Ok. Far be it from me to comment on an actor’s appearance. But in WANTED, Timur Bekmambetov’s laughable assasin story, every time I saw lead actor James McAvoy I kept hearing the theme song from the TV show “Scrubs”.
Add to that the ooh so sophisticated blending of “Star Wars’” “use the force Luke” and “Kung Fu’s” “Take the pea (or was it pee?) grasshopper”, training cliches, and I couldn’t figure out what I was watching. If those weren’t enough visual cliches for you. Consider “Rocky” and the hanging meat. It was in there! I’ve never seen such obvious imagery rippoff. This movie sampled!
And I couldn’t care.
McAvoy plays Wesley Gibson, a nobody who was born to be the greatest assassin. Enter Angelina Joile. Enter those cliche’ training sequences.
[Spoilers]
You must kill the bad guy!. Why should I kill the bad guy? [Enter Jolie's tearjerker personal account of her father's murder and her own subsequent branding by a man who had been scheduled to be assassinated] and we have all the reason we need for killing everyone we’re told to kill. Good enough? Good.
Ok. So our boy goes and kills his father’s assassin – oops. “Luke, I AM your father!” Too bad. He killed his Dad. Why’d I have to kill dad? Oh yeah, and why do I look so much like Zach Braff of “Scrubs”?
Ok. So there’s action. And bending of bullets and time slowing down c.f. “The Matrix”. Ugh.
Yes there is a plot twist. Sloan, the head of the guild turns out to be the bad guy and we finally find out what we felt all along – that there’s something wrong with all this killing.
Yes. Jollie is pretty. But really guys. This is not THE most beautiful woman in the world. Not even top 5. But she moves gracefully and we can’t take our eyes off of her.
Still in the end Angie and Morgan Freeman can’t even rescue this absurdly shamelessly dervitive movie.
Its got good actors (not including the lead) who try, so I’ll give it a 1, but this movie is awful. I literally fell asleep.
A frustrated office worker learns that he is the son of a professional assassin, and that he shares his father’s superhuman killing abilities. full summary | full synopsis
Ok. Right here I’m going to admit something I’ve been trying to avoid.
I watch Morning Joe on MSNBC.
I used to watch Imus. I like Imus better. He put his foot in his mouth and said stupid things. But at least he didn’t interrupt people ALL the time.
Joe conservative is just an ass.
So it was supremely wonderful to have Mika’s Dad on there this morning, and when Joe Scarborough interrupted him, like he interrupts EVERYbody, Z Big put him called him on it!
(He also said Joe had a “stunningly superficial” knowledge of the Palestinian crisis and that really pissed Joe off.
Its about time someone pissed off Joe Scarborough. I loved it!
On our podcast www.csapodcast.blogpsot.com (We’re on iTunes!) we have a feature called What’s Buggin’ Max and The Penguin. Here’s what’s buggin me right now.
STOP CALLING IT 911 !
It was 9/11.
911 is what you say when you need a cop! 9/11 is what Rudy Guilliani says.
They are not the same. There is no need to confuse or conflate one with the other. It could actually confuse kids. They may think that when they hear 911 that we are being attacked by Muslim terrorists. We’re not. Little Stevie just fell off his bike. Dad’s having a grabber. Mom took too many pills! Its not an attack! Ok, in Dad’s case maybe it is. But its not that kind of attack.
What is the need for people to conflate the two? 911 means 1 thing. Call the emergency squad. Yes. September 11th will live in infamy. It will always have that name. Like December 7th is Pearl Harbor day.
But when I hear 911, I want to hear “the ambulance is on its way”. Not somebody talking about politics!
Brian’s Second Rule of Social Dynamics is: I am stupid.
Yay Brian. Its true. Its true for me and its true for most of you, at least once in a while.
What is turning into a theme in these reports, and on Countless Screaming Argonauts (we’re on iTunes!) http://www.csapodcast.blogspot.com is this idea that all of us are do stupid things and need to be forgiven of them. In particular I’m talking about saying something stupid – a personal prediliction.
