Showing posts with label Comedy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Comedy. Show all posts

Tuesday, 2 February 2016

Get Hard

***DISCLAIMER*** The following review is entirely my opinion. If you comment (which I encourage you to do) be respectful. If you don't agree with my opinion (or other commenters), that's fine. To each their own. These reviews are not meant to be statements of facts or endorsements, I am just sharing my opinions and my perspective when watching the film and is not meant to reflect how these films should be viewed. Finally, the reviews are given on a scale of 0-5. 0, of course, being unwatchable. 1, being terrible. 2, being not great. 3, being okay. 4, being great and 5, being epic! And if you enjoy these reviews feel free to share them and follow the blog or follow me on Twitter (@RevRonster) for links to my reviews and the occasional live-Tweet session of the movie I'm watching!  With a title like Get Hard, will there be any jokes about erections--yes, there will be a ton of them.



Get Hard ? 2 out of 5

I?m a pretty big fan of Will Ferrell and I enjoy Kevin Hart here and there.  However, the trailers for Get Hard weren?t really selling me on the film.  It didn?t look terrible but it didn?t look funny enough where I had to get out there and see it in the theater?and it didn?t really seem to be that great where I had to watch it the minute it came out at RedBox (I dropped your name, I will gladly take a check now).  However, I was bored and didn?t really see anything else that was striking my fancy and decided to take a shot?if nothing else, I concluded, it has to have some funny moments with Ferrell and Hart in it.  Right?

The sad reality is this shot can probably be taken from any number of Ferrell's films...
and I'm saying that as an admitted fan of the guy.

James King (Ferrell) seems to have life by the short and curlies.  He has the hand of a gorgeous woman (Alison Brie) and he has gathered a decent wealth due to his career as a hedge fund manager at his soon-to-be father-in-law?s operation (Craig T. Nelson).  However, one day he is arrested for fraud and embezzlement and is looking at spending a lot of time in prison even though he swears he?s innocent.  Scared that he won?t survive the ordeal, he hires Darnell (Hart)?the gentleman who washes his car, to help him prepare for his sentence.  The kicker here is that King is a tad on the slower side and thinks because Darnell is black he?s been to prison.  Darnell is a harmless guy who hasn?t even turned in a library book late and isn?t the man who can really teach a person how to be a badass in prison but he needs the money King is offering and agrees to toughen the rich man up.  However, it?s not long before Darnell starts to believe King and thinks someone else is responsible for the embezzlement and framed King.

One can easily assume by the reaction of Hart that Ferrell's character is getting hurt in some way...
and most likely the pain is being inflicted upon the genitals.

Get Hard starts out pretty decently with some gags I really enjoyed at the expense of the 1%-ers.  However, it didn?t take long before I found I was laughing less and less and groaning more and more.  Predictably, the film?s title and its play on erections come into play and are too often involved in gags that go way too long.  Then, the film brings in the not surprising jokes about prison rape and a lot of jokes about racial stereotypes.  Granted, these jokes are never offensive and aren?t really just pointless material in order to shock but are, instead, really just lazy and just way too obvious.

Craig T. Nelson is frighteningly realistic as a 1%-er.


It's funny because Hart is super tiny.
Formulaic humor and jokes that just don?t resonate with me is one thing, however, there was something that was a lot harder to overlook.  Like a lot of comedies that feel like the humor isn?t that strong, there?s the feeling that they are trying to make up for it but extending the bad jokes into longer scenes.  Sorta like the production is trying to course-correct and turn shit into gold...or unfunny into funny.  Very often, this extension of jokes just come off like the director had no idea when to yell cut or could never figure out where to properly edit a scene down in order to stop the pain of a joke that isn?t working or the attempt to "fix" the joke that isn't working.  It gives a lot of scenes the feeling that the sequence was improvised but only improvised once and with little-to-no discussion over the possibility of trying something new that could work.  It made for a film that, too often, gets uncomfortable to sit through because you are just watching two very talented comedic players struggle to make unfunny material humorous.  I like Ferrell and Hart and this film just felt like I was watching them fail at the thing I know they are good at.  It was like a comedy open mic, in that sense.

Pictured:  The struggle just mentioned in the last paragraph.

