Better Nate Than Ever

 Better Nate Than Ever (2022)

Starring Rueby Wood, Joshua Bassett, Aria Brooks, Norbert Leo Butz, and Lisa Kudrow

Directed by Tim Federle

Written by Tim Federle

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-

Table 19

Table 19 (2017)

Starring Anna Kendrick, Craig Robinson, June Squibb, Lisa Kudrow, Stephen Merchant, Tony Revolori, and Wyatt Russell

Directed by Jeffrey Blitz

Written by Jeffrey Blitz

***This film is currently streaming via HBO***

Summary (in 500 words or less):  A group of unwanted guests find themselves seated at a table at the back of a wedding reception where they bond over their various foibles and idiosyncrasies.

Click here for my Letterboxd review

The RyMickey Rating: D+

Movie Review - The Girl on the Train

The Girl on the Train (2016)

Starring Emily Blunt, Haley Bennett, Rebecca Ferguson, Justin Theroux, Luke Evans, Edgar Ramirez, Laura Prepon, Allison Janney, and Lisa Kudrow

Directed by Tate Taylor

When I first saw the trailer for The Girl on the Train, I felt a tinge of excitement.  Was this going to be another successful modern-day Hitchcockian thriller along the lines of the glorious Gone Girl?  I then proceeded to read the immensely successful book and realized that The Girl on the Train was unlikely to be a cinematic treat because the debut novel by Paula Hawkins was a bit of a bust.  Sure enough, the movie ends up being a bust as well, despite a solid performance from Emily Blunt as the titular character.

Blunt is Rachel Watson, an alcoholic divorcée who spends her days riding a train from the suburbs to New York City and back again.  The train passes by her old house which her husband Tom (Justin Theroux) now shares with his new wife Anna (Rebecca Ferguson) and their baby.  Naturally, the train also passes by the house of Tom's neighbors, the Hipwells.  Scott and Megan (Luke Evans, Haley Bennett) seem like a happy, young couple, but one morning Rachel spots Megan on the porch in the embrace of another man.  Shortly thereafter, Rachel hears on the news that Megan has gone missing and, in her drunken haze, Rachel sets out to investigate.  Unfortunately for Rachel, she herself has no recollection of what she was doing the night Megan was last seen...and the police headed by Detective Riley (Allison Janney) seem to think Rachel may have something to do with Megan's disappearance.

The book was largely an internal piece with the story told through the inner monologues of both Rachel and Megan.  The film tries to tackle this with voiceovers, but voiceovers are always a tricky proposition in movies and having to base a large majority of your plot around them is a bit tiresome.  Emily Blunt is successful in creating the depressed Rachel and nicely embodies the character I envisioned whilst reading the book.  Unfortunately, the screenplay isn't any better than Paula Hawkins' novel with the culprit behind Megan's disappearance surprisingly obvious about halfway through in both iterations.  In the end, what good is a mystery if you can solve it at the midpoint?

The RyMickey Rating:  C-

Movie Review - Neighbors

Neighbors (2014)

Starring Seth Rogen, Rose Byrne, Zac Efron, Dave Franco, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, and Lisa Kudrow

Directed by Nicholas Stoller

Despite proving to be funny at times, Neighbors is a one-joke movie that wears old fast.  About 25 minutes in, I found myself looking at the clock as I was having a difficult time determining how there could be any more plot to milk from this simple story of married couple Mac and Kelly (Seth Rogen and Rose Byrne) who have their world turned upside down when a fraternity headed by Teddy and Pete (Zac Efron and Dave Franco) move in next door in their quiet suburban neighborhood.

I was willing to forego the notion that not a single other neighbor is disturbed by the raucous parties that take place at the newly formed frathouse.  (Yes, the film attempts to explain this off, but it's an utterly ridiculous explanation.)  The problem is that the premise of this flick is so simplistic that even at a ninety-minue runtime, it can't flesh out the plot because there's nothing to flesh out.  Frat guys do crazy things and married couple -- who were hoping to be hip enough to be buddies with the frat -- get angry when they realize they're not as young as they used to be.  There's not much more than that.  While some of the frat's raucous pranks and the married couple's reactions are funny, they're just comedic bits that don't really add up to much of a plot.  As an ongoing skit on SNL, this may have worked, but forming an overall movie from this is a bit weak.

That isn't to say that Neighbors didn't make me laugh -- it did so multiple times thanks to the good performances from Seth Rogen (who is essentially playing Seth Rogen), Rose Byrne (who has a nice comedic deadpan style to her), and Dave Franco (proving as of late that he's less smarmy oncreen -- and that's a good thing -- than his more famous brother James).  Color me surprised, however, that the star of the show is Zac Efron whose frat president Pete is suave, debonair, yet also sneaky and underhanded.  Presumably Efron's been trying to break away from his High School Musical image over the past several years and he's surprisingly good as he makes fun of his toned body and spotless image.

Director Nicholas Stoller does have some inspired moments -- a rave party showcased some nice directorial flourishes -- but Neighbors unfortunately doesn't amount to much despite the good stuff it has going for it.

The RyMickey Rating:  C

Movie Review - Easy A

Easy A (2010)

Starring Emma Stone, Penn Badgely, Amanda Bynes, Thomas Haden Church, Patricia Clarkson, Stanley Tucci, Alyson Michalka, Malcolm McDowell, and Lisa Kudrow

Directed by Will Gluck

A case of raised expectations seems to have ruined Easy A for me.  The heaping praise from nearly all the critics upon its release had me thinking this was going to be much better than it actually was.  Sure, there were great performances all around and some wit was on display, but in the end, it felt like a story that never really went anywhere and never really caught my attention despite the presence of the cute and charming Emma Stone.

