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: We're the Millers

Pop quiz: When was the last time you saw a good Jennifer Aniston movie?  Still thinking?  Well, if you have come to the conclusion that your answer is “maybe never” then you and I are in complete agreement.  If you take a quick look at her filmography, you’ll see it is littered with movies that you either completely forgot about or never saw.  Sure, there are a few decent ones in there, but none that you would say she absolutely carried.  Give her credit though; she’s managed to parlay her run on Friends into twenty years of relevancy.  Her latest movie, We’re the Millers, falls right in line with her others.  It’s not particularly good, and whatever merits it does possess, comes about because of the work of her cast mates.

The plot of the movie finds burnout drug dealer David Clark (Jason Sudeikis) in a bind and forced to make a drug smuggling run to Mexico at the behest of Brad Gurdlinger (Ed Helms).  In an effort to blend in, he bribes a stripper (Jennifer Aniston), a runaway (Emma Roberts), and a geek from his building (Will Poulter) to pose as his family.  Together they try to drive a Winnebago loaded with marijuana across the border and eventually into Colorado. 

In terms of the creative team, there’s not too much to say for director Rawson Marshall Thurber and writers Bob Fisher and Steve Faber.  This film is exactly what you would think it would be in regards to tone and direction – a clear attempt to cash in on some of the rated-R comedic success that Sudeikis has achieved in Horrible Bosses and Hall Pass.  The jokes are crude and only half of them hit, but there’s just enough to keep you going through the mediocre plot until its unraveling in the third act. 

As for the acting, here’s how each of the Millers fared:

Jennifer Aniston may have received top billing, but Jason Sudeikis is the star of this movie.  Putting aside the fact that Sudeikis is rumored to be a very difficult Hollywood personality (almost on par with Denzel Washington and Tommy Lee Jones), he has managed to carve out a decent niche beyond SNL in these sorts of rated-R comedies.  In We’re the Millers, his merits and deficiencies are on full display.  First and foremost, he’s funny in a sarcastic douchebaggery kind of way and that makes his emotive turn in the last act play better.  But when it comes to character development, you get a stark reminder that he is way more of a comedian than he is an actor.  Still, most of the laughs from this film come from him so he gets a check in the plus column.

Unfortunately, Jennifer Aniston as usual doesn’t hold up her end of the bargain.  As the proverbial stripper with a good heart, Aniston plays some iteration of the same character she has played for the past twenty years.  This time out, she is a more bitter, a bit more racy, and not nearly as funny.  The problem here is that she is supposed to be the emotional center of this film and one of the catalysts for Sudeikis’ emotional growth, but it just doesn’t play because Aniston’s onscreen characters are so difficult to root for.  In fact, her best contribution is to the film is not even in the movie itself; its her awkward reaction during an outtake from the gag reel.

Picking up the slack for Aniston in this movie is Will Poulter as Kenny, Sudeikis’ geeky faux son.  I haven’t seen Poulter in anything else, but he really nails the whole affable but awkward vibe necessary to set up some of his bigger gags.  You’ve probably seen the scene with him singing Waterfalls by TLC ad nauseum in every trailer and commercial, but he has plenty of other good moments in the movie and one or two over-the-top sight gags.

Last and certainly the least of the Millers clan is Emma Roberts as Casey.  If I ever there was someone who absolutely looked like they didn’t want to be in a movie, it would have to be Roberts in this one.  In some ways, this helps her performance because her character is supposed to come off as cynical and apathetic, but Roberts brings nothing to this movie.  From start to finish, she is a black hole on screen and adds no humor or hijinks to the proceedings. 

Conversely, the supporting cast is good.  Nick Offerman and Kathryn Hahn are hilarious as the Fitzgeralds and add a pump a good amount of jokes into the mix in very limited screen time and Tomer Sisley and Matthew Willig are satisfactory as the after-thought heavies chasing the Millers across the border.  If there is a weak link amongst the supporting players, it has to be Ed Helms who is way over-the-top (in a bad way) as a suburban drug kingpin and stands as a textbook example of bad stunt casting.

In a lot of ways, this movie reminds me of The Heat starring Melissa McCarthy and Sandra Bullock in that there are some genuinely funny moments but the connective tissue between those scenes just isn’t robust enough.  It’s one of those films that telegraphs the ending right from the outset so without a consistent flow of laugh inducing gags, the whole thing feels a bit thin.  So for me, We’re the Millers is a Netflix movie.  It will almost moderately entertain you for two thirds of its running time and then you’ll never think about it again.  Keep in mind that the more you spend on this one in terms of time and effort, the less you will enjoy it, so see it when you see it or see it not at all.

Standout Performance:  Jason Sudeikis for his haircut scene.  Hilarious.

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Review: Wanderlust

I can usually find entertainment in just about any movie (excluding anything starring Sarah Jessica Parker), so it’s a rare occasion that a film agitates me so much that I start to feel downright hostile.  I had survived some real clunkers these past few months  - Apollo 18, Drive Angry, The Darkest Hour, and of course the immortal Jack and Jill – so I was feeling relatively safe with a Judd Apatow produced comedy starring Paul Rudd.  After all, who didn’t love Anchorman, Knocked Up, and Forgetting Sarah Marshall? 

