Better Living Through Chemistry

Better Living Through Chemistry - Dirs. David Posamentier & Geoff Moore (2014)

The tried and true film noir formula follows a man seduced by a femme fatale into murdering her significant other, then digging himself into a deeper hole as he tries to stay one step ahead of the authorities. Double Indemnity and The Postman Always Rings Twice are two of the best examples. Better Living Through Chemistry takes a comedic approach to the basic noir story.

Doug Varney (Sam Rockwell) is a pharmacist and a family man living in the small, picturesque New England town of Woodbury. Too bad his life isn't as equally picturesque. Doug is married to the emasculating Kara (Michelle Monaghan), who constantly undercuts his abilities as a father and a husband. Their son Ethan (Harrison Holzer) is obviously troubled as he paints his bedroom windows black and smears feces everywhere at school. Kara denies anything is wrong and shows more concern for spin classes and bike marathons. Doug's father-in-law, Walter Bishop (Ken Howard), doesn't have much confidence in him either. Despite selling the town's pharmacy to Doug, he refuses to change the name from Bishop's to Varney's.

It's easy to see why Doug would fall fast for the glamorous Elizabeth (Olivia Wilde), the trophy wife to an absentee husband (Ray Liotta). Elizabeth shares with Doug her passions for sex and popping prescription pills. Their torrid love affair ignites something within Doug as he begins concocting his own medications by mixing everything from Prozac to valium. He even manages to become more assertive and reestablish his relationship with Ethan. However, things start to unravel when Elizabeth suggests they murder her spouse by tampering with his heart pills and using the insurance money to run away together. There's also a DEA agent (Norbert Leo Butz) snooping around the drug store.

In spite of a stellar cast, Better Living was released direct to video with very little fanfare. The humor falls flat on its face due to terrible jokes revolving around STDs and poop. For an inexplicable reason, Jane Fonda provides voiceover narration, the kind that unnecessarily spells out every little detail for you. Fonda later makes a cameo as a customer shopping for douche. How classy.

For what it's worth, Rockwell is one of my favorite actors working right now. He truly excels at playing smarmy and conniving characters as evidenced in Iron Man 2 and Seven Psychopaths. Here, Rockwell gets to go over-the-top as Doug spirals out of control as well as play it understated as the henpecked Doug. He's the movie's saving grace.

Better Living Through Chemistry was written and directed by newcomers David Posamentier and Geoff Moore, who have been tapped to pen Paramount's remake of Explorers. You wish the pair had delved deeper into the premise beyond one-note characters and tired gags. Better Living is full of wasted potential.

Rating: * ½ (*****)

The Nut Job

The Nut Job - Dir. Peter Lepeniotis (2014)

The first few months of the year are considered a dumping ground for studios who generally release subpar titles with very little fanfare. The winter can also be slim pickings when it comes to family friendly entertainment. In 2013, Dreamworks capitalized on the slow market with The Croods, a gorgeously animated picture that went on to do over $587 million at the box office. There's no such luck this year as parents would have to settle for taking their kids to see The Nut Job.

Set during the 1950's, The Nut Job follows one Surly (Will Arnett), a misanthropic squirrel who only looks out for himself. Surly's only friend is Buddy (Robert Tinkler), a rat who looks like a grungy and emaciated version of Remy from Ratatouille. None of the other animals in picturesque Liberty Park like him though Andie (Katherine Heigl) seems to be slightly sympathetic. Autumn is nearly over, but the food supply is short for the coming winter. Andie and the exceedingly heroic Grayson (Brendan Fraser) clash with Surly over the nuts from a vendor cart. Their argument accidentally ignites the propane tank and burns down the tree that everyone calls home. Under the stern leadership of Raccoon (Liam Neeson), the animals vote to banish Surly from the park.

Surly and Buddy are left to fend for themselves in the big city against pigeons and sewer rats. As luck would have it, they stumble upon a nut store with a bountiful supply to feed them for ages to come. The store happens to be the staging ground for a quartet of gangsters led by King (Stephen Lang). Their plan is to tunnel into the nearby bank and replace all the bags of money with sacks full of nuts so no one will notice the cash is missing. Surly and the other park animals forge an uneasy alliance to gather the nuts and avoid detection by the humans.

