IRRESTIBLE

Steve Carell     Rose Byrne     Chris Cooper     Mackenzie Davis

     Jon Stewart (writer, director, producer) is at his best in comedy mixed with high drama, while ultimately making killer points about issues within a larger scope. Fine acting from the principal players makes it all work.

     The scene opens in a small town in Wisconsin that has lost its main industry and is dying.  The mayor and other city leaders have a proposal that appears not to be in the interest of the town of Deerlaken or its citizens.  The measure has almost passed when in strides local farmer Jack Hastings (Cooper) with a passionate argument against it.  However, he appears not to be making much headway with the leaders or the townspeople.

     When Democratic political consultant Gary Zimmer (Carell) hears about the situation and Hastings, he has the bright idea to shape Hastings into becoming a mayoral candidate in the upcoming election, who is confident he can “turn” Jack and the whole Republican town into Democrats.  

     Gary’s colleagues are extremely skeptical, but he has such confidence in his judgment and skills, he takes off for Deerlaken with high hopes, only to be consistently shocked by the nature of a small town versus a city like Washington D. C. (Example:  He only has to order lunch at the local watering hole, and meet a couple of people, for everyone he meets immediately after to know him by his new nickname, “D. C. Gary”, and he is greeted by everyone he meets as if they’ve known him forever.)

     Gary is successful in convincing Jack to run as a Democrat, and the campaign forges ahead.  There will be jolting upsets when Gary’s archrival, Republican Faith Brewster (Byrne), hears what he is up to and likewise descends upon Deerlaken.  But she is supporting the re-election of the mayor (Brent Sexton), backed by big bucks.  This, of course, results in Gary intensifying his fund-raising efforts.  The subsequent no-holds-barred rivalry of the two serves as part of the production’s entertainment.  

     Chris Cooper is ideal as a countrified character with an “aw-shucks” attitude overlaying a canny, strategic mind, and his background includes being a war veteran.  Gary sees that the principles underlying his arguments adhere perfectly with explicit aims of the Democratic Party.  A widower, Jack has a grown daughter Diana (Davis), who is devoted to her father, and enthusiastically joins his campaign.  

     The odds favor first one campaign then the other, with Faith shown to be a ball-busting flirt without principles and Gary handing it right back to her and gradually increasing his edge.  But as time goes on, the two factions are portrayed more even-handedly, and the viewer is shown more clearly the source of the problem.  Nice wrap-up!  But since I think the very ending is surprising and masterful, I won’t reveal more than that.

I have sorely missed Jon Stewart’s Daily Show on the Comedy Channel, so was highly gratified with many of the lines appearing throughout the film that are signature for him and truly funny and provocative, e.g., “Good people have to do s----- things in service of the greater good” and “We’re spending to start something; they’re spending to stop something.”      More substantively, Jon interviews Trevor Potter (whom I became acquainted with on the Steven Colbert Report show), former Chairman of the Federal Election Commission and current President of Campaign Legal Center stating how it is legal to hide billions of donations to a campaign that later can be diverted to other projects.  Thank you, Supreme Court, for the Citizens United ruling.

For political enthusiasts, this film hits home in the most delightful ways—all to make a provocative statement about the United States today.

Grade:  A                                                By Donna R. Copeland

LIKE A BOSS

Rose Byrne     Tiffany Haddish     Salma Hayek     Billy Porter     Jennifer Coolidge

     Give a few pretty good actors a mediocre script, and what do you get?  Of course, a bad movie.  Everything in this movie is predictable from start to finish.  The filmmakers took every stereotype of women they could think of and included it (e.g., bitchy, manipulative woman boss with an obsequious yes-man at her side, yammering friends, insipid topics of conversation, vindictiveness…you get it). The set-up is two friends since middle school are now roommates with their own beauty company called Mia & Mel.  One is hyper-responsible and timid; one is brash and always coming up with something new. Mia (Haddish) is the former, and Mel (Byrne) the latter.  

     With their business about to fail (hesitant Mel can’t bear to tell Mia about it), a company raider, Claire Luna (Hayek) swoops in with an offer Mel can’t refuse, despite Mia’s apprehensions about losing control of their own company.  They end up agreeing to the terms, but the script has them behaving like school girls avoiding the dishes; somehow, they can never come up with an assigned presentation, even at critical times. They squeak by a number of times, but essentially it goes back and forth between their being in, then out, with Claire.  The absurdities resolve into a completely vindictive conclusion.

