Movie Review: Knight and Day

Knight and Day received some really positive reviews and also some quite poor ones. It seems you will either love or hate it, depending on whether you decide if the movie is actually quite clever or mind-numbingly stupid. Knight and Day is now famous for Tom Cruise playing a character that is seemingly a parody of his public persona – you are never quite sure when to take him seriously, or whether he is actually a good guy or just a total nut job. Knight and Day has enough holes in the plot to drive every vehicle wrecked in the frenetic action scenes through (which is a heck of a lot), but it clearly doesn’t care. Never has an action movie been so obviously ‘look-at-me-cos-I’m-totally-tongue-in-cheek.’ Even the numerous drugging scenes of various protagonists are part of this overall vibe – when drugged they cannot work out what is actually going on behind the scenes, and often we are left in the same boat. Knight and Day does not take itself too seriously and literally begs you to do the same. Whether you find this endearing and entertaining or just plain stupid determines whether you will end up in the loved-it-camp or the man-it-was-dumb team.

Cameron Diaz, as always, basically plays herself but in the context of the story her cheerful yet overly excitable girl-next-door routine is a positive counterbalancing point for Cruise’s character. She is June Havens, an improbably lonely blonde stunner who fixes cars for a living. A chance encounter at the airport thrusts her into the life of the charming (in a freaky kind of way) and clearly lethal rouge agent Roy Miller (played by Cruise). She is whisked off to all sorts of exotic locations whilst dodging assassins and uncovering world-changing secrets. Throughout all this she is left struggling to work out whether Miller is one of the good guys, a ‘baddie’, or just plain crazy.

Stacked next to The Killers, a similarly themed movie released a short while ago, Knight and Day could be considered an absolute classic. It does have some great action scenes (the bull run for example), and Cruise and Diaz are much more compelling actors than Kutcher and Heigl. Both their action and romance scenes have far more chemistry and sizzle. It is quite violent though with the body count being incredibly high, Cruise kills more people in an hour than your average God of War computer gamer. It was also nice to see Cruise employing decent comedic timing, although he is so creepy at times you wonder whether that’s good acting or just more inner 'couch-leaping' coming out.

I am going to plonk myself firmly between those who loved it and those who hated it. I am not totally convinced about Knight and Day’s cleverness but can’t dismiss entirely its fun action, surprising character developments and the interesting chemistry between the leads.

Two and a half stars out of five for Knight and Day!

Please note that Knight and Day is full value for its PG13 rating because of excessive violence and some strong language.

Movie Review: Shrek Forever After

As a franchise Shrek has always tried to reach parents as much as it did children. There would be jokes-a-plenty that would ‘wooosh’ straight over the head of your average eight year old but leave mom or dad chuckling into their popcorn. In Shrek Forever After this is true not only with some of the jokes but also with its central message. Shrek battles a serious case of mid-life crisis brought on by balancing a marriage with caring for three active little ogre-lets and all the while feeling that somehow his own core identity is being lost in the process. And hey, what parent can’t relate to that after all?

Anyhoo, the big green guy is feeling a little over-domesticated. His ogre roar no longer sends people scuttling away in terror but is used as a gimmick at children’s parties. The only villagers chasing him with pitchforks and torches are those who want his autograph. Shrek has lost his ogre mojo and is seriously resenting his family and friends who he holds responsible for this. There is nothing new about this kind of identity crisis – we have seen it dealt with countless times in movies, and it occurs even more frequently in everyday life. Dad or mom start to feel useless and unappreciated, they romanticize life pre-family domestication, and so they end up doing something radical like have an affair, buy a Ferrari or give up their jobs. Normally, this doesn’t end up working so well leaving lives torn apart and regrets aplenty.

Since this is still primarily a children’s movie, Shrek’s foolish attempt to recapture his old life takes the form of a contract he agrees to sign with Rumpelstiltskin. Shrek magically earns one day to do as he likes, which turns out to be frightening the living daylights out of innocent villagers, but in return he has to give up a day from his childhood. It turns out that the sneaky Rumpelstiltskin takes the day Shrek was born meaning he is forced to confront life as it would be like in Far Far Away if he had never existed. Fiona was not saved from the tower (at least by him), donkey ends up pulling a cart, and Puss in Boots lets himself go (in a big, big way). Oh, and the underhanded Rumpelstiltskin is now ruling the kingdom and immediately banned all ogres. Compounding these problems, not one of his old friends recognizes Shrek and this includes his beloved Fiona who is now turning heads as a leather clad resistance leader. This leaves Shrek the space of only 24 hours to ‘re-friend’ his companions and win his true love back, for it is only in getting Fiona to fall in love with him again that he can undo Rumpelstiltskin’s magic and unravel the mess he has made of his life.

