Review: Cop Out (2010) TH

Oh, buddy, more coppers

Brooklyn police detectives Jimmy (Bruce Willis) and Paul (Tracy Morgan) have been together as partners for the NYPD for 9 years, until they get suspended for 30 days without pay as per a botched sting operation involving Mexican drug dealers, excessive force and now an unusable informant. Jimmy's daughter is getting married and instead of letting his ex-wife's wealthy, condescending husband Roy (Jason Lee) foot the bill, he volunteers despite having no income for the next month and nothing to his name besides a very expensive, one-of-a-kind Andy Pafko baseball card.

This jumps over to a subplot that ties into the very reason they got suspended when the card gets stolen. They dodge giving information to the arch rival detectives Mangold and Hunsaker--who are constantly give them sarcastic flack for being screw ups--and decide to follow up the leads on their own. After getting some information off an effeminate cat burglar, who doesn't know when to shut up, they end up at the crib of the Catholic, murdering-dudes-left-and-right gang leader named Poh Boy who's got a posse that's armed to the teeth like a bunch of modern outlaw bandidos. The intimidating and potentially loco man named after a sandwich negotiates a deal that if they can get back his Mercedes Benz from some elusive guys who stole it then he'll hand over the card. Though a simple transaction turns into a fiasco that involves a growing list of illegal activities that these honest cops can't look the other way on.

"Cop Out" is a from-one-thing-to-another type movie, where the plot is loose and the players throw out some banter for the meantime. Problem is the story isn't note worthy and on top of that the chemistry between Willis and Morgan feels hit and miss, not to mention they frequently jump in and out of character. Ana de la Reguera as Gabriela is cute and likable, and the gang leader, played by Guillermo Diaz, is brutal to the point of exaggeration but also brings a certain on-screen presence just to see his next move. This isn't just a basic movie, it's a movie that doesn't hold that much power over its audience: they don't capitalize on what to root for, they don't take advantage of relating factors, there's nothing of value to polish with upkeep, light on mystery, small surprises, nothing to learn and repeat, little on growth, not as big on action and this produces superficial rewards--exhales. The one thing it does have is some nostalgia going on: '80s synthesizer music mixed with other radio hits, as well as more references to other movies than one can count. It plays on the cult, but doesn't produce a following itself.

This is purposely derivative and what makes it trip over its own shoelaces is it never fully crosses back over to walk with its own gait. "Lethal Weapon" and "Rush Hour" played on the tried-and-true and had their cliches as well, but still added some other elements to make the experience have their own distinctions to go back to. This is the second chance I've given this--being a fan of some of Kevin Smith and Bruce Willis' work--with the first time being okay if nothing special, but on the second time the slap stick jokes wear thin and have a shelf life of one time use with some currently having a stale taste as is. After awhile "Cop Out" feels like it's dragging through the mud as what's displayed isn't producing anything that's exceptional, even by simple escapism standards. For shame.

Director: Kevin Smith (Clerks, Dogma, Zack and Miri Make a Porno)
Starring: Bruce Willis, Tracy Morgan, Guillermo Diaz, Ana de la Reguera, Jason Lee, Kevin Pollak, Michelle Trachtenberg
Website: IMDB

Review: Date Night (2010) TH

A night of misadventures and misunderstandings

Phil (Carell) and Claire (Fey) Foster are an average couple from New Jersey who have harmless full time jobs, two highly active kids and most importantly no time to build on the romance and adventure they once started out with. They seem to have become a cross between best friends and brother and sister, as they're familiar enough to give out sarcastic and sometimes dry jokes with some comedic observations thrown in at what was them or could really be them. They're so busy and responsible that they hardly noticed the slump of doing the same ol' things in the same ol' order until their close friends the Sullivans (Mark Ruffalo, Kristen Wiig) are getting a separation from lack of wind in their sails. Claire and Phil decide to turn a regular date night into one they'll remember, except it ends up being more than they bargained for.

