Snitch

Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson continues his Hollywood takeover with Snitch, a film reminiscent of his early features. After the son of Johnson’s character gets arrested on drug charges, the father goes on a mission to gain leverage and shorten the teen’s sentence. This leads him to snitch on local criminals and Mexican drug cartels alike. The film is a level headed action adventure that is apparently based on true events. That fact allows for the film to get away with avoiding huge effects, explosions and other action staples.

Johnson has the ability to convince the audience that he is an average everyday family man even though he’s the size of small house. That’s acting, folks. But beyond that, he doesn’t stretch himself very much beyond a few emotional scenes with the son. Other than the lead, Susan Sarandon, Benjamin Bratt and Barry Pepper all are underutilized as flat archetypal characters. John Bernthal of “The Walking Dead” fame gives the most layered performance as a reformed convict pulled into the situation by Johnson’s character, who happens to be his boss. The way the actor balances the different facets of the character’s personality is fun to watch.

Since Snitch plays out with a strong sense of realism, it hits peaks and valleys in its pacing. Surprisingly that doesn’t necessarily correspond to the action. In fact, some simple conversations are just as exciting as the final highway showdown. The script takes a strong stance against minimum sentencing laws for drug offenders including a small write up before the credits. But even though the film highlights an instance where the rule punishes a teenager for a dumb mistake, the kid had a giant bag full of ecstasy. That’s a crime. So in this instance, the plot’s attempt to show a government flaw isn’t universally accepted enough to point out so blatantly.

Each film earns either zero, a half or a full arrow in five categories. The categories are Acting, Writing/Directing, Emotion, Innovation and Overall Impression. The arrows are added up to equal the full score.

A Good Day to Die Hard

Has everyone forgotten why the Die Hard films are action classics? Somehow A Good Day to Die Hard has been billed as less of the cinematic event it is and more as a random February release. But let’s not kid ourselves. The series has changed since John McClane (Bruce Willis) threw Hans Gruber off the thirty-second floor of Nakatomi Towers in the first film. A Good Day has the tough guy cop travelling to Russia to help his son, Jack, (Jai Courtney) who was arrested. But when he arrives, it turns out Jack is actually an American spy working on an important operation. Dear old dad then tags along, of course.

That short plot description is the first issue with the film. The other four Die Hard’s have McClane thrust into a massively dangerous situation while he’s (kind of) minding his own business. This plot is more of a Mission Impossible espionage thriller. The action is driven by a handful of compelling sequences and memorable shots that will allow the film to be considered successful. The dynamic between Willis and Courtney is strong, but one can’t help but consider how similar it runs to how the daughter (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) viewed her father in the previous chapter. : Slight Spoiler Alert: Both children hate their father until he saves their lives. They don’t seem to have considered all the other lives he has saved. What brats. In actuality, Willis worked better with Justin Long in the fourth movie. They had funnier exchanges than the occasionally flat Courtney.

The script muddies itself with betrayals, double crosses and triple crosses that ultimately denies the audience of McClane’ signature phrase. Sure, he “Yippee ki yays,” but we don’t hate the person on the other end enough to get into it. Fans of the series can add A Good Day to Die Hard to the canon as the film that reveals the last member of the McClane family and the one where the heroes go through radioactive Chernobyl with no fear of the radiation. Their family is too bad ass for radiation suits. Yippee ki yay, radiation suits.

Each film earns either zero, a half or a full arrow in five categories. The categories are Acting, Writing/Directing, Emotion, Innovation and Overall Impression. The arrows are added up to equal the full score.

Safe Haven

Nicholas Sparks and his bookshelf full of tear jerking romance novels have become a mainstay film genre it would seem. Whenever I think they’ve adapted all of his books, another one hits the big screen and I’m proven wrong. But to be honest, I’m not following his career too closely. The new one is called Safe Haven. The story has Julianne Hough playing a mysterious young woman on the run from something. When her bus stops in a coastal North Carolina town, she decides to stay for a fresh start. Josh Duhamel’s presence there probably didn’t have anything to do with it… probably.

