Nonna's Review: Glee: the 3D Concert Movie

Review: Glee: The 3D Concert Movie

Rating: ***

Nonna's Rating: $$$

Rotten Tomatoes: 60%

Audience: 70%

If you like the TV show, go see the movie. It's as simple as that. The cast stays in character and sings some of the best songs they've performed over the past years.

And that's when the film is in top form -- not when it's playing documentary concert film and interviewing fans to show how affirming the TV show has been for kids who don't feel they fit in and admit they have big "Ls" on their foreheads. Those add-on stories just don't work -- even though Glee's message every week is that same affirming, love-who-you-are theme. More singing and dancing would have been better.

Each cast member gets his or her moment in the spotlight. Some more than others. I really wanted to see more of Chris Colfer. At least he sang "I Want To Hold Your Hand." The small audience with whom I saw the film made it even more fun: very vocal teenagers, who obviously had crushes on several cast members, squealed, sang along, and clapped spontaneously with gusto. I even spied one of the finalists in The Glee Project, Damian, in the crowd. I do hope that's a good sign because I think he'd be a great addition to the cast with all his Irish charm.

Nonna's Rating

$$$$ = Worth paying the Friday evening price

$$$ = Worth paying the Matinee price

$$ = Worth a rental

$= Wait for cable

# = Skip it

Review: The Help

Review: The Help

Rating: ***1/2

Nonna's Rating: $$$

Rotten Tomatoes: 73%

Audience: 93%

I actually liked it better than the book. I was prepared for disappointment, but the movie surprised me -- primarily because of a very powerful performance by Viola Davis as Aibileen, a woman who suffers with dignity. There is already Oscar buzz about Davis's performance. She doesn't have to say anything to convey the hurt, anger, and sorrow she feels as a black woman serving the needs of spoiled, clueless, racist white women in Jackson, Mississippi in the early 1960s.

Some have criticized this film (and the book) because it doesn't portray the mindless, vicious violence perpetrated on blacks in the south fifty years ago. I can't agree with that criticism. That's not the kind of vile racism this film depicts. Instead, it illustrates the subtle, genteel racism of privileged white women who would never think of pointing a gun at one of their servants. Instead, they denigrate these women, assume they're diseased, accuse them of thievery, exploit them financially, deny them their families, prevent them from getting an education, give them unlimited access to children they've come to love, and treat that relationship as meaningless. And all for only one reason: they can. Yes, it's as if the 13th Amendment had never been passed.

There are funny moments in this movie. There are little triumphs, but, when all is said and done, there remains injustice masquerading as Christianity. All in all, it's horrific.

Octavia Spencer as Minnie delivers a fine performance as a woman who is mad as hell and won't take it any more. Emma Stone (Skeeter) is the amanuensis of this group of Southern black maids poised to step into the complex second half of the 20th century.

Movies have been pretty horrible this summer. Along comes one worth watching -- and talking about.

Nonna's Rating

$$$$ = Worth paying the Friday evening price

$$$ = Worth paying the Matinee price

$$ = Worth a rental

$= Wait for cable

# = Skip it

Review: Crazy, Stupid, Love

Review: Crazy, Stupid, Love

Rating: **1/2

Nonna's Rating: $$

Rotten Tomatoes: 75%

Audience: 86%

Crazy, Stupid, Love is a ** movie, but earns another half star when compared to other recent romantic comedies -- most of which have been formulaic, predictable, and boring. At least this film surprises us. Steve Carrell (Cal), who currently owns "sweet, lovable guy" roles, Ryan Gosling (Jacob), and Emma Stone (Hannah) all portray characters more authentic than those generally seen in romantic comedies. The supremely talented Marisa Tomei (Kate) could have been just as authentic but her over-the-top (over-directed?) performance is out of sync with the rest of the film. There was one very sour note at the end of the movie which spoiled the film for me. Not wishing to give the scene away, I only note that an older underage girl gives a gift to a younger boy which is, well, just inappropriate.

