7 Reasons to Watch "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty"

7. IT DOUBLES AS A EULOGY...

For print journalism.  That may only resonate with those who once aspired to be a professional scribe, but it’s a phenomenon that’s impacted the masses.

6. ADAM SCOTT DOES A GOOD JOB PLAYING…

The kind of boss who has an MBA and uses terms like “synergy” and “ROI” as if Moses had chiseled them on the tablets along with the "other" 10 Commandments.

5. THE SCRIPT PULLS OFF THE IMPOSSIBLE…

By making me not hate Sean Penn for about ten minutes.   Normally I find him absolutely nauseating, but this role amazingly casts him in a different light though I think that has more to with director/actor Ben Stiller than with Penn himself.

4. BECAUSE BEN STILLER IS AT HIS BEST…

When he is playing the everyman, as opposed to the creepy quirky characters  which he has more recently gravitated towards.  It’s not a great performance but it’s one that’s easy to root for.

3. KRISTEN WIIG

Most know her for her SNL and Bridesmaids physical comedy hijinks but she does nice a good job of playing the type of woman you would want to take home to meet mom.

2. IT’S MESSAGE IS UNIVERSAL…

Stop dreaming and start living because as I wise man once said, “a dream without an actionable plan is nothing but a wish.”

1. IT’LL MAKE YOU WANT TO TRAVEL

The Ad Pub folks at Expedia could not have scripted it better.  From the peaks, the valleys, and the depths of the deep blue sea, the beauty of nature captured on screen will make you want to tear off your business casual, grab your passport, and run out the door.

ONE CAVEAT…
It’s not a groundbreaking film and it's a bit offbeat, but what may really throw viewers off is that at times the plot unfolds like a very slow burn.  Still, I suspect that this was exactly Stiller’s intention as the film is more about the  discovery of self than it is a journey across physical and geographical borders.  Thus action and pace take a back seat to fleshing out various internal machinations.

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Review: Bachelorette

Bachelorette is one of those films first released via On Demand and Electronic-Sell-Through before a very modest theatrical release.  Back in the day when people were buying DVDs like bread and milk before a big storm, such movies were distributed Direct-to-DVD.  In other words, those movies stunk.  So I find it curious that some have described Bachelorette as a cross between The Hangover and Bridesmaids, because the latter two are actually quite entertaining. 

The plot of the movie chronicles the missteps surrounding three high school friends - Regan (Kirsten Dunst), Gena (Lizzy Caplan), and Katie (Isla Fisher) – who reunite as bridesmaids for the wedding of their friend, Becky (Rebel Wilson).  Selfish and mean-spirited, their respective behaviors cause problem after problem and ultimately threatens to derail the wedding.

The problem here is that writer/director Leslye Headland is trying to capture that R-rated comedic magic that others have seemingly bottled with movies such as Bridesmaids and Ted, but unfortunately she neglects the three key elements to successfully creating a solid R-rated romantic comedy – likability, humor, and some semblance of redemption.  Here is how I think she and her film fared:

1. Likability of the cast.  At some point in the past I liked most of the individuals in this cast; Isla Fisher in Definitely, Maybe; Kirsten Dunst in Bring It On, James Marsden in Bryan Singer’s X-Men movies, and so on and so forth.  Unfortunately, I loathe all of them in this movie and that goes ditto for Adam Scott, Lizzy Caplan (Parkey Posey 2.0), and Kyle Bornheimer.  Most everyone in this movie is unsavory and worse still is that nearly every actor in this movie is clearly mailing it in.  As a result one cannot help but feel ambivalent about whether or not the movie’s emotional strings (romantic and otherwise) end up tied in a neat bow.

2.  Humor.  Simply put, there is none.  Someone forgot to tell Headland that cocaine humor stopped being en vogue in the 90’s.  In all seriousness, I cannot recall one scene that elicited anything more than a mild chuckle.  Completely void of any semblance of wit, most attempts at a punch line come off as cruel and mean-spirited.  Sure, having protagonists who make snarky comments can play in a movie, but only when those characters are either likable or have redemptive qualities, which leads me to my third point.