     It’s surprising that the director of Like a Boss, Michael Arteta, is the same one who directed Beatriz at Dinner, an innovative, charming, and insightful movie, with Salma Hayek as its sassy star.  What attracted Arteta and Hayek to this script?  I wonder.  The story is by Danielle Sanchez-Witzel, with a screenplay written by Adam Cole-Kelly and Sam Pitman.  The movie seems so much from the male perspective, I have to think the two screenwriters influenced it in that direction.

     There are truly revolting images, such as the “pussy cake” (a cake in the form of a birthing baby’s head emerging from a vagina), an assistant telling Mia and Mel that “Claire will be with you when she wants to be with you”, and “Follow your juices.”  Over and over, the movie tries to push sexual references to the limit while still trying to be funny.

          None of this material has any underlying meaning; it’s clearly for laughs in traditionally “forbidden” areas. Ironically, I think the hope was that it would make a strong statement about female friendship and loyalty, but the writers couldn’t seem to be able to come up with more than a stereotypical, “happy-ever-after” illustration of that or any subject of depth.

This is a superficial, stereotypical view of women and their relationships among themselves and with the larger world.

Grade:  D                                                By Donna R. Copeland

JULIET, NAKED

Rose Byrne     Ethan Hawke     Chris O’Dowd     Azhy Robertson

     What a delightful and entertaining rom-com this turned out to be!  It has smart, funny dialog, along with a lot of heart and truthfulness.  Based on a Nick Hornby novel, the screenwriting (Evgenia Peretz, Jim Taylor, and Tamara Jenkins) syncs well with Jesse Peretz’s direction, and the actors (Byrne, Hawke, O’Dowd, and Robertson) hand it to us on a silver platter.  

     The story centers around Annie (Byrne), a modest anthropologist and curator, who lives with a self-preoccupied film professor named Duncan (O’Dowd), whose music idol is a washed up singer named Tucker Crowe (Hawke).  Crowe is not only his idol, he has a school boy-like obsession with him; e.g., pictures, posters, and other Crowe memorabilia line the walls of his study at home—a little creepy, right(?), which is what we are supposed to feel.  Understandably, Annie finds this insufferable, but she tolerates it as best she can.  (She’s had a life that steered her toward patience.)  Then one day, her exasperation surfaces, and she responds to Duncan’s effusive compliments about one of Crowe’s songs on his blog with a negative review.  

     Much to her shock, of course, Tucker writes back about how much he agrees with her critique.  They have a back-and-forth online which blossoms into a friendship.  Meanwhile, Duncan has been prey to a new faculty member, succumbs to her charms, and subsequently gets kicked out of the house.  In Tucker, Annie has discovered someone who is interested in her and what she has to say, a novel experience for her. Of course, in her innocence, she regards this as a platonic friendship, but she does realize that Tucker makes her feel good about herself.

     What follows elaborates on Tucker’s history (He’s like the old woman in a shoe—he has so many children he doesn’t know what to do.) and his way-extended family, he and Annie meeting in London [him, with his lovable child Jackson (Robertson) in tow], hilarious encounters with Duncan, and working through the complex set of relationships.

     It’s clear that much thought and consideration of many current issues went into this production.  It touches on how professional women are regarded in the workplace and in their personal lives; it demonstrates how fame can lead a star down paths that have lifelong repercussions that can be both regrettable and shameful; it shows the pain and consequences for those who are in the star’s path and perhaps left behind; it gives an example of how one of those stars attempts to compensate for previous weaknesses; and shows the self-actualization one woman experiences when she finally realizes she has aspirations and choices she needs to heed.  None of this is ground-breaking, of course, but the way it all comes together is novel.

     On the surface, Juliet, Naked could be regarded as simply light entertainment—the usual.  But it doesn’t take much to scratch below the surface and glean many basic human truths within it.

I congratulate the novelist and filmmakers on their success in upgrading a genre from a “That’s nice!” to an examination of human strengths and foibles.

