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

Serenity

Serenity (2019)

Starring Matthew McConaughey, Anne Hathaway, Diane Lane, Jason Clarke, Jeremy Strong, and Djimon Hounsou

Directed by Steven Knight

Written by Steven Knight

Click here for my Letterboxd review

The RyMickey Rating:  D

Ocean's 8

Ocean's 8 (2018)

Starring Sandra Bullock, Cate Blanchett, Anne Hathaway, Mindy Kaling, Sarah Paulson, Awkwafina, Rihanna, Helena Bonham Carter, and James Corden

Directed by Gary Ross

Written by Gary Ross and Olivia Milch

Summary (in 500 words or less):  A group of female criminals team up to steal a $150 million necklace during the annual Met Gala fashion event.

Click here for my Letterboxd review

The RyMickey Rating:  C+

Colossal

Colossal (2017)

Starring Anne Hathaway, Jason Sudeikis, Austin Stowell, Tim Blake Nelson, and Dan Stevens

Directed by Nacho Vigalondo

Written by Nacho Vigalondo

***This film is currently streaming via Hulu***

Summary (in 500 words or less):  A woman in America soon realizes that she may have some control over a monstrous creature that is wreaking havoc in Seoul, South Korea.  

Click here for my Letterboxd review

The RyMickey Rating:  C 

Movie Review - The Intern

The Intern (2015)

Starring Robert DeNiro, Anne Hathaway, Rene Russo, Anders Holm, JoJo Kushner, Andrew Rannells, Zach Pearlman, Christina Scherer, and Adam DeVine

Directed by Nancy Meyers

As part of an outreach initiative, Jules Ostin (Anne Hathaway), CEO of the popular fashion e-commerce website About the Fit, creates an internship program to bring in senior citizens to counter the youthful vibe of the workplace.  Recent widower Ben (Robert DeNiro) applies and earns an internship as Jules's assistant.  Despite her initial reticence, Jules soon finds Ben's demeanor and attitude to be a comforting and soothing aspect to her hectic and crazy life as she attempts to balance her work life with her home life being a wife to Matt (Anders Holm) and mother to young Paige (JoJo Kushner).

Writer-director Nancy Meyers' The Intern is full of clichés and silly side characters who bear no import to the overarching storyline, but at the center of the film is Robert DeNiro and Anne Hathaway who create a chemistry-filled dynamic that is irresistibly charming.  Color me surprised, but there is humor and heart in the father-daughter, mentor-mentee relationship that Meyers creates and DeNiro and Hathaway imbue.  While it's obvious where the seasoned, elderly Ben is going to lead the fresh, younger Jules from the very outset of the film, we in the audience don't really mind because of the interaction between the two characters and actors.

While the secondary characters are amusing in their own right, the film doesn't really know what to do with them.  Sure, they play into certain scenes during which the relationship between Jules and Ben flourishes, but in the end they can't help but feel superfluous.  Still, because of the dynamic between the two leads, The Intern manages to be a better, more watchable film than it probably deserves to be, so kudos to both DeNiro and Hathaway for achieving this.

The RyMickey Rating:  B-

Movie Review - Interstellar

Interstellar (2014)

Starring Matthew McConaughey, Anne Hathaway, Jessica Chastain, David Gyasi, Wes Bentley Mackenzie Foy, John Lithgow, Timothée Chalamet, Casey Affleck, Matt Damon, Topher Grace, Ellen Burstyn, and Michael Caine

Directed by Christopher Nolan

I was extremely wary about Interstellar.  During its theatrical run, I found myself avoiding it due to its nearly three-hour running time and the much-gossiped about notion that its story was too talky and too befuddling.  So, with trepidation I sat down to watch director and co-screenwriter Christopher Nolan's Interstellar in one sitting not expecting to enjoy myself.  Obviously, this lede is insinuating that I liked the film and that intimation would be true.  While not without its faults, Interstellar is a surprisingly action-filled drama that, while certainly "deep" and a bit convoluted, is much easier to comprehend than I expected.

To make a (very) long story short, Earth is dying and within several years, it will be uninhabitable.  While driving around with his daughter one evening, former astronaut Joseph Cooper (Matthew McConaughey) stumbles upon a secret NASA facility wherein scientists are building a spaceship that can send a crew to explore the far regions of space to look for another planet that can sustain human life.  Much to his daughter Murph's (Mackenze Foy) chagrin, Cooper agrees to take part in the mission which will likely take him away from home for several years.  This connection between father and daughter continues to take shape as the film progresses with Murph aging into a young woman (played by Jessica Chastain) and Cooper still out in space.

