Deja Vu All Over Again... "Ghostbusters"

Ghostbusters (2016)

Rated PG-13

Starring Melissa McCarthy, Kristen Wiig, Kate McKinnon, Leslie Jones, Chris Hemsworth,

Directed by Paul Feig

The Story:

Ghosts have been sighted in Manhattan, and former paranormal believers Erin (Wiig) and Abby (McCarthy) find themselves back in each other's lives. They assemble a group of fellow "Ghostbusters" (McKinnon & Jones) and prepare to save New York from certain doom.

Well, if that sounds familiar, it should.

You've seen it before, and it was better.

However, that's the risk you run when you remake a beloved Hollywood classic.

Now, that's not to say that the original Ghostbusters movie was a cinematic masterpiece.

It was mostly a fun movie that took a science/supernatural story and injected some humor in it with a great cast that had chemistry and fun together.

So when the all-girl remake was announced, there apparently was a shrieking of fandom that what was happening was blasphemy, etc. etc.

That I don't get at all.

If you're going to put the movie on blast, wait until you see it to decide if it is good.

Or at least, wait until the trailer comes out, and then make it the most hated movie trailer in the history of the internet.

Anti-Ghostbuster fans 2...remake 0.

And really, let's be honest, the trailer(s) for Ghostbusters weren't that good.

There was little humor to be found, and it appeared that if anything funny was going to happen, it would be from McKinnon or Jones, not the main leads Wiig and McCarthy.

Which is strange.

Now having seen the movie, the trailer was right, this movie wasn't very funny.

It's like they tried too hard...or not hard enough... I still can't put my finger on it.

There were some things they did right, I absolutely loved all of the new technology McKinnon brought to the team. That was inventive and enjoyable.

However nearly all of the laughs in the film belonged to...

Chris Hemsworth.

Yep, it appeared that if the Ghostbusters movie was going to take a few shots at the men that were attacking the film prior to release, they were going to do it in film with a few pieces of dialogue peppered here and there, and then taking Hemsworth and letting him play the "ditzy blonde" stereotypical role.

Except he NAILED that role and is the most enjoyable part of the film.

His choice of playing sax or listening to sax scene is comedy gold!

So at the end of the day, it's not a horrible remake and is worth a viewing, but I don't see this one having the legs to become a celebrated treasure like the original has become.

Final Grade: C+

Militant Cookie Entrepreneur..."The Boss"

The Boss (2016)

Rated R

Starring Melissa McCarthy, Kristen Bell, Peter Dinklage, Ella Anderson, Tyler Labine, Kathy Bates,

Directed by Ben Falcone

The Story:

Michelle Darnell (McCarthy) is a millionaire who winds up in jail after a little bit of insider trading. When she comes out, she learns that she can't just Martha Stewart her way back to the top. She intrudes upon her former assistant Claire (Bell) and her daughter Rachel (Anderson). When Michelle tastes some of Claire's brownies, she decides that she's got her new business venture to get on top, no matter what scout troops she might have to demolish to get there.

I approach every Melissa McCarthy with great caution these days.

She seems genuinely funny, but I've found that more often than not, she's being pigeonholed into playing the same acerbic wise-ass in every role.

And her delivery is impeccable, and sometimes her dialogue is outrageously funny...

Other times, it falls flat for me.

I would chalk The Boss up as my favorite of her starring roles thus far.

I think the only thing I would change, is her Chevy Chase falling down schtick.

We get it, you're a physical comedienne, but really, what point did the pratfalls serve in this movie?

The sofa bed, I get it. It was a set-up for the last joke in the movie, so I'll give you that one, but the fall down the stairs?

Time to let the stunts go.

They really don't service the plot very much, and again, you're getting yourself typecast.

Now, all of that said, I laughed a lot more in this movie than I expected to, but a lot of that laughter gets to be spread around to the rest of the cast, especially Kristen Bell as the poor Girl Friday who finally stands up for herself, and still gets run over at the same time.

I'm now more optimistic for future projects than I was before I watched this one.

And no, that doesn't count Ghostbusters, because every trailer I saw looked lame.

: )

Final Grade: B-

I "Spy" With My Little Eye...A Movie That Should Have Been Better

Spy (2015)

Rated R

Starring Melissa McCarthy, Jason Statham, Jude Law, Rose Byrne, Allison Janney

Written and Directed by Paul Feig


The Story:

CIA Operative Bradley Fine (Law) is killed in the line of duty. His analyst, Susan (McCarthy) is suddenly the best option to become a field agent, much to the dismay of their boss (Janney) and their other best spy (Statham). But Susan does her best to take all of her training into the field and watch their target (Byrne) and simply gather intel. However, when she makes contact, all bets are off and she may be the next spy to fall.

