HOPE SPRINGS

Drama

PRINCIPAL CAST MEMBERS

Meryl Streep: Kay Soames, a retail shop employee

Tommy Lee Jones: her husband Arnold, Senior Partner in an Accounting firm

Steve Carell: Marriage Councillor Dr. Bernie Feld

REVIEW

Brilliant. No other term comes close to describing Meryl Streep’s portrayal of a woman who is unhappy with her marriage of some thirty-odd years. Not that the other two principals are slouches, it’s just that she is so much better than they are.

The story will resonate with anyone who has been (or still is) in a long term relationship. There is a ring of truth about it and it does not feel fake. Perhaps one of the writer’s went through this or knows someone who did?

Clearly geared to the more discerning viewer, one moviegoer so succinctly put it this way: “an interesting movie that caters to a more senior demographic although parts of it made me cringe” because of the explicit and graphic nature of some scenes. Most people will feel the same, being uncomfortable hearing others talk about their intimate personal sex life. However, like me, you can always look away if it becomes too much. But more often than not there is some comic relief, either a titter or a chuckle from someone.

CLASSIFICATION

 for mature thematic content involving sexuality.

P.S.

By splitting the screen during the showing of the end credits I feel I got gypped having to focus on the continuation of the movie with no opportunity to read the credits as they roll by. I hope this does not become a trend in the movie industry because some of us enjoy staying to the end reading these things.

ICE AGE: CONTINENTAL DRIFT

 Animated action\adventure

PRINCIPAL CAST MEMBERS

Ray Romano: Manny, a mammoth

Queen Latifah: his mate Ellie

Keke Palmer: their teenage daughter Peaches

Aubrey Graham: Ethan

Josh Gad: Louis

John Leguzamo: Sid the sloth

Wanda Sykes: Sid’s Granny

Denis Leary: Diego, a saber-toothed tiger

Josh Peck: Eddie

Peter Dinklage: Captain Gutt, a primate

Jeffifer Lopez: First Mate Shira, a saber-toothed tiger

REVIEW

The fourth in a series (and hopefully the last) overstays its welcome by at least 90 minutes, with only Scrat the saber-tooth squirrel providing any original and/or funny material. The rest of the film comprises recyled themes and images seen at least once in the preceeding three installments amidst lame jokes (groaners at best) and slapstick frantic action.

This mayhem will no doubt please the kids but the rest of us will find it trite. As for the splitting apart of the earth it is too frightening for the young ones (under 5 I’d say) but that does not seem to be of any concern of the producers. And the thrashing dealt upon poor Granny shouldn’t be witnessed by anyone, much less by the target audience.

CLASSIFICATION

 for mild rude humour and action/peril.

TO ROME WITH LOVE

 Comedy

PRINCIPAL CAST MEMBERS

Alison Pill: Hayley, an American tourist

Flavio Parenti: Michelangelo, an architect

Lynn Swanson: his mother Ellen

Fabio Armiliato: his father Giancarlo

Woody Allen: retired music producer Jerry
Judy Davis: his wife Phyllis

Alessandro Tiberi: newly married Antonio

Alessandra Mastronardi: his school teacher wife Milly

Penélope Cruz: Anna, a prostitute

Roberto Benigni: Leopoldo, an office clerk

Alec Baldwin: John, a retired architect

Carol Alt: his wife Carol

Jesse Eisenberg: Jack, an architectural student

Greta Gerwig: his girlfriend Sally

Ellen Page: her friend Monica

REVIEW

What a disappointment: after his wonderful Midnight in Paris, Woody Allen comes out with a stinker. Supposedly a comedy, the first inkling of hilarity is Jerry’s reaction to shaking the hand of a mortician, and that after a half hour has transpired. The next hilarious bit is Jerry’s mispronunciation of Michelangelo’s name, not just once but three times. It doesn’t get any better than that so set your laugh expectations low, real low.

But unfortunately that’s not the worst of it: the story is about four couples who have no connection with each other and these interlaced vignettes are supposed to be of some interest. Well they aren’t, in large measure because the dialogue is infantile. For example Leopoldo is interviewed on television and asked what he had for breakfast that morning to which said “toast and coffee” then this is followed up with “and what did you put on your toast?” to which he replied “jam”.

No longer able to contain myself from laughing so much (and not wanting to waste any more time) I walked out.

CLASSIFICATION

 for sexual content and profanity.

FOR NITPICKERS ONLY

Anna slips off her shoes and tosses them on the bed, each one landing on a different pillow. When she retrieves them they are both together conveniently on the side of the bed so she doesn’t have to reach for them.

Leopoldo tries several times to hurriedly unlock the front door but in his haste never gets the key in the lock yet the door magically opens when he pushes on it.

P.S.