At some point in the last year or so, Hough has established herself as a lead actress. After singing and dancing roles in Footloose and Rock of Ages, this marks her entrance into dramatic acting without a big soundtrack. Her performance is adequate, but to pair this film with all Nicholas Sparks films, the characters are rarely that exciting or interesting. Duhamel is more likeable as a widowed father and all around good guy. The plot deals too heavily with the question of what Hough’s character did and who is chasing her, but the mystery isn’t compelling enough to play such a major role.

The release of Safe Haven was pushed up to Valentine’s Day to capitalize on the heightened box office numbers for such films on the date night holiday. In fact, this is what the film really works as. The two leads have chemistry and carry the film well. On a personal note, I happen to have family in Southport, North Carolina, the setting and where it was filmed. It’s not quite the hole in the wall they’d have you believe. During my annual visits there, I am yet to encounter the dirt roads Hough frequents that lead to nowhere. That’s Hollywood for you.

Each film earns either zero, a half or a full arrow in five categories. The categories are Acting, Writing/Directing, Emotion, Innovation and Overall Impression. The arrows are added up to equal the full score.

Identity Thief

Without a doubt, the classic straight man of comedy for this generation is Jason Bateman. The guy is constantly the subject to torment and abuse in every film he makes as every actor from Will Smith to Ellen Page has questioned his manhood on camera. Sure, they’re characters, but sheesh, give the guy a break. Identity Thief pits Bateman against an over the top scam artist played by Melissa McCarthy. After she steals his identity and charges up a bunch of random purchases and a criminal record under his name, he decides to go and confront her in order to restore his good name. 111 minutes of awkwardness ensues.

While this trend in the lead actor’s roles show that he’s sticking firmly to his comfort zone, it’s worth noting that Bateman is a good actor in these positions. He’s likeable to a fault, sympathetic from the moment the movie starts and somehow he establishes trust with the audience instantly. He’s like a less in-control version of Tom Hanks. His counterpart, the Oscar nominated Melissa McCarthy seesaws between being overqualified for the role and too annoying to handle. The moments that establish the thief with a troubled past and being lonely come with the sincerity that earned her the nomination. But the result is that the audience is left feeling bad for the criminal and going against the exploited protagonist. It’s a strange way to develop this type of story and we see it more and more in comedy these days.

Identity Thief runs by the books. There is nothing incredibly memorable about it and to be honest, I didn’t laugh once. There were funny moments, but not enough for the proverbial “LOL.” Without the stalwart Jason Bateman to keep a level head on the plot, it would be a complete disaster. McCarthy has such opportunity to bring her Emmy winning skill to comedy films, but instead she plays a caricature that imitates a real person twice a film.

Each film earns either zero, a half or a full arrow in five categories. The categories are Acting, Writing/Directing, Emotion, Innovation and Overall Impression. The arrows are added up to equal the full score.

Side Effects

For the last few years, every time a Steven Soderbergh movie comes out, I’m left with this strange uneasy feeling after watching it. Sometimes that seems appropriate like with Contagion or his latest Side Effects. But what about with Magic Mike? Maybe all those tear away pants just irk me. Soderbergh is just a unique filmmaker whose style seems to conflict with my critic’s eye. Side Effects stars Rooney Mara as a young woman forced to deal with heavy consequences after the side effects from a drug she is taking get her in legal trouble.

I don’t think Rooney Mara was always pegged as these slightly troubled weird characters, but after The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo I think that’s going to be her M.O. In this instance the character has subtle layers that develop throughout the film and culminate in an unexpected ending. Jude Law also stars as Mara’s doctor. He’s both likeable and a bit shady. In fact all of the psychiatrists in the film are shady. It’s a pretty consistent theme throughout. But Law’s elevated performance is possibly the most positive aspect of a fairly muddy film that slogs along in a mostly uninteresting way. Supporting performances from Channing Tatum and Catherine Zeta Jones are middle of the road at best.

