Life After Beth

Life After Beth - Dir. Jeff Baena (2014)

Zombies have always worked well as metaphors for hot button issues, such as rampant consumerism or the darker side of humanity. It's not surprising that a few ingenious filmmakers decided to use the zombie apocalypse to deal with romance and relationships. Edgar Wright did it best with Shaun of the Dead while 2013's Warm Bodies had fun with the premise in our post-Twilight era of cinema. Life After Beth mixes the genres of undead horror with young romance, but in a different manner. Whereas Warm Bodies is set years after the fall of civilization and told from the point of view of the handsome zombie boy, Life After Beth takes place just before the outbreak and told from the point of view of the relatively normal Dane DeHaan.

DeHaan is Zach Orfman, whose entire world has been shattered following the death of his girlfriend Beth Slocum (Aubrey Plaza). She died of a rattlesnake bite while hiking in the woods by herself. Zach is hit just as hard by the lingering regrets he feels because Beth was going to break up with him. There were a lot of things he could have done to improve their relationship like going on a hike with her.

Everything changes when Beth returns, alive and well, with no memories of her death or romantic problems with Zach. Her parents, Maury and Geenie (John C. Reilly and Molly Shannon) aren't about to look a gift horse in the mouth. They're more than content to accept that she's been resurrected though Zach is obviously freaked out. Then, he realizes he's been given a second chance with Beth to do all the things they only talked about. Although, there are little instances that Beth isn't quite right. For example, she has a predilection for sleeping in the attic and listening to smooth jazz. She's also prone to fits of rage and feats of incredible strength. And that skin complexion doesn't look quite right…

Life After Beth was written and directed by Jeff Baena, who also co-wrote David O. Russell's I Heart Huckabee's. There's a similar quirkiness on display in "Beth" with the film set in a heightened version of milquetoast suburbia. The story is almost a prequel to the zombie apocalypse showing the initial return of the dead and their subsequent transformation into a ravenous horde. Baena does an interesting job in setting the parameters of the world, but he never delves further than surface level.

Zach is a blank cipher, a largely reactive protagonist who comes off on the whiny side. Baena hardly gives his supporting characters much beyond what's written on the page and leans heavily on his actors. Luckily, he's cast a wealth of talent accomplished enough to make something out of the one-dimensional denizens of Life After Beth. This includes John C. Reilly, Paul Reiser and Cheryl Hines as Zach's parents, and a throwaway cameo by Garry Marshall. Molly Shannon is pitch perfect as Beth's sweet-natured mom, even maintaining her ultra-sunny disposition after having a hand eaten off. Matthew Gray Gubler is cast against type as Zach's older brother, Kyle, a rent-a-cop with delusions of grandeur and a hard-on for his Desert Eagle .50. Kyle is nothing more than a cartoon thrown into the mix to be quirky for quirky's sake.

Aubrey Plaza is great as Beth, getting a chance to play character outside of her usual sarcastic tone. Anna Kendrick pops in for a handful of scenes as a childhood friend of Zach's. You can't help but imagine the possibilities of a buddy comedy starring Plaza and Kendrick with the former's sardonic humor pitted against the latter's adorable perkiness.

Life After Beth had an intriguing premise with an excellent cast, but never lived up to its potential as a hybrid of horror, comedy, and romance. Unfortunately, the movie decomposed quicker than its title character.

Rating: ** (*****)

Admission

Admission - Dir. Paul Weitz (2013)

After cutting her teeth as a performer and head writer for Saturday Night Live, Tina Fey went on to create her own sitcom in 30 Rock, which was inspired by her time on the venerable variety show. Though it was never a huge ratings grabber, 30 Rock garnered a loyal following, critical acclaim, and numerous awards. As Liz Lemon, Fey added her own twists to the tried and true archetype of the working female trying to balance her professional and personal lives. Unfortunately, Fey takes several steps back in the depressingly formulaic Admission.

Fey stars as Portia Nathan, an admissions officer at Princeton University. Her job is her life, even if it involves passing judgment on wave after wave of potential students. Things are thrown into turmoil when Portia's boyfriend, Mark (Martin Sheen), leaves her for another professor (a scholar of Virginia Woolf, no less) he accidentally impregnated. At the same time, Portia is asked to visit an alternative school in New Hampshire by its founder and former collegiate classmate, John Pressman (Paul Rudd). While visiting Pressman's Quest School, Portia meets a variety of unusual characters including Pressman's adopted son, Nelson (Travaris Spears), and a prodigy by the name of Jeremiah Balakian (Nat Wolff). Adopted by grocery store owners, Jeremiah did poorly in public school, but possesses remarkable intelligence and owns a ventriloquist dummy named after René Descartes. According to Pressman, there's a strong possibility that Jeremiah might be the son Portia gave up for adoption when she was a student.

