Kodachrome

Kodachrome (2018)

Starring Ed Harris, Jason Sudeikis, Elizabeth Olsen, Bruce Greenwood, Wendy Crewson, and Dennis Haysbert

Directed by Mark Raso

Written by Jonathan Tropper

Click here for my Letterboxd review

The RyMickey Rating: B

Booksmart

Booksmart (2019)

Starring Beanie Feldstein, Kaitlyn Dever, Jessica Williams, Lisa Kudrow, Will Forte, Jason Sudeikis, Billie Lourd, Diana Silver, Skyler Gisondo, Molly Gordon, Noah Galvin, and Austin Crute

Directed by Olivia Wilde

Written by Emily Halpern, Sarah Haskins, Susanna Fogel, and Katie Silberman

Click here for my Letterbox review

The RyMickey Rating:  B-

Downsizing

Downsizing (2017)

Starring Matt Damon, Christoph Waltz, Hong Chao, Kristen Wiig, and Jason Sudeikis

Directed by Alexander Payne

Written by Alexander Payne and Jim Taylor

Summary (in 500 words or less):  In an attempt to control overpopulation, scientists have successfully created a way to shrink humans down to about a half a foot where they live in miniature communities, utilizing less resources and creating less waste.  Husband and wife Paul and Audrey (Matt Damon and Kristen Wiig) decide to undergo the treatment which creates a bit of chaos in their new lives

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 - Race

Race (2016)

Starring Stephan James, Jason Sudeikis, Jeremy Irons, Carice van Houten, Eli Goree, Shanice Banton, David Kross, Barnaby Metschurat, and William Hurt

Directed by Stephen Hopkins

***This film is currently streaming via HBO Now/Go***

Better than I expected, Race is an extremely typical biographical retelling of the life of Jesse Owens, 1930s Olympic racing star, anchored by a fine performance by Stephan James as Owens.  While Owens certainly faced racism in the United States as he attended college in the mid-1930s, this film places most of its emphasis on the 1936 Olympics which took place in Germany just as Hitler was gaining power.  Facing anger from the African American community on the homefront for agreeing to compete in the games taking place in a decidedly racist country, Owens stands up to the Nazi regime by competing and succeeding at the Olympic games.  Admittedly, I wasn't too familiar with this piece of history and I found the story quite compelling.

The aforementioned James -- with whom I'm unfamiliar -- nicely conveys Owens' internal conflict about whether his competing in the Olympics is simply foolish self-centered pride or a ballsy attempt at giving a giant middle finger to the Nazi way of life.  As Owens' college coach Larry Snyder, Jason Sudeikis' role provides a change of pace for the actor known for his comedic chops.  Nevertheless, the film works because the story is so interesting.  Perhaps those familiar with the tale will find the rather rote, by-the-book way director Stephen Hopkins runs things a bit bland, but Owens' courageous life reeled me in and made me forget a little bit that the flick itself was just another biopic -- one of my least favorite genres.

The RyMickey Rating:  B-

Movie Review - We're the Millers

We're the Millers (2013)

Starring Jason Sudeikis, Jennifer Aniston, Emma Roberts, Will Poulter, Ed Helms, Nick Offerman, and Kathryn Hahn 

Directed by Rawson Marshall Thurber

Jennifer.  Aniston.  Striptease.

I could simply leave this review at that, but I guess I'll continue by saying in addition to that sultry dance performed by one of my celebrity crushes, We're the Millers provides enough laughs that even if a nearly naked, seductively gyrating Jennifer Aniston doesn't float your boat, you'll still probably have a good time.  Thanks to a game cast who milk the comedy bits for all they're worth, We're the Millers successfully brings the raunch while also giving us characters and a story that hold our attention.

Jason Sudeikis is David Clark, a pot dealer who ends up losing his stash of weed and a significant amount of dough when an attempt to save a homeless girl being attacked by a bunch of street thugs goes awry.  This doesn't sit well with David's boss (Ed Helms) who forces David to head to Mexico and smuggle into the states a significant amount of marijuana without getting caught at the border.  With seemingly no feasible way to smuggle in the pot on his own, David concocts a plan to rent an RV and make up a fake family, acting as if they're taking a trip to Mexico for recreational purposes hoping that the border agents won't possibly think anything is out of the ordinary when they try and get back into the States.  To achieve this task, he enlists his down-on-her-luck stripper neighbor Rose (Jennifer Aniston) to play his wife, the aforementioned homeless girl Casey (Emma Roberts) to play his daughter, and his virginal downstairs neighbor Kenny (Will Poulter) to be his son.  Along the way, this fake family (known as the Millers) runs into drug kingpins and crazy RV enthusiasts (the latter played by Nick Offerman and Kathryn Hahn) in their attempt to bring an humongous stash of pot over the US border.

While certainly raunchy, We're the Millers does have a bit of heart although it never goes too far over that sentimental edge which works in its favor.  As mentioned above, the entire cast works quite well together with nary a bad apple in the bunch which was a welcome surprise.  Watching a film like this in the comfort of your own home alone can oftentimes ruin its ability to succeed because you don't have the rapturous laughter of an audience around you, but We're the Millers made me laugh out loud enough to deem it a success.

The RyMickey Rating:  B

Movie Review - The Campaign

The Campaign (2012)

Starring Will Ferrell, Zach Galifianakis, Jason Sudeikis, Dylan McDermott, John Lithgow, Dan Aykroyd, and Brian Cox 

Directed by Jay Roach

For some reason, the previews of this Will Ferrell-ZackhGalifianakis election-based comedy looked surprisingly funny as they appeared over the summer.  While one might think my disappointment could be chalked up to election fatigue, I think the plain and simple fact is that The Campaign is just a dud.  Both Ferrell and Galifianakis don't inject a single iota of credibility or genuineness into their roles, instead creating one-dimensional sketch comedy characters that get incredibly tired after about ten minutes.