Nonna's Ratings:

$$$$ = Worth paying the Friday evening price
$$$= Worth paying the Matinee price

$$= Worth a rental
$ = Wait for cable
# = Skip it

Review: Seven Days in Utopia

Review: Seven Days in Utopia

Rating: **

Nonna's Rating: $

Rotten Tomatoes: 9/2/11 Release Date

Audience:

I attended a screening of Seven Days in Utopia on August 4. Pastors and church leaders were invited. All I knew was that the film starred Robert Duvall (Johnny Crawford), Melissa Leo (Lily), and Kathy Baker (they're reason enough to attend) -- and that it was about golf. The acting was excellent. Duvall, as always, gave a subtle, nuanced performance. Leo and Baker did their best with mediocre material. Lucas Black, who plays a young golfer who has recently experienced a competitive meltdown, held his own with these stars and managed to be endearingly charming.

But the story just didn't work for me. Too formulaic, too similar to films like Bull Durham, The Legend of Bagger Vance, and Karate Kid; i.e., promising young athlete receives invaluable instruction from wise, seasoned veteran. Also, Lucas Black's character (Luke Chisholm) transforms effortlessly in a matter of seconds from a total jerk having a meltdown to a pleasant, humble guy willing to go along with Duvall's eccentric tutorial. Pretty unbelievable -- as was his all too easy reconciliation with his controlling father/caddy at the end of the film.

Finally, the movie was being promoted as a "Christian film"; however, I thought the Christian elements were tangential and included praying before meals, going to church, and generally being very kind and respectful to one another. Nothing to complain about, but the heart of the movie really is Johnny Crawford's seven step process to self-mastery (here applied to golf) which is more standard self-help fare than a Christian-based rule of life .

Instead of paying to see this film, rent Bull Durham.

Nonna's Ratings:

$$$$ = Worth paying the Friday evening price
$$$= Worth paying the Matinee price

$$= Worth a rental
$ = Wait for cable
# = Skip it

Review: Horrible Bosses

Review: Horrible Bosses

Rating: **1/2

Nonna's Rating: $$

Rotten Tomatoes: 69%

Audience: 82%

It's not a great comedy version of Strangers On a Train. It's not even as good as Throw Momma From the Train, but it has enough hilarious moments and wildly funny performances to make it worth watching. Three guys, trapped in their jobs, have horrible bosses. Jason Bateman (Nick Hendricks) suffers under the manipulative tyranny of Kevin Spacey (Dave Harken) at his nastiest -- a real tour de force. Jason Sudeikis (Kurt Buckman) loves his job at a family run firm -- until the patriarch dies and his coke-addled son who is bent on destroying the business takes over (an almost unrecognizable Collin Farrell as Bobby Pelitt). Charlie Day (Dale Arbus), a recently engaged dental assistant is terrorized by his dentist boss Dr. Julia Harris (Jennifer Aniston in a role that may save her from playing sweet girls next door in formulaic romantic comedies in the future.)

The three working schlubs decide their bosses need to be removed from the face of the earth. They engage the services of Jamie Foxx (another spot-on performance), whom they imagine to be a street-wise hitman. It all goes south from there. The film drags in the middle, but the dialogue is more clever than average and the audience spent a good deal of time laughing out loud. It's not for everybody: lots and lots of four-letter words and plenty of sexual and gross-out humor.

Nonna's Ratings:

$$$$ = Worth paying the Friday evening price
$$$= Worth paying the Matinee price

$$= Worth a rental
$ = Wait for cable
# = Skip it

Review: Another Year

Review: Another Year

Rating: ***1/2

Nonna's Rating: $$$

Rotten Tomatoes: 92%

Audience: 75%

Jim Broadbent (Tom) and Ruth Sheen (Gerri) play an older, comfortable, still-very-much-in-love couple with a grown son Joe (Oliver Mortman). The film covers four seasons of a year in their life, seasons in which they are visited repeatedly by Mary (Lesley Manville) a close friend who does clerical work in Gerri's psychotherapy office.

Tom and Gerri are the strong center of the story. Mary revolves around them: divorced, aging, desperate, and drinking too much. Gerri tries to fix her up with another friend, Ken (Peter Wight), but Mary is repulsed by this older, mess of a man who also drinks too much. Instead, she flirts with Joe, twenty years her junior and is devastated when Joe, to his parents' delight, brings home the girl he just might marry.

Not much happens over the course of the year. Things stay pretty much the same for Tom and Gerri. And Mary just continues her downward spiral. Superb acting sustains the film. The performances are almost too real -- especially Mary's. And just when I thought, "Wait. Gerri is a psychotherapist. Why is she enabling Mary's alcoholism," Gerri gently made it very clear to Mary that she would no longer play the non-confrontational ever-patient, tolerant friend.

