Dark Waters

Dark Waters (2019)

Starring Mark Ruffalo, Anne Hathaway, Tim Robbins, Bill Camp, Victor Garber, Mare Winningham, William Jackson Harper, Louisa Krause, and Bill Pullman

Directed by Todd Haynes

Written by Mario Correa and Matthew Michael Carnahan

Click here for my Letterboxd review

The RyMickey Rating: B

Movie Review - Welcome to Me

Welcome to Me (2015)

Starring Kristen Wiig, Wes Bentley, Linda Cardellini, Joan Cusack, Loretta Devine, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Thomas Mann, James Marsden, Tim Robbins, and Alan Tudyk

Directed by Shira Piven

***This film is currently streaming on Netflix***

While I must admit that I laughed quite a bit during Welcome to Me, after nearly every chuckle I found myself cringing that I was finding what I was watching humorous.  Sometimes it's a good thing when a movie makes you question your innate emotional reaction, but by the end of Welcome to Me, I ended up just feeling unpleasantly uncomfortable because the film disappoints in creating a well-rounded lead character.

The problem lies in the fact that star Kristen Wiig is playing Alice Klieg -- a woman with Borderline Personality Disorder who wins an $86 million dollar lottery and immediately abandons her meds -- as if she were a caricature from a Saturday Night Live skit rather than a well-rounded person.  That isn't to say that Wiig isn't funny.  As Alice, who obsesses over Oprah Winfrey's feel-good talk show and decides to spend millions to create her own lifestyle low-budget cable access show, Wiig has many moments that elicit laughs.  However the script and Wiig's portrayal full of jittery physical motions and dazed eyes are one-note, attempting to define a character only by a psychiatric disorder and the idiosyncrasies that accompany the disease as opposed to other aspects of life.

Oddly enough, however, despite this obviously major problem, I actually didn't dislike Welcome to Me altogether because the premise was certainly unique enough to warrant its existence.  With a supporting cast of many well-known names -- who really aren't given much to do -- the actors countering Wiig do a nice job of trying to keep the film based in reality.  As mentioned, I laughed during this one, but by the time the film ended, I found myself thinking back on it disappointed as opposed to pleased due to the fact that there was potential there for something only to be hindered by a script that fails to help its lead character.

The RyMickey Rating:  C

Movie Review - Life of Crime

Life of Crime (2014)

Starring Jennifer Aniston, Mos Def, Isla Fisher, Will Forte, Tim Robbins, and John Hawkes

Directed by Daniel Schechter

Detroit 1978.  Seeing an opportunity, two down on their luck small-time criminals Ordell and Louis (Mos Def and John Hawkes) see an opportunity too good to pass up.  They'll kidnap the wife of prominent, though corrupt, real estate developer Frank Dawson (Tim Robbins) and hold her for ransom.  Little do Ordell and Louis realize that Frank has decided to divorce his wife Mickey (Jennifer Aniston) and instead shack up with the younger Melanie (Isla Fisher)...and Frank may not give a damn that his wife is out of his hair.

Life of Crime begins rather promisingly, walking the delicate line of comedy and heist film, but it unfortunately begins to fall apart after the first act failing to really go anywhere once Mickey is abducted.  Instead, screenwriter and director Daniel Schechter's film just keeps hitting the same beats over and over again.  The acting across the board is surprisingly solid, but the film based on a book by Elmore Leonard is just so far below other Leonard adaptations that the cast can't elevate the material enough to make it a success.

The RyMickey Rating:  D+

Movie Review - Thanks for Sharing

Thanks for Sharing (2013)

Starring Mark Ruffalo, Tim Robbins, Gwyneth Paltrow, Josh Gad, Joely Richardson, Patrick Fugit, and Alecia ("Pink") Moore

Directed by Stuart Blumberg 

***This film is currently streaming on Netflix***

Much like 2013's similarly themed Don Jon helmed by actor Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Thanks for Sharing deals with sex addiction by placing the hefty subject into the context of a romantic comedy.  Granted, differences between the two films abound -- the most important being that in Thanks for Sharing the addicts have all recognized their problems and are seeking help -- but I think that Stuart Blumberg's flick fares a bit better thanks to some nice performances and a little bit more fleshing out of its characters beyond the almost stereotypical roles that were present in Don Jon.

Mark Ruffalo is Adam, a five-year clean "former" sex addict (addiction is an ongoing battle, hence the quotes) whose regular SAA meetings help him retain his sobriety.  In order to survive, Adam has removed television, the internet, and dating from his everyday life hoping to keep sexual temptations away from him.  However, his sponsor Mike (Tim Robbins), a longtime recovering addict himself, tells him that it's time for Adam to put himself on the market again -- the goal of SAA is to make sex meaningful, not to keep folks cloistered.  Adam ends up meeting Phoebe (Gwyneth Paltrow) and the two hit it off swimmingly although Adam has to constantly worry about whether his addiction will rear its ugly head again.

The rather charming relationship between Ruffalo and Paltrow's characters certainly buoys Thanks for Sharing and makes the flick enjoyable to watch.  The two actors' chemistry is palpable and Paltrow in particular has a light-hearted humorous demeanor here that made me wonder why she never really made it as a romantic comedy lead actress.

Unfortunately, for all the good that comes with Ruffalo and Paltrow's storyline, we're also saddled with the character of Neil (played by Josh Gad) who is new to SAA and is finding it incredibly difficult to leave behind his old ways.  Neil's way of coping with his addiction is to make jokes, but it seemed a tad off-putting in this flick.  Plus, his character's story arc was a bit too obvious to make me have any rooting interest in his success.  I knew where things were going to end up, so I admittedly checked out a bit whenever Neil was onscreen.

