These Boys Can Party..."Mike & Dave Need Wedding Dates"

Mike & Dave Need Wedding Dates (2016)

Rated R

Starring Zac Efron, Adam Devine, Anna Kendrick, Aubrey Plaza, Stephen Root, Stephanie Faracy, Sugar Lyn Beard, Sam Richardson, Alice Wetterlund,

Directed by Jake Szymanski

The Story:

Mike (Devine) and Dave (Efron) have driven their parents (Root & Faracy) to the edge. Tired of their antics at family functions by showing up single, and drunk, they have an ultimatum for their sister Jeanie's (Beard) wedding in Hawaii. Show up with dates, or don't show up at all. So naturally, the boys do what anyone else would do in this day and age: post an ad on Craigslist.

What could possibly go wrong?

Naturally, this R-rated comedy is rude, crude, silly, stupid, obnoxious...

and funny.

Some of the gags misfire, but more work than don't.

And if you take the crudeness out of the jokes, and they still are funny, then you know it's a pretty good comedy.

This one definitely got more right than Efron's previous, yet similar film this year, Dirty Grandpa.

Much of that credit has to go to Efron and Devine who make a great comedy team. The sleaze is dialed way back in this one, and much of the humor is Mike and Dave's relationship with each other, the rest of their family, and of course, their final selections of Craigslist candidates (Kendrick and Plaza).

The girls have their own skeletons that they are trying to keep hidden from the boys in hopes of an all-expense paid trip to Hawaii, so it's fun as they are tripped up over their lies as well.

It's a great cast, and a whole lot more fun than I was expecting.

Naturally, with all movies, and comedies especially, there were things that could have been better, but overall, it was much better than I had hoped for.

I'm not sure if, or how, they would pull off a sequel, but with this cast of characters, I'd come back for another round.

Final Grade: B-

Here's To All The "Bad Moms" Out There!

Bad Moms  (2016)

Rated R

Starring Mila Kunis, Kathryn Hahn, Kristen Bell, Christina Applegate, Jada Pinkett Smith,

Written and Directed by Jon Lucas & Scott Moore

The Story:

Amy (Kunis) has finally had enough. She's been trying to juggle all the demands that come with having a job and kids, but she's always late for something and letting someone down. So when the head of the PTA (Applegate) adds one more task to Amy's never-ending to-do list, Amy offers up a big "F.U."to the world and quickly realizes that being a bad mom might actually do her some good.

On paper, the premise for this movie is hysterical.

In practice, it is very scattershot.

Some jokes land like a guided missile and just destroy with laughter.

Others fizzle out and arrive as a dud on impact.

That's the risk you take when you dial up the stakes on R-rated raunchy comedies.

I say it every time, if you've got to be profane, so be it, but you've got to be funny, first.

If the joke doesn't make you laugh before you add all the profanity, it's rarely going to work as the finished product.

The cast though, is immensely likable and keeps you invested in the movie.

Kunis does her best to carry the whole thing on her shoulders, and she does a great job.

The hardest part is accepting Kunis as a 30-something year old with pre-teens.

I've always seen her in the flirty romantic comedies or what-not, but never as a mom before.

That said, she channels the frustration and annoyance at a life that is so dictated by everyone else, you believe her when she snaps, and you're actually happy for her.

That they dialed a few too many situations up to 11, well, that's on the writing and directing tandem of Lucas and Moore.

Hahn works as the aggressive, over-the-top new best friend, and Bell makes the most of her timid, mousy friend who is just excited to be accepted by anyone, and that becomes empowering all on its own.

Applegate also does a great job as the villain of the film. Her comeuppance at the end is both satisfying and heartbreaking in equal measure.

I'm not sure where they'll go next with the inevitable sequel, but I'll come back and see how they're doing.

Final Grade: C+

Truth In Advertising... "Trainwreck"

Trainwreck (2015)

Rated R

Starring Amy Schurmer, Brie Larson, Colin Quinn, Bill Hader, LeBron James, John Cena

Directed by Judd Apatow

The Story:

Amy (Schurmer) has grown up to be an addict to booze and sleeping around. As a sensationalist tabloid journalist, she has to do an interview with a famous sports doctor (Hader) who falls for her after they have sex. The two couldn't be more opposite and yet she finds she's falling for him anyway.