Nothing much happens in this film. Nothing is resolved Life just goes on for another year.

Nonna's Ratings:

$$$$ = Worth paying the Friday evening price
$$$= Worth paying the Matinee price

$$= Worth a rental
$ = Wait for cable
# = Skip it

Review: Biutiful

Review: Biutiful

Rating: **

Nonna's Rating: $

Rotten Tomatoes: 63%

Audience: 75%

Biutiful is the painful story of a dying father's love for his children. It's a mess of a movie, but Javier Bardem's performance is so compelling and so devastating, it almost redeems the film.

Bardem plays Uxbal, who dwells with his family in the slums of Barcelona. He is willing to do anything for his children -- and he does, living on the margin in a world of crime and danger.

And he has been diagnosed with terminal cancer -- news he keeps from his children as he does all he can to protect them from their mother, his bipolar, abusive ex-wife. It's a gritty, difficult film to watch except for Bardem's amazingly expressive face.

It was easy to forget I was watching a movie star on the screen -- to believe it was a documentary about a tragic family from Barcelona.

Nonna's Ratings:

$$$$ = Worth paying the Friday evening price
$$$= Worth paying the Matinee price

$$= Worth a rental
$ = Wait for cable
# = Skip it

Review: Barney's Version

Review: Barney's Version

Rating: ***

Nonna's Rating: $$$

Rotten Tomatoes: 79%

Audience: 78%

If you ask people who won the Golden Globe for best actor in a motion picture this year, most of them won't get it right. After all, it was Colin Firth's year for The King's Speech, wasn't it? Actually, Paul Giamatti, the Robert De Niro of his generation, won the award for this film. It's based on Mordecai Richler's 1997 novel of the same name and centers on a man, Barney Panofsky who meets the woman of his dreams at his marriage to his second wife. It sounds a bit like Heartbreak Kid, the 1972 version with Charles Grodin and Cybill Shepherd -- but it's that and so much more.

There are fine supporting performances in this movie from Minnie Driver (Mrs. P. No. 2) and Dustin Hoffman (Barney's dad Izzy), but it is Giamatti who carries the film. He brilliantly portrays all the highs and lows of 30 years of Barney's life.

Barney is an exasperating man given to eruptions of altruism and generosity, a fascinating man come to life through the gifts of Paul Giamatti.

Nonna's Ratings:

$$$$ = Worth paying the Friday evening price
$$$= Worth paying the Matinee price

$$= Worth a rental
$ = Wait for cable
# = Skip it

Review: Cedar Rapids

Review: Cedar Rapids

Rating: **

Nonna's Rating: $

Rotten Tomatoes: 85%

Audience: 71%

Ed Helms of The Office plays Tim Lippe, an insurance agent from small town Wisconsin who is incredibly naive. He has never traveled out of the state, never stayed in a hotel, and hasn't had much of a love life. So, off he goes to a convention in the big city--Cedar Rapids. There he falls in with what might be called "bad company": John C. Reilly (Dean Ziegler), a wild and crazy party animal, Anne Heche (Joan Ostrowski-Fox), and Isaiah Whitlock, Jr. (Ronald Wilkes). They are all intent on breaking Tim in on the lampshade-wearing world of insurance conventions. Predictably, Tim plays along and gets in and out of trouble. Finally, all ends happily in the best of all possible worlds. It's a little movie for a quiet evening. If you enjoy Ed Helms' portrayal of sweet, innocent characters, you'll like this one.

Nonna's Ratings:

$$$$ = Worth paying the Friday evening price
$$$= Worth paying the Matinee price

$$= Worth a rental
$ = Wait for cable
# = Skip it

Review: The Adjustment Bureau

Review: The Adjustment Bureau

Rating: **1/2

Nonna's Rating: $$

Rotten Tomatoes: 72%

Audience: 68%

Because Matt Damon and Emily Blount always manage to make any film they're in a bit more interesting, this movie is definitely worth watching. On top of that, it's based on a Phillip K. Dick story -- which, more often than not, forms the basis for a clever, innovative movie (Blade Runner, Total Recall, Minority Report, Screamers). Adjustment Bureau is no Blade Runner, but it manages to deal with theological issues in an action-packed way. In the film, we are confronted with a puppet master of Fate, possibly God, who predetermines and meticulously plans the destinies of human beings.

