Short Review: It’s as bombastic as it is ill conceived, which is fancy way of saying its loud and stupid.



John Cusack is in his forties and is still playing half-man schlubs who can’t manage relationships. His character Jackson Curtis is broken down, broken-hearted and just plain broke. His ex-wife Kate (Amanda Peet) has left him. His kids loathe his mere presence. In a way, this film is like seeing Better Off Dead as done by Michael Bay.

This is a horrendous film.

Awful.

Lousy.

Thankfully it is also a bloated disaster movie so it doesn’t really matter. All the film has to do is flash lights to distract from its limping plot in order to be successful. The only reason to see this film is to watch the end of the world in glorious high definition. Writer/Director Roland Emmerich (Independence Day, Godzilla, 10,000 B.C.) promises to deliver the apocalypse with as few words as possible. He delivers on his promise.

What I found amazing is that Emmerich still bothers trying to shoehorn relationship issues into the end of days. At one point Jackson and Kate have a quiet moment together. She complains that Jackson spent too much time working and not enough time with his family. They literally just watched billions of people perish, the totality of human civilization has been destroyed and she is still nagging at the poor sap. I guess we can see why things didn't work out them.

The problem with trying to pull off character development in a film like this is that once you show the USS John F. Kennedy on a tsunami wave crashing into the White House and killing the President, it's a little much to ask us to care about the gripes from John Cusack’s ex-wife.

If you are only interested in seeing crashing buildings, ridiculous plot contrivances and perilous escapes, this will be a good pick. If you have the tendency to pause while watching movies and consider how reality actually works, you will probably still enjoy it because it’s dang funny from that angle.

I laughed constantly through the film. Here is a moment which sums up the film for me. Jackson is driving a limo through Los Angeles as the city is literally falling to pieces. A building crashes down in front of him. He jumps the limo into the side of the falling building, drives the car across a floor, speeding through a business office, crashes out of a window and manages to land safely on the highway on the other side. If you can handle that level of dumb, knock yourself out.


Worldview: I was struck by Emmerich's treatment of faith. Every once in a while someone would casually mention that “its time to start praying”. Other than these passing nods to the notion that some people may or may not possibly consider asking for mercy from something that maybe perhaps might be something kinda like a God or something or who knows what, there is a remarkable absence of any real faith. The President begins to quote scripture at one point, but he is cut off before he finishes. The world is ending, billions are dying, and the only references to Jesus Christ are when characters are cursing.

Emmerich is very deliberate in his presentation of religion in this film, particularly when it comes to the destruction of iconic places. Emmerich is given credit for popularizing the destruction of landmarks in action/disaster movies. The White House being blown up in Independence Day started the trend. Destroying the White House, Washington Monument, and other landmarks serves to pervert the “Death of God Image" I’ve discussed before.

In this film, Emmerich takes the Death of God Image and runs with it. He not only shows the Christ the Redeemer Statue in Brazil crumbling, but he stops the movie cold to spend time at the Vatican. Thousands of Catholics are crowded outside of Saint Peter’s Cathedral as the Pope looks down on them from the balcony. Inside, a collection of cardinals huddle in a circle praying. As the room begins to shake they look upward to see the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel (apparently its been moved). The ceiling cracks and splits, severing the famous fingers of God and Adam. Suddenly, the Saint Peter’s Basilica plops over on its side and rolls over all of the collected Catholics killing the faithful like a big rolling pin made out of cosmic irony.

Beyond the obvious “imagine if they did this to any other group” argument, I need to point out that Emmerich goes out of his way to avoid showing large groups of people in this film. All of L.A. is destroyed but we only witness a few dozen actual deaths. The crowds that are killed on screen are shown from vast distances or are represented by focusing tightly on the fearful face of a known character.

The deaths at the Vatican are the only crowd shown killed in a specific, almost devious way. This is not by accident. Emmerich himself admits that the destruction of religious locations is intentional – in particular his choice in showing Christians getting it.


When asked about destroying Christ the Redeemer Emmerich explains,

Cautions: There's death and destruction. There's some foul language and a few instances of people taking Christ's name in vain. Beyond these infractions, there's not too much that is worth being cautioned over (regarding the content).



Once you see the film read what follows:

Two items:

Congratulations! The good news: you’ve been cast in a huge Hollywood blockbuster. The bad news: Your character arc is that you learn to stop peeing the bed at night.

So, the world’s elite are given the chance to buy a seat on the arks. In the end the world leaders come together to allow some stranded folk into their ships. This is used to show how we maintain our humanity. Yeah, about that, the stranded people are also rich elites who also bought their way onto the arks. So, other than some Chinese slaves, the survivors of humanity are all billionaires. Each have drained their resources from the rest of the world so they could comfortably survive the hell on Earth they left for everyone else. The worst of humanity gets to live. Nice message.