The final act of Side Effects is exciting with the drama one would want for the entire film. But that isn’t the case. Visuals are presented in a way that channels classic thrillers like Hitchcock’s work. But the fact that the mystery isn’t even established until after the audience loses interest in the individual characters, takes away from any kind of comparison to the classic filmmaker. Side Effects is a well-intentioned story that has a lot of positive elements competing with those that prove to be tedious. Soderbergh strikes again.

Each film earns either zero, a half or a full arrow in five categories. The categories are Acting, Writing/Directing, Emotion, Innovation and Overall Impression. The arrows are added up to equal the full score.

Warm Bodies

On paper, the plot of Warm Bodies couldn’t sound any more lame. A zombie falls in love with a non-zombie girl. It sounds exactly like the kind of Twilight rip-off that fills the shelves of the Barnes and Noble teen paranormal romance section. How cliché. But in actuality, the film delivers with a fresh story that pulls from “Romeo and Juliet” with tongue planted firmly in cheek. R (Nicholas Hoult) is a zombie who wanders endlessly through an abandoned airport in the aftermath of a zombie apocalypse. But one day when he travels out to feed, he comes across a girl (Teresa Palmer) that stops him in is tracks. He happens to have just eaten her boyfriend, Dave Franco’s, brains. So he spares her and takes her back to the airport as his guest.

The film balances comedy with real emotion to build characters and a story the audience really cares about. Where Twilight fails by taking itself too seriously, Warm Bodies laughs along with you. R references how slow zombies move, how his conversations consist of inaudible grunts and other attributes we’ve come to associate with zombie culture. Even the crazed militaristic resistance leader (John Malkovich) is there. But the most success comes with the comedy, which outweighs the dramatic tension throughout.

Palmer has a history of starring in highly anticipated films (The Sorcerer’s Apprentice, I am Number Four) that were meant to be made into franchises. But they don’t pan out. Warm Bodies has proven to be successful even though a sequel wouldn’t necessarily be easy. She and Hoult carry the film with two strong performances. This is the type of film that bridges the gender gap which made Twilight an almost exclusively female franchise. Okay, it’s probably more 60-40 in favor of being directed toward women. Oh and by the way, Warm Bodies has the first instance of a zombie telling us music sounds better on vinyl. Thanks for that. We’ve never heard such a concept before.

Each film earns either zero, a half or a full arrow in five categories. The categories are Acting, Writing/Directing, Emotion, Innovation and Overall Impression. The arrows are added up to equal the full score.

Bullet To The Head

After riding high on the success of The Expendables and its sequel, a number of the action stars involved began to revisit their classic franchises. Willis has a new Die Hard in theaters; Schwarzenegger is attached to return to the Terminator and Conan the Barbarian franchises soon. But we’re not seeing that with Sylvester Stallone. That’s only because he already revisited his two main franchises in Rocky Balboa (2006) and Rambo (2008). But he’s still keeping busy. His latest, Bullet to the Head is an action crime drama as Stallone plays a hitman who teams up with a cop (Sung Kang) to track down the man responsible for the death of both their partners.

Let’s not kid ourselves that this film is in anyway innovative. The coolest moments have been done before. But it seems that the actor who was once Oscar nominated for writing and starring in Rocky is no longer expected to bring such acclaim. Stallone is now action only. Bullet follows a relatively simple progression that has the leads hunting and beating up (or killing) a series of bad guys on their way to the top of the villain ladder. Their methods of choice are guns, fist fights and explosions.

As the poor and lazy title would suggest, the film earns its R rating. But the violence is more effective than the cheap nudity and forced “cool” elements. I think after The Expendables the audience understands that Stallone likes tattoos. We don’t need a tattoo artist to play a major role in all his movies. Jason Momoa’s intriguing character who fights Stallone in the final showdown is one fresh point for fans to latch onto. There is also an axe battle! Okay Sly, you got us there. It will be interesting to see where the action legend goes from here. It probably won’t be a sequel to this though.

Each film earns either zero, a half or a full arrow in five categories. The categories are Acting, Writing/Directing, Emotion, Innovation and Overall Impression. The arrows are added up to equal the full score