Tuesday Movie Reviews

The Bounty Hunter
Starring: Jennifer Aniston, Gerrard Butler, Jason Sudeikis, Christine Baranski
Directed by Andy Tennant

Director Andy Tennant, who has made such fluff as Hitch and Fool's Gold, has made another colour-by-numbers film that sounds like it could be fun, but is sooooo not! Gerrard Butler and Jennifer Aniston are a divorced couple. She's a journalist who has obstructed justice and must face a court hearing. He's an ex-cop bounty hunter. Can you see where this is going? The premise has been done a million times...they hate each other, there's lots of yelling and screaming and bandying about, then they come to love each other all over again. Fine, I can take seeing this movie again. What I can't take is the inane subplot that brings them to work with one another...something about a murder or non-suicide or gun smuggling or who the hell knows what. Gerrard Butler is not made for romantic comedies. He's not that great to look at (did he have a stroke at some point?) and I swear you could smell his b.o. through the screen. Aniston is there simply to be a skinnier, higher cheek boned Rachel Green. The chemistry between the two, if you can call it that, comes across incredibly forced. Oh, did I mention the absurd subplot??? I laughed, in spite of myself, at a couple of scenes, but all in all this is a movie that can easily be missed.

GRADE: D-

Greenberg
Starring: Ben Stiller, Greta Gerwig, Rhys Ifans, Jennifer Jason Leigh
Directed by Noah Baumbach

If you remember, about 5 years ago, came a little film that got a lot of buzz. It was called The Squid And The Whale and was written and directed by Noah Baumbach. It was a strange little film about family dysfunction, but it was real and quite funny at times. Baumbach's next film was Margot At The Wedding which I have to say ranks as one of the worst pieces of crap I have ever seen! It's quite evident Baumbach had a strange childhood. Well, somewhere in the middle we find Greenberg. Ben Stiller plays the lead character that has just been released from a mental hospital and must find something to do with his life. He's quite content doing absolutely nothing, or so he claims, but there is obviously something missing. He finds a little of that something in Greta Gerwig's character Florence. She's got issues of her own, but they seem to meld well. Here's the problem, Greenberg is not a nice guy. There really isn't anything redeeming about him. The movie plays along at a snail's pace and nothing really seems to happen. It's like looking into someone's boring life. Now, after saying that, Stiller does a pretty good job at the whole dramatic thing. In fact, the movie reminded me of a poor man's Punch-Drunk Love which starred another comic actor, Adam Sandler, in a dramatic role. Punch-Drunk Love, though, had a lot more to offer than Greenberg. Greta Gerwig was good, and Rhys Ifans was really good, but the story was so "nothing" that their performances got lost in the shuffle.

GRADE: C+

Our Family Wedding
Starring: America Ferrera, Forest Whitaker, Carlos Mencia, Lance Gross, Regina King
Directed by Rick Famuyima

I read the reviews on this movie after I watched it, and they were not good. It got totally panned! I really don't understand why. Certainly it's not original, and there were a couple of slapstick scenes that had no business being in the film (the goat???) but all-in-all I enjoyed the warm feeling I had watching it. This is the type of movie I imagine Tyler Perry doing (I've never seen a Tyler Perry movie). Two families, one African American and one Mexican American (how politically correct am I?), are forced together over the impending nuptials of their offspring. Some craziness ensues, and many off-coloured cheap shots, but everybody learns to love one another and become family. Ok, I agree, that doesn't sound so great, but the fabulously likeable America Ferrera makes you forget the bad writing. There are many lessons to be learned by all involved which I found a little corny, but a little sweet as well. The final wedding goes on for days, but it was nice to see this family enjoying themselves. I don't know, maybe I was in the mood for something brainless, but I don't think this movie should have received such a drubbing by the critics. Oh, and Eddie Murphy's brother is in it...I can't say why.

GRADE: B-