My Best Friend's Wedding

 My Best Friend's Wedding (1997)

Starring Julia Roberts, Dermot Mulroney, Cameron Diaz, and Rupert Everett

Directed by P.J. Hogan

Written by Ronald Bass

Click here for my Letterboxd review

The RyMickey Rating:  C+

Movie Review - Sex Tape

Sex Tape (2014)

Starring Cameron Diaz, Jason Segel, Rob Corddry, Ellie Kemper, and Rob Lowe

Directed by Jake Kasdan

From the co-writers of the Best Film of 2011 -- Jason Segel and Nicholas Stoller -- comes one of the worst films of 2014.  Cameron Diaz and Jason Segel attempt to salvage what they can from what they're given (and from what Segel himself wrote), but this story of bored married couple Annie and Jay who decide to spice up their love life by making a sex tape only to have it disseminated amongst their friends thanks to the Apple iCloud is just abysmal.  With maybe one laugh, this is a chore to sit through for ninety minutes.

Not only is Sex Tape one of the worst written movies of 2014, but it's also one of the worst directed films of the year, filled with one of my biggest directorial pet peeves -- shots where someone is  talking and from a side view their lips obviously aren't moving.  It doesn't take much to get this right in a big budget Hollywood film, but Sex Tape manages to do this within the film's first five minutes and it doesn't let up.  I realize there's a pettiness attached to this complaint, but it goes to show the lack of care put into a film like this.

Poor Cameron Diaz -- she's had a lousy 2014 (as the upcoming RyMickey Awards will show).  Shockingly, Sex Tape isn't the worst thing she's been in.  So, if you're looking for her best effort, this one wins at least that ignominious battle.

The RyMickey Rating:  D-

Movie Review - Annie

Annie (2014)

Starring Quvenzhané Wallis, Jamie Foxx, Cameron Diaz, Rose Byrne, and Bobby Canavale

Directed by Will Gluck

The movie musical has been making a comeback in recent years and fortunately the remake of Annie doesn't seem to have caused the genre's demise quite yet despite the fact that it is one of the poorly written and acted movies of 2014.  Quite frankly, there's nothing redeeming about this film.  Will Gluck's horribly conceived direction and devastatingly inane musical numbers in this piece (which he co-wrote) are heinously bad with nary a good scene in the film.  In an age where we have an annual live-sung musical air on network television at Christmastime and successful $100 million-plus grossing theatrical musical releases on a seemingly yearly basis, it's flabbergasting to me that Gluck and his producers thought that this version of Annie would come off as anything other than a horrible joke.

Problem #1 stems from the fact that the songs in this "hip" version of Annie are so over-produced and over-digitized that there's never a moment in this film where we in the audience truly believe that these characters are singing.  Their lip synchs to auto-tuned versions of themselves make all of the actors appear to simply be going through the motions rather than actually feeling what they're singing.  This problem is painfully obvious from the get-go and doesn't get any better as the film progresses.  The lack of emotion in the musical numbers makes the whole film kind of moot -- what's the point if the songs can't carry the true heart of the story?

As for the story, the updating of Annie to the modern era isn't grating all of the time mainly because the overarching storyline is similar enough to the 1982 version (of which I barely remember so there are no childhood memories associated with it).   Here, Daddy Warbucks is now Will Stacks (Jamie Foxx), a politician who sees political gain in befriending foster kid (not "orphan") Annie (Quvenzhané Wallis).  With the overall premise not changing a lot, perhaps the reason for the remake is because kids today can't relate to a film if it doesn't contain scenes with cell phones or Twitter.  Of course, mentioning Twitter reminds me of the heinous ending in which Annie, who has been kidnapped at the film's climax, is saved by fans of hers (because she's being touted as a celebrity in this current pop-obsessed culture) telling Will Stacks where she is via Twitter.  Even just typing that out has me disgusted.  Let's just call these modernization elements Problem #2.

Problem #3 is that there's not a single actor here who rises above the shlock they're forced to portray.  Jamie Foxx perhaps comes off best (a phrase I never thought I'd type), but considering he's forced to spit up food at least three times in the movie for purportedly comedic reasons, he certainly doesn't come out unscathed.  Quvenzhané Wallis continues to carry the moniker of "overrated" for me.  The young Academy Award nominee has yet to impress and her take on the title character certainly does nothing to change my mind.  Worst of the bunch, however, is Cameron Diaz whose grating and obnoxious take on the grating and obnoxious foster mom Miss Hannigan is so grating and obnoxious that I can't believe she and the director thought this interpretation would be watchable.  Granted, Hannigan is a sleazy character, but Diaz overtly ups the sex quotient and piles on the vocal screechiness so much so that her scenes are some of the worst I've seen in a movie this past year.  She manages to take two of the film's most underrated songs -- "Little Girls" and "Easy Street" (the latter of which is my favorite from the score) -- and make them unlistenable.  It doesn't help that both of these songs are shot with such awkward cuts by the director that they're not only unpleasing to the ears, but also to the eyes.