On the podcast we’ve decided that the country needs a new plea. Something on the order of guilty but stupid. When the judge asks you what you plea? You plead “Stupid!”
This guy is supposedly sending out CD’s of a comedic look at Democrats, that includes such songs as “Barack The Magic Negro” which supposedly is a sendup of an LA Times story.
Most people don’t think its funny.
This guy wants to be the chairman of the Republican Party.
This guy is stupid.
Unfortunately for himself he has to live with himself. He’ll never be the chairman of the Republican Party. He’s stupid!
He should say he’s stupid and go away.
That’s not what I want to talk about either.
On some show on CNN some dude gets on the screen and says something very much like this “Hey white America, wake up. You’ve got a black president!” I can’t find the name of the CNN show or the name of the commentator. He is a radio show host who will talk about this today on his show. I’ll try to find the name and the show and the time and the exact quote but for now, I’ll just say.
Typically I like Adam Sandler movies, despite that I thought he had only one note on SNL. Well in Punch-Drunk Love he’s found a different note. But this movie is not really about Adam Sandler or Barry Egan the character Sandler portrays. This movie is about the director, so while I didn’t like the movie too much, and I felt right from the beginning that something was up that we, the audience, weren’t in on, we’ll give Paul Thomas Anderson credit for doing something different and taking chances. I never took the course in college, known as Surrealism on Film, but I feel confident that this movie would qualify. And while all that creativity is good, the audience is thrown out of balance by tricks, more tricky than helpful. We have to fight the movie to understand it, and this story might have been better as a straight up love story.
Instead we get no opening credits, increasingly irritating music and a character who is just a bit too weird to be lovable.
Sandler opens the movie as an obsessive person who reads all the fine print and wants to exploit free airline miles by buying pudding. The movie opens with him in a kool-aid-blue suit working in the back of what seems to be an empty storage facility before 7 am cutting barcode coupons. The surrealism is extended by strange noises, a walk toward the street where Gage witnesses a very serious rollover accident right in front of him and a van stopping and dropping off an harmonium in the middle of the driveway where this building is that he “works” in. The outside camera shoots toward the morning sun lending a dreamlike air to the shot. Is this a dream?
For most of the movie we try to figure out reality. This movie is surreal. This reporter guessed that the whole thing was in the mind of a man in a coma. Perhaps from the accident. We never again encounter this rollover car crash again.
We do learn about a weird character prone to acts of violence, though against inanimate objects, fits of crying, phone sex calls, and one suit. (Though in fact the tie changes as the day changes). Eventually he is blackmailed by the Utah phone sex business he has called and wierdness and violence ensues.
Add in his seven sisters and one fix up date and get ready for hilarity. Except its not funny. And its not real.
We do tend to end up feeling sympathetic toward the all too forgiving, anxious business woman, Emily Leonard, who having been setup with Gage, seems inexplicably to not notice his weirdness and is inexplicably attracted to him.
Love conquers all. Weirdness is overcome by love, and we all live surrealy ever after.
Let’s hear it for new and different. This movie is very different. Some less heavy handedness by the director, might have allowed the story to become more accessible however.
The world knows that I have a thing for Scarlett Johansson.
This is not about that thing.
5 of 5 Smiling Maxes for A Love Song for Bobby Long
You either connect with an actor, (actress if you must), or you don’t. Its their job to bring you in, to remove the space between reality and cinema. To connect.
In A Love Song for Bobby Long, we connect with Pursy Will.
A Love Song for Bobby Long may seem like a tragedy, but look again. Set against all seasons of New Orleans, Director Shainee Gabel starts with the muted stark grey world of Pursy Will and the dreary even more grey world of Bobby Long and Lawson Pines. Cinematically the colors of the world change as these mundane world of Pursy Will collides with the beleaguered monotonous gray of the once colorful world of Bobby Long.
