Jersey Boys

Jersey Boys

Rated R (for rough language throughout)

Run time: 2 hours 14 minutes

The film tells the story of the four men who came together and formed the music group The Four Seasons. It deals with their ups and downs throughout the groups history.

It is based on the successful, Tony award winning Broadway stage musical of the same name. It is directed by Clint Eastwood, whose previous film history would suggest him as the director most unlikely to bring a Broadway musical to Hollywood. But, he pulls it off admirably. Mainly by sticking to the proven formula used in the stage production. This includes, the actors addressing the audience. While this might sound strange or even satirical for a movie, it works. One of the taglines for the story is, "Everybody remembers it as they need to." And this is what leads to the different perspectives from the characters.

Frankie Valli is played by John Lloyd Young, reprising his Tony-winning role. He does a great job of sounding like Valli. I read that Eastwood didn't want to populate this movie with Hollywood types, he mainly used stage actors and it pays off. The actors playing Frankie Valli, Tommy DeVito (Vincent Piazza), Nick Massi (Michael Lomenda) and Bob Gaudio (Erich Bergen) sang all of the songs live on the set as the movie was being filmed. All of them, except Piazza, played the characters in one stage production or another. Christopher Walken as mobster Gyp DeCarlo is the only one I think of as a Hollywood type, but he is cast well for the part.

The movie doesn't have the same energy as the live play, but the performances are so good, you may find yourself wanting to applaud at the end of some of the numbers. They are just that damn good. There are a few slow parts in between the musical performances, but they add to the story. I have seen the play (though not on Broadway) and I would see it again. I would also see the movie again.

And now a few words from a guest reviewer (my wife Noelle who has seen the play twice and now the movie): 

What he didn't mention was that I saw the play twice in the same week.  I saw it on a Tuesday and liked it so much I went back on Thursday.  I think we are generally in agreement on the movie but I might like the play somewhat more than he did.  Okay, a lot more.  In fact, if you can get me tickets, I need some.  STAT.

Bottom line is: if you've seen the play and liked it, go see this movie. If you like The Four Seasons music, go see this movie. Even if you're not familiar with their music but you like a fun movie with good music, go see this movie. I would give the play 5 out of 5 stars and the movie 4 out of 5 stars.

Edge of Tomorrow

Edge of Tomorrow

Rank: 7 out of 10

Rated: PG-13

Running time: 1 hour 53 minutes

Action/Sci-Fi

Starring: Tom Cruise, Emily Blunt

I enjoyed this movie. First of all, let me say that I like it when an original storyline comes out. It seems like these days Hollywood has an easier time doing remakes and rehashing old TV shows. So, any movie that comes along and shows even a glimmer or originality gets a few extra bonus points.

Tom Cruise plays Bill Cage, a Public Relations Officer in the Army that is thrust into battle and finds he keeps reliving the same day over and over. You might think, okay is this a sci-fi version of Groundhog Day? No it isn't. It is edgy and frantic. This battle is for the survival of the human race. This is set in the future, against an alien race that seems unbeatable. You might find yourself leaning forward in your theatre seat or maybe even holding your breath at times. Cage's day is reset every time he dies. There is a montage of this that will actually draw a few chuckles from the audience. This serves to kind of break up the action between acts and serves the movie well. Emily Blunt is Rita Vrataski, a highly decorated combat vet that must help Cruise's character learn to survive. There is a back story here but I don't want to issue spoiler alerts, so that is all I'm going to say. Bill Paxton plays a Master Sergeant in a bit role and makes the most of his screen time.

Bottom line is this; go see this movie if you like sci-fi or Tom Cruise. I don't think this movie will be a huge blockbuster and will probably make more money on video sales. But, it is worth seeing and I would probably see it again if only to watch for things I missed the first time through.

Hit and Run

Rated: R

Run time: 1 hr 35 min

Starring: Dax Shepard, Kristen Bell, Bradley Cooper, Tom Arnold, Kristin Chenowith, Beau Bridges

This was a good way to spend 1 ½ hours, it really was. I can’t completely explain it, but I enjoyed this movie. It isn’t going to win any awards but it is worth watching. It will probably enjoy a bigger following when it’s released to DVD and cable.

I read somewhere that this movie took 10 weeks from concept to finish, don’t know if that’s true or not but it sounds interesting. Dax Shepard (Crosby of Parenthood) wrote, directed and stars in this movie, and it’s rumored that he used his own cars while making it. It is also rumored that the other stars deferred their respective salaries as a favor to Dax. I don’t know how much is true and how much is hype, but this is a fun movie. You’re not going to roll on the floor laughing but you will probably chuckle out loud a few times. The film is fast paced and doesn’t drag down anywhere, in other words, use the bathroom before the movie starts or you may miss something if you leave the theater.

