Escape Plan: Escape This!

Schindler's List.  The Hurt Locker.  The Shawshank Redemption.  Forrest Gump.  These are great movies.  These are Academy Award winning/nominated films.  They have great writing, great acting, great directing and the works.  They also have an agenda.  Sure, part of it is to entertain, but a lot of it has to do with grabbing that gold.  A lot of the people involved with those movies would probably say they did it because it "needed to be told" or that they were doing something "important".  And don't get me wrong.  A few of those are some of my favorite movies of all time.  You know what else joins that list, though?  Commando.  Kindergarten Cop.  True Lies.  Cliffhanger.  Crank.  Death Race.  Films that by an Academy standard or a critical standpoint are more frowned upon than anything.  I love film.   I love all film.  Yes, there are terrible movies out there.  There are probably more bad movies than good ones, but certain films know what the goal is to achieve.  Sometimes that's the Oscar.  And sometimes it's about giving an audience one hell of a fun ride.  That's what Escape Plan does and succeeds mightily in doing.

I can not believe that it took THIS long to get the two biggest action stars of the 80s and 90s in a movie together.  And, no, The Expendables doesn't count.  These guys are the reason that these skinny, ripped, pretty boys today are failing in reviving the action genre.  There's a reason we'd rather watch 60-year-old Arnie, or Sly, or even Liam Neeson nut-punch someone to death than watching Alex Pettyfer, Taylor Kitsch, or Jason Momoa types Justin-Beiber their way around an action film.  I like Sylvester Stallone, he's entertaining, but I've always been more of a Schwarzenegger fan.  Stallone's movies kick ass, but he doesn't have the personality of Ah-nuld.  He doesn't have that sweet German wit.  But, putting these two in a film together... come on.  Genius.

Like most Stallone and/or Schwarzenegger films, the plot isn't all that important.  Sly is an expert prison breaker-outer.  He can break out of any prison.  Until... he's thrown into this new high-tech prison and set up by someone on the outside so that it's impossible for him to break out.  Enter: Schwarzenegger with a badass goatee.  The two team up to take down the whole prison and escape back to sweet, sweet freedom.  Now, I gotta hand it to whoever took the reigns on this movie.  This could've very easily been a straight-to-DVD junk film with no brains and no fun.  Though, at times, it does lack the brains, the fun is always present.  And even the brains don't disappear to far.  The escape plan that they come up with... it's a good escape plan.  It's easy to follow and actually a bit creative.  There's even a slight twist at the end that, I'll admit, I probably should've seen coming, but I didn't.  It hooked me from the beginning and I stayed hooked right up until the end.  Sure, everyone knows how it's going to end, but getting there is the fun part.

What's also strange is that there are some good actors in the movie too.  They're all severely underused, but in a movie with these two hulking bad-guy-nightmares, I don't actually care to watch anyone else.  Amy Ryan, Vincent D'Onofrio, Sam Neill, Jim Caviezel... all underutilized.  But it doesn't matter.  It's flattering to know that they liked the script so much that they were willing to lend a brief hand in giving it a shred of credibility.  The best part is that these guys look like they're having fun.  Sly treads a little more on the serious side, but Schwarzzy is hamming it up, making it look like the most fun he's ever had on a film set.  The man is still at the top of his game.

Yes, it's a half-mindless popcorn flick that will only become a classic to the select few cult Arnold or Sly followers, but damn if it isn't two hours of fun.  Ten years from now no one is going to even remember this movie was made, but for now, relish in the fact that these guys can still do this.  I'll admit that watching these classical dinosaurs still try and whomp young ass does give me a bit of a tingly feeling in my pants, but it may, MAY, I say, border on embarrassing.  So, while they're still *cough* young... go out and enjoy a film that will make you forget the drudges of life and remind you a simpler time when action movies reigned supreme.  The 80s.

Ah shit.

