Kumail Nanjiani

Review of “Eternals”

Jobs are hard. Some are physically draining, like digging ditches and building houses. Others are intellectually difficult like high level mathematics and accounting. Still others are emotionally taxing like counseling those going through tragic circumstances such as abuse. Then there are jobs you just hate doing. Back in my grocery store days, I would ask to work Sundays as it was time and a half. However, when you opened the store on Sundays, you cleaned the ashes out of the incinerator we used to dispose of empty stock boxes. It was a dirty, hot, and probably dangerous job as the fine particles of ash filled the air. The still hot ashes were dragged with a long metal tool that looked like an extended garden hoe into a large iron tray. When the tray was full, it was dragged to the loading dock where it would cool and be dumped into the dumpster by someone else. It was an awful job, but it was necessary so the incinerator could be used to dispose of more boxes later. Also, I was being paid time and a half to do it and back in the late 1970’s, that was about $4.00 an hour. I was rolling in the dough
also a great deal of cardboard box ash. I say all that to lead into my review of Marvel’s “Eternals,” a film about a group of super beings that must carry out a job they later find they don’t want to do.

The Celestial Arishem created 10 super beings called Eternals to protect humanity from a race of monsters called Deviants. Each Eternal has specific abilities: Their leader Ajak (Selma Hayek) can heal injuries and is also the conduit between the Eternals and Arishem. Ikaris (Richard Madden) can fly, has super strength, and emits cosmic energy beams from his eyes. Sersi (Gemma Chan) can change inanimate matter from one form to another. Thena (Angelina Jolie) is a mighty warrior, producing cosmic energy weapons and shields. Kingo (Kumail Nanjiani) fires cosmic energy blasts from his hands. Sprite (Lia McHugh) can project realistic illusions of anything. Phastos (Brian Tyree Henry) is the group’s engineer, able to invent and construct whatever is needed, and he maintains their starship Domo. Makkari (Lauren Ridloff) possesses super speed. She is also deaf, but can feel the vibrations in the air, allowing her to understand speech. Druig (Barry Keoghan) can control and manipulate minds. Gilgamesh (Don Lee) possesses immense strength he augments with cosmic energy projections around his hands. The Eternals have been on Earth 7000 years, fighting the Deviants, however, they are not allowed to interfere in the affairs of humanity. Over 500 years ago, the last Deviant was killed and Ajak sent the Eternals into the world to live their own lives as they wait for Arishem to call them back to their home world of Olympia. In current times, the Deviants have returned and gained abilities like the Eternals. It’s time to travel around the world, find all the members and fight the Deviants once again.

Eternals were first introduced in Marvel comics in 1976. Their backstory is deep and complicated with civil wars and factions living on Uranus and Saturn’s moon Titan. It’s a history that would be impossible to translate into a movie that made any sense and wasn’t 12 hours long. Director and writer Chloe Zhao, along with a writing team, tries to condense and simplify the character’s history into something manageable in “Eternals.” She almost succeeds.

This unwieldy group of characters gets parred down by a few as the story goes on, but the history and backstory just keep coming. Sometimes we go all the way back to the first time Eternals come to Earth 7000 years ago. We make visits to 1500 years ago, 500 years ago and six days ago. There is also an exposition dump that clarifies what the movie is about. I won’t spoil it, but it’s a major revelation for our heroes. One would think knowing exactly what the goal is would focus the story, however we get more flashbacks, more exposition, and more character introductions. It’s like Zhao and the writers wanted to tell us more gossip about these people, even things we didn’t need to know. I’m not sure it was necessary to show two characters having sex (I think a first for a MCU movie) for us to understand they were committed to and love each other.

Perhaps Zhao, winner of the Oscar for Best Director for her devastating “Nomadland,” wasn’t the best choice for a comic book movie. Her sensibilities are more to smaller character stories than to spectacle and wonder. “Nomadland” follows one woman’s journey, navigating the wilderness of America living alone in her camper/van and dealing with the loss of her husband. It is a poignant and beautiful movie that shows the inequity of capitalism in an age of business consolidation, leaving loyal and dedicated workers in the dust. It destroyed me in a way that didn’t come out until my wife and I were discussing it on our podcast, Comedy Tragedy Marriage. It could not be more different from a MCU movie.

Am I arguing that indie and smaller movie directors shouldn’t be given a chance to helm superhero flicks? Of course not. I am saying that Zhao might not have been the right choice for this one. While “Eternals” is competently made, looks amazing and delivers what we expect from a MCU film, it also bogs down at times in ways we don’t expect from MCU films. It sometimes feels like the film (and the audience) is swimming in molasses. There are bits of excitement scattered about, but we must first slog through the muck.

The actors do the best they can with what they’re given. Selma Hayek and Angelina Jolie are woefully underused. Gemma Chan and Richard Madden make an attractive, believable, but dull romantic pair. Kit Harrington plays a human suitor of Chan’s Sersi, but he’s only in the film’s early and late scenes. I enjoyed Kumail Nanjiani, Lia McHugh, Don Lee, Barry Keoghan, Lauren Ridloff and Brian Tyree Henry in their roles. Each character is given something resembling a personality but not enough time for it to be fully on display. Ridloff plays the first hearing impaired hero and Henry is the first openly gay hero in the MCU. Each deserved more time in a film that wastes a decent amount of it on attempts at grandeur that come up short.

“Eternals” is rated PG-13 for fantasy violence and action, some language and brief sexuality. There’s the usual superhero on villain violence as every other MCU movie. The villains in this case are mostly creatures that look like dinosaurs or mutated lions. We see Sersi and Ikaris having sex. It is from the waist up and there are no naughty bits on display. Language is mild and scattered along with a middle finger.

I don’t hate “Eternals.” It might sound like it, but I don’t. With a cast this big and story this sprawling, I wish a more seasoned superhero director had been given the reigns. Zhao is a fantastic director and might have been a better fit for a solo hero introduction movie with a more manageable story. As it is, “Eternals” is too much of just about everything.

