The French Dispatch

 The French Dispatch (2021)

Starring Bill Murray, Elizabeth Moss, Jason Schwartzman, Owen Wilson, Benicio del Toro, Léa Seydoux, Tilda Swinton, Adrian Brody, Tony Revolori, Bob Balaban, Henry Winkler, Lois Smith, Frances McDormand, Timothée Chalamet, Lyna Khoudri, Liev Schreiber, Jeffrey Wright, Willem Dafoe, Mathieu Amalric, Edward Norton, Winston Ait Hellal, and Saoirse Ronan

Directed by Wes Anderson

Written by Wes Anderson

Click here for my Letterboxd review

The RyMickey Rating: D

Marry Me

 Marry Me (2022)

Starring Jennifer Lope, Owen Wilson, Maluma, John Bradley, Sarah Silverman, Chloe Coleman, and Michelle Buteau

Directed by Kat Coiro

Written by John Rogers, Tami Sagher, and Harper Dill

Click here for my Letterboxd review

The RyMickey Rating: C

Wonder

Wonder (2017)

Starring Jacob Tremblay, Julia Roberts, Owen Wilson, Izabela Vidovic, Noah Jupe, Bryce Gheisar, Elle McKinnon, Millie Davis, Danielle Rose Russell, Mandy Patinkin, and Daveed Diggs

Directed by Stephen Chbosky

Written by Jack Thorne, Steve Conrad, and Stephen Chbosky

Summary (in 500 words or less):  A boy with a facial disfiguration (Jacob Tremblay) enters fifth grade after being home schooled for his whole life.  Facing bullies, young Auggie initially finds things difficult, but with the help of his mother, father, and sister (Julia Roberts, Owen Wilson, Izabela Vidovic), he soon finds friendships that help him come out of his shell.

Click here for my Letterboxd review

The RyMickey Rating: B

Movie Review - Zoolander No. 2

Zoolander No. 2 (2016)

Starring Ben Stiller, Owen Wilson, Will Ferrell, Penélope Cruz, Kristen Wiig, Fred Armisen, Kyle Mooney, Milla Jovovich, Christine Taylor, Justin Theroux, Nathan Lee Graham, Cyrus Arnold, Billy Zane, Jon Daly, Sting, and Benedict Cumberbatch

Directed by Ben Stiller

***This film is currently streaming via Amazon Prime***

There are just as many jokes that fall flat as make you laugh out loud in Zoolander No. 2, but in the end the balance works out slightly in the film's favor with the sequel to the cultish 2001 comedy proving to not be nearly as bad as the abysmal reviews would have you believe.  No one's coming to this one hoping for a great cinematic masterpiece -- all one would want is a worthy sequel to the original which I'll admit to not having seen in years, but remember having fond memories about the ludicrousness that it brought to the screen over fifteen years ago.  Fortunately, this delivers on being an amusing piece of mindless entertainment.

And boy is it mindless.  After a prologue which details in ridiculous fashion how our title character's life fell apart following the events of the first film, ex-model Derek Zoolander (Ben Stiller) has become a hermit after losing custody of his son (Cyrus Arnold).  In the midst of the frozen tundra that is "Extreme Northern New Jersey," Derek receives an invite to model for a prestigious new designer in Italy.  With some coaxing, he reluctantly agrees, hoping that it would look good to the child welfare agency.  However, little does Derek know that he's going to find himself in the midst of another fashion-related conspiracy hatched by the evil designer Mugatu (Will Ferrell).

There's no mistaking Zoolander No. 2 as a "good" film, but it's so ridiculously bad that it really does almost land in that "so bad, it's good" category.  It never quite gets to that territory completely, but I laughed enough that Zoolander No. 2 was a worthwhile experience for me.  Sure, it relies much too heavily on an overabundance of dumb cameos from every aspect of pop culture -- Justin Bieber, Kiefer Sutherland, Willie Nelson, Katie Perry, and Anna Wintour pop up just to name a mere few of the boatload that spout a line or two -- but for some unknown reason, I was never upset by any of them.  Instead, I embraced this film's utter corniness and accepted the absurdity.  Apparently this isn't a popular opinion, but maybe I just watched this one at the right time in order for it to work for me.

The RyMickey Rating:  C+

Movie Review - No Escape

No Escape (2015)

Starring Owen Wilson, Lake Bell, Sterling Jerins, Claire Geare, and Pierce Brosnan

Directed by John Erick Dowdle

No Escape landed on several Worst of 2015 lists when normal reviewers (unlike myself) rolled them out earlier this year and while it's certainly not great, it manages to have enough excitement that I was able to look past some story flaws and ludicrously silly direction (slow mo action is never a good thing).  Sure, it may not be good, but I was at least interested in its (obvious) outcome so that keeps it out of the lowest reaches of my 2015 movie list.