B

Gravity: Houston, We Have A Great Film

Advances in CGI technology have come a long way in the past decade.  I mean, go back now and look at the first Lord of the Rings film compared with The Hobbit and there's an exceptional difference.  And LotR looked GOOD.  It was impressive and noteworthy.  Then came Avatar, the game-changer that almost no one will admit that they actually liked, because it's kind of, well... gay.  But, it does make you wonder how after the improvement of CGI that Avatar gave us we still get shitty CGI in movies?  Why do most movies still use archaic CGI that looks like you're playing a video game instead of watching real life?  Well, as much of a game changer that Avatar was a few years ago... Gravity has stepped it up even further.  It is literally the most beautiful movie that I've ever experienced.  Not watched.  Experienced.

Alfonso Cuaron, along with his son, has written a movie that will literally keep you on the edge of your seat.  This film is the reason movie review cliches were invented.  Because they exist to report on films as gripping and explosive and tense as Gravity.  It's not a movie.  It's a 90 minute thrill ride that you don't have to stand in line to ride for four hours.  It's as simple a plot as you can get, too.  Ryan Stone (Sandra Bullock) and Matt Kowalski (George Clooney) are two astronauts that have to survive the vastness of space after their space station is ambushed by satellite debris.  The problems only build upon themselves and get worse and worse, though I didn't think it possible to be in a worse situation than spinning uncontrollably while floating towards the abyss of space.  That's all it is.  Two characters trying to make it home with no real solution in sight.  And it's perfect.

Those with heart problems, back problems and pregnant women should be advised that Gravity is an intense roller coaster and should take a good hard look at themselves and decide if it is worth it.  Holy God is Gravity intense.  I think people who watch the trailer gravely underestimate how truly terrifying being detached from anything in the middle of space actually is.  I got mild bouts of vertigo just watching the film and there's nowhere to actually fall where they're at.  Visually, it may be the best CGI I've ever seen in a film.  But, it's Curon's camerawork and direction that enhances the experience.  The opening of the film is a single shot that lasts upwards of twenty minutes.  He'll hold steady as one of the characters is blasted off the ship with no control over personal movement, then slowly catch up to the actor and come inside the suit for us to see exactly what is happening from that point of view only to escape it once more and give the audience that deep-seated uncomfortable feeling of helplessness.  Sometimes the camera will act as a dock and sometimes it'll float in zero gravity with the actors, but it doesn't get annoying or provide nausea feelings, it actually feels like you're floating in your seat.

Bullock and Clooney are fantastic and perfectly cast as well.  Bullock has always had good instincts as the heroine of a film.  She's never entirely sure of herself, but always has the will to survive.  Clooney is perfect as well because he's able to stay suave and confident even in the most sincere case of mortal danger, and we believe him.  He's able to look death in the face and make a joke.  It's a testament not only to the acting of the film, but to the writing as well that we can follow only two characters for an entire movie and still feel as attached as we do.  Like I said earlier, it's not just a movie.  It's a ride.  So, even though there's only two of them, you're part of it as well.  You're floating right next to them looking for the next answer that is sure to have it's own set of problems.  It's a gorgeously terrifying film.

One thing, though, that I have to stress is to see it in 3D.  3D has become a gimmicky novelty as of late and one that's [thankfully] dying out quickly.  But, there are those very few films, much like Avatar, that are ONLY meant to be viewed in 3D.  They were shot in 3D, with the purpose of being in 3D from the beginning, intentionally to add to the story.  And it does add to the story.  The experience seeing it in a regular theater would be vastly different than the 3D one I saw last night.  If you can spring for the few extra bucks, I'd also recommend IMAX as well.  What better to see a movie about the infinite expanse of space than watching it on the biggest screen you can possibly sit in front of?

Alfonso Curon has literally made one of the best films of the year.  This is one that no one should wait to go see because while it will always be a good movie, you need to get on the ride.  It has to be viewed in a theater, with stupid yellow 3D glasses, and a bucket of popcorn.  It's a marvel to see and much like any defining piece of art, Gravity has pushed new boundaries.  It should have much staying power, because until the next bit of computer technology is discovered or invented, this is the cream of the crop right here.