“Eternals” gets three stars out of five.

Note: There is a mid- and post-credits scene that hints at what might be next for “Eternals” and a new character. Stick around to the very end to see both.

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Review of “Dolittle”

Dr. John Dolittle (Robert Downey Jr.), the doctor that talks to animals, has exiled himself in his compound since the death of his wife Lily (Kasia Smutniak). He’s still surrounded by the animals he rescued with Lily, including a cowardly gorilla named Chee-Chee (voiced by Rami Malek), a constantly cold polar bear named Yoshi (voiced by John Cena), a duck with an artificial leg named Dab-Dab (voiced by Octavia Spencer), a glasses-wearing dog named Jip (voiced by Tom Holland) and leading them all is a headstrong macaw named Polynesia (voiced by Emma Thompson). Dolittle’s isolation is broken when a teenager named Tommy Stubbins (Harry Collett) shows up with an injured squirrel. The squirrel was accidently shot when Tommy was out hunting with his uncle and cousin. Tommy bundles up the squirrel and Poly guides him to Dolittle’s. Dolittle performs surgery on the squirrel, named Kevin (voiced by Craig Robinson), and he survives but swears revenge on Tommy. Also arriving at the mansion is Lady Rose (Carmel Laniado), Queen Victoria’s niece. She tells Dolittle the Queen is ill and needs his attention immediately. Reluctant, Dolittle initially refuses to leave the compound, but the animal’s rebel and force him to go. When Dolittle arrives, he sees an old friend from medical school, Dr. Blair Mudfly (Michael Sheen) is treating the Queen. Mudfly is dubious of Dolittle’s methods and animals and is jealous of his talents. Also on hand is Lord Thomas Badgley (Jim Broadbent), representing Parliament. Using Jip’s sensitive nose, Dolittle figures out the Queen has been poisoned by drinking tea laced with the poisonous plant Deadly Nightshade. The only cure is a rare fruit that grows on only one tree, located on an island that doesn’t appear on any map. If the cure isn’t administered soon, the Queen with die, so Dolittle, several of his animal friends and Tommy, who has appointed himself Dolittle’s apprentice, set off on a dangerous journey across treacherous seas, looking for an island that may not exist and encounter animal friends and human foes from his past.

Watching “Dolittle,” I kept waiting for the moment the film completely falls apart. With mostly negative reviews and a Rotten Tomatoes score in the teens, I assumed the movie would begin showing us characters late in the third act we hadn’t seen before or would start espousing Nazi propaganda. None of that happened. Sure, its muddled, messy and has the pacing of a child fed only sugar and crack, but “Dolittle” is an enjoyable catastrophe.

“Catastrophe” is too strong a word, but there are things about the film that don’t make a great deal of sense. For instance, there are phrases said by the animals that didn’t exist at the time, like “Code Red.” Access to an unconscious Queen Victoria (Jessie Buckley) is far too easy. While the guards act like they are going to try to stop a gorilla, ostrich (voiced by Kumail Nanjiani) and polar bear from being near the fallen queen, they don’t fire their guns or draw their swords. It appears anyone in nice clothes and with a friendly face could walk into the palace. I realize these issues, and more are due to the comical and fantasy aspects of the story and must be forgiven to some extent, however what I have a harder time wrapping my head around is Robert Downey Jr.’s accent.

Why did he choose to sound like a male version of Robin Williams’ Mrs. Doubtfire? And why was that choice apparently made after principle photography as his voice appears to have been dubbed for the majority of the film? Speaking in low whispers, as if telling a secret to someone that isn’t there, Downey is difficult to understand through the film, and his dialog is frequently repeated or expanded upon by an animal or human costar. It’s one of many odd choices by Downey for a character that’s been portrayed in movies by Rex Harrison and Eddie Murphy.

Like his choices in the “Sherlock Holmes” films, Dolittle is a person beset by quirks and twitches. He’s antisocial, preferring to live in a world of his own making. He is a creature of habit that hates to have his routine disrupted. Dolittle is protecting himself from pain caused by people leaving him, so he’s banished people from his life. I suppose that’s okay for someone that is surrounded by a menagerie of friendly animals with whom he can converse, but the animals in “Dolittle” are just furrier versions of people in their behaviors and personalities. Since they depend on the doctor for care and food, these analogs will never leave him and, in my opinion, that’s cheating the only redeeming factor of this Dolittle. He misses his wife with such a deep grief he cannot force himself back into the world. If he had also pushed all the animals away, then I might be a bit more sympathetic to the character, but he has replaced people with talking animals.

It sounds like I didn’t enjoy the film at all, and yet I did. Once you get used to Dolittle’s quirks and other oddities, you are swept up in the frenetic pacing of the film that hardly allows the audience to absorb one strange event before the next begins. From the introduction of Dolittle and his zoo of a house, to his arrival at the palace and the introduction of the villain, to the start of the voyage, “Dolittle” doesn’t slow down. That’s works in the film’s favor as the audience doesn’t have time to ponder the weird events as they unfold.

The CGI animals are obviously CGI. Sometimes they look more digital than others and the sight lines between the human and animal characters don’t quite line up. Despite this, it never bothered me. Perhaps it was the voice work by a wide and diverse cast that made the second-rate effects more palatable. Emma Thompson, Kumail Nanjiani, Tom Holland, Rami Malek, Octavia Spencer and John Cena all turn in enjoyable performances as a variety of animals. Most of them are far more interesting than any of the humans.

Michael Sheen had to pick splinters out of his teeth with all the scenery he chews as the villain Dr. Mudfly. His evil ark is easy to predict as soon as his character is shown picking leeches out of a jar to apply to Queen Victoria to treat her mysterious illness. He even has a twirlable mustache which, for some reason, he doesn’t twirl. That seems like a missed opportunity for such an obvious bad guy.

