Just Go With It (2011)

Could've Gone Without It
 

- Adam Sandler is a talented man and often uses his acting powers for good. Punch Drunk Love (2002) and Spanglish (2004) are great examples of Sandler performing at a very high level.... However, especially as a producer, Sandler often uses his powers for evil. While Sandler can give good individual performances, his production company, Happy Madison, has yet to produce a quality film. Just Go With It (2011) is no exception to this rule; I definitely could have gone without this Happy Madison production.

Danny Maccabee (Sandler) is one clustershmuck of a playboy with one successful gimmick: he wears a wedding ring to tell a seductive sob story about a hellish life with a horrible wife. However, Danny's whole game is shaken up after making impromptu contact with the young Palmer (Brooklyn Decker), hitting things off without even putting on the fake wedding ring. But when Palmer accidentally finds the ring, things look very bleak for any kind of relationship. Because Palmer appears as if she is "the one," Danny acts quickly to try and salvage things with Palmer, making up a story that he is getting divorced. The situation becomes complicated when Palmer wants to meet Danny's fake soon-to-be-ex-wife and Danny solicits the help of his single mother secretary Katherine (Jennifer Aniston) to play the part of the conceited bitch. Things get even more complicated when an accidental slip-up alerts Palmer to the fact that Katherine has kids - of course inferring that they are Danny's kids as well.

Could things get even more complicated? Why, yes - yes they can! Katherine's kids are crafty little monkeys and make the charade very hard to keep up - little Maggie (Bailee Madison) treats the whole event like an acting part, deciding to practice her British accent, while little Michael (Griffin Gluck) uses the situation to get what he has always wanted: a trip to Hawaii to swim with the dolphins. Then Danny's cousin Eddie (Nick Swardson) shows up as Katherine's fictitious German lover "Dolph Lundgren" (not the real Dolph Lundgren) and Katherine bumps into her life-long rival Devlin Adams (Nicole Kidman) in Hawaii of all places. (Dave Matthews shows up too). Whoa! I see a huge tidal wave of supposedly funny scenarios heading our way! RUN! HEAD FOR HIGHGROUND!!!!

As one can tell, this comedic labyrinth of senselessness and adolescence barely passes for a plot. But I am sure some of you are thinking: "Come on, it's just a fun movie! Just go with it!" Well, sorry, I could not just go with it. This Happy Madison comedy is just a terrible movie, nearly void of anything resembling good humor or likable characters and is simply difficult to sit all the way through.

This film is shallow in every area from jokes to characters to story to cinematography. The star-studded cast featuring Adam Sandler, who does not get a pass for putting so much work into this awful movie; Jennifer Anistan, who does about as well as anyone could have considering the circumstances; Brooklyn Decker, who is not asked to do anything outside of look hot and act dumb; Nick Swardson, whose talent for standup does not translate well through his character in this film; and Nichole Kidman, who clearly owed someone a favor in order to appear in this film, do nothing to make the film funny or create characters that we care about. While perhaps related, there in fact *is* a difference between "low-brow" and "childish" humor - and Just Go With It takes the latter approach every time. Just Go With It seems to find foreign accents, penis jokes, dying sheep, and Botox-overdosed patients funny; meanwhile, very little wit is present within its reels. Did Adam Sandler and director Dennis Dugan (Sandler's yes man behind the camera as of late) really think that our laughs could be purchased with these worthless gags?

The only aspect of Just Go With It that I even remotely enjoyed was the liberal use of tunes by The Police throughout the film.... And even in this instance, the film managed to screw up occasionally by including not the original versions of The Police tunes but *remixes* of the songs! The film can't even get the soundtrack right!


CBC Rating: 3/10

Source Code (2011)

"Look at me. Everything's going to be okay...."



- Director Duncan Jones has been on my cinematic radar since first viewing his incredible feature film debut Moon (2009). Jones' second film, 2011's Source Code, stars Jake Gyllenhaal as Colter Stevens, a man with the worst case of deja vu in history. After waking on a train, Stevens meets a woman (Michelle Monaghan) who seems to know him very well yet is calling him by a different name. He recognizes many things about this train, even anticipating moments before they happen, although to the best of his recollection he had never been on it before.

And then the train explodes.

Colter wakes up again. This time, he awakes inside some kind of pod with someone named Lt. Goodwin (Vera Farminga) trying to contact him through a television screen. Goodwin informs Colter that he is in fact Captain Colter Stevens, a helicopter pilot, and that he is taking part in an important mission using ground-breaking technology. This technology, called Source Code, allows a one person's consciousness to be inserted inside another person's body for about 8 minutes (it's a new technology, you see). The train that Colter was on has a bomb and he, inside the body of a man named Sean Fentress, must find out who that bomber is using the Source Code.

Source Code is geared for a wider audience than Jones' previous cerebral sci-fi Indie Moon but gets pretty cerebral in its own right. The story is predictable in some areas where the filmmakers must have thought the audience would have been fooled but a number of plot twists really surprise and pay off wonderfully in the end. Jones style greatly compliments the film; not measuring up to that in Moon but featuring a great balance of risk-taking style and accessible Hollywood packaging. Overall, this springtime sci-fi thriller is exciting, character centered, and much more complex than the viewer could have possibly guessed going in.

