Larry Crowne

Larry Crowne - Dir. Tom Hanks (2011)

Tom Hanks has earned his reputation as an all-around nice guy and one of the most likeable actors in Hollywood. Hanks brings every ounce of that likeability for Larry Crowne, which marks his second film as a director following his debut behind the camera with 1996's That Thing You Do!

Hanks stars as the titular Larry Crowne, a mid-level employee for U-Mart, a big-box retailer resembling Target. Larry enlisted in the Navy straight out of high school and never went to college. This lack of higher education is cited as the primary reason for his lack of promotion into upper management. Since he can no longer advance any further, U-Mart executives decide to fire him despite years of exemplar service.

Larry finds himself in an all too familiar situation as a divorced, middle-aged man who is now unemployed and saddled with a mortgage he can no longer afford. Left with few options, Larry decides to enroll in community college. Thus begins a series of life-changing events for our affable protagonist.

First, he trades in his gas-guzzling SUV for a sporty scooter and befriends the cute and free-spirited Talia (Gugu Mbatha-Raw), who renames him "Lance Corona" and recruits him into her scooter gang. She even gives Larry a makeover, giving him a new hairdo and ditching his dorky polo shirts for a hip leather jacket. Next, Larry signs up for a morning class on informal speaking taught by the disillusioned Mercedes Tainot (Julia Roberts). Not only has she lost her passion for academia, but she also deals with a husband (Bryan Cranston), who considers posting on internet message boards as creating a beachhead in new media. He also surfs for porn, but since this is a PG-13 movie, the women are fully clothed.

In addition to directing, producing, and starring in Larry Crowne, Tom Hanks co-wrote the script with Nia Vardalos, whose My Big Fat Greek Wedding was championed by Hanks and wife Rita Wilson. Vardalos has yet to recapture the same success and the middling response to the clichéd Larry Crowne won't change that. The way in which the film offers sitcom solutions to complex issues borders on condescension. Is a degree from a community college really going to protect someone from the economic downturn? I know people with Master's degrees who are still having a rough time in the job market. How does Larry Crowne still manage to stay afloat in Los Angeles while working as a part-time short order cook? Sometimes Crowne comes off more as a man going through a mid-life crisis when he's wearing a leather jacket and wallet chain.

Larry Crowne was released the same weekend as Transformers: Dark of the Moon. It certainly serves its purpose as counter-programming to the hordes of loud, effects heavy blockbusters. Hanks and Roberts (who gets more beautiful with age) have a winning chemistry together and there are some fun performances from Taraji P. Henson and Rami Malek as an annoyingly dim classmate. Without a doubt, the best thing in the movie is George Takei as an eccentric economics professor. The boisterous Takei steals every one of his scenes. I wouldn't want to see Larry Crowne 2, but I'd readily shell out twelve bucks to see a spin-off starring the former Mr. Sulu.

It's obvious Larry Crowne was meant as a soothing salve on the gaping wounds caused by the financial collapse with Hanks serving as a modern day Frank Capra or Preston Sturges. Sadly, Hanks is unable to capture the heart and wit of those cinematic masters. It is simply populist pabulum with a tone as affable and easy-going as its leading man.

Rating: ** (*****)

Talk To Me

Talk To Me - Dir. Kasi Lemmons (2007)

Talk To Me is loosely based on the true life story of Ralph Waldo "Petey" Greene, a disc jockey during the 60´s and 70´s who some have called one of the original "shock jocks." However, to label Greene as such would be an oversimplification of the man and his life´s work. Greene was born in Washington DC and grew up in the predominantly black Georgetown. After dropping out of high school, Greene joined the Army and served in the Korean War before being discharged for drug use. He was sentenced to ten years in prison for armed robbery in 1960. While serving out his time, Greene doing announcements over the PA system and played records sent to him by his grandmother. This would lead him on the path to becoming a disc jockey, television personality, and outspoken rights activist.