Antonio Banderas is perhaps the oddest casting for Rassouli, King of the Pirates. While Banderas, nominated for an Oscar for his starring role in “Pain and Glory,” gives it his all, the role is underwritten and a throw-away character that solves a problem late in the second act. There’s an effort to make Rassouli something bigger by giving he and Dolittle a past connection, but that only serves to make the meaninglessness more obvious. Still, Banderas does his best with a role that probably took only a couple of days to shoot.

“Dolittle” is rated PG for some action, rude humor and brief language. There are a couple of scenes of mild violence including a brief battle with the Queen’s guards, cannon fire that sinks a ship, an explosion in an arms cache, some leaps and falls that might be considered dangerous and a diver nearly lost in the sea. None of it should be stressful to even young children. The rude humor consists of fart jokes. Bad language is mild and widely scattered.

The humor in “Dolittle” is what actually won me. While it is basic prat falls and more than a few fart jokes, it works as a light diversion for a world that’s on fire and tearing itself apart. Could it have been better, much, much better? Yes, it should. Robert Downey Jr.’s first film since his final appearance as Iron Man should have been more polished and, maybe more meaningful. Instead, we get a movie about a guy that talks to animals and goes on adventures, that sounds like male Mrs. Doubtfire and whispers and twitches a great deal. It won’t win any awards, except may a Razzie or two, but it also isn’t the least bit offensive and children may love it, while leaving their parents to wish for something more. And yet, I still liked it.

“Dolittle” gets four stars out of five, and may God have mercy on my soul.

This week, I’ll be reviewing “The Gentlemen” for WIMZ.com.

Also opening this week is “The Turning.”

Listen to Comedy Tragedy Marriage, a podcast about life, love and entertainment, available wherever you get podcasts. Follow me on Twitter @moviemanstan and send emails to stanthemovieman123@gmail.com.

Reviews for “War for the Planet of the Apes” and “The Big Sick”

War for the Planet of the Apes

The band of intelligent apes led by Caesar (Andy Serkis) are being hunted by a persistent group of soldiers led the Colonel (Woody Harrelson). A raid on their compound leads to the deaths of Caesar’s wife and oldest son. Caesar sends the tribe on a journey over the mountains to find a new home far away from the humans; but Caesar intends on tracking down the Colonel and killing him in revenge. Despite telling them to go with the others, Maurice, Luca and Rocket (Karin Konoval, Michael Adamthwaite and Terry Notary) accompany him. Checking out a group of buildings looking for the Colonel’s base, the four apes come across a man that tries to kill them but Caesar kills him instead. Inside one of the buildings they find a young mute girl (Amiah Miller). Maurice refuses to leave her to die so she joins them. The apes find the Colonel’s base and Caesar discovers all of the apes have been captured. Caesar is captured as well by a gorilla that once followed Koba (Toby Kebbell) in his rebellion against Caesar. Several of Koba’s loyal apes are working with the Colonel’s troops. Called “donkeys” the turncoat apes serve as pack mules, carrying heavy weapons and acting as guards and overseers of the captured apes being forced to build a wall for the Colonel. The Colonel is preparing to defend against an attack but is it an attack by apes or other humans?

“War for the Planet of the Apes” continues the impressive visuals of the previous two films in the series. If anything it improves on those visuals and is a sure contender for the special effects Oscar next year; but it also might be nominated for Best Picture as this third entry in the series is possibly the best, serving up a gut-wrenching story of loss, betrayal and longing for a safe place to call home.

While there is debate about whether Andy Serkis performance as Caesar is more human or computer, I’m not sure it matters as Caesar is perhaps one of the most complex and well developed characters in any Hollywood blockbuster and the core of that performance is purely human. Serkis, best known as the king of motion-capture characters, delivers an amazing performance as the product of a genetic experiment that becomes the leader of his kind. It is clear the toll his being the leader has taken on Caesar. Serkis’ portrays the character as if he always has a heavy load on his back. His gait is ponderous and appears difficult. The CGI that makes up Caesar’s face has more grey hair and the creases look deeper. His eyes are dark and troubled. Even when times are good for the group survival in the wilderness is hard and having to constantly be on guard has obviously worn on him. The combination of Serkis’ physical performance and the wizardry of the computer effects artists makes Caesar the epitome of the saying “heavy is the head that wears the crown.”

While the main characters are monkeys and apes the story is so human I at times no longer saw the fur and the simian features but saw only relatable people. Serkis and the other actors portraying apes are aided by a story that could have easily been transplanted into a historical setting with which we are more familiar. Instead of apes it could have been Native Americans forced off their lands by white settlers or Jews in Europe during WWII or escaped slaves on the run in the South during the 1800’s or refugees from the war in Syria. It is a story that sadly has several parallels in world history and modern times and one that needs to be told again and again in an effort to keep it from recurring. I’m not so naïve as to think this movie or any other bit of pop culture will eventually teach us to stop treating those that are different as the enemy but it can’t hurt to try.

Woody Harrelson is great as the obsessed Colonel. He plays the part with a quiet cruelty that’s always just below the surface. While he could probably get better results by practicing a tiny amount of decency with his captive apes it isn’t within him due to his history. I won’t explain why he has such a burning hatred of the apes since that is a major spoiler but it infuses every decision the character makes and turns the Colonel into something more than a guy with a gun that doesn’t like smart monkeys. Harrelson oozes contempt for Caesar and his kind making the Colonel a villain that audiences will love to hate.

Amiah Miller’s mute child is the only human in the movie that is sympathetic and likable. Miller conveys a great deal of emotion and meaning in her silent performance. Her fear is palpable on her first meeting with the apes; but her curiosity, and Maurice’s friendly overtures, overrides any anxiety she has. Miller’s character is the audience’s only connection to humanity that is positive in the film. If her performance was too cute or too grown-up it wouldn’t resonate with the audience the way it should. Miller is a very talented young actress that does a great deal with a part that has no words.

