Movie Review - Rules Don't Apply

Rules Don't Apply (2016)

Starring Alden Ehrenreich, Lily Collins, Warren Beatty, Matthew Broderick, Annette Bening, and a slew of other people in cameo-length roles

Directed by Warren Beatty

***This film is currently available via HBO Now/GO***

Howard Hughes was a bit of an eccentric loon who, thanks to his significant entrepreneurial endeavors, was able to have his hands in a multitude of business ventures ranging from creating aircraft to producing motion pictures.  Rules Don't Apply focuses on the latter aspect as an aging Hughes (played by Warren Beatty who also wrote and directed the film) shifts his romantic focus to a young aspiring actress from Virginia named Marla (Lily Collins) who recently moved to Hollywood at the request of Hughes.  Upon her arrival, Marla begins to fall for her driver Frank (Alden Ehrenreich), a Howard Hughes employee, who himself is engaged to be married but also finds himself enraptured by Marla.  This romantic love triangle starts the film off in an engagingly old school 1960s-esque cinematic fashion, but the film quickly starts to fall apart after it introduces its key players.

Filled with a multitude of well-known actors in cameo-style roles, Rules Don't Apply is well-acted by Lily Collins and Alden Ehrenreich, but their "will they or won't they" romantic story isn't enough of a story to sustain the film's long nearly 150-minute runtime.  Writer/director Warren Beatty seems to recognize this hence the introduction of his Howard Hughes character about thirty minutes into the film, but he fails at making Hughes' storylines captivating.  When Hughes comes into the picture, Rules Don't Apply can't seem to tell who its central character is - Hughes or Marla or Frank - and this leads to oddly edited sequences that create one the most boringly manic all-over-the-place films I've seen in a long time.  A passion project for Beatty who spent a long time getting it to the screen post-production, Rules Don't Apply has some great production values and does feel fittingly 1960s in tone and style, but it ultimately fails in the story and directing department.

The RyMickey Rating:  C-

Movie Review - Philomena

Philomena (2013)

Starring Judi Dench, Steve Coogan, Sophie Kennedy Clark, Sean Mahon, Peter Hermann, and Mare Winningham

Directed by Stephen Frears

In the 1940s, a teenage girl named Philomena (Sophie Kennedy Clark) gets pregnant and is sent to live at the Roscrea Catholic convent where she gives birth to her son Anthony.  The nuns have Philomena sign away her parental rights and end up giving the baby up for adoption, much to Philomena's distress.  Cut to decades later and an elderly Philomena (now played by Judi Dench) still finds herself thinking of her Anthony and wondering what happened to him, particularly now -- the year he would've turned fifty.  Philomena meets up with former disgraced politician-turned journalist Martin Sixsmith (Steve Coogan) who, in an attempt to help his image with the public, agrees to help the old woman search for her son in hopes that it will provide a fantastic human interest story for his bosses.

Based on a true story, Philomena doesn't shy away from heavy subject matter, tackling both religious and political themes.  While I welcome this aspect of Steve Coogan and Jeff Pope's script, I also must comment on their creative license that paints several figures in the piece as morally repugnant.  The film's final scene -- a showdown between two parties -- in fact never happened.  Placed in the film simply to up the dramatic quotient of things, the entire scene actually rang a bit untrue -- it was written almost childlike in its angry dialog -- and, come to find out, it never actually occurred.  Coogan and Pope were specifically twisting their plot to buoy their anti-religious standpoint.

However, for all the anti-Catholicism that occurs in the film, there is also a reverence given to the religion as well through the eyes of Philomena.  Despite all that happened to her as a child and the pain she's suffered through as an adult because of the loss of her child, she still looks to God for guidance.  The Catholic Church is certainly not without reproach and I give this film credit for trying to create a balance between the believers and the non-believers.  While I think Coogan and Pope went a step too far, they get close to their goal.

Philomena's story is a sad one, but the woman herself was a trooper and Judi Dench brings her joyful and respectful ways of life to the screen with gusto.  This'll sound corny, but there's heart on display that immediately connects the audience to the title character, with Dench bringing dignity to the title character's plight.  Dench really is fantastic here, garnering the accolade that I typically churn out at least once or twice an awards season -- even the slightest eye movement from conveys all we need to know about her character's internal thoughts which, to me, is an admirable quality in an actor.  While we certainly feel sorry for her, Philomena is a strong woman and Dench never makes us pity her -- something that easily could've happened.  Countering Dench, Steve Coogan's bitterness plays well against her and the duo really do have nice chemistry with one another.

