Movie/TV Reviews

Leatherheads

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

Actor/director George Clooney (“Good Night and Good Luck”) tries a throwback to the Hollywood screwball romantic genre with this sports comedy set in the 1920s, when America’s pro-football league was in its infancy.
Charming Dodge Connolly (Clooney) is an aging player who recruits a hotshot Princeton star/war hero, Carter “The Bullet” Rutherford (John Krasinski from “The Office”), hoping to revitalize the Duluth Bulldogs, a ragtag team of coal miners and farmers whose audience is dwindling. Inevitably, they become rivals for an intrepid newspaper reporter, Lexie Littleton (Renee Zellweger).
Genially noting, “I steal from everybody,” Clooney lifts snippets from directors Howard Hawks, George Cukor, Preston Sturges and the Coen brothers’ “Hudsucker Proxy,” among others. The awkward gracelessness of Zellweger’s Lexie can be traced directly back to Rosalind Russell in “His Girl Friday,” along with her self-assuredness. Cary Grant must have been Clooney’s role model, particularly his amiable elusiveness. Only, Grant’s reactions were usually oblique, while Clooney’s are all too transparent. And the conceit of Krasinski’s character has its antecedents in “Hail the Conquering Hero” with contemporary tinges of John Kerry’s Swift Boat.
While the sharp dialogue by screenwriters Duncan Brantley and Rick Reilly epitomizes quarreling without losing your class – it’s a ritual banter of personal exchange and witty expression – the storyline is as uneven as the pacing. I suspect it may play better on DVD where it will easily recoup its investment, particularly among diehard football fans who may be intrigued by the antiquity of the plays. Back then, for example, passing was considered ‘unmanly,’ so it was rough-and-tumble down-the-middle until one player broke free and ran for the goalposts to score.
On the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, “Leatherheads” is an admirably stylized 6. Yet as sports comedies go, it fumbles.

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Tyler Perry’s Meet the Browns

Movie/TV Reviews / Susan

Susan Granger’s review of “Tyler Perry’s Meet the Browns” (Lionsgate)

Adapting another one of his stage plays, prolific writer/director Tyler Perry (“Diary of a Mad Black Woman,” “Madea’s Family Reunion,” “Daddy’s Little Girl,” “Why Did I Get Married?”) continues his exploration of the sense and sensibility of the African-American community.
Brenda (Angela Bassett) is barely surviving as a single mother living in a Chicago housing project. And the future looks dim since factory she works at is closing. Perhaps that’s why she agrees to attend the funeral of the father she never knew.
Arriving by bus in the small, rural Georgia town with her teenage son and two daughters, she meets the Browns: Leroy (David Mann), the malaprop-prone, leisure-suit clad buffoon of a deacon, and his hostile, hard-drinking sister Vera (Jennifer Lewis), along with staid Sarah (Margaret Avery), Cora (Tamela Mann) and L.B. (Frankie Faison) Even the grandmother Madea (Tyler Perry’s alter ego) in a gratuitous cameo near the conclusion. Before that, however, Brenda’s attention and affection is caught by Harry (Rick Fox), a former NBA star-turned-coach who, as the plot thickens, takes a much-needed paternal interest in her son, Michael (Lance Gross).
Mired in melodrama, Tyler Perry dabbles in the temptations of drug dealing, morality, religion and, of course, humor. Although his dialogue is unwieldy, his slapstick pacing uneven, his characters basically caricatures, and his direction functional, considering the shrill performances, Perry’s a crowd-pleaser. A victim of physical abuse as a child and a survivor of toiling for too many years in obscurity, Perry is determined to deliver his perennial message of perseverance: “Just keep praying.” And Angela Bassett can seemingly do no wrong. So on the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, “Tyler Perry’s Meet the Browns” is a fun-loving 5, celebrating the possibility of second chances.

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21

Movie/TV Reviews / Susan

Susan Granger’s review of “21” (Sony Pictures Entertainment)