The Nut Job has a clever premise with a bank heist concurrent to the cute critters pulling off one of their own in the background. The filmmakers certainly aimed high by attempting to imbue the manic energy of the classic Looney Tunes shorts with an allegory straight out of Animal Farm. However, the movie never lives up to those lofty goals. The script suffers from the same lazy pitfalls of other second-rate animated flicks, riddled with fart jokes and contrived pop culture references. Angry Birds? Seriously? Despite being a period piece, The Nut Job prominently features the novelty hit "Gangnam Style." Its familiar techno beats play over a celebratory sequence during the film and an animated version of PSY pops up during the end credits for the requisite dance party. Perhaps, it was included because Nut Job was co-produced by a South Korean studio. In any event, the song's popularity died out long before "Nut Job" saw the light of day and was buried alongside other one-hit wonders like the Macarena and "Whoomp! (There It Is)."

It also seems like the writers couldn't be bothered with creating names for every character. Well, this squirrel is surly, so let's call him Surly. What about his buddy? Buddy. And the raccoon and mole? Raccoon and Mole. Job well done.

The Nut Job was budgeted at $42.8 million, which is a fraction of what Pixar works with, but other studios have done much better animation with not much more. Disney's knockoff Planes looks worlds better than Nut Job on a budget of $50, despite a screenplay that was just as uninspired. The movie is certainly colorful, but the designs and the movements appear to have been animated a decade ago.

If anyone was expecting the celebrity cast to bring some sparkle to the proceedings, you will be disappointed. Aside from the baritone voices of Will Arnett and Liam Neeson, none of them are recognizable and only Maya Rudolph as an affectionate pug has any charm.

The concept of The Nut Job is a bit similar to 2006's Over the Hedge, which shared a co-writer in Lorne Cameron. None of the furry fauna in either movie were all that memorable. Even the zany interludes of Scrat from the Ice Age series were more fun. As Pixar has done again and again, you can create an animated film with enough intelligence and heart to appeal to adults and children alike. The Nut Job might win over the youngest of age, but it will make others fall into an early hibernation.

Rating: * (*****)

Knights of Badassdom

Knights of Badassdom - Dir. Joe Lynch (2014)

Knights of Badassdom started gaining buzz when it premiered its trailer during a panel at Comic-Con 2011. The majority of attendees had no awareness of the indie film though some ears perked at the presence of fan favorites like Peter Dinklage (Game of Thrones), Danny Pudi (Community), and Summer Glau (Serenity). The footage received a rousing reaction from the exact demographics the movie was hoping to hit. Unfortunately, Knights has been sitting on the shelf until now thanks to Entertainment One, who are releasing it on DVD & Blu-ray. Disagreements between director Joe Lynch and the producers over final cut led to the delay. After viewing Knights, I'm not so sure if Lynch's version would have been a significant improvement.

Knights is set in the world of LARPing that's Live Action Role-Playing for the uninitiated. Friendly folks do battle in a medieval fantasy world with a little help from some foam weapons and a wealth of imagination. Joe (Ryan Kwanten) used to be a LARPer as well as a master of Dungeons & Dragons. He once gave Ronny Kwok's (Jimmi Simpson) paladin a serious case of demonic syphilis. Nowadays, Joe is an aspiring musician, specializing in doom metal, while working a day job as an auto mechanic. That's not enough for his girlfriend, Beth (Margarita Levieva), who wants a boyfriend with some iota of ambition. Joe gets dumped in humiliating fashion and copes by getting stoned with his best friends Eric (Steve Zahn) and Hung (Dinklage). He awakens the next morning in armor and finds a horde of LARPers preparing for the Battle of Evermore.

Joe reluctantly joins in, but the games become far too real when Eric unknowingly reads from a magical tome with actual supernatural origins. Eric summons a bloodthirsty succubus that looks exactly like Beth and starts killing LARPers one by one.

One of the problems with Knights is Ryan Kwanten. It's not that the Aussie actor gives a bad performance; he's perfectly fine and feels like a natural fit. However, his character is one of the least interesting in the picture and he doesn't have the screen presence of his co-stars. When you're in there with Peter Dinklage, you need a load of charisma just to stand out. Dinklage (who also served as an executive producer) is one of the highlights as he essentially parodies Tyrion Lannister. He's brash and extremely enthusiastic about the whole venture. Zahn and Jimmi Simpson, as the fussy gamesmaster, are also quite funny in their supporting roles. Glau joins the fray as the guild's lone female, Gwen, who started LARPing in order to look after her cousin Gunther (Brett Gipson), an Ivan Dragon lookalike who remains in character 24/7.

