Walk of Shame

Walk of Shame – Dir. Steven Brill (2014)

Everybody has a bad day, but chances are they were nothing like the bad day suffered by Elizabeth Banks in Walk of Shame, a raunchy comedy that's a mash-up of The Hangover and After Hours.

Banks stars as Meghan Miles, a news reporter who is in line for a promotion to lead anchor and about to get married. However, everything falls apart in quick fashion. Her handsome fiancé (Oliver Hudson) dumps her while the new promotion goes to someone else. Meghan decides to blow off some steam with her best friends, feisty Rose (Gillian Jacobs) and dim bulb Denise (Sarah Wright), for a night of drinking and debauchery. Meghan spends the night with handsome bartender Gordon (James Marsden). Since this is Los Angeles, he's not really a bartender, he's actually a writer. Either way, he's living in a hip loft that neither a bartender nor a struggling writer could afford.

Meghan receives a late night phone call from her producer (Willie Garson) that the anchor position is open once more after the prospective candidate was fired due to some embarrassing photos. Meghan tries to rush to the studio, but her car (with her purse and ID inside) has been towed away. She's locked out of the building and can't remember which apartment was Gordon's. Oh, and she forgot her cell phone after being frightened by her one night stand's cat. Meghan finds herself wandering the streets in a skin-tight yellow dress, which causes everyone to mistake her for a hooker.

Walk of Shame was written and directed by Steven Brill, whose resume includes Little Nicky, Mr. Deeds, and Drillbit Taylor. That will give you a good clue as to the level of sophistication at play here. Walk of Shame derives much of its humor from racial stereotypes and the humiliation of its starlet. Banks stumbles around and becomes the subject of scorn by judgmental bystanders and a pair of smug police officers (Bill Burr, Ethan Suplee). If they aren't lecturing her, then they're propositioning her, such as a devout Jew believing she was sent by the devil to tempt her or a horny kid who wants to get a look at her boobs. The only helpful individuals Meghan encounters are three gangsters who offer her shelter in a crack house before it's attacked by a rival gang.

To be fair, Banks does her best. Her beauty and winning personality still shine through the dull material. She's a bright woman who is forced to act foolishly for the sake of the screenplay. The central joke involving her figure hugging attire doesn't even work. In L.A., that's dressing conservatively. Out of all the contrivances that force Meghan into her precarious predicament, one is surprisingly clever. Even when she's able to make a call, Meghan can't remember anyone's number since they were saved in her old phone. Welcome to the 21^st century. Marsden is well cast, but he isn't given much to do outside of being the genial love interest. Fans of stand-up comedy might enjoy the brief appearances by Bill Burr, Bryan Callen as a sketchy drug dealer, and Tig Notaro as an extremely unhelpful owner of an impound lot. There's also Ken Davitian as a taxi driver and Kevin Nealon as a traffic reporter with an odd personal life.

In more capable hands, Walk of Shame might have had something profound to say about slut shaming and internet infamy. Instead, we get another comedy that goes for the lowest hanging fruit available.

Rating: * ½ (*****)

2 Guns

2 Guns – Dir. Baltasar Kormákur (2013)

2013 was another huge year for comic book movies with Iron Man 3 and Man of Steel doing blockbuster numbers and Thor: The Dark World closing out the year. Meanwhile, films based on non-superhero properties like R.I.P.D. and Red 2 didn't get quite as much attention. This brings us to 2 Guns, based on a little known mini-series published by BOOM! Studios. Most folks would probably be surprised to hear that it was adapted from a comic though it does feature the titanic team-up of Denzel Washington and Mark Wahlberg.

Bobby Trench (Washington) and Michael Stigman (Wahlberg) are a pair of crooks who decide to steal $3 million from safety deposit boxes belonging to drug lord Papi Greco (Edward James Olmos). These boxes are tucked away inside a bank vault in the tiny town of Tres Cruces. If that sounds familiar, then you’ve seen the 70's neo-noir classic Charley Varrick, which screenwriter Blake Masters borrows heavily from. In a series of twists and turns, Trench is revealed to be an undercover DEA agent while Stigman is actually working for Naval Intelligence. Neither man was aware of the other's true identity. Even worse, the bank didn't hold $3 million, but over $43 million belonging to an illegal CIA slush fund. Stigman narrowly escapes an attempt on his life by his corrupt commanding officer Quince (James Marsden), who wants the cash for himself. He'll have to get in line because Papi wants it too and so does the sadistic CIA agent Earl (Bill Paxton).

2 Guns feels like it could have come straight out of the hyperkinetic wheelhouse of the late-Tony Scott. This is a fast-paced, brainless affair that builds to a cluttered climax as four different factions (five, if you count a herd of stampeding bulls) shoot it out for a trunk load of dollars. However, Icelandic director Baltasar Kormákur, who previously worked with Wahlberg on Contraband, doesn't have Scott's visual panache. Still, the action sequences are decent enough, save for a rough looking car chase.

