Short Review: Seriously, who doesn't love watching middle-aged people hook up? What's more exciting than witnessing a couple of soulless corporate hacks who have wasted their lives on burying their personal woes under heaps of work and travel? That's what the world needs, a movie about a budding romance between the upwardly pathetic.




I think its fitting that this film was nominated for an impressive six Oscars but didn't get any of them. That pretty much sums up the experience of watching the film. Its almost really good.

There is plenty going for the movie. George Clooney gives a notable performance, in particular in relation to his other films as of late. Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner penned a well meaning script and Reitman turned in another strong film.

The problem?

Who cares?

That's a big problem.

Reitman has a great voice and knows how to craft full characters. As it turns out, his main character is his downfall. Clooney is well cast as Ryan Bingham, a high-class corporate consultant who fires people for a living. He flies from one job to the next, ruining other people's lives. His job has also ruined his. Aging and seeing himself slowly becoming obsolete himself, Bingham casually strolls through his mid-life crisis.

A man adrift can be an interesting character study and Bingham certainly has points about him that make him an attractive lead. Bingham's freedom is shown to be his flaw. He can go anywhere but he has nowhere to return when he's through. It may be poetic but it is terribly boring to watch.

Bingham doesn't have anything holding him down so in turn he has nothing to lose. The audience has little to invest in, other than a polite "I hope he does well." When the final credits roll we are no closer to the character than when we walked in. We know more about him, but there is no depth, no growth for us to ponder. Ultimately, he's just a loser in a fine suit.

This is not a film you should avoid at all costs. There are many moments that make it a worthwhile watch. I would recommend this if you have an urge to see it. If you're a Clooney fan for example. Otherwise, there are plenty of superior films out there you haven't seen. Go find one.





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Labels: Anna Kendrick, Danny McBride, film, George Clooney, Jason Bateman, JK Simmons, movie review, Sam Elliott, Vera Farmiga

Short Review: Any film where the State Department is shown to be a gaggle of heartless, incomprehensibly inept baboons is cool with me.


Remarkably, this movie not overly political. Given that the film industry feels compelled to shoehorn pathetic political snipes in even films about middle-aged cookbook authors, the fact that this movie saves its lefty political jabs for the opening credits and the final moments of the film, is notable. When you toss in the fact that this film has U. S. agents scuttling around in the sand in the Middle East, the lack of a “blame America first and blame America often” haranguing is almost unbelievable.

While this film begins with a simplistic, and lopsided, but visually interesting history of how American intrusion into Saudi Arabia (for the purposes of obtaining oil) has lead to the modern Islamic terrorist, the movie overall refrains from finger pointing. This said, the opening historical review does somehow manage to only show Republican Presidents and their administrations adding flames to the Islamic fires. Democratic administrations are remarkably absent. The review also avoids holding the Saudi’s, or more importantly the Islamic terrorists, accountable for their own actions.

Overall, the film overall is a gripping thriller. Islamic terrorists conduct a horrific bombing of an American interest in Saudi Arabia and a team of FBI agents investigates the crime. During the process, the lead investigator. Special Agent Ronald Fleury (Jamie Foxx), has to contend with Saudis restricting his access, but also the American State Department hamstringing his efforts.

The script by Matthew Michael Carnahan is tight and intelligent. The investigation is smartly handled and doesn’t unfold too neatly. Carnahan does a great job of playing off of the disconnect between Fleury and his fellow investigators (Jennifer Garner, Chris Cooper and Jason Bateman) and their Saudi hosts. The agents are in a foreign land and they are not welcome guests. The continual threat of violence heightens the tension.

The biggest failure of the script is in character development. With a twisting plot, the multiple characters get lost in the shuffle and many lose dimension. In particular Jason Bateman’s character Adam. To be honest, I am not certain why he was brought along on the investigation. His character literally does nothing of note to assist in the investigation except interrupt with humorous lines about how much he doesn’t like being involved.

In addition to the aforementioned flaw in the script, director Peter Berg (Friday Night Lights) fails to deliver meaningful close. In the advertisements there is particular attention paid to the thrill of the final half-hour. The final segment of the film is indeed riveting. The final segment has some good pacing and it will guarantee to impact an audience. All of this good work devolves into a typical, and sadly predictable, Hollywood ending. It is a very safe resolution slathered in moral relativism. The terrorists are bad, but we’re no good too. No one is right because everyone is wrong. With the intelligent story that preceded it, the ending feels cheap and sanctimonious.

Despite the character issues and the troublesome ending, I think most audiences will enjoy the film. It's just a shame it could have been better.



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Labels: Ashraf Barhom, Chris Cooper, film, Jamie Foxx, Jason Bateman, Jennifer Garner, Jeremy Piven, movie review, Peter Berg, Tim McGraw

I am a fan of Mike Judge. Dating back to when he erupted on the American cultural landscape with Beavis & Butthead through his low-key but clever films (Office Space, Idiocracy), I have always considered him to be one of the most insightful comedic writers working. His criticisms of American life and the vacuous state of our culture have been dead-on.