You can't fault any of the actors, many of whom are in the movie far too briefly, for Knights being something of a slog. The story starts off promisingly enough, but loses traction at the midpoint. It's as if screenwriters Kevin Dreyfuss and Matt Wall just ran out of material. So, we wind up with repetitive sequences in which nothing of important actually happens. There's also an awkward blend of horror and comedy where the filmmakers are clearly inspired by Evil Dead with the goofy humor of Renaissance fair speak. At least, Knights treats its subjects with respect and never truly ridicules the subculture.

Considering the limited budget, you would think those involved would be more innovative with the gore and special effects. Instead, they rely on chintzy CGI that doesn't look at all convincing and a final act monster looks absolutely ridiculous.

Knights of Badassdom was an eagerly anticipated release, but when the time came the movie failed to deliver. Not even the winning cast is enough to elevate the lackluster material into a film worth recommending.

Rating: * ½ (*****)

Welcome to the Jungle

Welcome to the Jungle - Dir. Rob Meltzer (2014)

From the late-80-'s to the mid-90's, Jean-Claude Van Damme was a box office draw who was able to knock out the competition with a swift roundhouse kick. However, his clout slowly started to fizzle away until he fell into the almost inescapable limbo of the direct-to-video market. Lately, he's been stretching those muscles from Brussels in an effort to regain his relevance. Van Damme played himself in the reflexive JCVD, which earned him critical praise and was his first theatrical release in almost a decade. He had a really enjoyable turn as the subtly named Jean Vilain in The Expendables 2. Even some of his recent DTV projects have been out of his comfort zone. Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning was a dark and bizarre take on the franchise that was more akin to David Cronenberg or Gaspar Noé.

Van Damme has never really tried his hand at comedy before, aside from a brief cameo in Last Action Hero and the unintentional laughs of the much-maligned Street Fighter. This time around, Van Damme does the splits and dives deep into the genre with Welcome to the Jungle, which has aspirations at being Office Space with a dash of Lord of the Flies.

Adam Brody is Chris, a timid graphic designer at a big advertising firm where he's constantly pushed around by the odious Phil (Rob Huebel). Phil steals one of Chris's designs for a toilet paper campaign, yet the poor kid still can't muster up the courage to stand up for himself. Meanwhile, their incompetent boss, Mr. Crawford (Dennis Haysbert), won't do anything about it. Instead, he announces that all employees will take part in a team-building exercise on a remote island under the supervision of Navy Seal Storm Rothchild. The trip goes terribly wrong when the pilot is found dead and Rothchild is mauled by a tiger.

These white collar goofs are completely clueless until Chris teaches them survival skills he learned as a Boy Scout. Phil grows insanely jealous of Chris suddenly becoming the new alpha male and begins undermining all his orders. Using a hallucinogenic weed, Phil turns nearly everyone into an obedient savage with himself as their god. Chris escapes along with a small group consisting of best friend Jared (Eric Edelstein), the rabbit-obsessed Brenda (Kristen Schaal), and Lisa (Megan Boone from NBC's The Blacklist), the pretty girl from HR that Chris has long had a crush on.

Van Damme takes center stage in the posters and cover art in spite of his relatively small role. It's still justified as JCVD happens to be the only entertaining part of the movie as he pokes fun at his own tough guy image. Outside of Van Damme, Welcome to the Jungle labors to elicit a single chuckle or smirk in its thankfully brief 95 minute runtime. It desperately grasps for humor with repetitive and lazy jokes about gays and masturbation. All the characters are cartoons with the exception of Chris and Lisa, who are about as white bread as can be.

The Rundown, starring Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson and Seann William Scott, was previously titled Welcome to the Jungle. I only point this out because that is a far better film than this painfully dull attempt at comedy. You could also do better by listening to the Guns 'N' Roses song over and over for an hour and a half.

Rating: * (*****)

47 Ronin

47 Ronin - Dir. Car Rinsch (2013)

47 Ronin is the latest in a string of blockbusters that have suffered from overblown budgets and production delays. Much like World War Z and The Lone Ranger, 47 Ronin attracted negative buzz long before it was ever released. Universal was in desperate search for the next big thing, one that would line their pockets the way the Fast & Furious franchise has. After costly failures like Battleship and R.I.P.D., the studio was probably banking on 47 Ronin to reverse their misfortunes as well as appeal to the lucrative Asian markets that are so important today. Originally scheduled for release November of 2012, it was pushed back twice to accommodate extensive reshoots and special effects work amidst rumors of producers clashing with an overwhelmed, first-time director. The fact that 47 Ronin collected only $2.8 million in Japan, despite being based on a renowned legend in that country, says a lot about the movie's quality.