There's a surprisingly nice performance from Alecia Moore (better known as the singer Pink) who shows some potential as an actress as well as a tender storyline between Tim Robbins' character and his drug addicted son played very strongly by Patrick Fugit which help elevate the flick a bit.  Ultimately, Thanks for Sharing is a bit "basic" and "obvious," but it proves to be an enjoyable watch thanks in large part to the amiable cast.  Could it have delved deeper into the world of sex addiction, sure.  But not every film dealing with this disease is going to be Shame -- although I wish they would be.

The RyMickey Rating:  B-

Movie Review (Revisited) - The Hudsucker Proxy (1994)

So, I went and watched this movie last night at a movie theater. I actually grew to enjoy the movie a bit more (I already liked it having previously watched it just a few months prior). Below, you'll find my review that was posted back on May 10. Things that are bolded are my thoughts based on this second viewing.

***Available on DVD***

Starring Tim Robbins, Jennifer Jason Leigh, and Paul Newman

Written by Joel Coen, Ethan Coen, and Sam Raimi

Directed by Joel Coen (and Ethan Coen)

When the President of Hudsucker Industries kills himself, the board of directors, led by the conniving Sidney Mussburger (Newman), decides that in order to be able to purchase stock in the company at a low price, they need to hire a boob to run the company into the toilet for a little bit. Little did they know that their boob, a fresh out of college Norville Barnes (Robbins), has some ingenious plans dealing with toy production ("you know, for kids") that could prove very profitable for the company and may just foil Mussburger's scheme.

This is only the fifth Coen Brothers film that I had seen and up until this point I had only liked one (No Country for Old Men). I can now add The Hudsucker Proxy to the "like" column. A very Frank Capra-esque, 30s/40s style film, the movie has a genuine feel-good message peppered with quick pitter-patter dialogue between its leads. It certainly feels like the film could've come right out of another era. Nothing racy, raunchy, or explicit here...just the story of a man trying to make his way the best he can.

There were winning performances by Tim Robbins (who, despite the fact that I despise his politcal leanings with a passion, I genuinely like most of his work) and Paul Newman (then again, Paul Newman is always winning). My only problem with the film (and what keeps it out of the upper echelon of my grading rubric) is Jennifer Jason Leigh's performance as a fast-talking newspaper reporter who goes undercover at Hudsucker Industries to find out more about the newly appointed president. She was essentially copying Katharine Hepburn's mannerisms and dialect step-for-step, enunciation-for-enunciation. As the film is certainly a tribute to a bygone era, I'm sure the Coens wanted Leigh's role to be an homage to Hepburn (in some regard), but I just found her performance over-the-top and grating.

And this is where I found a huge difference in watching this movie in a theater and on DVD. On the smaller screen, Leigh's performance seemed way over-the-top, but on the big screen, her performance felt perfect. Yes, she was definitely giving homage to Kate Hepburn in the role, but it really worked this time for me.

Overall, though, this little film is certainly worth a rental if you haven't seen it.

The (Original) RyMickey Rating (5/10/09): B+
The (Revised) RyMickey Rating (7/28/09): A-

Edited to add: I'm a fan of music scores in films (my folks would always give me a hard time about this as I'd often mention the score when I'd talk about whether I liked or disliked a movie) and there's also a great one in this flick by Carter Burwell -- very fitting with the era they were trying to depict...

Movie Review - The Hudsucker Proxy (1994)

***Available on DVD***

Starring Tim Robbins, Jennifer Jason Leigh, and Paul Newman

Written by Joel Coen, Ethan Coen, and Sam Raimi

Directed by Joel Coen (and Ethan Coen)

When the President of Hudsucker Industries kills himself, the board of directors, led by the conniving Sidney Mussburger (Newman), decides that in order to be able to purchase stock in the company at a low price, they need to hire a boob to run the company into the toilet for a little bit.  Little did they know that their boob, a fresh out of college Norville Barnes (Robbins), has some ingenious plans dealing with toy production ("you know, for kids") that could prove very profitable for the company and may just foil Mussburger's scheme.

This is only the fifth Coen Brothers film that I had seen and up until this point I had only liked one (No Country for Old Men).  I can now add The Hudsucker Proxy to the "like" column.  A very Frank Capra-esque, 30s/40s style film, the movie has a genuine feel-good message peppered with quick pitter-patter dialogue between its leads.   It certainly feels like the film could've come right out of another era.  Nothing racy, raunchy, or explicit here...just the story of a man trying to make his way the best he can.

There were winning performances by Tim Robbins (who, despite the fact that I despise his politcal leanings with a passion, I genuinely like most of his work) and Paul Newman (then again, Paul Newman is always winning).  My only problem with the film (and what keeps it out of the upper echelon of my grading rubric) is Jennifer Jason Leigh's performance as a fast-talking newspaper reporter who goes undercover at Hudsucker Industries to find out more about the newly appointed president.  She was essentially copying Katharine Hepburn's mannerisms and dialect step-for-step, enunciation-for-enunciation.  As the film is certainly a tribute to a bygone era, I'm sure the Coens wanted Leigh's role to be an homage to Hepburn (in some regard), but I just found her performance over-the-top and grating.

Overall, though, this little film is certainly worth a rental if you haven't seen it.

The RyMickey Rating: B+ 

Edited to add:  I'm a fan of music scores in films (my folks would always give me a hard time about this as I'd often mention the score when I'd talk about whether I liked or disliked a movie) and there's also a great one in this flick by Carter Burwell -- very fitting with the era they were trying to depict...