Overall, Philomena is a solid film.  Although the writers made the finale a bit too dramatic for its own good, Dench's performance alone makes this one worth seeing.

The RyMickey Rating:  B

Movie Review - What Maisie Knew

What Maisie Knew (2013)

Starring Julianne Moore, Alexander Skarsgård, Onata Aprile, Joanna Vanderham, and Steve Coogan

Directed by Scott McGehee and David Siegel

What Maisie Knew is a movie you desperately want to end a certain way, but you figure while you're watching it that it never will pan out the way you hope and it causes a depressing pall to ceaselessly hang around.  I say that not as a criticism of the film at all, but instead as a credit to the screenwriters Nancy Doyne and Carroll Cartwright, young actress Onata Aprile in the title role, and directors Scott McGehee and David Seigel who craft a movie told essentially entirely from through the eyes of a six year-old girl being used as a pawn by her parents (Julianne Moore and Steve Coogan) in a bitter custody battle.  What Maisie Knew isn't without its faults, but it's a film worth seeing thanks to the unique perspective we witness to decidedly adult situations.

As the film opens we see black screen with a female and male voice arguing with each other using decidedly adult language.  We soon discover that these voices belong to Susanna (Julianne Moore), a pushy rock star who likes to live life a little on the edge, and Beale (Steve Coogan), her live-in long-time significant other who's had enough of her rough persona, but seems a bit too egotistical for his own good.  This argument between Susanna and Beale happens within earshot and eyeshot of six year-old Maisie (played by the aforementioned Aprile in her first film role) and it will be the first of many times we see her subjected to listening to her parents duke it out with one another and then later try and convince her that the other parent is "the bad one."  With Susanna and Beale fighting in court for custody of young Maisie, they both decide that they'll look better in the court's eyes if they find someone to "love" again, thereby raising Maisie in a two-person family.  Beale hooks up with Maisie's nanny Margo (Joanna Vanderham), a fellow Brit whose innocence makes her actually believe Beale has no ulterior motives to marrying her.  Susanna finds Lincoln (Alexander Skarsgård), a guy who at first glance seems to be a lackadaisical loser, but just may be the kind of loving support young Maisie needs.  Both Margo and Lincoln are simply props in the vicious game Susanna and Beale are playing and despite the fact that they're simply being used, they both find themselves growing to love young Maisie and hating what her parents are putting her through.

What I find refreshingly original about What Maisie Knew is that the entire story is told from the perspective of the six year-old Maisie.  I'm not sure there's a single scene that's depicted that doesn't have Maisie either in it or peering in on it.  Kudos to the directors for keeping things squarely focused -- it may not be the most technically fascinating film, but this perspective (and the willingness to not shift from this framework) certainly aids the movie.  

Whereas Maisie's innocence may not allow her to fully understand everything her parents are doing to her, we in the audience grow to have an intense hatred for the way Susanna and Beale manipulate her young mind into kowtowing to their intentions.  Little Onata Aprile gives a very nice performance in a role that never once feels as if it's being "acted."  Granted, Aprile's character isn't necessarily forced to do anything outwardly that gives her a fantastic "moment," but I was certainly impressed with the young girl's ability to communicate all we needed to know with simply the naturalness of her wide eyes or hushed silence.

Unfortunately, the film falters a bit with the performances of Julianne Moore and Steve Coogan.  Much focus is placed on their relationship and I found both of them to be playing their roles a bit too one-notish.  Neither adult seems fully developed, but rather portraying caricatures of who they are supposed to be.  Additionally -- and there's a slight spoilerish aspect that comes along with this final comment -- the film ends in a wholly unexpected way that seems a bit too farfetched to be truly believable.  I simply couldn't imagine the narcissistic parents we've grown to hate throughout the movie doing what they do at the film's conclusion.  Fault for this lies in both the screenwriters and the actors and it does ultimately knock the film down several notches despite its other positive attributes.  

