The setting is Paris, and the cinematography is a beautiful complement to the storyline. And speaking of the storyline…

Owen Wilson plays Gil, a successful Hollywood screenwriter who wants to be a “real” writer, and feels unsure about his talent. He is in Paris with his fiancée, Inez, (Rachel McAdams, both beautiful and comedic) and Inez’s politically conservative parents. Gil romanticizes the idea of actually living in Paris. He also romanticizes the past and shares with all of us the feeling that the present, by its very nature, is a little dissatisfying. In this story, Gil is given the opportunity to do some “time travel” and come to terms with that yearning to find a “Golden Age” that is always in the past, and that holds some magnetic appeal.

During the course of this “time travel”, we get to meet Salvador Dali (we haven’t seen you this good since The Pianist, Adrien Brody), Ernest Hemingway (madly in love with Corey Stoll in this role), F. Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald, Cole Porter, Gertrude Stein (Kathy Bates nails it), Pablo Picasso, Toulouse-Lautrec, T.S. Eliot, Luis Buñuel, and on and on. The supporting cast, A to Z, are all great.

Tom Hanks

He genuinely seems to like it.

Maybe it’s because he was born there. Maybe it’s because the town of Los Angeles has treated him relatively well (two Oscars in a row can’t hurt). Maybe he is just an innately upbeat guy–whatever the reason, the projects that he has creative control over seem to regard showbusiness and the environs of Hollywood with a refreshingly optimistic eye. This was fairly apparent with his fun directorial debut, That Thing You Do!, which, while not ignorant of the pitfalls of fame and fortune, ultimately ends on a hopeful if humble note.

Larry Crowne is only Hanks’ second film as a director, co-written by himself and Nia “Greek Wedding” Vardalos. It’s certainly among the more likable and cheery of the recent crop of Recession Fairytales (see also: The Company Men, Up In The Air, etc.). Whatever its flaws as a film (and they are often far from subtle), it is a buoyant enough slice of 21st Century Americana, and easy to watch.

The eponymous Mr. Crowne is an affably divorced middle manager at a Walmart lookalike, who, improbably, is laid off because he deserves a promotion but can’t get it without a college degree. He decides to attend the local community college to remedy this, and there meets Mrs. Tainot (Julia Roberts), a cynical public speaking teacher and inevitable love interest. He also meets Talia (Gugu Mbatha-Raw), an aggressively–but surprisingly appealingly–perky fellow student who recruits him into her Vespa gang and helps him stylize and simplify his life.

The chemistry between Hanks and Roberts is not exactly electric, but both actors remain charismatic enough to carry things forward well enough. Scenes are often stolen by Mbatha-Raw and by George Takei, who has a lot of fun as an imperious and punctilious economics professor. There are strange, unnecessary scenes, neutered jokes (witness the PG-rated pornography secreted by Roberts’ husband, a role wasted on Bryan Cranston), and exaggerated caricatures. But I couldn’t help really liking Larry Crowne. It kind of reads as a fun recipe for enjoying a lower-income life and actually feeling better off for it. There are worse things for us to hear these days, methinks. - [DVD] [Blu-Ray]

Comedy/Drama/Romance

Rated PG-13

DVD Release Date: 11/15/11

If neither of these is a problem, why haven’t you seen Bellflower yet?

It’s the story of two friends, Woodrow (Evan Glodell, who also directed) and Aiden (Tyler Dawson), who apparently don’t work, drink a lot, and build flamethrowers in their spare time. One night at the bar, Woodrow meets Milly (Jessie Wiseman) and it’s kismet. Ah, young love.

This is the point where linearity and reality start being a little less trustworthy, and this is where a lot of people might turn the film off.

Just before it gets awesome.

It’s also where we see the film is less about romantic love and more about masculinity in the twenty-first century. It’s like a reboot of Fight Club, but instead of hitting one another, they build amazing cars and flamethrowers and hit other people. All for a meager budget of around $17,000.

Originally conceived of in 2003, they didn’t really get moving until 2008. Shot over the course of 3 years on handmade cameras, Bellflower is the definition of an independent movie. They made the car, they made the cameras, wrote, shot, edited and produced the whole thing themselves. It’s like watching El Mariachi for the first time, the amazement of what people, motivated people, can get done.