47 Ronin is set in 18^th century Japan though it was primarily shot in Budapest and London. The city of Ako has grown prosperous under the rule of the benevolent Lord Asano (Min Tanaka). However, the power-hungry Lord Kira (Tadanobu Asano) covets everything Asano has, including his beautiful daughter, Mika (Kou Shibasaki), who is in love with the orphaned Kai (Keanu Reeves). Half-British and half-Japanese, Kai was found running through the forest as a boy and taken in by Asano though almost everyone else treat him as a lowly half-breed.

During a visit by the Shogun (Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa), the witch Mizuki (Rinko Kikuchi) casts a spell on an unsuspecting Asano that causes him to mistakenly attack Kira. Humiliated in front of the Shogun, Asano is forced to commit seppuku in order to save his family from further disgrace. All his lands are given to Kira while Asano's loyal samurai, led by Oishi (Hiroyuki Sanada), are disbanded and forbidden from taking revenge. After spending a year of imprisonment, Oishi seeks to reunite his scattered brethren, avenge their fallen master, and rescue Mika from the clutches of Kira.

47 Ronin is an awkward fusion of the classic jidaigeki with the modern Hollywood blockbuster. The filmmakers attempted to stay faithful to the original legend while making it appealing to Western audiences by introducing mythological beasts, black magic, and a wealth of computer generated images. It's clear they were aiming to create another Lord of the Rings. Instead, the tone is so dour and self-serious that 47 Ronin fails to be the rousing fantasy the studio envisioned.

Carl Rinsch, a former commercial director, makes his feature debut here and he's certainly no hack. Yet, it's clear that he is a visual filmmaker without a firm handle on emotional beats. 47 Ronin only truly shines during the climax in which the samurai raid Lord Kira's compound. There's also a chaotic sequence ripped straight out of Pirates of the Caribbean, where Oishi rescues Kai from a Dutch trading post. Unfortunately, these exciting moments are few and far between.

While Oishi is nominally the lead protagonist, the narrative doles out an equal share of screen time for Kai. Not only is he a less interesting character, Reeves turns in another stiff performance and he's a couple decades too old to be playing the part. And let's not get into a convoluted origin story that involves a sect of bird-like monks with mystical powers. At least, Sanada is a strong enough actor to provide the dramatic gravitas that 47 Ronin desperately needs. Aside from those two, you would be hard pressed to pick any of the other ronin out of a line-up. None of them are allowed to display any distinct characteristics aside from a handful of tired archetypes. There's the jolly fat guy, the babyfaced rookie, and the jerk that eventually learns to respect Kai. The only other memorable cast member is the beautiful Rinko Kikuchi vamping it up as a shape-shifting seductress, who can change into a dragon or a flurry of undulating fabric.

A major studio production with a predominantly Asian cast is always welcome at the local multiplex, just too bad it had 47 Ronin, a thoroughly forgettable and uninspired affair.

Rating: * ½ (*****)

Need For Speed

Need For Speed - Dir. Scott Waugh (2014)

The Need For Speed series is one of Electronic Arts' longest running franchises and the most successful racing games in the video game industry. For the most part, the games have no narrative structure so the idea of using them as the basis for a film is akin to producing Madden Football: The Movie. On the other hand, it's a shrewd marketing ploy by Dreamworks, who are clearly angling to cash in on the wildly lucrative Fast and Furious franchise. Now they have brand recognition. The video games are incidental as they might as well have called it Hot Wheels or Tonka Trucks, both of which are actually in development.

Aaron Paul of Breaking Bad fame stars as Tobey Marshall, an amateur street racer living in Mount Kisco, New York. He has inherited his father's auto shop after old man's death, but the place is on its last legs. That's when Dino Brewster (Dominic Cooper) swoops back into town. The wealthy hometown boy has gone on to the professional leagues, runs a big-time dealership, and even stole Tobey's former flame, Anita (Dakota Johnson). Dino offers Tobey the chance to restore a one-of-a-kind Ford Mustang that belonged to the famed Carroll Shelby. They'll flip it for millions of dollars and a cut of which will save the Marshall family's shop. However, their rivalry boils over and the two challenge each other to a winner takes all race with Anita's younger brother, Pete (Harrison Gilbertson), caught in the middle. Dino causes a fiery wreck when he rams Pete's car from behind, then flees the scene and leaves Tobey to take the fall.

