Movie/TV Reviews

Susan Granger’s review of “Enough Said” (Fox Searchlight Pictures)

 

Writer/director Nicole Holofcener (“Friends With Money,” “Please Give”) examines the pitfalls of middle-age romance as vulnerable, emotionally conflicted, single parents cope with the ‘empty nest’ in this dramatic comedy, the second-to-last movie made by the late James Gandolfini (“The Sopranos”), who died of a heart attack in June at age 51.

Energetic Eva (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) is a massage therapist who totes her bulky table around West Los Angeles, making house calls. She’s divorced and bemoaning the fact that her beloved teenage daughter (Tracey Fairaway) is departing to enroll at Sarah Lawrence College. At a cocktail party, Eva meets two pivotal people: Marianne (Catherine Keener), a cool, chic, yet condescending poet, and Albert (Gandolfini), an easygoing, down-to-earth divorced father whose daughter (Eve Hewson) is heading to Manhattan to study fashion design. Eva soon becomes Marianne’s confidante, dutifully listening to her bitter litany of complaints about her former husband, and Albert’s girl-friend before she realizes that Marianne is Albert’s ex-wife. Deceptions abound because she doesn’t tell either one of them. Plus, there are subplots that intertwine Eva’s daughter’s confused best-friend (Tavi Gevinson) and Eva’s BFF (Toni Collette), a shallow, self-absorbed therapist riddled with her own issues.

Under Nicole Holofcener’s guidance, James Gandolfini delivers a sympathetic, self-deprecating performance, capturing the sensitive nuances of a dedicated TV historian who truly loves his job yet tenderly yearns for someone he can love. In contrast, Julia Louis-Dreyfus all too often relies on facial grimaces and sit-com timing, artificial quirks quite familiar from her work on “Seinfeld” and “Veep,” while playing a sassy, savvy woman who says and does stupid things. And that, in turn, makes the pacing uneven.

It’s also unavoidable not to wince with sorrow as Gandolfini gobbles guacamole and a tub of buttered popcorn, noting, “I’m planning on losing some weight. I really need to.” Gandolfini’s final film, “Animal Rescue,” is set for release next year.

On the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, “Enough Said” is a contrived yet sincere7, an insightful, wryly amusing social commentary about compatibility and contemporary suburban anxiety.

Susan Granger’s review of “Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs 2” (Sony Pictures Animation)

 

After a brief recap of the 2009 original, this computer-animated sequel begins after accident-prone
inventor Flint Lockwood (Bill Hader) has supposedly destroyed his Diatomic Super Mutating Dynamic Food Replicator to save the planet from a disastrous, if delicious, spaghetti and meatball storm. His island of Chewandswallow Falls has been quarantined and evacuated for cleanup, so its citizens have moved to the big city of San Franjose, where frustrated Flint is invited by his childhood idol, eccentric mogul/scientist Chester V (Will Forte), to join The LivE Corp Company, where the world’s top innovators create technologies for “the betterment of mankind,” and Chester’s new assistant Barb (Kristen Schaal) turns out to be a bossy orangutan with a deviously manipulative human brain.

Problem is: Chester’s aim is world domination, and Flint’s infamous food-replicating machine is still operating, churning out a new ecosystem of edible food-animal hybrids called “foodimals.”
So Flint, his fisherman father (James Caan) and friends (Anna Farris, Andy Stamberg, Neil Patrick Harris) must cope with a menagerie of weird jungle mutants like hungry tacodiles, playful watermelephants, hippotatoes, shrimpanzees, susheep, apple piethons, mosquitoasts, flamangos, fruitcocateils and double-bacon cheesespiders with French fry legs who have formed a delectable, self-sustaining gourmet utopia. Yummy!

Inspired by the beloved1978 children’s book written by Judi Barrett and illustrated by Ron Barrett, it’sweakly scripted by pun-punishing Erica Rivinoja, John Francis Daley and JonathanGoldstein but superbly visually conceived by co-directors Cody Cameron and Kris Pearn, who worked on the original “Cloudy.” The result is energetic, entertaining and inventive, if overly noisy, evoking a funky riff on “Jurassic Park.” That manic Chester V evokes memories of Apple entrepreneur Steve Jobs is
hardly coincidental, although the similarity may be lost on the small fry audience.