Interstellar works best when it finds itself in space.  There's a harrowing sense of anticipation and excitement in nearly every story element as Cooper and his fellow astronauts (Anne Hathaway, Wes Bentlely, and David Gyasi) desperately struggle to find a place where the human race can survive for eons to come.  As they journey from planet to planet, they're forced to make some tough decisions which are intellectually complex, though at the same time fathomable to the general movie-going public.

Unfortunately, Insterstellar takes a long time to actually get Cooper up into space.  For nearly an hour, we find Cooper and his family bemoaning the state of the Earth and then debating whether Cooper should take on the space mission.  I remember about forty minutes in looking at how much time was left and getting antsy that there was still nearly two hours to go.  I recognize the need to set up a father/daughter relationship in the first act, but Nolan and his co-screenwriter brother Jonathan fail to keep things moving and the languid pace weighs down the entire film.

As mentioned, though, once we're in space, Interstellar becomes an intriguing film.  The special effects are top notch and the sound design (which got dinged a bit by critics who watched the film in theaters) works fine on a small screen sound system.  The acting is solid, but I had a few qualms with Matthew McConaughey's lead performance as Cooper.  First, I wanted him to open his damn mouth when he talked because multiple times it sounded as if he was talking with a handful of marbles in his mouth.  Perhaps more importantly, though, I felt that he looked bored for most of the flick.  Unlike other characters who were desperately trying to save their planet and complete a successful mission, McConaughey's Cooper didn't convey that sense of urgency.  While there are certainly moments in space during which McConaughey successfully showcases his emotions as a father longing to be reunited with his children, overall I felt that Cooper left me longing to connect with him seeing as how he was the crux of the whole film.

Despite some qualms, Interstellar actually provides a rather enjoyable experience.  Did I understand everything that happens at the end as the film veers into some weird metaphysical stuff?  Nope.  But I at least didn't feel like I was completely oblivious to the proceedings.  If you were wary like me to see this because of these fears of confusion (or simply because of the film's length), let me brush those aside for you and beckon you to give Interstellar a chance.

The RyMickey Rating:  B

Movie Review - The Dark Knight Rises

The Dark Knight Rises (2012)

Starring Christian Bale, Gary Oldman, Tom Hardy, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Anne Hathaway, Marion Cotillard, Matthew Modine, Morgan Freeman, and Michael Caine

Directed by Christopher Nolan

I've been avoiding reviewing The Dark Knight Rises for nearly a month now and the only reason I can think of is that after concluding this film there was just a sense of apathy that has only increased as time as passed.  It's not that this final chapter in Christopher Nolan's Batman trilogy is bad -- it's slightly better than the Batman Begins origin story, but not nearly as good as The Dark Knight -- but it's really just feels most genericly superhero-ey of the three flicks.

We've got our good guy Bruce Wayne (Christian Bale whose teeth-gritting toughness as his alter ego has worn out its welcome by this point) who has put Batman to rest after the masked vigilante took the blame for killing Harvey Dent in the prior film.  However, evil rears its ugly head again, this time in the form of Bane (Tom Hardy) who vows to fight the capitalistic rich pigs of Gotham by taking all of them down and suppressing the poor himself.  Throw in a petty thief named Selena Kyle (Anne Hathaway) who will later turn into the slinky Catwoman (although I'm not sure that name is ever uttered in the movie), a new love interest for Bruce in the form of Wayne Enterprises board member Miranda (Marion Cotillard), and a young cop named Blake (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) who tries to be the voice of reason to motivate Batman to come back to Gotham after Commissioner Gordon (Gary Oldman) almost resigns himself to the fact that the masked man won't return and the cast for this one is pretty much complete.

The problem is that despite the film's nearly three-hour runtime, the cast isn't given a whole lot to do. Bane as a villain is a disappointment especially coming after the one-two punch of Heath Ledger's Joker and Aaron Eckhart's Harvey Dent in the last film.  The motivation of taking down the upper class is fine (despite it sort of feeling like a retread of Ra's Al Ghul's evil plans in the first film), but the screenwriting duo of the Nolan brothers fail to make the story resonate even in these heightened economic times.

