MOVIE REVIEW: ROAD HOUSE

 

Ex-UFC fighter Dalton takes a job as a bouncer at a Florida Keys roadhouse, only to discover that this paradise is not all it seems.

Director: Doug Liman

Cast: Jake Gyllenhaal, Daniela Melchior, Conor McGregor, J. D. Pardo, Arturo Castro, Billy Magnussen, Joaquim de Almeida

Release Date: March 21, 2024

Genre: Action, Thriller

Rated R for violence throughout, pervasive language and some nudity.

Runtime: 1h 54m

Review:

Doug Liman's remake of the 80's cult classic, Road House, is entertaining in spurts thanks to some fun action sequences and solid turn from Jake Gyllenhaal but it doesn't do anything memorable enough to make the redux necessary.  Liman's film uses the basic plot of the original as the scaffolding for this update while only making cosmetic changes to the setting, characters and motivations.  It makes the entire thing feel strangely familiar but missing that 80s goofiness that only feathered mullets and karate kicks can bring about.  It’s replaced by a glossy sort of sweaty griminess that makes you feel every bit of that pre storm humidity throughout the film.  Liman makes great use of the scenery to deliver some visually impressive sequences such as Dalton & Ellie's date on a sandbar or some hyper kinetic fight sequences that border on cartoonish even by the original's standards.  Those action sequences are aggressively brutal and edited like they are trying to keep a caffeinated squirrel's attention.  Some of these sequences work better than others but they could all use some judicious trimming to avoid the pervading sense of overkill that takes over.  There are the ingredients of a fun, mindless, beat 'em up but the film lacks the sort of streamlined efficiency to make it all work with multiple dead spots killing most of the film's forward momentum.  Jake Gyllenhaal delivers a workmanlike, understated performance in the central role as he tries to give the character more depth and nuance than what's on page.  Unfortunately, all the other characters are one note at best with Arturo Castro and Billy Magnussen being the lone standouts who at least have fun with their roles.  Conor McGregor's cinematic debut is an embarrassingly over the top performance, puffed out chest and all, that's more likely to elicit unintentional laughter than anything else.  Daniela Melchior and Joaquim de Almeida both deliver professional if uninspired turns to round out the supporting cast.  When it's all said and done this version of Road House isn't likely to leave much of an impression and will probably be forgotten shortly after the credits roll.

C-

MOVIE REVIEW: CHAOS WALKING

 

In Prentisstown, Todd has been brought up to believe that the Spackle released a germ that killed all the women and unleashed Noise on the remaining men. After discovering a patch of silence out in the swamp, his surrogate parents immediately tell him that he has to run, leaving him with only a map of New World, a message, and many unanswered questions. He soon discovers the source of the silence: a girl, named Viola.

Director: Doug Liman

Cast: Daisy Ridley, Tom Holland, Mads Mikkelsen, Demián Bichir, Cynthia Erivo, Nick Jonas, David Oyelowo

Release Date: March 5, 2021

Genre: Adventure, Sci-Fi 

Rated PG-13 for violence and language 

Runtime: 1 h 49 min

Review:

Chaos Walking is a prime example of an enjoyable film that still feels like a missed opportunity.  Doug Liman's troubled production, originally filmed in 2017 and pushed back multiple times, is a visually appealing hybrid of a couple of genres.  There's the standard dystopian base mixed with a western, paired with some lovely pacific northwestern vistas which gives the film a distinctive look.  Linman tries his best to keep you from noticing the clichés that make up the skeleton of the plot while using some impressive effects to visualizes the film's primary conceit, the noise.  The "thoughts" are visualized as personalized auras or projections occasionally which keeps the proceedings from lagging even in slower moments.  The cast does the best they can with the script which seems interested in larger themes like sexual politics and zealotry but never delves into any of them with any serious depth.  Daisy Ridley's female character is the kicking off point of the entire story but her character feels painfully underwritten, as such she's relegating to reacting to situations and not much else.  Tom Holland's character fares better mainly due to his general boyish likeability which works so well for as Spiderman.  Holland's interactions with Ridley are the lifeblood of the film and makes markedly more watchable than it deserves to be.  Sadly, there is a bevy of a excellent actors who are short changed by the script.  Mads Mikkelsen can play passive aggressive villainy in his sleep but the film doesn't really give him much to do outside of looking at people menacingly.  Faring even worse are Demián Bichir, Cynthia Erivo, & David Oyelowo whose character seem much more nuanced and interesting than the script allows them to be.  Ultimately, Chaos Walking is a forgettable miss that could have been so much more.

