So, a bunch of 30-40 year-olds are all single despite their looking like models, being impeccably dressed and living in nice homes.

Wait, hold on...they tossed in some kids to young it up a bit.

If this interests you, you deserve what you get.




Screenwriter: Katherine Fugate
Director: Garry Marshall (Exit to Eden)
Actors: Jessica Alba (Into the Blue), Jessica Biel (The Texas Chainsaw Massacre), Kathy Bates (Primary Colors), Bradley Cooper (The Hangover), Eric Dane (X-Men: The Last Stand), Topher Grace (Spider-Man 3), Jamie Foxx (Ray), Jennifer Garner (13 Going on 30), Patrick Dempsey (Made of Honor), Ashton Kutcher (Guess Who), Queen Latifah (Taxi), Shirley McClaine (Two Mules for Sister Sara), Julia Roberts (Charlie Wilson's War), George Lopez (Henry Poole Was Here), Taylor Swift and Larry Miller (Best in Show)

Labels: Bradley Cooper, Eric Dane, film, Garry Marshall, Jamie Foxx, Jennifer Garner, Jessica Alba, Jessica Biel, Julia Roberts, Kathy Bates, Larry Miller, movie trailer, Queen Latifah, Topher Grace

Remember all of those Saturday Night Live skits where they propose a simple comedic concept and then proceed to hammer the bit into dust? Imagine one of those insufferable skits dragging on for over one hundred minutes and you'll have a good idea of what this movie has to offer.

Jim Carrey plays Carl, a junior loan officer who has a pathetic existence. He is divorced, has been passed up for a promotion and losing his friends due to his being an unreliable dope. After some highly contrived situations, Carl finds himself running into his old friend Nick (John Michael Higgins) who is exciting and free. You see, Nick has adopted the "Yes" lifestyle. He says "yes" to everything and magically life has become a wonderful adventure. Nick invites Carl to attend a conference where guru Terrence Bundley (Terrence Stamp) invites attendees to pledge to say "yes" to everything for a year. Of course Carl takes the pledge and, of course, his life magically becomes a wonderful adventure.

For the next hour or so, Carrey sprints from one inorganic situation to the next saying "yes" to whatever preposterous offer comes his way. It's all so zany.

I like the concept, it is so pro-existence, so for living life to the fullest….wait no, that’s crap – it stinks and stinks overtime. Saying “yes” to everything saps you of your humanity. You have an ingrained sense of right and wrong. This provides you with your basis for choice. It would be better, more life fulfilling to follow your conscious for a year. Your conscious is God's reminder that you have free will and responsibility. Do what you know is right for a year, heck, do it for a month and you life WILL CHANGE. Saying “yes” doesn't change a single thing, doing what you know is right in your gut will.

There is a couple things in this film which struck me. Carrey is in his late forties. At the time this was filmed he was forty-seven years old. He is almost fifty, yet our culture is fine with him portraying a half-man loser who still hangs with his buds at the local sports bar, no kids and who is a JUNIOR loan officer - honestly, he has a scene where he's passed out over a toilet. If you're nearing fifty and you're still getting drunk like you're in college, you either have a drinking problem or a thinking problem - take your pick. This role belongs to an actor half Carrey's age.

What does it say about our culture that a fifty year old is comfortably shown in this role? Would we be as comfortable if Carrey's love interest was his age? No. Zooey Deschanel, his love interest, was twenty-nine during the filming. Because, as we all know, your average good looking woman in her late twenties is hot on the heels of any man nearing fifty who has no prospects.

To push the age thing a little further. In the film Carl receives a sexual favor from an old woman. Carl is disgusted by the old biddy but relents to her advances. This is played up for laughs...well, its not funny so they try to play it up for laughs. The point is that the idea that Carl would hook up with an older woman is deemed wacky.

Here is the deal: The actress who portrays the old woman Tilly is Fionnula Flanagan, born in 1941, making her 67. Carrey was 47. Deschanel was 29. Its fine for Carrey to be slobbering all over a woman 18 years his junior but its disgusting that a woman 20 years his senior would be doing the same to him. The fact is, both are troublesome. Again, the bit works better if Carl is portrayed by a thirty-year-old actor.