Pursy has come to New Orleans too late to attend her estranged mother’s funeral. Waiting for her are ghosts of passion, past and present, in the form of two alcoholic writers who at one time shared a life with Pursy’s mom. Through them our Pursy learns about her own past and her mother’s love for her.
Through her Bobby and Lawson are reminded of the lives and passions that they have retreated from, as they medicate their wounds with vodka and dream of love and glory.
Beautifully filmed on location in the Big Easy, A Love Song For Bobby Long delves into the romance of tragedy and opens scars along the way. Sometimes, the best healing is done, uncovered, in the light.
WIth the light comes color and as the movie progresses and the colors appear more disticnt and the warmth of light shines on the foibles and tragedies of the once promising writer and his mentor. By the power of the promise of Pursy Will, the color comes back to the lives of Bobby Long and Lawson Pines.
Travolta is irritating and yet occasionally vulnerable as the bombastic, acerbic and anguished Bobby Long, and Gabriel Macht’s quiet on screen power is warmly accessible as Lawson.
There is no real nudity or violence in this movie and the vulgarity is minimal, because the shocking and obnoxious Bobby Long typically offends, in a most prosaic fashion. Still there’s nothing here for the young kids. However I suspect that teen aged girls will love this movie.
And middle aged men with love this movie. As will all of your wives. Scarlett is perfect. Strong and vulnerable. Travolta is nearly so, if perhaps only slightly over the top. Macht is spot on and the supporting cast is subtle and first rate.
5 of 5 Smiling Maxes for A Love Song For Bobby Long. Abosolutely a must see.
So, the sun was shining, the ice was on the top of the hill, and there was a good big bird flying low over the reservoir. Was it a golden eagle? Or an imature bald eagle?
Some movies you think about over again, for days, weeks and even years. Lost In Translation is one of those for me.
Second time through for me, I’ve seen a whole new different movie. I liked it the first time, when I didn’t get the ending. This time I think I got the ending, and I still liked it.
Lost is a close tight script with plenty of room for the actors. Again. Come in late, get out early!
Lost In Translation is the story of two Americans spending an extended time in Japan. Scarlett Johansson is Charlotte, a young intellectual wife adrift in a marriage, and a world in which she seems not to fit. Forlorn and nearly forgotten by her busy young husband, Charlotte charms and is charmed by Bob Harris (Bill Murray) a major action movie star of the 70′s, reduced to staring in Japanese Whiskey commercials. Since neither can sleep in their hotel in Japan, they spend their free hours in each other’s company.
But they are drawn to each other. And they each have a marriage to which they are feeling less and less connected. However despite increasingly orbiting each other in a tighter and tighter circle, they maintain propriety, preferring to make the other laugh as they share their drinks, ennui and time.
[Spoiler] Harris, struggling with what Charlotte has immediately diagnosed as a mid-life crisis, has a marital lapse with a lounge singer. When we see Charlotte the next morning and she comprehends the situation behind his hotel room door. it is Charlotte that we feel has been betrayed however, not Lydia, Harris’ wife. Still Charlotte makes him feel young again, and he has the wit to keep her active mind from the frustration of the disengagement of being adrift in a see of people, with whom she cannot communicate.
Their time together is limited. So they spend more time together. Their time together brings both joy and frustration.
You MUST see what happens.
I couldn’t report the ending to you, you have to see it.
The performances are first rate, with Murray being perhaps just a noodge too silly while performing his whiskey commercials, but its Bill Murray and the sarcasm oozes, yet still works. But there is much more to Bill Murray’s portrayal of a middle aged star with a brilliant past. Kindness and compassion are there and Sofia Coppola’s writing and directing give him lots of room to roam.
And what can you say about Charlotte? Her performance is subtle, deep and overwhelming graceful. Her voice, her eyes and that fabulous bod, make her achingly attractive, but its her reserve and demured grace that win us to her. And she is winning. Academy award quality performance with direction that holds her like a branch holds a bird.