The film begins with Dewey Hughes (Chiwetel Ejiofor), the programming director for the DC radio station WOL-AM, visiting his brother, Milo (Mike Epps), at Lorton Reformatory where he´s serving a life sentence. Their visit is less than cordial as Dewey really wants nothing to do with his brother and only visits as a promise to their mother. Milo has mentioned his brother to Petey (Don Cheadle) who wants a job at Dewey´s station. The fact that he´s in prison is only a minor challenge. Sure enough, Petey wins over the warden and time off for good behavior after talking down an inmate about to commit suicide. Turns out, Petey actually spent six months trying to convince the man to go through with his plan.

Fresh out of the joint, Petey strolls on into the WOL offices expecting a job handed to him on a silver plate. Instead, his brash behavior and colorful language mortify Dewey and enrage the station owner, E.G. Sonderling (Martin Sheen). Thrown out of the building, Petey calls Dewey a sell-out and gathers a group of protestors outside the lobby. Nicknamed derisively by Petey as Mr. Tibbs, Dewey puts him in his place during a game of pool as he reveals that he too grew up in the projects and never forgot where he came from. Dewey convinces a reluctant Sonderling to put Petey on the air only to fire him a scant few minutes later after Petey calls Barry Gordy, the head of Motown Records, a pimp. Petey & Dewey lock Sonderling in his office the following morning and sneak into the broadcast booth. When the station´s phone lines are flooded with calls, Sonderling agrees to hire Petey on a full-time basis, but with some reservations.

Petey becomes the talk of the town, but his career takes a real jumpstart after the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. Seeing the city torn about by fires and riots, Petey returns to the station to plead for peace. Dewey sees big things in Petey´s future and they leave behind their tiny radio booth for the stand-up circuit and televised talk shows. It is at this point where the film makes a veers away from being a fascinating biopic to a becoming a tired fable about fame and celebrity. Petey becomes uncomfortable with the sudden attention and being pigeon holed as simply a stand-up comic. Dewey is oblivious and like a beauty pageant mother, pushes on, living out his own dreams through Petey. The tension between the two comes to a head as Petey walks off in the middle of an appearance on the Tonight Show. We watch as the pair goes their separate ways and eventually reconcile after years of estrangement. It´s a story that has been played out on the screen many times before, the recent Dreamgirls comes to mind.

Even with a lackluster second half, Talk To Me is worthy of a recommend thanks to an all-around strong cast. As Petey Greene, Don Cheadle easily conveys the bluster and swagger of his character, but it´s during the quieter, introspective moments that he truly shines. The movie starts off strong in the first half introducing us to its subject and using the radio booth as a microcosm of one of the most turbulent times in American history. However, it strays too far once it turns into a story about the downfall of a star.

Rating: **

The Karate Kid

The Karate Kid - Dir. Harald Zwart (2010)


The original Karate Kid was an important part of the childhood for anyone who grew up in the 80’s. Who didn’t think they could be an ultimate fighting machine by standing on one leg? It was a quintessential underdog story and great tales like that don’t drop out of the sky. This is probably why studios love remaking them so much. It’s a lot easier than coming up with something new and original.

For those of you living under a rock all your lives, Karate Kid starred Ralph Macchio as Daniel, a New Jersey teen transplanted to Southern California with his single mother. There, he is subjected to beatings by bullies from the Cobra Kai dojo. Under the unconventional tutelage of Mr. Miyagi (Pat Morita in an Oscar nominated performance), Daniel-San learns karate after a series of montages set to 80’s power rock in order to confront his tormenters.

The remake lowers the ages of the main characters. Nobody actually practices any karate either. At one point, the film was listed under the more appropriate title of The Kung Fu Kid.

Will Smith’s son, Jaden, stars as Dre Parker, who moves from Detroit to Beijing with his mom, Sherry (Taraji P. Henson). Dre has said farewell to everyone he knew to become the proverbial stranger in a strange land. A young girl (Han Wenwen) playing violin at the park catches his eye, but their budding friendship attracts the unwanted attention of Cheng (Wang Zhenwei) and his gang of martial artists. As members of the Fighting Dragons, their ruthless instructor, Master Li (Yu Rongguang), imparts on them a philosophy of no mercy and has no problem slapping the boys to get his point across.