Jack Dwyer (Owen Wilson) realizes the difficulties involved in moving his wife Annie (Lake Bell) and his daughters Lucy (Sterling Jerins) and Beeze (Claire Geare) to a foreign (unnamed) Asian nation near Vietnam, but when his new job for Cardiff Industries wants him to oversee the installation of water systems, he totes his family along for the ride.  Upon their arrival, the Dwyers face a bit of a culture shock with tv's, telephones, and electrical outlets not working in their hotel, but they're seemingly willing to face the difficulties seeing as how Jack had been out of work for quite a while.  Rather unfortunate, however, the night of the Dwyers' arrival, the Prime Minister of this unnamed country is murdered by a large group of rebels upset that their water systems are being sold out to an American company.  The assassination of the head of the government sets off a massive riot in which huge portions of the population set out to kill all the Americans in their country as well as anyone trying to help them.  The Dwyers are forced to run for their lives, attempting to find a safe haven in the midst of the violent chaos.

Director John Erick Dowdle (who co-wrote the film with his brother Drew) is best known for horror flicks (some good, some not so good) and No Escape is really his first mainstream venture outside of that genre.  While I actually thought he did a decent job of capturing the familial aspects of the script -- I found Wilson and Bell to be believable as parents desperate to do what it takes to keep their daughters alive -- the action aspects of the plot and the motivations of the rioters oftentimes seem silly or ludicrous.  This is one of those films where the bad guys capture the good guys and then stand around pointing their guns at them as opposed to simply shooting them quickly.  The bad guys have a little conversation (here, in an unsubtitled foreign language so it makes even less sense) while the good guys can formulate a plan for escape.  Dowdle also peppers his direction with some really silly tricks - the aforementioned slow motion, as an example - that don't do anything except invoke laughter.

No Escape also runs on a little too long and grows a bit repetitive which is why, in the end, I had to rank this just below a RyMickey recommendation.  While I don't think it's quite as bad as other critics made it out to be, there's just one too many faults to really make it worthwhile.

The RyMickey Rating:  C-

Movie Review - Inherent Vice

Inherent Vice (2014)

Starring Joaquin Phoenix, Josh Brolin, Katherine Waterston, Owen Wilson, Reese Witherspoon, Benicio Del Toro, Joanna Newsom, Jena Malone, Eric Roberts, Maya Rudolph, and Martin Short 

Directed by Paul Thomas Anderson

What in the hell was in the critics' water when they deemed Inherent Vice worthy of a 73% Fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes?  Just because a film is directed by an esteemed director doesn't make it worthy of such a ranking.  Just because a film is well acted doesn't make it worthy of such a ranking.  Just because a film looks good and has better than average production values doesn't make it worthy of such a ranking.  A film still has to be enjoyable in a sense that the viewer must remain captivated by any of those aforementioned criteria mentioned or by its story.  Unfortunately, the directing, acting, and production values aren't enough to keep Inherent Vice afloat and, boy, is its story one of the worst and least captivating tales I've seen woven in a film in 2014.

There was talk of the story here being incoherent and frustrating, but I found the general gist of the plot fairly easy to comprehend.  A drug-addled private eye named Doc Sportello (Joaquin Phoenix) is drafted by his former lover Shasta Fay (Katherine Waterston) to determine the seriousness of Shasta's current lover's wife and her lover's desire to put her husband (and, remember, Shasta's current lover) into a loony bin and take all of his money.  It should be noted that if the previous sentence has thrown you for a loop, Inherent Vice probably isn't for you.  Then again, Inherent Vice really isn't for anyone.  The biggest issue with director and screenwriter Paul Thomas Anderson's flick is that it takes an already convoluted premise and branches off on so many tangents that admittedly are related, but fail to resonate or prove meaningful in the slightest.  Characters come in for single scenes, drop some other name for Doc to investigate, and then leave and never come back.  This pattern gets repetitive and old rather quickly and makes the nearly 150-minute run time feels like an eternity.

What saves Inherent Vice from the very bottom dregs of the RyMickey Rating system is that fact that the film looks good and contains acting that is certainly above average.  Unfortunately, I still found myself twiddling my thumbs, waiting for this never-ending story to conclude.  Unable to latch on to any of the film's characters or their plights, I found myself adrift here and completely unimpressed.