I've peppered the above review with a few "nice" words, but I can't stress enough that this version of Annie is horrible.  Absolutely horrible.  There's not a thing redeeming about it, making it truly one of the worst films of 2014.

The RyMickey Rating:  F

Movie Review - The Other Woman

The Other Woman (2014)

Starring Cameron Diaz, Leslie Mann, Kate Upton, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Taylor Kinney, Nikki Minaj, and Don Johnson

Directed by Nick Cassavetes

It's unfathomable to me that a movie as heinous as The Other Woman made nearly $85 million.  It's kind of amazing what the American public will tolerate in their romantic comedies -- a genre that's admittedly difficult to perfect, but is also difficult to screw up this badly.

In one of the most grating performances I've seen in a long time, Leslie Mann is Kate King, the do-good housewife of Mark (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau), a businessman who often travels for his job.  In his travels, he sleeps around on Kate -- her shrill demeanor likely pushed him over the edge, but that's not really an excuse...I guess...although Kate is seriously one of the most obnoxiously shrill characters I've seen put on film.  Two of Mark's conquests are lawyer Carly (Cameron Diaz) and jobless twentysomething Amber (Kate Upton), whom Kate discovers after doing a little digging on her husband.  None of the three ladies knew about one another, but they decide to team up and enact revenge on Mark by doing such things as putting strong laxatives and female hormones in his drinks like any grade-schooler would do to prank an enemy.  Perhaps funny for a twelve year-old, but these are adult women here.  It's really just pathetic.

Perhaps attempting to create some woman's empowerment-type picture, screenwriter Melissa Stack's film is an embarrassment and most of the fault lies in her childishly immature script.  However, the other huge blot of horror in The Other Woman is Leslie Mann's performance.  Grating, obnoxious, and painful to watch, Mann is just atrocious here.  (Just look at her in that poster!  It's annoying just looking at that!)  At first, I was giving Mann the benefit of the doubt thinking that it was the script's fault, but Mann also must take the heat here.  She's simply not funny in any scene and her character is so immature that it made me understand why her husband would want to cheat on her.  Any type of empathy I was supposed to feel towards Kate was completely negated by both Mann and the role the script gave her.

Yes, Kate Upton is gorgeous and Cameron Diaz is actually decent, but the film is a train wreck and one that should be avoided at all costs.

The RyMickey Rating:  F

Movie Review - Gambit

Gambit (2014)

Starring Colin Firth, Cameron Diaz, Alan Rickman, and Tom Courtenay

Directed by Michael Hoffman

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

The fact that Gambit, a film toplined by the quite famous Colin Firth and Cameron Diaz, failed to get a theatrical release of any kind despite the celebrities attached should've keyed me in to the quality of the flick.  In addition, not only were Diaz and Firth starring, but the film was written by Joel and Ethan Coen whom are sometimes worthy of your time.  I admittedly go back and forth on my feelings towards these popular director/screenwriters, but a lot of their flicks are at least solid.  So with this big name Hollywood talent, how did Gambit not even muster a limited release in theaters?

Admittedly, Gambit is not as bad as its lack of a theatrical release of any kind would implicate.  Unfortunately, it's not very good either.  As the film opens, we meet Harry Deane (Firth) who begrudgingly works for the very rich London businessman Lionel Shahbander (Alan Rickman).  Lionel loves art and one of his favorite pieces is a work by Monet called Haystacks, part of a series of paintings focusing on the titular objects.  It's been Lionel's mission in life to get another painting in the series and Deane sees this as opportunity to pull a fast one on his boss.

A piece from Monet's Haystacks series was stolen by the Germans in WWII and, according to legend, was then taken by an American soldier after a successful attack on a German bunker.  Deane comes up with the brilliant idea to find one of this solider's descendants and, with the help of his master art forger (Tom Courtenay), convince Shahbander that a fake Haystacks is in fact the real deal.  In order to milk Shahbander of his money, Deane finds Texas cowgirl PJ Puznowski (Diaz) as the true descendant, but her rough around the edges demeanor will prove quite the challenge for Deane to reel in.