A

Don Jon: Good Vibrations

Joseph Gordon-Levitt's directorial debut is stunning.  He's done something little thought possible.  He broke the boundaries of the rom-com formula.  You know which formula I'm talking about: boy meets girl, boy falls for girl, boy and girl are happy, something happens that starts to break boy and girl or girl discovers what boy has been hiding, boy and girl break up, boy makes up some elaborate plan to get girl back and prove himself, boy and girl live happily ever after.  We like it because it's not real life.  We like to have the comfort that maybe, just maybe, people are actually meant to be together and there's some document written by the cosmos that declares these two people as such.  But real life isn't like that.  If two people split up, sometimes it doesn't matter how hard you love or how much you care or what sort of grandiose plan you make to win her back... sometimes they just stay gone.  So, we take comfort in watching two movie-star lovers find their way back to each other because it's what everyone wants to happen in life.  Now, I'm not saying that Levitt flipped the formula the bird and decided to go with the anti-ending just to be different.  He has taken the formula, contorted it around, restructured it, and completely changed the last few beats.  It's more like real life than I've seen in a movie in a while.

Levitt plays 'Don' Jon, a New Jersey man obsessed with bringing as many girls home from the club each night as he can, and let's just say he's been on a hot streak.  He beds these women night after night and feels little to no satisfaction whatsoever.  So, he turns to his other addiction: internet porn.  The nameless women he brings home every night have no emotional connection with him that he's distanced himself so much from the physical act of sex, that he rarely experiences release. Porn, on the other hand, he can lose himself, imagine himself in the situations these porn stars get into, find that connection he needs, and... release.  It's much like what Levitt is doing with the rom-com genre, is what Jon does with porn.  He likes porn because it's not real life.  The sexual acts of a porn star rarely, if ever, reflect the sexual acts of most humans.  A random hook up with a girl you just met at the bar is never going to be the crazy porn sex that he wants it to be, so he loses himself in the fiction of it all, because it's not real life.

Jon then meets Barbara (Scarlett Johansson), tries to play the same game with her and take her home for the night.  When she fervently denies his charms, he's enamored more than he's ever been.  After a bit of Facebook stalking, he finds her and asks her to lunch.  The two hit it off, but she's looking for a man to spend the rest of her life with, so she withholds even further.  She even goes as far as to need to meet his friends and family before she'll open herself up to him in that nature.  It's the whole opposites attract thing happening here.  Jon never experienced a connection with any of the randoms because they were so easy to bed.  Here, a girl who is truly interested in things about Jon beyond the sex, is intriguing and Jon finds that he can actually lose himself... sorta.  Unfortunately, he still needs the porn... something Barbara is adamantly opposed to... I'm talking deal-breaker opposed.

I don't want to spoil anything else, but this is a movie that you should see.  I would avoid seeing it with a parent of any kind because it is incredibly raunchy and even graphic in some scenes.  There are many quick clips of actual porn throughout the film to perfectly encapsulate Jon's addiction.  Levitt has done a fine job behind the camera as well as in front of it.  Jon is actually kind of a douchebag, but he's a likable douchebag.  Barbara is a gorgeous and sweet Jersey girl, but you kind of hate her too.  It's different from the romantic comedies anyone is used to.  It takes risks, but the reward is great.  Levitt, much like Affleck before him, has proven with his first directorial vehicle that he may actually be an asset to Hollywood and might actually know what he's doing.  I mean, hell, the guy's been acting since he was a little kid.  I'm assuming he may have picked up a thing or two about making a great film.

B+

The World's End: A Slice Of Fried Gold

British people are better than us.  Let's just face it.  They're more polite, their accents are cooler, they go to pubs instead of bars, and they are much, much more funny than we are.  American humor is pretty crass and crude and out there.  Just look at the most successful comedy of this year: This Is The End.  It was hilarious!  But, it wasn't exactly the most clever movie of all time.  It was dumb, it was crude, and we all loved it.  British humor, on the other hand, is a lot more subtle.  It's a lot... well... smarter.  It's about clever wordplay rather and subtle callbacks rather than sight gags and shit jokes.  I'm not saying that any of the Apatow clan are unfunny... they're just the less intelligent version of their British counterparts.  I'm guilty of this too.  I wish I was able to write something as clever as The World's End.  But, alas, I was born in America.

