How Do You Know

The plot goes something like this: Reese plays Lisa, a career professional softball player who, at age 31, has just failed to make the team for the upcoming season. Playing ball and her relationships with her teammates have been her life, and she begins her slog through the plot in kind of a lost and confused mode. No better off is Paul Rudd’s character, George, who is in business with his dad, played by Jack Nicholson and, as the movie opens, is under indictment by the federal government for shady dealings (not his fault, or we would in no way want to turn over our darling, Lisa, to him. Though it might have made for a more interesting movie…). Wilson plays Matty, a major league pitcher who is paid millions, and has a superficial, selfish, and somewhat womanizing approach to romance. In my humble opinion, none of these actors are believable in their roles. Maybe if we could have seen each of them doing what was supposedly their job, the back story could have propped up this willing suspension of disbelief (I obviously was not that willing). So Lisa goes out with Matty for about 10 minutes, or so it seems, and decides to move in with him. Meanwhile, George is dumped by his girlfriend, meets Lisa for dinner, and promptly falls in love with her. So which one of these guys is it going to be? How do you know?

Okay, so maybe I could have lived with the plot. I could maybe have even lived with the casting, and subsequent lack of chemistry. Maybe, but probably not. Ultimately, it was the dialogue, though, that was just too painful. It wasn’t funny, it wasn’t at all romantic, and much of the time it was thuddingly boring. And thus, this film was imbued with a lifelessness that I couldn’t forgive. Who can we blame? Let’s start with James L. Brooks, who was at the helm of this project as writer and director. He also gave us Broadcast News, Terms of Endearment, and As Good As It Gets. But that was a while ago. He wrote and directed Spanglish, a Rom Com I did like pretty much. It seems, though, that he lost his touch or something just didn’t jell with How Do You Know. When the dialogue wasn’t weird, it was wooden, or sparse. None of the actors seemed comfortable in or with their roles, possibly because the roles were so ill-defined. The exception to this was Wilson’s Matty, whose character was so hyper-defined as to be a caricature, and not believable for that reason.

Enough already with panning the film. One good feature was that the cinematographer was Janusz Kaminski, the cinematographer or director of photography for such notables as Saving Private Ryan, Catch Me If You Can, and Schindler’s List. And the photography in How Do You Know was good. Too bad it was frequently used to show off Reese’s bronzed skin and impossibly blue eyes. Okay, I better end this review because I’m starting to criticize it again. Reasons to see it? You love Reese, Paul, or Owen (if you love Owen, though, I’d invite you to see (even again) Bottle Rocket or Royal Tenenbaums where he was much more at home). Another reason to see it? You love the Rom Com genre, and don’t feel the need to be as picky as I was about this one. The bottom line is that comedy is subjective, and while this movie was not my cup of tea, it may be yours. – [DVD] [Blu-Ray]

Comedy/Drama/Romance

Rated PG-13

DVD Release Date: 3/22/11

Monsters vs Aliens

When all seems to be lost, a giant indestructible alien probe lands on earth, and the monsters are called on to save the world. If they succeed, they are guaranteed their freedom. And Susan/Ginormica can go back to her life and fiancé.

Actors Reese Witherspoon and Paul Rudd are the odd men out in this line-up, which is a veritable who’s who of Television (if interested the list is below). With the comedic chops of the actors involved, one can’t help wanting more from the film. But instead it joins the ranks of standard Dream Works fare-enjoyable but not distinctive. The movie is well crafted, delivers on the laughs it promises, and can be enjoyed by most age groups.

From Fox: the voices of Hugh Laurie (House M.D.), Kiefer Sutherland (24). And our favorites from Arrested Development: Will Arnett and Jeffrey Tambor. Half of the cast of The Office lend their voices: Rainn Willson, Ed Helms, and John Krasinski.  Rounding out the lineup are Seth Rogen (Freaks and Geeks), Stephen Colbert (The Colbert Report), and Amy Poehler (SNL). – [DVD]

Animation/Sci-Fi/Fantasy

Rated PG

DVD Release Date: 9/29/09

Rudd plays a newly engaged California realtor who gets along famously with the friends of his fiancee (Rashida Jones), and women in general, but has no male friends to speak of and so no prospective best man. That is, until he hits it off with Segel. They bond over fish tacos and rock out to Rush.

