Movie/TV Reviews

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

    It’s not surprising that comedy writer/director/producer Judd Apatow (“40 Year-Old Virgin,” “Knocked Up”) and actor Adam Sandler suddenly turned serious. Many comedians – Charlie Chaplin, Jerry Lewis, Woody Allen, Robin Williams, Jim Carrey – have sought validation in drama. So raunchy George Simmons (Sandler), world-famous star of blockbuster comedies, discovers he has a rare but deadly form of leukemia. With no religion, no significant relationship and a life as empty as his Malibu mansion, Simmons is wretchedly lonely confronting his mortality. That’s why he forges a relationship with a struggling stand-up comic, Ira Wright (Seth Rogen), hiring him as a joke-writer/personal assistant, confiding only to him the secret about his terminal illness. Thrilled beyond excitement, Wright tastes the limo-to-the-jet life as Simmons schleps him along to a MySpace.com corporate event where troubadour James Taylor is the opening act. Acknowledging the presence of eager groupies, Simmons explains, “Girls like famous guys so I take advantage of it.” While Wright is proud and flattered to have been chosen to hover on the sidelines of the rich-and-famous – Eminem, Sarah Silverman, Paul Reiser, Andy Dick, Ray Romano and Norm Macdonald – he’s also ambitious and not above stealing his boss’s material. At this point, the plot takes a maudlin, unexpectedly tedious U-turn. While taking experimental medicine to battle his blood disease, self-pitying Simmons reaches out to Laura (Leslie Mann, Judd Apatow’s real-life wife), the one woman he loved-and-lost. She’s married and the mother of two daughters (Apatow’s real-life children), living with her philandering Aussie-businessman husband (Eric Bana) in Northern California. Transforming the oddly resentful anger that has always propelled the best of his comedy, Adam Sandler is convincing as the self-absorbed egomaniac. But Judd Apatow self-indulgently tries to cover too many bases, weaving in a subplot about Wright’s envious show-biz roommates (Jason Schwartzman, Jonah Hill) and the comedienne next-door (Aubrey Plaza), along with copious helpings of his trademark, trash-talking sexual humor. As a result, on the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, “Funny People” is a conflicted, intermittently engaging yet problematic 7, undoubtedly confounding the expectations of the usual Apatow/Sandler audience.

Susan Granger’s  DVD/Video Update for week of Friday, August 7:

Jon Foster, Mena Suvari, Nick Nolte, Sienna Miller and Peter Sarsgaard star in “The Mysteries of Pittsburgh,” about a young man’s bisexual coming-of-age, based on Michael Chabon’s 1988 novel. Sloppily adapted and directed by Rawson Marshall Thurber, it’s a dismal disappointment which is why it never got a nationwide theatrical release.

“Obsessed” is a predatory psychodrama about an asset-management executive (Idris Elba) who’s happily married to his former assistant (Beyonce Knowles) when a femme fatale (Ali Larter) begins to stalk him. But why he doesn’t report her obvious sexual harassment and aberrant behavior is never explained, nor are her motives and why a detective (Christine Lahti) is so clueless. As a result, it becomes a bit ludicrous.

Aimed at 10 year-old boys, James Wong’s “Dragonball: Evolution” is an apocalyptic teenybopper kung-fu fantasy, starring Justin Chatwin as the grandson of a wizened martial arts guru, battling evil Lord Piccolo (James Marsters), with the help of a heavily armed hottie (Emmy Rossum). But despite the impressive line-up of voice talent (Freddie Prinze Jr., Jennifer Love Hewitt, Val Kilmer, Chris Kattan, Michael Clarke Duncan, Lou Gossett Jr., Malcolm McDowell, Burt Reynolds and the late Anne Bancroft), Mark F. Adler’s cheaply computer-animated adventure “Delgo” fails to ignite an interesting storyline, so its appeal may only be to undemanding, not-easily-bored youngsters.

PICKS OF THE WEEK: Based on Roberto Saviano’s 2006 best-seller, “Gomorrah” is a brutal Italian saga – with English subtitles – about the corruption and violence hidden in the ugly, soft underbelly of a Mafia-type organization that rules Naples and infiltrates its environs. Five intersecting stories revolve around people who believe that they can ‘work’ the system which generates over $233 billion worldwide each year. And “Race to Witch Mountain” begins in the Nevada desert where a UFO has landed. While Homeland Security is determined to secure the “illegal aliens,” a Las Vegas taxi-driver (Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson) and a visiting astrophysicist (Carla Gugino) pick up two shape-shifting, telekinetic, telepathic, space-traveling siblings (AnnaSophia Robb, Alexander Ludwig) who need their help to return to their home planet. It’s cornball sci-fi fun.