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Labels: Amanda Peet, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Danny Glover, disaster movie, film, John Cusack, McMovie, movie review, Oliver Platt, Roland Emmerich, Thandie Newton, Woody Harrelson

Screenwriters: Josh Heald, Sean Anders (She's Out of My League) and John Morris (She's Out of My League)
Director: Steve Pink (Accepted)
Actors: John Cusack (2012), Rob Corddry (W.), Craig Robinson (The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard), Clarke Duke (Kick-Ass), Chevy Chase (Fletch), Crispin Glover (Wild at Heart) and Lizzy Caplan (Cloverfield)






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Labels: Chevy Chase, Crispin Glover, film, John Cusack, Lizzy Caplan, movie trailer, Rob Corddry

Short Review: It’s as bombastic as it is ill conceived, which is fancy way of saying its loud and stupid.



John Cusack is in his forties and is still playing half-man schlubs who can’t manage relationships. His character Jackson Curtis is broken down, broken-hearted and just plain broke. His ex-wife Kate (Amanda Peet) has left him. His kids loathe his mere presence. In a way, this film is like seeing Better Off Dead as done by Michael Bay.

This is a horrendous film.

Awful.

Lousy.

Thankfully it is also a bloated disaster movie so it doesn’t really matter. All the film has to do is flash lights to distract from its limping plot in order to be successful. The only reason to see this film is to watch the end of the world in glorious high definition. Writer/Director Roland Emmerich (Independence Day, Godzilla, 10,000 B.C.) promises to deliver the apocalypse with as few words as possible. He delivers on his promise.

What I found amazing is that Emmerich still bothers trying to shoehorn relationship issues into the end of days. At one point Jackson and Kate have a quiet moment together. She complains that Jackson spent too much time working and not enough time with his family. They literally just watched billions of people perish, the totality of human civilization has been destroyed and she is still nagging at the poor sap. I guess we can see why things didn't work out them.

The problem with trying to pull off character development in a film like this is that once you show the USS John F. Kennedy on a tsunami wave crashing into the White House and killing the President, it's a little much to ask us to care about the gripes from John Cusack’s ex-wife.

If you are only interested in seeing crashing buildings, ridiculous plot contrivances and perilous escapes, this will be a good pick. If you have the tendency to pause while watching movies and consider how reality actually works, you will probably still enjoy it because it’s dang funny from that angle.

I laughed constantly through the film. Here is a moment which sums up the film for me. Jackson is driving a limo through Los Angeles as the city is literally falling to pieces. A building crashes down in front of him. He jumps the limo into the side of the falling building, drives the car across a floor, speeding through a business office, crashes out of a window and manages to land safely on the highway on the other side. If you can handle that level of dumb, knock yourself out.


Worldview: I was struck by Emmerich's treatment of faith. Every once in a while someone would casually mention that “its time to start praying”. Other than these passing nods to the notion that some people may or may not possibly consider asking for mercy from something that maybe perhaps might be something kinda like a God or something or who knows what, there is a remarkable absence of any real faith. The President begins to quote scripture at one point, but he is cut off before he finishes. The world is ending, billions are dying, and the only references to Jesus Christ are when characters are cursing.

Emmerich is very deliberate in his presentation of religion in this film, particularly when it comes to the destruction of iconic places. Emmerich is given credit for popularizing the destruction of landmarks in action/disaster movies. The White House being blown up in Independence Day started the trend. Destroying the White House, Washington Monument, and other landmarks serves to pervert the “Death of God Image" I’ve discussed before.

In this film, Emmerich takes the Death of God Image and runs with it. He not only shows the Christ the Redeemer Statue in Brazil crumbling, but he stops the movie cold to spend time at the Vatican. Thousands of Catholics are crowded outside of Saint Peter’s Cathedral as the Pope looks down on them from the balcony. Inside, a collection of cardinals huddle in a circle praying. As the room begins to shake they look upward to see the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel (apparently its been moved). The ceiling cracks and splits, severing the famous fingers of God and Adam. Suddenly, the Saint Peter’s Basilica plops over on its side and rolls over all of the collected Catholics killing the faithful like a big rolling pin made out of cosmic irony.

Beyond the obvious “imagine if they did this to any other group” argument, I need to point out that Emmerich goes out of his way to avoid showing large groups of people in this film. All of L.A. is destroyed but we only witness a few dozen actual deaths. The crowds that are killed on screen are shown from vast distances or are represented by focusing tightly on the fearful face of a known character.

The deaths at the Vatican are the only crowd shown killed in a specific, almost devious way. This is not by accident. Emmerich himself admits that the destruction of religious locations is intentional – in particular his choice in showing Christians getting it.


When asked about destroying Christ the Redeemer Emmerich explains,

Cautions: There's death and destruction. There's some foul language and a few instances of people taking Christ's name in vain. Beyond these infractions, there's not too much that is worth being cautioned over (regarding the content).




Once you see the film read what follows:

Two items:

Congratulations! The Good News: you’ve been cast in a huge Hollywood blockbuster. The Bad News: Your character arc is that you learn to stop peeing the bed at night.