“War for the Planet of the Apes” is rated PG-13 for sequences of sci-fi violence, action, some disturbing images and thematic elements. There are several battle scenes with explosions and bodies being thrown in the air. There are also shootings at close range that are more like executions. Arrows are also used as weapons and we see several people/apes hit. There are also scenes of apes tied to crosses as punishment/torture. One ape is shown strangled to death while another dies slowly after being stabbed by a bayonet. There is also discussion of the murder of the adult child of one character that is very intense.

The dark future portrayed in the “Planet of the Apes” series, from the out of control virus that decimates humanity to the loss of humanity amongst the survivors, is particularly scary as it is entirely plausible. The Black Death in the 14th century wiped out 30 to 60 percent of the population of Europe. A flu epidemic in 1918 killed more people than World War I. The highly mobile nature of the modern world makes the barriers of oceans no longer an effective way to stop the spread of highly infectious diseases. Each year there seems to be a new strain of flu, whether avian, swine or some other variety that is suggested might be the next great killer. With the over-prescribing of antibiotics creating resistant infections, it may only be a matter of time before we are faced with a similar predicament as the characters in the “Apes” trilogy. Perhaps if we should create a breed of super-intelligent apes we might treat them significantly better than the humans in the films so that we can work and live together and survive into a meaningful future. Let’s hope so.

“War for the Planet of the Apes” gets five stars.

The Big Sick

Kumail (Kumail Nanjiani) is a struggling standup comedian in Chicago who also is an Uber driver to make ends meet. At the comedy club one evening he meets Emily (Zoe Kazan) and the pair strikes up an instant attraction. Despite Emily’s protests that she is not looking for a relationship, she and Kumail continue to date for some time. Kumail’s family emigrated from Pakistan when he was 14. They believe in the old ways including arranged marriages. Frequently when Kumail is having dinner at his parents’ house, an eligible Pakistani woman about his age drops by with a photograph for his growing collection ofpotential wives. Kumail isn’t interested in finding a wife that way but fears being disowned if he tells his father Azmat (Anupam Kher) and mother Sharmeen (Zenobia Shroff) about his feelings and that he is dating a non-Pakistani woman. When Emily is over at Kumail’s apartment one night she finds the cigar box filled with the photos of potential wives. She becomes angry realizes there is probably no future with Kumail and storms out telling him to not call her again. A few days later, Kumail gets a call from one of Emily’s friends that she is in the hospital with flu-like symptoms. He goes there to be with her but she is not happy to see him. Her condition worsens and the doctors believe she needs to be put in a medically induced coma to deal with her infection. Kumail calls Emily’s parents in North Carolina and tells them about the situation. Terry and Beth (Ray Romano and Holly Hunter) arrive and, having been kept up to date about the relationship from Emily, aren’t overly friendly to Kumail. He continues to stay at the hospital and visit with Emily while also spending more time with her parents. Soon the three bond over their shared love and concern for Emily as Kumail realizes he may have made a mistake by not standing up to his parents and allowing that to end his relationship with her. With her illness continuing to baffle her doctors he may never get the chance to make things right.

“The Big Sick” is based on the true story of the relationship between Kumail Nanjiani and his wife Emily V. Gordon. The pair wrote the movie and, with the help of Judd Apatow, acted as producers as well. Not many first timers would be able to wield that kind of power but with friends like Apatow and a budget that was likely $5-million or less, Nanjiani and Gordon were given the reigns on a story that only they could really tell. Amazon Studios spent $12-million on the rights at the Sundance Film Festival in what has been described at a huge deal and critics have been heaping praise on it ever since. Does it deserve all the love?

The short answer is “yes!” “The Big Sick” is something rare and special: It’s a romantic comedy that isn’t built on the stupidity or gullibility of one of the romantic pair in the story. It is a film about flawed but interesting people involved with each other but with outside pressures of family, custom and religion forcing them apart. It is also about fear, doubt, regret and redemption. It is a film about life told in a smart, honest and funny way. Like I said, it is rare and special.

The various story threads of “The Big Sick” could have become a tangled mess in less capable hands but director Michael Showalter, who was responsible for one of my favorite films from 2015, “Hello, My Name is Doris,” is able to juggle the romantic, his family, the illness, her family and the comedy club relationships giving each one just enough time and attention. It’s a masterful job of giving each aspect enough space to live but not overwhelm the rest of the story. Naturally, the important threads involve Kumail and Emily’s relationship and his reaction to her illness. That each other part of the story could be so effortlessly interwoven into the narrative is quite a feat.

Kumail Nanjiani carries “The Big Sick” with a natural charm and ease that makes you think you’re just eavesdropping on someone else’s life, not watching a movie. Nanjiani is effortlessly funny when needed like a scene where he’s having lunch with Emily’s parents in the hospital and makes a 9/11 joke that tore up the audience with which I was watching the film. Nanjiani also handles the more awkward scenes with an honesty and pain that he seems to draw from experience. A scene where he loses his mind with a fast food drive-thru worker is both funny and cringe-inducing as he comes to the realization he’s acting like a crazy person. Watching Nanjiani on “Silicon Valley” doesn’t give you the full idea of what a good actor he is. “The Big Sick” does.

Zoe Kazan is also great in the role of Emily. While she’s gone for a big chunk of the middle she makes quite an impression in the first and last third of the film. Kazan gives Emily a spunkiness and energy that is infectious. A scene where she’s embarrassed to go to the bathroom at Kumail’s apartment because he doesn’t have air freshener or matches has an exuberance that makes it impossible to take your eyes off of her. Kazan also is able to go from calm to confused to angry in a few seconds very believably when she discovers the pictures of women in a cigar box. Kazan’s performance is a nice compliment to Nanjiani’s.

Both Holly Hunter and Ray Romano steal the movie out from under Nanjiani on a couple of occasions. Hunter especially is great as the pitbull mother looking to protect her daughter at every turn. Romano and Nanjiani have a couple of nice scenes together as they try to deal with the uncomfortable realities of the situation. None of the supporting performances disappoint in “The Big Sick.”

