MARRY ME

 Jennifer Lopez     Owen Wilson     John Bradley     Sarah Silverman     Maluma

            Marry Me is the sweet kind of comedy many are drawn to.  Unlikely events transpire with a few worrisome moments, the main characters are likeable, and the plot gradually thickens to bring the show to an end.  Jennifer Lopez as Kat Valdez, a wildly popular singer plays the role beautifully and convincingly throughout.  It’s fun for the average viewer to get to go behind the scenes and get a peek at the life of a celebrity—the perks, as well as the insufferable publicity.  I imagine that the character Kat may be based on the actress herself, at least as she is currently regarded.  Earlier, she had a reputation for being a diva, but she may have been forced in that direction in order to achieve what she has as a Latina woman.

            The same might be said for Lopez’ costar, Owen Wilson, who is usually seen to be a laid-back guy with a somewhat wry bent to his personality and the characters he plays.  They’ve both acted in a number of rom-coms, so are experienced in the genre’s comic timing, mixture of sadness and goofiness, and pulling of the heartstrings.  I wouldn’t have expected there to be much “chemistry” in their attachment, but that does begin to surface as the characters get better acquainted.

            John Bradley does a great job in being Kat’s manager, showing expertise in negotiations, going with the flow, and riding out the abrupt changes in plans.  This character is always Johnny-on-the-spot, providing instant cash, reservations, or whatever practical items are needed.  Bradley is skillful in having his facial expression show exactly what he is feeling inside.

            Marry Me is successful in achieving what I presume was intended, an entertaining show with dashes of insight and soulfulness.  Directed by Kat Coiro, it holds the viewer’s interest and amusement.

 

When a celebrated pop singer is found to be betrayed right before her planned on-air wedding, she comes up with a spur-of-the moment solution to her problem.

 

Grade:  C                              By Donna R. Copeland

MOONFALL

Halle Berry     Patrick Wilson     John Bradley     Michael Pena

Donald Sutherland     Charlie Plummer 

            This movie is a disaster—but not in the way the filmmakers intended.  It’s the disaster.  The thinly drawn characters, the inane/stereotypical dialog and awkward dreamed-up situations make it hard to sit through.  Special effects are about the only aspect of Moonfall that have a chance to entertain.

            The story starts in such a hodge-podge, it’s difficult to discern the plot and sort out the characters.  People and technical information are thrown out rapid-fire in the first few minutes so that it takes some time to get oriented.  Finally, we begin to see that something major is happening with the moon that if not stopped will endanger the earth.  Institutions such as NASA and the military are portrayed as run by self-serving fools.  For instance, there is the military solution considered of nuking the moon, with no regard to fall-out danger to the earth.

            The main characters include Brian Harper (Wilson), a disgraced astronaut who is blamed for his friend-colleague’s death, his ex-wife Jo (Berry) who is now married to a general in the military and who is made the leader of NASA where she is employed by the current chief as he is running out the door, and hapless janitor KC Houseman (Bradley) impersonating a scientist-astronaut and claiming to understand a complexity in the universe that has stumped the real scientists.  In the movie, he is proven to be right.  The upshot is that these three are going to revisit the moon, discover what is wrong and make things all right on earth.

            In the process of the tale, discounted characters turn out to be heroes, government departments and authorities are portrayed as incompetent fools, and somehow miraculous things just happen in order to carry the story along or save the characters.  Tender parent-child scenes are thrown in liberally sometimes during the height of emergencies, and conflicts get resolved somehow, even between ex-spouses.

            Most of these shortcomings can be attributed to the director Roland Emmereich, whose past films have many of the same elements (e.g., Stargate, The Day after Tomorrow, The Patriot, and Independence Day) discussed above and for which he has been criticized.  What Roger Ebert said about Stargate could be said about Moonfall: “Stargate” is the kind of movie where a soldier can be transported to “the other side of the known universe” in a whirlpool of bizarre special effects, step into a temple on an alien planet, and say, “What a rush!”  https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/stargate-1994.

            Cinematography (Robby Baumgartner) and special/visual effects are about the only aspects of Moonfall worth your time.  Not only are they entertaining, but the viewer can appreciate them as works of art and technology.  The scenes in space are breath-taking and convincingly take you to another world.

 

The telling of the story is hard to bear, but cinematography and special effects might be worth your time.

 

Grade:  D                              By Donna R. Copeland