Here’s the deal: this is sheer escapist entertainment.
Ben Campbell (Jim Sturgess) is a brilliant MIT senior with his heart set on attending Harvard Medical School. While he dutifully sells men’s clothing at J. Press on weekends, his $8-an-hour salary just doesn’t meet the steep $300,000 tuition and his widowed mom (Helen Carey) can’t help out much. His future is totally dependent on winning a coveted scholarship, but other competitors are equally qualified.
So when a manipulative math professor, Mickey Rosa (Kevin Spacey) realizes Ben’s a brainiac, he convinces to join a top-secret, high-stakes gambling team (Kate Bosworth, Aaron Yoo, Liza Lapira, Jacob Pitts). Soon Ben begins to spend all his weekends in Las Vegas. Rosa has devised a near-foolproof scheme for ‘counting cards’ at blackjack tables and this lucrative, clandestine enterprise soon dominates Ben’s life, much to the chagrin of his geeky buddies (Josh Gad, Sam Golzari) – and Planet Hollywood’s beleaguered security consultant (Laurence Fishburne) who has a grudge against Rosa.
Based on “Bringing Down the House,” Ben Mezrich’s best-seller about six real-life MIT students who took Vegas for millions in the 1990s, director Robert Luketic (“Legally Blonde”) makes ‘counting cards’ absolutely fascinating, not to mention exciting, aided by Gray Marshall’s flashy visual effects. Writers Peter Steinfeld and Allan Loeb have a tougher time with characterizations, particularly since bland Kate Bosworth (“Superman Returns,” “Beyond the Sea”) seems incapable of more than a couple of facial expressions. As if to compensate, Spacey maniacally cavorts all over the screen, while Fishburne provides believable menace.
Despite some glaring plot loopholes that had me wondering why Ben didn’t rent a safety-deposit box at a Boston bank, on the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, “21” is a slick, suspenseful 7. It’s a good gamble.

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Drillbit Taylor

Movie/TV Reviews / Susan

Susan Granger’s review of “Drillbit Taylor” (Paramount Pictures)

Combine the talents of engaging actor Owen Wilson (“Wedding Crashers,” “Meet the Parents”) with the comedy sense of producer Judd Apatow (“The 40 Year-Old Virgin,” “Knocked Up,” “Superbad”) – and how bad can it be? Pretty bad.
The story begins as three stereotypical, insecure dorks – skinny Ryan (Troy Gentile), tubby Wade (Nate Hartley) and tiny Emmit (David Dorfman) – start high school. They’re pumped – until they’re targeted by fearsome Filkins (Alex Frost), a vicious 18 year-old bully who makes their lives miserable. Complaints to the principal are dismissed, so their only means of survival comes from placing an Internet ad seeking protection.
An AWOL Army vagrant living (and showering nude) on a Santa Monica beach, Drillbit Taylor (Owen Wilson), is the only one they can afford. Explaining, “I was discharged for unauthorized heroism,” he figures he can scam them for a few hundred dollars – enough to buy him a ticket to Alaska – but his bumming buddies urge him to milk the gig for all its worth. Meanwhile, he forms an emotional attachment to the kids.
The goofy “My Bodyguard” premise is appealing, but the execution is disjointed. Writers Kristofor Brown (“Undeclared”) and Seth Rogen (“Superbad”), along with director Steven Brill (“Little Nicky”), fail to make either the characters or their actions plausible. Drillbit obviously has psychological problems which are not only never addressed but obliterated by his masquerade as a substitute teacher, “Dr. Illbit,” attracting amorous moves from another teacher (Leslie Mann, Apatow’s wife). The freshmen are obviously clever but are rarely given inventive solutions to their dilemma. And it’s certainly not the fault of the hapless dudes who soldier on.
On the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, “Drillbit Taylor” is a flimsy, formulaic 4, offering only lame laughter.

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Stop-Loss

Movie/TV Reviews / Susan

Susan Granger’s review of “Stop-Loss” (Paramount Pictures)

While Democrats Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama devise exit strategies and Republican John McCain speculates that we’ll be in Iraq for the next 100 years, filmmaker Kimberley Peirce (“Boys Don’t Cry”) angrily delves into what’s happening to troops currently serving their country in the Middle East.
Specifically, the government’s Stop-Loss Policy, which authorizes the retention of soldiers in the service beyond their expected term, also known as a “Back Door Draft.”
Staff Sgt. Brandon King (Ryan Phillippe) has honorably completed two tours of duty in Afghanistan and Iraq and is recovering in Brazos, his small Texas hometown, when he’s informed that the Army plans to send him back – indefinitely. While he’s as patriotic as the next guy, that’s just not right!
Meanwhile, his buddy, Steve Shriver (Channing Tatum), is so emotionally devastated that – his first night home – he gets drunk and digs a foxhole in the front yard from which he howls, much to the distress of his fiancée (Abbie Cornish). And Tommy Burgess (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) has become a stereotypically twitchy, screwed-up psycho veteran.
So King impetuously goes AWOL, becoming a fugitive in the country he fought to protect.
Problem is: “Stop-Loss” isn’t really about the use of that legal loophole. Instead, it’s about soldiers’ post-traumatic stress upon returning home from war, a subject covered far more effectively by Paul Haggis in “In the Valley of Elah,” for which Tommy Lee Jones received a well-deserved Oscar nomination.
The contrived characters and cinematography, especially the Tikrit combat sequences, seem all too familiar and, since Paramount’s partner is MTV, the heavy metal/alt-pop/southern rock soundtrack can occasionally be overwhelming. On the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, “Stop-Loss” is grim, heart-wrenching 5, measuring the shameful human cost of the continuing escalation of the war.