On the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, “Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs 2” is an imaginative, silly 7, a tasty second helping that’s filled with family-friendly fun.

Susan Granger’s review of “Don Jon” (Relativity Media)

 

From “Pillow Talk” to pornography in three generations! In 1959, director Michael Gordon teamed Doris Day with Rock Hudson for a quintessentially innocent romantic comedy; now, his 32 year-old grandson, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, has made one of the raunchiest and most explicit mainstream movies about a young man’s addiction to cyber-sex.

Every Saturday night in New Jersey, hunky bartender Jon Martello (Gordon-Levitt) hangs out with his ’boys’ (Rob Brown, Jeremy Luke) and picks up the most attractive woman in a bar for a one-night stand. That’s why he’s called ‘Don Jon.’ But his real satisfaction comes from his laptop, which is loaded with pornography. He indulges constantly, confesses to a Catholic priest on Sunday and recites his requisite penance of Hail Marys while pumping iron at the gym. That’s never been a problem until he meets sexy, sassy, gum-smacking Barbara Sugarman (Scarlett Johansson) who’s determined to find an old-fashioned fantasy of Mr. Right, an idealized man who will do no wrong. Trying to please her, brash, swaggering Jon not only enrolls in night school to ‘better’ himself but he also takes bodacious Barbara home to meet his parents (Tony Danza, Glenne Headley) and silently-texting sister (Brie Larson). Problem is: insatiable Jon cannot give up his only avenue to physical ecstasy, defensively asserting, “Everybody watches porn.” And that doesn’t seem to bother unconventional Esther (Julianne Moore), whom Jon meets in class. She’s a lonely widow who introduces him to intimacy and sets him straight on what really counts.

As actor/writer/director Gordon-Levitt (“Looper,” “50/50,” “500 Days of Summer”) explores what makes romantic relationships tick with bawdy, satirical frankness, adroitly guiding Scarlett Johansson from sexual tease to subversive oppressor and Julianne Moore from subtle warmth to sensual heat. As his boorish father, Tony Danza is terrific, while Brie Larson makes the most of her all-too-few lines. Yet, despite adroit pacing, there’s too much testosterone in the racy, if redundant, masturbatory footage.

On the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, “Don Jon” is a sleazy yet seductive 7, cleverly distinguishing the difference between lust and love.

Susan Granger’s review of “Battle of the Year” (Screen Gems)

 

Inspired by his documentary “Planet B-Boy,” which presented breakdancing teams from 18 nations
competing in Braunschweig, Germany, filmmaker Benson Lee fictionalizes the same concept, obviously trying to follow in the footsteps of the “Step Up” franchise of dance movies.

Jason Blake (Josh Holloway, best known as Sawyer on TV’s “Lost) is a former street dancer and widower who has become an embittered alcoholic following the death of his wife and teenage son in an automobile accident. He’s chosen by his hip-hop mogul pal Dante Graham (Laz Alonso) to coach an all-American underdog ‘dream team’ of 13 disparate breakdancers from different street crews who are preparing for a top-tier tournament in Montpellier, France, hoping to bring the championship back to America for the first time in 15 years. With only three months to train, it’s aformidable task, particularly since two of the top dancers – rivals Do Knock (Jon Cruz) and Rooster (Grammy-winning recording artist Chris Brown, even more notorious for his history of domestic abuse) – are feuding. Scowling, surly Jason gets some help from Stacy (Caity Lotz), a sexy choreographer, and comic relief from his wisecracking assistant, Franklyn (Josh Peck from Nickelodeon’s “Drake & Josh”).

Scripted by Brin Hill and Chris Parker, it’s crammed with clichés, like “There’s no ‘I’ in team,” and predictable from start to finish, even with the split-screen training montages, choppy editing and inherently intimidating South Korean team. On the other hand, the incredibly athletic dance sequences are amazing, whether viewed in digital 3D  or traditional 2-D– with credit going to real-life choreographer Dave Scott (“Step Up 3-D,” “Stomp the Yard”), along with Rich and Tone Talauega.

On the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, “Battle of the Year” is an all-too-familiar 4, filled with fancy, if frenetic footwork and a set-up for a sequel.