When Edgar Wright and Simon Pegg wrote their first entry into the "Blood and Ice Cream Trilogy", Shaun of the Dead, I didn't think much of it.  I thought it was a kinda funny spoof of the zombie movies that were getting a resurgence in popularity.  But, then I watched it again.  And it made me laugh more.  Because I understood more.  Then, I saw it again, and it was even funnier than the previous two viewings.  How was this happening? How was I able to see more funny, new jokes, new laughs in a movie I'd seen twice before?  It was genius and slowly becoming one of the best comedies I'd ever seen.  Then came Hot Fuzz.  I saw this movie six times in theaters when it came out.  Now, I thought it was funnier than Shaun after the first viewing, but I had a feeling it would have the same effect if I saw it a few more times.  Sure enough, after each viewing there were new jokes, new call backs, new subtle pick ups that I wouldn't have been able to spot after the first, even second, viewing.  Saying I like one of them more than the other is like a mother picking between her two children.  It all depends on the last one I watched.  I'll claim Hot Fuzz is funnier and more clever, but then I'll catch Shaun of the Dead on Comedy Central and remember how unbelievably hilarious it is, and that soon becomes funnier.  This is when I knew that nothing short of brilliance would come from their third entry to the trilogy, The World's End.

I saw the film over a week ago and was waiting to write the review hoping that I'd be able to see it a second time.  Unfortunately, I was not.  So, I'm certain there are numerous instances of missed jokes, call-backs that I was unaware of upon first viewing.  Nuances that I didn't catch because I wasn't looking.  But, after viewing The World's End for the first time, I'd say my reaction is in-between my initial reactions of the first two.  After Shaun I felt indifferent and after Fuzz I immediately wanted to see it again.  This was a combination of the two.  I did want to see it again, but it's because I'm privy to Edgar Wright's style of filmmaking and understand that I'm certainly not going to catch everything after one showing.  But, I also wasn't entirely won over by it, either.  It was different than what I was expecting, yet it was everything I wanted as well.  It's a strange viewing experience because you want to be able to laugh out loud every moment, but the humor is almost so subtle that it requires multiple viewings.

Simon Pegg plays troubled Gary King, a man who, with his five friends attempted an epic pub crawl of twelve pubs in a single night, twenty years prior.  Now, in present day, everyone has grown up and grown apart, except Gary.  He's still the obnoxious, a little disturbed, man with a twenty-year-old mentality.  He coaxes his five friends into trying the pub crawl again, this time not giving in until they reach the last bar: The World's End.  However, everything doesn't go as planned as their old town seems to be a little bit too quaint and perfect.  The people there act strange-- because they've been replaced by "robots" a la Stepford Wives  and Invasion of the Body Snatchers.  The only way for the five to survive the night is to act like they've noticed nothing and continue on their pub crawl and reach The World's End and avoid arousing suspicion.

It's a terrifically written and acted film.  Every one of the five brings to the table something different.  But, it's the (tarnished) friendship between Nick Frost and Pegg that drives the film.  In Shaun, we love watching the two best-friend fuck ups try to survive the zombie apocalypse.  In Fuzz we delighted in watching goofy oddball Frost teach uptight Pegg how to love and what friendship really means.  In this film, however, we await these moments to come because for a majority of the film the two are at each other's throats due to a past experience we're not made aware of until later.  It's a little unnerving watching the two best friends not get along, but their reunion near the end is much more satisfying than it would've been if they were besties from the beginning.

Be prepared, however, because the film isn't all laughs and fun.  There are some dark moments in the film, almost uncomfortably dark, but they're done with a significant purpose.  The film is about being caught in time and trying to hang on to lost youth.  Pegg refuses to grow up.  His entire life happiness is based on the pub crawl attempted with his best friends twenty years prior.  He's never been able to top that moment.  His life as an adult has been hard, rough, and nothing what he expected it to be, so he clings to the memory so tightly that it consumes him and he's unable to grow and mature from it.  While the others remember it as a fun experience, it's Pegg who's entire life motivation is to re-live that greatest moment ever.  The "robots" are frozen in time.  They don't age, they don't have to go through painful life experiences that most humans are exposed to.  They represent everything Pegg wants, which acts as a perfect foil to him and the friends.  It's an incredibly smart film, like most British comedies are, but there are also definite elements of saddness in reality.

