Movie Review: Forgetting Sarah Marshall - Starring Jason Segel, Kristen Bell & Mila Kunis
Released: April 18th, 2008
Runtime: 1 hr. 52 min.
Ticket Price: $7.50 Matinee
Refreshments: Red Vines
Starring: Jason Segel, Kristen Bell, Mila Kunis, Russell Brand & Bill Hader
Director: Nicholas Stoller
Rating: Worth an Early Matinee
Synopsis: A musician that hates his job providing the soundtrack to a hit TV show gets dumped by his famous TV star girlfriend that stars in that show. Devastated, he takes a trip at the prompting of his friend. Unfortunately, he decides on Hawaii and a resort that his ex used to talk about all the time and she is already there with her new British rocker boyfriend. He decides to stay and starts hanging out with a beautiful hotel employee.
Review: Forgetting Sarah Marshall leaves me perplexed. I can remember laughing a lot throughout the movie, which is good thing for a comedy. But, I can’t remember a lot of what I laughed at, which isn’t so good. I am torn, as I came away thinking it was funny enough, but also that I didn’t particularly like it all that much.
Don’t know if it was the directing, the editing, the script or some combination of the three, but the movie just doesn’t have a very good flow to it. There are some very funny moments, but also some cringe inducing unfunny ones. I kept waiting and wanting to really like it, because I actually like most of the people starring in it, but it just never happened.
Jason Segel (TV’s How I Met Your Mother), who both stars in and wrote the script, shows some real comic wit, when he isn’t incessantly flashing full frontal. He plays the lead, Peter Bretter, who gets dumped and heads for Hawaii. On the downside though, what kind of guy writes himself a starring vehicle where the only nudity in it is his? That’s just strange.
There were some moments in the movie that stand out, on the positive side. Like his Dracula rock opera, which was great. The hybrid Law & Order: SVU/CSI cop show scenes were outstanding. And, don’t leave right away when the credits roll, or you’ll miss the preview of Animal Instincts, the new fake fall series on NBC. Some of the best comedy in the movie comes from the skewering of TV and Hollywood conventions.
Also, Kristen Bell (TV’s Veronica Mars) is very good, as usual, but it is weird seeing one of my favorite TV heroines playing the girl you aren’t supposed to like and actually not liking her. I guess that shows how good she really is. She plays, Sarah Marshall, the TV star that dumps Peter and heads to Hawaii with her new boyfriend.
Unexpectedly, Mila Kunis (TV’s That ‘70s Show), who plays hotel employee Rachel Jansen that falls for Peter, turned out to be very good, as well. She shows she can play something other than annoying. The scene in the bar where she gets Peter up on stage to sing a song from his, in development, rock opera is terrific. Her watching him embarrass himself, but you can see she gets him and the song and you just can’t take your eyes off of her.
One of the best things in the movie is the small part played by Jack McBrayer (TV’s 30 Rock), even if he is just pretty much playing the same character he plays on TV. Also, Bill Hader (TV’s Saturday Night Live) has some good lines playing off of Segel.
Now for the things that weren’t so great. They include the over-the-top British rocker played by Russell Brand (Penelope), the creepy hotel employee played by Jonah Hill (Superbad), and as mentioned before, Segel’s full frontal.
As with a lot of nudity in films, it usually isn’t needed to move the story forward, or in this case, to try and create some comedy. Forgetting Sarah Marshall plays at being a bawdy sex comedy with plenty of raunchy sex scenes, but it has no nudity, except for a few peeks at Peter’s peter, which isn’t part of any of those scenes. It’s similar to the sex montage in Good Luck Chuck from last year, which was unfunny and unneeded, but in that case, full of female nudity. Creating groans and gasps, but no laughs is not what the moviegoer is looking for in a comedy, as shock does not equal funny.
Overall, Forgetting Sarah Marshall is worth seeing at some point, but in the long run won’t end up being very memorable. Well, at least not for being funny, even though, for the most part, it is.
What did you think of Forgetting Sarah Marshall? Let us know in the comments.
Movie Review: Leatherheads - Starring George Clooney, Renée Zellweger & John Krasinski
Released: April 4th, 2008
Runtime: 1 hr. 54 min.
Ticket Price: $9.50
Refreshments: Red Vines
Starring: George Clooney, Renée Zellweger, John Krasinski & Stephen Root
Director: George Clooney
Rating: Worth a Full Price Ticket
Synopsis: It is 1925 and a charming football hero wants to take his team from fighting in bars to playing before large stadium crowds. But, the league is on the verge of collapse and the team has lost its sponsor. So, it is up to him to save the day. He sets out to recruit a college football star to play for them, thus getting the recognition his sport deserves. The new golden boy seems to be too good to be true and a local journalist sets out to show that is exactly the case. While she digs into his story, he and his teammate that recruited him vie for her affections.
Review: It is always nice to leave the movies being pleasantly surprised, as was the case with Leatherheads. After watching the commercials and trailers, the movie looked kind of cheesy. While trailers usually make movies look better than they are, it turned out not to be the case here, as it was completely the other way around. Leatherheads is much better than you might be led to believe.