What really sells 2 Guns is the chemistry between its leads. The interplay shared by Wahlberg and Washington harkens back to the buddy cop formula set by Lethal Weapon. Both protagonists give as good as they get as their one-liners fly faster and more frequently than their bullets. The burden of carrying the movie doesn't fall squarely on their shoulders thanks to a game supporting cast. Perennial nice guy James Marsden is cast against type as a back-stabbing naval officer while Edward James Olmos is perfectly grizzled as a cartel boss. Yet, they all pale in comparison to the scene chewing performance of Bill Paxton, who affects a thick Southern accent to portray the main antagonist. 2 Guns is so overstuffed with testosterone that there's no room for a strong female character. That's a shame because Paula Patton played a pretty kick-ass secret agent in Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol. Instead, she's a damsel in distress who spends most of her time either tied up to a chair or gratuitously slinking around with nothing on except wafer-thin panties. Yeah, okay, that's not necessarily a bad thing.

2 Guns is such a breezy trifle that you almost forget just how surprisingly cynical it is. Just about every branch of the American government is portrayed as corrupt, incompetent, or simply uncaring. Stigman cracks a joke about purchasing his high-powered sniper rifle at K-Mart (are they still around?) and the US/Mexico border is patrolled by good ol' boys looking to dispense redneck justice to anybody with dark skin.

2 Guns may be formulaic and predictable, but the winning charm of Washington and Wahlberg make it a passable bit of popcorn entertainment.

Rating: ** (*****)

Hop

Hop - Dir. Tim Hill (2011)

Rabbits are adorable and all, but is the Easter Bunny truly such an integral holiday icon? Do kids stay up late at night hoping to catch a glimpse of the Easter Bunny? Would they be psychologically scarred if you were to tell them that the Easter Bunny didn't exist? To me, he's on the low rung of the totem pole right next to the Tooth Fairy. If there are children eagerly waiting the time when the Bunny delivers garishly colored eggs, then Hop might be right up their alley.

Russell Brand voices E.B., a young rabbit who is heir apparent to the Easter Bunny Empire. Generations of male bunnies have carried the Easter tradition of delivering chocolates and sweets to children all over the world from their stronghold on Easter Island. E.B.'s father (Hugh Laurie) wants to pass the baton to his son, but E.B. is more interested in playing the drums. So he decides to run away and hop through a magic portal to Hollywood. From there, he meets Fred O'Hare (James Marsden), an underachiever who has been unable to hold down and job while still living with his parents. His younger sister, Samantha (Kaley Cuoco), gets Fred a cushy gig housesitting her boss's mansion.

E.B. invites himself in and quickly becomes a nuisance. Eventually, Fred and E.B. come to a mutual understanding. Fred will help his new furry friend win a talent contest hosted by David Hasselhoff, who appears as himself. In exchange, E.B. will assist Fred in living out his dream of becoming the first human Easter Bunny. If that wasn't bizarre enough, there's also a subplot involving a megalomaniacal chick with a Spanish accent named Carlos (Hank Azaria). Much like an evil Cesar Chavez, Carlos plots a revolution with his fellow chicks to gain control of the Easter factory.

Hop comes to us from Universal's new animation arm, Illumination Entertainment, which made a strong debut in 2010 with the delightful Despicable Me. It's written by the same screenwriters, Cinco Paul and Ken Daurio, along with Brian Lynch, a comic book writer who also co-wrote the surprisingly good Puss in Boots. Unfortunately, Hop just isn't on the same level as those pictures. As an unconvincing mix of CGI and live-action, it's more on par with the Alvin and Chipmunks movies. That shouldn't be surprising since Hop was directed by Tim Hill, who also helmed the first Chipmunks flick as well as Garfield: A Tail of Two Kitties.

Hop suffers from a lack of ingenuity and originality. The Easter Bunny seems to have cribbed his entire operation from Santa Claus, right down to an enchanted sleigh. In fact, the movie feels like someone recycled an old Santa screenplay and replaced it with rabbit-related elements. Hop also tries to appeal to audiences old and young. When E.B. initially arrives in L.A., he attempts to gain entry into the Playboy Mansion. Where else is a bunny to go? It's one of the rare gags in Hop aimed at adults, but the rest of the movie is purely for kids. Their parents will likely cringe during a silly musical number set to Bow Wow Wow's "I Want Candy" or at the revelation that talking rabbits poop jelly beans.

Hop isn't all bad. James Marsden brings a goofy earnestness to his role as Fred the slacker. Gary Cole and Elizabeth Perkins are solid, if slightly wasted, as his parents and fans of The Big Bang Theory might get a kick out of seeing Kaley Cuoco as Fred's more responsible sister.

Hop has a lot in common with the chocolates and candies that are usually passed around on Easter Sunday. It's brightly colored, overly sweet, and not very nutritious. Hop is pure junk food cinema that might entertain the kiddies, but will give older audiences a terrible toothache.

Rating: * (*****)