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Forgetting Sarah Marshall

Movie/TV Reviews / Susan

Susan Granger’s review of “Forgetting Sarah Marshall” (Universal Pictures)

Gleefully uproarious sex comedies have become the bawdy province of Judd Apatow (“The 40 Year-Old Virgin,” “Knocked Up”), who stretches farcical, vulgar silliness into outright hilarity.
Since struggling musician Peter Bretter (Jason Segel) is wildly in love with his girlfriend, “Crime Scene” television star Sarah Marshall (Kristen Bell of “Veronica Mars”), he’s utterly shattered when she unceremoniously dumps him for an egotistical British-rocker, Aldous Snow (Russell Brand).
Following the advice of his well-meaning stepbrother (Bill Hader), Peter books a 4th of July trip to Hawaii, checking into the posh Turtle Bay Resort, not realizing that Sarah and Aldous are there too. Saved from mortification by a compassionate front desk clerk, Rachael (smoldering Mila Kunis), he awkwardly tries to heal his broken heart with some new friends and to complete his great opus: a dark, Gothic “Dracula” rock opera with vampire puppets.
Insightfully scripted by Jason Segel (yes, he wrote himself the pathetic leading character) and sensitively directed by Nicholas Stoller, it plumbs all the laughter inherent in an emotional disaster while skillfully tweaking formulaic romantic comedy clichés. Plus, the lusty women are bright as well as beautiful – and that counts.
Remember how taboo full-frontal male nudity once was? Forget it. From the getgo, Jason Segel is in the altogether – and he’s altogether likeable – as is the rest of the cast, including fresh funny folk like Paul Rudd (as a surfing instructor), Jonah Hill (as a star-struck waiter) and Jack McBrayer (as a sexually naïve newlywed). But it’s droll Russell Brand’s hedonistic bravado that steals the show!
On the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, “Forgetting Sarah Marshall” is an outrageous 8, a raunchy romp that turns into a real audience-pleaser. And linger for an amusing epilogue in the final credits.

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Run, Fat Boy, Run

Movie/TV Reviews / Susan

Susan Granger’s review of “Run, Fat Boy, Run” (Picturehouse)

What has David Schwimmer – a.k.a. Dr. Ross Geller – been up to since the demise of TV’s “Friends”? He’s hopped across the pond to make his directorial debut with this relationship comedy.
Commitment-phobic, emotionally immature Dennis Doyle (Simon Pegg from “Shaun of the Dead” and “Hot Fuzz”) is a big-time loser. It’s not that he’s actually fat; pudgy would be more accurate. No, his sin is that he got cold feet and bolted, leaving his very pregnant fiancée Libby (Thandie Newton from “Crash”) at the altar. Not a swift move.
Five years later, he’s living in the North London basement flat of an Indian widower, Mr. Ghoshdashtidar (Harish Patel), and poignantly participating in parenting their young son Jake (Matthew Festoon), hoping to win back Libby’s affections. In the interim, Libby has become involved with Whit (Hank Azaria from “Dodgeball”), a wealthy, good-looking American hedge-fund trader – and Dennis’ chances are growing dimmer daily.
So – to prove his worth – Dennis, this chain-smoking, beer-swilling slob, decides to run a 26-mile charity marathon, to compete with Whit, as it were. At his side is his poker-playing mate, Gordon (Irish comedian Dylan Moran, also from “Shaun of the Dead”), who bets his savings on Dennis and becomes his coach, along with Mr. Ghoshdashtidar, who buys him splendid running shoes and paddles him with a spatula when he’s lazy.
Using conventional slapstick gags and inventive crosscutting, David Schwimmer makes the most of the somewhat innocuous, totally predictable, obscenity and profanity-laden, slacker script by Michael Ian Black (“Reno 911: Miami”) and Simon Pegg, scoring as a creditable, if not memorable, director. On the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, “Run, Fat Boy, Run” trudges in with a mediocre 5. My advice is to wait for the video/dvd.