“The Big Sick” is rated R for language including some sexual references. The sexual references are fleeting and, to be honest, I don’t remember any. Foul language is common throughout.

I have listened to Nanjiani’s and Gordon’s podcast “The Indoor Kids” on the Nerdist network. While they no longer make new episodes, I would look forward to hearing about the new video game they were playing or whatever they chose to talk about. I also listened to Nanjiani’s “The X-Files Files” about his favorite TV show which also plays a small part in the movie. Having listened to the pair talk on their own podcasts and others, I must admit being strangely proud of them for getting the movie of their story made. That’s not to say I’m giving them a pass. If the movie had sucked I would have said so; but I’m glad it doesn’t. “The Big Sick” is a great date movie for a couple that is just starting out or a long term relationship that been through some stuff. For the newbies it shows that life isn’t always going to be roses and rainbows. For the veterans it is a reminder that what you might take for granted could all be taken away in an instant. Along with the lesson you get some laughs as well.

“The Big Sick” gets five stars.

This week I’ll be reviewing “Dunkirk” for the WIMZ website.

On this webpage I’ll be seeing one of the following:

Girls Trip—

Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets—

Follow me on Twitter @moviemanstan and send emails to stanthemovieman@comcast.net.

Review of “Fist Fight”

Roosevelt High School is in a state of chaos. It’s the last day of school and it’s the unofficial senior prank day. Even on a good day the place is out of control thanks largely to a group of teachers that are just biding their time until retirement. One that isn’t is history teacher Ron Strickland (Ice Cube). He’s a no-nonsense disciplinarian with a short fuse and is feared by the entire student body. English teacher Andy Campbell (Charlie Day), while a dedicated teacher, is something of a milquetoast. He doesn’t want to rock the boat and doesn’t stand up for himself with the students or administration. Andy and the rest of the staff are concerned because the school board is laying off teachers to cut the budget and no one’s job is safe. Adding to the stress, Andy’s wife is pregnant and three days past her due date. Ron asks Andy to help with an issue he’s having getting a video tape to play during his class. Andy notices a student is using an app on his phone to turn off the VCR tells Ron. This enrages the history teacher who gets a fire ax from the hallway and chops up the student’s desk causing all the kids to scurry into the hall. Principal Tyler (Dean Norris) calls Ron and Andy into his office and wants to know if the students reporting the incident are telling the truth. Under pressure Andy caves and rats out Ron, getting him fired. In private Ron challenges Andy to a fist fight after school.

“Fist Fight” has a razor-thin premise, relies heavily on the kind of high school screw-up characters used in the ‘80’s in “Fast Times at Ridgemont High” and leans on outrageous and highly illegal behaviors by students and teachers alike to get laughs. Most movies that try this approach are accused of lazy and clichĂ©d storytelling. Fortunately for this film that can be forgiven as it has the one thing most of those other films lack: Laughs.

Charlie Day can do manic and twitchy like no one else. He reeks of fear and confusion through most of “Fist Fight.” I can’t really call it a performance since everything I’ve seen him in, from “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” to both “Horrible Bosses” films, shows us basically the same character with the only difference being the volume is turned up or down. Day can be grating when his mania is at maximum. Fortunately that happens for only brief periods in this film.

The movie does of a good job of spreading the funny lines around a large cast of mostly comedy veterans: Tracy Morgan, Jillian Bell and Kumail Nanjiani do most of the heavy lifting. There are also solid turns by Dean Norris and Christina Hendricks as the principal and French teacher respectively.

Hendricks is like a comedy assassin as her character pops up in a scene, delivers a killer line or bizarre behavior and then disappears like a wisp of smoke. Jillian Bell adds yet another scene-stealing supporting role as the meth-using guidance counselor. Bell is an expert at delivering the most troubling yet hilarious dialog with a kind of innocence and detachment that makes one wonder if her character isn’t insane. Tracy Morgan is the lovable loser of a coach who is just hanging on. Morgan throws in some gems from his standup material (including talking about getting student’s moms pregnant). It’s good to see Morgan back on screen following his nearly fatal 2014 car accident. Kumail Nanjiani plays the school security officer. This very funny man gets too little screen time but Nanjiani makes the most of it informing Day’s Andy that since the fight is happening after school hours it is outside his jurisdiction. It is a quiet and subtle performance that juxtaposes well with Day’s hyper maniac.

With all the outrageous shenanigans going on in “Fist Fight,” the film also works in a bit of social commentary about public school funding. While it is only in one scene and will likely fly over the head of anyone watching the movie, the script at least takes a little bit of time to talk about how schools are perpetually underfunded and cuts are often made with little regard to how it affects the students. It’s a tiny aspect of the film but I appreciated the effort.

“Fist Fight” is rated R for language throughout, drug material and sexual content/nudity. The sexual content consists largely of a porn scene playing on a laptop. We see breasts and two women kissing. There is drawings of sexual organs as well as what can best be described as a sketch of a male climax. You have to see it to understand. There is also a brief discussion of sex. Using drugs is discussed and the planting of drugs in an effort to stop the fight is shown. There is also a very brief scene of someone lighting a joint. Foul language is common through the entire film.

The R-rated comedy is a feast-or-famine kind of genre. While there may not be one, or a good one, for years at a time they occasionally start popping up like dandelions. Quantity doesn’t usually mean quality in Hollywood as it is often the sign of a cash grab by studios. “It worked for the other studio so let’s slap one together and release it as soon as possible.” The most recent one I remember is “Office Christmas Party” and I liked that one too. Maybe studios are starting to figure out the right combination of ingredients to make these films both funny and profitable. As long as they make me laugh they can turn out one a week. This week, they released “Fist Fight” and, in my opinion, it’s a knock out.

“Fist Fight” gets five guitars.

This week, car crashes, color barriers and musical canines are the newest additions to your local multiplex. I’ll see and review at least one of the following:

Collide—

Get Out—

Rock Dog—

Follow me on Twitter @moviemanstan and send emails to stanthemovieman@comcast.net.

