romantic comedy

Celeste and Jesse Forever: another actress-written, smart, funny movie

by

I really enjoyed Celeste and Jesse Forever, starring Rashida Jones and Andy Samberg as best friends who have been married, are now working on an amiable divorce and are still best friends.  The screenplay is co-written by Rashida Jones (Paul Rudd’s fiance in I Love You, Man) and, once you accept the comic premise that this couple is made for each other but not as a married couple, everyone’s behavior is authentic.  Sure, he wants to get back with her when she isn’t in a place to do that – and, then, vice versa – but the characters resolve the conflict as they would in real life.  Here’s a mini-spoiler – this movie is just too smart to end in rushing to the airport or disrupting the wedding or any of the other typical rom com contrivances.

The supporting characters are funny without being absurdly zany (except for one pot dealer).   Chris Messina pops up in Celeste, as he did in Ruby Sparks, and does a good job here, too.

I’m certainly looking forward to Rashida Jones’ next screenplay.

Ruby Sparks: be careful what you ask for

by

The inventive Ruby Sparks is about romance and it’s very, very funny, but it transcends the genre of romantic comedy.  A shy writer who has produced a great novel at an early age is now drifting,  his writing is blocked and he has isolated himself into a lonely existence.  He imagines his perfect love object, and he can suddenly write in torrents about her until…she becomes real.  Yes, suddenly he has a real life girlfriend of his own design.

This is everyone’s fantasy of a perfect partner – but what are the limits of a partner that you have designed yourself?  Because he can tweak her behavior by rewriting it, this brings up the adage “Be careful what you ask for”.  When he is threatened by her independence, he changes her personality on the page and she becomes unattractively clinging and needy.  Can his realized fantasy make him happy?

Paul Dano is outstanding as the writer and screenwriter Zoe Kazan (granddaughter of Elia Kazan) dazzles as his creation.   (Off screen, Kazan and Dano are a couple.)  Chris Messina is dead on perfect as the writer’s brother, and the film benefits from an especially strong cast:  Annette Bening, Antonio Banderas, Steve Coogan, Aasif Mandvi and Elliot Gould.  Ruby Sparks is ably directed by Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris, the co-directors of another exceptional indie comedy, Little Miss Sunshine.

The biggest star in Ruby Sparks is Zoe Kazan’s ingenious screenplay.  It’s funny without being silly, profound without being pretentious, bright without being precious.  Every moment is authentic.  It’s clear that Kazan is a major talent as a screenwriter.

The Five-Year Engagement: romantic comedy with authenticity

by

In The Five-Year Engagement, a couple falls crazy in love as their careers are on the verge of taking off – she’s an academic, he’s a chef. She gets the opportunity to do a post-doc at the University of Michigan, so he shelves the opening of a San Francisco restaurant to follow her to Ann Arbor, where she flourishes.  However, he sputters and finally spirals into deep unhappiness.  Can their love overcome all?  [Yes – this is not Romeo and Juliet where everybody dies].

Of course, they have zany best friends and the usual maddening parents.  And a move from the Bay Area to Ann Arbor (depicted as perpetually snow-laden, with occasional parades of reveling frat boys) creates plenty of comic opportunities, especially as he shops his skills in cutting edge cuisine among the local eateries.

But the best thing about Five-Year Engagement is the authenticity of the situation.  There are no wacky plot devices; this story could all really happen – and is the narrative for some couples today.

Another plus is that Jason Segal and Emily Blunt are very good as the appealing couple.  Overall, the cast is excellent, although the Australian actress Jacki Weaver, who carried Animal Kingdom, is wasted in a one-note role as a nagging mother.

In fact, I feel guilty that I didn’t like Five-Year Engagement more than I did, but it did seem to drag in places.  Still, it’s a worthwhile romantic comedy.

 

Cinequest – Dorfman: nothing to see here, move along

by

Dorfman is a well-intentioned indie about a woman who has been sacrificing her own life to support the self-absorbed men in her life.  Moving from the San Fernando Valley to the newly vibrant downtown LA (colorful and trendy, yet edgy) helps bring her a renaissance of spirit.

Unfortunately,the promising premise is betrayed by a cliche ridden screenplay, and poor direction and editing.  The star, Sara Rue, doesn’t bring much to the party, either.  The film only works as a travelogue for downtown LA.

The wily veteran Elliott Gould and Haaz Sleiman (The Visitor, Nurse Jackie) are both good, but they’ll both see much better material than this.

DVD of the Week: Midnight in Paris

by

With Midnight in Paris, Woody Allen has made his best movie since 1986’s Hannah and Her Sisters. It’s a funny and wistful exploration of the nostalgia for living in another time and place – all set in the most sumptuously photographed contemporary Paris.