The only negative I took away from Source Code was Jake Gyllenhaal's portrayal of Colter Stevens. I will admit right off the bat that I have usually met a Jake Gyllenhaal performance with mixed feelings. Some of Gyllenhaal's performances are actually quite enthralling (such as his portrayal of Robert Graysmith in Zodiac (2007) and of the title character in Donnie Darko (2001)) but I find that Gyllenhaal, more than most young actors these days, often fails to appear natural in his roles. Subsequently, rather than being sucked into the film and character by a great performance, I am very aware that Gyllenhaal is acting and this takes away from the overall film experience. The last thing one can say about great actors like Cary Grant or Robert Downey Jr. is that they do not look or feel natural in their roles; this is, of course, one of the reasons that great actors are considered great. Unfortunately, Gyllenhaal is not a great actor and, although more passable as Colter Stevens than the norm, he is the lone but significant, sour note in Source Code. 


CBC Rating: 7/10

Star Trek (2009)

Star Trek XI: The Reboot

- The Star Trek franchise started the 21st Century off with its head hung low after the disappointing end to The Next Generation crew in 2002's Star Trek: Nemesis and the end of the awful "Star Trek: Enterprise" TV show in 2005. The series needed to boldly go backwards and begin again - and J.J. Abrams' Star Trek did just that and more. Star Trek (2009) is an excellent Trek film and all-out sci-fi thriller that gives the Trek franchise new life, both a reboot of the Star Trek franchise with its fresh take on the original characters and Trek world and a sequel with its tie-in to current Trek canon.

So, what is the best way to start over for the betterment of the franchise but, at the same time, not completely start over as to not anger the Klingon-fluent and fake ear-wearing Trekkies? J.J. Abrams and company figured out the perfect answer: explore the roots and beginnings of the Enterprise crew with time-travel, an alternate reality, and Leonard Nimoy's on-screen blessings. Completely giving away the plot is all-too easy ,so I will not attempt to explain it; but one does not really need to know the plot anyway as the film's main focus is setting up and bringing together the many great characters and the new actors who bring them to life.

Die-hard Trekkies may disagree but I think that the cast for 2009's Star Trek generally improve upon the original actors and characters. Chris Pine is the new James T. Kirk and is far better than William Shatner in the role. Shatner is not much of an actor, not bad but ultimately gets by on individual charisma rather than acting chops. Pine however, shows that he is a much better actor - he is very funny without being cheesy like Shatner and there seems to be a lot more going on upstairs in his Kirk. Although he is unable to eclipse Nimoy's Spock performances, Zachary Quinto is the new Spock and does a great job. This Trek film explores Spock's human half more than any other Trek film or TV episode and you can really feel Spock's struggle to find the balance between the two half thanks to Quinto's performance.

The highlight of the cast is Karl Urban as Dr. McCoy. The constantly angry yet caring at the same time nature of the character makes McCoy the most naturally complex and genuine character of the original series crew - plus, his sarcasm and willingness to say anything he wants makes for some prime entertainment - and Urban is absolutely fantastic in the role. Deforest Kelley's take is superior but, wrongfully accused of doing a mock Kelley impression, Urban manages to nail the multi-faceted nature of the character with a different and terrific flare that makes the character his own. Urban's McCoy is a strong and independent character but time will tell if Urban is relegated to Kelley's role (all too often was used as a plot device used to develop Kirk or add tension to a scene by yelling at someone).

Simon Pegg was one of the best casting decisions of the film and ends up one of the film's highlights, greatly improving the character of Montgomery Scott. Pegg is a hilarious comedian but he is also a very strong actor and he shows both qualities here in Star Trek '09. Zoe Saldana is a fine Uhura (although is unfortunately often relegated to a device to further develop Spock and Kirk rather than be her own character) - but cannot be compared to Nichelle Nichols' original take on the character. The grace, presence, and amount of energy that Nichols emits for someone who is usually sitting down all the time cannot be duplicated or surpassed - but Saldana does an admirable job.

The rest of the Trek supporters turn out better than the originals: John Cho's strength and comedic timing puts him in front of George Takei and Chekov is a great character for once in the 40 years of Star Trek thanks to the energetic portrayal of Anton Yelchin. Add a great villain in Eric Bana's revenge-obsessed Nero, Bruce Greenwood's quiet take on the heroic Christopher Pike, a moving feature film debut from then-unknown Chris Hemsworth as George Kirk, a stern showing from Ben Cross as Spock's father Sarek, an unrecognizable Winona Ryder as Spock's mother, and Leonard Nimoy's cameo and you have an excellently cast Trek film.

But Star Trek excels beyond just having a terrific cast. Michael Giacchino's score grabs you before the film has even started - the very thematic and completely original score (but also featuring a terrific arrangement of Alexander Courage's original TV theme) is easily Giacchino's best. Also, naturally, the special effects are amazing - the pictures speak louder than any words I could write.

Because the '09 Trek film-making team of Abrams, Orci, Kurtzman, and company is made up of both Trekkers and non-Trekkers, Star Trek '09 ends up having the power to entertain Trek fans and non-Trek fans alike. The writing is great - the MacGuffin devices take some sci-fi faith, some scenes are just a bit too on-the-nose, and some things remind one of Abrams' other projects, but the story is intriguing overall, the characters are written incredibly well, the film balances humor and drama perfectly, and the dialogue could not be better. Abrams and company also do a brilliant job in the way of atmosphere, creating a Star Trek world that does not spare the beauty and majesty of space while showing its dark side and giving the audience a sense of that space can be "disease and danger wrapped in darkness and silence." The future of Star Trek certainly looks bright as long as it remains in the hands of J.J. Abrams.

CBC Rating: 9/10