Movie Review - Winter's Tale

Winter's Tale (2014)

Starring Colin Farrell, Russell Crowe, Jessica Brown Findlay, Jennifer Connelly, William Hurt, Eva Marie Saint, and Will Smith 

Directed by Akiva Goldsman

Savaged by critics and ending up on many "Worst of 2014" lists, Winter's Tale doesn't quite reach levels of awful offensiveness in terms of how bad it is, but it certainly misses the mark as an adult morality tale/fairy tale/fantasy/romance.  As the film opens, we see a foreign couple in the early 1900s being refused entrance into the United States because they have consumption.  Sent back to Europe on a boat, they leave their infant son behind in hopes that he'll have a better life.  The son grows up to be Peter Lake (Colin Farrell) who was raised on the rough New York City streets by Pearly Soames (Russell Crowe) and the two men couldn't be more different.  Despite rather oddly burying this lede and causing a bit of unnecessary confusion in the film's opening scenes, Pearly works for the Devil, while Peter is a bit more angelic and apparently has been granted the ability to truly help one person in his lifetime.  As Peter ages, this sets up conflict and Pearly sets out to take down the man whom he hoped at one time would be his successor.  This battle between good and evil is set against the backdrop of romance as Peter falls for Beverly Penn (Jessica Brown Findlay), a rich young woman who is dying of consumption.  And I haven't even begun to discuss the time jump that a little over halfway through the film moves the plot into modern times nor the mystical white horse that sprouts wings and saves the day multiple times.

There's simply too much going on in Winter's Tale to allow an audience to appreciate any aspect of it.   Based on a book that has had praise heaped upon it, I have to wonder if the fantastical meanderings work better on the page than played out visually on the screen.  This is Academy Award-winning screenwriter Akiva Goldsman's first feature film directorial gig and he can't formulate a singular vision here which is perhaps due to the fact that his screenplay feels haphazardly crafted.  The acting is okay, but that's admittedly faint praise.  Crowe is hamming it up at times although not necessarily in an awkward way as he is essentially playing an employee of the devil.  Farrell is fine, although he's a bit of a blank slate in some of the film's pivotal moments.  The rest of the cast makes do with what's given to them.

While Winter's Tale certainly isn't the worst film I've seen from 2014, it certainly isn't a winner by any means.

The RyMickey Rating:  D+

Movie Review - Stuck in Love

Stuck in Love (2013)

Starring Greg Kinnear, Jennifer Connelly, Lily Collins, Logan Lerman, Nat Wolff, Liana Liberato, and Kristen Bell

Directed by Josh Boone

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

The Borgens family has some issues when it comes to love.  Dad Bill (Greg Kinnear) and Mom Erica (Jennifer Connelly) have recently divorced, but Dad can't get over Mom.  Daughter Samantha (Lily Collins) has become affected by her parents' separation believing that love isn't possible so she moves from guy to guy for one night stands to fulfill her sexual desires.  Son Rusty (Nat Wolff) takes the opposite approach of his sister and longs to find a true love to last for a lifetime.  Together, this foursome navigates the ups and downs of romance, trying to figure out how this elusive emotion works exactly.

Stuck in Love is more than adequately acted -- all four of the aforementioned actors plus Liana Liberato as Rusty's troubled girlfriend, Logan Lerman as a truly nice guy who tries to change Samantha's brashness, and Kristen Bell as a confidante of Bill make the most of Josh Boone's first script and directorial debut.  However, Boone's screenplay is a tad uneven -- its lighthearted nature works much better than its stabs at trying to be serious.  As a matter of fact, when the tale veers into any bit of a solemn moment, it proves to be too melodramatic as if Boone was searching for a way to make us connect with these characters.

That isn't to say Stuck in Love is a dreary piece of work. In fact, Boone shows potential in this genre and I'd be interested to see what he can bring to the table in the future.  He certainly can direct actors in a way that makes them believable and interesting.  There was potential for more here, but for a first time attempt at directing and writing, Boone's Stuck in Love is solid enough.