Gambit attempts to ape those classic capers of the 1960s in tone and style, but it never quite gets there.  (Gambit is actually a remake of a 1966 film.)  All the characters are rather one-dimensional, attempts at comedy are lukewarmly successful at best, and the direction doesn't have the vigor needed in order to keep the lighthearted romp briskly moving in an engaging manner.  While I've certainly seen worse direct-to-video flicks, Gambit doesn't change the stigma attached to films that forego the theatrical route.

The RyMickey Rating:  C-

Movie Review - In a World...

In a World... (2013)

Starring Lake Bell, Fred Melamed, Ken Marino, Demetri Martin, Rob Corddry, Michaela Watkins, Alexandra Holden, and Nick Offerman

Directed by Lake Bell

Written, directed, and starring Lake Bell, In a World... (which will be ellipsis-free from here on out in this review) is a charming debut for the first-time writer and lenser.  Bell is thirty-one year-old Carol who, at the film's start, is still living with her father trying to make a career out of being a dialect coach for famous actors.  Her father Sam (Fred Melamed) is a famous voice-over artist who is well-known throughout the biz as being the second-most-respected talker behind the world-famous Don LaFontaine (a real-life voiceover artist who died within the past several years).  Sam is a likely successor to LaFontaine's crown, but he recognizes that his time in the business is nearing its end so he's been acting as a mentor to the up-and-coming Gustav (Ken Marino) who is quickly becoming a star in the voice-over world.  What Sam can't seem to fathom is that Carol wants to follow her father's footsteps in a business that doesn't look kindly on females.  When a movie studio decides that it wants to create an epic trailer that harkens back to and honors Mr. LaFontaine who made the words "In a World" so infamous in the realm of movie trailers, Carol, Sam, and Gustav all find themselves duking it out to claim this coveted prize.

While Lake Bell certainly crafted a film about a topic I'm not sure we've ever before seen grace the silver screen, In a World is, admittedly, quite typical in its stories and characters.  While Bell doesn't reinvent the wheel when it comes to a comedy, what she is able to do extremely well is create characters and dialog that seem believable and relatable.  Sometimes these low budget comedies are filled with people who either (a) wouldn't exist in the real world with their weirdly verbose vocabularies, or (b) you find it a chore to hang out with for ninety minutes.  In In a World, all of Bell's characters seem based in reality -- granted, it's a reality we may not be entirely familiar with given that I've never met nor likely will ever meet a voice-over artist, but it's still a world that I could easily find myself easing into.  There's something charming about the notion that these characters seem so down-to-earth.

Certainly, Bell's cast helps aid this easy-going atmosphere that she created for the film.  In addition to the aforementioned Fred Melamed and Ken Marino (who both are quite funny here), there's a nice repartee created by Rob Corddry and Michaela Watkins (the latter of the recently cancelled Trophy Wife which was the most underrated show of the 2013-14 tv seaston) as Carol's brother-in-law and sister.  Their relationship anchors a good portion of the plot which, in retrospect, does take a little too much of the focus off of Carol, but still doesn't prove overly detrimental to the overall tone of the flick.

I know that In a World isn't a perfect film and as I reflect back on it, I realize that its script could've used a little more refining.  However, for a first go at writing a feature-length film, I think Lake Bell shows a huge amount of promise.  Not only does she excel at creating a believable environment in both her writing and her directing, but she's utterly charming to watch onscreen.

The RyMickey Rating:  B+

Movie Review - The Counselor

The Counselor (2013)

Starring Michael Fassbender, Javier Bardem, Brad Pitt, Cameron Diaz, and Penelope Cruz

Directed by Ridley Scott

Although reviews for The Counselor were mostly negative, the positive notices it received were intriguing enough to have me check this out before Ridley Scott's film made a quick escape from theaters.  With a cast that certainly adds some good pedigree to the adult drama, I was hoping that maybe author Cormac McCarthy's screenplay (his first) would be reminiscent of the solid No Country for Old Men and The Road -- two films based on his novels.  Unfortunately, that wasn't the case and the fault mostly falls on McCarthy himself as he seemingly finds it difficult to create dialog that sounds genuine and authentic which causes much of the movie's scenes to feel forced and contrived.

For a film that's basis is double-crossing and drug dealing, The Counselor is surprisingly simplistic and that's not necessarily a bad thing.  Sometimes adult-driven thrillers feel that there's a need to pile on twist after twist and it's almost a welcome change that this flick takes a quieter route.  The Counselor opens with much of the background plot work already having taken place.  We meet the title character (whose name is never provided to us) played by Michael Fassbender, a lawyer in the southern US who, in need of some quick cash, agrees to assist in a massive drug trade with the help of a rich guy named Reiner (Javier Bardem).  Things quickly start to turn for the worse with the Counselor fearing for his own life as well as that of his wife (Penelope Cruz).

