MOVIE REVIEW: ANYONE BUT YOU

 

Despite an amazing first date, Bea and Ben's initial attraction quickly turns sour. However, when they unexpectedly find themselves at a destination wedding in Australia, they pretend to be the perfect couple to keep up appearances.

Director: Will Gluck

Cast: Sydney Sweeney, Glen Powell, Alexandra Shipp, GaTa, Hadley Robinson, Michelle Hurd, Dermot Mulroney, Darren Barnet, Bryan Brown, Rachel Griffiths

Release Date: December 22, 2023

Genre: Comedy, Romance

Rated R for language throughout, sexual content and brief graphic nudity.

Runtime: 1h 43m

Review:

Anyone but You is a fairly paint by the numbers rom-com that toys with being a raunchier romp before settling into the usual genre clichés that we've seen plenty of times before.  To his credit, Will Gluck delivers a slick looking, breezy film that unabashedly uses Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing as its basic template while occasionally lifting full lines of dialogue from the play.   It’s an interesting choice that never works since those moments are played off as a running joke with the characters stating they just made up the rather robust bit of dialogue lifted from the Bard.  It would have been an interesting approach if they'd leaned into it instead of just sporadically shoehorning it randomly with little pretext or payoff.  The film does something similar with its random forays into raunchy territory while never committing to it.  Paired with the random Shakespearean lines, the film never finds its own flow or rhythm since everything in between is overly familiar and broad.  Gluck has proven capable of making a memorable genre film like Emma Stone's Easy A but this film relies far too heavily on tired tropes.  It’s a shame since the cast seems up for pretty much anything especially the overly attractive onscreen couple.  Sydney Sweeney and Glen Powell are clearly having fun with the material which makes the film an easy watch even if decidedly forgettable.  Sweeney and Powell have solid chemistry, but you never buy the fact that the characters supposedly have a certain level of disdain for each other which makes it readily apparent they'll end up together.  The supporting cast is made up of familiar faces like Dermot Mulroney, Rachel Griffiths, Michelle Hurd and Bryan Brown but the film doesn't take advantage of the talent instead being mostly satisfied with them delivering broad strokes of comedy.  It all leaves Anyone but You as a passable but forgettable rom-com that could have been far more memorable.

C

Cindy Prascik's Review of The Courier

Greetings, movie fans!

As COVID_19 Rules kept me confined to my own four walls on the High Holy Day of Gary Oldman's birthday last Saturday, I celebrated by watching the only Gary project I hadn't seen already, The Courier. I must say, his birthday deserved better.

Spoiler level here will be mild, nothing you wouldn't know from the trailer.

A London courier finds herself at the center of a plot to assassinate a valuable witness.

Gary Oldman is no stranger to taking sketchy projects for the paycheck; this is a well-documented fact. With an Academy Award under his belt (if you think it's ever NOT going to be mentioned, you're mistaken), I am equally impressed and disappointed that he still doesn't mind tackling a script that leaves me wondering how it ever got past his agent. The Courier is so very bad from the outset, I kinda wonder how it got past *anyone's* agent.

The Courier lays its groundwork broadly, through news clippings shown over the opening credits. Following is such a by-the-numbers outing that it's not only easy to guess every twist and turn, but I caught myself saying dialogue out loud before the characters did. (The beauty of home viewing, I guess?) Though the stakes are high, there's nary a hint of tension; it's that predictable. The film is as violent as you might expect, with plenty of up-close beatings and kills for your viewing "pleasure." Transitions among three primary locations — New York City, London, and Washington, DC — are choppy and awkward, and the acting can only be described as Shatner-esque. Gary gets a fair bit of screen time, though not nearly enough to make it worth enduring the rest. Two weird things that worked my nerves worse than the rest: the young woman who had her handbag on her arm at all times, even though she was mostly just walking around her house, and the guy who appeared to be channeling (poorly) Stansfield, Gary's character in 1994's The Professional.

The Courier clocks in at 99 minutes that feel like 99 years.  It is rated R for "strong violence, including bloody images, and language throughout."