Going into The World's End, understand that you're not going to be falling out of your chair, clutching your chest, laughing so hard you can't breathe, because it's not that type of comedy (though there are moments throughout that are damn hilarious).  It's a smart film that requires some brain activity and thinking.  It also, certainly, requires a follow-up viewing.  But, what I can say, is in the grand scheme of comedy in 2013, it is a stand-out film.  While This Is The End definitely got more laughs in the theater than The World's End, I can safely guarantee that down the line The World's End will have a lot better re-watch value.  It's the weakest of the three films, but that's in no way saying it is a weak film.  It's the perfect ending to the "Blood and Ice Cream Trilogy", but I'm hoping, and I'm sure everyone else is hoping, that this isn't the last collaboration between three of England's funniest people: Edgar Wright, Simon Pegg and Nick Frost.

A-

Kick-Ass 2: Made To Have Fun, Otherwise What's The Point?

Here's why the first Kick-Ass worked in the grand scheme of the overpopulated superhero genre.  It took everything that was annoying about superhero tropes, spun them around and kicked them right in the... well... ass.  It's what everyone who watched the third Spider-man movie wanted to see: some people get killed.  It wanted to see a real dude, with no real powers, get into real life situations and fuck some people up.  We loved watching bad guys actually get killed... like really, really killed.  We liked seeing crazy Nicolas Cage in a Batman-esque suit, beat the living piss out of some cronies, then sit down with a smile and share some hot cocoa with this 12-year-old daughter.  We died laughing from watching said 12-year-old slice and dice baddies while speaking some of the most vile lines in cinema history.  Everything worked because it took a genre that, let's face it, is tired and basically said, hey, let's stop with the comic book adaptations already and just have some fun.

So, naturally, like the superhero movies they're satirizing, a sequel was bound to happen.  And it's not a bad sequel by any means, it's just not as satirical as you'd hope from a Kick-Ass film.  I wanted to see some real references to some real movies that have already pissed a lot of people off. This time around Dave (or Kick-Ass) has given up his life of vigilantism in favor of enjoying his senior year in high school.  Mindy (or Hit-Girl) has, however, not chosen high school life as she is the butt of cruel high school girl jokes.  She'd rather be punishing fools and dismembering them while spewing a semi-funny, entirely-dirty remark.  Evil son Chris D'Amico, formerly Red Mist, decides that being a super villain and exacting revenge on Kick-Ass is his life mission, so he sheds his Red Mist persona in favor of an S&M clad villain named The Motherfucker.  Once the shit hits the fan, Kick-Ass and Hit-Girl's priorities change and Hit-Girl decides to give up a life of justice and just try to figure out how to fit in.  Kick-Ass, on the other hand, joins a group of superheros led by Colonel Stars and Stripes (Jim Carrey) as they seek out baddies on the street (or, ya know, perform simple acts of community service).  Of course, as the supergroup forms, The Motherfucker forms his own group of bad asses.  One by one, super-group members are picked off and it's up to Kick-Ass and Hit-Girl to join forces once more to destroy the forces of evil.

And it works.  You know, for what it's trying to accomplish, it is very entertaining.  Jim Carrey is nearly unrecognizable, yet the most fun character of the movie to watch.  Everyone new to the show has their own neat and funny little persona.  Even John Lequizamo as The Motherfucker's personal driver is comical.  But, and I can't believe me of all people is saying this, the film is too violent.  Now, let me explain.  When it's superheroes attacking supervillains... it's okay for the violence to be okay.  Even when it's unnamed cronies whacking unnamed passerbys... it's still a little okay.  But, something about an eight-foot-tall Russian woman murdering ten police officers in front of your eyes in the middle of a suburban street is just a little too unsettling and you're very aware of the violence you're watching.  It was a little too extreme.  There are other moments of extreme violence in the film that are certainly grotesque to watch, but fun in nature.  When Hit-Girl throws a bad guy out of a moving van on the freeway and his skull is crushed under the tire of another car is a wonderful moment.  But watching two innocent police officers get sliced up by a lawn mower is another thing altogether.