The RyMickey Rating:  B-

Movie Review - Ruby Sparks

Ruby Sparks (2012)

Starring Paul Dano, Zoe Kazan, Chris Messina, Annette Bening, Steve Coogan, Elliot Gould, and Antonio Banderas

Directed by Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris

I wasn't the biggest fan of Little Miss Sunshine and Paul Dano isn't ever a draw for me, so a film by the directors and featuring one of the stars of that former Oscar-nominated flick wasn't ever going to jump out at me as a major draw.  However, I couldn't be more pleased that I gave Ruby Sparks a shot because I found the comedy to be more amusing than I ever could have imagined.  Maybe it was a case of lowered expectations, but that's probably selling the film short because I feel like Ruby Sparks is one of the best films to come out of 2012.

A decade ago, Calvin Weir-Fields (Paul Dano) wrote a quintessential piece of American literature -- a contemporary Catcher in the Rye if you will.  Since then, he's been able to live very well off the money brought in from his novel, but hasn't been able to follow it up with any work as he's been afraid of living up to the expectations from his modern-day masterpiece.  Much like his professional life, his love life has stalled.  After breaking up with a long-time girlfriend a few years ago, Calvin spends time at home alone with his dog much to the chagrin of his brother Harry (Chris Messina).  One evening, Calvin has a dream about a beautiful girl beckoning him to be with her and Calvin's therapist (Elliot Gould) seizes the moment and tells the author to start writing about her to try and get the creative juices flowing.

Calvin finds himself engrossed in writing for the first time in years, falling in love with his creation of the character of Ruby Sparks -- his ideal woman.  Color Calvin surprised when he wakes up one morning only to find Ruby (Zoe Kazan) actually in his apartment, complete with every mannerism and characteristic he has made up for her.  Whatever Calvin writes seemingly comes alive in Ruby right before his very eyes placing Calvin in an interesting conundrum -- does he write Ruby to be the woman he wants her to be or does he try and let her become her own woman with her own will and ambitions.

While there's certainly enchanting fantastical elements in this wonderful debut screenplay by Zoe Kazan, the film's directors don't dwell on the fact that this couldn't actually happen.  Instead, it's played rather straightforward and thanks to all players in front of and behind the scenes, we in the audience buy into the whole thing instantly.  Comedy is front and center at the initial meetings of Calvin and Ruby, but as the film progresses, we delve a bit more into what "love" should mean and that the "faults" of our partners endear them to us all the more.

Kazan has created a nice starring role for herself that allows her to play both the initial bubbly innocence of the fresh-faced Ruby and then shift into the more independent-minded woman that Ruby becomes.  While I'd apparently seen Kazan in a few films (most notably the western Meek's Cutoff), she isn't someone that had registered with me before.  However, after this, she'll definitely be on my radar and I hope that she takes another stab at writing as her screenplay proved to be quite unique.

Much to my surprise, Paul Dano didn't annoy me in the slightest.  It's not so much that Dano ever even annoys me, it's just that he always seems to fade away into the background of whatever movie he's in, never really standing out whether that be because his role is minor or because he's being overshadowed by a bigger, more imposing presence (see There Will Be Blood).  Here, however, the sheer fact that his character longs to be reclusive and away from spotlight fits Dano to a tee.  I think it may be his best work yet -- or, at the very least, his most enjoyable to watch.

With some very nice supporting turns from Chris Messina (a guy who I admire for taking even the smallest of roles and making them memorable) as Calvin's lewd, but incredibly well-meaning brother, along with Annette Bening and Antonio Banderas as Calvin's hippie mother and stepfather, Ruby Sparks proves that romantic comedies don't need to play to the lowest common denominators in terms of either raunchy behavior or bland stereotypes in order to succeed.  How this charming film didn't find more success is beyond me considering that it's the best comedy of 2012.

The RyMickey Rating:  A-

Movie Review - Our Idiot Brother

Our Idiot Brother (2011)

Starring Paul Rudd, Elizabeth Banks, Emily Mortimer, Zooey Deschanel, Rashida Jones, Kathryn Hahn, and Steve Coogan

Directed by Jesse Peretz

I'm fairly certain that Our Idiot Brother was supposed to be a comedy.  I mean, there were moments where I probably should have laughed at the sweet, yet entirely too innocent and trusting Ned (Paul Rudd) whose hippie vibe was lovable and charming, but the flick simply didn't elicit chuckles (with the exception of one very odd threesome scene and a game of charades that admittedly cracked me up).  Instead, Our Idiot Brother places a huge focus on Ned's three sisters -- workaholic Miranda (Elizabeth Banks), quirky lesbian Natalie (Zooey Deschanel), and stay-at-home mom Liz (Emily Mortimer) -- none of whom are ladies I'd like to spend any bit of time with.  