We have been assured that this is the final chapter in the Shrek series and I certainly hope so. After four of the same kind of format, similar jokes and very familiar situations the producers are certainly taking their own byline too seriously (“it ain’t ogre until its ogre"). Shrek 4 is way better than the disastrous third installment but still not as good as the first two. The quick wit and multi-tiered pop-culture referencing that made Shrek 1 and 2 so awesome just does not seem as clever the third or fourth time. Shrek 4 probably doesn’t have as many chuckle out loud moments as the others but it was sweet and warm nonetheless. Its message would not have meant much to children but is perhaps a good reminder to mom and dad to more fully appreciate present blessings. However, at the end of the day you can’t help but feel that compared to the standards of the first two movies, Shrek 4 is a well intentioned, warm-hearted but nonetheless ‘mediogre’ copy.

Three stars out of five for Shrek Forever After.

Movie Review: The Boys Are Back

“Growing up can be the adventure of a lifetime.”

The Boys Are Back is a deeply moving tale based on a true story that through the intimacy of tears and laughter manages to evoke both the extreme vulnerability and sheer beauty of family relationships. Clive Owen plays Joe Warr, a British emigrant who followed his second wife over to Australia after impregnating her. His work as a successful sports writer means that he spends a lot of time away from home while his wife carries the load of child rearing and house care. When cancer tragically claims her life, Joe is thrown into the tumultuous state of single parenthood. He has to juggle his own grief and busy job while raising a six year old boy. It is at this stage that Joe’s son from his first marriage asks to come and visit him in Australia as well. Joe is left with two boys in a household devoid of feminine influence. In the midst of this crazy daily mix, Joe hits upon the only child rearing philosophy that works for him – ‘Just say yes!’ Instead of fighting against his boys to instill some form of discipline and structure, Joe minimizes all rules leading to the Warr household becoming reckless, exuberant and on the constant verge of disaster.

The movie tracks their journey and struggles to manage their own inter-personal relationships while at the same time negotiate disapproving grandparents and local women. The house is a total mess and really only mirrors so much of their own emotions, but Joe feels it is the only way he can successfully parent his boys – he gives them as much room as possible to grow up in. Through the course of the movie, he does make some huge mistakes and also has to face some of his past failures as a father, but Joe never gives up on his boys and ultimately this makes all the difference.

Honestly, I found his parenting style a little disturbing. The ‘almost anything goes’ would definitely not work for me, but I can appreciate how difficult it must have been for Joe as a single dad grappling with grief and life’s hectic pace. Those who disagreed with Joe’s parenting styles were presented as kill-joys which seemed a little over simplistic as a point of view. I also felt that Joe’s visions of his dead wife Katy, and his subsequent conversations with her is a technique that has been way overdone by Hollywood of late.

Both Clive Owen and the actors who played his sons (George MacKay and Nicholas McAnulty) give strong performances and manage to successfully convey the wide range of emotions of life in the Warr household. The way that each of them relates to their father, in the absence of their respective mothers is powerfully absorbing. As each member of the Warr household tries to grow up in their own way, and to forge a meaningful path forward, they manage to do so in a way that brings them even closer together despite the conflicting feelings they are battling. What impressed me most was that Joe Warr was nothing special as a father. I don’t agree totally with his parenting techniques, but I thoroughly respect how he just kept getting back up after each body blow life brought him. Despite his ordinariness he managed to bring grace, compassion and forgiveness to the everyday life of his little family, and it is these qualities that sustain and strengthen them all.

I wholeheartedly recommend seeing this movie and award it four stars out of five.

Movie Review: The Twilight Saga - Eclipse

Twilight Eclipse is the perfect movie. The perfect movie that is, if you happen to be a teenage girl, or if you are one of those who have a ‘teenage-girl-inside-you-just-waiting-to-come-out’. This is, after all, a movie about two tall, dark and handsome hunks who hunger (quite literally it seems) after one awkward, confused teenage girl who gets to choose between them. She calls all the shots while they brood, fester, beg and play the perfect gentlemen. More than that, one of them has had about a hundred years to work on his emotional intelligence meaning that she doesn’t have to struggle through all that normal ‘teenage guy’ stuff that most young women endure. He has had time to catch up in other words. And even better, the other one seems to keep losing his t-shirt and has rippling abs that you could cook eggs on causing endless delight from certain sections of the audience.

Since I am male and in my thirties, Twilight Eclipse was by no means a perfect movie. None of the above stuff really got to me (ok, I was a little jealous over the whole perfect abs thing). Twilight Eclipse was surprisingly good however. Not excellent and not brilliant but simply good. The third instalment of the series ramps up the love triangle between Edward Cullen the vampire (Robert Pattinson), Jacob Black the werewolf (Taylor Lautner), and Bella Swann your friendly neighbourhood teenage girl (Kristen Stewart). Edward is refusing to turn Bella into a vampire until she agrees to marry him, while Jacob is desperately trying to convince Bella to face her feelings for him before she commits herself body and ‘soul’ to Edward.

