I only saw Maggie’s Plan because The Wife DRAGGED me to it, but I was surprisingly entertained by this amiable romantic comedy. A typically floundering mumblecore Millennial (Greta Gerwig) finds herself in an affair with an older man (Ethan Hawke). When she awakens to his relationship-killing self-absorption, she decides the ease the breakup by handing him back to his overachieving ex-wife (Julianne Moore).
Hawke, of course, excels in playing the unreliable man (Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead, Boyhood, Born to Be Blue). Gerwig (the reason I didn’t want to see this movie) is not nearly as annoying and tiresome as she has been to date in her career. But it’s Julianne Moore who really elevates Maggie’s Plan, along with Bill Hader and Maya Rudolph, who are hilarious in supporting roles. Aussie Travis Flimmer shows much promise in a very minor, but eye-catching role.
It all adds up to an amiable and satisfying rom com with a fresh twist.
The comedienne (do we still use that word?) Amy Schumer stars in the bawdy comedy Trainwreck as a gal whose childhood trust and intimacy issues have resulted in a chaotic adult life of wall-banging and random guy-banging. She gives promiscuity a bad name. When she finally happens on the perfect guy (Bill Hader), will she sabotage this opportunity? Schumer herself wrote Trainwreck, which was directed by the current king of lowbrow comedy Judd Apatow.
Trainwreck has plenty of LOL moments, and even some shoulder-quaking laughs. But it’s two hours long, and that’s too long to sustain the basic jokes here. Trainwreck has jumped the shark before we get to an improbable celebrity intervention and the Madison Square Garden grand finale.
There are some glimpses of comedic genius here and there, including a brilliant take on the all-night male-female argument – the kind where the woman is amped up in a full-throttle rage and the man keeps fighting to stay awake. Both men and women in the audience were laughing knowingly.
Trainwreck does benefit from a superb cast. I always love to see Hader and Brie Larson (good but wasted here). Tilda Swinton bops in for a turn as a supremely confident and self-absorbed boss. Pro wrestler John Cena is very good as the first boyfriend, a bodybuilder with some denial issues of his own. And Daniel Radcliffe and Marisa Tomei are very funny in a profoundly bad movie-within-the-movie.
But the real revelation here is LeBron James,who is playing himself as best friend of Hader’s character, an orthopedic surgeon. LeBron is very, very good – just as good as the real actors. He has an excellent sense of timing and a lot of natural appeal. There aren’t that many movie roles for 6-foot 8-inch black men, but LeBron can definitely act. He’s consistently a joy to watch in Trainwreck.
Amy Schumer delivers a lot of raunchy laughs in Trainwreck, just not two hours worth. It’s definitely not a really good movie, but it will offer an evening of light laughs on home video.
The term “dramedy” has never been more apt – The Skeleton Twins is a serious exploration of two complex and textured characters with depression, and yet most of the movie is very, very funny. Bill Hader and Kristen Wiig play adult twins who haven’t spoken in ten years; they share a troubled upbringing, bitingly wicked and often morbid humor and serious melancholy. Their blues manifest in different, but serious ways. Brought together when the sister invites the brother to move in with her and her husband, past memories are evoked, each calls the other on their bullshit and everyone’s serene routine is overturned.
The two stars are excellent – and this is Hader’s best film work so far. His monologue about how far he’s come since high school is heart-breaking.
There is lots to like about The Skeleton Twins:
perhaps Luke Wilson’s best performance as the ever-decent and upbeat husband, hopelessly out of his depth with his troubled spouse;
a hilarious Wilson monologue about “land mines”, which will make everyone who has been either a boyfriend or a husband fall out of his seat laughing;
a sparkling turn by Joanna Gleason as the twins’ insufferably self-absorbed New Agey mother;
watching Wiig finally outshine Hader in lip-syncing to Starship’s execrable power ballad “Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now”. (BTW, on YouTube, you can find Starship’s original video for “Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now” – Mickey Thomas at his most insincere and Grace Slick in 80s Big Hair – YIKES.)
So the film works overall, but I was left a little short on the mental health aspect (see, if you want, under SPOILER ALERT below). Nevertheless, I recommend The Skeleton Twins for its intelligence, honesty and humor. It’s available on DVD from Netflix and streaming from iTunes, Vudu, YouTube and Google Play.