After a two-year stint in prison, Tobey vows revenge by defeating Dino in the De Leon, a clandestine street race put on by the eccentric and mysterious Monarch (Michael Keaton). In order to do so, Tobey borrows the Mustang from its new owner who sends his assistant Julia (Imogen Poots) to tag along as his minder. Tobey and Julia must travel coast to coast within 45 hours in order to join the race. At their side are Tobey's mechanics Joe (Ramon Rodriguez) and Finn (Rami Malek) as well as eyes in the sky Maverick (Scott Mescudi), against them are hordes of police officers and opportunists looking to collect a bounty issued by Dino.

Need For Speed attempts to hearken back to the classic car movies of Hollywood's past. All the cool kids in Mt. Kisco watch Bullitt at a neon-lit drive-in theater ala American Graffiti. Tobey's cross-country sojourn and Michael Keaton's omnipresent commentator are reminiscent of Vanishing Point while Tobey and Julia's flirtatious relationship was clearly inspired by Burt Reynolds and Sally Field in Smokey and the Bandit. Not surprising that Need's director Scott Waugh began his career as a stuntman much like Smokey director Hal Needham and H.B. Halicki, who starred, produced, and directed the original Gone in 60 Seconds. Unfortunately, Need For Speed is a poor substitute.

For his part, Waugh is a stylish director and the film's engines fire on all cylinders when it focuses on vehicular mayhem. We watch Tobey run amok in the streets of Detroit with dozens of cop cars on his tail and kicking up dust in the Utah desert, the latter of which is beautifully photographed by cinematographer Shane Hurlbut. Waugh proudly touts that he relied heavily on practical effects rather than CGI. This will surely please gearheads as they get to see American muscle like the Gran Torino and Camaro along with sleek European models such as the Lamborghini and Koenigsegg.

The movie quickly loses momentum once it moves away from the car chases and you realize how thin the characters are and how inane the dialogue is. Screenwriters George & John Gatins are unable to muster an ounce of wit for what passes as snappy banter between our protagonists. The plot is riddled with holes large enough to…well…drive a car straight through them. The winner of the De Leon gets all the other competing cars, but what's the point when those vehicles are either totaled or impounded by the police? Monarch provides play-by-play of the race for his internet broadcast, yet how does he see what's happening when there are no cameras present? There's some queasy morality to the picture as the protagonists callously race through crowded streets and laugh at nearly killing a homeless man. Tobey also doesn't seem to mind that he's caused numerous traffic accidents and grievous injuries to the police officers pursuing him. Some viewers might be sensitive to images of crashed cars bursting into flames following the tragic death of Paul Walker.

At two hours and ten minutes, Need is way too long and laborious to be a mindless quickie. Skip it unless you have a passion for cars and a high tolerance for cringe-worthy dialogue.

Rating: * ½ (*****)

Dallas Buyers Club

Dallas Buyers Club – Dir. Jean-Marc Vallée (2013)

We are living in the McConaissance. Matthew McConaughey first charmed audiences as the lovable stoner David Wooderson ("Alright, alright, alright.") in Richard Linklater's "Dazed and Confused." He cemented his status as an actor to watch, particularly due to projects like Lone Star and Frailty. However, McConaughey became a punch line thanks to his Southern twang, his willingness to go shirtless, and a string of lackluster romantic comedies. In recent years, he seems to have taken the criticism by heart and re-dedicated himself to the craft. He turned down the easy payday for a big screen version of Magnum P.I. in favor of working with renowned directors such as Jeff Nichols, William Friedkin, Martin Scorsese, Steven Soderbergh, and reunited with Linklater for Bernie. Despite only being in two scenes, McConaughey is one of the best things in The Wolf of Wall Street. The crown jewel of McConaughey's recent output is Dallas Buyers Club, a performance that earned him a slew of accolades including a Golden Globe and an Oscar for Best Actor.

Based on a true story, Dallas Buyers Club features McConaughey as Ron Woodroof, an electrician and rodeo cowboy with a predilection for promiscuous sex and drugs. He's not the most enlightened fellow either. Woodroof reacts with disgust when Rock Hudson's affliction with AIDS became public and casually tosses around a few racial epithets. An accident at work sends Woodroof to the hospital where Drs. Sevard (Denis O'Hare) and Saks (Jennifer Garner) break the news that he too has AIDS and only has 30 days to live. Woodroof angrily storms out of the hospital. How could he possibly have AIDS when he's an all-American heterosexual? That is, until he remembers having sex with an intravenous drug user. Woodroof is evicted from his home, loses his job, and is shunned by his family and friends. However, he's hardly resigned to his fate.