Wanderlust follows the journey of Rudd’s George and Jennifer Aniston’s Linda as they flee financial ruin and the New York City rat race in search of a new life.  Their journey takes them to an isolated commune in Georgia where a band of misfits live practicing veganism, smoking marijuana, playing guitars, and completely annihilating any sense of personal boundaries.  Does any of this sound like fun?

The problem with the movie is that it purports itself a romantic comedy but is completely devoid of both sentiment and humor.  Rule number one to a romcom is that you actually have to root for the protagonists who are usually fighting any number of obstacles to get together.  I spent two thirds of the movie urging Paul Rudd to just bounce.  Rule number two to a romantic comedy is that the cast must feature a likable bunch that adds levity and laughter to the narrative.  Unfortunately no one fits this bill and each time you start to think that perhaps there is someone, said person goes and does something completely crude or asinine to remind you that you’re watching cinematic rubbish.

I have come to realize that my faith in Apatow’s work is unfounded and really based on past laurels.  In the past five years, he has been attached to nine projects – five (Wanderlust, Funny People, Pineapple Express, Drillbit Taylor, Year One) of which I felt were horrible; two (Step Brothers, The Five-Year Engagement) of which I thought were less than stellar; and only two (Bridesmaids, Get Him to the Greek) that I felt were entertaining.  As you can see, this is not exactly a winning track record.  The problem then with Wanderlust is really the continuing trend of mediocrity for Apatow and his productions.

The cast isn’t given much to work with and in return they don’t bring much to the table.  Paul Rudd is on cruise control delivering the same performance he has given a dozen times, but this time sans the earnestness that makes his characters so endearing.  Likewise, Jennifer Aniston delivers her usual performance – the same one that for the last ten years has failed to resonate with cinematic audiences.  Kathryn Hahn almost literally copies and pastes her performance from Our Idiot Brother; Malin Akerman serves only as eye candy; and Justin Theroux’s Seth literally made me want to throw the remote control at the television.

Every good actor eventually makes a poor choice.  Al Pacino had Jack and Jill; Leonardo DiCaprio had J. Edgar; Matt Damon had Hereafter (ditto for director Clint Eastwood).  Wanderlust is Paul Rudd’s faux pas.  I suggest you avoid this movie at all costs and as you go forward in life exercise extreme caution any time a new Judd Apatow movie crosses your path, because you’re more likely to find yourself disappointed than entertained.  Here’s hoping that Apatow and Rudd can right this wrong with the forthcoming This is 40.  I for one am not particularly optimistic.

Standout Performance: Alan Alda brings nothing to the table in this movie, but he doesn’t do anything prolifically wrong so that earns him this distinction. 

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Review: Our Idiot Brother

If you have been following my reviews recently then you may have noticed that the quality of movies that I’ve been subjecting myself to has been trending downward – most likely the result of a dearth of quality options - although bad decision making cannot be completely dismissed. Regardless, this thinning of the marketplace is not unusual as August gives way to September, but occasionally a diamond can be unearthed from the rough. Well, said diamond has been found in the slice of life “dramedy” entitled "Our Idiot Brother."

There is a lot to like about this film from its quirky comedic sense to its well-constructed cast that is anchored by the always-affable Paul Rudd, whose character is an unfailingly genuine and overly simple man-child. His harmless indiscretions cast him as the idiot burdensome brother to his three intelligent but distinctly misguided sisters. Through his various trials and tribulations, Rudd’s character Ned unintentionally flips the script on his sisters and shows them that it is in fact their lives that are in dire need of repair.

It is not an easy thing to be funny, witty, and emotionally genuine but this cast pulls it off with flying colors. Paul Rudd is his usual funny and genuine self - the type of protagonist who is easy to root for. Emily Mortimer, Elizabeth Banks, and Zooey Deschanel are perfectly cast in their respective roles as Rudd's complex sisters struggling with problems ranging from infidelity to career stagnation. The complexity of their lives is in sharp contrast to the simplicity of Rudd’s character and the resulting dynamic is what drives the film.

As for the rest of the cast, Stephen Coogan and Kathryn Hahn deliver their stock performances, which set them up perfectly as the two foils of the film, while T.J. Miller of “She’s Out of My League” fame shows a good comedic sense and compliments Rudd nicely when the two share the screen. My one complaint is the work of Rashida Jones as Cindy. Her character in this film is drab, uninspired, and very much a cliche– a far cry from her performance in “I Love You, Man.”

I would recommend this film for any occasion. Both entertaining and endearing, the film manages to avoid getting bogged down in minutiae. It is refreshing to watch a film where the only agenda is to tell a good story at a brisk pace and that is precisely what we have here. It was the perfect film to watch as the summer movie season draws to a close.

Standout Performance: T.J. Miller is surprisingly funny and holds his own when sharing the screen with seasoned comedic actors.

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