Mistaken Identity Fuels This "Walk Of Shame"

Walk of Shame (2014)

Rated R

Starring Elizabeth Banks, James Marsden, Gillian Jacobs, Ethan Suplee, Bill Burr,

Written and Directed by Steven Brill

The Story:

Meghan (Banks) is a local newswoman with a shot at a Network job. Then in a stunning turn, her boyfriend dumps her and she is informed that the job is going to someone else.  So to drown her sorrows, her friends take her out on the town and she gets plastered and winds up going home with a random guy (Marsden). Then she gets the phone call in the morning, that the network is reconsidering her, and she has until 5:00 pm to get to work and wow the bosses.

But first, she has to figure out where she is, and when her car, wallet, and phone all end up M.I.A., you know this task will not be easy!

Ha. Ha. Ha.

Okay, so you've seen this story before, or some variation of it over the last few years.

However, this one is still very well made, and pretty funny throughout, so while the road may seem familiar, it's also a trip well worth taking.

Banks is game for just about anything as she has to race through the city in a little yellow dress.

Naturally, she will be confused for a hooker, among other things, and she is being pursued by various people, including the cops, who all want to chat with her.

Can you outwit them all, make it to the newscast in time to score the anchor job?

Well, duh.

But it's all in how it unfolds, and Brill brings his best work to the screen since Mr. Deeds, making us actually care about Meghan's plight and wondering if she will indeed pull it off.

That says something.

Final Grade: C+

Who Are These Guys? "The Impostors"

The Impostors (1998)

Rated R for language

Starring Stanley Tucci, Oliver Platt, Alfred Molina, Tony Shalhoub

Written & Directed by Stanley Tucci

The Story:

Maurice (Platt) and Arthur (Tucci) are two out-of-work actors who offend an actor (Molina) and wind up as stowaways on a cruise ship.  However, as they attempt to remain out of sight from the authorities, there are other nefarious plans afoot on the ship.  Nobody is to be trusted on this ship filled with Impostors!

This is an obvious homage to the days of Laurel and Hardy and the Marx Brothers.

Tucci and Platt make a wonderfully adept comic team who work well off one another trading straight man/comedian roles throughout the film as the situations change.

The each keep stumbling into various plots of death and sabotage as they try and stay hidden from the authorities.

Naturally, all of the storylines and cases of mistaken identity will collide in the final act.

The movie is a bit uneven, with various degrees of amusement and hilarity and stretches where it isn't as funny.


Final Grade: C.. maybe C+

Rewatchability/Purchase Factor: It was a fine one-time viewing, I would have little need to watch it again.

Best Bette Weekend: "Big Business"

Big Business (1988)
Rated PG for language

Starring Bette Midler, Lily Tomlin, Bette Midler, Lily Tomlin

Director Jim Abrahams

The Story:

In the small town of Jupiter Hollow, fate conspires as a rich tycoon needs a hospital for his wife to deliver their baby.  The problem?  The hospital is only for employees of the local furniture manufacturer.  To solve that problem, he buys the company!  At the same time, a local family also goes into labor, and comes to the hospital.  As the moms deliver, the harried nurse puts the babies into cribs... but when called back into each room because of a twin being born... well...

Welcome to the wonderful world of the mistaken identity comedy.

It's a wonderful genre that is always ripe for comedic potential.

Here you end up with 2 sets of sisters, mismatched from their  chosen paths.

2 grow up in the big city, one has an eye for business, one yearns for a simpler life.

2 grow up in the little town, one that loves it there, and one that dreams of something more.

Giving the roles to Tomlin and Midler, both at the height of their 80s movie stardom and comedic prowess was a no-brainer.  They make each sister their own individual and it's fun to watch them play two sides of the same coin throughout the movie.

Naturally, when all 4 find themselves in the big city for a shareholders meeting about shutting down the furniture manufacturer, mistaken identity occurs from strangers, co-workers and the men that love the ladies.

Of course where comedies occur, they always want to give us a happy ending, and the movie provides just that making sure that each girl gets the man, and the life, of their dreams by films end.