Gordon-Levitt and Hathaway were certainly welcome additions and it was nice that ample time was spent on their storylines since (as I mentioned above) Bale's incredibly one-note performance while in his Batsuit had worn out its welcome.  Unfortunately, Tom Hardy fails to really make an impression as Bane.  After the whimsically evil performance of Ledger's Joker, having Hardy behind a mask for the whole film and failing to see a single facial expression from our central villain is a bit of a letdown that isn't his fault in the slightest.

In the end, Nolan's Batman trilogy is solid, but it's not nearly as fantastic as fanboys and critics would have you believe.

The RyMickey Rating:  B-

Movie Review - Les Misérables

Les Misérables (2012)

Starring Hugh Jackman, Russell Crowe, Anne Hathaway, Eddie Redmayne, Amanda Seyfried, Samantha Barks, Aaron Tveit, Isabelle Allen, Daniel Huttlestone, Sacha Baron Cohen, and Helena Bonham Carter

Directed by Tom Hooper

Goodness, there really isn't any modicum of happiness in Les Misérables.  The title is certainly apropos, hinting about the miserable existence of the characters we'll meet, but I still expected maybe a hint of joy.  However, you certainly don't feel uplifted walking out of the film.  That being said, I mean that not as a slight towards Tom Hooper's adaptation of the long-running and tremendously popular musical version of Victor Hugo's lengthy tome.  Many claim that Hooper stole away David Fincher's Best Director Oscar when he triumphed over The Social Network with The King's Speech back in 2010, but my RyMickey Awards crowned Hooper the winner that year and Les Misérables does show that The King's Speech wasn't just a fluke.  More on Hooper later, though...

***Moderate spoilers ahead only if you've lived under a rock during this awards season***

The epic Les Mis is overarchingly the story of Jean Valjean (Hugh Jackman), a man imprisoned for over a decade for stealing a loaf of bread in early nineteenth century France.  When released, Valjean is told that as a parolee he must periodically check in or else face heading back to prison.  Valjean, however, wants to leave his past behind him and manages to find himself a successful businessman running a factory of sorts that employs a bunch of lower income women, one of whom is Fantine (Anne Hathaway).  It is soon discovered that Fantine has a young child which I guess implies she's a whore (although I found myself questioning this whole plotline), throwing the other ladies into a tizzy causing Fantine to be fired and thrown out onto the streets unbeknown to Valjean.  Forced to do whatever she can to provide for her child whom she has sent to live with others, Fantine sells all that she can (her hair, her teeth, and her body) and eventually dies, but not before Valjean meets up with her again and promises her that he will take care of her young child Cosette (Isabelle Allen).

Time passes and Cosette grows up (and is now played by Amanda Seyfried), but Valjean still finds himself constantly on the run from his former captor, Officer Javert (Russell Crowe) who is on a mission to get Valjean back behind bars for breaking his parole.  Every time Javert discovers their location, Valjean and Cosette are forced to move, but when Cosette sees the dashing Marius (Eddie Redmayne) across a crowded street, she instantly falls in love with him (and he with her), wanting to stay with him rather than travel elsewhere with Valjean. Marius is quite politically minded, wishing to overthrow the French government to provide a better environment for the lower classes (or something like that...it's probably a pretty important part of French history that's glossed over in terms of depth here).  We then add Eponine (Samantha Barks) into the mix who secretly loves Marius and also happens to have a connection to Cosette in that Eponine's father and mother (Sacha Baron Cohen and Helena Bonham Carter) were the ones who watched after young Cosette over a decade before.

Whew...that seems like a lot to take in...and it is.  However, with all that story and character connections, you'd think there'd be more depth and weight to the story.  Unfortunately, the fact that this is a musical takes away a bit of the gravitas that I imagine is present in the novel.  I am certainly someone who appreciates musicals and am definitely aware that most musicals utilize their songs in order to advance the story.  Because of this technique, oftentimes the plot in musicals is simplified, but Les Misérables is a story that shouldn't be simplified.  The songs, while beautiful (though perhaps not as memorable as I expected them to be seeing as how I was not familiar with this musical at all), made this heavy story seem more one-note than it should be.