Grade:  B+                                    By Donna R. Copeland

NEIGHBORS 2: SORORITY RISING

Seth Rogen     Rose Byrne     Chloe Grace Moretz     Dave Franco     Selena Gomez

       Neighbors 2 is essentially the same as Neighbors (2014), except that gender stereotypes are even more pronounced, although the filmmakers try to promote women and gays in a more positive light toward the end, as if to make up for earlier scenes.  In earlier scenes women are shown as giggly, squeaking, sobbing uncontrollably at a sad show on television, and on and on.  They’re depicted as dumb (e.g., not knowing what ‘escrow’ is, not recognizing the implication of water breaking in a pregnancy, and immediately accepting of a man who appears authoritative to them and promises rescue).  Note that all the writers are male, so expect this to be a male fantasy with a few curbs just to be politically correct.

         Granted, men are portrayed as dumb and bumbling too (clueless about parenting, unable to pull off a heist) and prejudiced against gay men, but they’re also the ones with ideas and computational abilities.  Actually, the film for the most part is accepting of gays by portraying them more or less realistically.  I wish they had been as open-minded toward women.

        The first Neighbors chronicled the trauma of a young couple with a baby who is unlucky enough to have a fraternity move in next door (loud partying, mainly).  Things got partially resolved, and now that the couple is expecting another child, they want to sell their house and move somewhere else.  The problem is that just when they are getting close to finalizing the sale, a sorority moves in next door, which makes matters worse (Dontcha know—women are always worse than men!). 

          What follows is the same kind of one-upmanship that we saw in the first Neighbors, with ridiculous ideas turning slapstick bad.  The only time I really laughed was when a young person not knowing about landlines pulled the “old people’s” phone off the wall, not realizing it was attached. 

         Neighbors 2 is an excellent example of a film not needing a sequel, but filmmakers see the $$$ and do it anyway.  They recycle the same plot and jokes trying to refit it to be more politically correct (although they still don’t seem to be aware that the word “frat” is not really accepted in Greek communities at universities).  I didn’t hear too many laughs in the screening I attended with around 200 people.  Maybe it’s not so funny after all?

The not-funny-again sequel to the 2014 Neighbors.

Grade:  D                        By Donna R. Copeland

SPY

Rose Byrne     Melissa McCarthy     Jude Law     Jason Statham     Allison Janney     Bobby Cannavale     50 Cent
 

Spy starts out with Jude Law (CIA Agent Fine) in Bulgaria aiming his gun at someone; he sneezes and the gun goes off (the first of many scenes of violence with comedy); immediately, he has to fight off 10 assailants.  At the writer/director Paul Feig’s SXSW press conference, he said that after he and the stunt coordinator choreographed the scene, he was very apprehensive when Law informed him he could come only a day in advance of filming the scene.  Not to worry, though, Feig said Law “nailed it; he should be the next James Bond.”

      Feig’s most recent film is unusual in the spy genre in that it’s filled with actresses.  Melissa McCarthy plays Susan Cooper, a trained spy who works at a desk, giving instructions and directions through his earpiece to Agent Fine out in the field.  He also has her doing his household chores, and it’s obvious she is smitten with him.  But suddenly he goes off the grid, and another agent needs to go undercover to find the killer and to finish the job of locating a nuclear bomb known to be in the hands of cold and beautiful Rayna Boyanov (Rose Byrne), daughter of a wealthy Russian.  Agent Ford (Statham) is sure he will be given the order to go by Chief Crocker (Janney), but is taken aback when Cooper volunteers on the basis that absolutely no one will know her.  Ford is insulted to be upstaged by a woman—especially this one—behaves very badly, and tries to thwart her in every move she makes.

      But it turns out that Cooper has been well trained to do fieldwork, so Crocker thinks she is the best choice.  It’s a comedown for Cooper that her new identity will be an Iowan housewife dressed in farm clothes and booked into a seedy hotel.  She is ever so resolute, however, in doing the best job possible and sets out, going to Paris, Rome, then Budapest.  To her dismay, Ford, against orders to stand down, tails her, and frequently makes mistakes, which Cooper has to handle.