B-

MOVIE REVIEW: AMERICAN MADE

Barry Seal, a TWA pilot, is recruited by the CIA to provide reconnaissance on the burgeoning communist threat in Central America and soon finds himself in charge of one of the biggest covert CIA operations in the history of the United States. The operation spawns the birth of the Medellin cartel and almost brings down the Reagan White House.

Director: Doug Liman

Cast: Tom Cruise, Sarah Wright, Domhnall Gleeson, Jayma Mays, Jesse Plemons

Release Date: Sept 29, 2017

Genres: Action, Adventure

Rated R for language throughout and some sexuality/nudity

Review:

American Made, the second collaboration between Doug Linman and Tom Cruise, is a fun fast paced quasi docudramedy.  Linman delivers a fizzy if somewhat light hearted take on Barry Seal’s crazy story.  Tom Cruise is front and center throughout and he’s clearly having a great time in the role.  Sporting a barely convincing southern accent, Cruise is still great.  He’s the driving force of the movie throughout, so your enjoyment of the film will depend on how much you like Cruise.  Personally, I think it’s one of best performances in a good while.  The character is incredibly compromised and not nearly as smart as he thinks he is, so it’s a bit of a change of pace for Cruise and it works well for him and the film.  The supporting cast is a bit under developed and I would have liked to know a bit more about Domhnall Gleeson’s shady CIA character but it’s not a massive misstep.  A tad bit of trimming towards the end would have helped but as is it’s a strong showcase for Cruise and Liman.

B+

Cindy Prascik's Reviews of Edge of Tomorrow & Jersey Boys

Dearest Blog, yesterday it was off to the pictures for the strange-bedfellows double bill of Edge of Tomorrow and Jersey Boys.

Spoiler level here will be mild, nothing you wouldn't know from the trailers or, you know, if you lived through the 60s.

After weeks of missing out due to my Winter Soldier obsession, yesterday's opener was Edge of Tomorrow.

In the midst of an alien invasion, a US military officer finds himself reliving the same day over and over again. As synopses go, that one's a bit over-simplified, but, dear reader(s) you gotta give me some credit for not saying "Groundhog Day."

Edge of Tomorrow is a clever sci-fi pic that is surprisingly fun. I say "surprisingly" only because I think comparisons to Tom Cruise's last outing, Oblivion, are unavoidable, and though Oblivion was a good movie, it was also pretty joyless. Edge of Tomorrow is anything but.

Cruise is fantastic in the lead, an action hero's action hero who can also be a little bit scared or confused or funny or (*gasp*) not afraid to let a chick to the heavy lifting sometimes. Said "chick" is Emily Blunt, who...um...well, it's fair to say wouldn't have been the first person I'd think of for a role like this, but who does a mighty fine job of it nonetheless. I'm embarrassed to confess I didn't even recognize Jonas Armstrong, despite the fact that I own (and religiously watch) the box set of the BBC's Robin Hood. What's become of me?? Edge of Tomorrow boasts solid effects and scary aliens.

If it bogged down ever-so-slightly a couple times, I can't complain since it clocks in under the two-hour mark...AND they tie it up without getting contrived or being a buzzkill.

Edge of Tomorrow runs 113 minutes and is rated PG13 for "intense sequences of sci-fi action and violence, language, and brief suggestive material." It's a smart, fun shoulda-been-a-blockbuster that deserves your attention.

Of a possible nine Weasleys, Edge of Tomorrow gets seven and a half.

Next on my agenda was the big-screen rendering of the 2006 Tony Award winner for Best Musical, Jersey Boys.

Four kids from the wrong side of the tracks form a band that goes on to make some of the world's best-loved and most enduring music.