Admittedly, for the first ten minutes, I did laugh out loud a few times.  Ferrell is Democratic incumbent senator Cam Brady from North Carolina.  Despite being one of the sleaziest and most incompetent men around, he manages to get elected year after year since no one in his small district dares to run against him.  That all changes, however, when "lovable dimwit" Marty Huggins (Galifianakis) is approached by his father (Brian Cox) to run on the Republican ticket against Cam.  Marty's father and his Republican cronies (Dan Aykroyd and John Lithgow) feel they can manipulate Marty in order to get their ideas brought to the forefront.  As the two idiots compete against each other for the Senate seat, the humor fades incredibly quickly after the characters are introduced.

There's probably a solid comedy to be made about southern political rivals (although oftentimes the real life political soap operas we see every two to four years is ridiculous enough), but The Campaign is nowhere near being a solid comedy.  In fact, it's one of the worst laughers of the year at this point...except for the other Will Ferrell starrer Casa De Mi Padre.  His choices of projects as of late are dismayingly and disturbingly painful to sit through.  Stereotypes don't necessarily equate to chuckles and Ferrell seems to refuse to understand that as of late.

The RyMickey Rating:  D

Movie Review - Horrible Bosses

Horrible Bosses (2011)

Starring Jason Bateman, Jason Sudeikis, Charlie Day Jamie Foxx, Kevin Spacey, Colin Farrell, and Jennifer Aniston
Directed by Seth Gordon

Perhaps I did Horrible Bosses a disservice by watching it a day after Bridesmaids, but this modern-day retelling of 9 to 5 from a male point of view just didn't provide the laughs needed to succeed (especially when compared to the Kristen Wiig-starring raunchfest).

Three guys all have severe problems with their bosses.  Nick (Jason Bateman) is aggravated when his sadistically controlling boss (Kevin Spacey) passes him over for a vice president's job at a big corporate firm.  When Kurt's (Jason Sudeikis) boss dies, the job is taken over by the boss's druggie party-guy son (Colin Farrell) making day-to-day activities a living hell.  For Dale (Charlie Day), a dental assistant, his problem revolves his sex-obsessed, completely inappropriate dentist boss (Jennifer Aniston) as she attempts to do whatever she can to get Dale into bed despite the fact that he is engaged to be married.

Fed up, the three concoct a plan to kill their respective bosses and, unfortunately, that's where the movie falls apart.  Ultimately, the scheme to do aware with their uncouth supervisors isn't all that funny.  In the first third of the film, when the focus is on the devious bosses, the humor comes across rather easily -- Jennifer Aniston, in particular, is riotously hilarious at moments in a role that is unlike anything she's ever done before.  However, the characters portrayed by Bateman, Sudeikis, and Day simply aren't interesting enough to have a movie crafted around them.  Jason Bateman, in particular, is incredibly bland here, giving his character zero personality.  Jason Sudeikis feels like he's rehashing the same character we saw in the better Hall Pass earlier this year.  Charlie Day is the only one of the trio to provide some truly funny moments, but I still couldn't help but think he was playing the same guy he plays on It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia.  And the less said about Jamie Foxx's role as a hired hit man the better.  Completely humorless, his scenes grind the film to a screeching halt.

The RyMickey Rating:  D

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 - Going the Distance

Going the Distance (2010)

Starring Drew Barrymore, Justin Long, Jason Sudeikis, Charlie Day, and Christina Applegate

Directed by Nanette Burstein

I genuinely want someone to explain to me why Drew Barrymore is popular.  Yes, her popularity has certainly (thankfully) been waning in recent years, but she's a well-known actress.  Is is simply because she overcame her addictions?  If that's the case, are we in for decades of shitty Lindsay Lohan movies in years to come?  Really...why do girls like Drew Barrymore so much?  The fascination is beyond me and even with an explanation I'll probably never understand it.  Still, despite this Hollywood conundrum, I subjected myself to a Drew Barrymore film this evening and Going the Distance (as expected) did nothing to validate her stardom.

Truth be told, it isn't Barrymore's fault that Going the Distance doesn't work.  In fact, this "rom com" (as the hipsters would call it) features a romance between the two leads that is surprisingly believable.  Between Barrymore and her co-star Justin Long, there was some palpable chemistry evident.  However, the film is just so flat and boring, never creating any type of story arcs for either lead as it attempts to fill the story void by adding some comedic unrealistic "buddy" characters who simply padded the film's running time.  Nothing against Jason Sudeikis, Charlie Day, and Christina Applegate (who all provided their own moments of humor), but their characters were pointless.  

As the couple tries to make the most of a long distance relationship (hence the cleverness of the title), the film just stays inert and feels so incredibly generic.  And generic is, I think, my problem with Ms. Barrymore.  I think that Barrymore is probably a nice person -- in fact, I think she plays that nice person onscreen in every single role.  I don't really think she's acting (Zack Galifianakis -- beware because this rant is coming your way next).  And therein lies my problem with her.  When all of your characters are the same, I simply can't really care about what you're doing.  But, really, there's no need to discuss this in this review because the fault of the film doesn't lie with her...and I'm sure there will be another film somewhere down the line where it will be her fault, so I'll withhold those feelings until then.

The RyMickey Rating:  D+