Susan Granger’s review of “In the Loop” (IFC Films)

While the underlying concept of writer/director Armando Iannucci’s geopolitical satire about the incompetence of government officials is amusing, the actors’ accents are often so undecipherable that much of the dialogue emerges as unintelligible unless you’re acutely attuned to Brit-speak. Just imagine the frustration of watching Aaron Sorkin’s brainy, rapid-fire wordplay on “The West Wing” if you didn’t understand the language.

Spun off from Iannucci’s BBC-TV series “The Thick of It” and set in London, the story revolves around a dim, doltish, low-level government minister for international development, Simon Foster (Tim Hollander), who makes an inadvertent verbal blunder alluding to an “unforeseeable war” during a radio interview. His subsequent TV ‘clarification’ is even more incendiary, noting, “To walk the road of peace, Britain must be prepared to climb the mountain of conflict,” giving the impression that Her Majesty’s government backs the U.S.’s aggressive stance in the Middle East.

Before long, the Prime Minister’s foul-mouthed, ill-mannered Director of Communications, Malcolm Tucker (Peter Capaldi), whisks hapless Simon and his twerpy advisor, Toby (Chris Addison), off to Washington, D.C. for damage control, meeting with their American counterparts, including an aggressively relentless Assistant Secretary for Diplomacy (Mimi Kennedy), her dovish aide (Anna Chlumsky), a hawkish State Department power boss (David Rasche) who’s convened a secret ‘War’ committee and a sensitive U.S. Army General (James Gandolfini) who realizes that war is a deadly business. Meanwhile, back in Blimey, Simon must cope with a disgruntled Northampton constituent (Steve Coogan) whose backyard wall is dangerously close to collapsing as the intricate political maneuverings continue at a rapid pace on both sides of the Atlantic.

To say that what unfolds is confusing is an understatement; chaotic would be more accurate. That inanity grows tiresome quickly, except for one truly inspired scene in which James Gandolfini uses a toy calculator to explain the costs of war to Mimi Kennedy while they’re hiding out in a child’s bedroom. On the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, “In the Loop” is a cynical, profanity-laden 6. Undoubtedly, some of the outrageous rhetoric got lost whilst crossing the Pond.

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

Evil child thrillers have always had a creepy audience appeal – and this combines psychological elements from “The Bad Seed,” “The Omen,” “The Good Son” and others.

After their third child is stillborn, Kate (Vera Farmiga) and John (Peter Sarsgaard) Coleman decide to adopt. They already have an adolescent son, Daniel (Jimmy Bennett), and a hearing-challenged daughter, Max (Aryana Engineer), whose deafness is attributed to an accident that occurred as a result of Kate’s drinking problem. Nevertheless, this troubled Connecticut couple – he’s an architect, she’s a musician – is determined to expand their family.

At an orphanage run by Sister Abigail (CCH Pounder), inexplicably, they choose a mysteriously prim-and-proper nine year-old Russian émigré, Esther (Isabelle Fuhrman), who lost her previous adoptive family in a house fire from which she narrowly escaped.

Shyly singing to herself and painting a lovely picture, Esther admits, “I guess I’m different.”

“There’s nothing wrong with being different,” Kate blithely assures her.

Ah, but in this case, there is. With ribbons wrapped around her neck and wrists that can’t be removed under any circumstances, Esther is a malevolent menace, and Daniel senses her predatory wickedness from the get-go. Eventually, Kate becomes convinced that there are serious problems lurking within ghoulish Esther that she doesn’t understand so, curious about her background, Kate persistently tries to unearth the girl’s birth records but it’s not until the end that the truth is revealed.

David Leslie-Johnson’s spooky screenplay, amplified by John Ottman’s ominous musical score, is contrived and formulaic in its cheesy horror conventions, yet it’s admittedly frightening, even though the audience is inevitably two steps ahead of the gory violence. Director Jaume Collet-Serra (“House of Wax”) elicits solid performances from veteran actors Peter Sarsgaard and Vera Farmiga (who previously played the mother of a spiteful biological child who resents his newborn sibling in “Joshua”) – with young Isabelle Fuhrman convincingly exuding evil. On the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, “Orphan” is a schlocky-but-scary 6 – with a weird plot twist that may leave you stunned.