After getting shot down for a reservation at a trendy, upscale restaurant called Claw over in New York, they pretend to be the Tripplehorns to snag a table. Quicker than you can say, "If you're looking for trouble, it's bound to find you," two guys who appear to be restaurant employees ask the now drunk couple to step outside. Soon enough things turn for the "North by Northwest" worst, as these are gun waving fellows are looking to get a flashdrive back for their boss Joe Miletto (Ray Liotta) and don't believe the two aren't really the Tripplehorns. Instead of getting filled with lead, Phil and Claire go with the flow and make up information in hopes that something will come up in the meantime. Opportunity strikes and they get away only to find themselves jumping back and forth to escape the two that look like henchmen but might be something else.

From one location to the next, they end up breaking every other law, get help from the continually shirtless private security guy named Holbrooke Grant (Mark Wahlberg), to meeting the real Tripplehorns called Whippit (Mila Kunis) and Taste (James Franco) that are just a couple of movie referencing Bonnie and Clydes who got in over their heads. This is an exaggerated cinematic world where regular people exceed and bad guys are really bad. Everyone is a caricature of their type from shady gangsters, perverted politicians to corrupt cops, which makes the experience purposely silly and far from ground-breaking but still a somewhat fun formula because it doesn't even take itself seriously. Some situations jump the ship of just being plain dumb, such as both attempting to pole dance and then like a miss episode of SNL it carries on far too long. There's a tad of action between the one-liners and sometimes inventive remarks, including an impossible but wild car chase and some guns waved and fired. Fey and Carell are both energetic and well-timed out with their back and forth banter in between their characters trying to figure out an exit strategy. This is about two regular folks attempting to save their own skin and simultaneously save the day. Been there, done that countless times, but it's still an easy and unchallenging ride to relax and loosen up with to pass the time even if it doesn't claim to be a first rate film.

Director: Shawn Levy (Just Married, Night at the Museum)
Starring: Steve Carell, Tina Fey, Mark Wahlberg, Ray Liotta, Mark Ruffalo, Kristen Wiig
Website: IMDB


Quotes:

Claire: "That's amazing, Jeremy, but I'm gonna go home now and fart into a shoe box."

Woman at book club meeting: "This part really spoke to me. I mean, to walk 20 miles for water, and then to suddenly discover that you're menstruating?"
Phil: "Quite sad."
Woman: "Sir, you have no idea what it is like to be a teenage girl having your first period under Taliban rule."

Taste: "This is about how I'm an asshole all the time, huh? How you have no trust that I can pull things through."
Whippit: "Yeah!"
Taste: "How I can't do anything right? I buy the wrong soda?"
Whippit: "Yeah."
Taste: "The wrong beer!"
Phil: "I hear you, man."
Taste: "The wrong nipple clamps."
Phil: "Well..."
Whippit: "Those clamps hurt me!"

Review: Friends with Benefits (2011) TH

Hypocritic oath

This is a romantic comedy on the candid side that attempts to evenly round up both the female/male viewer by throwing out some honest, self-depreciating jokes about the sometimes awkward and frustrating aspects of what either side goes through when dating and attempting to secure a steady relationship. "Friends with Benefits" is an unchallenging film that comes across more as a spoof of other contrived rom-coms while still managing to fall into a few of the trappings and part of the formula itself the more involved it gets.

This is by no means quintessential and it's hard to say if it tackles the promiscuous question any better than "No Strings Attached" as they don't always take themselves very seriously but are more for brisk and painless recreation instead. "Friends (with Benefits)," the indy flick from 2009, answered a little more about the debatable question. The main difference between the recent "NSA," is it had one side who felt more attached than the other and previously they were more acquaintances than friends. All three seem like different experiences in their own little ways, but where both "FwB" 2011 and "NSA" borrowed off of "F (wB)" 2009 was they all start off as silly comedies and then revert back to a similar rom-com template, not to mention all boil down to emotions that everyone was trying to suppress. Now that a template is officially established, hopefully this is the last of 'em.

This has a very loosely laid out plot that instead of going for layer upon layer keeps it simple by concentrating on character development, leaving ample room to evaluate emotions and coming with little recognizable patterns throughout in the meantime that looks at their on-the-fly lives in the city and charismatic friends and family members. There's the premise: they go through unserious and unreasonable dates, then meet through business--Dylan (Timberlake) is from L.A., Jamie (Kunis) is from N.Y., now he moves to N.Y.--they become close friends and, of course, they're done with the emotional side of sex, hence they should be friends with benefits. Problem solved! Not exactly. Both are still romantics at heart even though they try and hide their emotions so they don't get hurt again with Jamie being a blunt, cursing New Yorker, and Dylan avoiding talking about private issues when confronted. They try and keep it cut and dry or as a "tennis match," but if it wasn't inevitable enough start to grow onto each other. They want to keep the friendship, so both date outside but confusion sets in if they should go back and further the connective bond they had.