The cast is great, though.  Aaron Johnson, now ripped as F*%K!, is still very likable as the "nerdy" Kick-Ass.  Chloe Grace Moretz is fantastic as always.  The more and more I see of this girl, the more I know she's not going to fade into child-actor obscurity, but much like Joseph Gordon Levitt, escape with actual acting chops.  I think we're going to be seeing a lot more of her in the future.  And we should.  She actually shows the best range in the film.  She can be this tough little 15-year-old who can rip the throat from anyone she chooses, but she can also be a vulnerable little girl, one who's never kissed a boy and never really had a friend.  She displays this mix of toughness and vulnerability perfectly.  We can tell just by looking into her eyes that she's furious, yet sad all at the same time.

Would I recommend this film over, say, The Wolverine or Man of Steel? Yes I would.  Not because it's better... that I actually don't know as I haven't seen the aforementioned films and have no comparison.  But, the difference here is that I don't actually care if I see the other two.  I really wanted to see Kick-Ass 2.  If you liked the first one, you'll like this one.  Plain and simple.  It knows its audience and its audience knows whether or not they're down for some ultra-violence or not.  If anything, you should see it just to watch Jim Carrey go crazy on some guys with a wooden stick.  Now, that's entertainment!

B-

The Butler: I'm Definitely Too White To Review This Movie.

Let's see here... white guy doing a movie review about Civil Rights... okay... treading lightly... treading lightly... beginning now... As a white male born of privilege... nope... bad start... there really is no way around this... God, I wish I was black... yeah, don't think I can say that either... um.... how about the story?

The Butler or because Warner Bros. are a bunch of douchenozzles, Lee Daniels' The Butler tells the story of Cecil Gaines (Forest Whitaker), a boy born a slave who witnesses the murder of his father, rising up out from the fields, into the house, out of the house into a hotel, out of the hotel and into the White House where he served as Butler to eight different presidents during his stay.  Of course, during this time, rights for (blacks? coloreds? African-Americans?  Shit, I'm screwed) were in the midst of a fray for equal rights.  Cecil's son, once old enough to leave for college, joins the civil rights movement and participates in numerous non-violent protests and ends up in jail over thirty times.  It's difficult to watch a man as respected and kind as Cecil have to endure the actions and the consequences of his idealistic son.  While both men butt heads throughout the film, neither one is truly wrong.  Cecil is just trying to put on his happy-face for the white man, be a fly on the wall until he is needed, work his ass off every single day to provide for his family (something most, um, black, families weren't able to do back then) and keep his head high.  His son wants persecution to end.  He wants to fight for the rights of all black people, no matter what the cost, even going so far as to join the Black Panther movement, where it becomes evident that sometimes you have to pick your battles.

From what I've gathered in my very minimal amount of research, most of the story is accurate.  It was refreshing to see such well-respected actors taking on the role of some of America's most important Presidents.  John Cusack, James Marsden, Alan Rickman, Liev Schreiber, and Robin Williams all portraying Presidents that had some hand in Civil Rights.  Marsden and Schreiber take the cake, though.  As JFK and LBJ respectively.  Both were political bad asses.  But, let's not forget that Oprah is in this movie, folks.  Yes, the richest woman in the galaxy.  And she's quite good, too.  It's almost a pity that she only chooses the same role, because if she's this good of an actress I'd like to see her in something a little more outside her chosen wheelhouse.

The movie isn't an entire success, however.  While I do feel that this is a very important movie for people to see (much like last year's The Help and the previous year's The Blind Side) tonally the film is a little awkward.  We want to empathize with Cecil and like him and understand the importance of his role as The Butler in the White House for over thirty years.  However, he's a difficult man to like at home as he's constantly butting heads with this son.  We also want to like his son because we agree with his ideals and us, now in 2013, can see the hatred that drove those times, but it's frustrating to know that by doing this he's putting his father's career in jeopardy.  We want to fall in love with Oprah, but the first half of the film she's a mean, drunk, almost reclusive housewife bored with her life, but too afraid to venture elsewhere.  We await the scenes in the White House with the Presidents and their own personal bonding moments with Cecil, but we're never really sure which face Cecil has on.