Reviews of “The Secret Life of Pets” and “Mike & Dave Need Wedding Dates”

The Secret Life of Pets

A terrier named Max (voiced by Louis C.K.) has an idyllic life with his owner Katie (voiced by Ellie Kemper) in her apartment in New York City. Everything is perfect until a big, brown, shaggy dog named Duke (voiced by Eric Stonestreet) is rescued by Katie. Max and Duke don’t get along well and Katie leaves for work Max wrecks the apartment thinking Katie will blame Duke. The dog walker takes Max, Duke, a pug named Mel (voiced by Bobby Moynihan), a dachshund named Buddy (voiced by Hannibal Buress) and more pets from the building to the park where Duke grabs Max’s leash and drags him deep into the city. In an alley, the two are confronted by a gang of feral cats led by Ozone (voiced by Steve Coogan) and have their collars and ID tags taken from them. Max and Duke manage to escape the cats but are picked up by animal control officers. Duke tells Max if he goes back to the pound, where Katie adopted him, he will be put down. On the ride to the pound a bunny rabbit named Snowball (voiced by Kevin Hart) is spotted by the officers and they stop to pick him up. They don’t realize it’s a trap as the human-hating Snowball leads a pack of discarded animals of all kinds he calls the Flushed Pets. Snowball, a tattooed pig named Tattoo (voiced by Michael Beattie) and a chameleon attack the driver and cause the animal control truck to crash. Snowball frees a muzzled bulldog that’s part of his gang but plans on leaving Max and Duke behind. Max convinces Snowball they hate humans as much as he does even claiming they killed their owners. Snowball frees the two dogs and takes them into the sewers where all the other Flushed Pets live with Snowball as their leader. Meanwhile, a fluffy Pomeranian named Gidget (voiced by Jenny Slate) that lives across the street from Max and Duke and harbors a secret love for the terrier notices she hasn’t seen the object of her affection for a while and is worried something might have happened to him. She heads to the roof and enlists the aid of a caged hawk named Tiberius (voiced by Albert Brooks). Initially intending to eat Gidget, Tiberius is talked into helping her look for Max. Eventually, she gets Buddy and Mel to join them along with a cat named Chloe (voiced by Lake Bell), Norman the guinea pig (voiced by Chris Renaud) and a parakeet named Sweet Pea (chirps and whistles by Tara Strong) and the adventure begins to bring Max and Duke home.

If you dread taking your children to see “The Secret Life of Pets” because it’s yet another kids movie, don’t worry. The movie knows the only way the target audience sees the film is if a parent provides the ride and the admission fee. The filmmakers have put more than enough humor and action into this animated tale of enemies going on an adventure and becoming friends in adversity to keep the both parents and the children entertained. You’ve seen this story before (perhaps even done better) but the performances from a large cast of talented voice actors and a peppy plot make it worth watching again.

Louis C.K. is not known for his family friendly fare but here he seems to be the perfect choice to voice Max. Sounding at times both like a seasoned New Yorker and a big-eyed explorer seeing the sights for the first time, Louis C.K. brings both a maturity and a sense of wonder to his role. Max is a less than perfect hero in the story, sometimes behaving like a bully toward his new roommate Duke then acting as a big brother or mentor. As seen in his FX show and his standup specials, Louis C.K. is also a person with similar traits and flaws. It seems to the script writers tailored Max to the kind of person the actor is and it works to strengthen the character.

The squeaky voice of Jenny Slate is perfect for the fluff ball of Gidget the Pomeranian. Gidget is both childlike and on the edge of kicking ass depending on what the situation calls for. The stress of looking for Max, her secret love, brings out the wolf in the lap dog and she proves to be much more of an alpha than any of the other dogs in her pack of friends. It is a performance that bursts from the screen in surprising ways.

The true star of the show, though in a smaller, supporting role, is Kevin Hart as the militant bunny Snowball. Hart’s character, machine gun riffs and ridiculous asides almost require Illumination Entertainment to create a spinoff film to explain how Snowball became the leader of the Flushed Pets. It is a story that would likely be filled with more of the character’s easily excitable personality. It could even be turned into some kind of “Escape from Alcatraz” type of story with the Humane Society shelter led by an evil human selling the strays for animal research and Snowball gaining the trust and loyalty of the other animals and staging a massive break out. Transforming Hart’s Snowball from a meek and timid bunny into the fearless leader of the Flushed Pets could be a very funny and exciting story. His character in “The Secret Life of Pets” makes a strong impression every time he’s on screen and I personally would like to see more of him.

The look of the film is amazing with some thrilling camera work that introduces the film. The audience is flown over and through the digitally reimagined New York as we swoop through the skyscrapers and the trees of Central Park. It’s equally impressive when we go underground into the lair of the Flushed Pets. The dank, decrepit surroundings practically make you feel damp and musty. The various settings are designed to add to the mood the story is trying to convey and it works well.

If the movie has a weakness it is the story. It isn’t terribly well fleshed out. The comradery between Max and Duke feels like it develops too quickly and isn’t earned. Perhaps this is a reflection of how animals don’t hold grudges and are quickly forgiving of mistakes and slights; but I believe it is more of a desire by the filmmakers to work in more action and keep the film at a tight 90 minutes. There is little wasted time in “The Secret Life of Pets” but making the story more complete wouldn’t be considered a waste of time.

“The Secret Life of Pets” is rated PG for action and some rude humor. There are chases, a couple of car wrecks, some fights between the animals and the animal control officers and a couple of near drownings. If your child becomes easily upset at such things be forewarned. The rude humor is very mild and consists of a few comments most children won’t understand, the sight of a Chihuahua urinating from excitement at seeing its owner come home and when Snowball drops a few pellets. There is no foul language.