Although not original, the story itself works, however, as we discover within the first ten minutes of the film, the type of dialog or scenes that work in a book don't always translate to a movie and Mr. McCarthy seems to have trouble with this concept.  McCarthy absolutely has an ear for slick verbiage, but it seems more suited to the page, coming off as stilted and uncomfortable when spoken.  It's unfortunate because there are flashes of brilliance at times when it comes to what is being said and how McCarthy intriguingly spins words, but I couldn't help but think as I was watching the film that people never speak like this to one another and that makes things feel fake.

For the most part, the actors do their best with the dialog and try to make things work.  Michael Fassbender continues to impress and is truly becoming an actor that will draw me to his movies.  Javier Bardem also does a nice job of playing Reiner, a smarmy guy with both an edge and a heart of gold and I enjoyed his interactions with Fassbender in particular.  However, Cameron Diaz as Reiner's girlfriend nearly ruins the goodwill created by these actors.  She, in particular, is completely unable to wrap her lips around the tricky dialog she's forced to spout and she decides to simply enunciate everything as clearly as possible -- perhaps as a character choice or perhaps to pretend she actually understands what she's saying.  Rather than exude sexiness -- which her character is clearly supposed to do -- she comes off laughable.

While it's clear The Counselor doesn't work, I'm happy I watched it.  I wouldn't recommend it, but it's an interesting failure.  Director Ridley Scott has created a slick adult thriller filled with violence and sex -- there's a scene with Cameron Diaz on the hood of a car that I likely soon won't forget -- but it never comes together.  The film looks fantastic (kudos to cinematographer Dariusz Wolski), but it can't overcome McCarthy's clunky tale which I'd love to read as a novel, but would rather not have seen on a movie screen.

The RyMickey Rating: D+

Movie Review - Knight and Day (2010)

Knight and Day (2010)

Starring Tom Cruise, Cameron Diaz, Peter Sarsgaard, Viola Davis, and Paul Dano

Directed by James Mangold

There's no denying that Knight and Day is a ridiculous espionage comedy-thriller.  It's one of those movies where the bad guys can't make a shot, but the good guys always get their man.  And I doubt I'm ruining anything for anyone by saying that our two big name movie stars share some on-screen flirtation.  There's really nothing that you haven't seen before...and seen done better.

Yet, for some reason, Knight and Day kind of works.  And, honestly, it's because of Tom Cruise.  There's a smoothness and ease that he brings to his secret agent Roy Miller that pushes the movie to just a little above average.  June thinks Roy is winning from the get-go when they meet on flight to Boston, but June soon discovers that Roy's not your run-of-the-mill guy and is (rightly so) frightened by his career.   After the plane that they're on crashes in a wheat field, Roy (with the requisite Tom Cruisian charm) warns June that she unfortunately is now a part of this spy life whether she likes it or not.  June refuses to believe that Roy's correct, but she soon discovers that she may need him to survive.

Despite the fact that I can list many things that aren't great in the film (a lack of sexual chemistry between Diaz and Cruise, some awful special effects, a very disappointing and mildly "cop-outtish" ending), I still enjoyed the sheer fun of the film.  Cruise is funny and his star wattage is in full force here.  Diaz is perfectly fine, and while there's nothing exciting or special that she brings to the table, she certainly holds her own in this flick.  Co-stars Peter Sarsgaard and Viola Davis bring their considerable acting chops to the film as well.

Listen, if you come out of this saying that the film is awful, I couldn't really fight you on it.   There are infinitely better adventure-romance films -- seriously, everyone should check out Romancing the Stone which is the epitome of the genre, to me.  Nonetheless, if you're looking for some mildly diverting fun, you could do much worse than Knight and Day.

The RyMickey Rating: C+

Movie Review - The Box (2009)

Starring Cameron Diaz, James Marsden, and Frank Langella
Directed by Richard Kelly

The Box is a movie that I definitely appreciate for its story, visuals, and simple uniqueness when compared to other modern-day films. However, it pushes the story way into Crazyland and it isn't helped by a poor leading performance by Cameron Diaz.

What would you do if you were presented with the following: If you press a button on a box, you'll receive a million dollars, but someone that you don't know will die. That's the premise of the flick. Diaz's Norma Lewis is presented with the box by the creepy Arlington Steward (Frank Langella). After she discusses the idea with her husband, Arthur (James Marsden), they decide to press the button. You see, rather conveniently, they are in the midst of some financial issues and the million dollars will certainly help. Now, this idea is pretty darn cool and if writer-director Richard Kelly had simply explored the human emotions behind this heavy decision, it could have been one of my favorite movies of the year. Instead, the movie drifts into science fiction mumbo-jumbo -- it gets simply ridiculous for the final hour.

