Director: Gary Ross
Writers: Gary Ross and Suzanne Collins
Genre: Science-Fiction/Drama
2.5 Cookies
I wish that The Hunger Games was a movie that it could never possibly be. In my dreams, it would be just as dark, gritty, and disturbing as the fantastic, wildly popular book of the same name, but because studio movies are all about making money, that could not happen. The studio knows what it's doing - The Hunger Games raked in $155 million in its opening weekend, which makes it the third most successful opening weekend of all time - but all the money comes at a price. The Hunger Games could have been an absolute classic - instead it's overwhelmingly ordinary.
A word I keep hearing to describe the film, and I would have to agree with the adjective, is "fun." Yes, The Hunger Games is fun but that is exactly the problem. A movie about kids killing kids should not be fun. A movie about kids killing kids should make the audience leave the theater feeling like their hearts have been ripped out. Instead the audience leaves with a smile, probably discussing the "hotness" of the stars or how pretty the costumes were. In her novel, Suzanne Collins was able to create a horrible sense of despair and fear and develop a story filled with angst and dread. Director Gary Ross, on no fault of his own besides the fact that he's a hack, fails to convey any of the tones that made Collins' books so powerful. If the book had an MPAA rating, it would be a hard R, which the movie should have been. Instead, the movie is Disney Channel.
Maybe the most disturbing thing about the violence in the movie, or lack thereof, is that by not showing it, it makes it acceptable. By the end of the movie over 20 kids are killed, but the audience won't even care. To ensure maximum profit, The Hunger Games had to be PG-13, but by softening the violence, the whole message of the story is lost.
Now, Jennifer Lawrence proves that she is a flat out movie star as Katniss and her performance is the best thing about the movie but that is not enough to overcome the poor performance of Josh Hutcherson as Peeta. Unfortunately, Hutcherson is not able to carry the weight of such an important role. Liam Hemsworth has about seven minutes of screen time so his performance can barely be judged. Most of the other support is good, but the roles of many characters are drastically cut from what they were in the book. While the movie stays mostly faithful the novel, small details and minor characters are forgotten, and those details are precisely what made the book so good.
Also, the overall pacing of the film is very weak, there is no character development, and the editing is terrible. The best editing is editing that you can't even notice, but at some points The Hunger Games has more unnecessary cuts than a fast paced music video. I don't know why it's edited the way it is, but I was distracted by it from very early on.
While the movie is entertaining and some of my negativity comes from the incredible high expectations I had, I still can't help but think of all the missed opportunities that Ross had to make this a truly special film. I guess we'll have to wait for the sequel and settle on "just ok" for now. You will be entertained though, so if that's all you're looking for, this is probably a safe bet.
Sunday, March 25, 2012
Sunday, March 18, 2012
Project X, Friends with Kids, Detachment
Project X - 1.5 cookies
It's exactly what you would expect it to be from the trailer: occasionally hilarious, more often than not really stupid. Shot in the same shaky cam style as The Blair Witch Project, Paranormal Activity, or the recent Chronicle, Project X is the first comedy to use the hand held camera technique. I do not like it. I gave it a pass in Chronicle because the story and acting was good enough that the filming did not detract from the movie, but in X, the shaky camera just gives you a head ache. Plus, the characters are basically ripped straight from the pages of Superbad, except they're not even half as interesting or funny. It looks like the movie was way more fun to make, than it is to watch. Project X does deliver laughs and lets you imagine what it would be like to have a party as insane as the one in the movie, but it's mostly just repetitive and forgettable.
Friends with Kids - 2 cookies
Writer, director, and star Jennifer Westfeldt (Jon Hamm's girlfriend of 10 years), does a decent job writing, a less decent job directing, and even worse job acting, in her new comedy Friends with Kids. She has zero screen presence and her face barely moves, that it's no wonder her first movie in six years is one that she had to write and direct herself. Her performance oozes of television quality, where she has mainly worked throughout her career, and it's only the very talented supporting cast and a few touching scenes that actually makes Friends with Kids a better than bad movie. Adam Scott gets a shot at his first leading man role after a career of support, and he does a pretty solid job coming off as an arrogant jerk, which is what he was aiming for I think. The supporting roles are played by a bunch of people from Bridesmaids, including Jon Hamm himself, Maya Rudolph, Chris O'dowd, and a vastly underused Kristen Wiig. Also, Megan Fox shows up giving a surprisingly good performance, as well as Edward Burns. The end result of Westfeldt's work is a very good effort, that just misses the strike zone, but it's worth a look when it comes out on DVD.