The sheer amount of swagger in Bellflower is mindblowing. – [DVD] [Blu-Ray]

Action/Drama/Romance

Rated R

As the story opens, Oliver is packing up Hal’s house and adopting Hal’s dog, Arthur. Cosmo stars as Arthur, and this film is so good that even the dog is outstanding. So anyway, a short time into the film, Oliver attends a Halloween party, and he meets Anna, a French actress. Mélanie Laurent is so very good in this role. She looks like a young Catherine Deneuve. Actually, her face changes with every camera angle. Oliver and Anna hit it off, and the remainder of the movie is the telling of their story and the telling of Hal’s story in flashback.

I have to mention the supporting cast. Not a single dud in the group. Goran Visnjik embues Hal’s much younger boyfriend, Andy, with playful energy. Oliver’s mom is played by Mary Page Keller, and she fleshes out the back story beautifully. Kai Lennox is Oliver’s graffiti artist/poser friend Elliot, who provides some of the many quirky moments of the movie. If this were my Oscar acceptance speech for the film, I’d probably say that I know I’m leaving many people out, but you get the idea: Beginners is not to be missed by anyone who loves indie films, appreciates performances where you couldn’t ask for more, or wants to view the blending of dark humor with serious themes and a lot of heart. – [DVD]

Comedy/Drama/Romance

Rated R

Yearning, aching, thirsting, wanting, needing a new romantic comedy.

Well, rejoice my brothers and sisters, here it is. Crazy Stupid Love stars Steve Carell as Cal Weaver, a middle aged married man who has just had divorce thrust on him by his wife, Emily (Julianne Moore). He’s not very happy about it. He starts patronizing a trendy bar telling anyone who will listen, and some who try not to, about his woes.

This is how he meets Jacob Palmer (Ryan Gosling), gadabout and general dreamboat. Jacob takes Cal under his wing, teaching him the ways of the Lothario. And as Cal gets better at picking up women, the twisted web of love becomes more complicated. Because as much as he’s trying to move on, Cal still loves his wife, who probably still loves him, but there’s this Kevin Bacon guy at the office… Did I mention that Cal’s son loves the babysitter who really loves Cal? Also, Gosling might love Emma Stone who is a lawyer he tried to pick up, but failed.

It’s like the intro to an episode of “Soap”, but in a good way.

The chemistry between Carell and Gosling really works. The evolution of their relationship might be the most heartwarming in the film. Moore, Stone, and a brief appearance from Marisa Tomei are all really solid.

Surprisingly, the emotional heart of the film is Cal’s son, and I wish I were making this up: Jonah Bobo. Always the true believer that love will conquer all, he keeps the other characters on track.

Crazy Stupid Love is a well acted, well written piece of slightly fluffy cinema. There’s no war, no death, just people and their problems, some of which I think most people can relate to. Most of all, it is a genuine pleasure to watch, and how often can you say that anymore? - [DVD] [Blu-Ray]

Comedy/Drama/Romance

Rated PG-13

DVD Release Date: 11/1/11

Robert Pattinson

Based on the novel by Sara Gruen, it has Pattinson playing a young Polish-American in 1931 who, in the aftermath of a tragic event, abandons becoming a veterinarian, hops aboard a train and inadvertently becomes part of a traveling circus, run by the volatile Waltz, and subsequently smitten with Waltz’s blonde-bombshell of a wife (Witherspoon).

For me, the film is most enjoyable when it focuses on the circus itself and what circus life is like. This mostly occurs in the first half, when we watch the roustabouts set up the big top, see the shady tricks employed to get people to buy tickets and get our initial, wondrous glimpse of the circus in action, with people spinning on ropes, playing with lions and riding horses. We also learn about the dark side of the business, including the cruel idea of “redlighting” and how circus animals were treated.

It’s whenever attention shifts to the illicit romance that the film suffers, mainly because Pattinson and Witherspoon have zero chemistry, and so no matter how many times director Francis Lawrence shows them slow dancing, I never bought that they were in love. It doesn’t help that Lawrence’s direction is so flat, or that Pattinson’s performance is so low-key. As the old version of Pattinson’s character, Hal Holbrook is far better, beautifully conveying a combination of crankiness and wistfulness.

Witherspoon mostly gets to look glamorous, sporting platinum-blonde hair and revealing costumes, and shoot a lot of worried looks at Pattinson, but is nonetheless a livelier presence. And yet neither she, nor anyone else here, is a match for Waltz. Utterly charming one minute, pure rage the next–hurting humans and animals alike–but always forceful, he’s never less than fascinating.

