Screens
by Jeff Boam
Opening This Weekend
The Secret Life of Walter Mitty
Ben Stiller, Kristen Wiig
In this PG-rated fantasy adventure based on the short story by James Thurber and previously made into a 1947 film starring Danny Kaye, a day dreamer who escapes his anonymous life by disappearing into a world of fantasies (Stiller) embarks on a globe-trotting journey more extraordinary than anything he could have ever imagined. The Plus: The players. Even though it didn’t garner as many Golden Globe nods as some other holiday releases, The Secret Life of Walter Mitty is a hot ticket just based on the fact that it’s Stiller’s directorial follow-up to his blockbuster comedy hit Tropic Thunder. Here, on the acting front, he joins Wiig (Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues), Adam Scott (NBC’s Parks & Recreation), Patton Oswalt (Seeking a Friend for the End of the World), Sean Penn (Gangster Squad), Kathryn Hahn (We’re the Millers) and Shirley MacLaine (Bernie). The Minus: The competition. Keanu Reeves’ directorial debut 47 Ronin, the star-studded (Julia and Ewan and Meryl — oh my!) August: Osage County and the Sylvester Stallone and Robert De Niro fight pic Grudge Match are all also opening for Christmas, thinning the prospects for this popcorn feel-good flick.
The Wolf of Wall Street
Leonardo DiCaprio, Matthew McConaughey
In this R-rated dramedy based on the true story of Jordan Belfort, an ‘80s pennybroker-turned-powerbroker (DiCaprio) recklessly lives the high life only to watch his empire fall when his ties to crime and political corruption catch the eyes and ears of the federal government. The Plus: The players. Here, H’Wood legend Martin Scorsese (Taxi Driver, Raging Bull, Goodfellas, The Departed) directs an A-list cast including DiCaprio (The Great Gatsby), McConaughey (Dallas Buyers Club), Hill (This is the End), Margot Robbie (About Time), Jon Bernthal (TNT’s Mob City), Spike Jonze (Jackass Presents Bad Grandpa), John Favreau (Iron Man 3), Ethan Suplee (Unstoppable), Kyle Chandler (Super 8), Shea Whigham (HBO’s Boardwalk Empire), Rob Reiner (Fox’s New Girl) and Jean Dujardin (The Artist). The Minus: The competition. Add to that list above: current box office juggernauts The Hobbit: the Desolation of Smaug and Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues.
Now Playing
American Hustle
Christian Bale, Amy Adams
****1/2 — Silver Linings Rulebook
Doing the Hustle exceedingly well, this exquisite American sting presents a real life period piece with a payoff so good that it’s practically a crime. In this expertly played R-rated drama, con man Irving Rosenfeld (Bale) and his seductive British partner (Adams) are forced to work for a wild FBI agent (Bradley Cooper) to infiltrate a world of Jersey powerbrokers and mob figures. There’s a reason this film was originally titled American Bull****. Like Orson Welles’ F for Fake, it puts forth the theory that all humans — filmmakers included — engage in chicanery. With multiple voiceovers and perspectives steering the narrative, this film hustles the audience into an engrossing true story that works quite a few angles. When the climax comes, however, you’ll realize that you’ve just had the wool pulled over your eyes by a master craftsman. Having recently announced his intention to retire in the near future, H’Wood legend Martin Scorsese leaves big shoes to fill but screenwriter/director David O. Russell seems to be cut from a similar jib. Rich with period detail and performances that feel lived in, his films find humor in some very explosive circumstances. Given the ‘70s look, New York crime motif, and emotional tug-of-war between laughing and crying, American Hustle often brings to mind Goodfellas. Of course, it helps that his fellow grifters include Bale, Adams, Bradley Cooper, Jennifer Lawrence, Jeremy Renner, Louis CK and a cameo so good that you won’t mind the fact that you’ve just been conned.
Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues
Will Ferrell, Paul Rudd
***1/2 – Anchors Aweigh
Anchored by a sometimes bizarre but oftentimes gut-busting brand of humor, the continuing misadventures of Ron Burgundy defy the odds of comedy sequels and gives moviegoers a very worthwhile follow-up. In this PG-13-rated comedy, former top rated San Diego newsman Ron Burgundy (Ferrell) returns to broadcasting to make New York’s first 24-hour news channel a ratings success in the ‘80s. Of course, the flick doesn’t always speak with a broadcast-quality voice soothing enough to make a wolverine purr. The very beginning, the critical moments of screen time when you either hook audiences or risk alienating them altogether, features some particularly weak material and a lot of jokes become a little too self-referential. Once Burgundy gets the news team back together and the movie operates as more of an ensemble, however, the laughs keep coming and get bigger. As with the last chapter, not all of the jokes have the equivalent of salon-quality hair (read: they’re not camera ready). Still, a follow-up to what’s very possibly become the most quoted comedy of the last quarter century could’ve turned out very (Ghostbusters 2) very (Caddyshack 2) very (The Odd Couple 2) badly for moviegoers. The Legend Continues proves quite the opposite, milking huge laughs, shoehorning in many funny cameos and making a dead-on assessment of cable television news.
Tyler Perry’s A Madea Christmas
Perry, Chad Michael Murray
*1/2 — It’s a Woeful Life
Putting the Ho Ho Ho in horrible three times, Tyler Perry’s wary Madea Christmas not surprisingly gives moviegoers a piece of coal in their stocking. In this PG-13-rated comedy, Madea (Perry) dispenses her unique form of holiday spirit on rural town when she’s coaxed into helping a friend pay her daughter a surprise visit in the country for Christmas. If a 7-foot man dressing up as a cantankerous granny didn’t tickle your funny bone the first seven times, it’s sure as hell not gonna strike comedy gold with this holidazed slice of bad taste. Yes, it’s a message movie but the messenger shoots himself in the foot by alienating audience with flat jokes and insipid dialogue spoken by broad caricatures. It becomes so cringe-inducingly unfunny that you begin to feel embarrassed for everybody on screen.
The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug
Martin Freeman, Ian McKellan
**** — Tolkein Good Gesture
Despite taking some dragon-sized liberties with its vaulted source material, Hobbit 2 bats away the fire-breathing scorn of Hobbit purists and offers up a rousingly fun and epically dark adventurous keystone in this new fantastical trilogy. In this PG-13-rated fantasy adventure, magical ring-toting Bilbo (Freeman) and wizard Gandalf (McKellan) accompany the dwarves on a quest to reclaim Erebor, their homeland, from the evil dragon Smaug (voice of Benedict Cumerbatch). Far from a middle (earth) child destined to be overlooked and tsked into submission, the film displays a lot of drama, action, and flame-singed fang from the get-go and never stops for breakfast, second breakfast, or anything after. Peter Jackson’s reordered, reshuffled, and slightly rewritten version of J.R.R. Tolkein’s novel bests its predecessor, An Unexpected Journey, and REALLY starts to irrevocably thread itself into The Lord of the Rings trilogy’s intricate fabric.
The Lone Ranger
Johnny Depp, Armie Hammer
**1/2 — William Tell Overdone
In this PG-13-rated take on a classic western hero new to DVD, Native American warrior Tonto (Depp) recounts the untold tales that transformed lawman John Reid (Hammer) into a masked legend of justice. From out of the less-than-best comes the Heave-Ho Silver-filled story of The Lone Ranger. Remember when critics feared that Disney was going to turn a theme park ride into an over-produced, over-directed, and all-too-comical tale of derring doo-doo with an unnecessarily oddball lead performance? Well, Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl surely proved their acid tongues wrong. The Lone Ranger — produced by, directed by, and starring that same lead actor — surely delivers on this dubious promise, however. Is it as bad as all that? No, at times it’s thrilling and funny—perfect for mindless holiday viewing. The problem comes down to the thrills and laughs arriving in the wrong spots.
Arrested Development (2004)
“Afternoon Delight”
Jason Bateman, Will Arnett
***1/2 –Christmas Bluths
On Hulu, see why the ridiculously hilarious and intelligent Fox television comedy Arrested Development was recently brought out of retirement for a 4th season. In their Christmas-themed episode from the program’s 2nd season, the Bluth Corporation’s annual holiday party manages to work Banana Stand vandalism, rampant drunkenness, workplace sexual harassment, and an unintentionally incestual rendition of the Starland Vocal Band’s 1976 hit song into a 22 minutes running time.