It's a shame, really, because Richard Kelly crafts an interesting looking film that he ruins with a ludicrous script. The film takes place in the 1970s and the era certainly lends to some pretty nifty visuals -- the costumes and set design really made this stand out. As a director, Kelly throws in some camera tricks (like a silly unnecessary long shot), but overall, it's a cool looking retro flick.

Also unfortunate is Diaz trying to tackle a country accent. Painful. But at least she sticks with it for the whole movie -- James Marsden's accent goes in and out for scenes at a time. Still, Marsden is decent, but Diaz continues to be mindboggling in her appeal to me. Yes, I didn't mind her in My Sister's Keeper, but I don't get her star power...she's a lukewarm actress at best.

It's a shame, really, because they don't make movies like this anymore. This morality play has a really strong base to build off, but writer Kelly just failed himself by drifting towards the supernatural. All this being said, and despite the rating below (which, admittedly, may be a tad high), I'd recommend this to certain folks because even though it somewhat fails, it showed promise and I appreciate its aesthetics.

The RyMickey Rating: C-

Movie Review - My Sister's Keeper (2009)

Starring Cameron Diaz, Abigail Breslin, Alec Baldwin, Jason Patric, Sofia Vassilieva, and Joan Cusack
Written by Jeremy Leven and Nick Cassavetes
Directed by Nick Cassavetes

I wasn't expecting a single thing from this flick and it definitely turned out to be a touching summer surprise.

Sara and Brian Fitzgerald (Diaz and Patric) are a young couple with a daughter, Kate (Vassilieva), who is diagnosed with leukemia. Faced with no solutions, a doctor recommends that they try an experimental technique where they create a test tube baby whose blood marrow, blood, and organs would be an exact match for Kate. Cut to eleven years later and the biologically "created" daughter, Anna (Breslin), is seemingly fed up with her parents' insistence to use her to help her sister, and decides to attempt to medically emancipate herself from her family. You can imagine, that doesn't sit too well with her parents since Anna's refusal will, without fail, cause Kate's death.

I had an extended debate after this film with someone and I'm not going to rehash it here, but it kind of (sort of) has to do with this: Yes...it does appear that Diaz loves Kate more than her other two kids (at the very least, she at least focuses much more on Kate than her other two children)...but it's out of desperation, I think, more than anything else. Does that make her a bad mother? One could make that argument. I'm not a parent, but I would imagine it would be incredibly difficult to watch one of your children suffer, and I would imagine one would do whatever necessary to save one's child. Diaz is not a perfect mother, in that doing what is necessary to save Kate could harm Anna, but I'm not sold on the fact that she's a "bad" mother because of this. Is she a confused mother? Yes. Is she wrong? One could argue that. But I do believe that she believes she is doing the best job she can as a mother. She feels that she needs to be strong and forceful in order to save her weak and frail daughter. She is faced with a situation that no one would want to be in.

Enough of the "debate" for the moment, let's discuss the rest of the movie. The flick really shines whenever it focuses on the dying Kate. There is a wonderful performance here from Sofia Vassilieva, who I had never heard of before. She is actually top-notch in this flick -- definitely one of the best supporting performances I've seen in a film this year. There is a beautiful romance between Kate and Jesse, a fellow cancer patient. Their scenes were incredibly touching and really (for lack of a better word) perfect. These scenes were actually some of my favorite moments I've seen in a theater this year (they were that good). The tone was spot-on in this portion of the film that I wish the rest of the movie could've stepped up to the plate a little more.

Diaz is actually (shockingly) quite good. I've never really seen her in a meaty role and while there were certainly times I felt she couldn't handle the pathos needed to make her character really shine, I was moderately impressed (although that is because I wasn't expecting much). I was actually most disappointed in the overrated Abigail Breslin -- sorry, she's simply not a great actress -- and Alec Baldwin who, as Anna's lawyer, was simply a caricature of a "as-seen-on-tv" legal guy.

The movie's not perfect story-wise -- the father and son have seriously underdeveloped roles. There are a few scenes with the son running away from home that are never really explained nor were they necessary. And director Cassavetes employs many silly fade-to-blacks between scenes that literally made me laugh (at the beginning, these fades were happening seemingly every three minutes -- OVERKILL!!!).

Still, despite the faults, I thought it was quite a good little flick. I would absolutely recommend it, based solely on Sofia Vassilieva's performance and the fact that it does make you question what you would do as a parent placed in the situation that Kate's folks were in. I gotta be honest...I might've done what they did.

The RyMickey Rating: B