Susan Granger’s  DVD/Video Update for week of Friday, July 31:

Vroom! Vroom! In “Fast and Furious,” Vin Diesel and Paul Walker are at odds again when crime brings them back to Los Angeles but now they must work together to capture an elusive drug kingpin, leading them into a series of elaborately staged races and chases.

Set in 1963, amid the swirl of glamour and intrigue that turned President John F. Kennedy’s Washington into Camelot, “An American Affair” is a teenager’s cliché-riddled glimpse of JFK’s torrid affair with a sexy, blonde bombshell (Gretchen Mol).

In his documentary, “The Union: The Business Behind Getting High,” Adam Scorgie astutely demystifies the underground marijuana industry, showing how it functions while remaining illegal and examining the cause and effect nature of the business.

Lance Henriksen and Danny Trejo star in the supernatural thriller “Necessary Evil,” as an investigative journalist (Kathryn Fiore) uncovers the layers of corruption that lie deep within the walls of Edgewater Psychiatric Institute, even if the cost is her life.

The two-disc Special Edition of “Green Lantern: First Flight” finds earthling Hal Jordan (voiced by Christopher Meloni of “Law & Order: SVU”) joining the Green Lantern Corps and discovering that his mentor is a treacherous villain in a secret conspiracy that threatens the hierarchy and traditions of the entire corps.

For music fans: “Global Metal,” the sequel to “Metal: A Headbanger’s Journey,” demonstrates how the West’s most maligned musical genre has impacted world culture. “The Beatles – Rare and Unseen: Unofficial Account of the Biggest Band in the World” uses original rare footage, including home-movies and photographs from private collections. And “The Doors: From the Outside” compiles recollections, stories and anecdotes from those who knew the group and its members best.

PICK OF THE WEEK: “The Alzheimer’s Project” delves into our second-most-feared illness after cancer and the sixth leading cause of death in this country. But now there’s hope. Groundbreaking advances are the cornerstone of this HBO documentary which explores the most noteworthy developments that can improve our chances of remaining cognitively vital as we age, while examining the realities of this disease and its effects.

Susan Granger’s review of “G-Force” (Walt Disney Pictures)

If you’re desperate to get the kids out of the house – and the rain – and into the Cineplex for 1 hour and 28 minutes, you could do worse than Jerry Bruckheimer’s 3-D action comedy about guinea pigs as secret agents but – then again – you could do better.

Dr. Ben Kendall (Zach Galifianakis) is an FBI agent who supervises a Homeland Security course to train animals as spies. His best performers are three ‘genetically engineered’ guinea pigs: team leader Darwin (voiced by Sam Rockwell); martial arts ‘Latina mama,’ Juarez (voiced by Penelope Cruz); and hip-hop weapons expert, Blaster (voiced by Tracy Morgan), along with a blind-but-brainy computer-whiz mole called Speckles (voiced by Nicolas Cage) and Mooch, the voiceless fly.

When Ben’s G-man boss, Kip Killian (Will Arnett), scuttles the covert program, the tiny, elite super agents escape from a pet shop, where they pick up backup via a tubby guinea porker, Hurley (voiced by Jon Favreau), and a goofy, seed-hoarding hamster, Bucky (voiced by Steve Buscemi), and elude two aggressively imaginative children (Piper Mackenzie Harris, Tyler Patrick Jones), to embark on a mission to infiltrate the home of a diabolical weapons-dealer-turned-electronic appliance magnate, Saber (Bill Nighy), who has a secret plan to employ a computer virus (“Operation Clusterstorm”) to achieve global domination, Megatron-style.

With experienced visual effects artist Hoyt H. Yeatman Jr. at the helm, there’s plenty of loud, fast-paced chase sequences, utilizing the photorealistic CGI, amplified by 3-D technology, despite the surprisingly generic script churned out by Marianne and Cormac Wibberley, who did so much better penning “National Treasure” and “The Shaggy Dog” remake.

There’s some predictably dangerous business with a Doberman – but what’s with this furry ‘rodent’ fascination, featured in “The Tale of Despereaux,” “Beverly Hills Chihuahua,” “Bedtime Stories” and “Bolt”? It’s a shame that none of them even come close to Disney’s Mickey and Minnie, who never resorted to poop jokes and farting to elicit laughs. On the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, “G-Force” is a flashy, high-octane, frenetic 5, or as Darwin yells, “Yippie ki-yay, coffeemaker!”