They all get stiff competition from Tai the elephant, who plays Rosie the elephant. She steals your heart the second you see her, spraying an elephant handler with water, and then, later, in how she manages to sip some lemonade. She even gets a big dramatic moment, saving a character’s life during the animals-run-amuck finale. Unfortunately, despite Tai’s endearing antics and Waltz’s tour-de-force, even an elephant wouldn’t remember this film for very long after seeing it. – [DVD] [Blu-Ray]

Charlotte

For those out there who haven’t read the book–which I heartily and needlessly recommend–the story follows Jane (Mia Wasikowska) from her childhood home (likely an inspiration for Privet Drive in J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series) to her years in school and finally to her employment as a governess for the wealthy and enigmatic Mr. Rochester (Michael Fassbender). Fukunaga relates the bulk of the story through flashback after Ms. Eyre finds herself, alone and desperate, on the doorstep of St. John Rivers (Jamie Bell) and his sisters. Those of you whom Jane knows only as “Reader” may agree that this is a clever device, others among you may not.

This is certainly a lush romantic costume drama, infused with the requisite doses of grime and inclement English weather. Wasikowska, like most of her predecessors in the role, could certainly be accused of not being “plain” enough for the part. I prefer to think that the characters in Bronte’s novel who describe her thus betray a narrow or vulgar taste for beauty and charm. Granted, she’s not a flashy dresser. Fassbender, a skilled and charismatic actor, is not an obvious choice for Rochester. Good thing for us, somebody forgot to tell him that.

In style and substance, Jane Eyre reminds me more than a little of my favorite recent period romance, Jane Campion’s exquisite Bright Star. I can’t say that it quite matches it. If it had been truly bold, particularly in translating the novel’s final scene to the screen, it might have achieved a similar heartbreaking poignancy. But I felt that scene, among other details, were a little toothless in contrast with Bronte’s sharp prose. For the time being, this is a lovely, well staged and well acted drama. It should tide us over until we meet the next Jane Eyre, who is probably already a teenager by now. – [DVD] [Blu-Ray]

Drama/Romance

Rated PG-13

DVD Release Date: 8/16/11

Something Borrowed

Based on the chick lit book by Emily Giffin, it features Goodwin (HBO’s Big Love) and Hudson as childhood pals, Krasinski as the guy friend who grew up with them and Colin Egglesfield as the hunk set to marry Hudson. Things get complicated when Goodwin and Egglesfield, who have known each other since law school, confess their mutal longing for each other.

What follows is a bunch of let’s-do-this-I-can’t-do-this moments (in the Hamptons, at a concert, in the rain) in which either Goodwin or Egglesfield decides to go the final yard and commit to a relationship and then backpedals. It’s incredibly frustrating to endure, even more so for the flat, unsatisfying and amazingly convenient way director Luke Greenfield decides to tie everything up.

Hudson, whom I almost always like, is very unappealing here as an aggressive type who has always taken what Goodwin likes, and you question how a seemingly decent person like Goodwin could still be friends with her. I’m not sure what either of them sees in Egglesfield, who’s certainly a good- looking guy, but is bland beyond belief.

Goodwin, on the other hand, is absolutely winning, even if she does cause a man to cheat on his fiancée, and she works well with Krasinski, who as the film’s lone rational character not only steals all his scenes with perfect comic delivery–he describes the Hamptons as a “zombie movie directed by Ralph Lauren”–but proves surprisingly good dramatically in his third-act confession to Goodwin. Had the film been about them, well, that might really have been something, instead of the nothing we get. – [DVD] [Blu-Ray]

Producer: I understand you have a few concerns about the script?

Blackberry: Yeah, we’re not sure our phones will look very reliable in your movie.

Producer: How so?

Blackberry: Well, it seems like there are a lot of scenes where Matt [Damon]’s Blackberry drops calls. That doesn’t look too good in our business.

Producer: Okay, well, you read the whole script, right? You get that it’s not really the phone that’s at fault. It’s the Adjustment Bureau, they’re the ones causing the phone to drop out so Matt can’t reach this woman he’s attracted to, right? He’s straying from his pre-determined destiny, and they have to correct his path.

Blackberry: Well, sure, I get that, but I’m afraid the audience will see his phone drop a call and not realize it’s them causing it. I mean, could you just have one of them waving their hand or something when it happens? I guess I don’t really understand where these Adjustment guys are even supposed to be in that scene.

Producer: Well, the director [George Nolfi] is going for this motif where they stand on rooftops looking down, discussing the fates of those below. Did you ever see Wings of Desire?

Blackberry: No.

Producer: Well, it was remade with Nicolas Cage, it was called City of Angels, did you see that one?

Blackberry: So these Adjusting people are supposed to be angels? That wasn’t
really clear in the script. I thought they might have been aliens or something.