[SPOILER ALERT: The main characters are both clinically depressed. I didn’t buy the ending where – without any medication or talk therapy – the two seemed to trending hopefully because they have embraced honesty and the support of each other. Now The Wife, who is a trained therapist, DID buy the ending, saying that the movie didn’t show them to be OK, just doing well with each other’s support. The critical consensus seems to be with her.]
The term “dramedy” has never been more apt – The Skeleton Twins is a serious exploration of two complex and textured characters with depression, and yet most of the movie is very, very funny. Bill Hader and Kristen Wiig play adult twins who haven’t spoken in ten years; they share a troubled upbringing, bitingly wicked and often morbid humor and serious melancholy. Their blues manifest in different, but serious ways. Brought together when the sister invites the brother to move in with her and her husband, past memories are evoked, each calls the other on their bullshit and everyone’s serene routine is overturned.
The two stars are excellent – and this is Hader’s best film work so far. His monologue about how far he’s come since high school is heart-breaking.
There is lots to like about The Skeleton Twins:
perhaps Luke Wilson’s best performance as the ever-decent and upbeat husband, hopelessly out of his depth with his troubled spouse;
a hilarious Wilson monologue about “land mines”, which will make everyone who has been either a boyfriend or a husband fall out of his seat laughing;
a sparkling turn by Joanna Gleason as the twins’ insufferably self-absorbed New Agey mother;
watching Wiig finally outshine Hader in lip-syncing to Starship’s execrable power ballad “Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now”. (BTW, on YouTube, you can find Starship’s original video for “Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now” – Mickey Thomas at his most insincere and Grace Slick in 80s Big Hair – YIKES.)
So the film works overall, but I was left a little short on the mental health aspect (see, if you want, under SPOILER ALERT below). Nevertheless, I recommend The Skeleton Twins for its intelligence, honesty and humor.
[SPOILER ALERT: The main characters are both clinically depressed. I didn’t buy the ending where – without any medication or talk therapy – the two seemed to trending hopefully because they have embraced honesty and the support of each other. Now The Wife, who is a trained therapist, DID buy the ending, saying that the movie didn’t show them to be OK, just doing well with each other’s support. The critical consensus seems to be with her.]
Our favorite alien-zapping secret agents return in the delightful Men in Black 3. We still have the yapping Will Smith paired with the Titan of Terseness, Tommy Lee Jones. In this edition of the sci fi comedy franchise, Smith must travel back to 1969 to save his partner and the world from a new odious and scary alien villain, Boris The Animal. We get a Mad Men size dose of 1969, including Andy Warhol’s Factory, the Miracle Mets, the Moon Launch, some hippies and lots of skinny neckties.
The cast is all good, but the most inspired casting has to be Josh Brolin as the young Tommy Lee Jones. Michael Stuhlbarg, last seen as the uptight depressive in A Serious Man, here almost steals the movie as a blissed out but hyper-perceptive alien. Michael Chernus, so good in a serious role in Vera Farmiga’s Higher Ground, is excellent as a shady geek. Bill Hader is very funny as Warhol.
I’m usually not one for franchise movies, but MIB3 is gloriously entertaining. BTW in the trailer (but not the movie) we briefly glimpse the torch-wielding Columbia Picture lady wearing MIB shades – very cool.
Our favorite alien-zapping secret agents return in the delightful Men in Black 3. We still have the yapping Will Smith paired with the Titan of Terseness, Tommy Lee Jones. In this edition of the sci fi comedy franchise, Smith must travel back to 1969 to save his partner and the world from a new odious and scary alien villain, Boris The Animal. We get a Mad Men size dose of 1969, including Andy Warhol’s Factory, the Miracle Mets, the Moon Launch, some hippies and lots of skinny neckties.
The cast is all good, but the most inspired casting has to be Josh Brolin as the young Tommy Lee Jones. Michael Stuhlbarg, last seen as the uptight depressive in A Serious Man, here almost steals the movie as a blissed out but hyper-perceptive alien. Michael Chernus, so good in a serious role in Vera Farmiga’s Higher Ground, is excellent as a shady geek. Bill Hader is very funny as Warhol.
I’m usually not one for franchise movies, but MIB3 is gloriously entertaining. I saw it in 2D – you should, too. As with most movies, the 3D premium isn’t worth it.
In the trailer (but not the movie) we briefly glimpse the torch-wielding Columbia Picture lady wearing MIB shades – very cool.