The RyMickey Rating: C+ 

Movie Review - Noah

Noah (2014)

Starring Russell Crowe, Jennifer Connelly, Ray Winstone, Anthony Hopkins, Emma Watson, Logan Lerman, and Douglas Booth; with the vocal talent of Frank Langella and Nick Nolte

Directed by Darren Aronofsky

I go to church.  

I also go to movies.  

When I go to movies, they don't need to reflect any of the teachings that are espoused in the church, but if they do, I prefer not to be hit over the head with them.  I'm an intelligent enough guy to read between the lines and grasp any philosophical or religious undertones.  You won't ever catch me heading to the insanely (though perhaps dubiously) popular God's Not Dead for this very reason.  Blatant religious proselytization is a complete turn-off to me perhaps because it's not how I live my religious life.  (I'm one who you'll never find preaching my beliefs to others -- which perhaps makes me a bad Catholic, but I can't help but feel my beliefs are my own.)

The reason for that preface is to illustrate the point that those who are ragging on Darren Aranofsky's Noah for "taking liberties" with a Bible story that is two pages long don't know what they're talking about.  The criticisms lobbed at this one are utterly unfounded and quite honestly paint "religion" in a bad light.  Then again, I'm one of those religious folks who believe most aspects of the Bible are simply "stories" that present "how to live one's life" as opposed to "actual happenings."  But you Noah-complainers can go on believing that Noah lived to be 950 years old...

Noah is a beautiful film told by a talented director headlined by a movie star giving what could very well be the best performance of his career...and it espouses the overall tone of the biblical story of Noah to boot.  All of those reasons are why Noah is a success.  Granted, the film doesn't quite hit all the right notes -- Aronofsky (who also co-wrote the film with Ari Handel) throws in a "bad sheep" subplot revolving around one of Noah's sons Ham that proves to be the biggest issue -- but I greatly appreciated the film's attempt to display a man's religious convictions and how they shape his life.  While it's true that Noah may "go off the deep end" a little bit in the film's third act as he attempts to bring an end to all mankind as he feels that was God's plan for him, the film more than justifies that stance while also supplying an appropriate ending and epiphanic-type moment for the title character to realize the error of his interpretation of God's word.

Everyone knows the story of Noah (played by Russell Crowe) and his ark, but Aronofsky and Handel expand upon the short tale in great detail and with significant "free reign."  I'm pretty certain the Transformers-like Watchers -- six-armed stone creatures who protect Noah as he builds his ark -- didn't make an appearance in the Bible.  Nor was there an epic battle between Noah and the descendants of Cain headed by Tubal-cain (Ray Winstone) who desperately want to find refuge on the ark to live through the water apocalypse.  Personally, I found that this expansion of the biblical Noah story added depth, heart, and even strengthened the religious aspects of the tale.

Noah is a man who wants nothing more for his family to live a life at peace with the Earth and the creatures and humans who inhabit it.  When we first meet Crowe's Noah, he's a humble, quiet man who we can tell deeply cares for the well-being of his family and has a strong faith in the Creator.  (This "Creator" nonsense is perhaps the biggest "uproar" the movie caused.  With only one mention of the word "God," opponents of the film are up in arms.  This criticism is utterly unfounded.)  However, when he "hears" God speak to him, telling him to build an ark to safely shepherd his family and two of every creature through the approaching storm, his calmness shifts to diligence and steadfastness to the Creator.  However, upon seeing the Creator's wrath upon humanity, Noah admittedly starts to go off the deep end, feeling that this horrific event imposed upon humans must mean that God doesn't want them to inhabit the Earth anymore.  (This religious fervor that Noah feels is essentially mirrored in the religious folks who don't want you to see this film.  To me, they're eerily similar in that they both feel they are fully aware of what God would want from them.)  Nevertheless, Aronofsky's Noah character is a tricky one and Crowe absolutely succeeds at portraying every aspect of the complicated and thought-provoking character.

