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 - Mama

Mama (2013)

Starring Jessica Chastain, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Megan Charpentier, Isabelle Nélisse, and Daniel Kash

Directed by Andy Muschietti

I had heard some good stuff about Mama, a film that came out at the height of Oscar season and was buzzed about because Oscar nominee Jessica Chastain was making an appearance in a "lowly" horror movie.  Well, Mama is okay, but I think Chastain's appearance in it raised its actual worth in most critics' eyes...but not this critic.

Following some horrible financial/stock market crash, a distraught guy Jeffrey (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) kills his business partners and wife and then runs away with his two young daughters.  After their car crashes on a snowy road, Jeffrey takes his two girls into a deserted cabin he finds in the woods.  However, inside this cabin a spiritual entity resides, killing Jeffrey when he attempts to shoot his young girls before turning the gun on himself.

Five years pass and Jeffrey's brother Lucas (also played by Headhunters' Coster-Waldau) has never given up on finding his nieces Victoria and Lilly (Megan Charpentier and Isabelle Nélisse) and, because of his relentless effort, the two are found living seemingly alone in the same isolated cabin to which their father took them a half decade ago.  Victoria and Lilly move in with Lucas and his wife Annabel (Chastain), a guitar player in a punk band who has to give up her lifestyle in order to help her husband with the new additions to their family.  Victoria and Lilly don't adapt to the new lifestyle very easily.  In fact, they constantly act as if someone named Mama is always around.  While Lucas, Annabel, and the child's psychiatrist seem to think Mama is just a figment of the girls' imaginations -- a person they formulated to help them make it through the five years in which they were abandoned -- perhaps Mama is more than that.

Mama is nicely shot and contains a few clever camera techniques that elevate it beyond your typical horror film.  Debut director Andy Muschietti certainly doesn't embarrass himself in that department.  However, his debut script does leave a lot to be desired.  For some reason, the film just never felt tense or scary to me.  Granted, I don't think the film was ever trying for those clichéd "jump scares" (at least not often), but if it was attempting to build tension through overall eeriness like a good ghost story should, it never achieved that either.  One of the biggest reasons for this is the disappointing special effects of Mama herself.  There's a cartooniness to her and her movements that never rang realistic (or as "realistic" as a ghost can get) and that certainly doesn't aid in making her a scary specter.

While it's true that Chastain puts in a solid performance here and likely elevates Mama a bit more than another actress might've been able, she's not given a ton to work with in terms of a character.  Perhaps writer-director Muschietti should've kept Mama in its original form as a short film as I'm not quite sure the story was adequate enough to stretch the creepiness out over 95 minutes.

The RyMickey Rating:  C

Movie Review - Headhunters

Headhunters [Hodejegeme] (2012)

Starring Aksel Hennie, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Synnøve Macody Lund, Eivind Sander, and Julie Ølgaard

Directed by Morten Tyldum

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

The joy of the unexpected surprise.  Headhunters is a Norwegian thriller that is far-fetched beyond belief...but it's a helluva lot of fun and the unadulterated amusement makes all the absurdity seem almost plausible.  Roger Brown (Aksel Hennie) is a headhunter who seeks out qualified candidates for upper management positions at various companies.  But that's only his day job.  In his spare time, he steals priceless works of art in order to maintain the extravagant lifestyle he leads along with his incredibly attractive wife Diana (Synnøve Macody Lund).  One day, however, Roger messes with the wrong guy and finds himself in an ever-escalating set of predicaments that have him doing things he could never have imagined.

While it's true that the film's summary perhaps sounds basic with a "been there-done that" feel, Headhunters feels 100% original and I think a huge part of that has to do with the excellent lead performance from Aksel Hennie.  Hennie, by no means, has the "movie star" looks -- and the first lines of the film told in voiceover by Roger himself actually poke fun at his humdrum visage -- but he's incredibly engaging onscreen.  Roger's not an angel.  He is, in fact, kind of a pompous, arrogant jerk, but thanks to Hennie's portrayal we give a damn about this guy...a very tricky task that is admirably achieved.  As Roger's life slowly begins to unravel, we want him to succeed and that's a testament just as much to Hennie as it is to the ingenious writers who have crafted quite a fun piece of entertainment.

Kudos also must be extended to director Morten Tyldum who has a keen eye for lensing both action sequences and the more subtle moments necessary to make a film like this succeed.  In addition to getting a great performance from his lead actor, Tyldum also gets nice turns from the whole supporting cast especially Ms. Lund as Roger's wife who manages to achieve quite a bit of depth in her character, much more than I ever could have expected in what is her first and, as of yet, only film role.  [And she's stunningly gorgeous...but that's not really relevant in a movie review.]

Headhunters is a film that Alfred Hitchcock would be making were he making movies today (and Ms. Lund would've been his trademark Hitchcock Blonde).  There's a North by Northwest vibe crossed with Sleuth crossed with Deathtrap going on here and it's just a whole lot of fun.  Admittedly, it's far-fetched and ridiculous, but sometimes going so far over the top proves to be successful.  A Hollywood remake is apparently in the works...I can't imagine it being nearly as good.  Do yourself a favor...get over your aversion to subtitles and watch this one with your streaming Netflix subscription.

The RyMickey Rating:  A-