In the interest of full and fair disclosure, I admit this movie ticked all the boxes for me before I ever saw a single second of a single trailer. A movie musical about a group I love, that stars actual stage vets rather than big Hollywood names? Yes, please. Of course, the downside is such high expectations could have led to disappointment, but I'm happy to report that's not even close to the case.

I've been to IMDB and Rotten Tomatoes this morning. I've seen that Jersey Boys is carrying middling ratings and has been trounced at the box office by Think Like a Man 2. (Really?) I am confounded by this state of affairs.

Jersey Boys runs slightly longer than two hours, but it never feels slow or boring. A couple numbers from the stage show were eliminated, and a couple more songs relegated to the background; I certainly wouldn't have cut another thing. Telling the story from several points of view means it never patronizes by painting any one person strictly the bad guy or strictly the good guy. John Lloyd Young, who won a Tony Award as Best Leading Actor in a Musical for originating the role of Frankie Valli on Broadway, embodies his part like few actors ever do. He is mesmerizing. Other than Boardwalk Empire's Vincent Piazza, all members of the band are portrayed by actors who have performed in one or more stage versions of the show. This is a good thing, Hollywood! And the songs...OH! The songs!!

If you weren't a fan of the Four Seasons before seeing the movie, you certainly will be after. At both my screening and the one before it, everyone exiting the theatre was smiling and singing, and the movie earned TWO big rounds of applause at the end of my show. I can't speak for the people who rate movies at IMDB and Rotten Tomatoes (nor for those who saw Think Like a Man 2 instead), but, if I'm making movies, that right there is the reaction I'm going for. If there's one tiny negative, I thought there were an awful lot of f-words for a movie whose median audience member easily qualifies for the AARP discount.

Jersey Boys runs 134 minutes and is rated R for "language throughout."

Jersey Boys is a well written, well acted story that is filled with great, iconic music. For my money, it's easily as good as or even better than the screen version of Chicago that won the 2003 Best Picture Oscar.

Of a possible nine Weasleys, I am pleased to award Jersey Boys 2014's first perfect nine.

Until next time..

MOVIE REVIEW: EDGE OF TOMORROW

Tom Cruise stars as a soldier who lives out the last day of his life over and over again in this Warner Bros. sci-fi production from driector Doug Liman. Emily Blunt and Bill Paxton co-star, with Dante Harper and Joby Harold providing the script. ~ Jeremy Wheeler, Rovi

Director: Doug Liman 

Cast: Tom Cruise, Emily Blunt, Bill Paxton, Jonas Armstrong, Kick Gurry.

Release Date: Jun 06, 2014

Rated PG-13 for intense seq. of sci-fi action, brief suggestive material, intense seq. of sci-fi violence and language 

Genres: Action/Adventure 

Review:

Doug Liman’s Edge of Tomorrow maybe the biggest surprise of the summer.  An odd thing to say considering it stars Tom Cruise and Emily Blunt, believably badass throughout, during the middle of blockbuster season.  Cruise’s last sci-fi epic, Oblivion, failed to impress because of how much it borrowed from other sources while never really adding much to the mix.  Edge of Tomorrow also borrows heavily from other sources, think Groundhog Day meets Starship Troopers, but it’s just a film that’s a lot more enjoyable to watch especially the first 2 acts.  Cruise and Blunt are wonderful together with the latter really leaving you with a different impression of her overall.  Cruise isn’t overly serious, having fun with the role that doesn’t place him in the hero role right away, instead making him earn it.  Massive set pieces are revisited various times but some sharp editing keeps it from becoming too tedious.  The last act falters a tad because it falls into some standard sci-fi territory which gives you time to start nitpicking the story’s premise and the endless plot holes at play.  That’s when you kind of wish Liman would have trimmed the film just a tad.   

B+

[Trailer] Edge of Tomorrow

The new trailer for Doug Liman’s Tom Cruise led sci-fi epic looks visually impressive with a derivative plot, much like Cruise’s recent Oblivion. The idea doesn’t seem original because it feels like a hodgepodge of the Starship Troopers (book), The Forever War (book) and Groundhog Day. The oddest thing is that I found it all rather intriguing, check out the trailer below…