Dre is saved from another beating by the aloof and taciturn, Mr. Han (Jackie Chan), the handyman at their apartment complex. In order to protect him from the bullies, Han must instruct Dre in the ways of kung fu in order for him to battle the Dragons in an open invitational tournament.

One of the most iconic moments of the original film involved Daniel’s realization that he was learning karate through menial tasks like waxing and painting. The remake takes a different approach, but the revelation lacks the same impact. Perhaps it’s due to the burden of knowledge. We’re already familiar with the whole routine. The villains are also equally lacking. The generic thugs of the 2010 production aren’t as strong as the Cobra Kai baddies.

Jaden Smith isn’t as bland, but he doesn’t have a strong enough presence in the lead. Luckily, he has older and wiser actors to carry the burden. Taraji P. Henson has become thoroughly dependable following Benjamin Button and her star-making performance in Hustle & Flow. She’s excellent here as well melding the right elements of heartfelt and humor. Jackie Chan brings a surprising amount of gravitas to the role of Dre’s mentor. Chan has been moving into more dramatic fare in his increasing age.

Harald Zwart, who previously directed reviled pictures like One Night at McCool’s and The Pink Panther 2, helms Karate Kid in a workman like manner. Shooting on location, Zwart wisely utilizes the streets of Beijing and the picturesque Chinese countryside to the film’s advantage.

Over 25 years later, The Karate Kid is still highly regarded. It’s doubtful that the remake will be as well remembered decades later. This new Karate Kid is formulaic and filled with the usual cheesy clichés about getting up after life knocks you down. It’s also far too long at 2 hours and 20 minutes. Yet, it still turns out better than expected thanks to the work of Chan and Henson.

Rating: ***

Date Night

Date Night - Dir. Shawn Levy (2010)


Putting Steve Carell and Tina Fey together seems like an easy way to find comedic gold. With his work on The Daily Show and The Office, Carrell cemented his status as a bankable movie star following the success of The 40-Year Old Virgin. Fey has done the same on Saturday Night Live and 30 Rock. Though she wrote Mean Girls and took a supporting role, she has yet to find a star vehicle worthy of her talents. Date Night is definitely not it.

Carrell and Fey star as Phil and Claire Foster, married with two kids and living in suburban New Jersey. He’s an accountant and she’s a real estate agent. Hoping to shake up their stagnant relationship, the Fosters hope to get a table at a trendy new restaurant in Manhattan. They wind up stealing another couple’s reservations, which becomes a running gag throughout the movie. A case of mistaken identity sends them on the run from a pair of gun-toting thugs (Common and Jimmi Simpson) who are after a flash drive. That’s just the beginning of one crazy night that involves car chases, crooked cops, and mobsters.

Taraji P. Henson co-stars as a sympathetic police detective and Mark Wahlberg appears as a perennially shirtless securities expert. Mark Ruffalo and Kristen Wiig have maybe one scene each as another married couple on the outs. James Franco and Mila Kunis round out the cast as a two low-rent crooks named Taste and Whippit who originally made the reservation. They almost manage to derail the picture into something livelier.

Those of you expecting Date Night to be a Hitchcockian edge of your seat thriller ala The Man Who Knew Too Much must have severe brain damage. The jokes come straight out of a bad 80’s sitcom with some labored slapstick gags thrown in for good measure. Fey and Carrell are never allowed to rise above the bland, cardboard characters they play, despite their best efforts. Date Night’s funniest moments don’t occur during the movie at all, but in the outtakes shown over the end credits. Given the freedom to adlib, they’re able to show off the natural wit that made them stars, coming up with funnier material than what was provided for them.