To me the film didn’t seem as vulgar as Marshall, especially in how it foregoes any full-frontal nudity by Segel, and so I didn’t mind all the swearing or constant discussions about certain adult activities as much. And it all has a nice, loose-but not too loose-improvisational feel thanks to director and co-writer John Hamburg (Safe Men), who nonetheless could have cut the scene where Rudd educates Jones on said prog-rock band.

Plus it’s reliably funny, from the man-dates Rudd goes on to find a male buddy to Segel’s play-by-play of a guy who won’t fart near his girlfriend, to Rudd’s failed attempts to say “see ya later” in a cool way, to the way Rudd and Segel’s inevitable break-up involves a discussion of Chocolat. There’s also the hilarious fight Segel picks with Ferrigno that ends with Segel in a sleeper hold.

Rudd just seems to get funnier with each film, and here he elicits laughs not only from his expressions, like when a gay man-date (Thomas Lennon) lays a French kiss on him, but also from his tendency to sound Irish when trying imitate Jamaicans or Brits. Not to mention how he slaps his slick jerk of a co-worker (Rob Huebel) in telling the guy to get lost.

Segel’s easy-going man-boy slob made me laugh, too, from little things like telling Rudd not to make Ferrigno (whose house Rudd is trying to sell) mad, to bigger ones, like his string of curses after getting a golf ball to the shin. His role is also the more interesting one, in that he’s essentially a male etiquette mentor for Rudd.

Then there’s the talented supporting cast, most of which has little to do. J.K. Simmons makes a funny impression as Rudd’s dad, whose best friends are Rudd’s gay brother (Andy Samberg) and a guy named “Hank Markdukas.” Jones is fine as the typically sweet and intelligent girlfriend who has typically supportive gal pals (Jaime Pressly and Sarah Burns). Lennon (17 Again) makes the hysterical most of his all-too-brief screen time.

I can certainly see how people might tire of Rudd’s ultimate-nice-guy act, or find Segel boorish and annoying, or even be put off by the seemingly incessant profanity (though Rudd hardly swears at all). I myself could have done without Jon Favreau as Pressly’s overly-aggressive, cigar-chomping husband who constantly belittles Rudd.

But I still liked the movie, and what’s more, I could relate all too easily to the social awkwardness Rudd experiences when trying to bond with other men, be it playing cards with Favreau’s friends or not being invited on a bachelor party/camping trip by some fellow fencing fellows. That alone raisesI Love You, Man a few notches above your average cuss-filled comedy. – [DVD]

Comedy/Romance

Rated R

DVD Release Date: 8/11/09

The most recent assembly is Role Models, with Paul Rudd (40-Year-Old Virgin, who also co-wrote) and Seann William Scott (a.k.a. Stifler) as a pair of moderately successful slackers working as spokesmen for a Red Bull-like energy drink company. Through a series of events better left for the film to explain, the two end up in criminal court facing jail time. Helped by Rudd’s lawyer ex-girlfriend Elizabeth Banks (40-Year-Old-Virgin), they are offered an alternative: to perform community service as “big brother” types in an organization run by Jane Lynch (40-Year-Old-Virgin) to mentor kids. Scott is paired with Bobb’e J. Thompson, a kid so foul-mouthed in this movie that you wonder if the script itself can be considered child abuse, and Rudd with Christopher “McLovin” Mintz-Plasse, a geeky loner who participates in L.A.I.R.E., a sort of live-action Dungeons & Dragons.

L.A.I.R.E. is where most of the film’s best gags end up playing out. Based loosely on S.C.A. (the Society for Creative Anachronism, an organization which counts my sister as a long-time participant), it should be recognizable to anyone who has seen people in the park fencing with homemade foam-and-duct-tape swords. Rudd is loath to get involved in such activities, but eventually gets caught up in Mintz-Plasse’s struggle against King Argotron (Ken Jeong), one of those evil geeks who just want to ruin the fun for everyone else. Lynch, as always, brings some good laughs as a recovering addict-turned-social worker. Mostly Role Models relies on profane crassness for its own sake, which I have to admit worked fine for me. – [DVD]

Comedy

Rated R

DVD Release Date: 3/10/09