Final Grade: Solid B

Rewatchability/Purchase Factor: I forgot how fun, and funny, this movie was.  Hope it's not another 25 years before I watch it.

Verily, E'en Shakespeare Wouldst Approveth..."She's The Man"

She's The Man (2006)
Rated PG-13 for language

Starring Amanda Bynes, Channing Tatum,
Directed by Andy Fickman

Written By William Shakespeare.  Sort of.

Return to those thrilling days of yesterday when Amanda Bynes hadn't lost her mind yet...


The Story:

If you've read Shakespeare's Twelfth Night, get ready to see it turned on its ear.  If you haven't, you're about to get the general idea of the play, but with a modern twist.  Viola (Bynes) is a girl soccer player whose school cuts girls soccer!  She wants to join the boys team, but they reject the idea of a female playing with the guys.  So she hatches a plan to take her twin brother Sebastian's (James Kirk) place at a rival school.  She dudes up and ends up rooming with Duke (Tatum).  Naturally, a love triangle ensues because Duke has eyes for Olivia Laura Ramsey) but she won't give him the time of day...she's got eyes only for Sebastian (Bynes!) and Sebastian ... Viola... is totally falling for Duke!

Let the madcappery ensue!

This movie is flat out funny, from start to finish.

Wisely, they take the basic premise of Shakespeare's work, and keep that, but jettison the language with the update to the modern setting.

No offense, but every Shakespeare update that goes modern age, yet keeps the language never works for me.

But, update the work, keep the ideas/plot/characters... it seems to work.

It may just be me, but that's my story, and I'm sticking to it!

Must Look Away From the Tatum!

Yes, I watch this movie, and then I just sit back and sigh.

So much potential from Ms. Bynes, and it seems to go off the rails into a trainwreck of life.

Thankfully, we'll always have the movies.

All of the supporting characters are great character actors who support the story perfectly.  Vinnie Jones is great as the soccer coach who brings Sebastian up to the main team by watching the effort put forth by a former second stringer.

I Could Kill You With Me Bare 'ands...

David Cross is hilarious as Gold, the absent minded headmaster, and really, the movie is just filled with comedic gems from start to finish.

The cast and writers make Shakespeare's comedy of identity swap work wonderfully on so many levels.

The fun revelation of course, is Channing Tatum.  This is before he was Channing Tatum!  It's his first co-starring role, as Step Up was on the horizon when this came out.

But Tatum is hilarious as the jock who Viola pines for, and his sense of comedic timing is exceptional.

Channing Tatum: Tampon Spokesman

The kid's got a future in Hollywood.

:)

Good for a laugh any, and every, time it hits the DVD player.

Final Grade: A

Rewatchability/Purchase Factor: I would say this gets played at least once a year in the house, and I do own it.

Live Every Day Like it is Your "Last Holiday"

Get busy living...

The Story:

Georgia Byrd (Queen Latifah) works for a department store in Louisiana.  When she goes to the doctor to see why she's been feeling ill lately, her diagnosis is terminal.  So she cashes in her savings and heads to Europe to the finest hotel in the land.  There a case of mistaken identity will allow Georgia to hobnob with some bigwigs, where Georgia will hopefully impart some life lessons on everyone before she passes.

This is a fun little movie that gets played at least once a year.  Everyone enjoys it, and it's just a lot of fun onscreen.

Queen Latifah has a blast as the dying woman who decides to try and live before it's too late.  She has personality and charm to spare, and it seems to permeate through the screen in just about any performance she has done in the movies.

She is surrounded by a great cast, including Timothy Hutton, who isn't really known for comedy, but hams it up greatly as the villain of the movie.

L.L. Cool J. is the boyfriend from afar, as both he and Latifah are too shy to express their feelings to one another until it may be simply too late.

Naturally, there's a lesson or two tucked under the overt comedy of the story.

Don't wait to follow your dreams until it is too late.  Every day you delay is too late.

Good advice.
Good movie.

Available to stream instantly on Netflix as of this writing.

Final Grade: B+... My honey said I should bump this up... so... A! :)

Rewatchability/Purchase Factor: We watch it quite a bit, and do already own it.  Netflix will simply save the disc from wearing out. ;)