“The Secret Life of Pets” has been compared to “Toy Story” for its story of enemies becoming friends and working to be reunited with the one they love. It is an apt comparison but to be honest, “Toy Story” did the whole separated and reunited thing a great deal better. That’s not to say “The Secret Life of Pets” is not worth watching as the strong group of characters, great voice acting and a great deal of humor and action make the movie fun and entertaining in its own way. Just don’t expect to roll a tear or two at the end.

“The Secret Life of Pets” gets five stars.

Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates

Mike and Dave Stangle (Adam DeVine and Zac Efron) are always the life of the party. They are often the death of it as well. Their antics and over-the-top flirting have turned many of their family gatherings into disasters with actual property damage. Their father Burt (Stephen Root) insists on the boys finding dates for their sister’s wedding in Hawaii to avoid turning that into another catastrophe. Being young men in the Internet age, they put an ad on Craigslist and it quickly goes viral with the boys appearing on the Wendy Williams Show. Tatiana and Alice (Aubrey Plaza and Anna Kendrick), a couple of recently fired cocktail waitresses and party girls, see the Stangle’s on the show and they plot to meet them. Pretending to be hit by a car as the Stangle’s leave a bar, Tatiana is tended to by Mike who applies one puff of artificial respiration and “revives” her. After the excitement of the accident, the boys get to know the girls better. Tatiana claims to be a school teacher while Alice says she’s a hedge fund manager. Both Mike and Dave believe everything they say and quickly invite them to the wedding where the girls quickly show they are not the mild and refined young women they claimed to be.

There’s a fair amount more to the story of “Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates” that occurs after the meet cute of the first 10 minutes. It becomes a tale of immaturity, fear of commitment, jealousy, wedding jitters and more. While none of it is terribly deep or meaningful, the movie does manage to wring a deal of humor out of a light and airy premise. It helps to have two charismatic leading men and two sexy and funny leading women plus a cast of talented actors with comedic chops in supporting roles.

Adam DeVine and Zac Efron are perfectly cast as the out of control brothers. Each has a comic energy that is fed by the other making for a duo that is unstoppable. Efron and DeVine should probably plan on working in films together for at least the next decade. Whether they are cast as the closest of friends or the most bitter of enemies, these two seem to be more than able to generate laughs in any situation. While DeVine is clearly the more manic of the two, Efron can more than hold his own.

Pairing them with Plaza and Kendrick merely amplifies the funny as their characters share similarly outsized personalities. While both are party girls, Tatiana is wilder and kind of the brains of the operation. Alice is more childlike and innocent
or at least as innocent as a hard-drinking, drug-taking girl can be. Their efforts at deception are pretty much abandoned once they reach Hawaii and the girls live it up on Mike and Dave’s dime. Plaza and Kendrick make an equally powerful comedic duo and much of the humor in the film is derived from them and their interactions with each other, the brothers and the soon to be married Jeanie Stangle, played to perfection by Stephanie Beard.

The supporting cast turns the time in Hawaii into a truly hilarious experience. There are too many funny bits to recount here; however, I probably laughed the most during a scene where Jeanie is given a “special” massage by a massage therapist named Keanu played by Kumail Nanjiani. Slipped some extra money by Alice, Keanu provides perhaps the funniest massage in cinema history. It also proves to be kind of a turning point in the film and sets in motion a great many plot points that all come to a head later.

The movie is filled with very funny bits of business that are brief but still cause a laugh. These often build on one another until the film delivers a big laugh to end the scene. It is probably a formula that all comedies employ but “Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates” do a better job than most.

Like “The Secret Life of Pets,” “Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates” comes up a bit short in the story department and for oddly similar reasons. Much of the redemption found by characters late in the film doesn’t feel earned or legitimate. I don’t want to give away the ending but it won’t surprise anyone that everything works out. This is the kind of film that doesn’t want to challenge your notions of the “Happy Ending” and makes sure all slights are forgiven and all relationships are solid by the time the credits roll. It could have left a few things up in the air or a couple still broken up by the end but I suppose they didn’t want to break any of the romantic comedy rules this film lives by. Fortunately, the laughs more than make up for the predictable story.

“Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates” is rated R for crude sexual content, language throughout, drug use and some graphic nudity. There are discussions of various sex acts in parts of the film. The crude names of porno movies are also said out loud during one scene. We see the ladies smoke pot a couple of times as well as a scene where Ecstasy is taken with somewhat disastrous results. We see a nude man in profile for a lengthy period of time. We see a naked breast during a fight scene and full frontal nudity of one of the female characters. Foul language is common throughout the film.

While “Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates” breaks no new storytelling ground it does provide a huge number of laughs. That seems to be especially well timed considering everything that is getting the most attention in the news. While the movie has not exactly been a darling with the critics it did provide me with a great deal of entertainment practically from the time it started to deep into the credits where some outtakes were shown. It may not be art but it is funny and sometimes that’s enough.

“Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates” gets five stars.

This week your choices include some ladies who ain’t afraid of no ghosts and a fearless undercover drug agent. I’ll see and review at least one of the following:

Ghostbusters—

The Infiltrator—

Follow me on Twitter @moviemanstan and send emails to stanthemovieman@comcast.net.

Review of “Hello, My Name is Doris”

Doris (Sally Field) has recently lost her mother after many years of caring for her. This meant Doris put her own life on hold as her brother Todd (Stephen Root) went to college and started a business and a family with wife Cynthia (Wendi McLendon-Covey). Doris has a job in accounting at a clothing company. She runs into John Fremont (Max Greenfield), a new employee, on the elevator ride up to the office and is instantly smitten with him. Doris knows their age and experience difference makes a relationship with John impossible but she cannot get him off her mind. While attending a talk by motivational speaker Willy Williams (Peter Gallagher) with her best friend Roz (Tyne Daly), Doris decides to take his advice and turn “impossible” into “I’m possible” and approach John. Not knowing exactly how, Doris gets advice from Roz’s 13-year old granddaughter and sets up a fake Facebook profile and asks to be friends with John. He accepts giving Doris full access to his information including what music he listens to and the places he’s been. Doris uses this information to become closer with John including showing up at a concert of electronica artist Baby Goya and the Nuclear Winters (Jack Antonoff). Not only is Doris spending more time with John but she’s also discovering a whole new world of people and ideas she never knew existed. Doris feels more alive than she has in years; but this newfound life is putting a wedge between her and Roz as well as causing Doris to ignore the cluttered state of her home and the hording tendencies of her late mother that she is continuing.