The RyMickey Rating:  D

Movie Review - Midnight in Paris

Midnight in Paris (2011)

Starring Owen Wilson, Rachel McAdams, Marion Cotillard, Michael Sheen, Kathy Bates, Adrien Brody, Nina Arianda, Kurt Fuller, and Mimi Kennedy

Directed by Woody Allen

It should be noted that there are moderate spoilers below...I call them spoilers in the broadest sense of the word because the trailer, rather ingeniously, did not give away what this movie is about in the slightest.  Perhaps rather foolishly, my fellow moviegoer and I had no concept of a completely major aspect of the plot because of a lack of reading reviews for this and only seeing the trailer.  While I don't reveal any major plot points, just be aware that I'm "giving away" more than you'd see in the commercials.

UPDATED 2/15/12 -- I don't know if it's the fact that now that it's garnered Oscar nominations, I'm looking at the film differently and perhaps a little more critically, but I recently rewatched Midnight in Paris and boy, was my "B" rating way too high.  I found the whole flick this second time around rather pretentious.  While lovely to look at and acted fine by the leads (although Kathy Bates is really painful), it was almost a chore to sit through it a second time.  My adjusted rating will appear below.

Midnight in Paris is pleasant to watch...and that's simply it.  It's a pleasant film that doesn't try to be anything more than that.  And there's nothing wrong with that.  But all this talk about how it's one of writer-director Woody Allen's best films in ages seems rather unwarranted to me.  It's a satisfying romantic comedy, but the awards buzz surrounding this film boggles my mind.  Heck, Allen's Whatever Works was a more satisfying film and failed to get any traction in the Oscar race two years ago.

When the film opens, we meet former screenwriter-turned struggling novelist Gil (Owen Wilson taking on the "Woody Allen" role, but in a thankfully much less neurotic manner than is typically characteristic of Allen's films) who is visiting Paris with his fiancée Inez (Rachel McAdams) and her parents John and Helen (a somewhat scene-stealing Kurt Fuller and Mimi Kennedy).  After hanging out for several days with two friends of Inez's, Paul and Carol (Michael Sheen and Nina Arianda), Gil grows tired of Paul's know-it-all, booksmart, and arrogant nature and finds himself separating from the group walking the streets of Paris alone at night.  While contemplating both his career and his relationship, a clock in a small Parisian square strikes midnight and Gil finds himself magically transported back in time to the 1920s where he finds himself trading one-liners with folks like F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway, Pablo Picasso, and Salvador Dali.

Owen Wilson is one of the biggest reasons Midnight in Paris garners the "pleasant" moniker.  He's in nearly every scene and his Gil is a guy that you can't help but root for.  Oftentimes, the "Woody Allen doppelganger" is such a nebbishy whiner, but here Wilson dials down the crankiness...and it's much appreciated.  Wilson is evenly matched by Rachel McAdams who takes on a slightly different persona from the sweet gals we've seen her play recently (think back to her Mean Girls days as a reference point for this role).  With the exception of the overrated Marion Cotillard (an actress whose appeal I just don't get in the slightest) as Gil's 1920s muse, all of the supporting performances (including the aforementioned comedic chops of Kurt Fuller and Mimi Kennedy as the conservative-skewing parents of Inez) are pleasant surprises and help elevate the flick.

Nostalgia is really a key plot point and overarching theme of Midnight in Paris.  Unhappy with his current state of affairs, Gil can't help but think that the Paris of nearly a century ago is the solution to all of his problems.  But is it?  In the end, I'm not sure the film answers that question and it kind of left me feeling a bit empty at its conclusion because of it.  I'm honestly not sure whether I'm supposed to be thinking "Yes, the past is better than the present" or "Learn from the past and shape your present with that knowledge."  (It should be noted that there's a rather interesting read on this conundrum here.  Finding myself confused by what I was "supposed to feel" at the end of this, I tried to do a little research and found that essay that doesn't really answer the question either and contains quite a few points I'd disagree with including calling Gil "anti-nostaligic," but at least is rather intuitive.)

Still, Midnight in Paris is a pleasant watch, and as I mentioned before, there's nothing wrong with simply being pleasant...just go into it trying to suppress the "Oscar talk" and you'll be fine.

The "Original" RyMickey Rating:  B
The "New" RyMickey Rating:  C

Movie Review - Hall Pass

Hall Pass (2011)

Starring Owen Wilson, Jason Sudeikis, Jenna Fischer, Christina Applegate, and Richard Jenkins 

Directed by the Bobby and Peter Farrelly 

While the brotherly directing team of There's Something about Mary doesn't reinvent the wheel with Hall Pass, the Farrelly Brothers have managed to craft a respectable comedy that has enough laughs and likable enough characters to surprise this reviewer.