     Unexpectedly—and delightfully—Cooper surprises us with her excellent skills in strategy, physical encounters, quick identity shifts, and diplomacy—whatever is called for by a situation.  When she manages to have her path cross that of Boyanov, we are in for even more thrills/comedy.  Byrne and McCarthy play off each other in a way that to women will be very realistic; Boyanov initially poking fun at Cooper in a gentile way, but gradually Cooper winning her grudging respect, not only for her appearance, but for her skills as well.  I am delighted that McCarthy is finally breaking out of the slapstick roles and using her considerable talent in something serious.

      Spy is especially gratifying for its inclusion of strong, capable women in a genre sorely lacking such roles.  At the press conference, I asked Feig what he saw in McCarthy that convinced him she would be good in an action role.  He said that, first of all, he loves filming funny women.  He grew up around women and was more comfortable with females as a child than with the horseplay of boys.  When he began his career in film, he noticed actresses weren’t being given good roles.  Then once, when there was a lull in scripts coming past his desk and he saw Skyfall, he was a bit wistful because he had always wanted to make a Bond film.  “Hey, wait!” he said to himself; “I love working with funny women.  Why don’t I write my own spy movie starring a woman?”  And the movie Spy was born.  Even though he didn’t write the Cooper character for her, when McCarthy read the script she immediately wanted the role.  He went on to say that “Melissa has power, even though she’s one of the funniest on the planet…She’s also like your best friend…not intimidating.”  My goal was to make Spy feel real, and Melissa’s just the best at that. 

      Feig said similar things about Rose Byrne after his experience with her in Bridesmaids and seeing her in Get Him to the Greek and other productions.  He noted how versatile she can be; she can be really scary and cold, but funny as well.  She knows how to inhabit a character in a way that can be funny without being forced.

      Spy is an exciting film that the viewer can become absorbed in, even with the comedy sprinkled throughout.  The actresses are very good, including Janney and Miranda Hart in supporting roles; but so too are Law, Statham, and cameos by Cannavale and 50 Cent. 

You won’t want to miss Paul Feig’s latest production.

Grade:  A By Donna R. Copeland

ADULT BEGINNERS

Nick Kroll     Rose Byrne     Bobby Cannavale

Adult Beginners is a comedy with some heart and substance supporting it.  We’re introduced right off to Jake (Kroll) as a billionaire creator/investor in high tech when his company goes bottoms up.  He never saw it coming, and now has incensed investors all over him.  A funny part of this comedy to me is that in his desperation he turns up at his sister’s house.  (His mother is dead, and his father lives with a new wife in Arizona).  Sister Justine (Byrne) couldn’t be more surprised when she answers the doorbell to her brother standing on the porch.  It’s clear that years have gone by since he had made contact, and Justine is obviously ambivalent about allowing him to stay for three months.  She is pregnant, has a three year-old, and a job on the line.

 

Justine is counting on her husband Danny (Cannavale) to oppose the idea, but he is a family man and says of course Jake must stay, and by the way, how about having him be their son’s nanny rather than sending Teddy to his preschool where he can get sick from the other kids licking the toys. 

 

What follows is a picture of what many families experience nowadays—upheaval of all kinds, challenges that crop up by the day, misgivings, angst, and true caring.  The reward for the audience, along with genuinely funny episodes, is seeing the characters adapt to changing circumstances.  Fatherhood plays a big role here, with the fancy tech guy learning about and coming to appreciate family ties, and the father so caught up in his thriving business he delegates his responsibilities until a crisis brings him up short.  But motherhood is a part of the mix as well, and Justine must let go of some of her childhood fears and rebellion and become a more protective adult with her children and her students at school.

 

Nick Kroll as the author of the story and the director of Adult Beginners clearly shows promise.  In this film, his characters are well developed, the storyline is captivating, and there are threads of wisdom about relationships, marriage, families, and children that he has clearly thought about.  I’m sure the screenwriters, Jeff Cox and Liz Flahive, deserve credit along with Kroll.  There are plenty of one-liners that have soul as well as substance, e.g., “Ow!  Don’t kiss me so it hurts!”  But the whole story line is more than simply one joke after another.  In addition to illustrating how adults can grow still further, it has a number of male bonding scenes that I think women could profit from seeing.

 

Byrne, Kroll, and Cannavale make a fine acting team; they play off one another like good musicians in an orchestra.  They demonstrate here that, taking into account their previous work, they can ace a range of characters.

This is intelligent, thoughtful comedy.

Grade:  B+                      By Donna R. Copeland