Finally, the hardest part to overlook was the fact that Will Ferrell, very often, looked like he just didn?t care about the film.  Hart is giving his all?even when it?s clear that he thinks the scene isn?t working?and he?s really trying to bring the funny but there were times that Ferrell looked like he wasn?t 100% committed to the role he was playing.  Sure, there are times when both Will and Kevin are quite humorous but there are just as many times where it appears they are giving ?The Check Cleared? level of dedication.

I will admit that any scene with Kevin Hart and this gentleman was very, very amusing.

Get Hard has its moments very early on and a few sparsely littered here and there but, for the most part, I just didn?t find the film funny.  Matters weren?t helped due to the fact that all the jokes feel overly familiar and can be seen coming a mile away but the worst part of all of it is the perception that the two leads don?t look like they really care about the product.  I had hoped this was going to be a sleeper hit type of comedy for me where I go in with little-to-no expectations and walk out holding my sides in from laughing but I ended up being a tad disappointed.

Entourage

***DISCLAIMER*** The following review is entirely my opinion. If you comment (which I encourage you to do) be respectful. If you don't agree with my opinion (or other commenters), that's fine. To each their own. These reviews are not meant to be statements of facts or endorsements, I am just sharing my opinions and my perspective when watching the film and is not meant to reflect how these films should be viewed. Finally, the reviews are given on a scale of 0-5. 0, of course, being unwatchable. 1, being terrible. 2, being not great. 3, being okay. 4, being great and 5, being epic! And if you enjoy these reviews feel free to share them and follow the blog or follow me on Twitter (@RevRonster) for links to my reviews and the occasional live-Tweet session of the movie I'm watching!  The movie continuation that still would have been 5 years too late if it came out the day after the final episode.



Entourage ? 2 out of 5

I started watching Entourage not long after I graduated college in 2005 and I really dug the show.  I thought it was ridiculous but amusing at the same time.  I pretty much stayed with it until the show ended in 2011 but, as the seasons passed, I became less and less interested in the repetitive nature of the seasons and the groups? douche-y behavior became less and less endearing.  As time went on, I would catch up on seasons years after they ended and I think I only finished it up about two years ago.  I originally laughed at the idea of the series getting a movie but, I?m being honest here, the trailer did have me interested and I was curious to check it out.  Let?s just say it left me with about as much enthusiasm as the last seasons of the show gave me.

The boys are back...if anyone actually cares or not is something else.

So Vinnie Chase (Adrien Grenier) and his crew; Eric (Kevin Connolly), Drama (Kevin Dillion) and Turtle (Jerry Ferrara), are still together and still getting up to their usual shenanigans?basically put, they are dealing with movie-making difficulties and trying to have sex with as many women as they can.  In this douche-y adventure, Vinnie is directing and starring in his own film but they are going over budget and have to swallow their pride and ask the head of the studio?and Vinnie?s former agent; Ari Gold (Jeremy Pivon)?for more money.  Reluctantly, Ari agrees to speak with the film?s financier; Larsen McCredle (Billy Bob Thornton), and he?ll give more money if his son Travis (Haley Joel Osment) heads to L.A. to see a cut of the film.  That is, if Vinnie will let anyone actually see the film?

Yep, this movie is in no way full of itself.  No way whatsoever.

Ari used to be my favorite part of the show but now
I just don't care.
Overall, I was pretty unimpressed with Entourage.  While the cast still has their parts nailed down, this can?t save the film from the fact it feels like Entourage?s time has already passed.  Watching this film in 2016 (and remember it came out only last year), I started to realize that watching four self-indulgent, misogynistic and outright unlikable douche bags treat women like garbage and like their only point of existence is to be objects of sexual conquests for them is way passed its time.  I realized how far we?ve come as a society as I see these guys less as a comedic outlook of the excess that is the Hollywood lifestyle like in the early days of the show and now they?re more of a sad reflection of how our society views sexual promiscuity of male fictional characters.  What?s really sad is how the production isn?t aware of how sad it?s product really is as it acts like it did when its show was still on the air and acts like things are still the same.  It?s like when a middle-aged dude goes to a college house party and is completely oblivious to the fact that he is being laughed at behind his back the whole time.