Hollywood has already been trending towards the quicker release of bigger and better films for home viewing, and the current health crisis is only hastening that trend. Let's hope it will soon let movies like The Courier be mercifully lost in the shuffle.

Of a possible nine Weasleys, the courier gets one, for my Gary.

Until next time, stay well movie fans!

MOVIE REVIEW: DIRTY GRANDPA

Straight-laced lawyer Jason (Zac Efron) goes on a road trip to Daytona Beach with his horndog grandfather Dick (Robert De Niro), who was recently widowed and is eager to party hard on spring break now that he's a single man. Along the way, Dick prods Jason to let loose and have fun, and tries to convince him that he shouldn't get married to his controlling fiancée (Julianne Hough). Aubrey Plaza, Dermot Mulroney, Zoey Deutch, Jason Mantzoukas, and Adam Pally co-star. Directed by Dan Mazer. ~ Jack Rodgers, Rovi

Director: Dan Mazer

Cast: Robert De Niro, Zac Efron, Julianne Hough, Aubrey Plaza, Dermot Mulroney

Release Date: Jan 22, 2016

Rated R for crude sexual content throughout, graphic nudity, and for language and drug use.

Runtime: 1 hr. 42 min.

Genres: Comedy

Review:

If you walk out of Dirty Granpa offended then I’m not sure exactly what you were expecting.  It’s a crude vulgar comedy that always shoots for the lowest common denominator.  It hits its marks a handful of times due to the cast and Dan Mazer’s speedy direction.  Mazer doesn’t let his film linger too long on anything.  As a result, you almost don’t notice the clichéd characters and paper thin story.  It’s easy to forget when you see Robert De Niro and Zac Efron clearly having a blast film the bawdy comedy.  Some have decried the downfall of De Niro with roles like these but he seems to really enjoy them otherwise he wouldn’t make as many of them, it helps that he’s got some comedic chops.  So personally, I don’t fault him too much.  Efron does a solid job of playing the straight man to De Niro’s wild man.  The film is helped along by a strong supporting turn from Aubrey Plaza who deserves more movie roles to take advance of her comedic talents.  All in all, Dirty Grandpa isn’t anymore or less than it says it is.  It won’t be a classic but it’s good for a chuckle.

C+

MOVIE REVIEW: THE GREY

ON DVD

THE GREY



Liam Neeson stars in producer/director Joe Carnahan's tense adventure thriller about a group of tough-as-nails oil rig workers who must fight for their lives in the Alaskan wilderness after their airplane crashes miles from civilization. With supplies running short and hungry wolves closing in, the shaken survivors face a fate worse than death if they don't act fast. Dermot Mulroney, Dallas Roberts, and Frank Grillo co-star. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
Director: Joe Carnahan

Cast: Liam Neeson, Frank Grillo, Dermot Mulroney, Dallas Roberts, Joe Anderson

Release Date: Jan 27, 2012

Rated R for bloody images, violence/disturbing content including bloody images and for pervasive language

Runtime: 1 hr. 57 min.

Genres: Action/Adventure, Suspense/Thriller

Review:

The Grey is and isn’t a complicated film. On its surfaces it’s a stripped down survival story. Looking a little deep you’ll find that Joe Carnahan is working with some Hemmingway-lite themes and subject. The allegory is symbolism is fairly obvious but never overbearing. It’s got an almost metaphysical feel to it while its plot plays out like a nature version of The Warriors or Neil Marshall’s recent Centurion. Carnahan delivers a piece of filmmaking that’s brutal and pensive at the same time. At its center is Liam Neeson at his weatherworn gravelly best. Making the character Irish lets the Neeson focus on his character which is the most realized of the group of survivors. The supporting cast, including a nearly unrecognizable Dermot Mulroney in a quiet yet effective role, does the best they can with limited characterization. It’s one of the film’s most obvious failing, if they’d given the supporting players more life the life and death situations would have achieved a far more potent effect. Carnahan shoots a lovely film, using the winter landscapes to establish a strong sense of isolation, matched with some incredibly effective creature effects for the wolves who feel truly menacing throughout. The Grey is the kind of film that feels like could be easily forgettable after you’ve finished watching it but after it settles it does leave an impression.

B-