Susan Granger’s review of “Thanks for Sharing” (Olympus Pictures/Class 5 Films)

 

Make no mistake:  sex addiction is the topic here, as three men are determined to overcome their compulsive sexaholic dependence in the midst of the visual temptations of Manhattan.

After completing five years in celibate recovery, sensitive Adam (Marc Ruffalo), an environmental consultant, is urged by his sponsor, Mike (Tim Robbins), to start dating again and try to establish intimacy. At a food-adventurers dinner, he meets preening, phony Phoebe (Gwyneth Paltrow), who refuses to taste the roasted bugs.  She’s a breast cancer survivor and anorexic fitness fanatic whose previous boyfriend was an alcoholic. Despite her alleged wariness of men with addictive tendencies, she strips down to lacy lingerie and lap-dances for him, explaining that she’s essentially a very sexual person and needs to express that side of herself After eyeing the results of her mastectomy, Adam
makes a remark about a ‘booby prize.’

Are you squirming yet?

A recovering alcoholic, Mike has his own problems believing his estranged son Danny (Patrick Fugit), a former drug abuser who returns to their home in Brooklyn to make things right with his father and mother Monica (Joely Richardson).

Then there’s Neil (Josh Gad), a chubby, young ER doctor with an extensive porn collection who enjoys groping girls on the subway and gets fired for using his smartphone to spy under the skirt of a colleague. He’s arrested and ordered by the court to show up for the 12-step group counseling, where he’s sponsored by Adam.  Neil gets friendly with a fellow addict, tattooed, spiky-haired Dede (Alecia Moore, a.k.a. pop singer Pink), whilst coping with his stereotypically adoring Jewish mother (Carol Kane).

Written by Matt Winston and director Stuart Blumberg (“The Kids Are All Right,” “Keeping the Faith”), this earnest serio-comedy about uncontrollable urges inevitably evokes memories of Steve McQueen’s “Shame” (2012), which explored the same territory in a far more stern and somber tone.

On the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, “Thanks for Sharing” is a predictably unsatisfying and
uncomfortable 3 – so banal that it’s a total turnoff.

Susan Granger’s review of “Salinger” (The Weinstein Company)

 

No one is quite sure how J.D. Salinger, the reclusive writer of the young adult novel “The Catcher in the Rye,” became such a mythical, mysterious figure in contemporary American literature. Writer/director Shane Salerno interviewed 150 people, including Salinger’s family and friends, few of whom shed much light on that subject.

It seems that after lovelorn young Jerry Salinger lost Eugene O’Neill’s beautiful daughter Oona to much older Charlie Chaplin, he was forever obsessed with young, innocent girls. Jean Miller, whoinspired his story “For Esme – With Love and Squalor,” was one of them. Back in the 1940s,Salinger met her on a beach inFlorida when she was just 14 years old and told her mother thathe planned tomarry her. Five years later, their sexual union was finally consummated, causing Salinger to immediately lose all interest in her. Salinger started courting Joyce Maynard when she was an 18 year-old Yale student; they lived togetherin the 1970s and she later wrote a book about their relationship.

There’s also a repetitive archival footage that chronicles Salinger’s Army career during World War II, his obsession with being published in The New Yorker and his determination never to have his stories made into motion pictures. This self-indulgent, overly long documentary is designed to accompany the recently published oral history, also titled “Salinger,” by Shane Salerno and David Shields which, in turn, owes a great deal to Paul Alexander’s biography.

Celebrity after celebrity – including Paul Seymour Hoffman, Edward Norton, Gore Vidal, Tom Wolfe, E.L. Doctorow, A.E. Hotchner, John Guare and others – comment on the profound influence of Salinger’s Holden Caulfield. It’s obvious that J.D. Salinger, who wrote in solitude in Cornish, New Hampshire, was determined to have his famous novel and 35 other short stories speak forthemselves.  He died in 2010 at age 91, after directing that his unpublished manuscripts be issuedposthumously between 2015 and 2020.

On the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, “Salinger” is an infuriating, fatuous 5, a shallow, superficial examination of a multi-layered, enigmatic author.

