School's Out For Summer..."Fist Fight"

Fist Fight (2017)

Rated R

Starring Charlie Day, Ice Cube, Tracy Morgan, Jillian Bell, Dean Norris, Christina Hendricks,

Directed by Richie Keen

The Story:

On the last day of school, English teacher Andy (Day) inadvertently gets History teacher Strickland (Cube) fired from his job. Strickland decides to retaliate and says at 3:00 when school is out, they're going to fight. Andy then spends the rest of the day trying to make amends or do whatever he can to get out of the fight. Naturally, it doesn't go so well.

Here's where I'm up on my soap box with the language issue. The movie is littered with a mine field of f-bombs to navigate through.

But as I've always said, if you can take the language out, and the jokes would still work, then it's actually funny.

And, I laughed way more often than I was expecting/hoping during this film.

I would say that 90% of that comes squarely because of Charlie Day.

He has perfected the exasperated everyman character to a "t" in his previous film outings where he often plays the buddy of the main character.

Well, here he graduates to the star of the show and carries the entire film on his shoulders. Everything that happens is based on his actions and the spiraling descent into madness as he feverishly works to avoid a confrontation at the end of the day.

So, if you don't like Charlie Day, you'll likely not care for the film.

Ice Cube has less screen time, but his presence is always felt as the hour ticks closer to the 3:00 showdown.

They are also surrounded by some of the worst teachers ever to grace the screen, especially Holly (Bell) the school guidance counselor who is a train-wreck of emotional baggage. :)

So yes, it's crude, but I laughed a lot and the movie kept me interested.  I can live with that.

Final Grade: B-

We've All Had Some "Horrible Bosses 2"

Horrible Bosses 2 (2014)

Rated R

Starring Jason Bateman, Jason Sudeikis, Charlie Day, Jennifer Aniston, Kevin Spacey, Jamie Foxx, Chris Pine, Christoph Waltz

Directed by Sean Anders

The Story:

Nick (Bateman), Kurt (Sudeikis) and Dale (Day) return, but this time they have invented a product and they are going to be their own bosses! They pitch it to billionaire Bert Hanson (Waltz) and he loves the idea and orders a boatload of them. The boys get down to business creating the product, all on their own dime, but when they take the product to Mr. Hanson, he declines, having already created a similar product. The guys plot their revenge, and that involves taking Hanson's son (Pine) hostage and ransoming him so they can save their company. Of course where these guys are concerned, nothing ever goes according to plan.

Having been pleasantly surprised at how funny the original Horrible Bosses turned out to be, I was eagerly anticipating the sequel, and hoped it wouldn't be a disappointment.

Long story short, if you liked the first one, there is little doubt that you will enjoy this follow up.

It's rude. It's crude.

But hey, that's where half the charm lies.

Sudeikis is manic, and his delivery is just killer. Listening to him deliver his lines simply kills throughout the film.

Day was a revelation for me from the first film, as I don't believe I had seen him in anything prior to that. As the exasperated one of the trio, he and Sudeikis provide a whirlwind of emotions and delivery that allow Bateman to be "the sane one" in a series of insane moments.

This works, and doesn't make Bateman have to do all the heavy lifting like he does in some other movies.

It provides a nice balance between the 3 stars.

Aniston and Spacey return in brief, but memorable parts that help drive the narrative.

I could think of worse things to endure than the prospect of a third go-round with this group.

Final Grade: B