Susan Granger’s review of “The Ugly Truth” (Columbia Pictures/Sony)

To call this a “chick flick” is insulting to those of us of the female gender who enjoy a good romantic comedy – which this isn’t. Not by any stretch of the imagination.

Set in Sacramento, it centers on a television station where savvy-but-uptight Abby Richter (Katherine Heigl), the producer of a morning talk show that’s floundering with low ratings, is forced to work with a rude, crude, self-styled sex guru, Mike Chadway (Gerard Butler), observing, “He represents everything that’s wrong with TV and society.”

She’s right, of course, but then – inexplicably – Abby begins to look to mucho macho, misogynistic Mike for advice. It seems there’s this hunky, handsome doctor, Colin (Eric Winter), who lives next door to her, and she hasn’t had sex in the past 11 months. A few amusing snippets occur when Mike, the lust-over-love advocate, coaches her on how to catch her neighbor’s interest and she realizes that, perhaps, he may have some insight into the male psyche. But the foul-mouthed vulgarity of some of Mike’s on-air segments is inexcusable – and also unbelievable, given FCC regulations.

Written by newcomer Nicole Eastman and the “Legally Blonde”/”House Bunny” team of Karen McCullah Lutz and Kirsten Smith and directed by Robert Luketic, it unabashedly ‘borrows’ from “Cyrano de Bergerac,” “Taming of the Shrew” and “Pygmalion,” but remains steadfastly predictable and formulaic. While Katherine Heigl seems eager to break out of her “Grey’s Anatomy” niche, her feature-film choices are humiliating, like “Knocked Up” and “27 Dresses.” Instead of leaving her vamping with a vibrator, can’t someone find this woman an intelligently written screwball comedy?

As for the rugged Scotsman, Gerard Butler (“P.S. I Love You,” “300,” “Phantom of the Opera”), he has yet to land the breakout role that will validate his ‘leading man’ status. And it’s a shame that the talents of John Michael Higgins and Cheryl Hines, as the perpetually squabbling, husband-and-wife anchor team, are squandered. On the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, “The Ugly Truth” is a raunchy, tiresome 2. It could turn a date-night into a disaster.

Susan Granger’s review of “500 Days of Summer” (Fox Searchlight Pictures)

Music video director Marc Webb discards chronological structure in relating this boy-meets-girl, boy-loses girl saga about an amiable aspiring architect from New Jersey, Tom Hanson (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), who works in downtown Los Angeles writing copy for greeting cards. When Tom’s boss (Clark Gregg) hires a new assistant named Summer (Zooey Deschanel), fresh off the plane from Michigan, he’s smitten. They like the same music (Springsteen, The Smiths), share a similar artistic taste (surrealist Magritte), even browsing through IKEA as if they were a couple. “We’re compatible like crazy,” Tom muses, blissfully.

The number in the title coyly refers to the length of time between the day they meet and the day they part. Sure, it’s a gimmick, as is the unconventional jumping backwards-and-forwards through time, but – for the most part – the scrambling works. Written by Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber (“Pink Panther 2”), the emotional interaction between the twentysomethings is engaging, even though the jumbled chronology device inexplicably goes linear mid-way through the story. In his first feature outing, director Marc Webb makes the most of nuances like past family divorces and contemporary workplace socialization and deftly utilizes a split-screen to create empathy. Not surprisingly, the distinctive music he chooses enhances the mood of each scene, particularly when he has Tom exuberantly dancing-in-the-park with a line of hoofers.

Since the story is told from Tom’s naïve point-of-view, Joseph Gordon-Levitt (TV’s “3^rd Rock from the Sun”) captures the heartbreak and misery of rejection, surmising, “I think the key for me is to figure out what went wrong,” while Zooey Deschanel embodies the outwardly flirtatious free-spirit who, nevertheless, adamantly guards herself from commitment with elusive cynicism: “Relationships are messy and feelings get hurt. Who needs all that? Let’s have as much fun as we can.”

Unfortunately, the stereotypical subsidiary characters – Geoffrey Arend, Matthew Gray Gubler, Chloe Moretz – are less effective. On the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, “500 Days of Summer” is an offbeat, bittersweet 7. It’s a whimsical tale of love gone awry.