Director:  Get me those things...um...what are they called?  We make the sex with them.
Assistant:  Um...women?
Director:  Yeah, that's them.  Let's get a bunch of them and start objectifying.

There was a point where it felt like the whole property was showing some maturity as it is hinted that one of the characters was going to learn that women aren?t just sexual playthings for them to wham, bam and then thank you ma?am but this scene is resolved in a very lazy way and, ultimately, in a way that the character doesn?t learn anything of significance and is, rather, just left wiping his brow and saying, ?Whew, that was close.?  It could be argued that he learned his lesson but getting lucky and avoiding conflict isn?t really learning anything.  The story basically just reset the clock for this character to return to his debauchery-encrusted lifestyle and gravitate to a false belief that this behavior is amusing in some way.

Ronda Rousey isn't a trained actor but she's pretty good at playing Ronda Rousey.
It was the part she was born to play.

However, the worst thing about this film is the fact it feels no different than the show.  While this is a good thing when it comes to continuity with the series, it?s a bad thing when it feels like it is just as repetitive as the show.  For all intents and purposes, the movie is just a condensed version of every season ever done as its only focus is the guys trying to get laid and trying to solve whatever problem that is coming with whatever movie Vinnie is at the time.  This was the biggest reason I grew tired of the show as it basically was the same thing season after season and now, writer/director Doug Ellin (who also wrote and directed for the show), is taking that same formula and just shortening it from several episodes into a single feature length film.  It just feels lazy.

Come check out the Entourage movie where nearly nothing has changed with
the characters and they don't learn anything!

Finally, adding to the laziness of the whole feature, the film crams in way too many cameos.  At times, these cameos are fun but as more and more come in they start to feel extremely forced, they stop being fun and just come off as a desperate publicity stunt meant to hide the fact the film's story holds nothing special.  There?s even a whole sequence where Ari is literally running to cameo-to-cameo and it feels so utterly pointless.  It does nothing to enhance the story and it would have just been easier to have the director lean in and say, ?Did you see that?  We got Liam Neeson, Jessica Alba, Warren Buffett and a whole shit load of other celebrities to be in this film and they?re helping us hide the fact that we are literally not trying anything new with this film!?

Hey, look!  A cameo!
Alright!  Another needless cameo!
Is that what I think it is?  Yes it is!  Another pointless cameo!
Holy shit on a shih tzu!  Another cameo!  It's the gift that doesn't realize you
want it to desperately stop giving!
Heavens to Betsy!  Armie Hammer?!?  They are really pulling out the star power
for these cameos!
Who needs a story when you have cameos?!?

 
So...did Haley's face just stop aging after The Sixth
Sense
?
Entourage has a moment here and there when it?s amusing and the performances from the main cast and from new members like Haley Joel Osment are great but I couldn?t escape the fact that the property already feels dated and that the film was made way passed its expiration date.  Add in the fact that the film is super lazy and feels literally no different than every single solitary season of the show and it made for a very forgettable and pretty pointless experience.  The production expressed hopes that they could turn the film into a trilogy but, considering the tract record, I don?t think I could watch the exact same movie done two more times because, let?s be realistic, it?s not like they are really going to do anything unique or new in the additional films.

Thursday, 21 January 2016

Daddy's Home

***DISCLAIMER*** The following review is entirely my opinion. If you comment (which I encourage you to do) be respectful. If you don't agree with my opinion (or other commenters), that's fine. To each their own. These reviews are not meant to be statements of facts or endorsements, I am just sharing my opinions and my perspective when watching the film and is not meant to reflect how these films should be viewed. Finally, the reviews are given on a scale of 0-5. 0, of course, being unwatchable. 1, being terrible. 2, being not great. 3, being okay. 4, being great and 5, being epic! And if you enjoy these reviews feel free to share them and follow the blog or follow me on Twitter (@RevRonster) for links to my reviews and the occasional live-Tweet session of the movie I'm watching!  A sequel could be called Daddy's Going Out for Cigarettes.