There are many other actors, all irrelevant except for the mechanical aspect of moving the story forward. There is some rather obvious nudity (not from the stars) and its not a movie a kid would want to watch anyway.
This movie haunts. Rent it. Then write to me and tell me what he said.
5 of 5 Smiling Maxes. Lost In Translation is so engaging – I’d marry Scarlett Johannson tomorrow. I know. That’s just bigamy!
A movie star with a sense of emptiness, and a neglected newlywed meet up as strangers in Tokyo, Japan and form an unlikely bond. full summary | add synopsis
Steve Martin can write. He writes with economy. There’s a line in a book on how to write a screenplay, which suggests “come in late, and leave early”. Allow the audience to discern the story.
Shop Girl does this, so at once you would suspect good writing. Add in the foreknowledge that Steve Martin can write and you’re in for a great movie as he has adapted his novella into this movie. So why then doesn’t it work as well as we think it should.
This writer is an unabashed fan of the style of writing that includes an omniscient narrator. c.f. Cannary Row where John Huston’s narration carries the movie between hot comedic moments and all that great romance. Grey’s Anatomy does a nice job with 1st person narration. Even The Grinch [the cartoon] is wonderfully narrated.
The problem is Shop Girl, well written though it is, is written steriley and produced in a sterile fashion. Cinematically similar to Woody Allen’s Interiors, Shop Girl’s crisp elegance keeps its classical story from allowing us completely in. On the plus side, it is, written succinctly and has the good taste to come in late and leave early. Its Woody Allen without the jokes. Its Woody Allen without the obsessiveness, or the pathos, or the figeting. Or, indeed, the drama.
Claire Danes is perfect as the lead, and the rest of the cast is fine in support, with no one winning our hearts except Claire. This too, may be because of the films style.
The Steve Martin character was real, and the shop girl was real but the third leg of the triangle was a caricature.
Nothing for the kids here. Nudity but no real sex. They would be bored however.
Outside of the sterility and the narrator … lets just say that without Claire Danes …
So while I was ready to be blown away, I must give this movie, barely, 3 of 5 Smiling Maxes.
A film adaptation of Steve Martin’s novel about a complex love triangle between a bored salesgirl, a wealthy businessman and an aimless young man. full summary | add synopsis
In L.A. Woman Jim Morrison croons “Never saw a woman, so alone”. Perhaps aloneness is the irony of Bettie Page’s life. And aloneness is the constant juxtaposition in her life. There she is on the page, nearly naked, utterly alone – and reaching for you.
Gretchedn Mol bears a completely believable resemblance to Bettie Page in the movie The Notroious Bettie Page. Gretchen has, the one thing that Bettie had that made her special. Accessibility. On the pages (no pun intended) of her pin up shots Bettie Page seems to reach out in three dimensions and call you in. “Its ok to look. God wanted us naked.” she might say.
Gretchen Mol has that same quality. An even more impressive feet perhaps, since she is not only comfortable in her own skin as she appears clothed and naked in this movie, but she seems to appear comfortable in Bettie Page’s skin.
They both have this open quality of engagement with the viewer that is unembarrassed by what would make the average person completely self conscious.
The story however is about Bettie’s heart, more than her bod. A senate hearing in black and white is counterpoint to Bettie’s bright openness, and austensibly the movie is about the times of Bettie Page and the contrast between her life and her times, but this movie could well do without the hearings, even though she is referred to in them.
In fact, a deeper investigation, a more thorough exploration of the feelings of Bettie Page and of the times after her modeling career was over would have been preferred to the pompous, and tedious, if relevant Kefauver hearings.
Bettie’s black and white life in New York is cleverly contrasted with the techinicolor blues of Miami.
And its a somewhat flat description of this revolutionary character that keeps this movie from being a 5 on the scale or at least a 4.
