Nic Cage Is An "Army Of One"

Army of One (2016)  

Rated R

Starring Nicolas Cage, Russell Brand, Wendy McLendon-Covey

Directed by Larry Charles

The Story:

When Gary Faulkner (Cage) gets a message from God (Brand) to go find Osama Bin Laden in Pakistan, the unemployed handyman on dialysis sets out on his holy crusade.

Is this the part where I say it's based on a true story?

Of course it is.

And filing this one under the truth is stranger than fiction department, it is indeed a crazy ride that Faulkner embarked on, and came so very, very, very close to succeeding.

How close?

Well, let's just say that within days of Faulkner's last attempt, mission accomplished.

You can draw your own conclusions from there.

So when you say you need to portray a man that's just this shy of crazy on screen, who can you turn to?

The obvious answer is Nic Cage. And he's at his manic best...and yet...he's also oddly restrained.

Toning down his usual over-the-top Cageisms, he channels the feelings of man who is sincerely convinced that God wants him to find Bin Laden when all other efforts have proven futile.

The movie wanders a bit here and there, but for the most part, you remain glued to the proceedings wondering what the heck is going to happen next with Faulkner.

In that case, mission accomplished!

Final Grade: C+ 

Some Family-Friendly "Bedtime Stories" For The Weekend

Bedtime Stories (2008)
Rated PG

Starring Adam Sandler, Keri Russell, Guy Pearce, Russell Brand, Courteney Cox

Directed by Adam Shankman

The Story:

Skeeter Bronson (Sandler) grew up in the Sunny Vista Motel that was started by his dad and then bought by millionaire, Barry Nottingham (Richard Griffiths).  The promise was made that Skeeter could someday run the hotel, but apparently Barry has forgotten as he has promised when the hotel is remodeled, it will be run by Kendall (Pearce) instead.  On top of that, the new site, unbeknownst to Skeeter, is on the site of the school where his sister (Cox) is the principal.  She needs to head to Arizona to find a job, so she has Skeeter watch her two kids, and her co-worker Jill (Russell) will split time with him.  Skeeter tells the kids some fun bedtime stories when he puts them to bed, and the kids add to his fantastic tales.  But when the stories begin to come true, exactly like they said the night before, Skeeter realizes that he still has a chance to run the hotel, if he can just shape the stories appropriately.

Not your typical Adam Sandler movie, right?

Nope, not when it's released by Disney.

However, this continued  a trend of more family friendly Sandler films that are actually sweet enough, and funny, that they are worth seeing with the entire family.

Is That A Rat on My Head?

Originally seen a few years ago after it had come out, this movie remained on our wish list for years, always hard to justify a $20 price tag on some of those Disney films that just never went down in price.

Ah, but when your local Blockbuster goes out of business, suddenly films that had always been just off the radar come back on, and get picked up for a  bargain price.

Welcome to the library!

Which in the intervening years since 2008, it was checked out about every year by my daughter from the local library so she could watch it.

Now I've saved her a few steps!

Watched again, and yes, it was still as cute and fun as I remember from 2008.

The situations become more absurd with each story, and Skeeter risks ruining the relationship he is building with the kids when he does snap at them in anger when they change the ending to one of his tales.

Have I Not Entertained You?

Brand gives a hysterical performance as Skeeter's best friend.  He livens up all of the scenes that he is in, and he plays a pivotal part in the climax of the film.

Overall this is a very cute movie with a wonderful message about the joys of childhood and the way kids see life.


Final Grade: B+

Rewatchability/Purchase Factor: I finally got it, and I wouldn't be surprised if this gets a replay at least once a year. :)