The whole affair just plays like some sitcom, jumping back and forth amongst Ned and his trio of sisters whose troubles reach soap opera levels of absurdity at times.  Unfortunately, these problems should have made me give a damn about these characters, but instead they just made me upset that these ladies were such idiots -- for, you see, the absurdity of the flick is that the supposedly sane sisters are perhaps the ones who are more foolish than Ned the Kooky Simpleton.

Despite a game Paul Rudd whose kind Jesus-y hipster Ned is amusing (and is the only thing that saves the flick from being a complete and utter failure), Our Idiot Brother just doesn't ever feel rooted in reality at any point.  Characters are too one-dimensional, predicaments are resolved way too quickly and cleanly, and the final scene was nearly disgustingly treacly.

The RyMickey Rating:  D+

Movie Review - The Trip

The Trip (2011)

Starring Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon

Directed by Michael Winterbottom

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

Innately British in its humour, The Trip is a 110-minute film edited from a six-episode BBC television series about two real-life celebrities who travel across the English countryside on a tour of restaurants.  Steve Coogan (most well-known in the States for Tropic Thunder) and Rob Brydon (whose role as "First Villager" in A Knight's Tale may be his only claim to fame here, but who is [from what I can tell] a popular comedian in Britain) play fictional versions of themselves as they trek across their native land eating great food, talking about life, and doing impressions of everyone from Anthony Hopkins to Michael Caine and Robert DeNiro to Woody Allen (along with a few British folks with whom I am not familiar).

If I were British, I could see myself loving this film.  Seeing as how I'm not, things just didn't quite work for this reviewer.  Don't get me wrong, during the first thirty minutes, I found myself cracking up at several of the impressions this duo presented.  However, as the film moves on, it wears out its welcome.  Coogan and Brydon are both quite fine, but this is one of those movies where nothing happens and you either buy into that nothingness and enjoy it or you grow tired of it -- I fell into the latter category finding the whole thing tedious and rambling.  Despite their best efforts at crafting an interesting friendship onscreen and an attempt at going super-serious and "artsy" at the film's conclusion, the two stars' rambling had me wishing the film had a better editor to whittle down the tv series a whole lot more.

The RyMickey Rating:  D+

Movie Review - The Other Guys

The Other Guys (2010)

Starring Will Ferrell, Mark Wahlberg, Eva Mendes, Michael Keaton, Steve Coogan, Dwayne Johnson, and Samuel L. Jackson

Directed by Adam McKay

I was a pretty big fan of the previous Will Ferrell-Adam McKay collaborations Step Brothers and Anchorman.  Their latest venture The Other Guys doesn't even come close to those previous flicks.  In fact, this 2010 "comedy" is one of the worst movies of last year.

It's true that comedies are perhaps best viewed with a crowd of others.  As the crowd laughs, you can either laugh with them or laugh at them for finding something humorous.  I watched The Other Guys all by my lonesome and while I chuckled once or twice, that's not nearly enough.  In this bumbling odd couple buddy picture, Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg never seem to mesh with one another in the slightest.  In their quest to uncover the mystery behind some Wall Street stock fraud (did that ever sound funny in the writer's room?), their two cop characters grow to realize they're not as different as they thought they once were.

Ferrell is fine here, but he does nothing special and can't garner laughs.  Wahlberg is just horrendous.  His attempts at humor involved yelling everything and opening his eyes really wide to convey frustration and anger -- it just may be one of the worst performances I've seen this year.  The rest of the supporting cast from Eva Mendes to Michael Keaton to Dwayne Johnson and Samuel L. Jackson as a pair of celebrity-level NYC officers are simply serviceable, but don't add anything to the mix.

All in all, this film wasn't the least bit funny and I contemplated stopping it several times before it was through...I kinda wish I had because I at least would've had an hour to watch something worthwhile.

The RyMickey Rating:  D-