What a wonderful idea.

What a great cast.

What a horrible f*$%ing script.

I'm growing very tired of Paul Feig, or Hollywood, McCarthy or whoever thinks that funny equals f-bombs carpet bombing the movie in place of genuinely funny dialogue.

McCarthy's sarcastic put upon character is wearing thin on me, and you'll understand if I have reservations on the upcoming Ghostbusters reboot with Feig in charge.

Don't get me wrong, I think Unaccompanied Minors is one of the best Christmas movies made in the last decade and is an underappreciated masterpiece of comedy.

However, as underrated as that was, that's how overrated Bridesmaids was.

The Heat was mediocre, and this is a step down from that.

Maybe if Feig takes the f-word out of his arsenal, he'll be able to harness humor again, maybe not.

As the movie wore on, the repetition of the language was simply dragging the film down quick, and it was ejected at home.

I did finish watching the movie later, and there are humorous bits throughout, mostly thanks to Statham, but it was much too little, too late at that point.

I'm sure there's a sequel in the works already, but if it's going to be more of the same, I'm dreading it already.

Final Grade: C-

Pleasant Surprise..."St. Vincent"

St. Vincent (2014)

Rated PG-13

Starring Bill Murray, Jaeden Lieberher, Melissa McCarthy, Naomi Watts, Chris O'Dowd, Terrence Howard,

Written and Directed by Theodore Melfi

The Story:

Oliver (Lieberher) and his mom (McCarthy) move in next to Vincent (Murray). He's obnoxious, crass, and just about anything else you can imagine not wanting in your neighbor. As Oliver tries to adjust to his new school and being bullied, fate brings these two together as Vincent ends up watching Oliver after school. A  bond begins to develop between the two as both of their lives change for the better.

Imagine a strange amalgamation of The Karate Kid or just about any other movie where a mentor takes a kid under his wing.

Then tip it over, shake it around, and you have St. Vincent.

Yet it works.

In a weird, strange sort of way.

Yet at the same time, Vincent learns just as much from Oliver and the two bond over the course of the movie.

It's both fun(ny) and dramatic. Sad and uplifting.

The things I take away from watching the film:

a) It's my favorite role that I've seen Melissa McCarthy in. Ever. She gets to use her sense of humor, but instead of dialed up to 11 like in everything else I've seen, she's got this one scaled back to about a 6, and it works. It works so well in fact, I wonder how and why she hasn't tried this before. A little of her brashness goes a long way.
b) It's Bill Murray's best role in ages as well. He's an a-hole with little redeeming qualities when we are first introduced to him. Then, like the proverbial onion, as Oliver and the audience gets a chance to get behind those layers and walls that Vincent has built over the years, the entire opinion of the man changes, even if the man himself doesn't. Totally at least.

Jaeden Lieberher also has the task of having the 2nd most amount of screen time and carrying his half of the storyline, sometimes with Murray, much of the time without, and the kid nails it. Not bad for his first movie role, and hopefully he enjoys a nice long career to come.

I would also be remiss to mention that the wonderful Chris O'Dowd kills it with his brief, but plot-needed character of the Priest who gives the assignment that culminates in the film's third act and delivers the emotional payoff the film has been building towards.

Good stuff if you missed it last year.

Final Grade: B+

It's "Tammy" and Lousie. Sort Of.

Tammy (2014)

R

Starring Melissa McCarthy, Susan Sarandon, Kathy Bates,

Directed by Ben Falcone

The Story:

Tammy (McCarthy) has just been fired, finds her husband cheating on her, so she decides to go on a road trip. Except her car is shot also. Her mom (Bates) refuses to allow her to use the car. So she borrows Grandma (Sarandon), her money and her car, and the duo head to Niagara Falls.

Hilarity ensues.

Unless you find it to be more tedious than humorous.

Then you would be me.

Added to Identity Thief and Heat, this is the third movie starring Melissa McCarthy that I found to be "average".

She is funny.

I do not hate her.

Strange that a critic needs to mention that, but I have nothing against her personally or her weight.

I have something against comedies that aren't funny.

Like her previous movies, there were chuckles and a few genuine laughs to be found. The problem? They existed in a 90 minute movie where the other 75 minutes were drawn out and less than funny.