3.  Redemptive qualities.  In a film, redemption comes form the journey where the characters emerge from the events of the plot transformed – finding themselves in a better place from whence they came.  In an R-rated comedy, this also means having the sensibility to straddle the line that divides adult humor and cras vulgarity, so as to ensure that no matter how far the protagonists stray into mean-spirited douchebaggery, viewers can all walk away from the film feeling good about the protagonists.  The trio of Dunst, Kaplan, and Fisher not cross that line, they aslo emerge from the journey (if there actually was one) unchanged.

So in taking stock of this film, it becomes obvious that Headland and her creative team swung and missed on all three criteria.  It should come as no surprise then that I am not recommending this film.  The purported romantic comedy is neither funny nor emotive, thus this is a film to be avoided  at all costs.  There are too many films in this raunchy comedy space that execute this formula infinitely better to waste your time on this one.  You have been warned.

Standout Performance: None.

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Review: Friends with Kids

Friends with Kids is a textbook example of the good ole bait and switch.  Trailers, one-sheets, and other marketing materials feed the consumer with a steady diet of Kristen Wiig, Maya Rudolph, John Hamm, and Chris O’Dowd.  The goal clearly is to create an association between this film and the quartet’s last project together - Bridesmaids.  In doing so your expectations align to that film experience – the laugh out loud humor, the witty repartee, and just the right amount of sentimentality. However, in reality you are getting something completely different with this movie.  Instead of the aforementioned four, you are getting Adam Scott and Jennifer Westfeldt weaving their way towards parenthood in a overly contrived plot that tries to take aim at the conventions of parenthood and relationships.  Instead of humor, you get soapbox preaching. In lieu of charm, you get drab.

The film provides us two protagonists who believe the traditional concepts and conventions of parenthood are silly and frivolous after watching the mundane lives of their friends and so they decide to platonically have a baby together.  Even as you are reading that last sentence I would venture a guess that you have already figured out how this movie will end for our two protagonists.  The problem then  is that before we - the viewers - can get to that incredibly telegraphed conclusion, you must first endure the plot.

If the movie had only one message to disseminate and if it were actually a useful one, then there might have been value in the almost two hours I spent watching it.  But sadly the plot takes off in so many directions and tries to address so many different relationship issues that it all gets lost in a morass of social angst.  What truly exasperates things is that by the third act, you realize that there are no real answers to be had, no anecdote that makes all the onscreen drama make sense.  Like a dog, the plot seems to be chasing its own tail in one big circle. 

The cast in this movie does very little to acquit itself or the film.  Jennifer Westfedlt and Adam Scott star in this movie but in all honesty are not suitable-for-primetime-players.  Their best work clearly is as bit parts.  That the duo is supported by a group of very successful actors makes their lack of star panache more glaring.  As for the aforementioned  supporting cast, the four Bridesmaids alums are sadly underutilized and appear void of the dynamic qualities that define each of their respective talents.  It’s not so much that they are not trying but more that their respective characters are one-dimensional.  Everything they do feels so bland and muted.

I am going to be honest and disclose that this movie put me to sleep for about 10 minutes between the first and second acts.  That alone makes this movie no better than a C- though even that grade may be a bit generous.  I don't think the movie is an abomination or anything to that extent but it is inconsequential and sterile with no one good redeeming quality. I would be hard pressed to recommend this film even if it were on network TV, because it is just not entertaining.  If these kinds of movies really are your cup of tea, then I would recommend you keep an eye out for This is 40 starring Paul Rudd and Leslie Mann.  Hopefully director Judd Apatow can stem the tide of his Sandler-like descent into mediocrity.

Standout Performance: Megan Fox. She may not be able to act, but she is carving out a little bit of a niche channeling her real-life persona into some smaller roles.

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