And the film is just sad.  I know that's probably the most obvious thing that I can say on here, but it's a depressing film.  Yes, we know how the Civil Rights movement turned out.  Yes we know that in [most of] America there isn't a Coloreds Only sign on water fountains or bathrooms or designated areas of Diners, but witnessing the hatred of this country of human beings is sickening to watch.  And, unfortunately for the viewer, every actor does a fine job in their role so it's even more heartbreaking.  I do understand that this film was made for essentially two reasons: the first, of course, is to tell Cecil's incredible journey, but it's also pretty clear that the second reason is to win awards.  There's no shame in that.  Some movies are just made to get that gold statue.  They're good movies, but they can be a little heavier (on purpose) to secure it.  That's kind of how The Butler felt for me.  It tries almost a little too hard to stick out in your mind, weigh heavily on your heart, and implant itself in your brain so you remember it when the Academy is ready to vote.  It is a very important film for most people to see, but just know, going into it, you're going to be taken for a very emotional ride... an emotional ride that isn't entirely genuine, but a little manipulating.

B-

We're The Millers: What Does A Drug Dealer, A Stripper, A Virgin, and a Runaway Have In Common? Pot, Obviously!

It's been nearly a decade since writer/director Rawson Marshall Thurber first made a name for himself with Dodgeball: An Underdog Story.  Then, after his success, he disappeared.  He either pulled a Salinger and decided that Dodgeball was going to be his one and only masterpiece... but considering the source material, I'm doubting that was the case.  Or, he was carefully looking for his next project.  It isn't exactly a total comeback for Thurber, but it is a nice step in the right direction.

Jason Sudekis plays David Clarke, a small-time pot dealer who works for Brad Gurdlinger (Ed Helms).  After a group of street punks steal his money and his pot, David is in a bit of trouble.  Gurdlinger gives David the option of paying him back with a single job or death, so, obviously, he goes for the job.  The job includes taking an RV down to Mexico, picking up a "smidge" of pot, and bringing it back.  David has no idea how this will be accomplished without getting caught until he realizes that the perfect cover for an RV full of pot is a wholesome looking family.  So, he recruits his stripper neighbor, Rose (Jennifer Aniston), his goofy, virgin neighbor Kenny (Will Poulter) and a homeless street punk girl Casey (Emma Roberts) to pose as his wife, son and daughter respectively to get him safely back across the border.  But, obviously, things don't run as smoothly as anticipated.  They're chased by cops, cartel killers, and the like.  They also share a lot of time with fellow RV-ers, Don and Edie Fitzgerald (Nick Offerman and Kathryn Hahn) who prove to be even more of a challenge when it comes out that Don is a DEA agent.

Had We're The Millers been a PG-13 comedy, I don't think it would've been very funny.  That isn't to say that it HAD to be dirty to get laughs, but in this case, it almost did.  It's got the premise of a safe family comedy to it and I think a PG-13 rating would've kept people away and would've been another RV until it was forgotten again.  Because of it's definitely hard-R rating, audiences are assured they're going to get a sick and twisted ride set against the background of a safe family romp.  But, it decided to stray away from the formula.  Yes, all of these characters have flaws and things they're going to have to learn and discover about themselves throughout the film, but it's none of the standard comedy movie road trip tropes we're used to.  David is selfish. Rose is sad. Kenny is a goober with no confidence. And Casey always pushes people away.  What these guys really needed all along is the one thing they've been missing... a family... awww.

The nuts and bolts of the movie really fit in nicely with one another.  Everything really works.  Each character's flaws coincide with another character's strengths.  Their quirks work on a deeper level than just the surface for the sake of comedy.  We genuinely feel for each character and root for them to succeed.  Especially little Kenny.  He's just so sweet and innocent and involved in one of the greatest make-out scenes in film history.  Lucky bastard.  But, it's the Fitzgeralds who really steal the show.  The [probably] Christian, [definitely] sexually repressed campers who latch on to our Millers from the get-go provide many of the numerous laughs of the film.  I'm not going to spoil anything for you, but there is a scene in what was probably dubbed: The Swingers Tent.

All in all the film is funny and does feel fresh.  Yes, you'll be able to see the ending coming a mile away, but it's the journey to the ending that is more fun than predictable.  I actually felt every actor was utilized to their potential except for Ed Helms.  His character, while a funny idea, wasn't exactly executed great.  Other than that though, I would still classify it as a winner and one of the funnier movies released this Summer.

B+