Perhaps Carrey should drop the roles where he portrays middle-age, half-men and focus on making real comedies like he was supposed to do back when he was funny fifteen years ago.

As a final note, at one point they actually turn to anti-George W. Bush paranoia. Carl dates a Syrian woman, offers someone a loan to buy fertilizer and takes some planes trips. During a flight, a security guard who looks suspiciously like W. pulls Carl from the terminal insinuating he is a terrorist- thank god this BDS crap is over.

There is little in this film that isn't complete, unwatchable bunk. I recommend you say "no man".





Related Reviews:
Jim Carrey movies
The Number 23 (2007)
Dumb & Dumber (1994)


Other Critic’s Reviews:
USAToday
Big Fan Boy

Labels: Bradley Cooper, comedy, film, Jim Carrey, movie review, Zooey Deschanel

Todd Phillips directed this film. He also directed Old School. Other than having Phillips at the helm, these two comedies both have something else in common. They are not nearly as funny as people want them to be.

Like Old School, this film begins with a promising hook, a mismatched group of men (Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms, Zach Galifianakis and Justin Bartha) go to Vegas in place of a regular bachelor party for their friend who is about to tie the knot (Bartha). The men begin the evening, excited and ready for fun. The next time we see them, they are waking up in their expensive suite, partially clothed and the bachelor is missing. The film follows the remaining three as they unravel the wild events of the previous evening.

Like Old School, there is enough for the actors to work with that they can squeeze some good laughs out of the scenes. There is enough humor to make the production better than the average comedy, which really isn't saying too much.

Like Old School the film runs out of fuel after the mid-point and goes off course as it tries to tie all of the character arcs together.

Like Old School, the film should have been much funnier and more clever than it ending up being. A stronger direction would have helped, as well as a tighter script.

Like Old School, the cast will be the big winners. Old School introduced Luke Wilson, Vince Vaughn and Will Ferrell to audiences who may have otherwise not have known them. People knew Ferrell thanks to SNL but his cross-over to film hadn't taken off yet. Wilson and Vaughn were known, but not to wide audiences. This film will probably have a similar effect for Bradley Cooper and Ed Helms, both of whom offer strong performances. Zach Galifianakis also gives a notable comedic performance as Alan, a dumpy, odd man-child. Galigianaialogisiaiskilansig...kis is the most memorable part of this film, other than Mike Tyson singing. It is possible this film will be his introduction to larger roles.

Like Old School, people will claim this film to be far superior than it truly is, which means it will be very successful on DVD. Expect the sequel in a couple more years.

Do I recommend the film? Nope. I'm not about to pretend it is better than it is simply because I wanted to like it. Again, the second half slides off into a muddled collection of scenes. Additionally, the central push of the plot, where is the groom, loses all of its steam. If you liked Old School, you will probably find much here you will enjoy.





Related Reviews:
Other Comedies
Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (2004)
Groundhog Day (1993)


Other Critic’s Reviews:
The Independent Critic
DarkMatters

Labels: Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms, film, Heather Graham, Jeffrey Tambor, Justin Bartha, Ken Jeong, Mike Epps, movie review, Zach Galifianakis

Screenwriters: Jon Lucas (Four Christmases) and Scott Moore (Rebound)
Director: Todd Phillips (Old School)
Actors: Bradley Cooper (Wedding Crashers), Heather Graham (Boogie Nights), Ed Helms (Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay), Jeffrey Tambor (Monsters vs. Aliens) and Justin Bartha (National Treasure: Book of Secrets)

Labels: Bradley Cooper, film, Heather Graham, Jeffrey Tambor, movie trailer

Screenwriter: Kim Barker (License to Wed)
Director: Phil Traill
Actors: Sandra Bullock (Speed), Bradley Cooper (Wedding Crashers) and Thomas Haden Church (Spider-man 3)

Labels: Bradley Cooper, film, movie trailer, Sandra Bullock, Thomas Haden Church