One word (or several actually) of warning, if you don’t want to see full frontal nudity of several 70-somethings, then you need to avert your eyes anytime you see a character go to room 119 when they are at the motel. I don’t usually give spoilers but that scene happens not once but twice. The characters reactions are kind of funny but the image is forever burned in my brain. On the other hand, it did make me want to start spending more time at the gym.

All of the actors do a good job, Bell and Shepard (as Annie and Yul aka Charlie Bronson) have chemistry together (but they should since they’re together in real life too). It’s weird seeing Bradley Cooper in dreads, but it’s Tom Arnold who steals most of the laughs as the bumbling US Marshall overseeing Charlie’s witness protection detail. And if it’s not him stealing the scenes it’s Kristen Chenowith as Annie’s boss.

Bottom line is this, if you need a way to waste a couple of hours, I don’t think you can go wrong seeing this one.

Hope Springs

Rated: PG-13

Run time: 1 hour 40 minutes

Starring: Meryl Streep, Tommy Lee Jones, Steve Carell

This movie is NOT a comedy. Will you chuckle at some places? You bet you will, but again this movie is NOT a comedy. I’m not sure if anyone other than me thought it was going to be one based on the initial previews, but I have to throw it out there, just in case.

This is the second movie in a row now that I have seen with Steve Carell showing his dramatic chops, and you know what he’s pretty dang good. He plays the quiet speaking marriage counselor, Dr. Feld in a very, laid back way. You just get the picture that nothing would ever get a rise out of this guy. But this movie really isn’t about the good doctor, it’s about a very real seeming couple that has been married for 31 years and is experiencing some problems. At least, Kay (Streep) feels there are problems, but if you ask Arnold (Jones), he will disagree. And he does disagree, very vociferously. But Kay convinces him to go to a week long intensive marriage counseling session, with Feld. More shouting follows, there are uncomfortable moments and there are touching moments. Meryl Streep plays her part as well as she always does. For me though, Tommy Lee Jones makes this movie, with his wrinkled up face (that reminds me of a Shar-Pei) and his grumpy old man character pulls the whole thing together. Overall, I think all the actors play their parts well, even Elizabeth Shue who plays Karen the bartender, and is only in the movie for maybe 5 minutes

This movie probably won’t hold much interest for those audiences under the age of thirty. However, for everyone else, especially couples that have been married for any length of time, I think there will be some part of the film that will strike a nerve somewhere (even if it’s only a little one).

Bottom line is go see this movie, I think you’ll like it.

The Expendables 2

Rated: R

Running time: 1 hour 43 minutes

Starring: Sylvester Stallone, Jason Statham, Jet Li, Dolph Lundgren, Chuck Norris, Terry Crews, Randy Couture, Liam Hemsworth, Jean-Claude Van Damme, Bruce Willis, Arnold Schwarzenegger

This movie was fun. The action was almost non-stop, the dialogue was campy and the humor was an inside joke for everyone who ever went to an 80’s action flick.

Plot? I guess you could say there was a plot, but it wasn’t important or even necessary to the movie. JCVD is the bad guy, he’s played one before and he did a good job on this one too. Jet Li was only in the first few minutes of the movie and Liam Hemsworth (Thor for all of you super-hero movie watchers) is the new kid on the block, but he is obviously to clean cut and young to hang around this group for long. For the most part the old dudes handle the guns and the younger generation gets to do most of the hand-to-hand combat.

Most of the humor revolves around Chuck Norris and his appearances. There is of course the requisite snappy banter between cohorts that gets a few laughs out of the audience. But this movie is mainly about action and it has that by plane load. But even in the action sequences, the movie doesn’t take itself too seriously. The good guys are the only ones that can shoot straight, of course. At least they do run out of bullets, but only when it creates an opportunity to be saved by some type of miracle, or Chuck Norris.

Bottom line is this, if you liked the 1^st movie, you’ll like this one even better. If you didn’t see the first one, don’t worry about it, go see this one anyway.

The Bourne Legacy

Rated: PG-13

Run time: 2 hours 15 minutes

Starring: Jeremy Renner, Edward Norton, Rachel Weisz

When I first started seeing previews for this movie, I assumed they used “Bourne” in the title strictly for marketing purposes because it looked like it had absolutely nada to do with the previous released “Bourne Trilogy”. Well, you know what they say about assuming anything. The old adage is proved true again, because as my nephew so aptly described, “the whole plot of the movie isn't so much another "Bourne" but what happened behind the curtain when Bourne messed everything up for the company.” This is accomplished through a series of flashes, references and TV newscasts. And, it’s not just fluff, I thinks it adds to the plot of the movie.