Jennifer Connelly as Noah's wife Naameh and Emma Watson as Noah's adopted daughter Ila also provide powerful performances in a film that also heavily focuses on the women in Noah's life.  In fact, it's when the film attempts to shift to the trials of Noah's two oldest sons Shem (Douglas Booth) and Ham (Logan Lerman) that the film falters.  Their "love triangle" of sorts with Ila is disappointingly trite and Ham's attempts to undermine his father oftentimes feel cheap and overly dramatic.

As far as the cinematic aspects of the film are concerned, despite the subject matter this is most certainly Darren Aronofsky's most "mass appeal" film to date.  After the quick cuts of Requiem for a Dream, the somewhat erotic Black Swan, and the inward "simplicity" of The Wrestler, Aronofsky allows the story to take center stage (despite having a much bigger budget for this one than any of his other features).  That isn't to say that there aren't some typical trippy moments -- the "creation" story Noah details in the third act is beautiful in that it stands in such stark contrast to the rest of the aesthetic of the film while still feeling like it naturally belongs in the piece -- but this is the "least Aronofsky" Aronofsky film I've seen.  Personally, I love what he brings to the table and I think he created a very thoughtful big budget flick.

The RyMickey Rating:  B+

Movie Review - Virginia

Virginia (2012)

Starring Jennifer Connelly, Ed Harris, Emma Roberts, Harrison Gilbertson, Amy Madigan, and Toby Jones

Directed by Dustin Lance Black

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

Everything but the kitchen sink is thrown into the little seen indie called Virginia which I'd heard about sometime earlier this year in a positive light.  It was only until I was halfway through when I ventured onto rottentomatoes.com and discovered that this had a whopping 4% Fresh rating.  Now, I don't always agree with the general consensus of freshness levels on that site, but they were right on the money here.  The flick, scripted and lensed by Dustin Lance Black, can't ever find an appropriate balance between dark comedy and emotional drama and, as such, it never once appears to be anything other than a jumbled mess.

There is the possibility of potential somewhere in there and I think most of it comes from the all-over-the-place performance of Jennifer Connelly as the title character.  I say "all-over-the-place" not as an insult to Ms. Connelly because actually think she does quite an admirable job considering what she's been given to work with, but rather because Virginia herself is such an odd duck.  She's a single mom with a teenage son named Emmett (Harrison Gilbertson) who seems to be moderately put together enough.  She's got her own home, but a menial job driving a boardwalk tram at a coastal Virginia town has her just gradually scraping by.  As if the economic woes weren't trouble enough, she's in the middle of a decades-long affair with Sheriff Richard Tipton (Ed Harris), a married and purportedly strongly religious Mormon who is currently running for governor of Virginia.  Since Dustin Lance Black is apparently a masochist, he also makes Virginia a schizophrenic who has likely just been stricken with lung cancer.  Let's be honest here -- that's simply too much for one actress to take on in a two hour film, but Connelly tries her hardest and she is the only reason I stuck with the film from beginning to end.

Because the film was just begging for more story, young Emmett finds himself falling for Sheriff Tipton's daughter Jessie (Emma Roberts), the local amusement park owner (Toby Jones) likes to dress up as a woman in his downtime, and the Sheriff has a fascination with S&M that his wife (Amy Madigan) uncovers.  If you're as confused as I am about how all this crap comes together, I'm here to tell you that watching this movie doesn't help you decipher that puzzle.

Ultimately, the fault lies with Dustin Lance Black whose script and direction can't determine what kind of film Virginia should be.  Anything that's supposed to be funny -- and I think the hugely stereotypical and overly broad characterizations of both Mormons and "southerners" condescendingly fall into that category -- fails to elicit a single laugh.  Anything that's supposed to have us feel empathy for the characters does nothing but cause us to roll our eyes.  Throughout Virginia, there fails to be a moment that rings legitimately true.

The RyMickey Rating:  D

The Personal Canon - Requiem for a Dream

The Personal Canon is a recurring column discussing my favorite movies of all time.  While they may not necessarily be "A" rated, they are the movies that, for some reason or another, hold a special place in my filmgoing experience.