Which is not to say anything against Gretchen Mol’s performance for indeed she is perfect in the role. Its just that the writing never goes that last deep depth of investigation. Bettie is contrasted, in wholesomeness and vulgarity, “at work” and in her personal life and the story is constant in a bad way. It never shows us more than it shows in the early part of her time in New York. Bettie is always naive and open and guileless in front of the camera and wholesome, if somewhat modest and almost, but not quite ashamed of herself in her clothes.
We just want that one more step of either guilt or defiance. The story just won’t let us go there.
But the story takes us to a place where we can see a world of shame unashamedly, and with empathy. We like Bettie Page and you will to. For while the writing doesn’t dig too deep, it shines an admiring light on a truly ground breaking personality, just a bit before our times.
Naturally, with an R rating, this is not a movie for kids. And there is nudity, but today’s prime time is more vulgar.
3 of 5 Smiling Maxes for The Notorious Bettie Page, and today, on the date of her death in Hollywood, I suspect 5 of 5 Smiling Maxes for the heavenly Bettie Page in heaven.
The Pin-Up Sensation That Shocked The Nation. more
Plot:
The story of Bettie Page, uber-successful 1950′s pin-up model, one of the first sex icons in America, and the target of a Senate investigation (based on her bondage photos). full summary | add synopsis
Have you heard about this guy Blagojavech? He’s the governmor of Illinois who thinks he’s Monty Hall! (Kids, he was the star of Let’s Make A Deal)
And Blagojavech wanted to make a deal. Boy did he want to make a deal. He wanted to sell the Senate seat formerly held by President Elect Obama. And since Blagojavech is the governor – for now – he thought he could sell the seat. He actually thought he could sell a seat in the United States Senate. Of course he may have had some reason to think so, since he sold the people of Illinois on the idea that he was going to be working for them.
Ok. This guy, Blagojavech, he’s a little nutty. And not like almond extract nutty, but more like full on Kolachki nutty. He once tried to sell the Chicago Bears. And not the football team but the actual bears in the Chicago Zoo.
And his political ambitions we extensive too. He said that he wanted to be president some day. And who knows. George W Bush once told his Dad he wanted to be president and look what happened to him!
The really bad thing about Blagojevich though, is that he seems like a really bad guy. Its true. This is actually true. Rod Blagojavech told a chldren’s hospital that he would not release their funding unless they gave him $50,000 to him. Let’s let that sink in. He actually kept healthcare from sick children. Oh wait. George W Bush did that too.
But this guy Blagojavech is special, not only did he take money from sick children, but he also took candy from babies and dog food from puppies. He’s a bad guy. And the politicians in Chicago are staying away from him like Rush Limbaugh stays away from good taste. Like Rush Limbaugh stays away from the gym. Like Rush Limbaugh stays away from light!
Everybody is staying away. Being seen anywhere near Rod Blagojavech right now is worse than being seen near Elliot Spitzer at the Mayflower Hotel. Being caught with Rod Blagojavech right now is like being caught with Sarah Palin in Saks Fifth Avenue. This guy is such a pariah right now Dick Cheney won’t even go hunting with him.
I don’t like the ballet. At least I didn’t like the ballet. I went this weekend to support my Goddaughter whom I do like very much.
I’ve never liked the ballet. I thought it was gay. But really, much more than that, I thought it was boring. Really really restless-in-my-seat kind of, Dad-can-we-go-now kind of boring …
But something different appeared in my brain on this last trip. I thought the ballet was beautiful.
9 a.m. my boss held a staff meeting. She’s normally very professional. Composed. Organized. In charge. Normally. One thing I like about my boss is that she will relate to her people on as humans. Sounds strange but ask yourselves. How about your boss.? Is it “do this!”? Is it shouting? Is it because I said so? She gets things done without making people feel like machines.
So yay. Right?
Well the point is that yesterday despite her typical composure she almost lost it in our meeting. They, and by they I mean some vague term of upper management people, terminated 50 of the people I work with.
Now, as I have said here in the past, I like the people I work with. I’ve worked at a lot of different jobs. Hmm. That might make a whole ‘nuther category for this blog. Places I’ve worked.
