The Tourist

             The Tourist is one of those movies that has a lot of potential, yet puts in no effort to entertain the viewer what so ever. It left me questioning at the end of it if anything had really been accomplished in the last hour and 45 minutes. It truly is a shame too, as I believe this movie could have been a good one if it really had just put in the effort.
            The movie stars Johnny Depp as American teacher Frank Tupelo who is visiting Italy on vacation. While here he meets Angelina Jolie's character, Elise Clifton-Ward, on a train to Venice. From the beginning we know that Elise is on the run from Paul Bettany's (Wimbledon, Legion) character, Inspector John Acheson of Interpol, and a gangster due to some stolen money. Elise and Frank hit it off as Elise is using him in order to help shake her tails. She gets Frank sucked into a case of mistaken identity which causes him much distress and to be put in harms way frequently.
            Overall, the plot isn't entirely terrible. The idea and main conflict I am okay with, but it was the execution and dialogue that are the problems. In fact there were even a couple nice twists throughout the film that were great because they prolonged me predicting what the end result of the movie would be. However, this wouldn't last forever and even if I had not predicted the ending it still would have been quite uneventful and unexciting.
             As I have been saying, a movie with a good story idea and two A-list actors such as Depp and Jolie, with a quality supporting actor in Bettany, should not turn into such crap. There was absolutely no chemistry between Depp and Jolie's characters which made it completely unbelievable when they were supposed to have any serious and meaningful emotional scenes together. One factor of this must be because the entire script was poorly written. I am truly amazed that both Depp and Jolie received Golden Globe nominations for their performances, none the less the entire film getting a nomination for best picture at the Golden Globes. It's completely ridiculous.
            All of the bad aside there was a tiny bright spot to shine through it all. The entire film was shot on location in Rome and Venice. I have a feeling this was a strong factor in the actors' decision to do this movie. I can't imagine anyone watching this movie and not wanting to go to Venice afterwards.
            Finally, if you couldn't tell already, I do not recommend this movie. I give it a thumbs down and 1 star out of 4. If you're really determined to see this movie it is available at Redbox. Thankfully, I only spent $1 to see this. I feel for anyone who saw it in theaters. Perhaps, the person who said it best is Kenneth Turan of the Los Angeles Times who wrote, "There is a moment in "The Tourist" when Johnny Depp turns to Angelina Jolie and asks "Why is all this happening?" It's a question moviegoers will be asking themselves as well." Isn't that the truth. Enjoy!

Editors Note: I know this review was supposed to be on Little Fockers, but that was an error on my part. Little Fockers will NOW without a doubt be the next review after this one.

All Good Things

            Though I have no legitimate expertise when it comes to making a movie, I'm going to express an opinion anyway. In my experience as a viewer I have found that when creating a movie that is inspired by true events it usually goes one of two ways. Either it's really well done and is a great picture (i.e. Remember the Titans), or it can become a complete crap fest (i.e. many horror movies and Pearl Harbor). In the account of the movie All Good Things, it did the unusual maneuver or hovering mainly in the middle to the positive side of these two opposites.
            All Good Things is inspired by the true events surrounding Robert Durst and the disappearance of his wife Kathleen McCormack. Of course in the movie all of the names of people have been changed. The film takes place between 1971 and 2003. The movie stars Ryan Gosling (The Notebook) as David Marks, the son of a powerful commercial real estate mogul in New York, who is not to keen on joining the family business. The film begins with David meeting working class Katie McCarthy who is played by Kirsten Dunst (Spiderman), with whom he falls in love with and marries.
           The two move to Vermont and open up a health food store in order to help David avoid joining the family business and his overbearing father Sanford Marks, played by Frank Langella (Frost/Nixon). Eventually, David folds to his father's pressure and joins the real estate business as a part of his father's company.
           Though they are deep in love, much still separates David and Katie as he is increasingly closed off, goes through constant mood swings, and has a strong will against having kids. Once they return to New York, Katie goes back to school, in turn making her more independent which causes David to become violent and controlling.
             Everything begins to come to a head when Katie goes missing. From here on out the mystery really begins as the skeletons in the Marks' family closet begin to slowly come out as police and others try to figure out what happened to Katie; and if David had something to do with it.
             I thought the acting by Gosling and Dunst in this movie was great and helped make this movie what it was. Their chemistry together was spot on as they had to transfer between being newly in love to complete emotional separation from each other. That goes without saying the portrayal of their individual characters was difficult enough, yet done quite well.
            I enjoyed this movie a lot as the mystery behind it all is quite compelling and the acting was good. My main problem with it was the fact that I don't think you ever get to really find out who David Marks is. There's so much mystery set behind this character with not enough answers given. I put the blame on that to the director partly, but also perhaps the fact because maybe the answers I was looking for aren't known due to some of these events the movie is based on; and that I found frustrating.
           Overall though, I found it entertaining and eye opening. I give this movie a thumbs up and 3 out of 4 stars. All Good Things is available for instant streaming or by mail via Netflix and is also available at Redbox. Enjoy!