Requiem for a Dream (2000)

Starring Jared Leto, Ellen Burstyn, Marlon Wayans, Jennifer Connelly, and Christopher McDonald

Directed by Darren Aronofsky

I previously reviewed Requiem for a Dream a little over two years ago (that review will contain a bit more of a summary of the film than this blog post if you're interested) and I resolutely stated that Darren Aronofsky's film is a bit of a masterpiece.  I firmly stand by that notion and am still in awe of the director's choice of camera techniques in order to place the viewer squarely in the mind of a drug addict.  Not only do we see Jared Leto's Harry or Jennifer Connelly's Marion snorting or popping or injecting their drug addiction into their systems, but we then get quickly edited, close-up shots of dilating pupils and crazed blood cells reacting to this foreign substance coming into their bodies.  Although difficult to necessarily convey on paper (or on a computer screen), these moments are visceral, breathtaking, and scary.

The reason these moments take on frightening tones comes from the fact that as we get to know these characters, it's obvious that their lives are not heading to a more peaceful place.  As Harry and Marion run out of money in order to support their addiction, the lengths to which they stoop to get their necessary kicks is devastatingly painful and a happy ending never seems to be in any of their futures.  However, illegal drugs aren't the only topic of discussion here.  Harry's mother, Sara (Ellen Burstyn), is desperate to lose some weight and begins to start a regimen of diet pills -- an addiction which slowly but surely spirals out of her control.

And it's perhaps the segments of the film dealing with Sara and her "legal" addiction that is most difficult to witness.  Here was a lovely Jewish woman who only wanted what was best for her family slowly plummeting into emotional horrors she likely never thought existed.  As her reality begins to twist and turn and her daily life becomes proliferated with hallucinatory visions of her favorite television show, one can't help but feel empathy for this woman.  Sure, we feel bad for her coke-addicted son, too, but there's a certain feeling that he brought that upon himself.  Sara, although somewhat responsible for her newfound predilection to pills, isn't necessarily finding the happiness in drugs that her son is, but she is hooked and simply unable to stop.

Certainly making the viewer feel for Sara is a stunning performance from Ellen Burstyn.  What starts off so innocently and perhaps caricaturish in her portrayal of a loving Jewish mother shifts into a woman who has lost complete control over everything.  Confused, scared, and unable to cope with her daily routines, Burstyn's Sara begins to be cut off from reality, forced into a dream-like (or perhaps nightmarish) state that is heartbreaking to watch.

Thanks to Darren Aronofsky, as the film progresses the viewer also finds themselves increasingly unable to escape the horrors of the characters onscreen.  The final thirty minutes is constantly ratcheting up the tension and he does this by incessantly switching back and forth between our four main characters (which also includes a wonderful turn from Marlon Wayans as Harry's friend Tyrone).  Every one of the quartet is finding themselves in horrifying situations they never would have dreamed possible and, much like the characters, we the viewers are never given a moment to breathe.

Kudos must also be given to the always fantastic Clint Mansell (Aronofsky's go-to composer) whose intense score for Requiem has become quite well-known and well-utilized in the cinematic world.  And this film certainly wouldn't be what it is without the awe-inspiring editing from Jay Rabinowitz.  His quick cutting and split screens are genius and certainly bring to life the aesthetic vision of the director.

This certainly isn't an analysis of Requiem for a Dream although there would certainly be plenty to write a college paper on.  Instead it's a rather "random thought" appreciation of a film that certainly won't appeal to everyone.  It's a difficult film to sit through and an even more difficult film to say you "enjoy."  All I know is that watching a brutal film like this would turn anyone off from experimenting with drugs and there's certainly something to be said for that.

The RyMickey Rating:  A

Check out previous Personal Canon flicks -- like Saving Private Ryan and Once -- by clicking on this link.

Movie Review - The Rocketeer

The Rocketeer (1991)

Starring Bill Campbell, Jennifer Connelly, Alan Arkin, Timothy Dalton, Paul Sorvino, and Terry O'Quinn

Directed by Joe Johnston

I really liked this movie as an eleven year-old kid.  I had a t-shirt, a 3D comic book, and bought cds simply because they contained orchestral pieces of the score.  I was a big fan, and I'm happy to say that this is still a quality movie twenty years later.