George Clooney (Michael Clayton, Ocean’s Eleven), as director, has put together a thoroughly enjoyable film, from opening with the vintage Universal Pictures logo to the classic riding off into the sunset type ending. As actor, he is so versatile, in this he just looks like a guy from the 1920s.
What made the movie for me was the interaction between Clooney and co-star Renée Zellweger (Cinderella Man, Bridget Jone’s Diary). The back-and-forth banter was reminiscent of classic screwball romcoms from the 1930s and 40s, something in the vein of a His Girl Friday
Another things was the score and music put together by Randy Newman
There are many scenes that will make you laugh out loud. Not smile or chuckle, laugh out loud. It has been a while since I have been to a movie where so many seemed to be having a good time. I overheard many leaving the theater rating it as an A, as a small survey had passed out to moviegoers on their way in.
Overall, Leatherheads is well worth seeing, even at full price. It is the funniest movie I have seen so far this year and hopefully points to better things ahead, cause an end to the this period of mostly garbage that has filled theaters since the year began is long over due.
Well, let us know what you thought of Leatherheads.
Movie Review: Drillbit Taylor - Starring Owen Wilson
Released: March 21st, 2008
Runtime: 1 hr. 42 min.
Ticket Price: $7.50 Matinee
Refreshments: None
Starring: Owen Wilson, Danny R. McBride, Josh Peck, David Dorfman & Leslie Mann
Director: Steven Brill
Rating: Check it Out When it Hits the Likes of HBO or Showtime
Synopsis: Three less than cool kids are looking forward to the first day of school until they run into the school bully. Yet, they decide to hire a bodyguard to help with their problem. They do so by hiring a guy from an ad online. They’re choice, the only one they can afford, is a homeless beach dweller that convinces them he is was an Army Ranger who will train them physically and mentally to deal with the bully.
Review: Owen Wilson (Wedding Crashers) gives a brilliant performance in Drillbit Taylor. Well, at least in the trailer. His title character is a conman and thief, who stole my money by convincing me he was going to be funny. The tagline of the movie states, “You Get What You Pay For” and that couldn’t be further from the truth, as Wilson wasn’t funny and neither was anything else for the most part and I, most definitely, paid for some comedy. The only aspect that came close was the relationship between him and the teacher played by Leslie Mann (Knocked Up).
That might have made a better movie. It has all the romantic comedy angles: a down on his luck guy, a beautiful woman who is unlucky in love, a wacky meet-up, they fall for each other, she finds out he isn’t really a teacher, he wanted to tell her and even tried a couple of times, he does something to show he has changed for the better and isn’t that guy anymore, and they live happily ever after.
Alas, that was not the movie we got. What we did get was one unfunny bit after another, but it did have heart. Which made it strange. You wanted to see the freaks and geeks win. You were rooting for them and happy when they finally overcame. It just wasn’t funny.
Judd Apatow, the writer/director of hits like The 40 Year Old Virgin
Overall, Drillbit Taylor is worth checking out someday when boredom strikes late on a Sunday night and you are flipping through the movie channels looking for something to watch. Unfortunately, it won’t cure the boredom, but it may help you get to sleep.
Well, let us know what you thought of Drillbit Taylor.
Movie Review: Semi-Pro - Starring Will Ferrell & Woody Harrelson
Released: February 29th, 2008
Runtime: 1 hr. 30 min.
Ticket Price: $7.50 Matinee
Refreshments: None
Starring: Will Ferrell, Woody Harrelson, André Benjamin, Will Arnett & Rob Corddry
Director: Kent Alterman
Rating: Check it Out When it Hits the Likes of HBO or Showtime
Synopsis: Jackie Moon had one hit song in the 1970s and used the money he made from that to become the owner-coach-player of the Flint Michigan Tropics of the ABA. He finds out that the ABA and NBA are going to merge, but only four teams will be making the move to the other league. The rest will fold. He gets them to agree to the best four teams in the league being the teams that make the move and tries to motivate his team to shoot for fourth-place and a chance at the NBA.
Review: Semi-Pro isn’t even semi-funny. While it isn’t as bad as the terrible Strange Wilderness from a few weeks ago, it isn’t much better. If it weren’t for the great costuming and the occasional humorous bit, it would be much the same, as it is as poorly put together as that was.
If you are looking to laugh, keep looking. Better yet, if you are looking to laugh at Will Ferrell, go rent Anchorman
This is Will Ferrell’s worst movie to date, and remember, he starred in Bewitched
There are a lot of funny people that pop up throughout, like Will Arnett (TV’s Arrested Development), Rob Corddry (TV’s The Daily Show), Ed Helms (TV’s The Office) Tim Meadows (TV’s Saturday Night Live), Andy Richter (TV’s Quintuplets), Jason Sudeikis, (TV’s Saturday Night Live), Kristen Wiig (TV’s Saturday Night Live), but unfortunately, none of them are all that funny either. Well, the exception might be Arnett, as one of the TV commentators, who has a few good lines.
You should wait to check Semi-Pro out one day when it hits the likes of HBO or Showtime. Seeing this at a theater is a waste of your hard earned cash. Will Ferrell and his compatriots should have to actually try and not just coast on their past accomplishments.
Well, what did you think of Semi-Pro?
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