Anyway, this place has less assholes per thousand than any place ever. In fact, the asshole rate is nearly zero. (I’ve worked alot of places. There usually a couple people who seem to go out of their way to make other people uncomfortable. A couple people who get in your face, JUST to give you a hard time.)
In this place, everyone makes eye contact. Everyone says hello. There is virtually no arrogance among the managers. In fact the upper management at least once a year … the “leadership team” if you will … spends a day literally serving, ice cream, or coffee or some thing, in part, just to remind them of the humanity of the people they work with. Its a little cliche’ to say that this is a family. Its not. But anyone can stop the site manager in the hall and have a real conversation. Everyone talks to everyone. Everyone says “Hi”. Nobody made eye contact yesterday. Or if they did, in their eyes was always the same question. “Did you get it?”
I thought it was upright, under the circumstances for the site manager, to not only make himself available by being in the hall and eating in the cafeteria, but to instruct his managers to make themselves visible. Maybe that’s a safety and security thing. In case someone went nuts or something. But it was a stand up thing to do. If someone did want to get in his face, he was there. They all were. And they allowed anyone who was laid off, to take the rest of the day.
I know. Big whup right? Big whup if you got laid off and had carpooled in, that they’d find you a ride home. Still they did that.
The people got severance. They’ll get training. They’ll get counseling. Big whup.
Its a cold hard world out there. Maybe it’ll be me next. For now I have a job. Some loooong time employees at my company, don’t.
Of course, I blame the “W”. I heard a woman, whom I disagree with on every political issue and who hates to hear me talk politics, say that she thought this all started with the gas prices. May be!
“W” said it was not an emergency!! I think he really didn’t understand, the damage $4.21/gallon would do.
Asshole!
So, there we were, with the boss, and she’s telling us 50 people will be let go and we’ll have to take up some of the slack.
This is where the problem comes in. They laid of one of my friends. Dan the wire man. Dan does every kind of wiring in the place, phone, electric, and data. He’s the only one. Dave could do it. Dave doesn’t have time. Only Dan does all of these things for us. They immediately asked him to stay on a couple of extra weeks and finish the project he was working on.
DO YOU THINK MAYBE IT WAS A BAD IDEA TO LET DAN GO???
Shit.
And they laid off Kathy, a manager on the manufacturing side. Kathy makes things work. Kathy does whatever they ask. Kathy is always friendly but most importantly Kathy is effective. Kathy always wears hawaiian shirts! Kathy likes birds. Kathy solves problems, gets things done and treats people like they were her equal.
This is not about “its not fair”. Its not fair. Life is not fair. This is about two things. They laid off people they need. People with vast amounts of experience, and really good necessary useful skills. That’s one.
And they laid off people I liked.
They laid off Mary Jo. Sometimes I think where I work is like a giant high school. If this were true, Mary Jo would have been the prom queen.
I spent a day, having a harder-than-usual time concentrating yesterday. They laid off my friends.
So it has to be true, right? And it is! The Bank Job is the improbable story of a small time “villian” and his friends who go deeper into the world of crime than even they dreamed.
The Bank Job 5 of 5 Smiling Maxes.
This is not supposed to be an easy rating system, but I don’t have the feeling that there was anything wrong with this picture. The whole thing incumbent on the idea that this is actually a true story.
Violence. Action. Yes, nudity, though all of these are somewhat mitigated by the artful cutting and well managed directing of Roger Donaldson. The Bank Job is will cause less blushing than Trainspotting, but this is not a movie for kids just the same. The violence difficult, if mostly only suggested. As is the tension which keeps building as you move to the edge of your seat. Pay attention. It starts slow but then it moves fast. The plot lines are many and the action pulls you away from the story a bit. You’re not always sure which supporting characters to pay attention to … but you kind of need to follow them all. Each is necessary or relevant.
The thing is, this story is just unbelievable. Our band of bunglers jumps right into the fire little knowing that they are soon to get burned by the white hot heat of royal intrigue and international politics, murder, mayhem, drugs and politics.