So, the world’s elite are given the chance to buy a seat on the arks. In the end the world leaders come together to allow some stranded folk into their ships. This is used to show how we maintain our humanity. Yeah, about that, the stranded people are also rich elites who also bought their way onto the arks. So, other than some Chinese slaves, the survivors of humanity are all billionaires who drained their resources from the rest of the world so they could comfortably survive the hell on Earth they left for everyone else. The worst of humanity gets to live. Nice message.

Labels: Amanda Peet, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Danny Glover, disaster movie, film, John Cusack, McMovie, movie review, Oliver Platt, Roland Emmerich, Thandie Newton, Woody Harrelson

Do you really want to spend the end of the world hanging around John Cusack?




Screenwriters: Roland Emmerich (Godzilla) and Harold Kloser (10,000 B.C.)
Director: Roland Emmerich (Independence Day)
Actors: John Cusack (Better Off Dead), Thandie Newton (Rocknrolla), Woody Harrelson (No Country for Old Men), Amanda Peet (The Whole Nine Yards), Chiwetel Ejiofor (Redbelt), Oliver Platt (Casanova), Danny Glover (Lethal Weapon) and Morgan Lily (Henry Poole is Here)

Labels: Amanda Peet, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Danny Glover, film, John Cusack, movie trailer, Roland Emmerich, Thandie Newton, Woody Harrelson

One of the quirkier comedies of the 1980's and one of the better teen comedies of the era, this film still holds up quite well today. Considering how entrenched this movie is in the time in which it was made, the fact that its still enjoyable is surprising. Yes, its a cheaply made and flawed movie, but the inventiveness of the script saves the production. John Cusack does well as Lane Meyer a despondent teen who has been dumped by his girlfriend and who is taunted by a psychotically obsessed paperboy.

If its before your time, you may still get something out of it but ultimately its a pop-cultural trinket for us suburban Gen-X types.


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Labels: comedy, film, John Cusack, movie review

This movie has John Cuasck and Samuel L. Jackson in the cast list. They're not exactly signs of high quality product. The plot revolves around Mike Enslin (Cusack) an author hoping to debunk the tales surrounding a haunted room in a hotel run by Gerald Olin (Jackson). The film does well setting up the plot and then has no idea what to do with itself. If you're into watching actors trip over plots holes this is a movie for you.

Labels: film, John Cusack, Mary McCormack, movie trailer, Samuel L Jackson

While humorous in places, this dark comedy about a mob lawyer (John Cusack) who after stealing $2 million from a mob boss is stuck waiting for an ice storm to blow out of Wichita, Kansas before he can take the money and run. Harold Ramis' direction of this adaptation of Scott Phillips' book, is likable but still lacking. Like his previous effort Bedazzled, he knows his way around a humorous situation but he can't close the deal when it comes to the more dramatic elements. The grizzly nature of some of the humor also cuts into Ramis' delivery. Billy Bob Thornton brings in his snickering, off-balance persona into play to great effect. Likewise, Connie Nielsen gives a good update to the femme fatale template with her alluring performance as a strip club owner.

This isn't a horrible film, its just not good enough to recommend. Life is too short to recommend lukewarm cinema.


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Labels: Billy Bob Thornton, Connie Nielsen, film, John Cusack, movie review

The average animated movie is soulless and disposable. This doesn't look like it's above average.




Screenwriter: Chris McKenna
Director: Anthony Leondis
Actors: John Cusack (Better Off Dead), Steve Buscemi (Monsters, Inc.), Christian Slater (Heathers), Jennifer Coolidge (Best in Show), and John Cleese (A Fish Called Wanda)

Labels: Christian Slater, film, John Cleese, John Cusack, movie trailer, Steve Buscemi

Well meaning doesn't mean well done. Based on Stephen King's short story, the film centers around Mike Enslin (John Cusack), an author who investigates the paranormal. Enslin arrives at the Dolphin Hotel where room 1408 is rumored to be bristling with supernatural activity. In fact, a number of people who have stayed in the room have gone mad and committed suicide. Despite the ominous warnings from the hotel manager Gerald Olin (Samuel L. Jackson), Enslin demands to stay the night in the haunted room.

The first act does a great job of setting up the film and shows great promise. The whole production stumbles off the path as it goes along. This is due, in part, to the ghostly figure not being properly explained and since Enslin is the only character in a single hotel room in danger, his torment becomes somewhat tedious. Essentially, we're asked to watch a man go crazy for an hour and a half. As dramatic as this sounds, it doesn't make for good viewing. The movie has to go to great lengths to keep itself viable and in this it loses its credibility. By the end, the out of control script, which should have been creepy and symbolic (the hotel room becomes his personal Hell), is simply exhausted and leaves an empty finale that doesn't satisfy.




Related Reviews:
John Cusack movies
Eight Men Out (1988)
The Thin Red Line (1998)


Other Critic's Reviews:
Celluloid Heroes
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Labels: film, John Cusack, movie review, Samuel L Jackson