The year is 1938.  The city is Los Angeles.  We join stunt pilot Cliff Secord (Bill Campbell) and his good friend and mechanic Peevy Peabody (Alan Arkin) as they discover a rocket pack that was left at their airfield after a mobster abandoned it there following a chase from FBI agents.  Cilff is thoroughly intrigued by the new invention and tests it out to great success.  However, this wouldn't be an adventure movie if it didn't contain some intrigue and that intrigue comes from Hollywood celebrity Neville Sinclair (Timothy Dalton) who had hired mobster Eddie Valentine (Paul Sorvino) to bring him the rocket pack and Sinclair is none too happy that Valentine's men have let the pack fall into someone else's hands.  Of course, this being the 1930s, a dame is going to get in the way of things, causing some trouble for both Cliff and the mobsters.  In this flick, the dame role goes to Jennifer Connelly as aspiring actress Jenny Blake who, angered by her boyfriend Cliff, turns to the arms of the suave and debonair (and unknowingly seedy) Neville Sinclair.

There's certainly an Indiana Jones vibe going on in The Rocketeer simply because they're both comic booky, 1930s-serial-esque adventure tales.  While Spielberg's series certainly travels the globe, The Rocketeer stays firmly planted in Hollywood, however the story certainly takes on a worldly tone in ways that I won't spoil here.   Director Joe Johnston (who also directed such classics from my childhood as Honey, I Shrunk the Kids and Jumanji) does a nice job here of creating the kind of flick that any eleven year-old boy (or any old man remembering his childhood days) would love to watch.  The film doesn't contain a bad performance as everyone from the main cast to the supporting does a really solid job.

In other words, it was very nice to see that this flick showed that I had some taste in movies as a young kid.

The RyMickey Rating:  B

Movie Review - Labyrinth

Labyrinth (1986)

Starring Jennifer Connelly and David Bowie

Directed by Jim Henson

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

I don't know how I never watched this as a child of the 80s, but I never did.  I must admit that I'm a little upset I've waited so long to partake of this trippy flick, because, for the most part, I enjoyed it quite a bit.

Labyrinth is the weirder, drugged-up cousin of Alice in Wonderland and Wizard of Oz (and, let's be honest, those too stories are already on the nutty side), complete with Jim Henson muppetry magic and a freakish performance from David Bowie as Jareth the Goblin King who has fallen in love with the teenaged Sarah (Jennifer Connelly).  As part of his scheme, Jareth kidnaps Sarah's infant brother and forces her through an elaborate labyrinth in order to find him, seemingly hoping that Sarah will long leave the real world to spend her life with him in the strange realm he calls home.

The obvious high points of the film are the elaborate, intricate sets and the fantastic puppetry from Jim Henson Studios.  Both are of an amazing caliber and make the film certainly worth watching.  Admittedly, everything else about the film -- especially the overacting from David Bowie and Jennifer Connelly -- is simply middle-of-the-road, but oddly enough, it doesn't really matter in a film like this.  Films like Labyrinth are about whimsy, charm, and magic and Labyrinth has all these in spades.  One is able to look past the flaws and simply enjoy the film as it unfolds.  Is it a masterpiece?  Certainly not, but it's a film that I absolutely plan on visiting again sooner rather than later.  Sometimes, simply being "fun" is reason enough to like a flick.

The RyMickey Rating:  B

Movie Review - He's Just Not That Into You (2009)

Starring Ben Affleck, Jennifer Aniston, Drew Barrymore, Jennifer Connelly, Kevin Connelly, Ginnifer Goodwin, Scarlett Johansson, and Justin Long

Directed by Ken Kwapis

Wow. Women are nuts. If this movie is an accurate portrayal of the way the fairer sex thinks, then I don't think I'll ever understand the gender. I mean, how hard is the concept of "If he's not calling you, he doesn't like you?" I don't think it's all that difficult, yet it apparently cannot be grasped.