Hall Pass still has the requisite raunch and toilet humor, but in this day and age of the resurgence of the R-rated comedy, I almost felt like the brotherly writing-directing duo held back a bit and it was a welcome treat.  For a flick whose premise deals with two guys who receive a week-long hall pass from their wives to go out and do whatever they want with whomever they want, I enjoyed that Owen Wilson and Jason Sudeikis's characters never felt like they stooped to teenagery whims and characteristics.  Wilson and Sudeikis play adult guys simply trying to sow their wild oats after years of wallowing in the sometimes-monotony of monogamy.  Yet, the film never pushes these guys into incredibly over the top situations (although there are certainly many situations presented that your average non-Hollywood male would never find himself in) and manages to keep the two pleasant to watch as opposed to be annoyed by their foolish shenanigans.

Hall Pass certainly isn't a home run.  There are several lulls where laughs come few and far in between and there are moments where the childish humor had me rolling my eyes, but I've got to admit that I laughed out loud (and quite loudly) several times.  Wilson and Sudeikis make a good pair and both certainly make this movie a pleasant watch.  The same, unfortunately, can't be said for the womanly counterparts.  Jenna Fischer as Wilson's wife is kind of a dead weight.  Granted, the film doesn't give her a whole lot to do, but it keeps trying to shoehorn her into the story and it just doesn't succeed.  Christina Applegate fares a little better as the sassier wife of Sudeikis, but it's a role we've seen her play many times before.

Still, for what Hall Pass is -- a raunchy R-rated comedy -- it fares well.  Nothing amazing, but certainly not disappointing in the slightest.

The RyMickey Rating:  B-

Movie Review - Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian (2009)

Starring Ben Stiller, Amy Adams, Owen Wilson, Hank Azaria, and Robin Williams
Written by Robert Ben Garant and Thomas Lennon
Directed by Shawn Levy

I fell asleep during the first Night at the Museum movie. For a movie that's supposed to be somewhat exciting (in a kid movie kind of way), it lacked any oomph.

The sequel proves to be the same thing.

I'm not going to go into any detail except to say that there's really nothing redeeming about it. The acting is okay, the special effects are lacklaster, and the story is extraordinarily corny. When you can make the adorable Amy Adams look bad, your script sucks.

Nothing else to say here...why waste my time...

The RyMickey Rating: D

Movie Review -- Marley and Me (2008)

starring Jennifer Aniston and Owen Wilson

directed by David Frankel
screenplay by Scott Frank and Don Roos

***WARNING -- THIS REVIEW CONTAINS A MODERATE SPOILER***

Let me first state that I am by no means a dog person...or a cat person...or an animal person, in general. It's not that I hate animals, but I never grew up with one in my house, so I never felt that connection with "man's best friend." So, I walked into Marley and Me expecting nothing, and walked out moderately impressed.

Based on a true story, there's no fancy storytelling here...it's a simple story about a man, his dog Marley, his family, and his newspaper job at which he writes about his normal life. That's it. It's two hours of a dog drinking out of a toilet, running rampant through a new house, and pooping in a yard. Yeah, nothing too exciting there. That being said, there was something here, in large part due to a winning lead performance by Owen Wilson. I've never been the biggest fan of the troubled actor, but Wilson was onscreen in nearly every scene and definitely held my interest. His chemistry with Aniston was surprisingly palpable...and his chemistry with Marley was even stronger. And that's what a movie like this needs in order to make it be watchable.


The movie isn't perfect by any means. Aniston struggles in her early scenes with her newborn children (she was still a joy to look at...see picture to the right for proof of that statement); as the kids grow they're played by cloying child actors; and Wilson's workplace scenes with co-star Eric Dane are completely and utterly pointless.

Yet, I can see why this movie's a big hit. It's perfectly acceptable middle-of-the-road fare that appeals to a broad population of dog-lovers. And even though I wasn't "ooh"ing and "aww"ing as Marley tore up the sofa and knocked down dog trainer Kathleen Turner (who is looking mighty scary, by the way), and even though I wasn't crying at the end (fair warning...this movie gives Old Yeller a run for it's money), and even though I sat through two hours of this movie and still can't tell you the breed of the titular character, Marley and Me was perfectly acceptable. While that's not a rousing endorsement, I'm certainly not "dogging" the movie either.

The RyMickey Rating: B-