Susan Granger’s review of “The Colony” (RLJ/Image Entertainment)

 

Making a quick pit stop in theaters en route to DVD, this dull sci-fi actioner from Canada has all the predictable horror elements, as a band of hapless inhabitants of a devastated Earth struggles to survive in perpetual winter. Apparently, the weather-controlling machines that were built after global warming threatened the planet malfunctioned. As one of the men notes, “One day, it started to snow
– and it never stopped.”

Former military man Briggs (Laurence Fishburne) struggles to maintain some semblance of civilization in the underground bunker known as Colony Seven, while coping with food shortages and an overriding fear of every communicable disease, including the common cold, despite the trigger-happy tendencies of his Army buddy Mason(Bill Paxton). When a garbled distress call comes in from neighboring Colony Five, Briggs trudges out into the icy wasteland on a rescue mission; he’s accompanied by Sam (Kevin Zegers of TV’s “Gossip Girl”) and teenage Graydon (Atticus Mitchell), leaving Sam’s girlfriend Kai (Charlotte Sullivan) in charge.  What they discover is that marauding cannibals are devouring Colony Five’s inhabitants. As they trek back to Colony Seven, they suddenly realize that the feral, ferocious flesh-eaters are following their footprints in the snow – meaning they and their friends will soon have to fight for their lives.

Weakly scripted by director Jeff Renfroe, along with Patrick Tarr, Pascal Trottier and Svet Rouskov, it’s derivative and utterly foreseeable – with no surprises.  Fine actors like Laurence Fishburne, Bill Paxton and Kevin Zegers do the best they can with thinly sketched characters that are simply caricatures, while Dru Viergever grimaces as the cruel, pointy-tooted cannibal leader, ominously grunting, “RaRRRR…”. Filmed on a decommissioned NORAD base in Ontario it’s atmospheric and claustrophobic, filled with graphic violence.

On the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, “The Colony” is a formulaic 4, yet another wannabe post-apocalyptic thriller.

Susan Granger’s review of “Insidious : Chapter 2” (Film District)

 

Continuing right after the supernatural events of the first “Insidious” chapter, the troubled Lambert family seeks to discover the mysterious childhood secret that has kept them malevolently connected to a shadowy netherworld.

Having just rescued their son Dalton (Ty Simpkins) from the fiendish forces of the spirit realm, mom Renai (Rose Byrne) and dad Josh (Patrick Wilson) are left to deal with Elise (Lin Shaye), the now-strangled family friend/medium who helped get him back, and her goofy, paranormal investigating cohorts: Carl (Steve Coulter), Tucker (Angus Sampson) and Specs) Leigh Whannel). Plus there are bizarrely unwelcome occurrences, like a piano playing itself, the baby’s toys tossing
themselves around and Dalton’s tin-can-telephone conversations with something in the closet.  It seems that both Dalton and Josh have the ability to “astral project,” transporting them into a place
between life and death, populated by ghouls looking for a healthy body to occupy. As if flaunting Josh’s deranged advice to just “ignore” the ghostly doings, a shrieking apparition shows up and punches Renai in the face.

“Is something wrong with Daddy?” Dalton inquires. You think?

In an expanded role, Josh’s long-suffering mother, Lorraine (Barbara Hershey), helps them track down an old man (Tom Fitzpatrick) who knows more about the dimension called “the Further” and the demonic creature that has taken possession of Josh’s body for nefarious purposes.

Utilizing every cheesy cliché in the ghost-buster genre, screenwriter Lee Wannell and director James Wan (“The Conjuring,” “Saw”) manage to have every door creak ominously, punctuated with cheap, freaked-out “boo!” scares. Patrick Wilson should have quit while he was ahead in “The Conjuring,” instead of channeling Jack Nicholson in “The Shining,” and Rose Byrne seemed to survive innumerable threats on her life in TV’s “Damages.” But they and the rest of the cast will inevitably return for the third chapter in this profitably low-budget franchise; indeed, it’s already in the planning stages.

On the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, “Insidious: Chapter 2” is a tedious, repetitive 3, concluding with yet another creepy cliffhanger.

Susan Granger’s review of “Prisoners” (Warner Bros.)

 

A triumph of intelligent acting and astute filmmaking, “Prisoners” is a harrowing, adult drama that’s filled with horror and heartache, yet leavened with hope.

