alone now at twenty-nine). Unfortunately, similar to this movie, Imagine That is another case of "who are they aiming this movie towards?" There's no raunchiness and it's certainly tame, but there's very little here that would keep kids occupied.

Eddie Murphy is Evan Danielson, a stocks trader who appears to be well on his way to a successful, high profile career. However, in his firm, he's got some competition from Johnny Whitefeather (Thomas Haden Church) for the top spot. Whitefeather has a new approach to the firm's clients, focusing on his Native American background, that they love. When the owner of the firm announces his retirement, he says that either Evan or Johnny will get his spot and they must prove their worth within the next week.

For some reason, Evan begins to fall apart and can't seem to focus. Lucky for him, he brings his daughter Olivia to the office one day and discovers that her imaginary friends are able to pick stocks that prove successful. A series of "funny" events happen before Evan realizes that perhaps it's not the blanket that's helping him and that he's had the knowledge inside of him all along (I know, I know...total spoiler there, huh?).

Honestly, I didn't dislike this movie. That being said, I didn't really like it all that much either. Eddie Murphy could play this role in his sleep. He was acting like he has in every other "kid" movie he's been in since his "resurgence" in the last 15 years. He wasn't bad, but he wasn't particularly good. Thomas Haden Church's Johnny Whitefeather actually provided me with the most laughs. There's one scene in particular with him and his son that I found quite amusing. It certainly helps that Yara Shahidi who plays Olivia was quite good. She never seemed to cloying and she certainly held her own with the adults with whom she shared the screen. Don't even get me started, though, on Bobb'e J. Thompson...I try not to be mean to children, but I hate this kid with a passion. Why people keep giving this obnoxious joker roles (even if the role is less than five minutes long as it in this flick) is beyond me.

The movie is about 30 minutes too long, and the unfortunate thing is that it just isn't a kid-friendly story (the movie is peppered with Beatles covers which also had me asking myself, "Does a nine year-old know who the Beatles are?" Why put only Beatles songs in the movie?). I appreciate the fact that a movie comes out of Nickelodeon Studios with very little bathroom humor and minimal foul language, but this simply isn't a movie kids would enjoy. And, unfortunately, it's a little too basic for an adult to enjoy either.

The RyMickey Rating: C-