At first, Woodroof bribes a hospital janitor to get AZT, a drug with the best results for fighting the disease, but whose side effects can be just as debilitating. When he runs out of AZT, Woodroof meets a doctor in Mexico (Griffin Dunne), who points him towards other medication that have not been approved by the FDA. Driven by self-preservation and profit, Woodroof makes frequent trips to Mexico, Japan, and Europe to stockpile drugs. He establishes the Dallas Buyers Club with a membership fee of $400 that will allow other AIDS patients access to medicine not available in the US.  As he battles government bureaucracy, Woodroof finds his attitude changing, especially when he forms an unlikely friendship with Rayon (Jared Leto), a transgendered woman also suffering from AIDS.

When the AIDS epidemic first began to sweep the country, those who were sick and their loved ones faced an uphill battle against the spread of misinformation and prejudice. Under the Reagan administration, the government did little to stem the tide. After all, gays and drug addicts were not exactly their constituency. These early days of AIDS activism were captured with amazing detail in How to Survive a Plague, my pick for best documentary of 2012. Dallas Buyers Club isn't as rabble rousing. This is an intimate character study focusing on just one of the many powerful stories of that era.

The real Woodroof died in 1992, a full seven years after the doctors' grim prognosis. Shortly before he died, screenwriter Craig Borten (who co-wrote the script with Melisa Wallack) interviewed Woodroof and set about to tell his story. The film has been in development ever since with actors like Woody Harrelson and Brad Pitt previously attached. Borten stuck by the production though you wish a little more subtlety was introduced during the lengthy writing process. The writers don't paint in shades of gray as evidenced by a scene with a room full of butterflies meant to symbolize his spiritual transformation.

It's a credit to McConaughey's abilities that he's able to sell corny lines like, "Forget about the FDA. I'm gonna be DOA." Physically, he went through a grueling transformation by staying out of the sun and dropping nearly 40lbs to play the gaunt and ailing Woodroof. No matter his outward appearance, there's no hiding McConaughey's innate charisma and likeability. Another role destined for awards season is Jared Leto, who netted the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor. Leto is no stranger to body transformations having lost weight (Requiem for a Dream) and gained weight (Chapter 27) for other movies. Leto disappears into the character of Rayon with assistance from the award winning make-up team.

Dallas Buyers Club follows all the established steps in creating a critical darling. This is an inspiring true story with a pair of performances that required radical metamorphoses. It's hard to fault the filmmakers for adhering to the formula when they've done so with spectacular results.

Rating: *** (*****)

Homefront

Homefront - Dir. Gary Fleder (2013)

In 2006, Sylvester Stallone bid farewell to his most famous character in Rocky Balboa. The Italian Stallion donned the boxing gloves once more for a comeback match against a young upstart. In 2008, Stallone dusted the mothballs off another iconic character, the haunted Vietnam vet John Rambo. In the simply titled Rambo, Stallone rescued missionaries from the military junta in Burma. While Stallone has closed the door on Rocky, he left the possibility open for another Rambo adventure. At one point, he purchased the rights to Chuck Logan's novel Homefront as a possible vehicle to direct, star, and produce. There was even talk that it might be rewritten into a fifth Rambo flick. Instead, Homefront has become a vehicle for Stallone's fellow Expendable Jason Statham.

Statham is Phil Broker, an undercover DEA agent whose final mission ended in bloodshed and led to the arrest of Danny T (Chuck Zito), the leader of a drug running biker gang. Broker has decided to live the quiet life by moving to a small town in the Louisiana with his daughter Maddy (Izabela Vidovic). He's got horses, plenty of fresh air, and the pretty school teacher (Rachelle Lefevre) seems to take a liking to him. All that changes when Maddy gets into a scuffle with playground bully. This sets off a chain of disastrous events as the boy's drug-addled mother, Cassie (Kate Bosworth), demands retribution. Just so happens her brother, Gator Bodine (James Franco), is one bad dude. He cooks meth and everyone in town knows to stay away from him. When Gator learns of Broker's former line of work, he ropes in his girlfriend Sheryl (Winona Ryder) to set up a hit and get into Danny T's good graces.