Look forward to my next review which will be on the comedy Little Fockers, starring Ben Stiller and Robert De Niro.

Kick-Ass

            With so many superhero movies that have come out in the last 10 years it is hard to make one that is different and unique from all of the others, besides that of the superhero. This task is even harder when your movie is centered around superheroes that don't even exist in the fictional world yet. This is the route the movie Kick-Ass takes, and I have to say...they did quite a good job at it.
             Going into this movie I had a certain expectation of what I probably would see. I knew what the general plot was about anyway. The one thing that caught my attention was its R rating. It seemed somewhat odd from viewing the trailer what in this movie could cause it to deserve an R rating. Well let me tell ya, it deserved its R rating and this movie was nothing like I thought it would be; in a good way.
             Kick-Ass stars Aaron Johnson (Nowhere Boy) as Dave Lizewski, an unnoticed high school student who is a big geek when it comes to comic books. Curious as to why no one has tried it before, Dave decides one day to become a superhero named Kick-Ass, even though he has no powers, training in fighting, or any real meaningful reason to do so.  Of course this isn't the easiest thing to just pick up and do and Dave finds that out the hard way, while also becoming famous thanks to a video phone.
              As Dave goes down this road of being a superhero he runs into some legitimate heroes, Damon McCready (Nicholas Cage), a.k.a. Big Daddy (who is a take on Adam West's Batman which is hilarious), and his 14-year-old daughter Mindy (Chloe Moretz), a.k.a. Hit Girl. He also runs into some legitimate trouble in the form of organized crime headed by Mark Strong's (Sherlock Holmes) character Frank D'Amico. Then there is the addition of one last hero named Red Mist who is played by Christopher Mintz-Plasse (Superbad, Role Models) who adds another element into the tangled web of good and evil that needs to be sorted out in this movie.
              I thought this movie did quite a good job of taking everyone's back stories and motivations and tying them together in a good way. As with any superhero movie this one had a lot of action and fighting bad guys. What I didn't expect to see is how real they kept it. This isn't Batman or Superman taking down bad guys and giving them to the cops. This is a story of real people fighting other real people with knives and guns. So these heroes don't just use martial arts against you...they shoot back; and this movie wasn't afraid to show all of this violence even from the 14-year-old Hit Girl. This is why the movie is rated R.
             Overall, I enjoyed this movie a lot as it was funny and very entertaining. It was a fun take on superhero movies that stayed realistic to it's plot most of the time and went away from that when it needed to. After all it's still a superhero movie. I give it a thumbs up and 3 out of 4 stars. You can stream it instantly or get it in the mail via Netflix and your local Redbox may have it as well. Enjoy!

My next review will be on the mystery thriller All Good Things starring Ryan Gosling and Kirsten Dunst

