I’m having a little fun tonight with my headers, just so you know. But How Do You Know? Reese Witherspoon, Owen Wilson and Paul Rudd are having a tough time figuring that out in the next James L. Brooks flick, another dramedy. Here’s the trailer:
Um, I’m not really sure about this one. I’ve loved Brooks’ movies like Broadcast News and As Good As It Gets, but is it me or does look kinda boring? Hope I’m wrong.
The title of the movie is actually Love and Other Drugs but you get the point. Check out this trailer to the new dramedy, which looks to be a kind of a twist on the weepy disease of the week, starring Jake Gyllenhaal and Anne Hathaway.
Step 1: Yawn. While Eat Pray Love has some enlightening, touching, visually breathtaking moments, you still end up praying it would end.
Step 2: Eat. The film is based on the hugely popular real-life travel diary by Elizabeth Gilbert, a divorced, depressed writer/journalist who took a year off to travel around the globe in hopes of finding some kind of meaning to her life. Yeah, not the most exciting subject for a movie, but casting Julia Roberts in the role at least adds some weight. We start with the Eat part. In the first leg of the trip, Roberts as Gilbert jets to Rome to live, breath and yes, eat, the Italian culture. And eat. And eat some more. It’s definitely the best part of the movie, only because it’s great to see a woman consume such great looking food with abandon. But at some point, you realize you’ve been watching the movie for over an hour and yet, she’s still in Italy. There’s two more countries to go, for chrissakes. That’s when the boredom starts to set in.
Step 3: Pray. Gilbert visits an ashram in India to find peace and tranquility – except she can’t quit fidgeting and thinking about all manner of things. Plus, it’s really hot and the food isn’t all that good. If I were her, at some point I’d say screw it and go back to Rome. Alas, she sticks it out, meeting a fellow troubled American (Richard Jenkins), who helps her to become enlightened. Ho hum.
Step 4: Love. And what a beautiful place to fall into it. The scenes in Bali are spectacular, as you can imagine, and so is gazing at the hunky, if slightly miscast, Javier Bardem, who plays Gilbert’s new love interest Felipe. Problem is, the two of them have zero chemistry, which sort of dampens things. Gilbert had more zing with that gorgeous plate of spaghetti. Like I said, GO BACK TO ITALY.
Step 5: Act. Roberts could possibly be nominated for an Oscar, depending on how well the film does at the box office (that’s a gamble) and whether they’ll be more than five more great performances by women in the next five months (kinda doubtful). In other words, Roberts could get a nod by default, which wouldn’t necessarily be a bad thing. You can’t really blame Eat Pray Love‘s tedium on her performance. She does her very best to carry the movie on her capable shoulders, but her character is, well, kind of irritating. You’re never quite sure why she’s so unhappy, just that she is, or why she whines so much, just that she does. Jenkins might be the only other performance worthy of a nod, as the former alcoholic from Texas who finds his inner whatever it is and whips Gilbert into shape.
Step 6: Read. You can’t entirely blame co-writer/director Ryan Murphy, of Nip/Tuck and Glee fame, either. I’m pretty sure the source material was difficult to translate, especially when you want to please the fans of the book while still making a compelling movie. But maybe Eat Pray Love should have just stayed on the page, so readers can put the book down, maybe fly to Naples for a slice of pizza, maybe ride an elephant in India and then pick it up to read a little later. Maybe on a beach in Bali.
Level of difficulty in watching Eat Pray Love: Kinda hard — to keep your eyes open.
Step 1: Give it a standing ovation. The Other Guys takes this summer’s crown for best and most quotable comedy.
Step 2: Laugh. Laugh really hard. The film’s trailer is actually one of those rare cases in which it is only a fraction of the humor in the film. Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg play detectives relegated to desk jobs. Wahlberg’s Terry Holtz has been sent there in disgrace for a reason I won’t divulged cause it’s really too good to give away, and he’s royally pissed about it. On the other hand, Ferrell’s Allen Gamble is seemingly optimistic, happy to fill out reports and stay away from the action. But he’s got a secret dark side he doesn’t ever want to let out. These two are about a mismatched as they can be and while that’s a pretty standard plot device, Wahlberg and Ferrell kill at it. Of course, they eventually go on a case together to chase down corporate thieves (think Bernie Madoff types), but it’s just another way to set up the laughs.
Step 3: Gotta love those wacky guys. Now while you think Wahlberg would be the straight guy, the two actors actually switch off, playing it both straight and crazy whenever the scene warrants it, which keeps the comedy fresh. It’s nice to see Ferrell playing off someone a little different than his usual cronies, and Wahlberg may have found a new niche. I see at least one Other Guys sequel in the future because we just HAVE to get these two together again. The supporting players also add a great comedic mix, from Eva Mendes as Gamble’s smokin’ hot wife (all of Gamble’s ex-girlfriends are hot, by the way), to Dwayne Johnson and Samuel L. Jackson as badass hero cops to Michael Keaton as the TLC quoting police chief to Steve Coogan as the Ponzi-scheming money man.
Step 4:Thank Adam McKay. I guess you can chalk it up to director/co-writer McKay, who has been creating funny stuff for his old pal Will Ferrell for many years now. I’d kill to be a fly on the wall with Ferrell and McKay start brainstorming. This former SNL head writer started out in the film biz with a bang with Anchorman and Talladega Nights and although his Step Brothers fell a little short, The Other Guys has completely made up for it. Seriously, my sides still hurt from laughing. Even if some of the jokes are overplayed, The Other Guys just keeps delivering the yucks. Not sure which is my favorite scene. The quiet fight scene at a funeral, the getting drunk in a bar montage, the “aim for the bushes” moment, the lion/tuna scenario, the “Seriously, who IS she?” realization or just about 20 more of those scenes. I can’t pick.
Level of difficulty in watching The Other Guys: Are you kidding? None. I’m going to want to see it again in the theaters AND own the DVD. The gag reel has got to be a classic.