The story focuses on David Norris (Damon), a politician running for U.S. Senate who meets Elise Sellas (Blount), seemingly by chance, and wants desperately for most of the movie to get to know her better. The problem is that the master plan doesn't include their having a relationship. Norris thwarts the plan and becomes aware of the behind-the-scenes Adjustment Bureau, a group of suited, fedora-wearing "caseworkers" who ensure the plan is executed. With John Slattery as Richardson, the caseworker-"angel"-in-charge, the Fate-corps seem to be a cross between the Matrix people and the Mad Men people. So, rent this one for a quiet evening at home -- or pull out your DVD of Blade Runner. It never gets old.

Nonna's Ratings:

$$$$ = Worth paying the Friday evening price
$$$= Worth paying the Matinee price

$$= Worth a rental
$ = Wait for cable
# = Skip it

Review: Jane Eyre

Review: Jane Eyre

Rating: ***1/2

Nonna's Rating: $$$

Rotten Tomatoes: 83%

Audience: 82%

After 22 versions of Jane Eyre, do we really need another one? Most critics consider the 1943 Joan Fontaine version definitive, but this one gives it stiff competition. It's a Jane Eyre for the 21st century which preserves the Gothic moodiness but offers us a realistic young Jane (Mia Wasikowska) and the sexual tension that clearly exists in the original novel but which has been systematically ignored in most versions. Wonderful performances abound in this film. Perhaps Michael Fassbender is "not quite" Rochester, but he comes awfully close. Not to be missed by fans of Bronte's novel and Masterpiece Theater.

Nonna's Ratings:

$$$$ = Worth paying the Friday evening price
$$$= Worth paying the Matinee price

$$= Worth a rental
$ = Wait for cable
# = Skip it

Review: Super 8

Review: Super 8

Rating: **1/2

Nonna's Rating: $$$

Rotten Tomatoes: 80%

Audience: 80%

My son Pete loved this movie. In 1979, the year in which the film is set, he was about the same age as the children in the movie. He went on and on about the music, the nostalgic artifacts, and product placements. As I said, he loved it. My grandson Max also enjoyed the film. He thought the "monster" was terrific. As for me, I was mesmerized by the train crash at the beginning, but I soon lost interest. In the end, the film is just Goonies meets E.T meets Alien, terribly derivative.

Nonna's Ratings:

$$$$ = Worth paying the Friday evening price
$$$= Worth paying the Matinee price

$$= Worth a rental
$ = Wait for cable
# = Skip it

Review: Larry Crowne

Review: Larry Crowne

Rating: *

Nonna's Rating: $

Rotten Tomatoes: 36%

Audience: 51%

So disappointing. How could two fine actors like Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts work so well together in a movie like Charlie Wilson's War -- and be so abysmally mismatched in Larry Crowne. How can people lose "chemistry"?

That's just one of the problems with this movie. It's also poorly directed (Mr. Hanks) and poorly written (Mr. Hanks again with Nia Vardalos). Is Hanks' life so separate from those of mere mortals that he's forgotten what it's like to lose a job, go to school, and fall in love? The characters are two dimensional and watching the film feels as if we're peering into an alternate, flattened universe. Finally, two good actors are absolutely wasted: Taraji P. Hensen and Bryan Cranston. And even George Takei, Pam Grier, and Rita Wilson could have been better used. It's a mess. Don't bother.

Nonna's Ratings:

$$$$ = Worth paying the Friday evening price
$$$= Worth paying the Matinee price

$$= Worth a rental
$ = Wait for cable
# = Skip it

Review: Beginners

Review: Beginners

Rating: ***

Nonna's Rating: $$$

Rotten Tomatoes: 82%

Audience: 81%

Take two charming actors, Christopher Plummer and Ewan McGregor, mix in Melanie Laurent (Inglorious Basterds) and a photogenic Jack Russell Terrier, and you have, by definition, a better than average movie. McGregor plays Oliver, a a very sad 38 year old man whose father has recently passed away.