There's a bunch of interweaving storylines here...Gigi (Gennifer Goodwin) is single and crazy -- completlely unintelligent in the ways of love. Half-stalkerish, half-sweet, but 100% nuts. Gigi is friends with Janine (Jennifer Connelly) who's married to Ben (Bradley Cooper) who's cheating on his wife with the younger Anna (Scarlett Johansson). Anna is friends with Mary (Drew Barrymore), but I'll be completely honest...I don't know why Drew Barrymore's in this movie because her character is completely and utterly pointless and could've been left on the cutting room floor. Anyway, Anna used to sleep with Conor (Kevin Connelly) who is friends with Alex (Justin Long) who offers relationship advice to Gigi [see...we've gone full circle.] There's also a storyline involving Jennifer Aniston and Ben Affleck concerning Affleck not wanting to marry Aniston even though they've been together for seven years, but it also could've been totally removed from the plot as it doesn't really relate to anything else.

Most of the actors here are fine. Bradley Cooper continues his string of good roles in crappy movies (The Hangover, All About Steve, New York, I Love You). I'd watch Jennifer Aniston in anything. Justin Long continues to show promise. Scarlett Johannson is fine (I can't believe I typed that). Even Ginnifer Goodwin whose character is godawful is able to at least make me not want to pull out my hair every time her nutcase Gigi is onscreen.

Still, the film is a failure. And it's not because of the actors. Or even the direction (it's nothing special ,but it's certainly adequate). It's just that it's way too long. Not a single storyline works. Every female character is completely unrelateable to the male writing this review. And Drew Barrymore is one of the worst actresses ever onscreen (Drew, just because you produce or direct something doesn't mean you have to be in it).

If you want a good movie with interweaving storylines about love, rent Love, Actually. Leave this one on the shelf.

The RyMickey Rating: D

Movie Review - Requiem for a Dream (2000)

Starring Jared Leto, Ellen Burstyn, Marlon Wayans, Jennifer Connelly, and Christopher McDonald
Directed by Darren Aronofsky

Simply put, one of the best films of the past decade. No doubt about it.

Top-notch acting here across the board. How Ellen Burstyn lost the Oscar to Julia Roberts in Erin Brockovich is incomprehensible (and Roberts was quite good, but she's no match for Burstyn). The scene where she's watching the television in her apartment and the tv version of herself begins dancing around the drug-addled version of herself is frightening -- who knew a refrigerator could be so scary. Add to that, some great performances by Jared Leto and Jennifer Connelly, along with a surprising turn from Marlon Wayans (buddy, if you've got the talent [and if this film is any indication, you do have the talent], why waste it in movies like Dance Flick?).

Darren Aronsofsky's direction is something special, too. This was my introduction to the guy and it immediately intrigued me. His utilization of quick cuts to symbolize the drug-induced highs that each of the four main characters experience was really unlike anything I had seen at the point of its release. It was new and visually stimulating -- just amazing. And while I don't think his two films released after this (The Fountain and The Wrestler) match the uniqueness on display here, he's a director that undoubtedly fascinates me and has me longing to see his next movie. [I have been told I should watch The Fountain again...and I will.]

The final 30 minutes of this film -- some of the most nerve-wracking and unnerving moments I've ever seen on film. As we jump back and forth between three storylines focusing on the four main characters, the tension just builds as eveything spirals completely out of control for everyone.

I hadn't seen this movie since 2001 and I wondered whether it would hold up so many years later. Had my tastes changed in nearly a decade? Well, I'm thrilled to say that this is still one of my favorite movies of all time. An amazing movie. Sad, disturbing, disheartening, depressing, but gripping and sensational. If you haven't seen it, watch it...if you have seen it, watch it again...

The RyMickey Rating: A

Movie Review - 9 (2009)

Featuring the voice talent of Elijah Wood, Christopher Plummer, Martin Landau, Jennifer Connelly, Crispin Glover, and John C. Reilly
Directed by Shane Acker

Let me be honest up front here. There were some work issues that occurred during the middle of this that caused my attention to be taken away from the film for a portion of the middle. The thing is, though, this thing never caught my attention from the very beginning, so I don't think it really will end up making a difference in my rating.