Rating: *

Smokin' Aces

Smokin' Aces - Dir. Joe Carnahan (2007)


Is it possible for a movie to have a ton of stuff happening, but have nothing happen at all? Sure, that movie is called Smokin’ Aces, a tangled web of uninteresting plotlines and anarchic filmmaking. The film is like It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World filtered through the eyes of Quentin Tarantino, then filtered again through the lens of Guy Ritchie. Not surprisingly, Joe Carnahan first emerged among the pack of indie filmmakers of the post-Tarantino era. His debut film Blood, Guts, Bullets, and Octane followed in the footsteps of Ritchie’s action/comedy Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels. Carnahan gained some instant credibility with the gritty crime drama, Narc, which won over Tom Cruise as a fan. Cruise would help Narc gain a wider release and hired Carnahan to direct Mission: Impossible III. The two had creative differences and Carnahan was later replaced by J.J. Abrams. Looking at Smokin’ Aces, it’s easy to see why Ethan Hunt gave Carnahan the boot.

The focal point of the story (such as it is) is a Vegas magician named Buddy “Aces” Israel (Jeremy Piven). Israel’s shows garner a strong following with the local mobsters and pretty soon he’s playing cops and robbers with the big boys. Things don’t work out and Israel is arrested, but promptly skips bail to hide out in a penthouse in Lake Tahoe. Seeing him as a liability, mob boss Primo Sparazza puts a million dollar bounty on the head of Israel. Soon, contract killers and assassins come out of the woodwork to take on the job. Accepting the job are Georgia Sykes (R&B singer Alicia Keys) and her lover Sharice Watters (Taraji P. Henson), master of disguise Lazlo Soot (Tommy Flanagan), the sadistic Pasqual Acosta (Nestor Carbonell), and the psychotic Tremor Brothers, Darwin (Chris Pine, the new Capt. Kirk), Jeeves (Kevin Durand), and Lester (Maury Sterling).

The FBI wants to get their hands on Israel, seeing him as a star witness to topple organized crime. Deputy Director Stanley Locke (Andy Garcia) puts agents Richard Messner (Ryan Reynolds) and his mentor Donald Carruthers (Ray Liotta) on the case. Not to be counted out are a trio of bail bondsmen Jack Dupree (Ben Affleck), Pete Deeks (Peter Berg), and Hollis Elmore (Martin Henderson) who also want to capture Israel. There are still a few other characters that I left out, but I can barely remember half of them. Thank goodness for my old friend Wikipedia.

The first half hour of the film is practically dedicated to exposition. We are methodically introduced to each character and whatever history they have. None of this backstory is particularly interesting or, at least, isn’t told to us in any sort of interesting way. We’re told the Tremor Brothers are neo-Nazi rednecks, but nothing they do or say is any indication that they are neo-Nazis or rednecks. They just dress oddly and carry around big guns and chainsaws. Carnahan seems to be tossing a bunch of goofy caricatures onto the screen to cover up his lack of writing skills. There’s a wacky kid with ADD who practices martial arts and speaks in gangster slang that shows up, if for no other reason than he’s a wacky kid with ADD who practices martial arts and speaks in gangster slang. The same goes for another scene where Bateman’s character wears women’s underwear. I don’t know who he’s supposed to be or what he’s adding to the story, but he’s wearing a bra and panties, so Ha ha ha.

Muddying up the proceedings even further is a subplot involving the cold case murder of an undercover FBI agent. First, the heavy-handed resolution of this B-story can be seen coming from a mile away. Secondly, it feels like something from a different film. In all honesty, I might have enjoyed the film if Carnahan went straight for the jugular and made this an orgy of carnage, bullets, and bloodshed. I could have been happy to check my brain at the door for a battle royal between hitmen and scumbags. Instead, we get this pseudo-FBI thriller/mystery element thrown in to add even more exposition than needed.

I’m shocked that such a hackneyed script was able to acquire such an amazing cast including an unrecognizable Matthew Fox. I’m even more taken aback that Carnahan does absolutely nothing interesting with any of them. Having far too many characters leaves little room for the them to breathe and develop. Not that Carnahan is very interested in that sort of thing, prefering anarchic mayhem and bad jokes.