From what at first has them yelling out calculated directions of how to please one another like a business transaction, this turns into some believable chemistry between Mila Kunis and Justin Timberlake with some spontaneity thrown in to give them some natural interaction. This comes with lots of undergarment shots, a few butts, as well as plenty of bedroom banter that only holds back in showing the full detail. Shaun White shows up as the token and somewhat pointless antagonist who's nice to everyone else but chides on Dylan because he had a thing with Jamie prior. Woody Harrelson plays the proud and macho gay friend Tommy who's got a thing for sports. Harrelson tries a little too hard, but still manages to keep one's undivided attention whenever he enters the screen just for what he'll say next. Patricia Clarkson--from "Easy A"--plays Jamie's irresponsible mom Lorna who goes through more men than floss and has some pretty humorous lines despite not being the perfect role model.

Everybody seems to be checked out when it comes to steady relationships, including Dylan's father (Richard Jenkins) who's going through Alzheimers but wishes the mother was still around and that he actually went after a former crush. This causes Jamie and Dylan to reevaluate what they had, despite the flaws and hangups, and the film from having rapid edits and quick quips in the beginning starts to eventually ramble on and turn a tad bit long so it can avoid falling into a cliche and sappy closer, which it nearly does so anyway. Who are they fooling? Even though some of the humor and serious subjects don't always mix at this stage, it was still somewhat mushy, easy fun that's perfect enjoyment for a date night or a relaxing nothing-to-do day. "FwB" doesn't necessarily answer any questions as it shows more than it tells, but when it concludes still comes with a few relating puns and jabs at what people go through just to find the right person, or who that right person actually will be outside of our preconceived notions. I guess there's hope even for the ones who want to cut to the chase and eliminate all those courtship rules.

Director: Will Gluck (Fired Up!, Easy A)
Starring: Mila Kunis, Justin Timberlake, Woody Harrelson, Patricia Clarkson, Richard Jenkins, Jenna Elfman
Website: IMDB

Review: City Island (2009) TH

An imperfect family on a small NY island

This is a personal story about secrets: hiding them, sharing them. From the son who's interested in kinky stuff, the daughter with a racy job, to the father who sneaks off to no one in the family knows where. Everyone here has got one and it's high time they come out instead of ducking away.

On a small fishing island a corrections officer named Vince Rizzo (Andy Garcia) notices someone of familiarity called Tony (Steven Strait) that got transferred to the prison he works at. He knew the young man's mother and decides to take him into his home on good faith from a stipulation in his sentence called provisional parole. Tony absorbs the vociferous and argumentative family with reserve, as this is just another temporary place and nothing more. The daughter is in town visiting from school but plays referee, and the rebellious son is enrolled in high school but never attends. This is your typical dysfunctional family with outbursts and sarcasm to express themselves instead of "good mornings," "how are yous" and who could forget "have a nice day" except them.

"City Island" isn't really selling you something you might not have seen before and is a little coincidental at times, but gives a little bit of hope to those people who are in the same situation or are on the verge of getting there. This is a light drama with distinct characters that feel and breath the part. This comes with a few chuckles from some puns and in-jokes to other films. The Rizzos seem to have grown sick of each other but are still hanging in there to make it work because deep down inside they care but have a weird and aggressive way of showing it in loud New York fashion. There are some learning experiences, such as finding out that hiding from one another creates more space, instead of embracing each other for their own distinctions and imperfections. The characters managed to slightly grow from the outset and head towards the direction of a more comfortable life. Just because things didn't work out the way you originally envisioned, doesn't mean you have to give up or grow spiteful as you have your support group to fall back on: your family. Yep, those folks who aren't going away. Use what you got, or miss out.

Director: Raymond De Felitta (Two Family House, The Thing About My Folks)
Starring: Andy Garcia, Julianna Margulies, Steven Strait, Emily Mortimer
Website: IMDB