For the most part, the performances were fairly solid.  Mr. Hooper did a smart thing considering the operatic nature of the piece in having his actors sing live rather than lip sync as is the case in most musicals.  This allows for quite emotional, real, and true moments to be present, best exemplified in Anne Hathaway's showstopping number "I Dreamed a Dream."  Utilizing one long take with the camera focused solely on Fantine, Hathaway won herself the Best Supporting Actress Oscar with a riveting and heartbreaking rendition of the only song I'd heard from this musical prior to watching the film.  For some reason or another, I had never listened to the lyrics clearly enough to comprehend the utter sadness and devastation that Fantine feels while singing this song, but Hathaway made me fully understand the pain of her once hopeful character.

The other standout to me in the ensemble was Eddie Redmayne who has a lovely voice and is also granted a Hathaway/Fantine-like moment at the film's conclusion with "Empty Chairs at Empty Tables" as he looks back on the revolution of the lower class and the many friends he lost in the battle.  There is also nice work from West End performer Samantha Barks in her first film role.  Hugh Jackman has been a bit overpraised for his work here, but it was still perfectly acceptable, and, on the other end of the spectrum, Russell Crowe has been a bit too harshly criticized as I thought his gruffer voice suited his part fine.

Tom Hooper has done a nice job filming this operatic musical, but even he is unable to assist the hefty story not coming across with the importance it likely should.  That's just an inherent flaw of the musicalization of a work such as this.  When French Revolution aspects are thrown aside for a love story between characters simply because it suits the music better, there isn't much Hooper can do.  Yes, the film has a murky, grayish-brown quality that does grow a bit tiresome as it heads into hour two, but I fully respected Hooper's hand-held, close-up style that he's actually been taken to task for.  It does allow for the focus to be placed on the characters rather than their surroundings, bringing more emotional power to the songs.  Still, despite some nice music, I can't help but think Les Misérables shouldn't have ever been made into an opera as the story seems to call for much more plot than a simplified musical can allow...then again, millions upon millions of theatergoers will disagree with me on that one.

The RyMickey Rating: B-

Movie Review - One Day

One Day (2011)

Starring Anne Hathaway, Jim Sturgess, and Patricia Clarkson 

Directed by Lone Scherfig

One Day has such a promising premise that it's a shame its story is so bland and the actors who inhabit it bring no chemistry to their lovelorn characters.  In the film, we meet Emma (Anne Hathaway) and Dexter (Jim Sturgess) on July 15, 1988, as they graduate from some British college.  Although they only happen to be in the same place because of mutual friends, despite having never met before, they spend the night together in Emma's apartment.  What initially was a sexually charged meeting ends up being rather innocent and the two decide not to sleep together, instead simply beginning a friendship that will last for many years.  The film then jumps to July 15 in each successive year and we see where Emma and Dexter are in their lives and in their relationship with one another.

I actually love the idea behind this movie and I think that the concept as a whole is going to account for a slightly higher grade than the film probably deserves.  Unfortunately, Emma and Dexter aren't characters that have a whole lot going for them.  Emma readily admits that she's a bore...and she is.  Dexter's an obnoxious man-whore who turns into a rather nasty guy as the years progress, but Emma still holds his friendship near and dear for some reason.  The two always had a thing for one another despite trying their best to keep things in the "friend zone," but it's obvious that we're supposed to feel some sexual chemistry between Hathaway and Sturgess when they're onscreen together...and it just never comes to fruition until close to the end of the movie.  Granted, in the last act, I slowly began to believe that these two characters had some sparks between them, but I can't help but think I should've been experiencing that emotion all the way through the film.

Still, even with this rather large problem -- let's face it, a lack of chemistry in a romantic film is a big issue -- the intriguing premise manages to trump some of the faults.  Yes, the story between these two characters isn't always interesting (it oftentimes feels very repetitive since the characters aren't that interesting or deep) and the actors, as I mentioned, aren't exactly right for their roles, but yet I didn't get as annoyed with it as I probably should have and probably would have had the rather original "one day in the life" conceit not been part of the movie.