I’m a big fan of Piven and not just as Ari Gold. I always thought he stood out in the supporting roles he’s played in films like Grosse Pointe Blank and Old School. As Buddy Israel, Piven isn’t so much a humorous character as a man who degenerates both physically and emotionally. However, I couldn’t help but think he could have done more. Reynolds who can display a great, cheeky humor doesn’t get the chance to do any of that here. Andy Garcia is another of fantastic actor wasted in a nothing part as he just sleepwalks through his role. About the one who’s a little more interesting, as an actor and character, is the debuting Alicia Keys as hitwoman Georgia Sykes. She and Tarija Henson add a tough feminine touch to the otherwise testosterone heavy production. It’s too bad they didn’t get meatier scenes. It also doesn’t hurt that Keys looks great in fishnet stockings and thigh-high leather boots.

Smokin’ Aces is about a decade too late to join up with the other Reservoir Dogs, Lock, Stock knockoffs. The film isn’t nearly as hip and cool as it makes out to be.

Rating: * 1/2

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button - Dir. David Fincher (2008)


Benjamin Button will stand for years to come as a monumental achievement in technical wizardry. However, the film isn’t there to service the special effects; the effects are there to service the film. Director David Fincher, known for darker fare (Seven, Fight Club, Zodiac), has created a vivid storybook tale of love and mortality.

Brad Pitt plays the title character for much of the film, usually hidden behind a layer of make-up and CGI effects. He is born at the end of World War I in New Orleans, except he is born with all the ailments of an 80 year-old man. His skin is wrinkled, his limbs are arthritic, and his eyes are stricken with cataracts. The baby’s mother dies giving birth and the father, Thomas Button (Jason Flemyng), leaves the baby at the doorstep of a nursing home. There, he’s taken in by Queenie (Taraji P. Hanson), the caretaker who names the baby, Benjamin. He begins life as a lame-legged old man, fitting right in with other inhabitants. Soon, he meets the red-haired Daisy (Elle Fanning as a child, Cate Blanchett as an adult), the granddaughter of another tenant. For Benjamin, it’s love at first sight while Daisy senses a kindred soul underneath his elderly exterior.

Benjamin devours life with a youthful exuberance. He explores New Orleans with a newly-arrived pygmy and gets a job on a tugboat with Captain Mike (Jared Harris). At sea, Benjamin sees more of the world and visits his first brothel. He travels to Russia where he has an affair with Elizabeth Abbot (Tilda Swinton), the wife of a British diplomat. Returning to the States, his relationship with Daisy goes through its ups and downs. It isn’t until the two reunite in their middle age that their love affair can finally begin. But, love is fleeting when Benjamin realizes he’ll grow younger and younger.

The script was co-written by Robin Swicord and Eric Roth who took inspiration from a 24 page short story by F. Scott Fitzgerald to create a near three hour masterpiece. Roth previously won an Oscar for his adaptation of Forrest Gump and you can clearly see echoes of that in Benjamin Button. Both films star a passive protagonist moving through the 20th century and a love that is doomed by circumstances worldly and physical. However, Button manages to avoid distilling almost an entire century of history into a series of contrivances and empty Hallmark platitudes. While this works great, there are two glaring omissions. Though Benjamin is raised by an adoptive black mother, the issue of segregation in the south is never mentioned. Sprinkled throughout the film are scenes with an aged Daisy on her deathbed as her daughter (Julia Ormond) reads from Benjamin’s diary just before Hurricane Katrina strikes. It feels like a superfluous addition when the tragedy isn’t truly addressed.

Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett give fine performances though not as strong as some of their other films. The romance between Benjamin and Daisy is at its strongest when they’re at their most miserable. It’s not nearly as interesting when they’re happy, frolicking in their sparsely furnished apartment as the Beatles play on The Ed Sullivan Show. The best performance belongs to Taraji P. Henson for her portrayal of Benjamin’s Butterfly McQueen-esque adoptive mother.

Rating: *** ½