Susan Granger’s DVD/Video Update for Friday, July 24:

Inspired by world-renowned mentalist, the Amazing Kreskin, “The Great Buck Howard” is the poignant, gently satiric story of a naïve, wannabe writer (Colin Hanks) who becomes road manager for an aging, eccentric stage entertainer (John Malkovich) who is struggling to resurrect his fading career.

Aimed at children age eight and over, “Coraline” is the first feature-length, animated fantasy to be conceived and photographed in stereoscopic 3-D. It’s about lonely, 11 year-old Coraline Jones (voiced by Dakota Fanning) whose family has moved from Michigan to Oregon. While her parents (voiced by Teri Hatcher, John Hodgman) are preoccupied, she discovers a secret passageway that leads to an enticing, alternate version of her life in which her parents’ activities revolve around her. But it all turns scary and sinister when her Other Mother insists that Coraline have shiny buttons sewn over her eyes.

In “Sherman’s Way,” an uptight, pampered Ivy-Leaguer (Michael Shulman) defies his controlling mother (Donna Murphy) and heads for California, where he’s befriended by a former alpine skier (James LeGros) and a chef-turned-auto mechanic (Enrico Colantoni).

From Smithsonian Networks, there’s “Sky View,” a high-flying documentary that soars over Ireland, Britain, Italy and France, exploring castles, historic landmarks and mystical sites and ruins; “The Big Blue,” centered in a unique spot off southern Australia, where the Blue Whales frolic; “Wanted: Anaconda,” searching for one of the world’s largest snakes in the jungles of Guyana: and “Pandas in the Wild,” an intimate portrait of Giant Pandas in China’s mist-shrouded Quinling Mountains.

PICKS OF THE WEEK: Intense and ultra-violent, “Watchmen” isn’t your ordinary superhero movie. It’s Zack Snyder’s eerie adaptation of Alan Moore’s graphic novel about psychopathic crime fighters investigating the death of one of their own. Set in 1985 in an alternative America, where Richard Nixon still occupies the White House, it begins with the murder of The Comedian (Jeffrey Dean Smith) and follows Dr. Manhattan (Billy Crudup), Rorschach (Jackie Earl Haley) Ozymandias (Matthew Goode), Nite Owl II (Patrick Wilson) and Silk Spectre II (Malin Akerman) as they investigate his demise.

Susan Granger review: “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” (Warner Bros.)

This sixth installment in J.K. Rowling’s series begins ominously with storm clouds roiling over London while Death Eaters wreak destruction, terrifying onlookers and destroying Millennium Bridge. As Voldemort’s power increases, Headmaster Albus Dumbledore is understandably alarmed, using Harry’s reputation as the “Chosen One” to lure a retired Potions professor, Horace Slughorn (Jim Broadbent) back to Hogwarts.

Many years earlier, Slughorn taught young Tom Riddle (a.k.a. Voldemort – and played by Hero Fiennes-Tiffin, Ralph Fiennes’ nephew) and he may know how and why the mysterious youngster evolved into the Dark Lord. While Harry’s arduous quest is clear, the element of peril increases, personified by sneering Draco Malfoy (Tom Felton) under the sinister ‘protection’ of Severus Snape (Alan Rickman).

Meanwhile, Harry (Daniel Radcliffe), Hermione Granger (Emma Watson) and Ron Weasley (Rupert Grint) are on hormone overload. Harry’s infatuated with Ron’s sister Ginny (Bonnie Wright) who’s “snogging” someone else, while Hermione’s keen on Ron, now a Quidditch hero under the spell of a coquettish classmate. “Oh, to be young and feel love’s keen sting,” muses Dumbledore as jealousy, betrayal and rivalries abound.

Adapted by screenwriter Steve Kloves and directed by David Yates, it pulls together previous plot strands like a good detective story, and it’s gratifying to see how the wide-eyed, precocious innocents of “Sorcerer’s Stone” have grown into savvy teenagers. Daniel Radcliffe still weaves amazing magic, while Emma Watson is brilliant and Rupert Grint is amusing, backed by stalwart veterans including Maggie Smith, Robbie Coltrane, Julie Walters, Warwick Davis and Helena Bonham Carter.

Like adventure classics of children’s literature – from the “Oz” novels to “The Lord of the Rings” and “The Chronicles of Narnia” – J.K. Rowlings has created an exquisitely detailed, completely credible realm of enchantment as background for this compelling coming-of-age, good vs. evil fable. On the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” is a harrowing, suspenseful 7. While we’re still wild about Harry, this basically sets the stage for Rowling’s seventh – and final – book which will be divided into two different movies.