The RyMickey Rating:  C

Movie Review - Love and Other Drugs

Love and Other Drugs (2010)

Starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Anne Hathaway, Oliver Platt, Hank Azaria, and Josh Gad

Directed by Edward Zwick

When womanizing drug rep Jamie Randall (Jake Gyllenhaal) travels to Ohio for his new job with Pfizer, he meets Maggie (Anne Hathaway), a no-nonsense gal whose dry humor and unabashed affinity for sex seem to be a perfect fit for him.  Things aren't ideal, though, as Maggie has been diagnosed with early onset Parkinson's Disease which any movie-watcher will know will turn this rather nice adult romantic comedy into quite a downer by the film's end.  And that's the problem with Love and Other Drugs, a film that works surprisingly well for its first hour and then never quite finds its footing during its final half when it unsuccessfully attempts to pull at my emotional heartstrings.

I'm not afraid to admit that Jake Gyllenhaal's Jamie is charming here.  It's not surprising to see why Anne Hathaway's Maggie who was adamant about not being in a "relationship" quickly falls for him.  Hathaway also exudes a wry sense of humor and isn't the least bit hesitant to show off her body (which certainly won't garner complaints from me).  The two of them have a good chemistry here during the film's first more humorous half.  Their two light-hearted personalities mesh quite well together.  However, neither Gyllenhaal nor Hathaway pulled me in enough to really give a damn when the film veered towards the dramatic during the final 45 minutes. 

It certainly doesn't help that the two actors are forced to change seemingly with the snap of the director and screenwriter's fingers from lighthearted romance to melodramatic disease-of-the-week Lifetime movie.  What should have ultimately been touching and moving doesn't work because it feels like we're watching two separate movies (and that's more the fault of director Ed Zwick and the trio of screenwriters including Zwick himself).  It also doesn't help that the latter half is peppered with unnecessary and poorly written jabs at the state of the American health care system.  These asides just come off as silly and desperate.

Still, I genuinely liked Love and Other Drugs for about an hour.  I found myself laughing at Gyllenhaal, Hathaway, and side players like Oliver Platt as Jamie's co-worker and Josh Gad as Jamie's brother (a character plopped into the film only to provide laughs...something I usually hate, but really kind of liked here).  I just wish the second half could have resonated with me instead of falling flat.

The RyMickey Rating:  C

Six Days 'Til Oscars

This being a mostly movie-related blog, I've got to say that I'm looking forward to this Anne Hathaway/James Franco-hosted Oscar ceremony on Sunday.  Granted, I've still got three major Best Picture nominees to see before then -- The Fighter, True Grit, and The King's Speech -- but that's neither here nor there (yes, I know I'm way behind this year).  Hathaway's got comedic chops and I'm hoping the show is just as amusing as the clips of the co-hosts on the Oscars YouTube channel.

Movie Review - Valentine's Day (2010)

Valentine's Day (2010)

Starring Jessica Alba, Jessica Biel, Bradley Cooper, Patrick Dempsey, Hector Elizondo, Jamie Foxx, Jennifer Garner, Topher Grace, Anne Hathaway, Ashton Kutcher, Queen Latifah, Taylor Lautner, George Lopez, Shirley Maclaine, Emma Roberts, Julia Roberts, Taylor Swift

Directed by Garry Marshall 

It's not as if ensemble movies about love can't work.  One of my favorite movies of all time is Love, Actually, and that flick is all about an ensemble's quest for love.  However, with last year's He's Just Not That Into You and this year's Valentine's Day, the ensemble romantic comedy appears to be dead in the water.  While this 2010 flick fares a little better than its 2009 counterpart, one would think that with all the star power on display here, someone could craft a decent script.

I'm not even going to go into a summary here because (as is evidenced by the incredibly long "starring" list up above) there's just too many tangential stories to discuss.  And therein lies the problem.  Too many people with too many unnecessary tales.  Taylor Swift and Taylor Lautner's high school romance -- I'd nix 'em since we've already got one youthful tale starring the charming Emma Roberts, but they're appealing to the youth.  Julia Roberts and Bradley Cooper's meeting on a plane -- totally pointless, but Roberts is a huge star and Cooper's star wattage is on the rise.  Shirley Maclaine and Hector Elizondo's out-of-left-field reveal of a "bombshell secret" -- who gives a damn -- oh, that's right, we need to appeal to the grandparents.

That's the problem.  The movie just wants to hit every demographic and it fails because of that.   Any positive vibes that come from actors like Jennifer Garner, Anne Hathaway, Topher Grace, Julia Roberts and her niece Emma, and (shockingly) Ashton Kutcher and George Lopez just get washed away by a horrible script.  Not that I'm necessarily one to criticize on this front, but screenwriters need to learn to edit.