When carpenter/handyman Keller Dover (Hugh Jackman) takes his son (Dylan Minnette) deer hunting, it’s just part of the teenager’s survivalist training: “Be ready” is Keller’s credo. But nothing could prepare him for the events of a bitterly cold Thanksgiving afternoon in suburban Pennsylvania when, while Keller and his wife (Maria Bello), son and daughter are sharing Thanksgiving dinner with neighbors Franklin and Nancy Birch (Terrence Howard, Viola Davis), six year-old Anna Dover (Anna Gerasimovich) and seven year-old Joy Birch (Kyula-Drew Simmons) disappear without a trace. Their only lead is a battered RV camper that was parked on the street earlier in the day. Heading the investigation is local Detective Loki (Jake Gyllenhaal), who arrests its creepy driver, mentally-challenged Alex Jones (Paul Dano), but can find no physical evidence of the missing girls’ abduction. Realizing that the longer it takes to find the youngsters, the less likely it is that they’ll be alive, enraged Keller decides to take matters into his own hands.

Holding the screen with volcanic force, Hugh Jackman’s passionate performance delves deeper and deeper into a father’s desperation and panic, while Jake Gyllenhaal inhabits his mysteriously reserved, yet persistent character with nuanced, methodical precision.  Skillfully helmed by Denis
Villenueve, a sophisticated French-Canadian director best known for his Oscar-nominated “Incendies” (2010), and hauntingly photographed by veteran cinematographer Roger Deakins, it’s based on a compelling, original screenplay by Aaron Guzikowski (“Contraband”) that’s filled with unexpected twists and trapped, multi-dimensional characters. In addition, it’s studded with accomplished supporting performances by Viola Davis, Maria Bello, Terrence Howard, Paul
Dano, Melissa Leo and Len Cariou.  Despite an overly long running time (a sprawling 153 minutes), even the moody score by Icelandic composer Johann Johannsson strikes just the right resonance of dread.

On the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, “Prisoners” is an unflinching, intense 9 – an intricate thriller evoking complex emotional conflict, moral ambiguity and sustained psychological suspense.

Susan Granger’s review of “Rush” (Universal Pictures)

 

Opening with James Hunt and Niki Lauda jockeying back and forth for the lead in the 1976 Formula One World Championship, this sports biopic traces their real-life racetrack rivalry.

With the good looks and arrogance of a Greek god, Great Britain’s James Hunt (Chris Hemsworth) lived competitively and raced recklessly, as opposed to Niki Lauda (Daniel Bruhl), an Austrian pragmatist who was far more interested in designing and building the best racecar than in being the most acclaimed racer. Both came from families that did not support their racing aspirations, so it was the swaggering playboy vs. the strategic perfectionist on European racetracks during the 1970s.

Off-the-track, their lives were equally divergent.  Ever-flirtatious Hunt impulsively proposed to model Suzy Miller (Olivia Wilde) within moments of meeting her, yet doomed their marriage with continual womanizing, so no one was surprised that it ended with Suzy running off with
actor Richard Burton.  In contrast, strait-laced Lauda married Marlene Knaus (Alexandra Maria Lara), a compatible, loving, understanding woman.

Working from an elegant, engaging script by Peter Morgan (“Frost/Nixon,” “The Queen”), this action drama is perfectly cast and confidently directed by Ron Howard (“Apollo 13,” “Frost/Nixon”),
whose preparation included studying Asif Kapadia’s 2010 documentary “Senna” about the great Brazilian driver Ayrton Senna.  Hunky Australian Chris Hemsworth, best known as Thor in “The Avengers,” is appropriately flamboyant as the sexy British daredevil, but it’s Daniel Bruhl, the Spanish-born German actor from “Inglorious Basterds,” who steals every scene. Nicknamed “The Rat” because of his prominent overbite, decidedly un-glamorous Lauda was disciplined and blunt, even brusque, with those around him but every bit as compelling as Hunt.

FYI: after retiring, Lauda worked as a BBC Sports commentator; Hunt died of a heart attack in 1993 at age 45.

Credit cinematographer Anthony Dod Mantle (“Slumdog Millionaire”) for thrillingly tense racing sequences, often viewed from the driver’s perspective, and Hans Zimmer’s score for enhancing the contrasting imagery.

On the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, “Rush” is an exciting, exhilarating 8, enthralling even for those who are not into automobile racing.