Quick Reviews: This Is Promised Guidance

Okay, so these movies may not even be in theaters by now, but I don't want to just ignore them. And, if anyone really wants my opinion before renting or buying the DVDs, it'll be here.

What surprised me about This Is 40, the sort-of-sequel to "Knocked Up" focusing on the married couple Pete and Debbie (Paul Rudd, Leslie Mann), was how much bickering they did. Between their own issues, business problems and dealing with their children and parents, there were times when I was wishing there was more comedy and less drama. A nice amount of shirtless Paul Rudd, though, and there's the cameo with current (Scott Hartnell, now-retired Ian Laperriere) and former (James van Riemsdyk, Matt Carle) Flyers in a bar with Mann and Megan Fox. My grade: B-minus.

I started out really liking Promised Land, the film about natural-gas "fracking," with Matt Damon and Frances McDormand trying to get farmers to sign mineral-rights leases to drill on their land. Then an environmental advocate (John Krasinski) hits town and Damon's character is so completely flustered by this development it rang extremely false. And the big twist near the end was just stupid. My grade: C-plus.

I'd compare Parental Guidance to "The Guilt Trip" in that it's a somewhat safe and predictable comedy, in which a long-married couple (Billy Crystal, Bette Midler), called upon to hop on a plane and mind the grandkids for a week, have difficulty with how their daughter and son-in-law are raising the children. But the baseball subplot (Crystal's an announcer needing a new job) helped, the ending made me cry a little (whether I'm just easily manipulated by films or I'm getting mushy in my advancing age is yet to be determined) and Crystal and Midler have old-pro charm. My grade: B.

Quick Review: Something Borrowed

When I saw the trailer for "Something Borrowed" my first thought was that this was yet another of those typically insipid romantic comedies, often lacking in romance, comedy or both, that drain love and humor from the world by their very existence. I didn't plan to see it. Then I read an article in Entertainment Weekly by Emily Giffin, who wrote the novel upon which the movie is based. The article isn't online so I can't quote it verbatim. Essentially she wrote about how everyone told her that once she sold the film rights, Hollywood would turn her novel into a horrible, horrible film. So she steeled herself for that eventuality. Then she visited the set a time or two...and by the end of the article she's extolling the virtues of this wonderful film and the cast and how this was such a magical experience. I took this as a challenge. This couldn't possibly be a good movie, could it?

Well, no. But I didn't intensely dislike it the way I sometimes do. The premise is stupid -- after drinking at her 30th birthday party, Rachel (Ginnifer Goodwin) ends up in a cab with Dex (Colin Egglesfield), who's engaged to her best friend Darcy (Kate Hudson). Rachel admits to having a crush on Dex since they were in law school together. They kiss, and then end up spending the night together. Does this mean the wedding is off? Of course not, because then it would be a short film. Instead, Rachel pines away, because Darcy gets everything she wants because she's Darcy, or something like that. And Dex doesn't want to upset his parents by calling off things with Darcy. I guess I didn't intensely dislike this film because of the presence of John Krasinski, who plays Rachel's close friend since childhood and spends much of the film trying to get Rachel to go for what she wants for a change. He's like the gay best friend who isn't gay (although he pretends to be, for a time). And he's really cute. He needs to be shirtless more often, though. This is about the best I could find. My grade: C.

Go To Hell, New Era

Is the New Era cap company owned by NBC (which is now owned by Philadelphia-based Comcast)? I saw this ad a little earlier while watching the Yankees and Red Sox on MLB Network. It features two NBC sitcom stars, Alec Baldwin of "30 Rock" and John Krasinski of "The Office." trash-talking via phone about their teams. Baldwin is a Yankees fan, while Krasinski is a Red Sox fan. I don't know if these two are actually fans of those teams or are merely spouting lines because they were paid, but they're talking trash in the ad. But Baldwin's reply to Krasinski's opening jab (about Cliff Lee) is a shot at Philadelphia...



Time for another Public Service Announcement. Here's something to remember when you're buying baseball caps: if it says "New Era" it's most likely a cheaply-made, poorly-fitting piece of crap.

Quick Reviews: The End-Of-Year Clearance

Last week I went to movies on four consecutive days. I'm pretty sure I've never done that before. I certainly haven't done it during the post-Christmas week, when theaters do major business thanks to people being off work and school.

I started off Monday with It's Complicated. Meryl Streep and Alec Baldwin have great chemistry as a divorced couple who, on the occasion of their son's college graduation, find themselves in bed together and begin an affair. Problem: he remarried and she has another man (Steve Martin) who's into her. Particularly charming is "The Office" star John Krasinski as the future husband of Streep and Baldwin's oldest daughter. Much has been made of Baldwin's nude scene. It's not that horrendous, and it's not even him at any rate -- it's a stunt butt. Yes, he's older and gained weight, but Alec Baldwin is still rather irresistible. But let's remember him as he was (at left). My grade: A-minus.

Tuesday, in part because I got to the theater so early I didn't want to wait for what I planned to see, found me at Did You Hear About The Morgans? For a while I was wishing I hadn't heard about them. Unlike Streep and Baldwin, Sarah Jessica Parker and Hugh Grant are not a good match as the titular couple, successful New Yorkers who are separated because he cheated on her. Trying to win her back, he takes her to dinner. They witness a murder, are taken into protective custody and are whisked away to a small town in Wyoming. Oddly enough, I went to the restroom mid-way through and when I returned, for some reason I disliked it less. My grade: C-minus.

On Wednesday it was A Single Man, starring Colin Firth as a college professor, an older gay man mourning the recent death of his longtime lover (Matthew Goode, seen in flashbacks). It's 1962, well before the Stonewall riots set off a major push for gay rights, so things are much more difficult for him. Firth is excellent, as is Julianne Moore as his best friend who wants to be more than just friends. It's directed by fashion designer Tom Ford and, especially at the beginning, it looked too much like a fashion show or a perfume commercial with a lot of slick editing. Ultimately, the film as a whole was a little lacking, and the ending was hinted at much earlier. My grade: B-minus.

Which brings us, finally, to Sherlock Holmes. Guy Ritchie reimagines the legendary creation of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle as an action hero in a buddy comedy starring Robert Downey Jr. as Holmes and Jude Law as Dr. Watson. The flaws in this movie aren't in the acting but in the plot (about a villain who is executed but manages to come back to life and takes over a secret society with plans to overthrow the British government and eventually restore America to the British Empire) and especially the characterization. Holmes is still a brilliant detective, but he's also often boorish. Holmes and Watson spend most of the film bickering. Rachel McAdams is wasted as Irene Adler, the only person to ever outwit Holmes, here merely a plot device to set up the inevitable sequel. I can understand trying to make Sherlock Holmes more palatable to a modern audience, but Guy Ritchie botches the job. My grade: D-plus.