Easy A

          Ah the classic teen comedy. It usually centers around high school and all of the troubles that come with it. Are you popular or a geek? Do you have sex or are you a virgin? Blah blah blah. We all know this. Most of us have seen plenty of teen comedies that we never need to see anymore ever again. The thing that makes some of these movies classics or better than others, is of course the writing and how funny it can be, but that also usually centers around a fresh take on the same old story lines. The movie Easy A does precisely this.
          In Easy A, Emma Stone (Superbad, Zombieland) plays Olive, a smart, average, middle of the pack high schooler. That is until a little white lie that she tells her best friend gets spread across the entire school like wild fire. That lie is that she has had sex and from this point on her life begins to mirror that off the main character in the book "The Scarlett Letter," which she happens to be studying in school.
           Discouraged by this at first, as she begins to be judged and discriminated against by everyone in school, Olive decides to make the best of the situation. She begins to use the school rumor mill to propel her social and financial standing within the school. As always, this doesn't come without its own set of consequences that Olive must deal with.
            As usual with these type of movies there are the secondary story lines of romantic relationships, friendships, and other moral dilemmas that come our way in high school. Though this movie is aimed towards girls it doesn't trap itself in that mindset as all of the jokes and innuendos can be appreciated by all, especially by any one who has ever been to high school.
           Though Emma Stone does a great job in this role, the supporting cast cannot be overlooked. Stanley Tucci (The Lovely Bones) and Patricia Clarkson (Shutter Island, The Green Mile) do a great job as Olive's laid back trusting parents. Then there is Amanda Bynes (What A Girl Wants, Hairspray) who is perfect as the highly religious over the top goody-goody. Throw in Thomas Haden Church (Sideways) and Lisa Kudrow (Friends) as the married school faculty that affect Olive's life and it's quite the ensemble supporting cast.
           Easy A is an easy going teen comedy that has plenty of laughs and is a fun watch at anytime. It doesn't try to be something its not and that's what makes it work. Like I said above, even though it is aimed toward a more female audience it doesn't come out that way, so I recommend this movie to all looking for a good laugh. I give this movie a thumbs up and 3 out of 4 stars. Enjoy!

My next review will be on the movie Kick-Ass starring Nicholas Cage so look forward to that.

The American

            This movie was lost and the best way to describe it is with a terrible pun. It was lost like a lonely American in the beautiful Italian landscape in which it was set. Told you it was bad. This movie did have a lot of things going for it though. It had tons of potential to go somewhere good, but it just never seemed to get off of the ground. I mean it's premise alone gives one the idea that this could potentially be very fun and entertaining, but it just leads the viewer on to think something it is not.
             The American stars George Clooney as Jack, an assassin working for some unknown company. We first find him in the outskirts of Sweden in the middle of winter with a woman (strange how that happens in these movies). Anyways, the movie starts with a bang as Jack's life is instantly thrown into danger and there's a firefight. At this point Jack must go into hiding for awhile while things cool down hopefully and his agency can take care of whoever is after him. He decides to go off of the grid to Castel del Monte in Italy after becoming nervous about the orders he received from his company on what he should do.
             Once comfortable Jack contacts his boss and is set up with another job while he lays low. He is contracted by a woman named Mathilde (Thekla Reuten) to build a custom made sniper rifle for an assassination. During this project Jack's perspective on his life seems to change as he starts seeing and dating a prostitute named Clara (Violante Placido). He decides that this present contract will be his last and then he is out of this business for good. But, of course it is never that easy to leave this sort of business so Jack must outwit everyone who is after him if he wants to lead a normal life with Clara.
             As I said above I expected something much different out of this movie, especially once it started with all of the action that it did. However, once Jack gets to Italy it is a totally different take on your typical spy/assassin movie. It moves quite slow and is more centered on the evolution of Jack's character then it is about his profession. This was unexpected, but still okay as the movie was not dead yet. As the movie progressed I was hoping the ending where all of the problems would finally intersect would be much grander and eventful. However, I found myself figuring out how most of it would go and in the end it was just disappointing.
            I did think there were some great things about this movie. One, it was entirely shot on location so you get to see the beautiful Italian landscape throughout the entire movie. Also, Clooney is the only American actor in the film as the rest of the supporting characters are all Italian or of some other foreign ethnicity, which I thought was a nice touch. Overall, I saw no problem with any of the acting, I just had my reservations about the plot and ending.
           I give this movie a thumbs down and 1 1/2 stars out of 4. I think it got over rated by other viewers and could have been much better than it was. As always this is just my opinion and if you're a huge fan of Clooney then give it a shot. You may find yourself not being as critical as me. This movie is available on Netflix as well as Redbox I believe. Enjoy!

My next review will be of the teen comedy Easy A starring Emma Stone.