Great cast. Less than great script.

When the writers are the star and the director...

Well, there's your problem.

For the record, while I never reviewed Bridesmaids (McCarthy's big screen break), I found it to be a C+ range of a film where the critics gushed that finally the girls had an R rated comedy they could call their own.

As I've said before, if you're going for R, the jokes simply need to be consistently funny.

We'll see what happens when I see the Ghostbusters revamp.


Final Grade: C-

Rewatchability/Purchase Factor: Not a chance. I had almost forgotten I had even watched this one, so consider the grade a generous one.

Spice Things Up With..."The Heat"

If you can't stand The Heat...

Well, I don't know if "can't stand" is the right choice of words.

The Story:

FBI Agent Ashburn (Sandra Bullock) is an uptight, by the book agent that none of her fellow agents really like.  She's bucking for a promotion, and needs to head to Boston to catch the latest suspect that could put her at the top of the list.  There she meets a detective (Melissa McCarthy) who's a foul-mouthed, uses a book to beat the suspect instead.  Needless to say the two don't get along from the start, but they must work together if they want to solve the case and stay alive.

Hilarity ensues.

How much, is totally dependent on the individual.

So, here I come to stomp over another favorite comedy of 2013.

:)

It was a box office success, and people raved about how awesomely funny it was.

Meh.

There were some genuinely hilarious moments/bits of dialogue throughout the movie.

The rest... it was incredibly average.

Sandra Bullock took her Miss Congeniality FBI agent, stripped it of a personality, and voila!  She's the straight man to the bumbling McCarthy.

Got it.

This is the second straight box office success for McCarthy that I really didn't care for (Identity Thief).

And again, most of the laughs are generated by her performance, but otherwise, I guess I'm finding her to be a one-trick pony?

Kudos to the effort to bring a 2 female lead to the buddy cop action comedy, and I'm pretty sure there will be a sequel being greenlit as we speak.

And sure, I'll probably watch it as well.

I'll be hoping it's better than this one though.

Final Grade: C

Rewatchability/Purchase Factor: I could watch it again if I had to do it.  Won't likely find myself in that situation though. ;)

That Was 90 Minutes of My Life Stolen by an "Identity Thief"

It's a wonderful life...

The Story:

Sandy Patterson (Jason Bateman) is a wiz at his job, which is handling lots of valuable information and money.  So go figure that he gives up all of his personal information over the phone to a seemingly reputable firm when Diana (Melissa McCarthy) asks so sweetly on the other end.  Just like that, she creates some credit cards, driver's license and away she goes on a shopping spree in Florida while Sandy slaves away in Denver.  It's only when he tries to start a new job after getting arrested that he learns his identity has been compromised, and the only way he can get his name cleared is if he goes to Florida and brings the lady to justice himself.

Piece of cake, right?


Well, that was something.

This movie wasn't nearly as funny as it could have been, as many of the jokes were labors to stretch and give the movie an R rating to be edgy and funny.

Think of it like Planes, Trains and Automobiles, but Neal would be trying to bring Del home from the beginning, and Del trying to get away.

When the movie didn't try and be crass, it was actually pretty amusing.

It seems that lately the comedies can't decide if they want to just "Shock and Awe" the audience and grab that R rating and go for broke, or they feel the need to sap it up and grab the safer PG-13 rating and try and pull in the families.  Why they seem to sway to one extreme or the other is beyond me, I've seen plenty of movies that can walk the thin line without going too far in any one direction.

This movie seemed at times like it couldn't decide which one to go for.  The only problem I have with embracing the R rating, is make the jokes funny.  If the jokes aren't that great, it doesn't matter what rating you slap on a movie.

All that said, I will give bonus credit to the ending for not taking the obvious route.

Well, at least partially.

It was going down familiar territory, but they amazingly throw in one little twist that ends the movie on an actual high note of respectability versus the shrug of "I saw that one coming."

Finally as for the acting, well, it's nothing I haven't come to expect from Jason Bateman and Melissa McCarthy.  I've mentioned before that many actors seemingly play themselves, or at least the same character with little variation enough, that there is nothing new to the role.  Call it stereotyping or pigeon-holing these actors, but this seems to be the roles that Hollywood is writing for these two, and until I see something different, I'm going to keep believing the stereotype to be true.

Final Grade: C+

Rewatchability/Purchase Factor: While I could watch it again in the future, I would likely choose something else instead.  :)  Pass on a purchase!