Producer: I think George [Nolfi] wants to keep that vague. It’s from a Philip K. Dick story which was a little more abstract. The image we’re going for is sort of a slightly menacing corporate bureaucracy.

Blackberry: You understand that a lot of our customers are corporate bureaucrats, right?

Producer: Well, sure, but these guys are more like bureaucrats from the 1950’s, they all wear hats. We didn’t want it to look too much like the Matrix, anyway.

Blackberry: Yeah, the hats. I still don’t get the deal with the hats. Are the hats what gives them their powers?

Producer: Not exactly. When they wear a hat, it’s like a key that lets them open special doors.

Blackberry: That does kinda sound like the Matrix.

Producer: Yeah, well, be that as it may, I think it will be very clear to the audience that the phone doesn’t lose calls because it’s poorly made. I mean, heck, isn’t there a scene where Emily [Blunt] drops it in a hot cup of coffee and marvels that it’s still ringing?

Blackberry: Yeah, but isn’t she dropping it in the coffee because the ringtone is really loud and obnoxious and Matt Damon can’t figure out how to silence it?

Producer: Well, it’s a really cute little romantic comedy scene. I should show you the dailies, actually–Matt and Emily have great chemistry.

Blackberry: I’m sure they do, but we don’t want to encourage people into thinking that it’s okay to immerse the phone in a liquid. I can’t tell you the kind of warranty headaches that sort of thing gives us. Plus, it doesn’t look good if Matt Damon can’t figure out how to change the ringtone. If he can’t figure it out, the audience will think the phone is hard to use.

Producer: I think you’re over-thinking this. Once you see the completed film, I’m sure you’ll agree that it all makes a lot more sense when it flows together. It’ll be a fun, energetic, smart movie that lots of people are going to see and your product will get great exposure. I mean, even the dumber audience members might just think that the phone is dropping out because it’s on a bad network or something, right? That wouldn’t be your guys’ fault, right?

Blackberry: I guess so. Anyway, we need all the exposure we can get. Just make sure you don’t specify what crappy network the phone is on. We can’t lose our contract with AT&T, not while they still have their precious iPhone. – [DVD] [Blu-Ray]

Romance/Sci-Fi/Thriller

Rated PG-13

DVD Release Date: 6/21/11

Wilson and Sudeikis play a couple of over-40 pals who are so unhappy with their sex lives that their wives (Jenna Fischer and Christina Applegate) grant them the title pass, basically a week off from marriage during which the guys are free to have sex with other women.

To appease the teen boys and college guys, the brothers throw in plenty of the kind of gross-out moments they’re known for–male and female nudity, a woman spraying diarrhea on a shower wall, Sudeikis getting caught by cops doing something he shouldn’t in a minivan–plus plenty of explicit talk about sex and such.

But they balance out the outrageous stuff with surprisingly meaningful writing and by having situations play out a little differently than you might expect. This goes mainly for the relationships that develop between Wilson and a hot Australian girl (Nicky Whelan) and Fischer and an older man (Bruce Thomas), as well as Applegate’s flirtation with a college-age baseball player (Tyler Hoechlin).

As well the brothers make sure all the characters are interesting, even the supporting ones, like Whelan’s coffeehouse co-worker (Derek Waters), Wilson and Fischer’s twenty-something babysitter (Alexandra Daddario), and the forty-something woman (Kristin Carey) who seduces Sudeikis. Richard Jenkins (The Visitor) plays what is easily the funniest character, a fifty-something playa who gives the guys advice on how to pick up women.

The main cast is what makes the movie really work, though. Wilson is unexpectedly affecting as the practical pal with middle-age worries, and his speech about the spot on his chest where his wife and kids have all fallen asleep is the film’s emotional highlight. Sudeikis deftly delivers laughs with his perpetual potty mouth and desperate attempts to get lucky, while Applegate is adequate and Fischer simply shines, especially during the nicely-handled scenes in which she’s charmed by said older guy.

If you just want laughs, there are plenty of them, including Wilson imagining the consequences of buying said babysitter some beer; a pompous guy boasting about his Prius, which is parked next to a Hummer; Wilson and Sudeikis being oblivious to the security cameras as they walk around said guy’s new house; the use of the “Law & Order” chime as each hall-pass day starts; Sudeikis wearing a strange mask to help him sleep; the guys going to Chili’s to find women; and pal Stephen Merchant’s hilarious envisioning of what would happen if he had a hall pass. – [DVD] [Blu-Ray]

Comedy/Romance

Rated R

DVD Release Date: 6/14/11