Homefront doesn't off anything anyone hasn't seen before in a Jason Statham action movie. Although, there is one unintentionally funny scene in which the British bruiser tries to affect an American accent. Statham isn't afraid to unleash righteous fury when the bad guys push him around. However, he's not intentionally looking for trouble. You kind of wish he did.  A few scenes where Statham goes Buford Pusser on some sleazy swamp folk may have livened things up. There's just enough action in Homefront to keep your attention, just not enough to bring you to the edge of your seat. Director Gary Fleder, who previously helmed Things to Do in Denver When You're Dead and Runaway Jury, isn't known as an action director, but he handles the set pieces well, particularly one where Statham fights several henchmen with his hands zip tied behind his back. The script by Stallone is exactly the type of B-movie fare he and peers like Steven Seagal and Jean-Claude Van Damme traded in during the 80's.

What does set Homefront apart is the bold decision to cast against type for the antagonists with the exception of Frank Grillo as a hired assassin. California surfer girl Kate Bosworth is turned into a weary looking meth addict while Winona Ryder struggles to convince as an opportunistic biker groupie. James Franco certainly would not have been an obvious choice to play the lead villain though he is the most interesting. Franco's eclectic tastes were on full display in 2013. He played a young Wizard of Oz in Oz: The Great and Powerful, appeared in a cameo as Hugh Hefner in Lovelace, directed and starred in the docudrama Interior. Leather Bar, and won acclaim for his outlandish performance in Harmony Korine's Spring Breakers. Franco doesn't ham it up as Gator. He does relish in being a baddie, but he's not completely amoral. Once the truly ruthless killers arrive, Gator discovers he's just a little fish in a swamp full of crocs.

Homefront isn't a wholly satisfying experience due to a cookie cutter script that was cobbled together after a binge watching Sons of Anarchy and Breaking Bad. Still, if your standards aren't too demanding, Homefront winds up being a fun and disposable action pic.

Rating: ** (*****)

Rush

Rush - Dir. Ron Howard

Nobody could accuse Ron Howard of being a visually stylish filmmaker. In fact, if you asked me to name any specific trademarks in Howard's techniques, I'd draw a blank. However, Howard's career has blossomed from 80's comedies like Gung Ho and Cocoon to prestige dramas like Apollo 13, A Beautiful Mind, and Frost/Nixon, the latter of which was written by Peter Morgan. Morgan is well known for penning movies based on real-life events from the British royal family in the aftermath of Princess Diana's death (The Queen) to a harrowing account of Idi Amin's brutal regime (The Last King of Scotland). Howard and Morgan have teamed up again for Rush, a story lighter in tone, but no less compelling.

Rush is set in the world of Formula-1 racing during the 1970's, a time when technology and safety guidelines seem downright archaic compared to today. Injuries and deaths were a regular occurrence as 42 drivers lost their lives between 1950 and 1980. F1 spectators were enraptured by the rivalry between champion racers James Hunt (Chris Hemsworth) and Niki Lauda (Daniel Bruhl). Hunt is a blonde Adonis, a brash and cocky Englishman who fit perfectly in the era of sex, drugs, and rock 'n' roll. Even Hunt's failures were spectacular. His brief marriage to supermodel Suzy Miller (Olivia Wilde) ended when she left him for screen idol Richard Burton. On the other hand, Lauda is cold and calculating, a veritable Vulcan. His bluntness doesn't make Lauda any friends among his fellow racers, who see him as arrogant. But, Lauda is driven, no pun intended. Shunned by his wealthy family, Lauda bought his way onto his first F1 team and rebuilt his car from the ground up to his specifications. Later, he joins Ferrari to win his first championship.

A rain soaked course in West Germany changed their lives forever. Lauda argued to postpone the race as weather conditions made the already dangerous track more treacherous, but Hunt rallied the other racers to his side and the race was on. Lauda suffered a near fatal accident that caused severe burns to his face. Against all odds, Lauda was back in the driver's seat six weeks later.

Rush is undoubtedly Ron Howard's best looking picture and his strongest work since 2008's Frost/Nixon. Howard and cinematographer Anthony Dod Mantle (who won an Oscar for Slumdog Millionaire) make liberal use of car-mounted cameras to drag the audience along for the ride. Some snazzy graphics help to jazz up the requisite montage sequences. There's a slight graininess to the look of the film that, along with excellent make-up and costume design, accurately capture the heyday of the 70's. Rush won't have enough racing to satisfy enthusiasts, but this is primarily a character study.

