At the Cinema - June 2015

Love and Mercy - 8
You’ll like this movie if you like(d) the Beach Boys, and the more you know about them, the more you’ll  probably like this movie. 

This is the partial story of Brian Wilson.  In order to cover his life director Bill Pohlad has two actors play Wilson.  Paul Dano is the young Brian Wilson and he is spectacular in the role.  John Cusack plays the older Brian Wilson, and while he is a little less convincing, and doesn’t bear much physical resemblance, he certainly brings the angst.  In fact if there were a subtitle for this movie, “bring the angst” would be as good as any.

In the Dano portion, Wilson is trying to break free of both his father and live performing which he dislikes because of the traveling.  In the Cusack section, it’s over-medicating psychiatrist Dr. Eugene Landry that Wilson must break free from.  If not for the efforts of his girlfriend Melinda (beautifully played by the ever versatile Elizabeth Banks) Brian may never have emerged from his funk. 

Oh, there’s enough story here for two movies, and because I just re-watched the miniseries about the Beach Boys which was more in-depth I was able to fill in the blanks.  I’m not sure if someone who doesn’t know the Beach Boys story is going to know what’s going on. 

The best parts of the movie are the recording studio scenes where we get an up close glimpse of Wilson’s creation of such classics as Good Vibrations, Wouldn’t It Be Nice, and God Only Knows.  If the whole movie had just been about the music, and there was certainly enough studio drama and dissent to fill a script, the movie would have been spectacular.  Unfortunately the exhilaration of the music is darkened by the outside influences, and while Pohlad intertwines the stories to some distraction, it’s a story well told, but not all told.  We'll take it.

Jurassic World – 8

You’ll like this movie if you liked Jurassic Park and thrill rides when you were a kid.  Jurassic World is a new amusement park conveniently located where Jurassic Park went awry and undoubtedly Jurassic World II will do the same in about 3 years.  There has been some genetic engineering of dinosaurs going on that is running concurrent with the development of 3D and movie technology.  So what you have here is a nearly flawless special effects roller coast ride that is alternately silly and thrilling, as well as a throwback to every adventure close call cliché that can be jammed into a movie.

Don’t worry, it’s fun, fun, fun until the bad guys let Indominus Rex get away.  That’s the genetic mutation dinosaur designed to bring more business into the park.  Indominus Rex has trained to be nasty, so when he gets loose the adventure begins.  It’s up to Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard to try to stop him and they are properly heroic.  I had a problem with one huge plot hole at the end of the movie, but it’s fun enough for me to overlook that. 

Entourage – 1

For the one time I laughed.

It was a really good line and I don’t remember it.  I wish I did, because I paid a steep price for just one joke.

Filled with cameos that made little sense, this is one of the most disappointing movie experiences since 1845.  I liked the HBO Series.  I hated this movie.

Disjointed, poorly written, poorly acted, poorly directed, poorly conceived and poorly funny, the movie picks up where the series left off, kind of.  It gives a short explanation of why things are the way they are (hint – no Sasha Gray - and she is sorely missed) and it’s all downhill from there.  The timeline makes no sense and it’s a concoction of scenes that just don’t work.  In fact this movie is so bad it made me question my taste in ever watching the series.  Can a movie make the series worse?  I didn’t think so, but I didn’t know how bad a movie could be.

Spy – 7

Melissa McCarthy gets to rattle off enough one-liners to circle the equator in this fairly amusing spy spoof.  It’s often spinning at such a breakneck pace, with jokes so rapid-fire, that one wants to slow it all down and try to comprehend it.  But I guess that’s what DVD’s are for.  She plays a CIA recruit who works in the headquarter basement talking in the ear of her favorite spy.  When circumstances require her to leave the friendly confines it turns out she is a great field agent, of course.  Rose Byrne is terrific as her nemesis and there are some laugh out loud bits here.  It kind of makes me wish they’d whip a lighter touch on James Bond.

San Andreas – 7

You’ll like this movie if you like video games.

The destruction in this movie about a huge west coast earthquake is on such a large scale, that you know you’re looking at computer graphics.  There’s no other way they could have done this.  But, you don’t seem to mind, and that’s a little sad.

While the action is credible and even thrilling at times, I couldn’t get past the Hollywood casting problem that is in the news.  The directors and producers of the movie Aloha have taken an immense amount of flack for casting the lily white Emma Stone as an Hawaiian, which has angered a whole state.

This movie is even worse.  Dwayne “the Rock” Johnson is the hero of the movie.  He lost a daughter in a rafting accident, which led to the breakup of his marriage to Carla Gugino, who finally gets a major starring role.  They spend much of the movie trying to rescue their remaining daughter, played by Alexandra Daddario.

Now Alexandra Daddario IS stunning.  She is also a great actress because she makes you actually believe the single most implausible part of the movie, that a charismatic, beautiful girl who has undoubtedly been hit on by every male in the world, would still be the friendliest young lady on the planet.  No way.  It’s like if (insert the most beautiful woman you can think of here) was walking through a mall saying hi to everyone, and specifically stopped to flirt with you. (Yes, I inserted Angelina Jolie)

But the other thing that I never believed for a minute was that she was the daughter of the Rock.  The Rock’s Wikipedia page states that he is half Samoan, half Black.  This girl has no trace of being anything but even more lily white than Emma Stone.  They really couldn’t find someone that kind of resembled him to play this part?  It would have been like casting Brad Pitt as the son of Oprah Winfrey and Forest Whitaker in Lee Roberts’ The Butler.  I’m not making any comment on race here, just on Hollywood’s casting practices.  I don’t think everyone needs to be white.  A hint of believability would be nice.  But of course when the Rock can commander a helicopter, a truck, a plane, and a boat in under 2 hours and narrowly escape death 14 times (I’m guessing) it lets you know believability is not really the priority.

Having said all that, Alexandra Daddario is probably the best non-computer-generated part of the movie, and she’s on her way to being a big star.  She deserves it after having to perform the ultimate stretch part. 

One more thing.  If you live anywhere close to the San Andreas fault, pack.   Move.

Documentaries

Requiem for the Dead:  American Spring 2014 – 10

Most people I know love guns and there’s no point in debating them.  But in the spring of 2014 an estimated 8000 people were killed by gunfire in the USA.  This riveting HBO documentary tries to put a face on those 8000 people.  Some were accidents, some were suicides, some were murder, and some were other crimes.  But every one of them devastated a family somewhere, and this documentary shoves as many stories and pictures as a person can stand into its one hour running time.  I couldn’t have watched 2 hours of this.  There’s one case in particular that changed my opinion on something within the gun debate.  I don’t expect it will change any minds but I dare you to watch.  

I’ll Be Me – 9

CNN is airing this documentary about Glen Campbell and his ongoing battle with Alzheimer’s.  Showing footage on and off stage of his last concert tour, this paints a very personal portrait of what this disease does to its victims.  I was a big Campbell fan, but even if you never heard of him, this is powerful and moving..