Through flashbacks, we come to know Oliver's story. His mother and father were married for 44 years. His mother has died five years before; at that time, his father (Plummer as Hal) came out of the closet after years of being surreptitiously gay. This new-found honesty has become the basis for strengthening the relationship of father and son. Hal, however, has died of lung cancer a few months before Oliver meets Anne (Melanie Laurent). The movie's portrayal of the sadness that can pervade a life after the death of a parent is sometimes painfully realistic, but not cloyingly so.

The film focuses on how Oliver and Anne learn to love one another; how each becomes an adult capable of commitment. The film's not perfect. The subtitles for the dog's thoughts are a bit much, but all in all the actors o a fine job of convincing us they care deeply about one another.

Nonna's Ratings:

$$$$ = Worth paying the Friday evening price
$$$= Worth paying the Matinee price

$$= Worth a rental
$ = Wait for cable
# = Skip it

Review: The Tree of Life

Review: The Tree of Life

Rating: *

Nonna's Rating: $

Rotten Tomatoes: 85%

Audience: 65%

There are so many aspects of this film that would tend to make me enjoy it: beautiful photography; images of interstellar space; Brad Pitt; Sean Penn; good acting all around; an accurate depiction of the 1950s, especially 1950s fathers and mothers; complex sibling relationships; and a distinctly Christian subtext. But I was bored by the whole thing and found it annoyingly pretentious--and I loved Terrence Malick's film Days of Heaven. I wanted to say, "Yes, growing up in the 50s sometimes sucked, but, accept it, get over it, and get on with your life." The whole film seemed an intense exercise in navel-gnawing of the worst kind. Nevertheless, plenty of people seem to have liked this film, so perhaps you should make up your mind yourself if you're so inclined. But don't blame me if you don't like it.

Nonna's Ratings:

$$$$ = Worth paying the Friday evening price
$$$= Worth paying the Matinee price

$$= Worth a rental
$ = Wait for cable
# = Skip it

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 2

Review: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows-Part 2

Rating: ****

Nonna's Rating: $$$$

Rotten Tomatoes: 97%

Audience: 93%

The long anticipated last installment of the Harry Potter films rolled into theaters yesterday. I feared that my expectations were too high and that I would inevitably be disappointed. I wasn't. The film is deeply satisfying, just as the final book was -- albeit with many of the subplots missing or glossed over. There's just no way to cram a 700+ page novel into two feature-length movies. Daniel Radcliffe (Harry), Hermione Granger (Emma Watson), and Ron Weasley (Rupert Grint) have grown nicely into their roles and remain the embodiment of Rowling's imagined characters until the end.

Hermione and Ron's kiss, however, is far superior that of Harry and Ginny (Bonnie Wright) who should have practiced a bit more. Almost every character reappears in this final film for at least a few seconds. Much has made about the significant representation of scene-chewing English luminaries of stage and screen in these movies. The outstanding performances in this film come from Alan Rickman (Severus Snape), Maggie Smith (Minerva McGonagall), Ralph Fiennes (Voldemort), and Michael Gambon (Albus Dumbledore).

Throughout the audience, I noticed teenagers sitting with their grandparents, the very same situation Max and I were in. I wondered if they, too, had read the books together. We started when Max was seven and ended when he was eleven -- both of us rereading the books by ourselves. It was bittersweet and lovely to watch the story end. Thank you, J.K. Rowling, for creating Harry Potter's world and bringing delight to so many children and adults.

Nonna's Ratings:

$$$$ = Worth paying the Friday evening price
$$$= Worth paying the Matinee price

$$= Worth a rental
$ = Wait for cable
# = Skip it

Review:Win Win

Review: Win Win

Rating: ***

Nonna's Rating: $$

Rotten Tomatoes: 94%

Audience: 90%

Paul Giamatti can do no wrong – at least not while he’s acting in movies. In the last few months, I have seen him deliver flawless performances as Mike Flaherty, the fallible “hero” of Win Win; as Barney Panofsky, an irascible man and the subject of Barney’s Version; and as a nuanced Ben Bernanke in HBO’s Too Big To Fail, the story of the 2008 near worldwide economic collapse. Giamatti is a treasure; in Win Win he portrays an ordinary man, a lawyer and wrestling coach, trapped in the recession, making immoral and amoral decisions that help dig his hole a little deeper. Giamatti’s skill in playing this character is that we can watch him do it, disapprove of Flaherty, and still care about him, hoping he’ll dig himself out. As his wife, Amy Ryan is the Rock of Gibraltar with a strong moral compass. Unbeknownst to her, Flaherty is making an extra $1,500 a month by becoming the legal guardian of Leo, a man with dementia played by Paul Young. Out of nowhere, Leo’s grandson Kyle appears (played by Alex Shaffer in his first role), a wrestling phenomenon. There are fine performances all around in this independent film about ordinary people trying to do the right thing.