And the awful script is shot so incredibly poorly by director Garry Marshall that I laughed out loud because of some of his choices.  Hey, let's put some nuns in that scene.  Throw a sign-language interpreter in there.  Let's have a girl with cerebral palsy point and yell at Ashton Kutcher because he doesn't have shoes on.  Yes, I realize that last sentence might seem callous, but these "attempts at realism" just come across as preposterous.  It honestly seemed like he had family members that he wanted to put into the movie somehow and he was going to do whatever it took to make it happen.

If you want a great romantic ensemble movie, just do yourself a favor and go with Love, Actually.  Skip this one.

The RyMickey Rating:  C-

Movie Review - Alice in Wonderland

Alice in Wonderland 3D (2010)

Starring Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter, Anne Hathaway, Crispin Glover, and Mia Wasikowska

Directed by Tim Burton

With a complete lack of whimsy and a rather heavy-handed joyless approach, Tim Burton's re-telling of Alice in Wonderland is just a dull bore.   Thirteen years ago, young Alice "fell down the rabbit hole" and entered the zany Wonderland.  Now, as a nineteen-year-old girl on the verge of womanhood, Alice (a bland Mia Wasikowska) happens to fall down the hole again.  While in Wonderland, she is told by all that she's the land's savior -- for, you see, the evil Queen of Hearts (played with gusto by Helena Bonham Carter) has taken over everything, forcing her sister, The White Queen (Hathaway) to be exiled, and causing some to live in a state of fear.

Yes, the whole premise of any Alice in Wonderland story hinges on "the odd," but it also always has a sense of childhood playfulness.  Everything in Burton's film feels so heavy-handed.  With the exception of the humorously nasty Bonham Carter, every other character feels like they were told to be as blasé as possible.  Mia Wasikowska didn't even seem like she wanted to be there -- not an ounce of emotion.  And the less said about Anne Hathaway the better.

That being said, on the complete opposite side of the spectrum is Johnny Depp who was given free reign to do whatever he damn well pleased and his Mad Hatter is a wreck.  Yes, I get that Depp was playing him as über-crazy and drugged-out, but when your character is so utterly incoherent, it just seems like painful overacting.  And I realize it's just a minor point, but let's not even discuss the Mad Hatter's "dance" at the end of the film (which they had been teasing throughout the movie) -- what an awful scene.

Granted, I've never been a big fan of any Alice in Wonderland tale, but everything about Burton's version seemed so utterly dark and joyless.  If you wanted to go that route, go all-out depressing (or even veer into the horror genre or something).  As it stands now, Burton's version is a dud.

The RyMickey Rating: D

Movie Review - Passengers (2008)

Starring Anne Hathaway, Patrick Wilson, Dianne Wiest, David Morse, Andre Braugher, and Clea DuVall
Written by Ronnie Christensen
Directed by Rodrigo García

Anne Hathaway Crush Alert! I'm not gonna even discuss my Anne Hathaway Attainability Theory (not that it's much of a theory), so instead let's focus on this movie that no one's ever heard of before. This flick lasted for a whopping week at our theater last year...I was away on vacation, came back, and it was already gone.

This one was reminiscent of the movie Fearless that I saw awhile ago with Jeff Daniels and Rosie Perez that, if memory serves me right, I loved (It also dealt with the survivor of a plane crash and how he dealt with the aftermath). Unfortunately, Passengers didn't really work at all.

Hathaway plays psychologist Claire Summers who is providing group therapy for the five survivors of a horrific plane crash. I love watching Hathaway onscreen (even in shit like Bride Wars) because I think she's a strong presence. However, she just wasn't believable as this intelligent psychologist...she had to spout some crappy psychobabble lines that would be difficult for anyone, but I just didn't buy her in the role. Anyway, back to the premise...Claire is intrigued with one patient in particular, Eric, who is oddly unaffected by the plane crash. There's sexual tension, the patient becomes the doctor, yada yada yada. When the five surviving passengers start disappearing, Claire begins to think that there's some elaborate scheme in place to cover up the airline's errors...and she may be right.

Unfortunately, this 90-minute film feels longer than that...it is just plodding and boring and it lays there on the screen like a lump. The writer and director bring nothing remotely exciting to the table. There's somewhat of a twist ending and it's just ridiculous. It doesn't make any sense and it makes the whole movie seem completely pointless. Even though I didn't like the flick, the twist made me dislike it even more.