Apparently the CIA has numerous programs to brainwash, enhance, etc. operatives to turn them into super spies/assassins. And during the course of the “Bourne” fiasco, they decided to cut bait on their other programs. Of course this doesn’t sit well with Aaron Cross (Jeremy Renner), but he doesn’t go for revenge (at least not in this installment). So the movie is a little bit different in that aspect and also he appears to have no memory issues. He just wants to quit being dependent on the pills they’ve been feeding him. This connects Dr. Marta Shearing (Weisz) is to Cross. I was wondering earlier in the movie how the doc was going to figure into this drama, as she so obviously had to. I’m not going to give anything away on how they come together, but Cross needs her help to get off of the pills and he has to help her out of a jam first.

I felt like the movie got off to a little bit of a slow start, I had to fight to keep my eyes open for the first twenty minutes or so. But once it took off, it kept going until the end. Renner and Weisz both turned in fine performances but for me Edward Norton is the one to watch. He’s the bad guy and you get the sense that he’s not necessarily a bad person, but he’ll do anything or have anyone erased if they get in the way of doing his job. And he appears to be scarily efficient at doing this.

I think they ended this movie with the possibility of a fifth installment, probably just using Renner. Matt Damon has said he doesn’t want to do another one, but the way this movie was done, I could see a sequel with both characters in it.

Bottom line is if you liked the previous movies, you’ll probably like this one too. Just don’t give up on it during the first few minutes and you’ll be rewarded with one of the better chase sequences I’ve seen in recent years.

Total Recall

Rated : PG-13

Running time: 1 hour 49 minutes

Starring: Colin Farrell, Kate Beckinsale, Jessica Biel

Colin Ferrell is no Arnold Schwarzenegger, but in this version of the movie he doesn’t have to be. I was doubtful of this movie when I first heard it was being remade. Then I became even more doubtful when I heard Colin Farrell was going to be playing the main part, Arnold’s part. But when it was announced that Kate Beckinsale would be playing Sharon Stone’s part, I knew I’d be seeing this movie. Well, in all honesty I would have seen it anyway. I’m a sucker for an action movie, even if it is a remake. But 2012’s Total Recall isn’t so much a remake as it is a re-imagining.

The story doesn’t take place on Mars, as a matter of fact it has nothing to do with Mars at all. While the basic premise is the same and a few character’s names are the same, this is a different movie. It’s the air on Earth that is poisonous. There are only two nations left, the United Federation of Britain and the Colony. Basically the UFB is where the power is and the Colony is where the worker bees live. People travel back and forth between the two using a contraption called "The Fall" and it allows travel to pass through the center of the Earth between the two nations. 

The action is fast and the dialogue is well, hokey, but the action is fast so all is well in the action movie universe. I do have some minor complaints about a couple of the scenes where the camera is hand-held and so herky-jerky, it’s hard to tell what in the hell is going on.

All of the actors did a good job. Colin Farrell’s Hauser is a leaner, faster version compared to Arnold’s. Maybe a little more vulnerable but he didn’t sell the bewilderment, as well as Schwarzenegger, that his character had to have been feeling as the story unfolds. It was billed that Beckinsale was playing Sharon Stone’s part, I think it is more a combination of Michael Ironside and Stone (since Ironside's character isn't even in this movie). Beckinsale is the fake wife assigned to keep an eye on Hauser/Quaid and then tries to kill him the rest of the movie. Jessica Biel plays Melina the woman of Hauser’s dream, but her character plays more like a sidekick than a romantic partner. I really wanted to see the two women square off against each other and really duke it out, but it just wasn't meant to be.

There is one scene that I’m not sure if everyone will catch, but I thought it was great. It doesn’t really give anything away, so I’ll spill the beans. When Quaid tries to go through the security check for the UFB, he is wearing a holographic disguise. But what is awesome, at least to me, is there is a woman wearing a yellow coat that passes through before him. The woman is the disguise that was used in the original movie, when Quaid was going through security on Mars.

Overall, if you go see this movie don’t compare it to the original (I’ve already done that for you). The people that will probably like this movie the most are those that were either too young to know it is a remake, or those who refused to see it for whatever reason. Bottom line is go see this movie and enjoy it for what it is, a fun way to spend almost two hours.