Spice Up Your Valentine's Day..."Sleeping With Other People"

Sleeping With Other People (2015)

Rated R

Starring Jason Sudeikis, Alison Brie, Adam Scott, Amanda Peet,

Written and Directed by Leslye Headland

The Story:

Jake (Sudeikis) meets Lainey (Brie) in college. She has come to the dorms to lose her virginity to Matthew (Scott). Except he's not home, and Jake tells her that Matt is quite the tool. The two bond and then the two virgins become none. Fast forward a dozen-ish years, and the two bump into one another. It's been one bad relationship after another for each of them, but they hit it off and become best of friends. But as we all know, men and women can't just be friends and the clock starts ticking...

I really wanted to like this one more than I did.

Think of it like When Harry Met Sally, except Billy Crystal and Meg Ryan talk about sex for 90 minutes and barrage you with language that makes a sailor stop and say "hey now, hold on a second!".

And yes, I'm a vile hypocrite because I don't mind it as much in some movies as I do in others. If you can take the language out and the jokes are still funny, you're on to something.

If you remove the language and there is no joke, then you've got a problem.

And therein lies my main problem with the film.

I've reviewed one of Ms. Headland's films before: Bachelorette . And I said many of the same things there.

She loves to talk about sex and get great actors to spew forth her dialogue.

This one is more amusing than that film, but that owes way more to Sudeikis' ability to deliver lines like this so well, he's phoning it in at this point. That said, the chemistry and likeability of both Sudeikis and Brie help elevate the overall proceedings. Replace either with another actor, and this review might have gone a whole different direction.

Kudos also to Adam Scott who comes back for more in this film as the slimey Matt who is ruining Lainey's life. He is one of Headland's favorites, and he usually also makes the most of whatever he is given.

I'm seeing improvements in Headland's body of work, but I think it's time for her to leave the bedroom behind and see if there is more to life than a good @#$%.

Or if not, at least be funnier about it.

Final Grade: C+

Dysfunctional Coming of Age Tale... "The Way Way Back"

The Way Way Back (2013)
Rated PG-13 for language

Starring Liam James, Toni Collette, Steve Carell, Sam Rockwell

Directed & Written by Nat Faxon & Jim Rash

The Story:

Duncan (James) is a shy 14 year old coming to spend the summer at the beach house of his mom's (Collette) new boyfriend (Carell) and his daughter.  Next door is the beautiful Susanna (AnnaSophia Robb) and her crazy mother (Allison Janney) and the lazy-eyed brother, Peter.  Also spending a lot of time at the house are neighbors Kip and Joan (Rob Corddry and Amanda Peet).  Sam absolutely hates it there, and finds a bike and rides off into town.  He goes to Water Wizz, the local fun park and befriends Owen (Rockwell) and gets a job.  Finally starting to come out of his shell thanks to his co-workers, Duncan is about to have the best summer of his life.

As the poster proclaims, from the studio that brought you Little Miss Sunshine, and really, that should tell you everything you need to know.

However, unlike Ruby Sparks which was brought to us by the director of Little Miss Sunshine, and sits on my list as the most hated movie of 2014 so far...

The Eighth Dwarf: Mopey

This one is at least watchable.

I've been outspoken that Little Miss Sunshine was overrated, and this one lines up to receive the same accolades, but to me it is a dramedy that isn't nearly as funny as previews or critics would have you believe, but that's not necessarily a bad thing.

The laughs are genuine and serve the story well when they come, and not overplayed antics to serve a storyline.

If anything, the story is slow and deliberate, almost too slow at times.  There is an awful lot of the same thing happening over and over again, but yet it is compelling enough to not turn it off, and that mostly comes off the strength of the actors.

If I had to choose to watch either of these movies again, this would be selected.

It's the Sam Rockwell Show!

The main reason is a simple tour de force by Sam Rockwell who delivers another great performance, but then, when doesn't he?

Had there been any other actor in the role, I likely would have downgraded this movie farther.  But he's entertaining and keeps me coming back, hoping more of the movie will be centered around his character and less about Duncan's troubles at home.

Final Grade: C

Rewatchability/Purchase Factor: No, I'm good.  If I were to watch it again, I would simply fast forward to Rockwell's parts and call it a day.

Alliteration At It's Finest..."A Lot Like Love"

If it walks like a duck...

The Story:

Oliver (Ashton Kutcher) is flying to New York to visit his brother.  At the airport he spies Emily (Amanda Peet) and the two lock eyes for a bit, but nothing more.  On the plane, they bump into each other again... Then over the next seven years, the two come back into each other's lives, sometimes for some romance, sometimes just to have a shoulder to cry on.  Will the two realize what they have together is special, or are they fated to remain apart?

Hmm...

Running a Dot Com business sure can date a movie! :)

I never heard of this one before, but trying to find some romantic comedies to make up for all the action, drama and thriller movies that have come through recently, this one was running through the top of the Netflix pile, so here it is. 

It's already been 8 years since the movie came out, and since they deal with the previous 7 years leading up to 2004/5, the movie feels closer to 15-20 years old.

Nothing wrong with that, just realizing that the dot com revolution really dates a movie to a specific period of time.

Kutcher remains the goofball that he is, but he does seem to generate some nice chemistry with his co-star, and the movie is the better for it.

An interesting addition to the movie is Oliver's brother, Graham (Tyrone Giordano) who is deaf.  This is used to great comic relief in several parts of the movie, and it's neat to see Hollywood try something different in a family relationship like that.  Too often they seem to either make the siblings bitter and cynical or they opt to go the wise and gay route.  Rarely anything in between.  A deaf brother who gets along with his sibling and is happy and content in his life, yeah, that's like spotting a unicorn. :)

It did catch me off guard at first, because I looked away from the movie, and it went silent for a moment, and realized they were signing and putting up subtitles.  Otherwise, the brother was used to great effect throughout the rest of the movie.

The plot became contrived in a few instances, otherwise the movie had its heart in the right place, and it made for a pretty good viewing experience.

Of course, if you can't stand Ashton Kutcher, you'd be advised to steer clear.

: )

Final Grade: B-

Rewatchability/Purchase Factor: Good but not great, I doubt I would be seeking this one out anytime soon.  But if it was on cable as I'm surfing, it would be fine background noise.