Once more Ralph’s Rule of Redundancy applies:

“Any film where one person takes on more than 2 key positions (Woody Allen is Writer, Director and Star) has a major shortcoming: the absence of independent critical judgement that results in something less than it might have been.”

THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN

Comic book superhero

PRINCIPAL CAST MEMBERS
Andrew Garfield: high school student Peter Parker
Martin Sheen: Peter’s Uncle Ben
Sally Field: Peter’s Aunt May
Emma Stone: 17-year-old Gwen
Rhys Ifans: research scientist Dr. Curt Connors
Denis Leary: Gwen’s father NYPD Captain Stacy

REVIEW
Amazing? Not to anyone who has ever seen or read anything about this comic book character. He does just what you expect from a superhero including flying around amidst tall buildings and saving people in distress. There’s nothing amazing about that so the title is a bit of an exaggeration. But that’s Hollywood for you.

Unless you’ve seen some of the marketing publicity it will come to you as a surprise that the film is about the creation of Spider-Man and the first hour is devoted to just that. Only then do things pick up with the result that the movie that is far too long at almost two and half hours. The trouble is, there is hardly anything original in the storyline after the prologue and as a consequence it is so déjà vu.

CLASSIFICATION
for sequences of action and violence.

FOR NITPICKERS ONLY
The police dispatcher requests that the officer respond to a 10-30 then goes on to give a description of the suspect. A 10-30 police code is for an emergency at the station. The correct code in this instance should have been 10-27 for a suspicious person or vehicle.

SAFETY NOT GUARANTEED

Romantic comedy

PRINCIPAL CAST MEMBERS

Aubrey Plaza: Darius Britt, intern at a Seattle magazine

Jake Johnson: Jeff Schwensen, one of the magazine's writers

Mary Lynn Rajskub: Jeff’s boss Bridget

Karan Soni: Amau, another intern

Mark Duplass: grocery store clerk Kenneth Calloway

Jenica Bergere: Liz, one of Jeff’s old flames

REVIEW

Although it’s not going to win any awards, this whimsical tale about people connecting with others (or reconnecting) is a pleasant enough outing. Promoted as a romantic comedy the humour is of the chuckles variety rather than all-out laughter. In fact pretty much everything is low key including the budget.

CLASSIFICATION

for language including some sexual references. That classification is way out of line: this is a PG-13 movie nothing more.

FOR NITPICKERS ONLY

While sitting in front of the fire, Darius has a sweater around her shoulders. From the front it’s on both shoulders but viewed from the right hand side it is only on her left shoulder.

BRAVE

Animated Adventure

  

PRINCIPAL VOICE MEMBERS

Kelly MacDonald: Princess Merida

Billy Connolly: Merida’s father King Fergus

Emma Thompson: Merida’s mother Queen Elinor

Kevin McKidd: Lord MacGuffin

Craig Ferguson: Lord Macintosh

Robbie Coltrane: Lord Dingwall 

Julie Walters: the Witch

REVIEW

Told from the viewpoint of a rebellious teenager, in this case a tomboy named Merida, the story unfolds pretty well non-stop. There is lots of action and some chuckles along the way as well as a few scenes that would be too frightening for the very young, those under 6 I’d say.

The photo-realistic visuals are stunning, showcasing the landscape of Scotland like we’ve never seen before. Overall a pleasant enough outing, just not all that original.

CLASSIFICATION

 for some scary action and rude humour.

MADAGASCAR 3

 Animated action/adventure

PRINCIPAL VOICE CAST

Ben Stiller: Alex, a lion

Chris Rock: his best friend Marty, a zebra

David Schwimmer: Melman, a giraffe

Jada Pinkett Smith: his love interest Gloria, a hippo

Tom McGrath: Skipper, a penguin

Frances McDormand: animal control officer Captain Chantel DuBois 

Sacha Baron Cohen: King Julien XIII, a lemur

Cedric the Entertainer: his underlings Maurice

Andy Richter: and cute little Mort

Bryan Cranston: Vitaly, an intimidating Russian tiger

Martin Short: daredevil Stefano, an Italian sea lion

Jessica Chastain: Gia, a pretty Italian jaguar

REVIEW

Virtual non-stop action coupled with brief musical interludes makes for a pleasant outing as the “old” gang decide to return to their Central Park home in New York city. On the way they encounter unforeseen obstacles and meet new friends. The well-rendered images are ablaze with colour and the musical score is appropriate for the action.

For some reason that’s not apparent to me Alex says we in Canada are “drunk on maple syrup and cheap pharmaceuticals”. Really?

There are a couple of things for the amusement of the adults in the audience but nothing more than a few half-hearted innuendos. By the way, if you choose to see it in 3D as I did, be prepared to duck frequently as lots of things come hurtling at you.

CLASSIFICATION