I'd swear I already wrote this review weeks ago and even published it, yet could find it nowhere on my site. It was probably better than the one I'm about to embark upon, but oh well.

:)

So forgive me if the synopsis is a little short, but let's get right to the meat of the movie.

Amy Schurmer, 2015's "It Girl".

I don't find her very funny in this film.

I may have to chalk this up to Melissa McCarthyism, where there's a wonderful actress that everyone thinks is the funniest thing in the world, but I just don't get it.

Because she isn't that funny in this movie.

Or perhaps I'm a sexist pig, yet I can rattle off a list of female actresses and comediennes that I find funnier than Schurmer.

That said, I realize as I watched the movie that Schurmer can be funny.

As the writer of the film, she gives THE BEST lines to just about any and all of her co-stars.

Holy cow, this movie belongs to LeBron James! He's the best thing going in the film!!

And while that's great for LeBron, it's not so great for the leading lady who is in 80% of the film.

The other 20%, screamingly funny, but when she's around, the laughs are divided between her and her co-stars.

They get the laughs, that's 40%.

40 + 20 = 60%.

That's a D.

That's not sexism.

That's math.

:)

Then you add in the fact that a 90 minute comedy is stretched to over 2 hour runtime...

You've got grounds to fail an R Rated Romantic Comedy right there.

But I'll be nicer than that, because again, much of what LeBron, John Cena, Marv Albert, Matthew Broderick and a ton of other cameos and co-stars bring to the table is great.

Schurmer has shown me she has potential.

I just don't believe her to be the "next big thing".

Final Grade: C+

Neanderthal Love... "Cavemen"

Cavemen (2013)

Rated R

Starring Skylar Astin, Camilla Belle, Chad Michael Murray

Written and Directed by Herschel Faber

The Story:

Dean (Astin) and his buddies all like to party in their loft. Facing eviction, they are going to go out in style. Dean's romantic life is not coming together like all of his pals, and his best friend Tess (Belle) is that perfect girl right under his nose.

I bet you can't guess where this is heading, can you?

So, for those of you who read yesterday's review, this is falls into the same category.

Thankfully there are a few differences:

1) The running time: under 90 minutes.
2) The humor is a bit more romantic comedy friendly even though the movie is trying for an R rated comedy.

Not to say that it's perfect, far from it.

There's some scenes that don't really work. Not funny enough. Kind of dragging the storyline at other times.

Most of it is saved by the chemistry between Astin and Belle. He helped make the chemistry in Pitch Perfect, and he brings the charming everyman appeal to this one as well.


Final Grade: C

Rewatchability/Purchase Factor: Nothing in here worth coming back for seconds.  It was barely tolerable enough for one full viewing.

Someone's Been Very, Very Naughty..."The To Do List"

What's a girl to do?

Oh my!

The Story:

Brandy Klark (Aubrey Plaza) is the uptight valedictorian of her class (of '93).  However, as she prepares for a summer of work and college in the fall, she feels pressured by her friends and older sister to...
Well, stop being a virgin.

Soooo....

Brandy makes a list of things she thinks she needs to accomplish before the fall, and then sets out to accomplish her naughty "to do" list, with anyone she can "to do it" with!

Well, that was unexpected!

I'm still not sure how to approach this rated R (with good reason) coming of age comedy.

It's like a female version of American Pie, but less virgins trying to end their suffering.

Instead, it's all Brandy trying to learn all the ways of being a woman, even many ways that her sluttier friends and sister haven't tried yet.

With her job at the local pool working for Willy (Bill Hader), Brandy is the subject of hazing as the noob, but she's got her eye on the last item on her list: Rusty Waters (Scott Porter).  She'll use her friend Cameron (Johnny Simmons) and anyone else to gain the experience she thinks she's lacking.

However, along the way she's going to realize that sex without feelings isn't as great as everyone made it out to be.

Used briefly, but effectively, Clark Gregg as Brandy's dad.  He's hilarious in what he doesn't want to see happen to his daughters.  He literally squirms with discomfort in nearly every scene.

Final Grade: B-

Rewatchability/Purchase Factor: Probably not, at least for a few years.  It's funny enough though.