Detachment - 2.5 cookies
Adrien Brody gives the best performance of the year so far (which isn't really saying much, but it's something) in this very dark indie-drama about America's public school system. There are some gripping scenes and the message of the film is strong and painful to absorb, but unfortunately director Tony Kaye's pretentiousness gets in the way of this movie being great. It has to settle on being almost good. It is very interesting though, and worth a viewing, as it is in theaters now but also available on Video On Demand.
It's exactly what you would expect it to be from the trailer: occasionally hilarious, more often than not really stupid. Shot in the same shaky cam style as The Blair Witch Project, Paranormal Activity, or the recent Chronicle, Project X is the first comedy to use the hand held camera technique. I do not like it. I gave it a pass in Chronicle because the story and acting was good enough that the filming did not detract from the movie, but in X, the shaky camera just gives you a head ache. Plus, the characters are basically ripped straight from the pages of Superbad, except they're not even half as interesting or funny. It looks like the movie was way more fun to make, than it is to watch. Project X does deliver laughs and lets you imagine what it would be like to have a party as insane as the one in the movie, but it's mostly just repetitive and forgettable.
Friends with Kids - 2 cookies
Writer, director, and star Jennifer Westfeldt (Jon Hamm's girlfriend of 10 years), does a decent job writing, a less decent job directing, and even worse job acting, in her new comedy Friends with Kids. She has zero screen presence and her face barely moves, that it's no wonder her first movie in six years is one that she had to write and direct herself. Her performance oozes of television quality, where she has mainly worked throughout her career, and it's only the very talented supporting cast and a few touching scenes that actually makes Friends with Kids a better than bad movie. Adam Scott gets a shot at his first leading man role after a career of support, and he does a pretty solid job coming off as an arrogant jerk, which is what he was aiming for I think. The supporting roles are played by a bunch of people from Bridesmaids, including Jon Hamm himself, Maya Rudolph, Chris O'dowd, and a vastly underused Kristen Wiig. Also, Megan Fox shows up giving a surprisingly good performance, as well as Edward Burns. The end result of Westfeldt's work is a very good effort, that just misses the strike zone, but it's worth a look when it comes out on DVD.
Detachment - 2.5 cookies
Adrien Brody gives the best performance of the year so far (which isn't really saying much, but it's something) in this very dark indie-drama about America's public school system. There are some gripping scenes and the message of the film is strong and painful to absorb, but unfortunately director Tony Kaye's pretentiousness gets in the way of this movie being great. It has to settle on being almost good. It is very interesting though, and worth a viewing, as it is in theaters now but also available on Video On Demand.
Sunday, March 11, 2012
Wanderlust (2012) Review
Director: David Wain
Writer: David Wain and Ken Marino
Genre: Comedy
2.5 cookies
At a time of the year when good comedies are few and far between, Wanderlust is good enough to warrant a trip to the theater. While it's not as good as David Wain's last film, 2008's Role Models, Wanderlust is still extremely hilarious at times and surprisingly touching as well.
Paul Rudd and Jennifer Aniston play recently unemployed New Yorkers who end up living on a small hippy commune in Georgia. While at the commune they make new friends, go through relationship troubles, and eventually learn valuable lessons.
The reason the movie works is the excellent supporting cast featuring a fantastic Justin Theroux, Malin Ackerman, Joe Lo Truglio, and many others. And the fact that Paul Rudd is an absolute comic genius! Jennifer Aniston is pretty awful as an actress, but Rudd completely makes up for it as every line he delivers and facial expression he makes is like a Mike Tyson sucker punch to the funny bone.
One scene where Rudd talks to himself in a mirror is one of the funniest scenes in the last few years and worth the price of admission alone.
It's not the most memorable of the Apatow productions, but it's still a cut above any other comedy in theaters right now.
Writer: David Wain and Ken Marino
Genre: Comedy
2.5 cookies
At a time of the year when good comedies are few and far between, Wanderlust is good enough to warrant a trip to the theater. While it's not as good as David Wain's last film, 2008's Role Models, Wanderlust is still extremely hilarious at times and surprisingly touching as well.
Paul Rudd and Jennifer Aniston play recently unemployed New Yorkers who end up living on a small hippy commune in Georgia. While at the commune they make new friends, go through relationship troubles, and eventually learn valuable lessons.
The reason the movie works is the excellent supporting cast featuring a fantastic Justin Theroux, Malin Ackerman, Joe Lo Truglio, and many others. And the fact that Paul Rudd is an absolute comic genius! Jennifer Aniston is pretty awful as an actress, but Rudd completely makes up for it as every line he delivers and facial expression he makes is like a Mike Tyson sucker punch to the funny bone.
One scene where Rudd talks to himself in a mirror is one of the funniest scenes in the last few years and worth the price of admission alone.
It's not the most memorable of the Apatow productions, but it's still a cut above any other comedy in theaters right now.
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