It's a post-apocalyptic world, all humans are dead, and the only things surviving on the planet are nine little "sock people" created by some scientist guy prior to his demise. These "sock people" live in fear of some various robot creatures that want to kill them by sucking their "souls" out of their bodes (the scientist placed bits of his soul in each of the sock creatures). That's it.

And I couldn't care less. I felt like I was watching a distant cousin of The Nightmare Before Christmas. There were scenes and characters that felt like they were pulled right out of that film. Sure, it looked a little richer and had better backgrounds (but I'd expect that from a computer-animated flick made two decades after Nightmare), but this really didn't have any emotional oomph to it. I didn't care what happened to any of these "sock puppets." Everything looked the same (and I'm not just talking about the characters). The backgrounds and "set design" were just shades of brown and gray, ultimately very unappealing to the eye even for the short running time of the movie.

Maybe this thing worked as an animated short (which it was prior to the director deciding to flesh it out to a feature), but it didn't work at all in this extended format. And, once again, there's not a single animated film that I'd long to see in the Best Animated Film category this year.

The RyMickey Rating: D+

DVD Round-Up 4/1/09

A completely random assortment of DVDs here...

Role Models (2008)

I had heard that this Paul Rudd-Seann William Scott comedy was funny, but I hardly laughed at all when sitting in my living room. Maybe a movie theater experience was necessary. There were some funny lines, but they couldn't even create one funny scene. Rudd and Scott were okay, but lacked any type of charisma...dull as could be. As the head of the volunteer organization that Rudd and Scott were forced to join to complete some community service, Jane Lynch was completely wasted, forced to deliver the most ridiculous lines about drugs and phallic-shaped hot dogs. Kid actor Bobb'e J. Thompson (really Bobb'e...an apostrophe in your name?) is perhaps one of the most annoying people ever to grace the screen...the unfortunate thing was that in this poorly constructed movie, having a 12 year-old kid spout curse words was about the funniest thing it had going for it.

The RyMickey Rating: D

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Burn After Reading (2008)

There were some great actors here who all turned in some amusing work -- George Clooney, Frances McDormand, Tilda Swinton, Richard Jenkins, and a particularly funny Brad Pitt -- but the writing-directing Coen Brothers team didn't really know what to do with them. There's definitely a story here -- McDormand and Pitt come across an innocuous computer disk that they believe contains secret government information and try to blackmail its owner -- but in the end, I didn't really give a damn about it or any one of the characters. Not bad, but certainly nothing you need to rush out and rent.

The RyMickey Rating: C

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Lakeview Terrace (2008)

It's cliché to even say it nowadays, but Samuel L. Jackson will do anything for a paycheck. As a racist L.A. cop, Jackson is pissed that an interracial married couple moved in next door, and if you've seen the classic Snakes on a Plane, you know not to mess with motherf'n Samuel L. Jackson. This movie was awful. It bills itself as a suspense, but nothing happened in this movie for 115 minutes and then in the last 10 minutes it follows things way too "by the book" to be suspenseful in the least. Throw in a ridiculous storyline about impending California wildfires (which I'm sure is some metaphor for racism or something) and this was one of the worst movies I've seen in years.

The RyMickey Rating: F

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Reservation Road (2007)

Not to be confused with one of my favorite movies of last year (see review here), this Road movie is actually just as depressing, but ultimately not as good. The film starts out stunningly as the young son of Joaquin Phoenix (pre-rap artist crazy) and Jennifer Connelly is killed in a horrific hit-and-run car accident. Mark Ruffalo is the man who killed him, and he is wracked with guilt. When the police fail to find the killer, Phoenix attempts to take things into his own hands. The first 30 minutes of this one were utterly gripping. My eyes were literally welling up over the grief that was depicted onscreen. But then things got a little kooky...there were way too many coincidences and odd connections and too much time with Phoenix sitting in front of a computer. Despite my problems with the film which definitely falters in the final 45 minutes, the acting and story in the first half is too good to miss.

The RyMickey Rating: B