The prospects look good for a comedy headlined by Tina Fey and Paul Rudd. You expect witty banter and some sharp, off-the-cuff one-liners. In other words, you expect a completely different movie. Admission is a dull affair that saps any personality away from the usually hilarious Fey and Rudd. The movie, based on a 2009 novel by Jean Hanff Korelitz with a screenplay by Karen Croner (who also adapted the Meryl Streep melodrama One True Thing), trades on the stale formula we've seen countless times in other romantic comedies. Fey is the type-A female professional with Rudd as the unconventional love interest. There's a healthy mix of slapstick tossed in for good measure such as an awkward encounter in a cramp car and a scene where the leads bond during the messy birth of a calf. The dialogue is blunt and it is clear neither Fey nor Rudd were able to spice it up with their own ad-libs. At times, the script veers into a satire about college admissions and the ridiculousness of distilling a young person's entire life into a standardized essay. Sadly, this satire lacks any bite and takes a backseat to rom-com conventions.

Admission was directed by Paul Weitz, who previously directed American Pie and About a Boy with his brother Chris. While his first film as a solo act, In Good Company, was a success, the rest of his work have been misfires like American Dreamz, The Vampire's Assistant, and Little Fockers. They can sit on the bottom rung alongside "Admission." One of the only memorable flourishes in the movie involves candidates appearing before the admissions board and dropping through a trap door when they are denied.

Admission is saved from being a complete dud by some of its supporting cast, such as Wallace Shawn playing the type of role you expect from Wallace Shawn. Lily Tomlin is terrific as Portia's mother, a radical feminist with her own unusual ideas about motherhood. Plus, Martin Sheen essentially reprises his role as the boorish Wesley Snipes from 30 Rock.

Despite conquering television, Tina Fey has yet to receive the one lead role that would cement her status as a bona fide movie star. Considering her best film yet is "Mean Girls," which she wrote, Fey is going to have to make it happen herself. Right now, Hollywood is just handing her bland comedies like Baby Mama, Date Night, and Admission. She deserves better.

Rating: * ½ (*****)

The Vampire's Assistant

Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant - Dir. Paul Weitz (2009)


It’s been a long standing tradition in Hollywood to copy somebody else’s successes. With the Harry Potter films scoring big box office, studios have been combing through the teen lit genre in search of the next franchise. Twilight has proven to be an enormous cash cow and along with True Blood has cemented the elite status of the vampire in current pop culture. British author Darren Shan’s Darren Shan Saga was probably a producer’s wet dream, being teen lit centered around vampires. Alas, nothing comes together at all in The Vampire’s Assistant and it seems destined to fall to the wayside alongside The Golden Compass.

While Chris Weitz handled the directing duties for Compass and the Twilight sequel, New Moon, brother Paul helms Vampire’s Assistant. The lead character is Darren Shan (Chris Massoglia) and am I only one who finds it oddly self-serving to name the character in the novel after yourself? Anyways, Darren is a straight-laced student with huge expectations hung on him by his parents. His best friend, Steve (Josh Hutcherson), is much more of a delinquent and isn’t well liked by teachers or Darren’s parents. One night, they attend a freak show whose orange-haired ringmaster is the vampire Crepsley (John C. Reilly). How do we know he’s a vampire? Because Steve saw Crepsley’s picture in his vampire book and that about sums up the deep level of thought that went into the plot. Darren is turned into a half-vampire (don’t ask) and is dragged into a centuries-old war between vampires who only sip the blood of their victims without killing them and the murderous Vampanese. Steve joins the dark side and there’s a bunch of stuff about prophecies and a chosen one just like every other film series.

Vampire’s Assistant tries to play around with vampire mythology, but offers absolutely nothing new to distinguish itself. There's a cool title sequence (think Catch Me If You Can by way of Tim Burton) and nothing after that is as visually stimulating. Cast against type, Reilly is one of the few actors in the film to bring something unique to the table. The film’s biggest fault lies with its lead actor, a blunder in miscasting not seen since Jake Lloyd in The Phantom Menace. Massoglia has no screen presence or charisma and an oddly shaped head. No offense, dude. Out of everything in the movie, the most interesting aspect is the supporting cast of freaks that include Salma Hayek as the bearded lady, 30 Rock’s Jane Krakowski as a woman who can eat her own arms and re-grow them, and Flight of the Conchord’s Kristen Schaal as a woman with enormous teeth. I’d be far more entertained in a Geek Love-style film about the actual circus than I would be in a bunch of whiny emo bloodsuckers.

Rating: * 1/2