Unfortunately, Judge has decided to pull away from his satirical brand. Extract is more of a straight comedy, playing on the uncomfortable fumbling of a middle-aged man trying to come to terms with his unsatisfying life. Missing is Judge's biting humor. The situations have no deeper meaning beyond what is happening on screen so any humor is likewise distant.

Judge's work is character-based. One can't walk away from his previous works without some connection with the people in the story. In this film, other than a bitter, assembly line worker and a lawyer, the characters are rather thin. It seems Judge had little affection for the people he is writing about. Either that or he had no idea who they were. This is seen in the second half of the film where the story simply swings from catastrophe to catastrophe without deepening emotional payoff. Layers of bad things pile up and then POOF, there's a flimsy resolution.

More times than not this is a character issue in the script. When characters are properly developed and managed, their motives will grind against one another. These conflicts will all lead to the same point where a single, clearly defined resolution is achieved. If the writer is unclear on his characters, who they are, what they want, the conflicts will get jumpy and misaligned. While it is possible to smooth over such faults throughout the story, it will always come to light in the final act.

I am a fan of Judge but I have to turn this one down. I can't recommend this movie. It is poorly written, contains unnecessary crudeness and way too much Ben Affleck. Three strikes, this one is out.




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Labels: Ben Affleck, David Koechner, film, Jason Bateman, JK Simmons, Kristen Wiig, Mike Judge, Mila Kunis, movie review

Screenwriters: Jason Reitman (Thank You For Smoking) and Sheldon Turner (The Longest Yard)
Director: Jason Reitman (Juno)
Actors: George Clooney (Michael Clayton), Vera Farmiga (The Departed), Anna Kendrick (Twilight), Jason Bateman (Extract), J.K. Simmons (The Ladykillers), Sam Elliott (We Were Soldiers) and Danny McBride (The Fist Foot Way)

Labels: Anna Kendrick, Danny McBride, film, George Clooney, Jason Bateman, JK Simmons, movie trailer, Sam Elliott, Vera Farmiga

It has Ricky Gervais, Louis C.K. (the best stand-up comic working) and Jennifer Garner - how could this stink?

Well, probably pretty easily. Let's see, the hook is simple enough, in a universe where everyone always tells the truth one man (Gervais) invents lying. This means the film is structurally about morality. Is lying wrong? When it is acceptable to lie? So on and so forth. Looking at the cast list, looking at the folks who developed the film, considering the film industry's track record on making definitive moral statements, I'm left thinking this probably isn't going to leave audiences with a good message.

But that's me. I could be wrong.*



Word is that there is a deep anti-religious message waiting for audiences at the end of the film. You know, cuz religion is all a lie - get it? Sure. You know, cuz a bunch of film makers and actors say so, cuz they got it all figured out. I know when I have complex metaphyscial questions I confer the closest actor, because someone who spends their life pretending to be other people is always a reliable choice.

Let's do a quick unpacking of their proposal. If religion is a lie and by extension God Himself is a lie, then the universe is a soup of random, nonsensical reactions with no inherent worth beyond the whimsical meanings we place on things. Therefore, all understanding is a matter of perspective rooted in our temporary perspectives. So, the concepts of telling the truth and lying are irrelevant given that there is no such thing as actual truth or actual falsehood. Since this is the case, Gervais and company have no grounds to attack my belief in God. Their non-belief negates their standing to have a voice given that their belief negates the relevance of their voice. If I believe in God, and there is no God, your contention that I'm wrong is meaningless since in your truthless universe my stating there is a God is as valid as you saying He's not there. So, shut up. Have a nice day.



Screenwriters: Ricky Gervais and Matthew Robinson
Directors: Ricky Gervais and Matthew Robinson
Actors: Jonah Hill (Superbad), Jennifer Garner (13 Going on 30), Jason Bateman (Smokin’ Aces), Tina Fey (Mean Girls), Patrick Stewart (Jeffrey), Jeffrey Tambor (The Hangover), Ricky Gervais (Ghost Town), Louis C.K., and Christopher Guest (This is Spinal Tap)

* - I'm not wrong.

Labels: Christopher Guest, film, Jason Bateman, Jeffrey Tambor, Jennifer Garner, Jonah Hill, movie trailer, Patrick Stewart, Rickey Gervais

Its from Mike Judge, so I'm seeing it.

The trailer itself doesn't back the film well. Judge's humor isn't evident and it seems more like yet another cobbled together comedy. Jason Bateman plays yet another frustrated, borderline middle-age guy, so we'll see if he breaks away from the pigeonhole he's created for himself. He certainly appears to be recreating his mope from Juno and Hancock. Its not a good sign that Ben Affleck is on board. The extra hair isn't going to help his inability to act. He'll just be Ben Affleck hammering through his lines through a scruffy beard. Maybe he'll shock and actually be funny, but it would be the first time he's brought anything to a film other than his looks.

There's doesn't appear to be much here. I give it a chance purely because its from Mike Judge. The man is a fine talent and has a knack for character. We'll see.