Nonna's Ratings:

$$$$ = Worth paying the Friday evening price
$$$= Worth paying the Matinee price

$$= Worth a rental
$ = Wait for cable
# = Skip it

Review: Of Gods and Men

Review: Des hommes et des dieux (Of Gods and Men)

Rating: ****

Nonna's Rating: $$$$

Rotten Tomatoes: 92%

Audience: 79%

How often do you see a film about religion that isn't sappy or sentimental or overwrought in some way? Well, this one fits that bill. I can't say enough good things about this movie. In fact--full disclosure--I've already preached a sermon about it. It's wonderful. Difficult to watch, but wonderful.

The film tells the story of nine Trappist monks living in Algeria during the civil war of the mid-90s--a time when all foreigners, and especially Christians, were in danger of being killed by fundamentalist Islamic terrorists. These nine men must decide whether to stay -- and almost certainly die -- or go home to the safety of France. The movie depicts their individual struggles with the decision each must make. As viewers, at first we can't believe anyone would decide to stay. By the end of the film, we understand why these men remain -- in faith, in community, and in solidarity with the Islamic people they love who live near their monastery.

The film won second prize at Cannes in 2010, but, for some reason, was completely overlooked as a nominee for the Best Foreign Film Academy Award.

Nonna's Ratings:

$$$$ = Worth paying the Friday evening price
$$$= Worth paying the Matinee price

$$= Worth a rental
$ = Wait for cable
# = Skip it

Review:Source Code

Review: Source Code

Rating: ***1/2

Nonna's Rating: $$$

Rotten Tomatoes: 91%

Audience: 82%

A fast-paced thriller with a heart, Source Code manages to deliver a "what if" message that challenges and entertains us at the same time. The movie is tight (93 minutes) and well-paced -- and it doesn't hurt that Chicago looks summertime-good in the film. Jake Gyllenhaal (Captain Colter Stevens) has been tasked with returning over and over again to a critical 8-minute period of time in which he does everything he can to avert a major disaster. It's Groundhog Day meets every "Will-the-bomb-blow-up?" movie you've ever seen. Excellent performances by Gyllenhaal, Michell Monaghan --as the girl he wants to save -- and Vera Farmiga -- as his "control" who knows a lot more than he does. One of the best movies of the year so far.

Nonna's Ratings:

$$$$ = Worth paying the Friday evening price
$$$= Worth paying the Matinee price

$$= Worth a rental
$ = Wait for cable
# = Skip it

Review: Water for Elephants

Review: Water for Elephants

Rating: *

Nonna's Rating: #

Rotten Tomatoes: 60%

Audience: 78%

A true waste of time. A mess of a movie. And I've never read the book, so I'm not making an unfair comparison. A preposterous plot with holes you could lead an elephant through. Stereotypical characters overdrawn and overwrought. Christopher Waltz, who was so brilliant in The Inglorious Basterds, seems to have taken a course from the Ricardo Montalban School of Overacting. His bombastic posturing and swaggering can only be the result of very poor direction by Francis Lawrence -- which is very much in evidence in every scene in this film. Reese Witherspoon does manage to stay on an even keel and delivers a competent performance, all the while remaining luminously beautiful. But only Rosie the Elephant, played by Tai, gives a performance worthy of any kind of award. Robert Pattinson is the big problem. He generates no heat and even less emotion-- with a resulting complete lack of chemistry between him and Witherspoon. The story is on a road to nowhere. Watch it on cable if you have to, but my advice is to skip it.