Like a modern-day Scarlet Letter, Emma Stone is Olive (the Hester Prynne of the film), a high schooler who is pressured into saying she had sex in order to make herself "look" better to her best friend (Alyson Michalka).  Rumors spread quickly in high school and soon the clean cut (though witty and wry) Olive is finding herself enjoying the attention she's receiving.  Instead of trying to squash the rumor, she begins to make the lie even bigger, pretending to become the school slut because at least "the slut" has a place at the school rather than her old role as "just another face in the crowd."  Needless to say, things get out of hand and start getting hurtful to the good-hearted Olive and she must attempt to climb her way out of the hole she dug for herself.

The problem with the film doesn't lie with Ms. Stone who, in her first major starring role, is certainly an amusing and funny presence onscreen.  Perhaps my biggest issue with the film is with the characters surrounding Olive.  While it's true that none of the actors playing the caricaturish supporting players are bad, their roles are laughably one-note.  Stanley Tucci and Patricia Clarkson bring great humor to the roles of Olive's parents, but their characters seemed so incredibly fake.  Similarly, all of the students at Olive's school -- from the Christian goody-goody (Amanda Bynes) to Olive's gay friend -- are characters we've seen before (and written better) in other films.  Once again, great acting from everyone all around, but the characters they had to inhabit were simply disappointing.

The film flounders and wanders aimlessly and its short 90-minute runtime feels about 30 minutes longer than it actually is.  Overall, Easy A was a disappointment that doesn't deserve the praises that were bestowed on it earlier in the year.

The RyMickey Rating:  C-

Movie Review - Bandslam (2009)

Starring Gaelan Connell, Aly Michalka, Vanessa Hudgens, and Lisa Kudrow
Written by Josh A. Cagan and Todd Graff
Directed by Todd Graff

Even though Bandslam certainly isn't a great title, it's certainly better than the working title on the poster to the left. Get it...where there's a will, there's a way (and the main character's name is Will, too)...ugh...let's move on.

Will Burton (played by Even Stevens-era Shia Labeouf look-alike Gaelan Connell...side note: Even Stevens was such a good show) has just moved to New Jersey with his mom (Lisa Kudrow). Within the first few days at his new school, he meets two gals -- loner and bookworm Sa5m (Vanessa Hudgens)("the 5 is silent") and former cheerleader/lead singer of a "cool" band Charlotte (Aly Michalka). Will soon becomes manager of Charlotte's band, while at the same time slowly falling for Sa5m. Will he be able to balance both of these things in his life? Will the newly formed band be able to win the northeast Bandslam competition? Will I care?

Admittedly, the film isn't awful, but it just can't rise above mediocrity. The dialogue is poorly constructed (it jumps back and forth from these teens doing some "deep" thinking and then spouting stupid lines within seconds) and the kids, while all okay (with the exception of the pretty darn awful Hudgens), didn't seem real to me.

That being said, the movie takes a serious twist towards the end that actually worked better than I thought it would (although the somber turn was completely unnecessary). Additionally, I actually really liked Lisa Kudrow as Will's mom. I enjoyed the scenes she shared with all the teen stars and her character was actually given some believable dialogue. After her abysmal turn in Hotel for Dogs, it was nice to see her being moderately entertaining here.

So, there's no reason to see this, but it wasn't all that bad.

The RyMickey Rating: D+

Movie Review - Hotel For Dogs (2009)

Starring Emma Roberts, Jake T. Austin, Kyla Pratt, Don Cheadle, Lisa Kudrow, and Kevin Dillon
Written by Jeff Lowell, Bob Schooley, and Mark McCorkle
Directed by Thor Freudenthal

Andi and Bruce (Roberts and Austin) are a sister and brother who have moved around from foster home to foster home, settling in with the apparently kid-hating Lois for the time being. The siblings bring along Friday, their cute dog, but they need to keep him a secret (because, naturally, the foster mom dislikes pets). Through a series of events, Andi and Bruce come upon an old abandoned hotel that happens to house a few stray canines. Somehow without any money and without any adult knowledge, Andi, Bruce, and few friends (including the requisite fat kid -- because fat kids are funny! -- and the sassy [is there any other kind in movies?] black girl) create a unique haven for all these neglected pets.

The movie actually started out really promisingly. For the first 30 minutes (prior to them setting up the hotel), it was actually quite good. Emma Roberts and Jake Austin were actually really holding their own and keeping me interested, despite the simplicity of the plot. However, at around the 40 minute mark, there were three "stepping in poo" jokes within three minutes and that's when it started to fall apart. That was followed by a five-minute long detailing of how the kids were (literally) "potty-training" the dogs. It then ventures down the teen romance trail that so many of these movies do and it does so in a completely generic way. And maybe it's just because I'm not a "pet guy," but I couldn't really give a damn during the climax when (SPOILER) the dogs get taken away from the hotel by the authorities.

Still, I gotta be honest, I've seen much worse kid flicks. First-time director Freudenthal did nothing special, but the film actually looked much better than your average children's movie. Like I said above, Roberts was quite charming. I haven't seen her in anything before (although "Girl in Purple T-Shirt" in her aunt Julia's America's Sweethearts should've been a memorable role), but she should have a promising future in movies (just stay away from the horror genre, Emma). For the most part, the other kid actors also outperform the adults here, the latter of whom are all forced to play idiotic caricatures (I'm talking to you, Lisa Kudrow!).

You could definitely do worse if you're looking for a decent flick to watch with your kids/cousins/nieces/nephews/etc.

The RyMickey Rating: C