“Hello, My Name is Doris” is both uproariously funny and emotionally devastating. It takes a look at a largely ignored section of the US population, those over 60, and shines a light on how society and pop culture views this massive segment of American life is irrelevant. The film’s main protagonist eventually learns to stand up for herself and say “Look at me! I matter!” despite what her co-workers and the rest of life might think. It also flips on its head the common trope of an older man becoming involved with a younger woman and makes us reconsider how we react to that pairing. The movie is somewhat subversive in that way and I really liked it.

Sally Field will probably be ignored for an acting Oscar when awards time rolls around again but she shouldn’t. This is an amazing performance from an actress that has won two Oscars for her work in “Norma Rae” and “Places in the Heart.” Had the film been released later in the year, Ms. Field might need to clean off a place on her mantle for a third. Field is mesmerizing as Doris. Part of the performance is the wardrobe choices made for the character. Wearing clothes that look 40 years out of date, with her hair piled on top of her head (including a wig) and kitty-eye glasses, Field embodies what looks to be a stereotypical cat lady (the character does have one cat). Meek and timid, sometimes living in a fantasy world where John sweeps Doris off her feet, Field wrings every bit of life and emotion she can out of a character that might have very easily been two-dimensional caricature. Field makes Doris a worthy underdog that the audience roots for. I sat in my seat in the theatre trying to figure out a way Doris and John could be together that would work emotionally for the audience and make some kind of sense for the characters. I wanted them to live happily ever after and that much personal investment by me can be fully credited to Sally Field’s performance.

Max Greenfield is also excellent as John. While annoyed and confused at first by Doris’ attentions, John begins to see more in his co-worker than an eccentric old woman. Greenfield is a flexible actor that can mold himself to fit the character he plays. Whether it is Schmit on “New Girl,” Nick on “Ugly Betty” or Gabriel on the latest season of “American Horror Story,” Greenfield is able to modify himself to fit what the character needs. That may sound like acting 101 but not all actors are able to fully immerse themselves in a character like Greenfield. His performance as John is a perfect everyman. John is not spectacular in any way and yet Greenfield makes him a character I wanted to know more about.

The rest of the supporting cast, Kumail Nanjiani, Rich Sommer, Natasha Lyonne, Elizabeth Reaser, Beth Behrs and those previously mentioned, round out Doris’ world in a full and believable way. Not everyone is terribly likable with her co-workers barely knowing anything about Doris and hardly considering her worth the effort to get to know, her brother and sister-in-law considering her more of a nuisance than a family member and the rest of the world largely being unaware of her existence. While many of the supporting cast gets only minimal screen time they do the most with their performances with a particular standout being Kumail Nanjiani who turns his character Nasir into one that usually has a shining bit of dialog.

“Hello, My Name is Doris” turns the May-December romance on its head with the older woman perusing the younger man. For some reason we believe there’s no way a young man would be the least bit interested in an older woman. While society doesn’t seem to have the same issue with an older man chasing a younger woman the reverse is almost seen as more shocking or taboo and I don’t get it since I think both are gross. While I enjoyed the movie a great deal the idea of such a large age difference in a romantic couple (between the actors it is 34 years) kind of gives me the willies. I personally would much rather be with someone romantically near my own age as that person would have similar life experiences. Dating someone much younger, while it might be exciting in the short term, would probably mean having a huge difference in life references like Paul McCartney being in a couple of bands that formed, were hugely successful and broke up before this relative child was born. Dating someone significantly older might mean having only a few years of good health before the aged partner might need long term health care. It doesn’t seem fair to the younger partner to be saddled with something as demanding as caring for a sickly mate.

Another thing the movie explores is how those entering their “Golden Years” are often ignored and forgotten about. That is especially damning for Hollywood since most actors, once they reach a certain age, are relegated to supporting roles. There aren’t many movies starring an identifiably older actor. Those that do are usually surrounded by a much younger cast as is the case in “Hello, My Name is Doris.” What this movie does to counteract that is to make most of the younger characters vacuous and self-centered. During the post-concert party Doris attends with John, she encounters several people who share with her their love of making their own chocolate and other pursuits that sound so hipster you expect to see a beard and fedora magically appear on their faces and heads. Her co-workers are equally clueless to the point of being unaware Doris’ mother had recently died. They are so wrapped up in their own lives and keeping up with the latest trends they have no time or interest in Doris. It takes John asking questions about her for the rest of the staff to realize she is a person. It is quite an indictment on the self-absorbed nature of our social media-obsessed culture.

“Hello, My Name is Doris” is rated R for language. The F-Bomb gets dropped enough to turn a PG-13 movie into an R; however, the majority of the language is concentrated in two scenes.

I really needed to see “Hello, My Name is Doris” after the cacophonous disaster that was “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.” It is a simple movie about people with exaggerated but believable problems that don’t need to punch someone or blowup a building to tell a story. It is the perfect antidote to blockbuster fatigue. It may wrap up a little too neatly; but “Hello, My Name is Doris” is still a mature look at modern love complicated by time and a little mental illness. I’d take a little film like this over a dozen polished Hollywood epics.

“Hello, My Name is Doris” gets five stars.

A comedy and a first-person action flick open this week. I’ll be on vacation but I just might drop in to a nearby multiplex to watch and then review one of the following:

The Boss—

Hardcore Henry—

Follow me on Twitter @moviemanstan, on Anchor search for Stan the Movie Man and send email to stanthemovieman@comcast.net.