The RyMickey Rating: D

Movie Review - Bride Wars (2009)

Starring Kate Hudson, Anne Hathaway, and Candice Bergen
Written by Greg DePaul and Casey Wilson
Directed by Gary Winick

I'm an unabashed Anne Hathaway fan. She's cute, seems smart, and is a talented actress (see Rachel Getting Married for proof...go on...watch it...). Even in her silliest and inconsequential of movies (Get Smart as an example), she shines -- Bride Wars really isn't an exception. It's unfortunate that the movie itself is so devoid of laughs.

Movies like these make me wonder why women are so petty. You ladies really gonna lose a friendship over the fact that both of your weddings were scheduled on the same day? One of you really won't switch? Hathaway and her cohort, Kate Hudson, actually prove to be fine actresses in this one, but there's not a single damn thing worth watching in this film. Co-stars are weakly written; the music montages are ridiculously stupid; there's nothing here beyond two adequate performances from Hathaway and Hudson. And that's certainly not enough to recommend this film to anyone.

The RyMickey Rating: D

Movie Review - Rachel Getting Married (2008)

***Available on DVD***

starring Anne Hathaway, Rosemarie Dewitt, Bill Irwin, Anna Deavere Smith, Mather Zickel, Tunde Adebimpe, and Debra Winger

written by Jenny Lumet

directed by Jonathan Demme

The term voyeur carries a negative connotation.  The idea of a "peeping Tom" automatically makes one think of a creepy guy sneakily following you around watching your every move.  It absolutely conjures up a sense of uneasiness.

That's how I felt when watching Rachel Getting Married.  I was watching something I really shouldn't be privy to -- the inner workings of a family that isn't nearly as happy as they'd like you to think they are.  And as I snuck into this liberal Connecticut family's home and hid behind the doors or the sofas, I was certainly uncomfortable, but I was absolutely captivated by what I witnessed.

Kym is a recovering drug addict, leaving a stint in rehab to return home for her sister's wedding.  As a fellow friend from rehab says, seeing one's family is one of the hardest things for an addict to do.  Kym's father dotes on her profusely, going over the top in trying to make her feel at home.  The bride-to-be, her sister Rachel, greets her much more warily, unsure of "which Kym" may be arriving home.  And Kym herself finds the whole thing quite an ordeal.  There is joy in the family upon her arrival, but there is also incredible pain -- pain that is revealed ever so slowly in Jenny Lumet's truly fascinating script.  Lumet creates a family that (although unlike any family I know, and, to be completely honest, a family that would be way too "weird" for me to ever find enjoyable) feels so incredibly realistic that it truly feels like you are watching a documentary of sorts.

That documentary feel is certainly achieved, in part, because of Jonathan Demme's direction.  Although he must have shot with handheld cameras, the footage is never jumpy or shaky.  The camera is always where it needs to be in order to achieve the greatest emotional impact.  At times, it really is voyeuristic, looking at a room from afar.  Then, he'll switch things up, moving uncomfortably close to the drama.  Some really exquisite work here.

And then there are the actors.  How this ensemble was not nominated for Best Ensemble at the Screen Actor's Guild is beyond me.  This is the best collection of folks I've seen onscreen in years.  Starting with the "star," Hathaway strips herself of the sweetie-pie persona that's so well known and totally inhabits the addled recovering Kym.  Dewitt's Rachel is a perfect counter -- seemingly rational, but hiding much pain inside over a past family tragedy.  And then there's the absolutely fantastic Bill Irwin as Kym and Rachel's father.  Probably my favorite in the film, Irwin is obviously a father who wants the best for both his daughters, but is completely oblivious to what he needs to do in order to create happiness in his family.  There's a scene in the family's living room with these three great actors where Rachel confronts Kym about her role in the accident that caused her family so much sorrow that was simply riveting.  And then the scene that comes after that with Kym and her mother (Debra Winger in a tricky role)...wow, just wow.

If I had to fault the film on one thing, it would be that the wedding party scene goes on much too long.  However, that's where the voyeuristic nature of the film blasts full throttle.  We, as moviegoers, are actually there -- watching this family celebrate, watching this family cry, watching this family come to terms with what it means to be a family despite whatever cards they are dealt.

The RyMickey Rating: A