Screenwriter: Mike Judge (Idiocracy)
Director: Mike Judge (Office Space)
Actors: Jason Bateman (Juno), Mila Kunis (Max Payne), Ben Affleck (Armageddon), J.K. Simmons (Spider-Man) and David Koechner (Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy)

Labels: Ben Affleck, David Koechner, film, Jason Bateman, JK Simmons, Mike Judge, Mila Kunis, movie trailer

Screenwriters: Matthew Michael Carnahan (The Kingdom), Tony Gilroy (Michael Clayton) and Billy Ray (Breach)
Director: Kevin McDonald (The Last King of Scotland)
Actors: Russell Crowe (American Gangster), Rachel McAdams (The Notebook), Ben Affleck (Hollywoodland), Jason Bateman (The Kingdom), Robin Wright Penn (Forrest Gump), Helen Mirren (Excalibur), Viola Davis (Disturbia) and Jeff Daniels (The Crossing)

Labels: Ben Affleck, film, Helen Mirren, Jason Bateman, Jeff Daniels, movie trailer, Rachel McAdams, Robin Wright-Penn, Russell Crowe, Viola Davis

The gag that Hancock is a bum superhero lasts for a minute. Then the movie falls apart. The core of the film is bad. At the heart of the film is a detestable figure, Hancock, a broken down, drunken superhero. When he attempts to help others he ends up destroying everything around him. He's a self despising klutz with substance abuse problems. Who wants to watch that? Think of it this way, if this were a white character and not black, the lead would have been played by Larry the Cable Guy, not Will Smith. This is trashy stuff dressed up nice.

The film suffers because it can't decide if its serious, half-serious or a completely frivolous. In one of the early scenes Hancock is approached by a beautiful groupie. He takes her back to his trailer (told you this was meant for Larry the Cable Guy) and they have sex. The "joke" turns out that when he culminates his intimate efforts his semen shoots out like a bullet (told you this was trashy). This isn't funny, but this is the joke they decide to work with. Director Peter Berg (The Kingdom), like his audience, fails to find anything funny in the scene and lets it play itself out, the woman runs away in fear, with no humor or any deeper meaning. As crude as this scene is, I think it represents how the entire film is mishandled. Odd items or situations are broached and then played out but done so without an ounce of depth. This leaves Smith and the rest of the cast stumbling through scenes that do nothing but clumsily push the plot forward. By the end of the film the film has languished in toneless scenes for so long, so many times, the resolution is D.O.A. The final act seems more like a cleaning up than a resolution.

I like Berg's previous films, I think Smith is one of the better matinee stars working, but this film is an unfortunate misfire.


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Labels: Charlize Theron, film, Jason Bateman, movie trailer, Peter Berg, superhero, Will Smith

This is a very pleasant movie about a not so pleasant subject - teenage pregnancy. The titular character portrayed by Ellen Page (X-Men: The Last Stand) is a pregnant sixteen year old who opts to have the baby and give it to a well suburban couple who are more flawed than they first appear. Juno wisecracks her way through the emotional minefield of her unexpected pregnancy with the help of her father Mac (J. K. Simmons).

Much has been made about the film's screenwriter Diablo Cody. No other writer has garnished this much attention since Quinten Tarantino emerged in the early nineties. Former Minnesota stripper breaks into the business makes good copy and its clear the woman knows how to write characters and has a flair for snappy dialog. Her gift is also her curse however. The snappy dialog does grow tiresome after a while. One can watch a sixteen year old fire back perfect comebacks and wiseacre wisdom for only so long. Cody obviously channels herself through Juno's dialog - honestly, what sixteen year old is going to reflexively spew out a Diana Ross reference? Cody's heavy manipulation may have fell hard if not for the likable performance by Page. This film establishes Page's career and announces the arrival of a new matinee presence. She handles the strange duality of this character with an infectious charm - the duality being a confused and scared sixteen year old girl who happens to have the thought process and cynical humor of a former stripper from Minnesota.

The film is far from perfect and has been over-hyped by both critics and pro-life groups. This is an endearing movie that handles a heavy subject with some flair. Its not a great film but it is a darn good one, and in this age of remakes and superhero flicks, it's seems like it reinvents the wheel.


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Labels: Diablo Cody, Ellen Page, film, J K Simmons, Jason Bateman, Jennifer Garner, Michael Cera, movie review

Releasing today, this Will Smith vehicle has him playing a down-and-out superhero. Peter Berg (The Kingdom) is directing the McMovie. I imagine this will be humorous, but not funny - entertaining, but not memorable. Check out the trailer below. Seems like its a one joke movie, but then again Smith has a knack for picking good projects for his image.

Labels: Charlize Theron, Jason Bateman, movie trailer, Peter Berg, superhero, Will Smith

Releasing on July 2nd, 2008, this Will Smith vehicle has him playing a down-and-out superhero who takes up with another man's wife. Peter Berg (The Kingdom) is directing the McMovie. I imagine this will be humorous, but not funny - entertaining, but not memorable. Check out the trailer below. Seems like its a one joke movie, but then again Smith has a knack for picking good projects for his image.

Labels: Charlize Theron, Jason Bateman, movie trailer, Peter Berg, superhero, Will Smith