Jason Stathan’s composed, controlled Terry Leather is at once untrustworthy and likeable. And Saffron Burrows’ Martine Love is at once composed, controlled, untrustworthy and not so likeable, but irresistible to watch. This woman is gorgeous and this one time Boston Legal star fills a role that requires model-like good looks. In truth the rest of the characters are secondary and somewhat unbelievable, which just makes the movie all the more compelling, because its true! Without the factor of a true story, this tale just is ridiculous and more for Michael Palin than Jason Stathan. He almost doesn’t kick any ass!
This story’s twists and turns are too many and I’m disinclined to give the story away, so I will just say rent this movie, put the kids to bed, then watch it.
The true story of a heist gone wrong… in all the right ways.
Plot:
Martine offers Terry a lead on a foolproof bank hit on London’s Baker Street. She targets a roomful of safe deposit boxes worth millions in cash and jewelry. But Terry and his crew don’t realize the boxes also contain a treasure trove of dirty secrets – secrets that will thrust them into a deadly web of corruption and illicit scandal.
Okay, okay, I laughed at Tropic Thunder. Not a big fan of Ben Stiller I must still say that this is probably his best film. Something, though, always lessens his films. Maybe its him. Maybe its his acting. Well in Tropic Thunder Ben is at his best.
As is, God help me. Robert Downey Jr. This reviewer is a huge fan of Mr Downey and once again I find reason to support him. His outrageous portrayal, in, what could be called blackface, of a white Australian actor, so incredibley caught up in his character of the American black Vietnam vet, hard bought and soulful, that he loses himself (that’s the Australian actor) is subtle and yet outrageous. Which draws us into the dilema of the fan of this movie.
It is both politically incorrect and crude. As actors playing actors playing soldiers they talk about the process and mock the art of acting. So far so good. In doing so, in one scene in the jungle, Downey Jr gives a humorous lecture to Stiller on how he should have played the mentally limited character, that was the lead in Stiller’s last film, which flopped horribly. In this sequence he uses the term “retard” several times saying that you never “go full retard” when playing a retard. This language is corse and offensive on its face, to anyone who may have a relative with Down Syndrome or may know a person so aflicted. But the scene is funny. As is Downey’s scene when confronted by the ‘other’ black actor over the use of the word ‘nigger’.
This movie takes on the political correct crowd, and for that I give it some credit. Its harsh, and unpleasant (as is the scene when the director gets blown up and Stiller digs around in his decapitated skull pulling out spinal entrails.
This movie is not for the squemish, nor for the politically correct. Nor is it, I suspect, for the Vietnam vet who has real issues with the death and terror that their days in the jungle may have engendered.
I for one, think political correctness has gone too far. We need to be able to laugh at ourselves. So on the one hand I applaud Ben Stiller for making a movie that takes chances.
The cast is amazing, though in truth, Tom Cruise as the hard bitten producer is not only repulsive but entiredly not believable, even in an outrageous comedy role. Dramatically the opposite, as the ‘psycho’ ex vet author of this fiasco, Nick Nolte is, as always, first rate. Add in a perfect supporting performance by Matthew McConaughey and Jay Baruchel as the fledgeling actor, and the redoubtable Jack Black (an actor too often over the top, but who works spot on, in this over the top film) and there is a lot to speak for this movie.
The story builds actually adding suspense and finishing with a conclusion despite its scatter gun introduction. Perhaps the best thing that can be said for this film is that it didn’t follow political correctness, but the worst is that it is vulgar while only occaisionally being witty.
Nolte and Downey save the film from being bathroom vulgar despite weird Cruise. Brandon T Jackson’s understated performance as the steady Alpa Chino, (and the only really charming performance in the movie by Baruchel) are a welcome respite in a film where the main idea is over the top.
Did I laugh out loud? Yes a couple of times. Still Tropic Thunder, in the end, is “full retard”, and it just may make you sick.