Complicating the love triangle even further is the fact that fiery-haired vampire Victoria (Bryce Dallas Howard) is intent on getting revenge on Edward and Bella for killing off her boyfriend James (see the first movie). To this end she is creating an army of Newborn vampires who in their youth are ravenous for blood and stronger than older vamps (I always thought that the older you got as a vampire, the stronger you became but perhaps my vampire lore is out of sync). Her activities are attracting the attention of the Voltari – the Vampire government – who demanded in the second movie that Bella be turned into a vampire because she knows too much. Obviously, Edward, Bella and the rest of the Cullen clan want to avoid this kind of attention whilst they battle it out with the Newborns.

Eclipse is better than the first two Twilight movies. It is faster paced with more action and the characters are more strongly developed. The main actors have all grown in their craft and so manage to bring something more to the table than looking pained or inserting an awkward pause before every line. This is not to say that they are good actors, just a little better than they were before. The quicker pacing means the story line is far more interesting and the action scenes were quite good, although the werewolves still look a little unrealistic. And did you know that killing a vampire is as easy as snapping an icicle? Well, it is if you are another vampire that is.

Perhaps one reason that Eclipse has greater weight and energy that the first two in the series is because its moral conflicts and messages are far more interesting. The various moral conflicts are as follows: Bella and Edward struggle over whether they should wait until marriage before becoming sexually active; Bella, Edward and Jacob all wrestle with the conflicting emotions of the love triangle but face it with great maturity; and finally all of the main characters unite together to fight a great evil – not only to protect Bella but all the various innocent humans in Forks.

The movie did raise a question that is very relevant to young people in contemporary society. Does marriage as an institution still have any value? It certainly seems to imply that it does, despite the fact that Bella feels marriage is outdated probably as a result of her parent’s divorce. Generally, inter-family relationships are treated positively, and all the participants in the famed love triangle manage to treat each other with respect which was quite refreshing as far as Hollywood normally goes. Refreshing also was that the struggle to come to terms with one’s sexuality was not actually solved by having sex – rather through a process of more mature conversation and questioning.

So there you have it. If you are a self-confessed “Twi-hard” you will love Eclipse – it is even better than the first two. If you are a non-fanatic like me, then you certainly won’t feel cheated out of your ticket price. It is an enjoyable enough two hours but by no means is it a great movie.

Three stars out of five for Twilight Eclipse.

Movie Review: She's Out of My League

The basic premise of this movie is simple: She is really good looking, he is average. She is considered a perfect 10, while he’s barely a 5. Wouldn’t it be both funny and meaningful then, to base a movie around them falling in love? Well, yes, it is funny in parts but unfortunately its moments of humour and insight are somewhat bogged down by excessive vulgarity and cartoonishness.

Kirk Kettner (Jay Baruchel) is an average Joe stuck in a dead-end job as a TSA security agent in Pittsburgh Airport. Kirk’s life is going nowhere fast, and as a result he cannot get over his last girlfriend who dumped him for another guy. What makes it even worse is that his very strange family have accepted both the ex and her new beau as members of the family, meaning Kirk can never escape his failures. Through a series of mishaps, Kirk ends up meeting Molly (Alice Eve), a successful and gorgeous ‘10’, who appears to have her sights on him, perhaps as a result of rebounding from a failed relationship with a cheating super stud named Cam (Geoff Stults).

Kirk is simultaneously bewildered, thrilled and frightened by Molly’s attention. His co-workers and friends from the airport, and his family, are equally confused by Molly’s interest. They all seem to think he should give the relationship up before it even begins since it appears doomed to failure … with Molly being so far out of his league. Kirk’s own inner insecurities begin to pile up, and ultimately threaten to derail the best thing that has ever happened to him.

The story as a whole is pretty contrived and predictable. The characters, most particularly Kirk’s friends and family, are what make the film so cartoonish. They are bizarre and frankly, unbelievable and more than a little silly. The humour is pretty unoriginal – why is it that no comedy these days seems unable to step out of the shadows of ‘There’s Something about Mary’ and ‘American Pie’? Why can we never have clever instead of vulgar?

I actually ended up quite liking the two main characters as played by Baruchel and Eve. They were innately good people who seemed to value more than just outward appearances. Both were wounded people who were starting to learn that there is far more to life than ranking people based on beauty, popularity, money or success. While there is nothing new or original about this message, I do think this film could have done far more with it. Instead of going for vulgar and bizarre, it could have focussed on funny, sweet and tender and with these two as your leads, they certainly would have pulled it off. In terms of an overall message, we would do well to remember that God doesn’t judge others as we do – based on outward appearances. God looks at the heart. This is a valuable and timeless message, especially whenever we are tempted to become caught up in the game of continually comparing ourselves to others. Kirk’s inner insecurities almost derailed his relationship, which is another valuable message because this truth is played out in reality time and time again. However, at the end these important messages are somewhat lost because this movie insists on sticking a whoopee cushion beneath every scene.

She is a ten, he is a five, but this movie is definitely a two (out of five).