Morgan doesn't go the easy route by painting one of the leads as the villain. He finds the right balance and makes Rush equally Hunt's story as much as it is Lauda's. The screenplay builds an antagonistic relationship between the characters while naturally growing them into a mutual understanding and respect. Hemsworth is pitch perfect as the golden boy James Hunt. He is, after all, the god of thunder. Hemsworth's charisma could have overshadowed his co-star, but Daniel Bruhl is just too good to recede into the background. It's a shame Bruhl's performance was lost in the shuffle during awards season. Lauda isn't the most likeable guy around, but Bruhl imbues him with an unwavering determination and subtle charm. If that doesn't work, Lauda will earn your sympathy as he undergoes the painful procedure to have fluid drained from his damaged lungs.

Since Rush focuses on the macho world of Formula-1, the female characters get the short change. Olivia Wilde and Natalie Dormer from Game of Thrones mostly serve as arm candy for Hemsworth though Alexandra Maria Lara gets the meatier role as Lauda's wife, Marlene. Thankfully, she's not the stereotypical worrywart. She's a woman with a quiet understanding that the dangerous world of racing is her husband's life.

Rush doesn't reinvent the sports drama, but it is a well-made picture built around two solid performances from Chris Hemsworth and Daniel Bruhl. The beautiful presentation of the Blu-ray makes this an easy recommendation.

Rating: *** (*****)

Jayne Mansfield's Car

Jayne Mansfield's Car - Dir. Billy Bob Thornton (2013)

Billy Bob Thornton won a wealth of awards and critical acclaim for his directorial debut Sling Blade. His follow-up was an ambitious adaptation of Cormac McCarthy's novel All the Pretty Horses. Thornton butted heads frequently with then-Miramax head Harvey Weinstein over the final cut, which was heavily truncated. After that, his last directorial effort was the low-budget dramedy Daddy and Them while the last screenplay he penned with writing partner Tom Epperson was 2000's The Gift. Now, Thornton has returned to the director's chair for Jayne Mansfield's Car, a generational drama set in 1969 that has very little to do with the titular actress's infamous death.

Robert Duvall is Jim Caldwell, a crotchety patriarch living in a small Alabama town with his three sons Jimbo (Robert Patrick), Skip (Thornton), and Carroll (Kevin Bacon). Caldwell is a WWI veteran with an obsession for car accidents. He monitors the police frequency and surveys accident scenes like a tourist at Disneyland. His sons also served in the military during WWII. Jimbo is the closest in personality to his father, but was never deployed overseas, a source of much contention. Skip was a Navy pilot, who sports physical and psychological scars after surviving a hospital fire. Carroll has become a long-haired hippie protesting the conflict in Vietnam after witnessing the horrors of war as an Army medic.

Jim receives word that his ex-wife Naomi (Tippi Hedren whose scenes were deleted) has passed away due to cancer. Naomi left him some time ago and moved to England where she eventually married Kingsley Bedford (John Hurt). Now, Kingsley is coming to the States for the funeral long with his adult children Phillip (Ray Stevenson) and Camilla (Frances O'Connor). The two disparate clans bond in unexpected ways. Jim and Kingsley swap old war stories about their military service and their marriages. At one point, they visit a nearby fair where Mansfield's car is on exhibit. Skip finds himself smitten with Camilla while Phillip fends off the amorous affections of Jim's daughter Donna (Katherine LaNasa), who is married to an obnoxious car salesman (Ron White).

Jayne Mansfield's Car unfolds like a low-key Tennessee Williams play. It moves at a comfortable pace as if it were leaning back in a rocking chair with a fan in one hand and a mint julep in the other. The film primarily deals with the effects of war and the somber realization that the mistakes of one generation continue on to their children and their children's children.

Thornton has gathered together a powerhouse cast to bring the story to life. Duvall is pitch perfect as a good old southern boy who keeps his emotions close to the vest. He shares some welcome screen time with another vet in John Hurt. It's also a treat to see Ray Stevenson in a strong role that doesn't require him to kill a bunch of people. Thornton has one of the film's most solemn moments when he recounts the events that led to the burn marks across his body. He also participates in the most bizarre scene in which he masturbates while Camilla recites The Charge of the Light Brigade in the nude. This is the only over-the-top sequence as the movie generally finds the right balance between heavy drama and light comedy.

Ultimately, the script is too scattershot to emphatically succeed. There's not a strong enough narrative through line and the dialogue is painfully on the nose. Simmering tensions boil over during a stormy night, but things get smoothed over a little too easily by the time the credits roll.

Jayne Mansfield's Car is a noble attempt at an epic drama that misses the mark on several occasions. The array of talented actors, at least, makes it worth a rental.

Rating: ** (*****)