Successful but disenchanted screenwriter and would be novelist Owen Wilson accompanies his mismatched fiancée Rachel McAdams to Paris, where he fantasizes about living in the artistically fertile Paris of the 1920s. Indeed, at midnight, he happens upon a portal to that era, and finds himself hanging out with the likes of Hemingway, Fitzgerald and Stein. He meets Marion Cotillard, a 1920s gal who is herself nostalgic for the 1890s.

Midnight in Paris shines because of the perfectly crafted dialogue. McAdams’ every instinct is cringingly wrong for Wilson. She is enraptured by the pretentious blowhard Michael Sheen, who couldn’t be more insufferable.

As usual, Allen has attracted an excellent cast. Owen Wilson rises to the material and gives one of his best performances. Corey Stoll is hilarious as Hemingway and Adrien Brody even funnier as Salvador Dali. Cotillard is luminous.

It makes my list of Best Movies of 2011 – So Far.

DVD of the Week: Beginners

by

Ewan McGregor’s dad (Christopher Plummer) has just died, shortly after coming out of the closet.  As if this weren’t enough to deal with, McGregor is a depressive anyway, with a rich history of sabotaging his relationships.  But then he meets Melanie Laurent (Inglorious Basterds)(and they meet cute).

This is a winning comedy – one of the year’s best movies.  It’s smart, sweet and original.  All of the performances are excellent, especially Plummer’s, which should garner him an Oscar nomination.  All in all, Beginners is a notable achievement by director Mike Mills (Thumbsucker).

DVD of the Week: Crazy Stupid Love

by

Crazy Stupid Love is an altogether very satisfying romantic comedy starring Steve Carell as the middle-aged sad sack who has been dumped by his longtime wife (Julianne Moore) and comes under the tutelage of uber lounge lizard Ryan Gosling, who in turn is falling for Emma Stone.   Lots of laughs ensue, leading up to a madcap climax in Moore’s back yard, before the film slows down for the last 20 minutes.  But, it’s plenty funny (and not many romcoms are these days).

Gosling, who earned indie favorite status playing tortured/damaged characters,  is great here as the guy who can melt any gal in a bar with stunning ease and speed.  Emma Stone is always good in comedies.  Lisa Lapira shines as Stone’s wingman, and Analeigh Tipton is excellent as Carrel’s babysitter.

Crazy Stupid Love: Gosling, Stone shine in romcom

by

Crazy Stupid Love is an altogether very satisfying romantic comedy starring Steve Carell as the middle-aged sad sack who has been dumped by his longtime wife (Julianne Moore) and comes under the tutelage of uber lounge lizard Ryan Gosling, who in turn is falling for Emma Stone.   Lots of laughs ensue, leading up to a madcap climax in Moore’s back yard, before the film slows down for the last 20 minutes.  But, it’s plenty funny (and not many romcoms are these days).

Gosling, who earned indie favorite status playing tortured/damaged characters,  is great here as the guy who can melt any gal in a bar with stunning ease and speed.  Emma Stone is always good in comedies.  Lisa Lapira shines as Stone’s wingman, and Analeigh Tipton is excellent as Carrel’s babysitter.

Beginners: smart, sweet and original

by

Ewan McGregor’s dad (Christopher Plummer) has just died, shortly after coming out of the closet.  As if this weren’t enough to deal with, McGregor is a depressive anyway, with a rich history of sabotaging his relationships.  But then he meets Melanie Laurent (Inglorious Basterds) (and they meet cute).

This is a winning comedy – one of the year’s best movies.  It’s smart, sweet and original.  All of the performances are excellent, especially Plummer’s, which should garner him an Oscar nomination.  All in all, Beginners is a notable achievement by director Mike Mills (Thumbsucker).

 

Bridesmaids: Funny but incomplete

by

Bridesmaids is a funny movie, but one that could have been much better.  In a role that she wrote for herself, Kristen Wiig plays a woman whose insecurities keep her from seeing the good and the possible in her life.  Instead, she wreaks havoc on her best friend’s wedding planning and is about to sabotage a sweet romance with Chris O’Dowd.  So far, so good.

Producer Judd Apatow salted Wiig’s screenplay with some low brow stuff.  Now, I like to see gals at an upscale wedding boutique puking on each other and shitting themselves as much as the next guy (and it was the guys in the audience that were laughing the most at that scene).  But the Apatow additions didn’t quite mesh with the central story.

Still, we can conclude that Kristen Wiig has what it takes to carry a movie by herself.  Hopefully, next time she’ll get her script greenlighted as is.