Daddy?s Home ? 3 out of 5

Like many people in ?Murica, my girlfriend and I have a tradition of seeing a movie on Christmas morning?it?s all a part of our never-ending war on the holiday.  Often we see a comedy because who wants to see anything super heavy on Jesus? birthday?  Also, she vetoed my idea of seeing The Force Awakens for the fifth time and we ended up picking the new comedy that saw another team-up of Will Ferrell and Mark ?Don?t call me Marky Mark? Wahlberg; Daddy?s Home.  Well, the holidays are now over and my life is finally calming down a bit so I am able to finally sit down and review this one.  Join me, won't you?  WON'T YOU?!?

                                                                                                                 Paramount Pictures
I'm guessing that these children are fans of the Lakers.  Call it a hunch.

Brad Whitaker (Ferrell) is one of those ?good guys.?  He has a great job, he volunteers for everything, he replaces the toilet paper roll after he finishes the old one and is desperately trying to be a great step-father to his wife?s children.  However, one day the kid?s real dad; Dusty (Wacky Wahlberg?it?s your new nickname, Mark, and since I made it, we are now best friends) returns to the picture and decides he is going to force Brad out and get back in the good graces of his ex ?wife (Linda Cardellini).  Dusty is everything Brad isn?t?he?s tough, handsome and the quintessential ?bad boy.?  Now Brad has his work cut out for him as Dusty shoves his way into his life and is ready to push him out of the family he was working so hard to forge.

                                                                                                                 Paramount Pictures
It's funny because if it happened in real life, he'd most likely be dead.

I am a big fan of the other film that saw Ferrell and Wacky Wahlberg team up for; The Other Guys.  That film nearly made me piss myself when I saw it and it continues to be one of those films I turn to when I crave a good laugh or am seeking to turn a bad mood into a good one.  The trailer for this one made me chuckle and I was fully prepared to see something as funny as The Other Guys but found a comedy that was really only entertaining in the beginning and end moments.

                                                                                                                   Paramount Pictures
I'm guessing the little one on the left is Mark Wahlberg.

Not surprisingly, Ferrell and Wacky Wahlberg are playing off each other fantastically but the film started to drag for me in the middle.  The mean-spirited humor of seeing these two father figures fight for their children?s love is engaging and humorous when it starts but it began to grate on me during the Second Act and I started to find I was feeling too sorry for the character of Brad to find even the best comedy sequences to be funny.  Dusty?s character went from being a funny jerk to just being a scumbag that I didn?t want to see anymore and it made the entire experience completely joyless to watch.  Even though it started very fun, I started to feel like the film had lost its entertainment value and that I was now watching a comedy that was growing weaker by the minute.  However, I was wrong.

                                                                                                                    Paramount Pictures
Seriously though, the trailer basically gave you all the best jokes for free.

After sitting through the mid-portion of the film, I found the final phase of the feature really brought me back as the two characters of Brad and Dusty (not surprisingly) reconcile and become friends.  Sure, I knew in the back of my brain that this was the obvious direction the story would take but the events happening to the clearly nice guy that is Brad started to feel too awful to really see it make a believable turn around--or, at the very least, one that would feel authentic and natural.  Thankfully, the film does it and does so in a way that didn?t feel forced and it ended up ending the film on a high note for me that had me laughing harder than I did at the beginning.

                                                                                                                   Paramount Pictures
Wait, I'm being told that THIS is Mark Wahlberg.
Yep, it can clearly be seen that the character of Brad has some real competition now...
Actually, this makes the movie make a lot more sense to me.

                                                                                    Paramount Pictures
This film has a company logo that involves a saxophone
playing panda and we focus on the family drama?!?
Aside from this issue, I did find Daddy?s Home to be a fun but, ultimately, kinda mediocre work of comedy.  Sure, Ferrell and my new BFF Wacky Wahlberg are great together and really have tremendous chemistry and there are some amazing hysterical scenes with Thomas Hayden Church, Bobby Cannavale, Hannibal Buress and Bill Burr but the jokes and gags aren?t strong enough for me to make this film something other than a comedy I?ll watch once or twice in my life.  I definitely had some fun watching it?except for the mid-section that made me uncomfortable as hell and made me realize that I wouldn?t have the gumption to take the abuse Brad was going through and would have just called it quits and left them all behind but that?s because I?m a quitter (lesson here, kids, is always run from your problems)?but, sadly, I didn?t find it as funny as the other film that starred these two.