Nonna's Ratings:

$$$$ = Worth paying the Friday evening price
$$$= Worth paying the Matinee price

$$= Worth a rental
$ = Wait for cable
# = Skip it

Review:Bridesmaids

Review: Bridesmaids

Rating: **1/2

Nonna's Rating: $$

Rotten Tomatoes: 88%

Audience: 88%

Here's another movie that critics and viewers loved -- about which I am not quite as excited. I will be the first to admit that there were some very funny moments. Also, it's not just another gross-out comedy; it explores women's friendships and how they endure and triumph over some seemingly unforgivable behavior. This movie just crossed the line into tasteless comedy a few too many times for me. Maybe I need to see it a second time. People keep telling me I need to see Hangover again, insisting it will be funnier the second time around. If you liked Hangover, you'll probably enjoy this movie. And, I will say that Kristen Wiig, Maya Rudolph, Ellie Kemper, and, especially, Melissa McCarthy are excellent comedians.

Nonna's Ratings:

$$$$ = Worth paying the Friday evening price
$$$= Worth paying the Matinee price

$$= Worth a rental
$ = Wait for cable
# = Skip it

Review: X-Men: First Class

Review: X-Men: First Class

Rating: **1/2

Nonna's Rating: $$$

Rotten Tomatoes: 87%

Audience: 88%

Not having written a review since Feb. 2, I think it's about time that I caught up. My excuse is that I've been working three jobs. I did not, however, use that as an excuse to stop attending movies. I have twelve to review.

I'm starting with the most recent -- X-Men. Saw it yesterday after several weeks of disappointing box office offerings. As you can see by the Rotten Tomatoes average, the film has been well-reviewed and audiences have liked it too. I'll give it a thumbs up, but put it in the "good but not great" category. It has a lot going for it. Terrific special effects, a good story with a tie-in to the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962, some terrific actors, and good dialog.

What's not to like? I just never found myself engaging emotionally with the characters -- certainly not in the way I did in the first X-Men movie (which was not reviewed as well by critics but is a far superior film). It is telling that the only scene which elicited an emotional reaction from the audience in which I sat was a 10 second cameo by Hugh Jackman as Wolverine.

I didn't really care much what happened to this bunch of mutants despite some excellent performances (especially Michael Fassbender and Kevin Bacon). James McEvoy is disappointingly miscast. A competent actor, he just doesn't have what it takes to light up a screen. It's impossible to believe he will become the Professor Charles Xavier (Patrick Stewart) of the first movie. January Jones sleepwalks through her role as Emma Frost, and even Jennifer Lawrence (Raven) and Rose Byrne (Moira MacTaggert) don't generate much interest.

I do, however, recommend the film for a matinée viewing -- for the special effects and the fun of seeing the early parts of the X-Men story.

Nonna's Ratings:

$$$$ = Worth paying the Friday evening price
$$$= Worth paying the Matinee price

$$= Worth a rental
$ = Wait for cable
# = Skip it

Review: Rabbit Hole

Review: Rabbit Hole

Rating: ***

Nonna's Rating: $$

Rotten Tomatoes: 86%

Audience: 75%

Rabbit Hole is about families dealing with the devastating grief of losing a child. You might argue that, no, it focuses on a couple, Becca (Nicole Kidman) and Howie Corbett (Aaron Eckhart) who deal with the death of their child and their grief and guilt. But this film subtly illustrates a truth that is bigger than that narrow focus: individuals, parents, relatives, friends, and acquaintances all deal with the death of a child in very different ways and on very different schedules. We see this truth in the Corbett's immediate family. Becca's mother Nat (Diane Wiest) has also lost a child and, now, a grandchild. Her sister Izzy (Tammy Blanchard), newly pregnant, copes with grief and joy simultaneously. And then there are friends who over-respond and those who don't respond at all. And in Becca and Howie's grief support group, every person responds differently to his or her loss -- and sometimes differently on different days.

The film does all this without being manipulative, depressing, maudlin, or horribly melodramatic. Knowing the subject of the film, I was a bit wary and came armed with a ton of Kleenex. Only had to use it once -- the scene involved a dog, always guaranteed to make me weep.

The performances are excellent. Wiest never disappoints, and Kidman and Eckhart are believably married as they each confront their grief. In fact, I would definitely argue that Kidman's Oscar-nominated performance is better than that of Natalie Portman's in Black Swan. (In truth, so are the performances of Annette Benning, Michelle Williams, and Jennifer Lawrence.)