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Doomsday

Movie/TV Reviews / Susan

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

There must be people who are drawn to action-packed, post-apocalyptic fantasies – because there are so many and, remarkably, most of them seem to make money. So here goes….
In the 2008 prologue, a pandemic threatens to annihilate the human race. It begins in Scotland and, within days of detection, the virulent Reaper virus infects millions. The United Kingdom declares the entire country a “hot zone” and quarantines the populace with a 21st century version of Hadrian’s Wall – with reinforced, steel ramparts and remote sentry guns.
Skip ahead to 2035 and the Reaper re-appears – only, this time, it’s in London. And the Brits discover that, miraculously, there are survivors in Glasgow. Somehow, they must have developed a cure. The Prime Minister (Alexander Siddig of “Star Trek: Deep Space Nine”) summons the Security Chief (Bob Hoskins), who recruits Major Eden Sinclair (Rhona Mitra), a sexy eye-patch wearing Scot who was evacuated as a wee lass. She and her armed soldiers are to go into the “hot zone” to find a Dr. Kane (Malcolm McDowell) who was working on a counteragent. What they discover are crazed cannibals in a gruesome, graphic medieval netherworld straight out of “Mad Max.”
Writer/director Neil Marshall (“The Descent,” “Dog Soldiers”) shamelessly rips off elements from “28 Days Later,” “Escape from New York,” “The Road Warrior,” “Resident Evil,” and “I Am Legend,” among others, giving you the eerie feeling that you’ve seen all this mayhem before. No doubt that’s why it was not screened for critics before its initial release. It’s also revealing that – in the production credits – the stuntmen and women outnumber the actors.
On the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, “Doomsday” is a disgusting, gore-filled 2 – with a conclusion that leaves the door ajar for a sequel.

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College Road Trip

Movie/TV Reviews / Susan

Susan Granger’s review of “College Road Trip” (Buena Vista – Disney)

Maybe he read those recently alarming statistics – that one out of four teenage girls has a sexually transmitted disease – but there’s this small-town Illinois police chief who is determined to protect his daughter’s safety and security, no matter what.
James Porter (Martin Lawrence) is a control-freak. There’s no doubt about it. So when his beloved 17 year-old daughter Melanie (Disney Channel star Raven-Symone) starts looking at colleges, he’s determined that she attend nearby Northwestern, where he’ll be able to keep an eye on her.
But clever Mel has secretly applied to Georgetown University, which has exactly the pre-law curriculum she’d like. With a bit of help from her understanding mother (Kym E. Whitley), she’s off to Washington, D.C. for an interview. But not alone. Dad is determined to drive her, and her little brother (Eshaya Draper) stows away in the police SUV’s trunk, along with Albert, his squealing pet pig. Then there are Mel’s best friends (Brenda Song, Margo Harshman), who meet them at a sorority house stopover. And, eventually, they wind up car-pooling with another father-daughter tandem – Doug (Donny Osmond) and Wendy (Molly Ephraim) – who cheerfully go the extra mile.
Written by Emi Moschizuki & Carrie Evans (part of the Disney Writers’ Program that encourages young talent), along with Cinco Paul & Ken Daurio and directed by Roger Kumble (“The Sweetest Thing”), it’s a skimpy, G-rated TV episode that’s been padded with silly slapstick to feature-film length. Mercifully, that’s only 83 minutes long. And, for those who care, most of the academic exteriors were filmed at various prep schools and colleges in Connecticut. On the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 t 10, “College Road Trip” is a clumsy, arduous 4. Family-friendly doesn’t have to mean dumbed-down.

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Dr. Seuss’ Horton Hears a Who!

Movie/TV Reviews / Susan

Susan Granger’s review of “Dr. Seuss’ Horton Hears a Who!” (Fox)

Thanks to Blue Sky, the White Plains, New York- based, award-winning animation studio that rivals Pixar/Disney and DreamWorks, this feature-length adaptation of one of Theodore Geisel’s most beloved tales is absolutely glorious family entertainment.
“On the fifteenth of May, in jungle of Nool, in the heat of the day, in the cool of the pool, he was splashing…enjoying the jungle’s great joys…When Horton the elephant heard a small noise,” begins CBS’ broadcaster Charles Osgood who, as narrator, makes the most of the playfully rhyming text.
That ‘noise’ heard by Horton (voiced by Jim Carrey) turns out to be a faint cry for help emanating from a tiny speck of dust floating through the air. It seems that particle houses an entire city named Who-ville, inhabited by microscopic Whos, led by their Mayor (voiced by Steve Carrell). And they’re in danger! So despite being ridiculed and threatened by doubters – Vlad the Eagle (voiced by Will Arnett) and Kangaroo (voiced by Carol Burnett) – Horton, on the advice of Morton the Mouse (voiced by Seth Rogen), is determined to save them – because “a person’s a person, no matter how small.”
Directed by Jimmy Howard and Steve Martino, Blue Sky’s computer animation captures Dr. Seuss’ weird world, particularly the massive clover field in which sweetly sincere Horton must find the tiny speck.
While Dr. Seuss is served better by animation than live-action (“How the Grinch Stole Christmas,” “The Cat in the Hat”), the plot’s really too thin so it’s been gently padded with hip, G-rated slapstick comedy by Cinco Paul and Ken Daurio (“College Road Trip”).
On the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, “Dr. Seuss’ Horton Hears a Who!” is a wacky, wondrous 10 – bountiful fun for children of all ages.

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