The Man Who Fell To Earth..."The Space Between Us"

The Space Between Us (2017)

Rated PG-13

Starring Asa Butterfield, Gary Oldman, Carla Gugino, Britt Robertson,

Directed by Peter Chelsom

The Story:

Gardner (Butterfield) was the first human born on Mars. His mom died during childbirth, and there was no clue who his father was. Inquisitive, the astronauts that have been at the Mars facility have helped raise him, and he is very smart and inquisitive, but a tad socially awkward. Thanks to technology, he has been in contact with one girl, Tulsa (Robertson) on Earth. What Gardner wants more than anything is to come home to Earth and find his dad, meet Tulsa, and feel what it's like to be human. Unfortunately, since he was born in space, his body and organs are not used to Earth's gravity, and the trip very well may kill him.

Not your typical coming of age storyline, but one that I found enjoyable to watch, cliches and all.

Gardner has pretty much learned anything and everything in life from NASA engineers and technology at his disposal, but he has to still learn what it's like to be human.

He has found a kindred spirit in Tulsa, who longs for a life that is anything but the life she currently lives.

Of course how can a boy who cannot live on Earth come home, find his father, find true love and survive all in the span of 2 hours?

While not perfect, for the most part the movie works just fine from start to finish.

The cast does a fine job, and it's always a pleasure to see Oldman and Gugino in just about any movie.

The ending really works for the film and ties up the narrative nicely

Final Grade: B-

To Be Man's Best Friend Is "A Dog's Purpose"

A Dog's Purpose (2017)

Rated PG

Starring Josh Gad, Dennis Quaid, Peggy Lipton, K.J. Apa, Britt Robertson,

Directed by Lasse Hallstrom

The Story:

The story about an inquisitive dog (Gad) who wants nothing more than to discover why he exists.

So if you can accept that Josh Gad is a dog who is reincarted multiple times as a new dog with his same memories and search for the purpose of his life, then you'll likely enjoy this one.

It's not a talking dog picture, with CGI lip movements, thankfully.

No, it's basically the dog narrating his lives as he goes from breed to breed, owner to owner wondering if there shouldn't be more to his life than just eating and sleeping.

Some stories are shorter, some happier, but all build to a culmination when the dog is reunited with the boy (Apa) that he loved more than all the others. Now a man (Quaid) whose life didn't turn out quite like he planned, perhaps what he needs most in life is the company of a good dog.

I would imagine at the end of the day, the only people that wouldn't like this film are cat people.

:)

It's beautifully filmed and quietly engaging, but that is to be expected from any Lasse Hallstrom film.

And as a final word of caution, you might want to keep a box of Kleenex nearby.

Final Grade: B-

The Future's So Bright..."Tomorrowland"

Tomorrowland (2015)

Rated

Starring George Clooney, Britt Robertson, Raffey Cassidy, Hugh Laurie,

Directed by Brad Bird

The Story:

There's a place called Tomorrowland where genius inventors are invited to try and shape a better future for the world. Nix (Laurie) brings these geniuses to this other world, and a young inventor named Frank gets invited by Nix's daughter, Athena (Cassidy). Years later, Casey (Robertson) begins seeing visions of Tomorrowland and tracks down Frank (Clooney) to help her find it. The only problem, Frank doesn't want to go back, and the citizens of Tomorrowland want them both dead!

So much potential.

I'm not sure what exactly happened, as Brad Bird is normally gold when he directs (and writes) the movies.

I'm going to go out on a limb with a regular finger-pointing on this matter:

It's too long.

Otherwise, it's filled with some pretty interesting bits, and some great actors who seemed to be having a great time with the film.

The story really picks up once Casey and Frank team up and attempt to get back to Tomorrowland.

The energy and the story seems to ramp up quite a bit at that point.

The problem is, there are too many less interesting bits holding this altogether, and by the time Clooney makes his "official" entrance, the movie seems half over, and nothing has truly happened.

Snipping about 10 to 20 minutes or so from some of the buildup might have streamlined the overall narrative.

There were good intentions to be found here, and the overall message and idea behind the film are solid.

It simply stumbles in the execution.

Final Grade: C+

If You've Seen Variations Before, Is It Still "The First Time" ?

The First Time (2012)

Rated PG-13 for language and situations

Starring Britt Robertson, Dylan O'Brien, Victoria Justice, James Frecheville

Written and Directed by Jon Kasdan

The Story:

 Dave (O'Brien) has been pining away for Jane (Justice) but she thinks of him as just a great friend. One night at a party, he meets Aubrey (Robertson) a girl from another school and the two begin chatting away and getting along famously.  It turns out that Aubrey is planning on having her first time with her boyfriend Ronny (Frecheville).  However, Dave and Aubrey have such magical chemistry, maybe, just maybe, some relationships are about to change.

What a great little comedy.

Part romantic comedy, part coming of age film, part high school film...

You get the idea.

However, it's all the good parts.

Excellent storyline and dialogue in this film thanks to Kasdan who follows very well into his father's footsteps.

The dialogue is believable and not too kiddish...not too adultish.  Believable, and fun(ny).

The relationship between Dave and Aubrey is believable and not too rushed.

You root for them as the story progresses, even as Dave gets some less than ideal advice which adds the dramatic tension in the relationship that keeps everything from going smoothly.

Amazingly, with the PG-13 rating, Kasdan also avoids making a film about coming of age/first romance that really shouldn't be seen by the target audience.

And no, technically I'm not the target audience, but I have kids that are, and this one can join the list of those 80s movies that showed how relationships work (or don't) in high school that are enjoyable to watch, and fun to revisit.

Final Grade: Going with a B+... this was a nice surprise.

Rewatchability/Purchase Factor: I'd have no problem buying it or watching it again in the future when it goes streaming/comes to cable.

I Would Like To Chop Down "The Family Tree"

The Family Tree (2011)

Rated R for language

Starring Dermot Mulroney, Hope Davis, Rachael Leigh Cook, Chi McBride, Max Thieriot, Britt Robertson

Directed by Vivi Friedman

The Story:

A dysfunctional family barely held together gets a second chance at life when the mom (Davis) develops amnesia and suddenly becomes a nice person, causing a ripple of change through the family dynamic.

Will it last?

Beats me.

I turned it off after 5 minutes.

Great cast, saddled with a horrible script that was just moving from point to point with no purpose whatsoever.

I usually try and stick a movie out for the full 20 to see if it has any hope of redemption, but this was a cast of characters I immediately didn't care for, and I didn't care if they learned any lesson at all.

I learned I could get about 90 minutes of my life back if I turned it off immediately.

Final Grade: F.  Only the 2nd F I've given this year, but the shortest time viewing a movie.  Congratulations!

Rewatchability/Purchase Factor: Seriously?