This film deals realistically with grief. There are no promises that the pain will go away -- only that it will be different from time to time, that it will come back with surprising fury when least expected -- and that life will go on. There is sadness in this film, but there is hope also.

Nonna's Ratings:

$$$$ = Worth paying the Friday evening price
$$$= Worth paying the Matinee price

$$= Worth a rental
$ = Wait for cable
# = Skip it

Review: The Company Men

Review: The Company Men

Rating: ***

Nonna's Rating: $$

Rotten Tomatoes: 71%

Audience: 59%

I was just thinking it might be appropriate for me to recuse myself from reviewing this movie. I identify so closely with many of the characters' experiences, I'm not sure I can maintain a suitable level of objectivity.

Well, here goes.

The Company Men focuses on the lives of three corporate executives who work for a Boston conglomerate originally a shipbuilding company. Ben Affleck (Bobby) is a young up-and-comer who loves the perks of his life: golfing, his Porsche, his beautiful home (undoubtedly bought with too little down and a huge mortgage). Tommy Lee Jones (Gene) is the best friend of the CEO, living the good life with plenty of stock options, antiques in his ocean-front home, a bored wife, and a lover (Maria Bello) who, as head of HR at the firm, is responsible for designing and executing massive layoffs. Chris Cooper (Phil), also near the end of his career, worked his way up the corporate ladder from riveter to head of a manufacturing operation. All three of these men are laid off; all three, who have so closely identified their worth with their jobs, take steps to cope with their new realities, some more successfully than others.

Rosemarie DeWitt as Maggie, Bobby's wife, gives a strong performance. Kevin Costner rounds out the ensemble as Bobby's level-headed blue-collar brother-in-law. All the actors deliver fine performances. Affleck is convincingly unlikable at the beginning of the film and manages to convincingly redeem himself by the end.

The portrayal of the atmosphere of outplacement firms was very accurate, although the chanting of the slogan was a bit much -- though not impossible. The "real" offices reserved for big shots reminded me of the locked gold doors at my outplacement firm -- to which only CEOs, CFOs, COOs and other acronym-burdened jobless people had keys.

Some have criticized this movie, saying that it's difficult to feel sympathy for affluent white-collar workers who suddenly realize they can't keep the Porsche or send their kids to the Ivy League. But the movie goes beyond this viewpoint in that the experience of being laid off makes most of the characters reassess their attitude toward the acquisition of expensive things and begin to value their lives, their families, and their relationships in new ways.

Nonna's Ratings:

$$$$ = Worth paying the Friday evening price
$$$= Worth paying the Matinee price

$$= Worth a rental
$ = Wait for cable
# = Skip it

Review: Blue Valentine

Review: Blue Valentine

Rating: ***1/2

Nonna's Rating: $$$

Rotten Tomatoes: 89%

Audience: 83%

I just reviewed I Love You Phillip Morris, a movie so unlike ordinary life it strains credibility -- even when we know it's based on fact. And then I watched Blue Valentine, a movie so universal, so much like real life, it is downright painful to watch.

The story is simple. A young couple played by Ryan Gosling (Dean) and Michelle Williams (Cindy) have been married about five years. Dean works as a painter and is an alcoholic. Cindy works in a doctor's office and has long engaged in the codependent dance so characteristic of the desperate wives of alcoholics. When we first see the couple, their marriage is dissolving; Dean desperately tries to rekindle their old romance, but his alcoholism transmogrifies every well-intentioned move he makes.

In a series of flashbacks, we see the sweet story of how they met, how they fell in love, and how they shared their hopes and dreams. In those grainy memories, however, we see that the seeds of destruction were sown right from the beginning of their relationship. Like so many people, they married for the wrong reasons and didn't really understand or articulate what they needed from one another.

Blue Valentine is the story of so many marriages, especially those doomed from the start by addiction. But this isn't Days of Wine and Roses. It's more subtle than that film. What makes this movie so poignant is the love (however flawed) that Dean and Cindy have for each either. Remnants remain, even at their most debased moments. Gosling and William's performances are subtle, painful, and passionately honest. I'm glad I saw this film, but it was tough to watch.

Nonna's Ratings:

$$$$ = Worth paying the Friday evening price
$$$= Worth paying the Matinee price

$$= Worth a rental
$ = Wait for cable
# = Skip it